Another season has come and gone, along with a few more drivers and fans, to be honest. However, there are some things I have noticed that are on the positive side, though not all would agree.
HOMESTEAD, FL – All the talk during the weekend is on how the Championship 4 drivers feel about their chances of winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship. But Friday morning NASCAR held a press conference to share a different perspective from the owners and top executives on their championship journey.
Jimmie Johnson. Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch. Kevin Harvick. Martin Truex, Jr. Denny Hamlin. Brad Keselowski. Kyle Larson. Chase Elliott. These men are NASCAR. These men, a few women, and so many others made the sport. Were the sport. Are the sport. Brian France is not NASCAR. There is a reason 97 percent of all family businesses do not survive as such into the fourth generation.
Australia. If there was any road to success on Sunday, it was to be a native of Australia. Perth-born Daniel Ricciardo led from start to finish to claim the Monaco Grand Prix. At Indianapolis, Toowoomba’s own Will Power kissed the bricks and drank the milk. Unfortunately, the last Aussie to drive a Cup car was Tasmanian Marcus Ambrose four years ago.
Now we know why they call it Silly Season. 16 drivers will make the Chase, and we already know that three who have done well enough thus far this season may not have done well enough to save their rides for next.
This year’s NASCAR Hall of Fame class might just be the toughest to choose yet. This is the first list of nominees where nobody really jumps out as a slam dunk candidate; compare that to last season which had Mark Martin, Terry Labonte, and especially Benny Parsons, all kind of above the rest of the field.
On Sunday, we will have one of those races, on one of those tracks, that provides must-see action. While we have no announcers covering NASCAR today who you might tune in just to hear their description of the action, to hear them enhance the excitement, even those we got can not detract from the spectacle we shall witness on Sunday.
NASCAR is in trouble. I hope that someone in the offices in Daytona Beach and Charlotte is working to fix these problems for the future of the sport we love.
As NASCAR swings into Chicago and begins the Chase, I can not help but notice that Denny Hamlin, and now Danica Patrick, have made mention that the season is too long. Reduce some races in length, reduce some altogether, run some mid-week are among their suggestions.
It's no secret that Kasey Kahne has struggled to contend for wins in the past three seasons. In his last 84 starts, Kahne has just one win, eight top five finishes and an average finish of 17.3. Those certainly doesn't sound like the numbers of a Hendrick Motorsports driver.
