Sometime over the next ten weeks, at one of ten tracks hosting the Chase, Clint Bowyer will be sailing along. He will feel a sudden nudge in his left rear quarter-final, just a touch but enough to cause him to feel the car getting out from under him. Bowyer will try to save it, and come close in doing so but, alas, his car will find the wall. His race and his Chase hopes, done in an instant.
With everything on the line as far as Chase berths, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 56th annual Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway.
The decision was unexpected even to the beat reporters who follow NASCAR daily. After Saturday’s race, thing just didn’t look right, something officials missed. By Sunday at the truck race in Iola, Mike Helton, NASCAR’s President, commented that NASCAR was going to review the race and radio transmissions. That was the first clue that something was up. A timeline was not given, however.
Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway turned into one of the most controversial races in the history of the sport. Fan response to Clint Bowyer’s well-timed and seemingly intentional spin that brought out a late race caution, coupled with an un-needed trip down pit road by Brian Vickers was unprecedented.
In an unprecedented Monday evening news conference after the wild Richmond race on Saturday night, NASCAR dropped the penalty hammer on Michael Waltrip Racing.
I know some will agree with me along with others that questioned the post race "woohoo", also shared the same opinion as I. There will also be many who will not agree with my opinion about Clint Bowyer's mysterious spin-out while Newman was leading and about to win the race. A win would clinch Newman a spot in the Chase. Bowyer in my opinion did it intentionally.
Julius Timothy “Tim” Flock was born in Fort Payne, Alabama and grew up in one of the most famous racing families of early stock car racing. His two brothers, Bob and Fonty were both NASCAR drivers, as well as his sister Ethel Flock Mobley.
There was a lot on the line at Richmond Saturday night but was it so much so that it would actually push a team to deliberately alter the outcome in order to benefit themselves? When you're talking about a shot at the Sprint Cup championship; I'd say so.
Blaney will be right where he wants to be. Being able to put his drafting skills with his strong finishes gives him a great chance of finding his way to the front.
As the organization did in the January Pre-Race Practice, Nitro Motorsports swept the top six positions in the running order in practice for the ARCA Menards Series General Tire 200 at Daytona International Speedway.
