This Sunday, NASCAR action takes us to Kansas. We just can not get enough of Kansas, which is why we find ourselves watching the action from there for a second time this season. If not Kansas, I guess there is always Kentucky, Chicago, Dover, Fontana, or Pocono , but allow me to calm down my beating heart.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. started on the pole at Talladega. Most years, that is just par for the course. In this, his final season, it was a return down memory lane. Talladega is where anything can happen, where any lead lap car has a shot to win it, and a where one’s dreams can go up in flames, smoke, and mangled metal without notice.
1. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex crashed out at Talladega with 17 laps to go when he made contact with David Ragan, setting a chain reaction crash that victimized Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, and Kyle Busch.
Nose to tail, side by side, just inches apart, ripping around a 2.66-mile tri-oval that is 48 feet wide with 33-degree banking in the corners at speeds of over 190 miles per hour. It is obvious to anyone watching what could happen. It is amazing when it does not.
It was a home date for most of the teams as the next round of the Chase opened in Charlotte, North Carolina. Martin Truex, Jr.’s outfit hails out of Colorado, so for them every date finds them on the road. It is a road that could take them all the way to the championship.
Martin Truex Jr.: Truex started 17th and Charlotte, but the handling on his No. 78 Toyota finally came around at the right time, and he pulled away to win the Bank Of America 500.
When asked how he handles the highs and lows, “You try to hold it all in all the time but you can’t, you just can’t. She’s at home right now…I love you,” he said, as he turned and walked away to celebrate with his team.
Charlotte Motor Speedway is becoming Martin Truex Jr's next home. In 2016 Truex scored his first Charlotte victory in dominant fashion by leading the majority of the race. However, the journey to his second Charlotte win in Sunday's Bank of America 500 yesterday wasn't easy.
Charlotte Motor Speedway hosts the opening race of the Playoff’s Round of 12 this year with the Bank of America 500 Sunday afternoon. Martin Truex Jr. leads the hunt for the championship trophy but Kyle Busch is closing fast.
Denny Hamlin captured the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Coors Light Pole Award Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway with a qualifying speed of 191.598 mph. It was his first pole this season, his second at Charlotte and his 25th career pole.