Win and you are in, or so the saying goes. Well, not if it is only your fifth race, 16 events into the season. However, running together a string of 10 straight Top Fifteens or better is easier than taking one of these contests, and Kyle Busch checked that off his “to do” list at Sonoma Sunday.
Make the racing better. That seems to be what NASCAR is locked into and bless ‘em for trying. Outside of running all the races at Daytona, Talladega and Bristol, it is a challenge. The good old days had winners taking the flag by laps, not seconds, so no solution can be found there.
Rain. Just bloody lovely. Who, outside of California, really needed the wet stuff all that bad? When Alfred, Lord Tennyson said, “Bright and fierce and fickle is the South, And dark and true and tender is the North,” he obviously was not talking about the rains of Michigan. Those black clouds still managed to tease one driver into dreams of winning delights, just before breaking his heart.
It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Interesting race, a few surprises, great topography and scenery, and top notch announcing. What was not to like?
Carl Edwards won his first road course in Sonoma, California Sunday. He ended a five race Hendrick Motorsports win streak that started in Kansas. Edwards took the lead from Marcos Ambrose with 25 laps to go and never looked back.
Tony Stewart; the man you should never count out no matter what. Tony said prior to the 2011 chase that he didn't even deserve to be in it with how poorly he was running. Two months and five wins later, he was hoisting the Sprint Cup trophy at Homestead. This year, Stewart-Haas Racing has had a rough time finding their footing with these Generation Six cars and have been forced to endure some pretty bad days at the track.
That time of the year has come again when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series head for the first road courses of the season in Sonoma, CA and Elkhart Lake, WI, respectively.
The driver of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota couldn’t be happier, finishing second in the Chase standings, just 39 points behind champion Brad Keselowski and a mere one point ahead of third place finisher and five time champ Jimmie Johnson.
Ryan Briscoe capitalized on a great opportunity Sunday afternoon at Infineon Raceway to earn his first win in over two years. Will Power dominated the first half of the race, but on lap 64, things went amiss.
