We are now into the month of March and so far we’ve seen the closest finish in Daytona 500 history, a huge strategy call in a blistering fast race at Atlanta, and a sandstorm in Las Vegas.
The NASCAR season is underway and there is a lot to cover.
DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 21: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota, takes the checkered flag ahead of Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota, to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series DAYTONA 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 21, 2016 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)
Denny Hamlin’s last lap move at Daytona was incredible. Even more incredible was the reaction that it received from racing fans and sports fans in general. That is exactly why NASCAR holds its biggest race of the season in February. They want the attention of the nation and they got it. The race would not have garnered nearly that much media attention if it was held anytime during the football season, even with such an exciting finish.
I loved how FOX and NASCAR built up “Daytona Day,” as a day to get together with friends and throw a party to watch the race. For the 7th straight year, I attended our NASCAR group’s 500 party at Slim-N-Chubbys on W. 150th in Cleveland. Serious NASCAR fans join those who may just have an interest in the Daytona 500 for the day. This year more than any other everyone in the place had a driver they were rooting at the end. This includes the Matt Kenseth fan near me who was looking for 500 win #3. She was convinced that Kenseth had it locked up. I just kept saying there’s still a long way to go. Even on the last lap I knew Kenseth was a sitting duck.
The most shocking part of the 500 to me was not that Hamlin took the win, but how Dale Earnhardt Jr. crashed out. Junior had the car to beat for two weeks, but got caught up in the slippery track that heated up as the race went on. His teammate rookie Chase Elliott also fell victim at the same part of the track coming off turn four. Winning and losing the 500 can really be a lot about luck, but Hamlin’s move proved it is also a lot about the driver and how good your car is. Hamlin’s FedEx Toyota was strong the entire month and everyone knew it. We will see how Denny builds off this win and what kind of momentum he can take into the Chase in September.
Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, takes the checkered and yellow flags to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 under caution at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 28, 2016 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/NASCAR via Getty Images).
In Atlanta, Jimmie Johnson claimed his 76th Sprint Cup win to tie Dale Earnhardt Sr. for seventh on the all-time NASCAR wins list. Crew chief Chad Knaus chose to pit the #48 six laps before anyone else, and nine laps before lead Kevin Harvick. It worked brilliantly as 90% of Knaus calls do. Johnson’s win not only made a statement that the 6-time champion is not fading away anytime soon, but it also gave Knaus a chance to say he is still one of the dominant crew chiefs in the sport.
76 wins in Sprint Cup is a lot. Richard Petty’s 200 will likely never be broken. David Pearson is next with 105 and then its Jeff Gordon with 93. Johnson is 40 years old. Gordon retired last year at the age of 44. No one knows how long Johnson will continue to race, but it would be safe to say he’s got at least four more years in him. Can he win 17 races in that time to tie Gordon? We shall see, but the remarkable thing about Johnson is not only the amount of wins he has garnered in his now 15 seasons in the sport, but also that now he is the active leader in wins by 28 over Tony Stewart. The next active driver is Matt Kenseth with 36 wins. The point is, Johnson and Knaus still make it look easy to win in a sport that it surely is not.
The weather changed everything in Las Vegas this past Sunday. Leading up to the start of the Kobalt 400, high winds caused some issues as the teams and drivers made their way to the starting grid. The winds even forced NASCAR to delay the start by 25 minutes and with about 90 laps to go, a huge sandstorm crept into the Las Vegas Motor Speedway making it hard to see the cars.
“Visibility, maybe, is the only thing you get a little nervous about when the sandstorm come through, but it wasn’t too windy,” said Dale Earnhardt Jr. who finished 8th.
“I thought it was windy before we got in the car, but I was just as intrigued as anybody to see how it would go and how the race would go with these kinds of winds. It’s definitely a factor that makes it another challenge. All the drivers want is more challenges; more hoops to jump through.”
Brad Keselowski, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Ford, races Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 6, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images).
It did not stop Brad Keselowski from blowing by Kyle Busch with five laps to go and winning his his first race since California last spring. Keselowski even overcame an early pit road speeding penalty.
The theme of the last two races has been how the new downforce package will improve the racing for the drivers and the fans. So far the drivers have been extremely pleased. Junior was thrilled after the Atlanta race and Brad echoed those thoughts after his win.
“I thought it was a really good balance. The challenge is for NASCAR that we’ve got all these race teams spending millions of dollars to develop the aerodynamics on the cars because there’s such a competitive advantage to finding more downforce, finding more side force, reducing the drag on the cars. It will only take us about half a year to a year’s time to where we remove all the benefits that this package has given the racing to showcase a day like we saw today with a lot of passing for the lead.”
“As far as the downforce package is concerned, we have to continue to stay ahead of that as a sport to continue to have great finishes to races like we saw today and quite a few passes for the lead. That’s what we’ve all come to expect of this mile-and-a-half racing, and I think that’s what we saw, which is something to be proud of.”
Love him or hate him, Keselowski is one of the most knowledgable drivers in the garage about what will make the sport competitive and successful. NASCAR listens to him, as they should, because he is a former champion. It remains to be seen if the racing will improve as we go to tracks like Michigan, Kentucky, and Charlotte, all places that have notoriously been single file parades the past few seasons. But it certainly seems like they are heading in the right direction and must continue to evolve like all professional leagues to continue to keep the fans interested.
Speed For Thought 