The Headline(s): Rebounding from early crash damage and a loose wheel that trapped the team a lap down in the second stage, Denny Hamlin used a long green-flag run to run down Matt DiBenedetto at Bristol Motor Speedway, ruining a Cinderella story by making the final pass for the lead on lap 489 and driving away to his fourth win of the 2019 season, his 35th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory and his 54th career national series win.
CHEEK: DENNY HAMLIN CHASES DOWN MATT DIBENEDETTO TO WIN BRISTOL
Denny Hamlin wins the #BassProNRANightRace! ?#ItsBristolBaby pic.twitter.com/Y5rh1JtMbX
— BristolMotorSpeedway (@BMSupdates) August 18, 2019
DiBenedetto finished second (a career-best in 164 Cup starts), followed by Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott.
DiBenedetto’s shortfall was a blessing for Ryan Newman, who scored eight points in the second stage and finished 11th to tighten his grip on the 15th spot in the standings. Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Clint Bowyer and Daniel Suarez both scored top 10 finishes and find themselves battling for the 16th and final playoff spot, capitalizing on a second consecutive disappointing race with crash damage for Jimmie Johnson.
MASSIE: DANIEL SUAREZ CONTINUES PLAYOFF PUSH WITH BRISTOL TOP 10
How It Happened: Hamlin led the field from the pole position, but battled a loose condition that saw him trade the lead with Kyle Larson several times over the opening 45 laps, taking the lead on lap 46 and holding it until the first yellow of the race on lap 81, when Austin Dillon hit the turn 2 wall with a flat tire. Hamlin caught damage, avoiding Dillon’s machine and dropping to 11th on the resulting pit stop, as his crew repaired the car. That handed the lead to Larson, who pulled away after a lap 88 restart and led the rest of the first stage, holding off a late charge from Elliott to win his fourth stage of the season.
Elliott won the pit road battle during the stage break and pulled away to the lead on the lap 135 restart, leading 31 laps until Kevin Harvick surged to the point at lap 164. Hamlin, who had run near the back of the top 10 during the stage, pit under green with a loose wheel on lap 187 only to see the yellow fly at lap 191, when Aric Almirola cut across the nose of JJ Yeley and slapped the turn 2 wall.
Another spin for the No. 10! @Aric_Almirola goes around, and the caution is back out at @BMSupdates. pic.twitter.com/ZWOLg4qzuu
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 18, 2019
Martin Truex Jr. inherited the lead on the lap 197 restart but handed the top spot to Kurt Busch after the yellow flew shortly before the end of the second stage on lap 244 after Bowyer spun when cutting off the lapped car of Quin Houff. Busch pulled away from Suarez and Newman in a sprint to the end to win stage 2, his second stage victory of the season.
Pit strategy saw Kyle Busch restart from the lead on lap 260, having recovered from early handling woes to get back on the lead lap with a free pass on a lap 214 caution. His time up front was short-lived, however, as Keselowski took the lead on lap 265. Holding the lead for more than 75 laps, Keselowski and the younger Busch brother staged a stellar battle for the lead from lap 350 on that saw the two cars swap the lead eight times before a melee broke out on lap 364 that saw both Truex and Alex Bowman have issues that slowed them on track.
That's going to leave a mark. @joeylogano and @WilliamByron are collected in this latest incident at @BMSupdates. pic.twitter.com/4JTUqxG0g3
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 18, 2019
Holding the lead off pit road on lap 371, Kyle Busch saw teammate Erik Jones surge to the front at lap 373, right before the yellow flew again for the Bristol “big one” that saw Ryan Blaney cut a tire entering a corner, collecting Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Front Row Motorsports teammates Michael McDowell and David Ragan.
"That's a major failure!" @Blaney has an issue entering the corner and multiple cars are collected behind him. pic.twitter.com/LrfWd5mFyJ
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 18, 2019
Jones held the lead on the final restart of the race on lap 388 but was literally shown up on lap 396, when DiBenedetto passed him for the top position. Jones responded by overdriving the corner and pounding the wall in his No. 20, forcing him to pit under green while the No. 95 drove away. By lap 420, both Elliott and Keselowski had cut DiBenedetto’s lead in half, only to see it grow back to 1.5 seconds around lap 450. At that point, hard racing between DiBenedetto and Newman cost the No. 95 significant time to a hard-charging Hamlin, who caught DiBenedetto on lap 487, making the final pass for the win two laps later.
ALBINO: MATT DIBENEDETTO ON MISSED 1ST WIN: ‘I WANTED IT SO BAD’
Why Should You Care?
Much was made entering race weekend of this being the 20th anniversary of the infamous “rattle his cage” Bristol night race that saw the mighty Dale Earnhardt resoundingly booed after bowling over Terry Labonte to score the race win. It’s one of the most “old school” NASCAR moments one can think of. The old, one-groove Bristol, no PJ1 required. A rough and tumble finish, where no one was thinking that race officials would intervene. And because no fan was thinking that race officials would intervene, the Bristol crowd demonstrated a completely logical and informed behavior; despite it being Earnhardt, despite it being one of the greatest drivers of all-time, and despite it being a driver who had a rap sheet 10 miles long of using his bumper, the crowd deafened the Last Great Colosseum with boos. It wasn’t hard to understand why. Even for Earnhardt, that 1999 race win came dirty.
Fast forward to the 2019 night race, and NASCAR Twitter was throwing vitriol the likes of which rivaled what Earnhardt got in victory lane 20 years ago. Only this time, that ire was directed at the 11th-place finisher, Newman, for having the nerve to race DiBenedetto hard enough that Hamlin cut the race lead in half while he lapped the No. 6 car.
Rather than writing up all the reasons that Newman did nothing wrong, I’ll let the same social media sum it up.
I don’t want to hear anyone blaming Newman for “costing” the 95 a win.
-6 was fighting to stay on the lead lap. One caution and things could’ve been more interesting
-6 among the last guys who want the 95 to win.
-Face it…11 had the better car#NASCAR #BassProNRANightRace— Geoff Magliocchetti (@GeoffJMags) August 18, 2019
Newman has been berated throughout the 2019 season, and for years, for that matter, as having a reputation for being hard to pass. Maybe that’s why Roush Fenway Racing hired the man in the first place? The seeming expectation that a ton of race fans had this Saturday night makes one wonder if they were confusing the No. 6 car of 2019 with the No. 6 car of Mark Martin. Granted, Martin was well-known for his give-and-take approach to racing, but he also didn’t race in the playoff era. Newman had several reasons to race DiBenedetto hard. Martin’s Fords were reliably faster for most of his career when compared to the rebuilding project Newman has stepped into. And lastly, the fact that a proven Cup winner (with a Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 trophy on his resume) has to justify week after week being hard to pass (the nerve) demonstrates that as much as the sport of stock car racing has changed in the past 20 years, so has the fanbase.
So much so that scores of fans were calling for the Bristol Night Race to be decided in the final 50 laps by more give and take. It almost begs the question, was the storyline more important than the race itself?
https://twitter.com/BryanDavisKeith/status/1162919150026657797?s=20
For perhaps the first time ever, I sympathize with NASCAR in trying to please its fanbase.
Drivers Who Accomplished Something
Over the course of 103 laps Saturday night, DiBenedetto has arguably become NASCAR’s most popular driver. He deserves the accolades. Between his performance leading the Toyota draft in the Daytona 500 and coming within 10 laps of beating Joe Gibbs Racing outright under green this Saturday, Guido has truly elevated the No. 95 team in a way that even Cup veteran Kasey Kahne failed to a season ago. For that, he found out earlier this week that he’s losing his ride, likely to make room for current Xfinity Series points leader Christopher Bell.
Two takeaways. One, drives like this will land DiBenedetto a ride for 2020. Two, Toyota’s making a mistake letting this guy go. Unless they pull a shocker and promote DiBenedetto at the expense of Jones, the Joe Gibbs Racing and Leavine Family Racing stable will be facing a formidable foe come Speedweeks next year.
Hamlin hasn’t won four races in a season since 2012. He hasn’t finished in the top five in points since 2014. He hasn’t been in prime title contention since 2010. All signs after Bristol point to 2019 being his season. Hamlin was methodical all night long Saturday, overcoming crash damage on lap 80, a loose wheel under green on lap 187, and a more than four-second gap on the track over the course of a green-flag run to score the race win. Top that off with a classy post-race interview that acknowledged DiBenedetto’s efforts even before his own team, and Hamlin’s demonstrating a veteran maturity for possibly the first time, well, ever.
Despite posting his worst qualifying effort since the Daytona 500 and going a lap down early with handling woes, Kyle Busch still managed to score a top-five finish by race’s end. Enough said.
I really don’t understand how the 18 team does that shit. Run around half the race a lap down, now leading like it’s nothing. He can do whatever the fuck he wants. How is he that much better? #BristolNightRace #BassProNRANightRace #Bristol
— Will° (@spinning_will) August 18, 2019
Despite creating his own mess when he cut across Houff’s nose and spun on lap 244, Bowyer recovered to score a much-needed top 10 finish that kept his No. 14 team within striking distance of the 16th and final playoff spot. Recovering like that on a night that saw his competition in Newman and Suarez score solid points was a clutch effort.
MASSIE: CLINT BOWYER HAS REBOUND WEEKEND AT BRISTOL
Elliott has sustained the momentum from his win at Watkins Glen, posting his third consecutive top-10 finish and putting the summer doldrums behind the No. 9 team. Expect Elliott to be a threat in his own backyard at Darlington.
Chris Buescher finished an uneventful race in 17th, his 13th consecutive top 20 finish for the No. 37 team. Less flashy, but more consistent, than Guido in bidding for a 2020 promotion.
Drivers Who Accomplished Nothing
There’s probably no driver whose stock dropped more this Saturday night than Jones, who literally battled his closest competition for the race lead on lap 397, and came out on the wrong end. While DiBenedetto drove away to a career-best performance, Jones ruined his night by pounding the wall on his own accord only 23 laps after besting Kyle Busch for the race lead. The resulting damage dropped the No. 20 car to 22nd in the running order. Guido for No. 20 in 2020?
The two cars at Stewart-Haas Racing that didn’t score top 10 finishes had rough evenings. Harvick’s momentum from last week’s race win at Michigan couldn’t save him from a transmission failure that had the No. 4 car finish dead last. As for Almirola, his lap 197 incident with Yeley was his second issue with spotter communications in as many races. The No. 10 hasn’t scored a top 10 since Daytona.
Dillon’s tire failure early Saturday night relegated him to a 34th place finish, his fifth finish outside the top 30 in the last seven races. How the No. 3 has fallen.
Blaney drives a Ford, but his tire failure on lap 374 made Ford Motor Company a victim, collecting the Mustangs of Stenhouse, Ragan and McDowell in one fell swoop. All three of those cars finished outside the top 30.
The playoff window for Johnson continues to get smaller, as for the second week in a row crash damage relegated the No. 48 team to a finish outside the top 15, this time coming as a result of Dillon’s troubles on lap 80. Continually finding incidents has robbed the No. 48 team of any chance of capitalizing on momentum from a late-season crew chief change, and has seven-time likely needing a win at Darlington or Indy to make the playoffs.
Insights, Opinions and Fake News
Short-track racing is good. Really good. Which begs the question why Saturday night was the first time the Cup Series has done it since April. The 2020 schedule didn’t fix this issue, with a short-tracking gap between May and September on the docket. NASCAR would do well to make sure the 2021 schedule does.
In terms of crowd numbers, Saturday’s race may have been the largest for a Cup race since Talladega this spring. And compared to the spring race’s minuscule turnout, Bristol had a lot more to celebrate this weekend.
Nothing like racing under the lights. #ItsBristolBaby #TheLastGreatColosseum #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/sF4gSC63Gu
— Ashly (@Ans_Poet) August 18, 2019
Having said that, some of the accounts of the crowd went beyond hyperbole. Arguing that the stands were packed is laughable, given the visible swaths of empty seats that were seen in all four stands of the speedway. When one considers that less than a decade ago Bristol tickets were still (allegedly) subject to a waiting-list for availability (Dan Snyder and Bruton Smith should get a beer), this was far from a return to glory for the night race. A marked improvement from the spring, and one of the best turnouts of the season for any Cup race, but it’s not doing anyone, be they fans, media, sponsors, or others, any favors to exaggerate what was seen Saturday night.
it also looks to be one of the better crowds here since I can remember too. probably 400,000 people id guess. maybe more. we'll never know.
— Wood Brothers Racing (@woodbrothers21) August 17, 2019
I’m torn on what to say about NBC’s coverage of the night race. For one, NBC’s camera work was outstanding throughout the night. Parker Kligerman handled the DiBenedetto post-race interview superbly. And the decision on the pre-race program to show driver introductions live without commercial interruption was a welcome surprise. Pretty much everything went well this Saturday, outside of the booth.
Inside the booth was a different story. The issues experienced in the booth could not just be attributed to Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s understandable absence. Rick Allen seemed to be stumbling over his words for much of the race. The call of the race identified an early battle for second and third as the battle for the race lead. What’s more, this wasn’t just an NBC issue; Thursday’s night’s Truck telecast saw the entire FOX booth struggling. The issues were almost laughable, including Michael Waltrip describing Natalie Decker “racing competitively with the leaders” when she was being lapped, two grooves up the track away from the lead pack. Not to mention his crush on Stewart Friesen rivaling his brother’s admiration for Kyle Busch.
Funny thing is, I seem to remember Marty Reid getting canned for something similar. Have standards really fallen that far since 2013?
While speaking of the Truck Series, it’s a damn shame that “Radiogate” has overshadowed the fact that the playoff opener produced an intense battle between Brett Moffitt and Ross Chastain that was fun to watch on the track, and in the context of the playoff model.
LUNKENHEIMER: BRETT MOFFITT STRIKES 1ST IN PLAYOFFS AT BRISTOL
Two radio transmissions are in the spotlight: spotter Kevin Hamlin profanely frustrated with Decker’s latest incident(s) on track, and a member of Matt Crafton‘s team using slurs on the radio to express frustration with Friesen’s team. First, anyone that objectively watched an ARCA race in 2018 saw Decker’s struggles coming. Two, as I’ve been saying since 2009, using foul language in the heat of competition does not mean that NASCAR has a prejudice problem. Of course, that didn’t stop the ideologues at Deadspin for running with the Crafton/Friesen story in lieu of actually covering a serious points battle. God help the nation if NFL scrums ever get miked.
Sponsor IK9 was seen both on Hailie Deegan’s K&N car at Bristol on Thursday and Jones’ Xfinity Series ride on Friday. Not seen in either race was Jeffrey Earnhardt. At least in DiBenedetto’s case, the Gibbs and Toyota camp aren’t taking a sponsor along with the ride…
Participation Trophies
Best Paint Scheme: Yeley – Even though the Slayer deal didn’t work out, Yeley is a driver who can pull off a blood and barbed wire paint scheme.
Lined up and ready to go for @NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying @BMSupdates
Single car Qualifying. Tune into @NBCSN for live coverage! pic.twitter.com/HK9z4OTYX3
— Rick Ware Racing (@RickWareRacing) August 16, 2019
Best Intro Music (Runner-Up Award): Because DiBenedetto owned driver intros with his Rocky routine. Honorable mentions go to Joey Logano for going all Lion King on Bristol and reminding NASCAR that until Homestead, he’s still the Cup Series’ Mufasa. Second, to Reed Sorenson, for showing home state pride with some Ray Charles. Though Elliott Sadler wins the home state pride award.
Hey @ClintBowyer .. you wish your ass was from Emporia Virginia!!! Hahahaa
— Elliott Sadler (@Elliott_Sadler) August 17, 2019
Where It Rated: In honor of Newman (yes, I’m rubbing it in his detractors’ faces), the night race gets rated six beers out of six. As good as Talladega was, this was the best race of the 2019 season since the Daytona 500… which scored as high as it did thanks to Mr. DiBenedetto’s Toyota pack lapping other drafting packs under green. Where Guido goes, good racing seems to follow.
What’s the Point(s): Bowman, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Elliott, Hamlin, Harvick, Keselowski, Logano and Truex have locked into the playoffs by winning races in 2019. If the playoffs were to start today, Blaney, Larson, William Byron, Almirola, Jones, Newman and Suarez would point their way in. Suarez currently holds a two-point lead over teammate Bowyer for the final playoff spot.
Up Next: The final off-weekend of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season has arrived. The Cup Series will next head to the Darlington Raceway for the crown jewel Southern 500 on Labor Day Weekend.
About the author
Richmond, Virginia native. Wake Forest University class of 2008. Affiliated with Frontstretch since 2008, as of today the site's first dirt racing commentator. Emphasis on commentary. Big race fan, bigger First Amendment advocate.
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i felt old watching driver intros. hardly knew any of the drivers, with a few exceptions, til they got to the top 20.
the tacks have taken to painting seats that cause them to look occupied when it’s a long crowd shot.
even during driver intros, there was a small crowd on the grid, almost anemic is size. i wonder how much it cost to have access to that area? how that place use to be packed full in august years ago. even promoting the 1995 and 1999 races of earnhardt/t labonte didn’t help put extra butts in the seats. i seriously doubt we will ever see racing like we did in 1995/1999. remember, we didn’t have “lucky dog, wave around, free pass, back then.
be interesting to see if jr will be racing in xfiniity race at darlington. hopefully he has thanked his maker for keeping him and his family safe and secure. thursday could of had a horrible outcome.
I agree that the race was very good. Maybe not vintage Bristol but still very good. And the crowd was very respectable but still far from sniffing a sellout.
I was fine with Newman racing DiBenedetto right up to the point where they made contact. If they made contact then the probability is high that Newman did that on purpose to keep a playoff berth from being taken away by someone lower than 20th. And if that is the case then I call foul. So Mr. Keith, was there contact? BTW, also suspicious that Newman let Hamlin around him so easily.
Another thing about the Stages. They should not allow a lucky dog or wave arounds on those mandatory cautions (same with competition cautions) but I realize it’s the way NASCAR wants it because they want it to be easy to get a lap back (which is one of the reasons the racing will never be as good as it was prior to the Brian France era). It’s been dumbed down.
Watching the inconsistency of the guys outside the top 10 in points from week to week, really makes it clear how stupid it is to have 16 drivers in the playoffs. None of those guys have had a championship worthy season by any measure (Blaney, Larson, William Byron, Almirola, Jones, Newman and Suarez and I may even add Bowman, Elliott, Kesolowski to that “too inconsistent to be a contender” list).
And I agree. NASCAR is blind and stupid if they don’t find some way to get a few more short tracks on the schedule. Either reconfigure an existing 1.5 or 1 mile track, buy an existing short track and update it or build a new one. Whatever is necessary. There should be at least 3 more short track races in the season.
Sorry Bill but I don’t see your logic there when you listed some of those names as being too inconsistent to be a contender. Elliott, Keselowski, Bowman, Kurt Busch all with wins. Blaney with 11 top tens, 7 top fives and running near the front frequently. I want to see drivers competing for the championship other than the normal few. Harvick, Truex, Ky Busch,etc. Boring.
For the record I included Kurt Busch and I was on the fence about Kes.
Here is the logic (driver and average finish)… do you see a trend….
Kyie Busch …..7.2
Hamlin………..9
Logano……….10.5
Truex………….10.5
Kurt Busch……11.2
Keselowski……11.8
Harvick………..12.4
Elliott …………..13.7
Bowman……….13.7
Byron…………..13.7
Newman……….13.8
Jones ……………14
Almirola…………14.8
Blaney…………..15
Larson…………..15
In Blaney;s case, what good is leading a bunch of laps if you finish 15th every week? How is that worthy of being considered a champion?
BTW, I did not know the average finish of each driver until just now when I looked it up.
Must have gotten cross-eyed looking at the chart… Byron is actually 14.5 avg finish. I think the rest are accurate. (from the racing reference website)
Good Race,
One correction–Mark Martin did race in the playoffs–he made the first three “Chase for the Nextel Cup” playoffs in the #6 Roush Car (starting in 2004), then also ran the #5 Hendrick Car in the Playoffs.
The first playoff in 2004, actually had a ton of drama as there were only 10 Playoff Spots (which were based on points) and there were several drivers vying to make the cut line. Jeremy Mayfield won the race to move from 14th to 9th in the standings and Martin qualified in 8th. However, qualifying for the playoffs wasn’t settled until the checkered flag.
The original format provided a lot more drama to get into the playoffs. But, it didn’t provide the manufactured drama of a 4-car one-race shootout at the conclusion .
Looking ahead to Darlington—Maybe NASCAR can start having a Throwback Racing major announcement each year where they remove one Brian France era rule each year. Candidates include:
Lucky Dog
The Chase
The Chase Finale
Common Template Cars
4 Car Limit Per Team Owner
Also as Bill B mentioned, the 2021 schedule should have 4 Road Course Races (with local cautions and only 2 stages-bring on Road America) and 10 Short Track Races–(Iowa, Nashville)
I don’t think any of us have enough years on the Earth to see the reversal of one Brian France era item each year. Might have to go with 5 a year ala the Hall of Fame.
Excellent race, while it wasn’t a sellout, it definitely had that big race vibe. Kudos to Guido, that was a hell of a run. Hamlin was just faster in the end. I can’t blame Newman for racing him hard. He had too much on the line to just let him go. It wasn’t like he held him up for 10+ laps. We’ve all seen Newman do worse. Also, I don’t get why anyone thinks sending nasty tweets to Bob Levine is going to help Matt’s situation. Any of use in Levine’s situation would be putting Bell in that car. He brings increased Toyota/JGR to the 95, and he just happens to be the hottest prospect in NASCAR right now.
Unfortunately with the radio situation in the Truck Series, once NASCAR decided to partner with Barstool Sports they got dragged into the Barstool/Deadspin feud. Expect for the next few months any controversy in NASCAR to be accompanied by negative blog posts from Deadspin/Jalopnik.
The free pass… If a team is put a lap down, they deserve to stay a lap down unless they can drive back around the leader and unlap themselves (or use pit strategy). Where is the competitive advantage for the leader putting cars a lap down if their hard work is just undone by giving free passes to allow these competitors to start over on the next caution (on the lead lap!) and have a chance to win the race when they showed up unprepared (or had an issue) and were not able to actually stay on the lead lap to begin with? Losing a lap should be a big deal, and staying on the lead lap should be rewarded. NASCAR should not have any mulligans.
I’m also against guaranteed starting spots. Qualifying is qualifying, you make it on speed or you go home.
Where have you been for the last 15 years they’ve had the free pass under yellow?
This was a compromise since they no longer race back to the yellow for safety reasons, and the leader cannot slow down on his own and let other lapped cars pass him.
I agree with Bill B below though, no free passes for comp cautions or stage breaks.
Just because it’s been around 15 years doesn’t mean it’s a good thing. I hate the lucky dog but I agree with you, it’s a fair compromise for not being able to race back to the yellow (I’d still prefer no free pass even if you can’t race back to the yellow flag). As for the wave around, that is a total farce and entitlement program. The only time any cars should be waved around is when a caution comes out during a green flag pit sequence and there are guys legitimately at the tail end of the lead lap. If you were already a lap down you shouldn’t get a free lap just for not pitting. God I hate that wave around rule as it currently stands. The wave around would be the number 1 thing I would change, even before getting rid of the chase.
I’ve been not liking the “lucky dog” pass for 15 years… lol
I think enough time has passed we can do what they currently do – lock the field at the time of caution and NOT give laps back to anyone caught a lap down. What difference does it make if you’re caught a lap down racing back to yellow or at the time of caution? If they weren’t racing hard enough to get the lap back prior to caution, then they shouldn’t be racing back to yellow anyway. Basically, “racing back to yellow” was just an opportunity for the leader to let a team mate back on the lead lap, or to let someone back on the lead lap they didn’t want to have inside them on the restart.
I DO agree with them no longer lining up lap down cars alongside the leaders. Once you’re off the lead lap, you should be out of the way of the leaders on restarts.
Bill B does make some great points. Wish HE could run NASCAR!
Well before you cast your vote for president…. Not a big fan of double file restarts. Much rather have the lapped down cars in one lane or the other. And here’s my logic….. 99% of the time, when a caution comes out the leader was clearly the leader by a second or two (and many times more than that). Now a caution comes out and the leader’s lead goes from x seconds to nothing. It is much more fair to the leader if the second place car is behind him on the restart then right next to him, after all he might have had a 5 (or more) second lead before the caution. At least give the guy a clear shot to re-establish the lead that he had taken away by the caution. I know that goes against the manufactured excitement approach because restarts have become the must see moments (actually they always were but the chaos factor has been ramped up tenfold with the double file restarts). Also, since we have gotten rid of the lucky dog and wave arounds, having those lap down cars in one lane gives someone who just had a misfortune or penalty(flat tire, loose lug, too fast entering, etc.,) a fair chance to get his lap back if he has a really good car. I don’t mind guys having a realistic chance to get their lap back, I just don’t want them to give anyone entitlement laps.
So, “lucky dog” car gets to start inside of leader, with 2nd place starting outside row 2?
I recall the inside line being full of lap down cars (generally slower) bogging down the 2nd-5th place drivers and essentially robbing them of a chance to race for the lead – especially late in the race.
It would be more work (not sure NASCAR timing/scoring could handle it), but I’d rather have the first car 1 lap down slot in where it was running at the time of caution. Meaning, if they were running between the 5th and 6th place cars, that’s where they line up on the restart. All others start in the rear (based on running position). This would also encourage cars going a lap down to race the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc… cars just as hard as they did the leader.
I liked all the 1 lap down cars being in one lane or the other. Part of what I don’t like about the current double file restarts is that the 3rd through 6th place cars can grab the lead on the restart if they are willing to do something stupid/risky. In my opinion the leader should not have to worry about anyone but the second place car taking the lead on the restart. In most cases those cars weren’t even in sniffing distance of the leader when the caution came out, so they should be bogged down and have to race a few lapped cars before they can take a shot at the leader (if they are good enough).
I don’t have a problem with wave-arounds. We don’t agree on that.
Someone else has mentioned that the leader should start in their own lane, and then second and third place line up in the same row behind him.
I was watching the Truck race when Mikey gushed over Natalie Decker’s “competitiveness”. Of course, she stayed out under caution on old tires in the front row of the field and was a “rolling roadblock” for the next few laps under green as faster Trucks passed her on the right and the left. I think her final wreck and tow truck spin came shortly thereafter.
I had a gig Saturday night so I missed watching the Bristol Cup race live, but the replays I’ve seen looked like there was some solid racing. On Twitter Bob Pockrass estimated the crowd for that race at around 80,000 to 90,000, which is decent, even if it was short of a sellout.
As for the extracurricular stuff, Junior’s plane crash, Guido’s firing, Guido’s near-win and poor Bob Leavine getting barbequed on Twitter as a result of Guido’s firing made for an wild, semi-tragic weekend.