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Considering where we are in the season and the race for the Chase, several cup teams are looking for Magic at the Magic mile this weekend. I think it goes without saying, the ones really looking for Magic are the ones that are in the top 16 in points and they don’t have a victory yet. In fact, there are some that have one victory and they’re looking for more but the ones without a victory are looking for one and they need it to be soon.
Matt Kenseth is the first one that comes to the mind of this fan when it comes to needing a victory. He may be fifth in points but he would like to solidify a position in the Chase by getting his first victory on the year the Magic mile. Compared to last year, he and his team have struggled a bit more than they did and it appears this year, he’s not qualifying like he did last year and just not as visible as he was last year.
Ryan Newman sits eight in the points standings right now but he really needs a victory to solidify a spot in the 16 available spots for the Chase. Paul Menard and Clint Bowyer are in similar situations and they sit 10th and 12th respectively. Without a win their points position is at least somewhat precarious for making the Chase.
Austin Dillon, Greg Biffle and Brian Vickers would like nothing better than to make a trip to Victory Lane this weekend and the three of them sit 13th, 15th and 16th in the points. Without wins, their situation for the Chase depends on what others do. Well, I guess that goes for anyone in the top 20 but it is definite, at least for this year, NASCAR’s focus is on winning and that’s exactly what anyone that wants to make it into the Chase needs to do. Those outside of the top 16 and yet in the top 20 needing a win are, Kyle Larson, Kasey Kane, Marcus Ambrose and Tony Stewart. After that it just depends on what happens as far as wins and points for all concerned.
Once again this weekend, Brad Keselowski looks to be very strong but it is questionable whether or not his speeds will hold up in long green flag runs. Of course we all know that he is quite capable of winning no matter what but should there be those long green flag runs, especially in the closing laps of the race, it’s possible he could be very beatable by many others.
At least from this fan’s view, it did appear there were those that made a lot of longer green flag runs in the practice sessions and any one of them might end up taking the checkered flag. I won’t go into a long list of names at this point but there are several that looked good when taking longer runs as far as their lap times were concerned.
Unfortunately, it does appear that there might be tire problems again this weekend although this fan doesn’t think that it’s really a Goodyear problem. Just from listening to some of the conversations about the few tire problems we saw during practice it’s this fan’s opinion, along with several others, that the failures had more to do with tire pressure than tire failure causing the tire problems. That’s something to keep in mind as the race progresses Sunday afternoon. It appears (at least to this old racer) that of the four tires that make contact with the track, the left rear could be the one that causes the most problems on this race day if that situation does rear its ugly head.
You’ve probably noticed that I haven’t mentioned polesitter, Kyle Busch much. That’s not because I’m counting him out as far as being able to win Sunday afternoon at the Magic mile but simply more because of his performance lately. Every team seems to go through times when they may be fast but anything and everything that can go wrong does go wrong for them. I’m not so sure that’s not where Kyle Busch and his team are right at the moment. He is definitely going to be a force to be reckoned with at Chase time even though his performance in the Chase in past years has not been that good. That being said, this may be his year (and I do emphasize the “may” in that statement.)
When it comes to the race Sunday afternoon, there are a number of drivers that could end up in Victory Lane. Of the many that I’m thinking of, there are a few that stand out in my mind. Those would be Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Jeff Gordon. Anyone, or none, of those could be the ones pulling into victory Lane when all is said and done Sunday afternoon at the Magic mile. It is also possible that this fan’s opinion in the ones he thinks might win could be absolutely the wrong choices. Fortunately for this fan (and this fan’s view) he never claimed to be able to tell the future…
This race is a short race and barring the unforeseen, there could be some relatively long green flag runs and the race could be over very quickly. It is also possible there could be a number of cautions and, should there be tire failures, some of those that are looking very good as winners at the moment could be taken out because of those tire failures. The most important aspects to keep in mind for the race this weekend is strategy, fuel mileage and tire problems. This fan really hopes that it doesn’t come down to fuel mileage even though when it does come down to that the end of the race, it usually is very interesting…
See ya next time…
All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer
© July 12, 2014 – all rights reserved
Rusty Norman, Nascarfansview.com and Justafansview.com
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