The year of the long green-flag run continued Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway in a 500-mile race that closed with a 351-mile green-flag run that included four green-flag pit stops. However, there wasn’t much action in those 500 miles so the first night race of the season gets a 2 Star Rating.
Greg Biffle and Jimmie Johnson were the stars of this show. Johnson led a race-high 156 laps but Biffle caught him with 30 laps to go to cruise to his first victory since October 2010.
Although Biffle went 49 races between wins, he has been in contention several times and has run extremely well so far this season. He leads the points, and it was just a matter of time before he reached Victory Lane.
The #16 team could really be on to something. The Biff has two wins at Kansas Speedway, the site of next week’s race, and the Roush-Fenway Racing Fords of Biffle, Matt Kenseth and to a lesser extent Carl Edwards have run well at each intermediate track on the schedule.
Right now Biffle and the #16 team have the look of a group that will seriously contend for the championship. Edwards and Kevin Harvick have started recent season in similar fashion to Biffle this year and each finished in the top three in the final standings. Don’t be surprised if Biffle is in that position this year.
As for Saturday’s race, the action wasn’t thrilling by any means, but at least it was a legitimate race. NASCAR officials didn’t get trigger happy throughout the race and throw cautions for debris to bunch up the field. Sure, that would’ve made for closer racing at times, but NASCAR should be a sport first and entertainment business second.
In the days before every lap of every race was televised, plenty of races finished with a margin of victory that was more than three seconds. The problem lately has been that people complain and complain and complain that the racing isn’t close enough, so then we end up watching reality television where the producers, or in this case race officials, influence the outcome of the event.
The other aspect of racing Saturday’s race the green-flag racing showcased was that there are still differences in the cars’ setups. Drivers complain nearly every week that they can’t pass because everybody is running the same speed. Well, some of that is because the cars all have the same basic body shape, but another reason is because there aren’t many extended green-flag runs in modern day NASCAR races.
At least the drivers had a hand in the outcome of the race at Texas. Biffle actually had to save his equipment so he could make a final push to get past Johnson for the win. That’s the type of strategy that won David Pearson so many races. That is an aspect of auto racing that shouldn’t be lost.
Sunday’s race at Rockingham also forced drivers to really drive their trucks rather than ride around at the same speed all day. The wonderfully abrasive surface at the Rock created solid, good racing.
NASCAR didn’t grow in popularity during the 1990s and 200s because of weekly photo finishes. It grew because people enjoyed watching drivers manhandle their cars through 500 miles at high speeds.
Sunday’s Rockingham race showed how fun racing can be without all of the heavy dependence of aerodynamics. It wasn’t a wreckfest and the finish wasn’t particularly close, but the trucks weren’t all running the same speeds because the tires wore outs so quickly.
While it’s nice to have the big, fancy palaces of speed such as Texas Motor Speedway, this weekend may have stirred memories of why we all fell in love with racing in the first place. The 200-mph race at Texas was fine, but the 130-mph race at Rockingham was just as fun, if not more.
Have a great week, everybody. Next up the trucks and Cup cars will be at another 1.5-mile giant in Kansas that will likely produce a race very similar to what we saw Saturday night in Texas.
Showing posts with label Samsung Mobile 500. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Samsung Mobile 500. Show all posts
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Rating the Samsung Mobile 500: 4 Stars ****
The Sprint Cup Series battened down the hatches for a windy one in Texas on Saturday night where a long winless streak was broken. No, not THE winless streak, but Matt Kenseth visited Victory Lane for the first time in 76 races. The first Texas race gets a 4 Star Rating.
Kenseth simply dominated the night. Many questioned if somebody would find the magic setup after all the practices took place during the daytime, and the #17 team certainly found it. The best car definitely won this race.
Kenseth’s journey to take the checkered flag first wasn’t without drama, however. Fuel strategy almost negated his team’s strong effort as both Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart tried to stretch the fuel mileage but both came up empty, in the literal sense for Stewart, who limped across the line in 12th after running in the top-five on the final lap.
This was a thinking-man’s race, and the one with the most strategy of the season so far, which is good. Strategy creates suspense, and makes every move that much more crucial.
The race, with exception of the debris caution on lap 208 that directly led to the Mark-Martin-Martin Truex Jr. wreck, was pretty clean, overall. And while the field did get spread out in the second half of the race, several drivers were able to stay close to Kenseth and keep him from running away. I don’t think that would’ve been possible in the days of the rear wing. Kenseth wouldn’t have been touched all night.
So now we’ve got three intermediate-track races under our collective belt, and it looks as though everyone but the Fords have some catching up to do. It took a long time for the new Roush-Yates engine to be developed, but it is sure paying off now. Fans of Roush-Fenway Racing and Richard Petty Motorsports should be ecstatic after Saturday because every single Ford in both of those camps spent time in the top 10.
Aside from the Roush gang, the folks at Richard Childress Racing also still have their program running close to full speed. Clint Bowyer was about the only other driver to even catch a whiff of Kenseth all night, and once again, Paul Menard came on strong late for yet another top-five finish.
Interestingly, Jimmie Johnson had a rough night. The #48 team missed the setup for the start of the race and never could quite get the car dialed in. No worries, though, Johnson will be right there at the end of the Coca Cola 600 next month in Charlotte, the next night race at a 1.5-mile track.
Now its time to strap in and go on the ride that is racing at Talladega Superspeedway. Doesn’t just thinking about it make your heart beat a little faster?
After the racing we saw at Talladega last year and at the Daytona 500 this year, it would take something really stupid to happen for this not to be an absolutely amazing race. Get fired up, it’s Talladega week!
Kenseth simply dominated the night. Many questioned if somebody would find the magic setup after all the practices took place during the daytime, and the #17 team certainly found it. The best car definitely won this race.
Kenseth’s journey to take the checkered flag first wasn’t without drama, however. Fuel strategy almost negated his team’s strong effort as both Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart tried to stretch the fuel mileage but both came up empty, in the literal sense for Stewart, who limped across the line in 12th after running in the top-five on the final lap.
This was a thinking-man’s race, and the one with the most strategy of the season so far, which is good. Strategy creates suspense, and makes every move that much more crucial.
The race, with exception of the debris caution on lap 208 that directly led to the Mark-Martin-Martin Truex Jr. wreck, was pretty clean, overall. And while the field did get spread out in the second half of the race, several drivers were able to stay close to Kenseth and keep him from running away. I don’t think that would’ve been possible in the days of the rear wing. Kenseth wouldn’t have been touched all night.
So now we’ve got three intermediate-track races under our collective belt, and it looks as though everyone but the Fords have some catching up to do. It took a long time for the new Roush-Yates engine to be developed, but it is sure paying off now. Fans of Roush-Fenway Racing and Richard Petty Motorsports should be ecstatic after Saturday because every single Ford in both of those camps spent time in the top 10.
Aside from the Roush gang, the folks at Richard Childress Racing also still have their program running close to full speed. Clint Bowyer was about the only other driver to even catch a whiff of Kenseth all night, and once again, Paul Menard came on strong late for yet another top-five finish.
Interestingly, Jimmie Johnson had a rough night. The #48 team missed the setup for the start of the race and never could quite get the car dialed in. No worries, though, Johnson will be right there at the end of the Coca Cola 600 next month in Charlotte, the next night race at a 1.5-mile track.
Now its time to strap in and go on the ride that is racing at Talladega Superspeedway. Doesn’t just thinking about it make your heart beat a little faster?
After the racing we saw at Talladega last year and at the Daytona 500 this year, it would take something really stupid to happen for this not to be an absolutely amazing race. Get fired up, it’s Talladega week!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
500 miles at night usually brings good, solid racing
A 500-mile race like the one coming up at Texas on Saturday night is an endurance test, even today with all of the fancy engine and cooling technology on the cars, and this type of race is also nice because people don’t have to panic and be up on the chip at the very beginning of the race.
So to begin the first of the season that hasn't been run on Sunday afternoon, it’s time to shine the cars up and go racing under the lights.
The daylight portion of the first half of the season is over, and NASCAR will turn on the lights Saturday night to begin a stretch of the schedule where six of the next eight races are at night.
For the first time in several years, every race up to April has been at the 1 p.m. local time start since Phoenix moved into the second spot on the schedule and Fontana took the final March weekend.
As come the night races, so does the second stretch of the season. Yes, we had an off week in the second weekend of March, but that was still in the middle of the early season.
We are now getting close to the point where the season is no longer considered new and it is time to hit the long grind that is the summer stretch. If the All-Star Race is included, there isn’t another weekend after Easter without Cup racing until the weekend of July 24.
This weekend is also the second 1.5-mile speedway of the season. The Fords were incredibly strong at the other mile-and-a-half track of the season, Las Vegas, and Carl Edwards won the race, and Greg Biffle certainly could have if he hadn’t had problems in the pits.
If the Ford power shows itself again this weekend, and it looks like it will, as David Ragan was fastest in practice Thursday, this could really be a dogfight into the summer among the Chevrolets of Richard Childress Racing and Hendrick Motorsports and the Fords of Roush Fenway Racing.
The Joe Gibbs Racing camp has struggled with engine issues early this season, but once those get worked out the Gibbs cars will be fighting for wins, as well, and they have in several races already.
So sit back and enjoy the first Saturday night race of the season. It should be a show. These 500-mile races at tracks such as Texas, Atlanta and Charlotte always seem to bring out some of the best racing, a large part of which is because of the length of the race.
People love to say they want the drivers to drive like crazy from the start of the race, but a large part of a race is also about the flow that develops in green-flag runs, similar to the pace of a baseball game.
Don’t worry, there will be plenty of cautions throughout the night and at night’s end everyone will be on their feet cheering or yelling at the TV, but the journey there is important and it’s part of the fun.
So to begin the first of the season that hasn't been run on Sunday afternoon, it’s time to shine the cars up and go racing under the lights.
The daylight portion of the first half of the season is over, and NASCAR will turn on the lights Saturday night to begin a stretch of the schedule where six of the next eight races are at night.
For the first time in several years, every race up to April has been at the 1 p.m. local time start since Phoenix moved into the second spot on the schedule and Fontana took the final March weekend.
As come the night races, so does the second stretch of the season. Yes, we had an off week in the second weekend of March, but that was still in the middle of the early season.
We are now getting close to the point where the season is no longer considered new and it is time to hit the long grind that is the summer stretch. If the All-Star Race is included, there isn’t another weekend after Easter without Cup racing until the weekend of July 24.
This weekend is also the second 1.5-mile speedway of the season. The Fords were incredibly strong at the other mile-and-a-half track of the season, Las Vegas, and Carl Edwards won the race, and Greg Biffle certainly could have if he hadn’t had problems in the pits.
If the Ford power shows itself again this weekend, and it looks like it will, as David Ragan was fastest in practice Thursday, this could really be a dogfight into the summer among the Chevrolets of Richard Childress Racing and Hendrick Motorsports and the Fords of Roush Fenway Racing.
The Joe Gibbs Racing camp has struggled with engine issues early this season, but once those get worked out the Gibbs cars will be fighting for wins, as well, and they have in several races already.
So sit back and enjoy the first Saturday night race of the season. It should be a show. These 500-mile races at tracks such as Texas, Atlanta and Charlotte always seem to bring out some of the best racing, a large part of which is because of the length of the race.
People love to say they want the drivers to drive like crazy from the start of the race, but a large part of a race is also about the flow that develops in green-flag runs, similar to the pace of a baseball game.
Don’t worry, there will be plenty of cautions throughout the night and at night’s end everyone will be on their feet cheering or yelling at the TV, but the journey there is important and it’s part of the fun.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Rating the Samsung Mobile 500: 4 Stars ****
After way too much rain over the weekend, stock cars were finally able to return to the track Monday for a long, but good, day of racing. The wait was worth it, however, and the Sprint Cup race gets a 4 Star Rating.
What Denny Hamlin did Monday afternoon was simply remarkable. Less than three weeks after having knee surgery he was not only able to run the entire race, but he beat 42 other drivers with two good legs.
Before the season started, Hamlin was the popular pick to challenge Jimmie Johnson and the #48 team for the championship. Shortly thereafter reports surfaced that Hamlin had torn the ACL in his left knee while playing basketball. So, many thought, the 2010 challenger to Johnson went down even before the season even started. After seeing Carl Edwards deal with his broken foot a year ago, expecting Hamlin to run up front consistently was nearly a pipe dream.
Then comes Martinsville, one of the most physically demanding tracks on the circuit, and Hamlin wins the race after announcing the surgery. Fine, he won before the surgery, which was amazing, but now it will be a few months before we see him near the front again. Not so. Hamlin overcame a bad qualifying run and made his way up to the front of the field in the final half of the race. Then, with several really strong contenders in the top five with Johnson, Kyle Busch and Greg Biffle, Hamlin was still able to come out on top. That, folks, is simply remarkable.
Along with Hamlin’s win, the other storyline Monday was how the spoiler would handle on a fast, 1.5-mile track, and the results were very encouraging. The racing at Texas looked a little more like the racing we all used to know and love. It looks like drivers will be able to, once again, nudge the car in front of them up the track without even touching them. Jeff Gordon did it to Johnson and Tony Stewart before they eventually collided and triggered a massive wreck.
Gordon had a very interesting day overall. He has Texas Motor Speedway figured out, with winning last year and leading a ton of laps in this race, but contact with other cars eventually ended his day. I will say, it is nice to see Gordon and Johnson go at it for once and not come out talking about how much respect they have for each other. Gordon went so far to say after making contact with the #48 that Johnson gets “treated different than everybody else.” Should make for an interesting week at Hendrick Motorsports.
After a nine-car pileup in Texas, things only get bigger and better as the series heads to Talladega Superspeedway this coming weekend. This is one of those races where it is generally a good idea to strap down your TV set because this race usually has people talking for at least two weeks after the checkered flag falls. Will there be a yellow line controversy? Seems like that happens every couple races there. Now, the addition of the spoiler looks as though it may make the restrictor-plate racing even better. I can’t wait.
What Denny Hamlin did Monday afternoon was simply remarkable. Less than three weeks after having knee surgery he was not only able to run the entire race, but he beat 42 other drivers with two good legs.
Before the season started, Hamlin was the popular pick to challenge Jimmie Johnson and the #48 team for the championship. Shortly thereafter reports surfaced that Hamlin had torn the ACL in his left knee while playing basketball. So, many thought, the 2010 challenger to Johnson went down even before the season even started. After seeing Carl Edwards deal with his broken foot a year ago, expecting Hamlin to run up front consistently was nearly a pipe dream.
Then comes Martinsville, one of the most physically demanding tracks on the circuit, and Hamlin wins the race after announcing the surgery. Fine, he won before the surgery, which was amazing, but now it will be a few months before we see him near the front again. Not so. Hamlin overcame a bad qualifying run and made his way up to the front of the field in the final half of the race. Then, with several really strong contenders in the top five with Johnson, Kyle Busch and Greg Biffle, Hamlin was still able to come out on top. That, folks, is simply remarkable.
Along with Hamlin’s win, the other storyline Monday was how the spoiler would handle on a fast, 1.5-mile track, and the results were very encouraging. The racing at Texas looked a little more like the racing we all used to know and love. It looks like drivers will be able to, once again, nudge the car in front of them up the track without even touching them. Jeff Gordon did it to Johnson and Tony Stewart before they eventually collided and triggered a massive wreck.
Gordon had a very interesting day overall. He has Texas Motor Speedway figured out, with winning last year and leading a ton of laps in this race, but contact with other cars eventually ended his day. I will say, it is nice to see Gordon and Johnson go at it for once and not come out talking about how much respect they have for each other. Gordon went so far to say after making contact with the #48 that Johnson gets “treated different than everybody else.” Should make for an interesting week at Hendrick Motorsports.
After a nine-car pileup in Texas, things only get bigger and better as the series heads to Talladega Superspeedway this coming weekend. This is one of those races where it is generally a good idea to strap down your TV set because this race usually has people talking for at least two weeks after the checkered flag falls. Will there be a yellow line controversy? Seems like that happens every couple races there. Now, the addition of the spoiler looks as though it may make the restrictor-plate racing even better. I can’t wait.
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