Shaking with joy as he climbed out of his car, Alex Bowman shook hands with and hugged team owner Rick Hendrick after winning the pole in the same race he failed to qualify for three years earlier.
William Byron topped the chart in second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Daytona International Speedway. The driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 44.625 and a speed of 201.681 mph.
Erik Jones topped the chart in first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Daytona International Speedway. The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 45.058 and a speed of 199.743 mph.
Stating the obvious, Daytona Speedweeks is the biggest time of year for NASCAR. It's every driver's, crew member's, media member's, and die-hard fan's birthday, Christmas, and July 4th all rolled into a couple of weeks of speed. It's huge, it's prestigious, man...it's Daytona. What more needs to be said other than that it is a big deal?
It is over. I am not just talking about my writing hibernation. It is not like I was just jumping at the bit to return, but sometimes you hear some news and you feel the need to say something, to make comment, to share your observations. Today is that day.
It was an amazing two weeks. In that time, Kevin Harvick locked his way into the final four, along with Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. We got to see Matt Kenseth win, spoil things for Chase Elliott, and allowed Brad Keselowski to round out our championship contenders.
This Sunday, NASCAR action takes us to Kansas. We just can not get enough of Kansas, which is why we find ourselves watching the action from there for a second time this season. If not Kansas, I guess there is always Kentucky, Chicago, Dover, Fontana, or Pocono , but allow me to calm down my beating heart.
When one of the legends in the sport leaves us, we remember. If a man is known simply by the company he keeps, Robert Yates did very well. As a team owner, he was the boss to such NASCAR luminaries as Davey Allison, Larry McReynolds, Ernie Irvan, Dale Jarrett, and Ricky Rudd.
Bristol is where the legends win. Darrell Waltrip won a dozen times there. Cale Yarborough, Dale Earnhardt, and Rusty Wallace each had nine. Then there is Kyle Busch, who’s victory on Saturday night pushed him to six, one more than his brother Kurt and David Pearson. Each one in the Hall of Fame, or will be. No exceptions.
Did his lack of success over recent years stunt NASCAR's growth? Maybe, it was his continued presence that kept it from sliding further down the tubes. In fact, the champion has only taken the Most Popular Driver award six times in the season they won the championship. The last was Bill Elliott nearly 30 years ago. So much for Harvick's theory.
