Now we know why they call it Silly Season. 16 drivers will make the Chase, and we already know that three who have done well enough thus far this season may not have done well enough to save their rides for next.
One thing that pops out at you are some of the unfamiliar names among our Hot 20 after a couple of races. Even more so, all the familiar names not there.
It is expected. The standings look weird. With bonus points from the Duels and the demo derby that was the Daytona 500, some wound up with more points than anticipated, and some got far less.
Weather forced a day delay at Pocono, and was it worth the wait? For me, it was, though I could not help but notice that it was a day too late for some who might have been in the grandstands. Soon, NASCAR will institute a dress code where fans must wear the same color as the seats in their section so everything will just blend in on television.
DiBenedetto's interview just goes to show what's great about NASCAR. While it may seem like the front is always the same guys day in and day out, and it may seem like old hat for drivers and fans, every so often one of the little guys who will work just as hard as his crew will have a good day.
There are ways to describe Sunday’s action in Bristol, but to do it justice one would need a blow-by-blow analysis of most of the competitors to figure out what happened, and how it happened. Let us begin with what we know.
Matt DiBenedetto was teary-eyed following his top-10 finish at Thunder Valley. The driver of the No. 83 BK Racing Toyota earned his career best sixth-place finish in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
A phoenix rises from the ashes to be reborn. In Phoenix, Kevin Harvick rose from the tears of Carl Edwards to once again become the Cactus King, the driver to beat at Phoenix.
Rules be rules, and the book was tossed at a number of folks after Atlanta. The biggest hit was taken by Martin Truex Jr. after a roof flap issue meant the loss of 15 points.
“Stay on the bottom, stay in line, and they can’t pass us.” For 199 laps, Darrell Waltrip’s observation of the 2016 Daytona 500 was dead on. Then, it became dead wrong.
