The ratings are in. They continue to sink, with anything not being raced at Daytona all down. Daytona was great, the rest were okay. There used to be a time when okay was good enough.
1. Kyle Larson: Larson survived four late restarts and pulled away for the win at Fontana, finally snatching a win after three consecutive runner-up finishes.
Kyle Larson went back to his home state of California and won at Fontana. A win. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that the 24-year old from Elk Grove is not perfect. Sure, he might be leading the standings, but perfection?
Never in my 25 years of watching NASCAR have I seen what I saw on Friday. Jimmie Johnson and his team elected to not qualify for the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway electing to start in the rear of the field. It’s a bigger problem than you think.
For the last few years, attendance at The Brickyard for NASCAR events has dwindled and the sanctioning body is looking for any measure to rectify the racing. Their solution, slap restrictor plates on the cars.
This weekend the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the XFINITY Series head to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. It’s the final stop of the three-race westward swing. But did know that it is also the 20th anniversary of NASCAR Cup Series racing at Fontana?
Despite placing fourth on Sunday, no Ricky Stenhouse Jr. No Dale Earnhardt Jr. Neither Austin Dillon or Ty Dillon. No Danica Patrick. A.J. Allmendinger was third at Daytona, outside the Top Twenty ever since. One can have the name, the equipment, the marketing, but results are what matters and for some those results just have not been there just yet.
Wins mean everything, but doing well in the stages and coming home close to the front seems pretty important also this season. Last week, Matt Kenseth finished ninth, yet lost ground by 30 points to race winner Martin Truex Jr. in Las Vegas alone.
Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex dominated at Las Vegas, capturing the first two stages and passing Brad Keselowski’s slowing Ford with two laps to go. Truex scored the maximum 60 points, and is fourth in the points standings, five out of first.
