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.
I wonder what the highlight was from Las Vegas? Just maybe it was the passing opportunity to see Joey Logano get his ass kicked on pit road. However, before that could happen, a lot of dudes on Logano’s race team quickly took Kyle Busch out of the mix as their driver literally got carried off to safety.
Stewart-Haas Racing cars were the class of the field the first two races of the season, with a win in the Daytona 500 by Kurt Busch and most laps led in both the 500 and the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway by Kevin Harvick. Unfortunately, a 10th-place finish by Clint Bowyer was the highlight of a lousy day from the four-car organization.
One thing that pops out at you are some of the unfamiliar names among our Hot 20 after a couple of races. Even more so, all the familiar names not there.
Brad Keselowski won. 22 victories. This time, if he has any self respect, he needs to send out a few lines of thanks to a pair of drivers. Kyle Larson would be one of them. Larson ran low, did well, but for some reason he thought Keselowski would pass him on high, so he stayed high. Brad passed him down low, and drove away. Larson has one win, and seven runner-up finishes. I am starting to see why.
This weekend all three NASCAR series head to Atlanta Motor Speedway culminating with Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500. But did you know that this race will mark a milestone in the series as the 2,500th Cup race?
It is expected. The standings look weird. With bonus points from the Duels and the demo derby that was the Daytona 500, some wound up with more points than anticipated, and some got far less.
So, you want a car just like the one that won the Daytona 500, eh? Well, you get yourself a sparkling new Ford Fusion. Splash it up with some red on the hood, and basic black the rest of the way around. Polish it up so it is real shiny and pretty. Then take a Louisville Slugger and beat on that beauty from stem to stern.
