THREE THINGS TO WATCH
1. Switching gears
NASCAR teams now have a week to switch mindsets from a no-points sprint race to Charlotte Motor Speedway’s stock-car marathon, the CocaCola 600. Kyle Busch won his first All-Star Race on his 12th try, and his crew chief Adam Stevens has high hopes for Sunday. “Hopefully this is a little bit of momentum, a little bit of wind in our sails, something we can build on for next week,” he said.
2. Gibbs wins, but ...
Joe Gibbs Racing has notched two victories this season, but neither were regular-season Cup Series races. Denny Hamlin captured the second Can-Am Duel at Daytona, which is a qualifying race for the Daytona 500, and Busch captured last weekend’s All-Star event. JGR is 0 for 11 in regular competition. “This couldn't come at a better time for us,” Gibbs said. “As we all know, we got off to a slow start.”
3. Where’s Junior?
Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 18th in the All-Star Race, his final appearance in that race with retirement looming at season’s end. In a postrace Periscope session with fans, Earnhardt was not happy. “You got to smile to keep from crying because that was ridiculous and pretty embarrassing,” he said. “It’s unfortunate our last All-Star Race will be memorable for how bad we ran.” Time to peek at Jimmie Johnson’s car.