It is ironic that the two tracks that feature folks turning to the right are in California and New York, where you would think left would be the preferred direction. Sonoma is the perfect venue to feature our hot drivers, with temperatures this week in the 90s, though promises to be in the low 80s come Sunday. It a facility well used, with 340 days of racing events featured annually.
Popular. Iconic. A “must be in” race. If that is what you were looking for, you were disappointed. A 37-car field was the smallest in 21 years. Tight, pack racing, the kind that leaves you swooning each and every lap. If that is what you were looking for, sorry, Sonoma is coming up next weekend. No, this week it was Michigan.
If you were looking for tight pack racing, Pocono was not it. However, if you wanted to see variations of the old Wide World of Sports “agony of defeat” scenario, that it had.
Jimmie Johnson and Jamie McMurray saw their day end in a violent wreck within seconds of each other just prior to the end of the second stage of the Axalta Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway.
They went and done it. Kyle Busch comes in leading early in the race at Dover. For whatever reason, when they went to tighten up the rear left lug nuts, the air gun was removing them instead. When the jack dropped, the car left, and shortly after the tire left the car. Bad news for Kyle. Today, bad news for the crew.
Some things are just not like the others. May featured the World 600 and the All-Star race at Charlotte, the spring derby at Talladega, events a fellow can get excited about. This week. Dover.
1. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex led 233 laps and won Stage 2 on his way to a third-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600. "That's the third consecutive year I've led the most laps in the Coke 600," Truex said, "and all I have to show for it is one win and a lousy t-shirt."
Change. Sometimes change is good, like when you win a few million dollars. That is good. You get married to your sweetheart. Good. Your children start arriving. If you are a mature adult, and not some self-serving narcissist, that is very good. New talented drivers emerge on the scene. That is also a good thing.
The stars would come out at Charlotte on Saturday night. Well, some of them. Twenty drivers would make up the field, but we knew that the Top 20 on the season would be missing at least a couple of performers.