Last year, Kevin Harvick made a substantial impact for many young drivers, including NASCAR Next driver Will Rodgers. This year, five NASCAR Monster Energy Cup series drivers will start in the NASCAR K&N Pro West race in Sonoma on Saturday, June 23.
Australia. If there was any road to success on Sunday, it was to be a native of Australia. Perth-born Daniel Ricciardo led from start to finish to claim the Monaco Grand Prix. At Indianapolis, Toowoomba’s own Will Power kissed the bricks and drank the milk. Unfortunately, the last Aussie to drive a Cup car was Tasmanian Marcus Ambrose four years ago.
Jeff Gordon. Four-time NASCAR champion. Three-time Daytona 500 champion. Four-time Brickyard 400 winner. Six-time Southern 500 victor. Three-time World 600 champion. Three-time All-Star race winner. Winner of 93 Cup races. He probably was the most automatic inductee into the Hall of Fame since Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.
Boogity, boggity, boggity. It was Saturday night racing at Kansas, boys. Yes sir, it was the Might As Well Watch Paint Dry 400. Kansas, where excitement goes to die. Kevin Harvick started at the pole and led through to the competition caution. Ryan Blaney led at the re-start and continued to do so right to the end of the opening segment.
For Sale. National sanctioning body. A real fixer upper. Updated safety features. Decades of tradition. All offers to be considered. Contact Goldman Sachs for further details.
Sometimes the news is good like it was at Talladega last week. Entertaining races and I loved the Cup guys manning the microphones for the Xfinity race. They were laid back, funny, and in the case of Darrell Wallace, Jr., pretty darn articulate.
Talladega was sweet. That was the kind of action that captured my attention as a kid, watching Wide World of Sports. As Jim McKay so iconically put it all those years ago, “Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport... the thrill of victory... and the agony of defeat... the human drama of athletic competition.” That was Sunday at Talladega.
Welcome to Talladega, the most entertaining race track in NASCAR. We watch something you and I haven’t got the guts to do, or just maybe we have enough brains not to. Fender to fender, side by side at 200 mph, and you sit in wonder that they have not wrecked yet. When they do wreck, something considered more of an eventuality than anything else, it often is spectacular.
We truly are in a sweet spot in the NASCAR schedule. Last Sunday (and Monday) it was Bristol. This Saturday night they race at Richmond. We conclude April with the test that is Talladega. Action good enough to convince anyone who enjoys pure entertainment to become attracted to the sport.
Texas. That may have been the worst NASCAR race I ever watched. If not, I hope I never remember a worse one. Indianapolis in 2008 might challenge it, but that was due to having to throw out a caution every 10 laps to prevent the damn tires from exploding.
