The No. 48 car at Hendrick Motorsports. Recent races seem to verify this, and Jimmie Johnson has many fans, but after watching the NBA finals tonight, I couldn’t help to draw an analogy between not only the Miami Heat and the Lowe’s Chevrolet team, but to LeBron James and Jimmie Johnson. Stay with me here. It’s all about domination and how we deal with it. It’s not a pretty picture for some.
The small snippet on the scanner conversation between Jimmie Johnson, who had just blown a sure win by jumping the start in Sunday’s Fed Ex 400, spotter Earl Barban, and crew chief Chad Knaus. I thought I heard the quote, but having it replayed today on SiriusXM’s NASCAR Radio channel proved I did hear that. My only question is who is “they” and why do they not want Johnson to win?
I hate to quote the Beatles, because it dates me and after watching the Billboard Awards, I get the feeling that no one knows what’s good music is anymore, but all I can say is the first line of a great Beatle song. I heard the news today, but oh boy. The latest news is Bruton Smith, billionaire CEO of Speedway Motorsports is considering moving the fall Charlotte race to Las Vegas.
My friend Monte Dutton, who is one of the best or probably was one of the best writers on the NASCAR beat, tweeted Saturday night that unlike normal races, the format actually seems to encourage all hell breaking loose UNTIL the end.
Matt Kenseth is a man of history. Rarely have we seen anyone more excited than Matt Kenseth for winning Darlington’s Southern 500. In my youth, this was one of the sacred crowns of the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit until the powers that be decided that the old track was not worthy of two races a few years ago. The track is tough and it takes a special talent to win at the egg-shaped track, but few had as much fun winning a race here than Matt Kenseth.
Richmond International Raceway is one of the three jewels on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit Along with Martinsville Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway. Saturday night at Richmond should be what the doctor ordered, but it wasn’t for some reason. The beginning, and for that matter, most of the Toyota Owners 400 was an event dominated by two drivers: Matt Kenseth and Juan Pablo Montoya.
We’ve had Kyle Larson going into the fence at Daytona followed by Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin at Bristol, closely followed by Joey Logano and Denny again at California and then the unexpected Joey and Tony near fight (water bottle toss) at California, followed by the Penske teams and rear housings at Texas.
Whenever you go to Martinsville Speedway, you always know that Team Hendrick will win, but you watch anyway, maybe hoping they won’t or maybe hoping they will. It’s a matter of personal opinion.
All last year, folks commented that the racing in NASCAR’s top series was boring. Most of them pointed to the late-race action at Martinsville Speedway last April. On Sunday, at near 200 mph, they saw more of the same. This time it was Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin, fresh off a dustup at Bristol Motor Speedway where both drivers pointed fingers.
Bruton Smith gave away ten Mustangs and still the greatest venue in NASCAR racing was generously only half full. The Nationwide Series race was maybe a fourth full.
