Greetings race fans! It’s been a while..
Don’t you hate when real work gets in the way of other things like watching a four hour Sprint Cup race?
That’s what has happened to me the last month and for that reason I have not blogged since the first race of the Chase in Chicago. Being busy with work and also the fact that NASCAR’s playoff is completely buried by the NFL, college football, and the MLB playoffs this time of year, but that’s another topic for a day in December at this point. But we will definitely address it.
When I last talked to you, Kevin Harvick’s Chase chances decreased dramatically after that altercation with Jimmie Johnson. Harvick won when he had to once again at Dover and Johnson’s quest for seven titles ended in shocking fashion due to a $5 part also at Dover. Now we are halfway through the Chase and another accident has taken centerstage on the verge of an elimination race in Talladega this weekend.
Last Sunday at Kansas, Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth had a fierce battle in an otherwise uneventful race. In the closing laps, Logano gave Kenseth a tap and sent him spinning, paving the way for his second straight Chase win. Logano is the only driver that goes into this week’s wild card race guaranteed to advance to the next round of the Chase. Kenseth must now win to keep his championship hopes alive. The same can be said for Dale Earnhardt Jr. who has had some struggles in the last two races.
Fireworks were expected after the race, but they did not occur. There was no pushing and shoving from the respective crews or sneak attacks like Kenseth on Brad Keselowski between haulers in Charlotte last season. Racing incident? Maybe. Will Kenseth get his revenge on the track? Possibly, I wouldn’t count on it.
I thought less about the confrontation that did not happen and more about the aggressiveness of Logano, who had already punched his ticket to the next round with a win at Charlotte Motor Speedway the week before and didn’t need to win this race at all. Instead of sitting back and being content to stay out of trouble Logano took it upon himself to try and eliminate Kenseth by preventing him from winning. Not sure if this was an intentional strategy, but if so, it was brilliant.
Kenseth has won five races this season and with the Gibbs Toyota horsepower, has proven to be one of the drivers to beat in this final stretch of the season. After an accident in Charlotte, Kenseth needed this win badly. Logano knew that, and he was determined to deny him. Now Kenseth and a host of other drivers will hope and pray that they can not only stay out of “the big one” at Talladega, but also try their hardest to win the race and advance to the round of eight.
Logano was a tad aggressive, but as many media members have pointed out, the analysis and scope of the contact has been way less dramatic than if it involved say, Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the same situation.
Logano was my pick to win the championship at the beginning of the season and he remains my favorite going into the Eliminator round. He has matured greatly over the offseason and Roger Penske has given him the fastest cars he’s had since Rusty Wallace won ten races for him in 1993 and eight in 1994. Logano is ready to be a champion. He has proven that after his initial growing pains in Sprint Cup with Joe Gibbs Racing.
Look for today’s race at Talladega to be wild. Even more wild than is usually is. With Logano not expecting to back off, you can say that twelve drivers will be going all out to win the race. Restarts will be crazy. NASCAR is even anticipating this and limiting a possible green-white-checkered finish to just one attempt at the end of the race. Look for some fireworks after this one if drivers are eliminated by a late race crash.
When all is said and done, we will have eight drivers remaining and four races left. It’s Logano’s championship to lose at this point, and even though I don’t love the Chase format, despite his dominance we could have a completely different storyline next week going into Martinsville. Set your DVRs.
(Above Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Speed For Thought 