As if the last-lap wreck that sent Austin Dillon hurtling
into the catch fence at Daytona last weekend wasn’t enough, there was more
insanity at Kentucky Speedway to come. Mother Nature had her hand in things,
raining down in monsoonal fashion Thursday and Friday to keep anything on four
wheels off the 1.5-mile oval south of Cincinnati for as long as possible.
When the Camping World Truck Series raced in the UNOH 225 on
Thursday night, another driver had a close encounter with a catch fence. Ben Kennedy didn’t have quite the wild ride Dillon did – more of a slide along the
SAFER barrier after making contact – but it was enough for NASCAR to call the
race early with five laps remaining in the 150-lap event won by Matt Crafton.
Friday night’s XFINITY Series race, the Kentucky 300, had a great finish as Brad
Keselowski held off Erik Jones and Kyle Busch over the final eight laps to pick
up the win.
With all the rain that had fallen before Saturday night’s
Quaker State 400 Sprint Cup race, the lack of practice time due to the weather
definitely hurt. Qualifying was cancelled for the second straight week, leaving
lesser-known drivers like Ryan Blaney – who had a car that was described as
“bullet-fast” by some drivers – shut out due to the rule book.
Translation: Part-time teams know rain is an evil
four-letter word, especially when a spot in the race has to be earned on the
track.
When the Quaker State 400 started, the worst of the weather
finally went away and Kyle Busch continued his charge toward a Chase berth with
his second victory in three weeks.
Busch’s story gets more and more amazing by the week. The
guy only broke bones in both legs because of a crash at Daytona before the Cup
season even started, returned less than four months later, and already has two wins.
But from the “not so fast” department, all the winning in
the world won’t mean a thing in terms of making the Chase unless Busch somehow
finishes in the top 30 in points by the time the Federated Auto Parts 400 is
run at Richmond International Raceway on Sept. 12.
That means no more mulligans will be granted with only eight
races left before the top 16 drivers are set. As things stand right now, Busch is still 87 points behind Cole Whitt, who sits in 30th place.
One of the big deals from Kentucky came with the introduction of
NASCAR’s new rules package that takes downforce away from the cars. Judging
from the reaction by drivers after the race, it’s a hit that will hit its
stride at multiple tracks. Success on a mile-and-a-half oval is one thing, but
the truer test will come at places like Michigan
and Indianapolis ,
where the package will be tried out next.
If things work out there, we may have a winning formula for
fans and drivers alike.
It’s not realistic to expect passes for the lead to happen
four-wide over the course of every single lap, but drivers who can adapt the
best along with their race teams stand the best chance of being in contention
for the win at the end.
And good competition throughout the race is a big reason why
fans watch the sport in the first place.
Tom Zulewski is
passionate about auto racing and has covered everything from winged Sprint cars
on dirt tracks to NASCAR, the NHRA and American LeMans Series over an 18-year
career in journalism. Follow him on Twitter @Tomzsports.
NEXT WEEK'S RACES
New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1.058-mile oval), Loudon, New Hampshire
SPRINT CUP: New Hampshire 301, Sunday, 1:30 p.m. ET/ 10:30 a.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN affiliate.
Race distance; 301 laps, 318.458 miles.
2014 champion: Brad Keselowski.
XFINITY SERIES: Lakes Region 200, Saturday, 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN affiliate.
Race distance: 200 laps, 211.6 miles
2014 champion: Brad Keselowski.
CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Returns July 22 for the 1-800CarCash Mud Summer Classic at Eldora Speedway, Rossburg, Ohio.
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