For the third time this season the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has succumbed to rain and shortened a race. The granddaddy of them all, the Daytona 500 was the first, another crown jewel, the Coke 600 was also shortened and now the Lenox Tools 301 from New Hampshire had to be shortened due to weather.
Weather, whether you like it or not, has been a huge part of the circuit this season, but even before the race began crew chief turned Weather Channel expert Larry McReynolds and former driver Kyle Petty both explained that rain tires weren’t the answer. “The best example of rain tires not doing any good, “Larry Mac explained, “was last year at the road course in Montreal.”
McReynolds described how the Nationwide Series experiment with rain tires failed almost as miserably as the Brickyard 400 did last year (more on the Brickyard a little later). So, rain tires aren’t the answer to the rain, and a kid younger than myself won yesterday. To go the extra mile, read on about the Lenox Tools 301.
1. Logano captures first win
The 19-year old stepped into the famed #20, sponsored by Home Depot after Tony Stewart left Joe Gibbs Racing last year. He stepped into a two-time champion’s car, and had endorsements from drivers like Mark Martin. He was dubbed “Sliced Bread” by many, and his season’s start made him look like nothing more than burnt toast.
Logano lifts the trophy from his first NASCAR Sprint Cup victory
But, Logano has since rebounded from his bad start and is becoming a better all around racer. I wrote on Friday about Joey becoming the first repeat winner at Kentucky Speedway in the Nationwide/Busch Series. Logano contended for the win on Saturday at New Hampshire in the Nationwide/Busch Series, and has consistently battled for top finishes in NASCAR’s second-tier series.
Logano joins David Reutimann as a first-timer this season, and ironically enough, Reutimann’s win came in the rain shortened Coke 600.
2. Some guys have all the luck
Reutimann pulled himself to 14th place in the points, and he now sits just twelve points off the twelfth spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Reutimann finished fourth yesterday, and I bet he’d win the Championship if races were shortened by rain every week. At Daytona Reutimann finished 12th, he won the Coke 600, and his 4th place yesterday makes him the best driver when it comes to rain shortened events. (477 total points)
Meanwhile, it’s back to if it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all for the “Old Man” driving the #5 car. In the three rain shortened races Mark Martin has finished 16th (Daytona), 17th (Coke 600) and yesterday came home 14th. In all three races Martin had a much better car than the results showed, and even though David Caraviello wrote two weeks ago that Mark Martin seemed to be catching all the breaks after his win at Michigan, nothing could be further from the truth.
Martin sits only fifteen points ahead of Reutimann, in 11th in the points, and will continue to fall if his luck doesn’t change. (Reutimann’s 477 points in rain shortened races is 119 more than Martin’s 358) If anyone has been on a roller coaster ride this season, it might just be the 50-year old man from Arkansas.
However, the one bright spot that shines in the return to Daytona is that the #5 car sat on the outside pole and ran well during the Daytona 500 in February. Maybe some luck will be with Martin on Saturday. We’ll find out then.
3. Kyle, Kyle, Kyle
Listening to post wreck interviews are always entertaining, but yesterday I heard some very pointed remarks after numerous contenders were smashed during an incident involving none other than NASCAR’s most reviled figure, Kyle Busch.
When he’s not smashing guitars, bashing Dale Jr.’s passionate, semi-insane fans or bowing after burnouts, it seems Kyle Busch finds a way to make headlines. On lap 175 Busch’s Interstate Batteries car needed to bash something equally as green, Martin Truex’s neon green Tom-Tom car. Whether or not it was Busch’s fault lies in the eyes of the fans and the drivers involved.
You've gotta bet that the GPS in Truex's car didn't plan for that quick of a left turn
“Someone spun the tires, and our lane didn’t go,” Truex said. “Kyle just lost his head, like he usually does when something bad happens...We have a tore up race car.” Fans who watch NASCAR for the big wrecks will almost certainly be treated to a big one or two on Saturday evening, but a lot of people didn’t expect one at New Hampshire, the flattest track NASCAR visits.
As it goes with most racing incidents though, all will be forgotten—for a little while—and Truex may get payback (not with his helmet of course). Oh, and the Ron White moment of the race goes to Brian Vickers, who apparently is a big fan of White. He said, “I guess everybody just learns to expect Kyle doing something stupid. Stupid is forever.”
---------------------------------------------------------------
Well, I guess Joey Logano wants me to write more things about him on the weekend of a race. I guess I bring the kid good luck. There’s only 27 days until the green flag drops at Indy, and if you read last year’s “Brickyard Through My Eyes” countdown, you heard about a lot of fun and exciting personal experiences that I have had through the years at Indy.
This year I will re-visit some of those, but in a slightly different fashion. I think this year’s countdown may be more along the lines of the Daytona 500 countdown, where each numbered day in the countdown has a certain significance, but I’m not sure.
However, I do know this, tomorrow you get a break from motorsports coverage to see some pictures and descriptions of the Big East Championship ring that I received for being behind the camera for a Big East title run here at the University of Cincinnati.
Then, well, then we can really start counting down to the real action. Have a great Monday everyone, and I hope you enjoyed this edition of my ever long winded race recaps.
No comments:
Post a Comment