Jimmie Johnson. Four wins in 2015. Ten wins at Dover. Seventy-four wins over the course of his career, just two shy of Dale Earnhardt’s total. Six championships. Gee, I wonder if he might ever make the Hall of Fame?
As the new season begins, Truex has a new perspective and appreciation for life. After competing for the win in the Daytona 500, a revitalized Truex is eager to carry that momentum forward as they head to one of his favorite tracks, Atlanta Motor Speedway.
I assume you're a racing fan, so I won't bore you with the obligatory explaining of every minute detail when it comes to beating and banging and the competition and heartbeat of what makes motorsports so thrilling. Racing can be summed up in one word, competition.
What a wonderful race we saw at Talladega on Sunday. It had visual excitement that can only be rivaled by Daytona. We had suspense, as we did not know who would continue in the Chase and who got their hearts broken right through to the final lap. It was everything we could have hoped it would be. Then Brad Keselowski won the damn race and ruined everything.
Aric Almirola was not favored to return the iconic 43 that Richard Petty won his 200th win the Independence Day weekend thirty years ago, but he did. The rains that delayed the action for a day, and delayed it again early on Sunday, returned to finally put a wash to the proceedings prior to the three-quarter mark. The man in front was the 30-year old Tampa, Florida native, recording his first Cup victory in 125 starts.
The distance run and the sponsors may have changed, but for thirty years the gateway to summer race at Daytona was known as the Firecracker 400 (250 for its first four runs). It might not be as big as the 500 or have the glamour of the Southern 500, but winning this one means something. Its name should mean something as well.
They might as well go ahead and rename that Kentucky track Kesetucky. That boy dominated Saturday night’s race from start to finish. Sure, he let team mate Joey Logano, a ninth place finisher, run shotgun for a lot of the race, got the lad some camera time to make the sponsors happy.
It seems like after the fifth race, you start to get a solid perspective of who has the hot hand, and who is currently falling flat. Although we haven't had a driver win twice yet, there are a few drivers who's consistency has rewarded them. On the contrary, some of the sport's top drivers have been falling flat due to their lackluster performances of 2014.