They had a race and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was not in it. Why bother? Should this not have been a day of universal sobbing, hand wringing, and “woe is me?” Of course, it should have been, but there was a race to be run in New Hampshire.
The rich get richer. That will be the story this weekend, as only those with a pedigree seem to have a chance at success in this weekend’s New Hampshire 301.
“I hate that I...” I love that phrase. It is the prelude to expressing some measure of regret for some on track transgression in the hopes that these mere words will make everything alright. For instance, "I hate that I got into Kurt [Busch] there at the end racing to the line.” So says Joey Logano after Busch got dumped on the final lap, crossing the line spinning backward in 23rd place Saturday night at Daytona.
Let it be known that I hate restrictor plate racing. Between the XFINITY and Cup races, it was pile up after pile up. If you're a fan, you might as well save the money, go to the County Fair and go see the demolition derby.
We want drivers and fans to be safe. We want action that is anything but safe. It might sound hypocritical, but deep in our hearts, we know it to be true.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. led the final Sprint Cup Series practice on Friday at Sonoma Raceway with a high-speed of 95.298 mph. The driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was fourth-fastest in the opening session at the Northern California road course.
I just want to say I love the NASCAR XFINITY Series. I believe it has potential to return to its former glory and I have no problem with Cup drivers winning the occasional event (emphasis on "occasional"). I'm also a fan of Pocono. It's a big, unique, historic track that's been in NASCAR for many years and has a list of winners that reads like a Who's Who of the sport; Gordon, Earnhardt, Petty, Bonnett, Allison.
In the last couple of weeks, Kyle Larson has been showing some much needed results. He finished second in a spirited battle with Matt Kenseth at Dover, then followed it up with an aggressive win the the Sprint Showdown, the last-chance qualifier for the Sprint All-Star event at Charlotte.
Dover's event could have been called the Gloria Gaynor 400. Some survived, some did not. Good luck was what they wanted, what more than a few were hoping for, and what at least one got.
