Joey Logano won the First Data 500 at Martinsville on Sunday afternoon after a chaotic battle for the win against Martin Truex Jr. He scored his second win of the season and punched his ticket to the Championship 4 at Homestead.
Then there were eight, as the surviving championship contenders take to the track this weekend at Martinsville. It is damn near over, but that overweight soprano has yet to warble, so we have a few notes to wait for between now and Homestead.
It might have been Kansas, but the action was a whole lot like a Las Vegas slot machine. Gold bar. Gold bar. Grapes. Dammit! Take Kevin Harvick, for example. He was second best on the opening stage. He was the best in the second stage. He was dominating the third stage, at least until he went speeding on pit road. Dammit!
1. Kyle Busch: Busch finished 2nd at Kansas and cruised into Round 3 of the NASCAR playoffs. "I basically just had to avoid disaster at Kansas," Busch said. "And that means I just had to keep my mouth shut." Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.
Talladega was a ratings bust. Talladega. For fans who follow the sport, those four Stewart-Haas cars up front, doing what they had to do all day long, was something to behold. For those who simply tune in to watch incredible action, they had to wait for the final 20 laps for the payoff. However, they had to have tuned in to witness either. They did not even bother. That is troublesome.
Busch finished 26th at Talladega and is now third in the playoff points standings. "Stewart-Haas Racing totally dominated the race," Harvick said. "It was like they were leading the world's fastest funeral procession, because they 'buried' the field."
Flying around in aircraft formation inches apart at 200 mph. That would be good enough to force me into the Depends, especially if I were in the passenger seat. It is a track that causes skid marks to appear everywhere.
Kyle Busch: Busch started on the pole at Dover and led 21 laps on his way to an eighth-place finish. "I'm just glad to survive with a decent finish," Busch said. "The 'Monster Mile' claimed a few victims on Sunday. Talladega's 2.66 mile track could be even more monstrous. Then we get Kansas Speedway's 1.5 mile track. It doesn't scare anyone, except prospective ticket buyers."
On to Dover this Sunday, and down to a dozen championship contenders. Once again, as we enter the second round of eliminations, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick look solid. So does Martin Truex Jr. Not so for everyone else.