Welcome to the ninth edition of Katie’s Komment’s, a place to find the latest NASCAR news and my opinion on it! All comments are my views only but feel free to leave your own!
Danica vs Ricky: I have one word for this… SERIOUSLY? We all knew that it was going to happen eventually. Drivers get into each other on the track, it’s called racing for a reason! The media made this into something bigger than it should have been. Taking it three wide on a restart is always a recipe for disaster. I want to commend Brak Keselowski for taking the fall for the wreck during his interview. I am not the biggest Keselowski fan but my respect for him grew for that. It definitely isn’t something he usually does. Brad Keselowski: Speeding of the reigning champion, ever since the penalty and suspension of his crew chief, he has been in a major slump. He hasn’t really finished above 30th since the penalty was put in place and the wreck on Sunday just added to his horrible May run. It isn’t like he hasn’t been performing; he has just had rotten luck. His crew chief will be back and you can bet Keselowski will be back to his old self as well. There is just something about him and Paul Wolfe that just click. Look for them to kick it up a notch this summer and try to reclaim the Cup for the second year in a row. Jimmie Johnson: After the devastation in Oklahoma, Johnson and his wife Chandra, who is from the Sooner State, partnered with sponsor Lowe’s to donate $1 Million and lots of goods to the areas with the most damage. Johnson also donated his race winnings from Sunday’s Coke 600 to the Red Cross as well. It always puts a smile on my face when drivers and teams come together to help those in need. NASCAR wouldn’t be what it is without its fans and when those fans are hurt and in need of help, NASCAR drivers are always right there to offer what they can. Thanks Jimmie, Chandra and Lowe’s for your help in the Oklahoma disaster relief. Bad Luck Busch: That meme called “Bad Luck Brian” should now be called “Bad Luck Busch” with a picture of the eldest Busch Brother on it. Kurt Busch and the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team have been THISCLOSE to Victory Lane this season and the Coke 600 was no different. Busch led laps and ran up front for a majority of the race until a battery issue put a damper in his day. Busch went on to finish 3rd but if it wasn’t for his team having to change the battery in the middle of the race, I really think we would have seen him in Victory Lane. Kurt has really turned his attitude around this season and is the perfect driver for the single car team. I am 100% sure he will visit Victory Lane this season in the No. 78, it’s just a matter of when. When will things finally fall into place for Kurt Busch? That will be it for the ninth edition of Katie’s Komments and remember, if you don’t like mine, feel free to leave your own!
0 Comments
Welcome to the eighth edition of Katie’s Komment’s, a place to find the latest NASCAR news and my opinion on it! All comments are my views only but feel free to leave your own!
Sprint All-Star Race: Well, that didn’t turn out like I thought it would…and I am being completely serious about that statement too. When the Busch Brothers basically dominated each segment, I thought for sure one of them would be standing in Victory Lane at the end of the night but boy was I wrong. Instead, Jimmie Johnson took the checkers for the 4th time making him the first driver to do so in the history of the All-Star Race. He didn’t lead any laps prior to the final 10. His pit crew definitely gave him the chance to win after getting him up front in the final 4-tire pit stop, which they did in just over 11 seconds. On the restart, Johnson quickly got past teammate Kasey Kahne and that was the end; he led the rest of the race and took home the win. In my opinion, this was one win that Johnson really did earn and fight for and his pit crew has a big part to play in that. Fan Vote: It really wasn’t a surprise when it was announced that Danica Patrick was the Sprint Fan Vote winner last Saturday. With almost 1 Million followers on Twitter and millions of fans around the world, Patrick is no doubt tone of the big faces of NASCAR. What really surprised me about the Fan Vote was the amount of people who claimed that the fan vote was rigged just to get Patrick in the race. Let’s all pause a moment and laugh. Patrick won the fan vote fair and square and every driver, crew, team and media member knows that. So congratulations Danica, you might just give Dale Jr a run for his money at the end of the season for the Most Popular Driver Award. Memorial Day Weekend: Memorial Day weekend is one of the biggest race weekends of the season. With the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 both running on Sunday, the best of the best are out on the track for all to see. Race fans can start off their Sunday by tuning in to ABC and catching the Indy 500 LIVE from Indianapolis, Indiana. After that, replenish the chip dip and hot wings and gear up for the longest NASCAR race of the season, the Coke 600. While there are no drivers who are pulling the double this year, I expect to see one, if not two or three, pull it next season. Could we see Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart or Danica Patrick pull the double next year? It is not out of the question just yet. Stay tuned! That will be it for the eighth edition of Katie’s Komments and remember, if you don’t like mine, feel free to leave your own! Welcome to the seventh edition of Katie’s Komment’s, a place to find the latest NASCAR news and my opinion on it! All comments are my views only but feel free to leave your own!
Denny Hamlin’s Return: Denny Hamlin returned to the No.11 Fed-Ex Toyota full time this last weekend at Darlington Raceway and put on one heck of a show. Finishing second behind teammate Matt Kenseth, Hamlin showed us all that the weeks he spent up on top of the pit box were put to good use. Thanks to the points system put in place for the Chase, Hamlin still has a shot at making the Chase. He needs a few wins and needs to be in the top-20 in points. If he continues to run strong during the summer months, don’t be too surprised to see him grab one of the two wild card spots once the Chase starts in the fall. Sprint All-Star Race: This race is probably one of the most exciting races of the season. There are no points awarded, there are some weird rules that the teams have to follow, he race is broken down into segments, and only the best of the best get to race. Last season, Jimmie Johnson took home the cash prize and all of the glory with Hendrick Motorsports. This season he is strong again, but he has some strong competition. Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch have been some of the strongest competitors this season and could very well get Toyota their first victory in the Sprint All-Star Race. Keep an eye on those two; they just might beat out last year’s winner and current point’s leader Jimmie Johnson for the Victory. “Rule” Change Debate: There has been a lot of talk and a lot of not-so-nice articles that have been written in the last few days after NASCAR clarified some of the rules for the Sprint Showdown and Fan Vote. The clarification states that the Sprint Fan Vote winner has to have a car in raceable condition and does not have to finish on the lead lap of the Showdown. Most are calling this the “Danica Patrick Rule” because the fact of the matter is; she will be the winner of the fan vote. I find the name of this “rule” rude and unneeded. Last year was the first time it was stated that the fan vote winner had to finish on the lead lap, years prior, it was not the case. In the history of the Showdown and the All-Star Race, there have been less than 10 drivers who have not finished on the lead lap. Assuming Patrick won’t complete all of the laps scheduled is not really fair to her and her team. Let her race before judging her, she is doing a great job this season considering her team owner and boss Tony Stewart isn’t too far ahead of her in points. Kurt Busch in IndyCar: Kurt Busch recently tested an IndyCar at Indianapolis and reached speeds over 218mph. Could Busch be working his way up to competing in the Indy500 next year and pulling the double? I think the answer to that is yes! I could see Busch competing in an IndyCar event this season, especially if it is an oval race like Texas, Pocono or Iowa. Busch could be really competitive in IndyCar and would bring a lot of new eyes to the sport. If he can pull the double next season, there is a possibility that we could see two other NASCAR starts take a step back into their roots and try the double as well. Tony Stewart was approached by Roger Penske who offered him a ride if he wanted it and Danica Patrick has said that if she can find a competitive ride, she would want to run the Indy 500 again. I think having three of the Sprint Cup Series competitors in the Indy 500 would be a real treat for race fans of both sports and it would definitely be history in the making. That will be it for the seventh edition of Katie’s Komments and remember, if you don’t like mine, feel free to leave your own! Welcome to the sixth edition of Katie’s Komment’s, a place to find the latest NASCAR news and my opinion on it! All comments are my views only but feel free to leave your own!
Penske Penalties: After losing their appeal against the three board members, the Penske teams went to the Chief Appellate, John Middlebrook. Middlebrook cut their penalties down by quite a bit, especially when it came to the suspensions. What was once a six point’s race plus the All-Star Race suspension has now become a two point’s race plus the All-Star Race suspension. That means that the suspended Crew Chiefs and various other team members will be back for Dover. I really wasn’t surprised at the reduction of the suspension length. Although six point’s races really weren’t out of the question for a NASCAR penalty, it seems like whenever a team appeals, that is what gets reduced. I was a little surprised that the points weren’t reinstated for the No2 and No22 teams. When Johnson and his team appealed their penalties last season, the suspension and the points were reinstated. I guess Middlebrook thought that the Penske violations were a little more severe. Kenseth Penalties: Penske wasn’t the only team that was facing the appeals court this week. Matt Kenseth and his team went against the board of three to try and get their penalties from Kansas reduced and reduced they were. The original fine still stands but everything else was greatly reduced. Kenseth will now be missing his Crew Chief for one race instead of six and his 50 points that he lost have been reduced to 12. His win and pole at Kansas have also been reinstated and now count towards the Chase and the Sprint Unlimited next season. When the fines were originally handed down, I was shocked at how severe they were. I understand that NASCAR hates when teams mess with engines, but this wasn’t deliberate. I think that the appeals board made the right decision by reducing the penalties and I am glad to see Kenseth back up in the point’s standings where he belongs. Talladega Rain Delay: I want to start out by giving a HUGE shout out to each and every one of the broadcasters and reporters and cameramen that stayed out in the rain to bring us fans great coverage during the three and a half hour rain delay. The entire live broadcast, including RaceDay on Speed, lasted over nine hours. That is nine hours of continuous live television. As someone who has done a miniscule amount of live TV, it’s not easy. Those guys and gals did a great job throughout the entire race. But looking at the race, I was a little irritated, and I’m not talking about the commercials. With a rain delay that lasted almost four hours, restarting the race to finish the last 60 plus laps seemed silly. The race was well over halfway over and those last 60 laps were like a 60 lap shootout; a completely new race. Don’t get me wrong, I love that the David’s beat the Goliath s, I was cheering for an underdog to come out on top at Talladega, but the teams were racing the dark almost more than they were racing their competitors and to me, that’s not something that should happen. But hey, that’s just my opinion. The Lady in Black that is Too Tough to Tame: Darlington Raceway is by far my favorite track on the schedule although I don’t really have a solid reason why. Maybe it’s the excitement of seeing who will be the first to earn the coveted “Darlington Stripe” or maybe it’s the excitement of racing at a track shaped like an egg! Jeff Gordon is making his 700th start at Darlington and it just happens to be one of his best tracks. He has seven wins and could quite possibly turn his 700th start in the Cup Series into his 8th win at Darlington. Bring on everything that is the Southern 500 because us NASCAR fans are ready for some of the best short track action all season. That will be it for the sixth edition of Katie’s Komments and remember, if you don’t like mine, feel free to leave your own! Welcome to the fifth edition of Katie’s Komment’s, a place to find the latest NASCAR news and my opinion on it! All comments are my views only but feel free to leave your own!
Denny Hamlin: Hamlin announced late this week that he was cleared to race at Talladega. As much as I love hearing that Hamlin can get back in the car and race again, I’m a little cautious about him hitting the pavement at a track like this. Talladega is a war zone. It’s rare for a car to get loaded up on the hauler at the end of the weekend without a scratch. I fully understand that Denny wants to get back in the racecar. Being forced to sit out of something you love is tough but in the end, health is more important. Hamlin could get caught up in a wreck at the start of the race and be right back to where he started, benched, or worse. If the doctors have cleared him, NASCAR is allowing him to race, and his team is behind him, then more power to him. I hope he gets out there, plays it smart, and earns the points he needs, and then turns the car over to Brian Vickers to finish out the race. Hopefully he can be back behind the wheel of his No.11 Toyota full time next weekend at Darlington. Scott vs Piquet Jr: There was some on and off track issues with these two full time Nationwide Series drivers. After an on-track altercation, Neslon Piquet Jr and Brian Scott confronted each other after the race but Piquet didn’t like that much. He kicked Scott and his foot made contact just below the belt. Not cool. After the race, near the driver’s camp, there was yet another argument that arose between members of the RCR and TSM crew that landed two in jail and left one with a shoulder injury. It seems like a misunderstanding on the track escalated very quickly into something much bigger that caused problems for the teams and drivers. Hopefully these two can work past their differences and get back out there and race! IT’S TALLADEGA!!!!!! This is one of those racetracks that I hope to see in person one day. The sheer size of this speedway is amazing and the racing that goes on here twice each year never leaves you sitting down for long. Talladega leads off into what I like think of as the best 5 weeks in the NASCAR schedule. Talladega produces some of the most exciting racing on the schedule and next weekend, the series heads to Darlington then to Charlotte for two weeks. If you can predict the winner of the Aaron’s 499, then you might just be psychic because this is one of the only races of the year where anyone has a fairly equal chance and taking the checkers. With that said, who do you will come out on top on Sunday? My guess is that we will see an underdog come out victorious. Could a certain driver dressed in green make history again this weekend? It is really quite possible. This is one race that I do not want to miss. That will be it for the fifth edition of Katie’s Komments and remember, if you don’t like mine, feel free to leave your own! |