CHARLOTTE, NC – Seven-Time NASCAR Cup champion Jimmie Johnson faces having a new race car (the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1) and a changing Hendrick Motorsports organization. As the seasoned and senior driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, a leadership role emerges, even if last year’s performance was not up to the team’s usual standards.
It’s only a short time until the annual Media Tour at the Hall of Fame in Charlotte. We will learn a lot there, but a couple things are obvious. There will be 24 major teams running next year (10 Fords, nine Chevrolets, and five Toyotas).
Exactly one year ago, William Byron stood in victory lane at Homestead-Miami Speedway, having won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season-finale the week after his title hopes went up in smoke with his engine. Today, a week after he punched his ticket with a victory in the Arizona desert, he dueled it out with JR Motorsports teammate Elliott Sadler in the final laps of the 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series season to claim the championship in his name.
Despite a last-minute rag-tag pit crew, due to extraneous circumstances, William Byron took advantage of a late caution to exit pit road ahead of the dominant driver of the race and drove on to win the NASCAR XFINITY Series Ticket Galaxy 200 at Phoenix Raceway.
Change can be a good thing. Sometimes it is, but other times it is a simple reminder that we are getting older and, like disco, what was popular yesterday might not be tomorrow.
Denny Hamlin took the lead on the final restart, passing Joey Logano with a last lap inside crossover move to win the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 Saturday at Darlington Raceway. It was his fifth XFINITY win at Darlington.
With the Southern 500 coming our way from Darlington this weekend, it seems like a good time to talk about tradition. The first one in the books was back in 1950, making it the oldest of the sport’s iconic events. Most of the time, it goes to someone who is in or will be in, the Hall of Fame. That number will only grow once Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson get in, along with a few other contenders I can think of.
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 more silly season question was settled today with the announcement that William Byron will drive the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in 2018, the team officially announced today.
Promoting Byron to the Cup Series. He just hasn't been established enough to make a successful jump. Granted, he's no stranger to Victory Lane, but as has been proven time and again, Cup cars are entirely different animals from XFINITY, Trucks, and so forth.
