It was the Brickyard 400, presented by Kyle Busch. He led the first lap, he led the last one, and led most of the laps in between. If the focal point of a race is at the front, if the drama of a race is to see who is leading the way, this competition was pretty much done when they waved the green flag.
About the only thing Kyle Busch didn’t win on Saturday was the one prize he wasn’t eligible for.
But the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota won everything else, capping a phenomenal day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a victory in the Lilly Diabetes 250 NASCAR XFINITY Series race—and he did so with tires that were 23 laps older than those of his pursuers.
As the beginning of a new year of racing approaches, it's often difficult to keep up with the off-season changes. Drivers move to different teams, crew chiefs come and go, new sponsors are announced and more. To aid your transition into the 2016 NASCAR season, I've compiled a list of the major changes.
With rain interfering one last time and delaying the race start for over an hour, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the season finale, the 17th annual Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
In the final race of the Contender round and with the elimination of four more drivers, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
All we have heard all summer long is how great Kyle is at winning, how wonderful Kyle has been in making a comeback. Kyle, Kyle, Kyle. It is enough to make one channel their inner Jan Brady.
Win and you are in, or so the saying goes. Well, not if it is only your fifth race, 16 events into the season. However, running together a string of 10 straight Top Fifteens or better is easier than taking one of these contests, and Kyle Busch checked that off his “to do” list at Sonoma Sunday.
Rain. Just bloody lovely. Who, outside of California, really needed the wet stuff all that bad? When Alfred, Lord Tennyson said, “Bright and fierce and fickle is the South, And dark and true and tender is the North,” he obviously was not talking about the rains of Michigan. Those black clouds still managed to tease one driver into dreams of winning delights, just before breaking his heart.
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?
With all of NASCAR nation standing up for Steve Byrnes and others battling cancer, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 55th annual Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
