 |
| Chase Elliott gets turned into the wall by Denny Hamlin in the closing laps of the First Data 500. |
A wild finish at Martinsville gave Kyle Busch his 5th win of 2017, and secured his spot in Homestead's final four. After leading early, Busch was hardly part of the conversation until the very end. Brad Keselowski led the closing laps until a late caution for Joey Logano. Keselowski was then run up the racetrack by Chase Elliott on the next restart, who in turn was dumped in turn 3 by Denny Hamlin. In 'overtime', Hamlin couldn't hold off Kyle Busch, who grabbed the win before a massive pile-up on the frontstretch... Elliott went after Hamlin, slamming his #11 into the backstretch wall. Two of the race's best cars, Elliott and Joey Logano, wound up 27th and 24th. Kyle Busch did lead the most laps, 184, finishing ahead of Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, Brad Keselowski, and Kevin Harvick.
 |
| Several cars were involved in a crash at the checkered flag, including Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, and Ryan Blaney. Chase Elliott idles in the foreground, before going after Hamlin. |
 |
| Elliott and Hamlin discuss the on-track incident... |
I found the last few laps at Martinsville to be pretty unnecessary, and a byproduct of the new format. With three to go, there's no way Denny Hamlin wrecks Elliott if they're not racing for a spot at Homestead. Also, with no double-file restarts, a lot of cars could have been saved at that checkered-flag crash. It was disappointing to see the strongest cars in the closing laps, Elliott, Keselowski, and Logano not competing for the win. Seeing Kyle Busch and Truex Jr. emerge on the last few circuits just didn't feel right. It's not at all reflective of the race's first 490 laps, which did have great racing, just not dump-and-run.
I'm not a fan of the new NASCAR system. I hated the chase, hate the playoffs, and can't stand the desperation it causes. The last few laps at Martinsville were a perfect example. We thankfully haven't seen these kind of incidents too often in 2017. NASCAR may see excitement; I see a driver who got dumped, and 10 needlessly wrecked race cars. It's also a bummer for Chase Elliott; he still doesn't have that first win, and found another unfortunate way to lose.
With that, here's an updated look at the standings. With Busch's win, he gained six points on Truex Jr., and is now 54 back... Kyle Larson was the big loser, finishing 38th after a wreck and dropping three spots to 6th. Brad Keselowski moves into 5th place. With only three races to go, 'Rowdy' is running out of time to catch the 78. If anything, Busch would have to hope for a Truex catastrophe in the homestretch. If Busch has anything going for him, it's that Truex Jr. has never won at the final three tracks, Texas, Phoenix, and Homestead.
Next up on the Cup schedule, the less-exciting-than-Martinsville race at Texas, the AAA Texas 500. If there's any track that 'belongs' to Jimmie Johnson, this is it. Johnson has 7 wins at Texas, including 4 of the last 6. Look for him to potentially punch his ticket to Homestead. Another driver to watch is Matt Kenseth, who has an average finish at 9th there, and two wins. And of course, don't count out Truex. It is, after all, a 1.5 mile track...
 |
| Kyle Busch celebrates after winning the First Data 500 |
No comments:
Post a Comment