Big 6

Who… gets my shoutout of the race? What a difference a year makes. An average finish of 18.8, 29th in driver points in a season marked by injury. That’s not very promising for a driver, especially one who’s a journeyman at best in his mid-30s. A year later, Aric Almirola finishes …

Who… gets my shoutout of the race? Let’s make it a pair this week. Shy of a win at Homestead (and even with one), you won’t hear much about a couple of drivers who will very likely drive quietly into the sunset after the checkers next week.  You didn’t hear …

Who… gets my shoutout of the race? On paper, it doesn’t look like much of a race, starting and finishing in seventh spot. In terms of the playoffs, it wasn’t. But for Kurt Busch, Sunday (Nov. 4) at Texas was a good day. While Busch didn’t lead a lap (he …

Who… gets my shoutout of the race? Sunday’s race was hard-fought for every position.  At times, groups of five or six drivers would be pushing for the same square of real estate and there was often more take than give.  Through all of it, Daniel Suarez drove like a veteran.  …

Who… gets my shoutout of the race? In a race that was dominated by championship contenders, Erik Jones was the lone non-playoff driver to crack the top 10 at Kansas Speedway. He started sixth and finished inside the top 10 in both stages before ultimately taking the checkered flag in …

Who… gets my shoutout of the race? How about three of them this week?  It’s impossible to ignore the finishes Jimmie Johnson and Paul Menard had because both were 35th or worse at some point. Johnson spun early and recovered to seventh, while Menard had a couple of issues, losing two …

Who… gets my shoutout of the race? Some drivers just don’t race well under pressure, letting the intensity of NASCAR’s championship battle get under their skin, and that can show up with bad luck and tough finishes snowballing.  With that playoff weight off his shoulders at Dover, Denny Hamlin scored …

Who… gets my shoutout of the race? It’s hard enough to face playoff elimination when you make a mistake, but when it comes as payment for someone else’s mistake, it’s really hard to swallow.  For Aric Almirola, trouble kept on coming on Charlotte Motor Speedway’s ROVAL that was not his …

Who… gets my shoutout of the race? If you filled out a playoff bracket, raise your hand if you had Austin Dillon clearing the Round of 16. Yeah, you’re making that up, put your hand down. While he’s a long way from being a title contender, Dillon did everything he …

Who… gets my shoutout of the race? Brad Keselowski won his third Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win in as many weeks after holding off his Team Penske teammates Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney late to take the 2018 South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It was his …