Just a week after Tony Stewart criticized NASCAR for its rather lax rules regarding tightened lug nuts, and having to cough up a $35,000 fine for doing so, guess who is once again mandating that all lug nuts be tightened? Apparently there are no “whistler blower” provisions in effect when it comes to spotlighting stupidity.
Watching NASCAR is very much akin to viewing a bunch of toddlers race each other. Little Johnny might take off early, get within a few feet of the finish line, then that damn butterfly takes all his attention and he swerves right and off the course. Saturday night in Texas was a lot like that.
Stewart-Haas Racing confirmed that Ty Dillon will be the interim replacement driver for Tony Stewart’s No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
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.
In a day of fits and starts, drops and stops, here is what else was surprising and not surprising in the 47th annual Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
Three drivers. When it came to the story of the Pocono race, only three mattered. You probably wanted to know who led the race for the opening few laps, and that would have been Carl Edwards. He finished 15th. For the rest of the way, it was down to two names, right down to the final lap; Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick. No one else much mattered on Sunday.
It was a fine weekend. Sure, you may think I say that due to Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhard, Jr. and Jeff Gordon coming across the line in that order in Kansas. Okay, there might be some truth in that.
As the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Kansas Speedway, eight drivers are locked into the Chase for the Sprint Cup, provided they attempt to qualify for the remaining regular season races. Several prominent drivers are still searching for that elusive victory or the consistency needed to grab one of the eight remaining spots as the Chase approaches.
Just about the only thing missing was Jeff Probst and his Tribal Council as this turned into a game of survival. With the rains that delayed the start, the rains that stopped it again and again, the day race that ran into night became a reality show of its own.
