Johnson recovered from left front damage to the No. 48 and stormed back to win the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville. Johnson qualified for the Chase For The Cup finale at Homestead on November 20.
Bless NASCAR’s pea-pickin’ hearts. You have to admit that they keep on trying. With both the junior and truck circuits pretty much irrelevant these days due to the inclusion and the total domination of Cup drivers, NASCAR once again is trying to do the right thing.
Talladega is already a stressful race. Add the fact that it's also a Chase elimination race and the stress factor rises even more. That makes sense. That's a given. That way, in a sense, the disagreement between Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick following the Hellmann's 500 on Sunday almost has some merit, even if they are Stewart-Haas Racing teammates.
Talladega had everything on Sunday a race fan or adrenalin junky could desire. It provided incredible action, with leaders driving looking at their mirrors rather than out the windshield, running at close to 200 miles per hour just inches apart.
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.
The Chase continued on Sunday, at the iconic Kansas Speedway for the legendary Hollywood Casino 400. The race formerly and memorably known as the Protection One 400, the Banquet 400 Presented by ConAgra Foods, the LifeLock 400, the Camping World RV 400 presented by Coleman, and the Price Chopper 400 presented by Kraft Foods has been making memories since 2001.
Harvick held off Carl Edwards over the final 30 laps at Kansas and went on to win the Hollywood Casino 400. Harvick advanced to Round 3 of the Chase For The Cup.
No matter the result next week at the Alabama roulette wheel, Kevin Harvick is moving on to the next round of the Chase after scoring the victory in America's heartland.
It is funny how we react to certain aromas. When I was a kid, we lived near the public works yards my father worked at. My brother and I would wander amongst the heavy equipment, taking in the smells of their exhaust and even today I rather like the smell of gasoline and diesel fuel.
