From a NASCAR Fan’s View
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Hello from the Southwest coast of Florida. Gee, it’s good to be back in touch with you all again. Hurricane Ian forced me to take an extended break from posting anything NASCAR related and actually kept me from getting much of anything done. It was tough. We were without power for ten days and internet for several weeks. In fact, I just got back online about two to three days ago. We even had difficulty using our cell services for a long time and that made it hard to keep in touch.
Speaking of keeping in touch, a lot has happened since last I blog-casted. I was shocked to see Kyle Larson get eliminated from continuing his quest for a second Cup Championship in a row. Of course, he admitted much of the blame lay on his shoulders because he has made a lot of mistakes this season. In other words, he beat himself and his team but, I believe there is a high possibility he could win in Homestead this very weekend. I’m not saying he definitely will but, I am saying he has a very good chance, unless he makes a mistake that defeats his chances.
I think the Hendrick teams just may make a good showing this weekend at Homestead. It appears they have at least short run speed and Larson and Elliott are in the top five and William Byron took the pole position. Admittedly, the Toyotas also look pretty tough this weekend and it could be a real battle between the Chevys and the Toyotas at the end of the day. I guess we’ll find out when the final flag drops but I have a feeling a lot is going to happen between the drop of the green flag and the drop of the black and white checkered flag when the winner crosses the finish line.
So… thanks to a little disagreement between Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson last weekend, Christopher Bell is now just about in a must win situation. Depending on what happens to the drivers ahead of him, I suppose that is a strong possibility but, he could still make the final four on points or by a win. He did pull off a win at the Roval which moved him on to this round of eight but, if that hadn’t happened, he would have already been eliminated.
I hate to say it but he didn’t sound all that confident in being able to pull off a similar win either this weekend or next. However, I will admit it wouldn’t surprise me if he did end up in the final four and possibly even with a Cup Championship under his belt when all is said and done. Now don’t get me wrong… I’m not saying it will happen that way but, I am saying I wouldn’t be surprised if it did. Afterall, this is the year 2022 and just about anything that could happen has happened and every weekend comes and goes with lots of surprises.
Joey Logano is already in the final four, just like it happened once before for him in recent years. That year, he came away with the Cup Championship and many are wondering if it might happen again. From this fan’s view, I suppose that is a very real possibility and it could make the next couple of weeks very interesting. He now has no pressure to win or even finish these next two races although I think him not going for the wins or a good finish is a little bit outside of reality. That’s just not Joey Logano’s style. He will be pressing for the victories and the best finishes he can muster.
A lot can happen to change things around this weekend at Homestead and I do expect there may be another shakeup in the points. I am not so sure one of the playoff drivers will win and be in the final four any more than I was able to predict the path that hurricane Ian took and hit our area and caused such devastation to us all here. Afterall… this is 2022 and the year of the Next Gen and you can bet I’ll be watching just to see what else unexpected can happen…
Hey, this is Russ and that’s my view… See ya next time…
All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer
© October 23, 2022 – all rights reserved
Rusty Norman, Nascarfansview.com and Justafansview.com
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