Change where change is necessary is a good thing. NASCAR wanted us to keep watching, so out went the system that determined a champion based on season long performance. Winning is big, but it was not big enough, so in came the automatic Chase bye to race winners who at least put in the time to challenge Danica Patrick in the standings.
Thank God for Kasey Kahne. With no Kahne, the broadcast of the Dover race would have been about as exciting as watching a Soap Box Derby contest in Saskatchewan, or a downhill ski event in Saskatchewan, or an outdoor performance of the Sound of Music...in Saskatchewan.
Kyle Busch behind the wheel of the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, scored his fifth Nationwide season win to take the 29th Annual Dover 200 at the Monster Mile. And with that fiver, he also broke a tie with Joey Logano to become the all-time win leader at Dover.
After a celebratory hug from son Keelan, Kevin Harvick proved that he was ‘freaky fast’ again in his No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet, scoring the pole for the AAA 400 at the Monster Mile with a speed of 162.933 mph and a time of 22.095 seconds.
According to the Chase, a couple of Penske drivers lead the way in the standings with Sunday’s race at Dover to determine the dozen who advance to the next round. According to our season long standings, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano certainly are worthy of consideration.
New Hampshire, for about 180 laps, was a mind numbing experience. It was the Round-and-round 300, and when you add the beleaguered ESPN desk trios to the mix, it was damn near unwatchable. Then stuff started to happen.
In the second race of the Chase for NASCAR’s championship, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 18th annual Sylvania 300 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
New Hampshire is the next stop on the Chase tour, and if anyone needs to rewrite expectations it would be Aric Almirola and AJ Allmendinger. Both have not done well at Loudon in the past, though Almirola was fifth in the race 15 months ago and the Dinger has one Top Ten.
Within those 40 laps, we saw Brad Keselowski shoot through the middle between the dueling Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick to take the lead with sixteen to go. It was a great piece of racing, and once he was through he was gone. Two in a row, fifth of the season, and Keselowski earned himself a berth in the next round of the Chase.
When it was announced last year that Kyle Larson would replace Juan Pablo Montoya in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet in the Sprint Cup Series in 2014, my first reaction was shock. It had nothing to do with Larson’s skill.
