There are two common themes running in NASCAR this year: weather delays and new race winners. Texas was no exception. Rain forced the delay of the race until Monday and Joey Logano became the seventh race winner in as many races.
It seemed only a matter of time until Logano won since he has had a top 10 starting position in every race since the Daytona 500. He and teammate Brad Keselowski have had a lot of speed this year but also some misfortune. Both drivers seemed bound for victory at Texas but a pit road speeding penalty on the last caution set Keselowski back giving Logano the challenge of running down Jeff Gordon for the win.
The race also had its odd moments starting with Dale Jr. snagging a bit of the wet grass, which sent him hard into the outside wall, catching fire. Pieces of his flaming Chevy flew into Jimmie Johnson’s car necessitating a few pit stops to repair the damage. Johnson, who started 16th, never led a lap and finished 25th.
Jeff Gordon was the star of the day for Hendrick Motorsports and finished 2nd to Logano. Gordon took only two tires at the last pit stop, opting for track position and the lead. A reasonable call you would think after the past race where he opted for 4 tires and was never able to overcome his poor starting position. But Logano took 4 tires, restarted 4th and overtook Vickers and Gordon within a lap to take the GWC finish.
And hats off to Kyle Larson who made for another great finish. With cars slicing and dicing off of the restart, he followed Kyle Busch around Brian Vickers on the final lap in what can only be described as a veteran power move. Even though Vickers regained the spot at the flag, it certainly looked to be the Kyle & Kyle Show for a bit there. We used to have the Dale & Dale Show, now maybe we could have the Kyle & Kyle Show. This kid has some talent, Ganassi is lucky to have him and Target may finally have a really good driver in their car.
And speaking of really good drivers, here’s this week’s WINNERS:
NASCAR for having, in spite of bad weather, some exciting races so far this year.
Joey Logano (1) for being the 7th winner in 7 races.
Jeff Gordon (2) for ALMOST winning but taking the points lead.
Kyle Busch (3) for starting deep in the field and driving it to the front, as usual.
Brian Vickers (4) for a pretty decent year so far. He could very well win this year.
Kyle Larson (5) for making more noise than that Dillon kid since Daytona.
Tony Stewart (10) sat on the pole, led some laps and finished 10th. Only his 3rd top 10 of the year, but 3rd in 4 races.
Greg Biffle (6) for finishing in the top 10 after staring in the top 10. That has not been easy for him this year.
Matt Kenseth (7) also started deep in the field, drove to the front and sits 2nd in points.
Clint Bowyer (8) was another driver that started deep and made a top 10 finish. He needs to do more to challenge for a win though.
Paul Menard (9) has 3 finishes outside the top 20 but the other 4 in the top 10.
Aric Almirola (12) missed a top 10 but if this keeps up, things could be looking up at RPM. That is 4 finishes in the top 15, 2 in the top 10.
Kasey Kahne (11) started deep in the field and just missed a top 10. That car is having issues this year with only 2 top 10 finishes this season.
And now, this week’s LOSERS:
Dale Jr. (43) messed up, wrecked, caught fire and ended his day before it began. And he messed up Jimmie Johnson’s car. And he lost the points lead. Pack it up and head to Darlington.
Kevin Harvick (42) done blowed up again. Now 26th in points. Ouch.
Kurt Busch (39) had a tire blow up and tore up his car something fierce. Now 25th in points.
Brad Keselowski (15) started 2nd (as Team Penske seems to do) but got caught speeding off of pit road on the final caution. Dumb.
Danica Patrick (27) finished just 1 position behind her boyfriend, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (26)
Jimmie Johnson (25) ate some of Jr’s car and never recovered. What’s the over-under on when he will win his first race?
Marcos Ambrose (20) started 9th, liked his car and said they had a good chance to win this race. Oh, that was on Sunday. On Monday he did not have a chance.
Carl Edwards (14) started in the top 10 but had nothing. Last 3 finishes since he won: 10, 13, 14. Going the wrong direction.
Denny Hamlin (13) hasn’t won and has only 2 top 10 finishes. What is up with that team?
Let me know what you think. Who were your winners and losers?
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