My sons enjoy a television program called "The Big Bang Theory." They tell me it is pretty funny. NASCAR has its own version of the Big Bang Theory, but it is not near as amusing for those involved. At Charlotte last week, Kyle Busch drove into a dangling rope, and BANG, he needed repairs. Later, both he and Dale Earnhardt Jr had engines that went BANG on the same lap, and those parts were not going to get put back together.
With the focus on America’s military, past, present and those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for freedom, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Memorial Day running of the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Johnson got loose and spun at Charlotte on lap 334, collecting Matt Kenseth. Johnson finished 22nd, five laps off the pace, but still holds a comfortable 32-point lead over Carl Edwards in the Sprint Cup point standings.
Jeff Gordon is a 4-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) champion or as he's more recently been known as; the unluckiest man in NASCAR. He's won at nearly every track on the circuit and Jeff is still running competitively in his 22nd year of competition but luck has not been in his favor at all recently.
It is the biggest motor sport weekend, as they ran the 97th edition of the Indianapolis 500 and the World 600 in Charlotte. Oh, yes, they also ran the Monaco Grand Prix, but my bed won that race. It is not often that I will spend a day watching two races, but Memorial Sunday is different and usually well worth the time.
Many racers realize along the way that another career may be awaiting them other than being behind the wheel. This week’s edition of NASCAR BTS goes behind the scenes with Jason Trinchere to learn more about his journey from short-track racer to design engineer at Penske Racing.
From surviving two red flags, one for a bizarre camera cable snap that injured cars on the track as well as some fans in the stands, to the second red flag for a Talladega-style pile up, Kevin Harvick survived it all to live up to his moniker as the ‘Closer’, going to Victory Lane for the second time this season.
This weekend marked the 54th running of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the longest race of the NASCAR season. However, it also marked the annual gathering and honoring of America's true heroes. As Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North said, "America's true heroes where helmets and combat boots". Those in attendance Sunday were provided a moving salute to the men and women who serve our great country.
A full moon in the air usually means that strange and crazy things can happen during the race event. Today was no different than expected. In fact in F1, the Indy 500 and at today’s Coca Cola 600 we were spectators to unusual crashes and door banging style battles for the lead.
A two tire pit stop with a couple laps left would pay off for Kevin Harvick as he would take the lead on the restart and go on to win the Coca Cola 600.
Hendrick Motorsports has piled up more than twice as many wins as any other organization (11) in the crown jewel event and also leads in top fives (29), top 10s (46) and laps led (1,101).
Funny Car driver Daniel Wilkerson was .042 of a second away from securing his first NHRA win on Sunday in Sonoma and he will have another opportunity for redemption at this weekend’s 37th annual Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways.
