NASCAR Thoughts
So, I totally spaced on writing on the Pocono and Dover races. So instead, I thought I would share some of my thoughts on what has happened over the past couple of weeks.
First of all, the hot topic continues to be “Rowdy” Busch smashing the guitar in Victory Lane, Nashville. Now, I am a self described Busch fan, but I have to admit that when I saw what he was about to do, I thought to myself “He’s not gonna . . .” And I still can’t believe that he did!!! But while people have been focusing on the actual guitar smashing act, I want to comment on his motive, sharing the trophy with his team. When a driver wins a race, he or his owner or crew chief 
gets the trophy, not the members of his team. We are always hearing that NASCAR racing is a team sport, so truthfully, I applaud Kyle’s motive. I think it’s great that he is all about his team. From everything I’ve read, his team loves working for him and I think it shows the way his team reacts to him whenever he wins and they way they celebrate a win. So kudos to Kyle for the thought, I’m just not so sure about the execution.
As for Tony Stewart’s win, it was only a matter of time. A lot of hard core fans will be critical of a “fuel milage” win, but we always see a couple of those every year. And Larry McReynolds made an important observation during the race. Tony Stewart and crew chief Darrian Grubb could have played it safe, got gas and gone for the guaranteed points. But instead they rolled the dice because they really didn’t have anything to loose. Tony, leading the points, is pretty much guaranteed of making it into the chase. But going into the chase first in points with no wins means that Tony would be behind anyone with a race win. So by going for it, the now get 10 extra points when 
starting the Chase.
By the way, Ryan Newman will win soon. He’s been running too well. And to have the kind of finish he did at Pocono after having to pit several times to fix a spark plug problem shows how strong both teams at Stewart Haas are.
Finally, it was really cool watching the race from Pocono after having just driven that track. When the commentators kept repeating how hard the tunnel turn is, I kept saying to myself “Yes, it really is that hard.” I always had a lot of respect for race car drivers, but that has grown. As successful as my own experience was, it’s a lot different being in a somewhat controlled environment with only three cars on the track from 43 cars doing their own thing.
GBU: The Sprint AllStar Race!
The Good: Credit NASCAR with going back to the final 10 lap segment. That was some of the most exciting racing there’s been all season. A big congrats to Tony Stewart. He did what he’s been doing all season, putting himself into position to win races, and it was finally his turn. It was also great seeing Ryan Newman waiting for him in Victory Lane. You can tell that they are both enjoying themselves and have become great teammates. I think bot of the can win championships with Stewart-Haas.
The Bad: I really thought the race was kind of boring until the last segment. It seems that on these intermediate tracks the if you get up front you can drive a way from the pack for a while.
RCR also had a dismal night. It really seems that the Childress program is in big trouble and needs to make a bunch more changes. It’s really surprising since they have been so good for the past couple of seasons. The good news is they still have several drivers in Chase contention, so they shouldn’t panic too much.
The Ugly: Well, it really wasn’t very ugly unless you hate Kyle Busch, but the way he passed on the outside time and time again was amazing. I’ve said it before and will say it again, the man can just wheel! What was ugly was the number of people online blaming Kyle Busch for the wreck that took out Jeff Gordon. There really was no blame there, just three cars running where there’s only room for two, and anyone who really understands racing knows that those where three guys running for a million bucks, so non of them were going to give an inch.
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