Thirty-six races. A few are great venues that produce very entertaining television events. A lot more are not. Some tracks have two events, and you wonder why. Some have two and you wonder...why not three?
Sundays First Data 5oo at Martinsville Speedway will kick off the Round of 8 this weekend. Most of the eight drivers remaining in the Playoffs have had wins in the past or good finishes. Sunday's race will be crucial because if any of the eight Playoff drivers win the event, they will automatically punch a ticket to the championship-deciding race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Imagine a race that featured the excitement of Daytona or Bristol. Imagine a race with a broadcast crew that featured the talent of a Chris Economaki, Vin Scully, Danny Gallivan, or a Keith Jackson. Imagine that Yoko Ono co-wrote that song with her husband. That should snap us all back to reality, though that last one is apparently true.
1. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex started on the pole and won at Kansas, posting his series-best seventh victory of the season. "The phrase heard most often in NASCAR this year is 'Truex wins,'" Truex said. "I'm just hoping to add 'it all' to the end of it."
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.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. started on the pole at Talladega. Most years, that is just par for the course. In this, his final season, it was a return down memory lane. Talladega is where anything can happen, where any lead lap car has a shot to win it, and a where one’s dreams can go up in flames, smoke, and mangled metal without notice.
1. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex crashed out at Talladega with 17 laps to go when he made contact with David Ragan, setting a chain reaction crash that victimized Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, and Kyle Busch.
As the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Talladega Superspeedway for the second race in the Round of 12, only one thing is certain. Anything can, and probably will happen.
Nose to tail, side by side, just inches apart, ripping around a 2.66-mile tri-oval that is 48 feet wide with 33-degree banking in the corners at speeds of over 190 miles per hour. It is obvious to anyone watching what could happen. It is amazing when it does not.
Martin Truex Jr.: Truex started 17th and Charlotte, but the handling on his No. 78 Toyota finally came around at the right time, and he pulled away to win the Bank Of America 500.
