Gentlemen, start your engines. That is what was customarily said prior to races, but no longer. You probably thought that was due to a woman being in the field. Nope. There are just not enough gentlemen. Just ask Danica Patrick.
Kevin Harvick played the pit strategy game correctly and made a pass for the lead in the closing laps to win for the first time in the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.
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.
1. Kyle Larson: Larson started on the pole at Michigan and led 96 laps on his way to the win at Michigan. Larson pulled away from Chase Elliott on a restart with five laps to go to claim his second win of the year.
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.
Thirty-five different drivers have won at Pocono with Jeff Gordon leading the way with six wins. Of the active drivers, five have multiple wins at the track including Denny Hamlin (four), Jimmie Johnson (three), and Kurt Busch (three). Kasey Kahne and Dale Earnhardt Jr. both have two wins.
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.
1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson started at the rear of the field due to a gear change and charged to the front to win the AAA 400, his 11th career win at Dover and 83rd career Cup victory, tying Cale Yarborough.