The song ends like that every time. Same for NASCAR lately. Kevin Harvick won his third straight, maybe it was even unencumbered but we will have to wait on that. At least he was not the only car featured. Kyle Busch was strong all day and finished second. Chase Elliott was not, yet arrived later on to matter when it mattered to finish third. Not yet a win, but the result sends him back in the right direction. Denny Hamlin was a factor and, to a much lesser degree, so was pole sitter Martin Truex, Jr. as they completed our Top Five.
The damndest thing happened right after I submitted this for publication. The penalties came down after Las Vegas. Kevin Harvick’s team got hit. Hard. Talk about having to go back to the drawing..er..keyboard.
1. Kevin Harvick: Harvick was clearly the class of the field at Las Vegas, winning Stages 1 and 2 and leading 214 laps in winning the Pennzoil 400, his second consecutive victory. "I was untouchable," Harvick said. "The field didn't have anything for me, except inferiority. And I've led 395 of 592 laps over the last two races, which should give me the award for 'best lead actor in a series.'" Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.
If you missed the action from Las Vegas, allow me to bring you up to date. If you read my column from last week regarding Atlanta, consider yourself fully informed. Enjoy your day.
The general consensus is that Atlanta was a boring race. I disagree. Let me share as to why. There is no debate that Kevin Harvick had the best car, that based on performance his was the auto that should have won. However, when drama was needed we had weather and strategy apparently conspiring to beat him. Would it rain? Would Denny Hamlin be in front at the right time when the heavens opened up?
While Harvick led more than half the time, Brad Keselowski was second after holding point for 38 laps. Denny Hamlin was fourth with 26 up front, while Kurt Busch settled for eighth, taking the second stage and leading 52 circuits.
36. Damn, and I was so looking forward to saying nothing but positive things this season. 36. That is the number of entries slated to run at Atlanta on Sunday. 36. The last time we had that small a field, it was 1996 in Martinsville. Rusty Wallace and Jeff Gordon were the race winners at that venue. 36.
The 60th edition of the Great American Race was run Sunday under sunny skies in Daytona Beach, Florida. From the start, shortly after 3:00 p.m., it was nearly four hours of chaos. At the end, there were only a few competitive cars left to race.
Forty drivers, 40 spots. Still, despite the lack of interest and resources for additional teams to attempt to enter the iconic competition, we have some high-quality contenders to watch out for. Alex Bowman and Denny Hamlin are locked into the front row, as long as their cars last. The rest of the top 20 qualifiers went into Thursday trying to protect their positions from all challengers in the two 20 car heats.
