Katie's Komments: 3rd Edition

Welcome to the third 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!

PENALTIES: NASCAR definitely showed their power this week when they handed down the penalties and fines to Penske Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing and Ron Hornaday. The Twitterverse exploded with tweets of outrage and disgust when the news broke saying the NASCAR was being unfair and the penalties, especially towards Penske Racing, were too harsh. I tend to disagree. The penalty given to MWR and the No. 56 team of Martin Truex Jr. was standard to what NASCAR has done in the past and MWR seems to agree; they are not appealing.  The penalties given to the two Penske Racing teams seem harsh, but if you look at the penalties given to the No. 48 team of Jimmie Johnson last season, they are fairly similar. The No. 48 team appealed the penalties which later were reduced and I see the same thing happening to the Penske Racing teams as well. Ron Hornaday’s penalty though, seemed a little lenient. Kyle Busch did the same thing to Hornaday in 2011 that Hornaday did to Darrell Wallace Jr. and was parked immediately and suspended. Hornaday was fined and put on probation until June. All in all, NASCAR was pretty consistent with their penalties and fines this week. Good job NASCAR.

KANSAS: The Truck and Sprint Cup Series hits the tracks this weekend at Kansas Speedway. This track has always been one of the hardest to predict and with the new repave, it has become even more unpredictable. Since its first race, no driver has won more than two races at the track. I had the privilege of attending the fall race there last season after it was repaved and the Sprint Cup race was complete chaos. There were cars spinning at every turn and there was really no point in the race where you could determine a possible race winner. You can definitely look at drivers like Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch for this weekend but when the checkered flag flies, you never know who might just cross that finish line.

KYLE BUSCH AND JIMMIE JOHNSON: We may only be seven races into the season but it is already clear that there are two drivers who are definite Championship contenders. Jimmie Johnson is no surprise. He is, more often than not, right up there in the final two or three when Homestead rolls around. He already has two wins this season and is a favorite to win this weekend. Kyle Busch is a different story. This Busch brother missed the Chase last season and is determined to NOT let that happen again. He, too, already has two wins this season in the Cup Series and four in the Nationwide Series. Busch is well on his way to making the Chase and if he continues down the path he is currently on, he might just win the entire thing.

That will be it for the third edition of Katie’s Komments and remember, if you don’t like mine, feel free to leave your own!