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It’s stock car racing’s longest race – 600 miles. It goes from late afternoon to evening and into the night. It will be hot, even later at night, and it is a tough race that will test the drivers and crews of every team. More than that, it is a spectacular salute to those that made the supreme sacrifice for us and NASCAR and the Charlotte Motor Speedway do it right. Though the reasons are many, it’s just another reason why I’m a NASCAR fan. We will always remember those that made the supreme sacrifice for us.
Say, how about William Byron in the Hendrick Motor Sports #24 Chevy taking the pole position? By taking the pole, he became the youngest driver ever to win the pole position for the 600 in NASCAR history. He continues to make a statement about how the Hendrick Chevys are turning the corner in performance along with his teammates.
As a Chevy fan, (and a fan of HMS), I have to admit it is good to see. I’m not sure how they will do in the 600 over all but they have made some real advances in becoming competitive again. Aside from how Byron has been doing, just look at the performance of Alex Bowman over the last few weeks. He has been in the hunt for wins with strong performances and second place finishes. I can’t help but wonder if this might turn out to be his first win in the Cup series.
The RCR and Ganassi Chevys are showing strength, too, and it is good to see all three makes beginning to tighten up the competition between themselves. Both Kurt Bush and Kyle Larson have looked good with Kurt being very consistent in the early season and Kyle Larson struggling through a lot of challenges to win a million dollars last weekend at this same track. Along with them, both Austin Dillon and Daniel Hemric of RCR have been showing good speed and could end up contending for the win at the end of 600 miles.
From this fan’s view, the Fords once again look to be very strong and, in particular, the Stewart/Haas teams made a good showing in qualifying. Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola, Clint Bowyer and Daniel Suarez all qualified in the top ten. In fact, there were only three Chevys, one Toyota but six Fords qualifying in the top ten. There is no doubt in my mind all of the Fords will be competitive and the Toyotas won’t be content to sit back and watch the Chevys and Fords fight it out without joining in.
Okay, I really just can’t let the opportunity pass without giving my assessment of the All-Star race (AND continue this NASCAR fan’s view of Kyle Bush and happenings for him in recent races.)
But first – and I don’t say this lightly – last weekend was absolutely the best All-Star Race I have witnessed. I really don’t know if it had to do with the test aero package NASCAR had them use or if it was the way the stages were set up. Perhaps it was a combination of all of them but it was still a great race, very fitting for a Saturday night under the lights at Charlotte.
Of course not everyone was happy with the way things went and there was some complaining about several things even though there were no points on the line. That is one thing about the All-Star Race that never changes – it really is “All about the money.” It seemed to bother a few more than it bothered others. One of those bothered most was, Kyle Bush.
So, is it just me or is the only time we see Kyle happy is when he is winning. If he isn’t winning, from this fan’s view, he is generally whining. When he was winning earlier in the season he was smiling, had a spring in his step and generally seemed to be friendly to all. When he started finishing 2nd or further back – and once again, this is this fan’s view – he seemed to blame everything on the rules package NASCAR mandated for the cars. He says he thinks these are the worst cars he’s ever driven in his career and isn’t happy, which he is quick to let everyone know, including his team.
As a long time NASCAR fan and observer of many that have driven in the Cup Series, I can honestly say, Kyle, is one of the best to ever sit behind the wheel in a stock car. He can do things as a driver not all can do and has shown himself to be able to win in just about anything he drives. Maybe that’s what bothers me about his constant complaining and whining. He was running strong and won several races earlier in the season before the latest package and though he’s still running strong, he hasn’t won in a short while. He complains about the rules package, the aero and the cars in general but, he can’t seem to win over that person in front of him. Does that mean he will only be happy when the package they are all required to use suits his driving style? Can it be that even with his enormous talent he can’t seem to figure out how to drive and win with this package even though others have and can? Hey, I don’t mean to pick on Kyle so much but he does whine about a lot of things when he isn’t winning as often as he thinks he should.
That’s another reason I can’t wait for the Coca Cola 600 to get started late Sunday afternoon. There are a lot of great drivers taking to the track and one of them will win the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Will it be someone in a Chevy? Will it be someone from the Stewart/Haas teams or one of the other Ford teams? Maybe it will be someone in a Toyota like Kyle Bush or maybe it will someone else in a Toyota. Whose to say? I just wonder if… well… what if Kyle does win? What do you think he will have to say about the package then…?
See ya next time…
All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer
© May 25, 2019 – all rights reserved
Rusty Norman, Nascarfansview.com and Justafansview.com
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All music TwoBuckThemes from Mike Stewart unless otherwise stated