On to scary Talladega
Las Vegas Motor Speedway supplied a September surprise when hometown son Kurt Busch combined a little luck with a quick car and captured the first race of the NASCAR Cup Series Round 2.
The 1.5-mile track had been one of Busch’s worst tracks. He never won in his first 21 starts. Heck, he only had a pair of top-5 finishes.
Surprise!
Busch entered Vegas listed last in the playoff standings and emerged with a ticket to ride in Round 3. Since no other driver has clinched a position, so that puts him at the top of the class.
In other words the 42-year-old driver, who captured the 2004 Cup title, literally went from worst to first in one outing.
“This is a huge breath of fresh air,” Busch said. “It’s wind in our sails, and it’s a lifelong dream of mine to win in my hometown.”
Busch won’t have to worry about his finishes at Talladega or the Charlotte Roval.
Oh man, Talladega. Pull on those belts a little tighter and let’s go …
First gear
Next up on the schedule is a little stock-car sand trap called Talladega Superspeedway.
Sunday’s race is sure to jumble the NASCAR playoff standings thanks in part to a Big One, the multi-car which drivers know will happen and pray they avoid.
Because of the draft, cars that run back in the pack are suddenly race winning contenders, which can make for some hairy moments.
The three drivers bringing up the rear of the standings all have plate racing victories on their records, so expect Clint Bowyer, Aric Almirola and Austin Dillon to all go for the gusto.
“We’ve got two races left in the Round of 12 and we’re not giving up,” Dillon said after his 32nd-place finish at Las Vegas. “It’s on to Talladega Superspeedway where anything can happen.”
Second gear
Ford seems to own the keys to Talladega in recent years. Since the second race in 2012, the boys from the Blue Oval have won a dozen times in 16 starts.
If you just count Ford’s wins since the second race of 2015, it boasts nine wins in 10 races. It’s seven-race win streak was snapped by Chevrolet’s Chase Elliott.
Most recently Ryan Blaney has led the charge by scoring back-to-back wins at the 2.66-mile track, which is a supersized version of Daytona International Speedway.
Third gear
Silly Season took an unusual but popular turn when NBA legend Michael
Jordan announced he will become a majority owner of a Cup team next season.
Denny Hamlin will be a minority owner in the operation and Bubba Wallace has signed on as the driver. Expect this team to sprint from the blocks because Joe Gibbs Racing will help with equipment and technology.
Fourth gear
Clint Bowyer calm, cool and collected? Bowyer is 10th in the playoff standings, but after Vegas basically said no worries.
“I like the next two races, you can’t go out there and feel like you have to. It ain’t Hail Mary time,” he said. “Twenty points can fall in your lap pretty easy at a track like Talladega and the Roval.”