SM Staff

From deep in the heart of the Lone Star State, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 11th annual AAA Texas 500.

With Kyle Busch running into transmission problems, it was up to the other two drivers on the team to get the job done for Joe Gibbs Racing. Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez would do just that, finishing fourth and sixth respectively.

With Matt Kenseth remaining suspended after going through NASCAR's appeal process, Erik Jones will be behind the wheel of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

What I saw at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday made me sick to my stomach. It ruined what otherwise was a good weekend at the track, the marvelous speedway that should be a blueprint for what racing should be. Everyone knows the story by now. Matt Kenseth decided to retaliate and knock the leader out of the race—on purpose. You may say I can’t prove that, but actions speak louder than words.

We're less than 24 hours removed from the race at Martinsville and there is once again a commotion in the media and in fan circles. Is it about Jeff Gordon punching his ticket to the chase playoffs in dramatic fashion? Nope. Is it about the risk versus reward of tires versus track position? Nope.

Another country and another race, this time it’s Mexico City. The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is a fantastic track with plenty of history, and where the F1 season heads to next.

With chaos happening all the way around them, Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick both were able to avoid the chaos, bringing home solid finishes with Truex in sixth and Harvick in eighth. More importantly, they have themselves above the cut line, nine points for Truex and seven points for Harvick, heading into the second race of the third round of the Chase Championship.

Through the first two rounds of the Chase for the Championship, Kurt Busch has quietly put together a string of consistent finishes that have had him transfer to each round. On Sunday at Martinsville, he was on the road to doing that once again till he got taken out in a late race incident.

In race number 33 of the 2015 NASCAR season here is what was surprising and not surprising after the completion of the 67th Annual Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

The championship playoff known as the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup has had more turns that a West Virginia mountain, but Sunday’s campingworld.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway took the cake.