Dammit. Other than for Matt Kenseth, that was probably the most used term from Sunday’s action at New Hampshire. Kenseth led three times at Loudon, but it was those final three laps that really mattered as the former champ locked his way into the next round of the Chase.
There is hot, and there is hot. Hot could be winning the opening race of the Chase, securing a berth in the next round, and allowing two races to tinker and prepare for Charlotte. However, after a spin on just the second lap in Chicago, the result was as much a credit to the performance of crew chief Dave Rogers as it was to the driver, Denny Hamlin.
Hamlin roared back from last place to win the Chase opener at Chicagoland. Hamlin automatically advances to the second round of the Chase, which begins at Dover on October 4th.
In the first race of the 10-race Chase to the championship here is what was surprising and not surprising from 15th Annual myAFibRisk.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.
So it begins. Sixteen drivers, each trying to avoid being one of the four eliminated from contention for the championship after each round of three races.
If history repeats itself, there will be no surprise winner at Richmond on Saturday night. Going back over the past 10 years, every single driver who has won there is currently locked into the Chase for this year. Except for one.
Tradition. On Sunday, we learned that tradition means something. We learned it is actually worth waiting for its return, though why it took NASCAR a decade to solve the hot, muggy conditions of a day race in early September by simply moving it to the evening still boggles the mind.
After a few years on tinkering around with tradition, something NASCAR seems more than eager to do until the manure hits the ventilation system, the Southern 500 is back for the Labor Day weekend.
With lots of discussion and questions about restarts in the drivers’ meeting prior to the race, here is what was surprising and not surprising after the checkered flag flew on the 55Th Annual Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
While Danica Patrick may just have scored a brand new sponsor for the next race season, Stewart Haas Racing has another unique sponsor relationship with a nonprofit organization by the name of Code 3 Associates.
