Rain Can’t Stop Kurt Busch

When attending a race weekend, rain always sucks.

Even in IndyCar, F1, or Sportscar racing when they put on rain tires, it’s just no fun watching
the sport or camping out at the track while getting soaked.

NASCAR and mother nature battled all day long in Michigan last Sunday. Eventually, the rain won out, but a villiant effort from the Air Titan dryers allowed the fans who stuck it out the chance to see a race that came down to strategy once again.

Kurt Busch was in the right place at the right time when NASCAR finally called the race after 138 of 200 scheduled laps. Kyle Larson was oh so close to stealing his first career Sprint Cup win. Busch had to switch to a backup car after a practice accident on Friday. He credited his team for working hard on the spare cars during the week in case they have to use them.

Larson had to pit for fuel three laps before the penultimate rain shower while leading. It was a great gamble by the Ganassi team and his crew chief Chris Heroy, who did his best to indicate that rain was falling while the Target Chevrolet was out front, to no avail.

“We could see weather coming there off of (Turn) 4 and just praying that it would get here in time for me to stay out and be in the lead when the rain did it,” Larson said afterwards.

“I applaud my guys for trying. We are pretty deep in the points, so we have to take risks like that to make the Chase.”

It was a bizarre day for sure at Michigan International Speedway. It was similar to rain-soaked weekends I have attended in the past, and brought to mind the 2007 3M Performance 400 when rain delayed the race until Tuesday. The winner that day: Kurt Busch. The good news is MIS will get to try it again when the series returns in August. Anyone who reads this blog knows how highly I think of Michigan and its track experience, so I have no doubt that August will go much more smoothly given the cooperation of the weather.

Kevin Harvick will be a contender then as he was in this race. Harvick led 63 laps, but was done in by a broken valve stem on lap 122 that brought him to the pits and relegated him to 29th place. It is still unreal to think of how many races Harvick would have won in the past year and a half if not for minor mechanical issues or pit road situations.

Busch got his second win of the season. His first was also a rain plagued weekend in Richmond. If not for the resurgence of Martin Truex Jr., Busch’s return from suspension to win two races and put himself into prime position in the Chase would be the biggest surprise of the year. It remains to be seen if he is in the class of Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, and Joey Logano as a serious championship contender, but he does have experience on his side, a strong Stewart-Haas Chevrolet, and some serious motivation to get back to the top.

(Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)

Johnson Owns Dover Again

Jimmie Johnson is going to need a new room in his house just for Dover trophies.

Johnson won the FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks for his 10th all-time win at Dover International Speedway. Johnson held off Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, and Martin Truex Jr. on the final green-white-checkered restart to claim his fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup win of the season and his 74th career victory.

Johnson has won three of the last four races at Dover and is just the 5th driver in NASCAR history with at least 10 wins at a single track.

As Darrell Waltrip pointed out during the Fox Sports 1 broadcast, Johnson has been quiet in most of his four wins this season until after the halfway point of the race. Sunday was no different as the #48 Lowe’s Pro Services Chevrolet seemed to make a charge to the front with under 100 laps to go and then was unbeatable when it counted most. He led just once all day and it was the final 23 laps.

As we found out on Memorial Day, it doesn’t matter how many laps you lead, as long as you lead the last one.

“It was cool to have a track that I enjoyed so much turn into a track I could win at,” Johnson said after the win. “We’ve been able to keep that feeling going for a lot of years.”

Harvick was second, followed by Kyle Larson, Kasey Kahne, Aric Almirola, and Martin Truex Jr.,

Brad Keselowski tried to play the strategy game this week, but gave up with the lead to pit with 42 laps to go. Harvick inherited first with a three second advantage over Johnson, but the caution came out after Brian Scott and Kyle Busch collected each other with 24 laps remaining. Johnson and Harvick were the only lead cars that elected not to get fresh tires during the yellow.

Another big story on Sunday was that Martin Truex Jr. could not find victory lane yet again.

I don’t think anyone but Furniture Row racing team members could have predicted the amazing turnaround of Truex Jr. in 2015. But that team has got to be wondering if they might ever win again.

He should’ve won at Kansas, but didn’t because of a late pit stop. Then Carl Edwards stole the win in Charlotte last week on fuel mileage after Truex led the most laps. Truex told his team after that near victory at the Coca-Cola 600 that they would be very good at Dover. He was not wrong after he led the most laps for the third straight race.

He just can’t seem to close the deal, this time finishing sixth after late contact with Jeb Burton and again not benefitting from a late pit stop for four tires. Truex was also not happy with what he thought was a block from Kahne on the final restart.

Truex was dominating the race at the halfway point. The New Jersey native was tearing through the field in the early going taking no prisoners as he lapped the field until the first caution came out for debris on lap 74. In the early duel between Truex and Denny Hamlin, Truex’s car was better on the long green flag runs. He was strong all day long. Just not strong enough. If he keeps this up, he will be in the Chase, but he deserves a win.

The recent run of Joe Gibbs Racing success continued in qualifying on Friday with Hamlin winning the pole and all four JGR Toyotas starting in the top ten. Hamlin, the 2015 Sprint All-Star race winner, took the early lead over Truex Jr. from the drop of the green. But he faded and crashed in the latter stages, and ended up 21st.

Coca-Cola 600 winner Carl Edwards had some issues in the pits when a wrench got stuck in the rear window as he was leaving his pit box giving a crew member a ride on his way out. Edwards also was penalized for being too fast exiting pit road and finished 19th.

After a rear gear change in the morning, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had to start the race at the back. Some aggressive driving and good pit strategy from crew chief Greg Ives kept the #88 competitive. He was too fast entering pit road on lap 246 and fell back to 26th, two laps down, but persevered to a 14th place finish.

The bad luck continued for Trevor Bayne when he was involved in a crash on lap 175 with Michael Annett and Justin Allgaier. Bayne got tapped by Annett and hit the inside wall on the front stretch. Annett collected his teammate Allgaier in the accident. In his first season with Roush Fenway, Bayne is now 31st in the points standings with his best finish being 18th at Martinsville and Texas. Bayne was called to the NASCAR hauler afterwards for exiting his car too soon.

I must make mention of Landon Cassill and his crazy athletic feat from last week. Cassill got out of his car after the Coke 600 last Sunday night and then proceeded to run 14 miles to downtown Charlotte and the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Cassill is one of several NASCAR drivers who compete in triathlons. I can’t imagine Richard Petty or Cale Yarborough doing that back in the day.

(Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)