Fantasy Outlook for Dega!

Up until this year, one team had dominated the super speedways of Daytona, and Talladega. The Ford camp has defiantly had a string of luck, and were half a lap away from getting another Daytona 500. Now needless to say these tracks are always a crap shoot. Anyone and everybody can win example A. the Xfinity series race today, we seen Spencer Gallagher come outta know where to lead his first lap and capture his first win. This race is all about momentum, lane choice and who can keep there car outta the big one the easiest. So, I am gonna go over a few picks. I'm gonna give you some sleeper picks and the no brain picks. Mind this though in this race I think everyone in the top fifteen with five to go are sleepers. 

The betting odds have Brad Keselowski at a six to one chance to win the race. Which would make sense seeing as the last time the series was at the track he won. While winning, his teammates led the most laps. Brad won earlier this year in the Clash at Daytona and has historically always been good at these tracks. It's hard not to go with the blue oval squad this year they've been tearing up everything, but the cars. I think this team in general has been over all pretty consistent, and are finally looking for a break through win.

The next no brain pick I've got is Denny Hamlin. The Joe Gibbs driver last won at the super Speedway in 2014, but is highly regarded as a restrictor plate king. He's led the second most laps among st active driver's with 291 at "Dega." He also has six wins in restrictor plate tracks since 2014. His teammate Kyle Busch has went into straight domination mode the last three weeks. Which hasn't left much room for anyone more less his own teammates. The Vegas betting odds have Denny second to Keselowski with a eight to one odd, which is tied with Joey Logano. 

The next kinda easy pick is the first driver to win three in a row this year. Kevin Harvick hasn't had the best of luck for the last two races. With a 20th and 23rd place finish he's had a tough go, but before that you have to go back to 2013 for a time when Harvick had a finish worse than 15th. The 4 team, has had a pretty spectacular run this year. It wouldn't surprise anyone to see the veteran claim his fourth victory this year.

I was kinda torn on this pick, but after doing a little more home work. I realized that even though Kyle Busch hasn't consistently been in victory lane he has been awfully close. Kyle Busch's last win in Alabama was back in 2008 his first year with JGR. Since that trip he has had, six top ten finishes and has led at least a lap in all, but two of his races since 2008. Kyle Busch would be claiming his fourth straight win if he's able to win again which alone is a serious feet in itself. I think if anyone can do it, its gonna be "Rowdy" but Vegas only has him at a twelve to one chances. Like I said earlier though anyone and everyone who still is on the lead lap has a chance.

Now for my favorite part the sleepers section. This first driver is coming off a second place finish at Richmond. Chase Elliott has had some solid qualifying efforts, but some really bad luck when it comes to the two and half mile track. The second generation driver is coming off his eighth second place finish and has shown speed at Daytona and Talladega before. Why couldn't this hungry young driver come out and finally burn them down in Alabama. Vegas has Chase Elliott at twelve to one odds. 

My second sleeper choice just so happens to be my first choices friend and a teammate of one of my "no brainers." Ryan Blaney has raced at the super speedway a total of seven times. In those seven starts Blaney has qualified in the top twenty all seven times. Unfortunately he's only finished in the top twenty, four of the seven times. He led twenty seven laps in October, and looked to have a chance to win. Ryan has had a rough year to this point he led laps at Daytona and Bristol before wrecks took him outta contention for the win. Talladega could very well be the race that, if he keeps his car clean he could pull off his second career victory. Blaney holds the same odds as Chase Elliott at twelve to one but at this track those can be kinda null and void. 

This next pick, some may not even classify as a sleeper. Ricky Stenthouse Jr. won this very race, last year after leading fourteen laps. This team has a knack for racing on these tracks and very well could get his second victory in a row. Stenthouse had showed some speed at Daytona and starts seventh later on today. He could pull out another win and get himself into the playoff's. 

How can anyone put the defending series champ as a sleeper pick? Well its simple Martin Truex has never won at the super speedway in the cup series. Even though he start's third tomorrow and has won three xfinity races, his cup stats are not that great. In twenty six career starts "the champ" has only two top fives. 

Anyways there it is ladies and gentlemen. If you play fantasy and haven't picked your drivers for the week maybe that will help you some. I am honestly not to good at this myself, but as a fan these are my honest choices. So hopefully we can both get lucky and do good.

I have wrote a few variance of articles, since creating this blog. The one who has the most views was when I did a five race review. I understand a lot of you guys, don't have much time to read huge articles so if you have any idea's of how to attract more reader please suggest them. I enjoy doing this and I would love for more people to love reading them. 

Rookie Sensation William Byron

This one has took a little to come together due, but I have finally got my second driver entry available. It on my previous drivers Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron. I'm gonna do my best to give you an abundance of backstory on this young man, and where I see his career going in the future. Hopefully I'll here some valuable input from all of this young mans fans.

William Byron became very interested in the racing scene at the young age of six. After becoming dominantly popular on the Iracing scene, with one hundred online wins. William became a huge student of the sport and was all in on becoming a racer. Once he realized that this was way more than just hobby William's dad took a visit to the legend cars headquarters in North Carolina. After a legends race in Concord, North Carolina his legends career began. At the ripe age of fifteen which is older than most drivers who get into the sport(picture to the left William driving in 2014). William won nearly half of the races he was in across the country in 2013, and with 33 victories he became legends National Champion. This was only the bite that was about to lead to whole lot of fishing for this young man in the racing scene. 

In 2014 a pretty good scout of talent Dale Earnhardt Jr and his regional late model team came a knocking William opened the door.
William's first year working with Jr. was a productive one. Racing in the late model program wasn't all he did that season. William decided to race in the K&N East series for the first time. While getting his feet wet in the late models with a single victory. The "young gun" went on to finish in the top five fifteen times and finish second in points to round out the year with Jr Motorsports. The start of his 2015 season in the K&N series went just a little bit better. William won his second start at Greenville Pickens Speedway in Greenville, North Carolina. That would only be the beginning of a great year for the young study. He would go onto lead 43% of the laps he ran during the racing year. A feat a little more interesting is the whole year his average starting position was no less than fourth and wouldn't finish any lower than seventh on average. William has always been a competitor though and that season it showed he competed thirty six different times across four different series. He came away with five poles,six wins, and nineteen top five finishes. Those stats would lead to William winning the K&N east championship and rookie of the year. The young study of the sport was growing into his racing shoes so to speak, and some pretty big names noticed it. I mean he had already race for Dale Jr. The opportunities
were only gonna continue.
Well, at the end of his 2015 racing season Kyle Busch and his truck series team had a seat open for one young driver, and that just so happen to be one William Byron.
KBM had just come off the winning the driver's and its third owner championship so the young kid had some driving to live up too for the championship caliber team. The rookie driver didnt get off to the fast start he was a custom too. Crashing on the final lap of the first race at Daytona and then having engine trouble at Atlanta. The season was looking to be more of a challenge than anyone couldve seen, but just like all the other challenges William began to make some headway. After a horrible start, he would get his first top five finish the following race at Martinsville. That top five was the first of eleven for the young driver from North Carolina. William went on to capture his first win in May at Kansas. He wouldn't stop there winning six more times at tracks like Texas,Iowa,Kentucky,Pocono,New Hampshire and even the last race of the season at Homestead. William even broke his owner's brother truck series record at Pocono for the most wins. Unfortunately, for a team that had hopes of winning back-to-back driver's championships they would be killed in the round of six. William looked to be poised for a run when his motor failed at Phoenix which costed him the opportunity to run for the championship. William didn't let some bad luck stop him like before. Even though he couldn't win the championship, he would win the race and therefore claiming KBM another owners championship. What the young driver accomplished in one year was unheard of and everyone was paying attention especially a guy who has a knack for seeing young talent Rick Hendrick.
William Byron didn't get to win his truck series championship due to some bad luck. What he did was almost as good. On August 18th before his amazing rookie truck season was over William had signed a deal with Rick Hendrick. Therefore in doing so he would be able to race for Dale Jr again, and he was all to familiar with being successful for that guy. William would be racing a car, that was driven by one Chase Elliott who in his own right had been pretty successful winning an Xfinity Championship his rookie year. Chase was moving on to take the wheel of the iconic number twenty four driven by Jeff Gordon. Leaving the vacancy in the number nine. William would start off his rookie season a lot better this go round. Averaging in the first five race a finishing spot of no worse than eighth. The luck was about to run out though with Byron having a string of finishes outside of the top ten. William would go onto learn from his string of bad luck and rebound at Dover for a sixth place spot. Little did anyone know just three short weeks later the young man was about to shoot a spark that lit the fire under a championship caliber team. William came into Iowa Speedway with some experience winning just one year prior. William won his third career truck series victory at Iowa and if he was gonna have a chance capture his first Xfinity series win it was gonna be here. Christopher Bell and Ryan Sieg were competing late when they eventually wrecked giving the lead to William and he didnt look back taking the 9 team to victory lane for the first time. William didn't stop there like the prior season all it took was one win. William got his taste of the checkered flag and went onto win two more times before the playoff at some historic tracks Daytona, and Indianapolis. The taste of victory is an addicting thing for a young man with the talents of William. When the playoffs rolled around the young man was poised to take a stroll into history. William's fourth win would come at Phoenix just before the championship four race at Homestead. William went into Homestead with a horrible taste in his mouth due to winning the prior season, but not having any chance of winning a championship. Late in the race Williams teammate was racing hard for a victory when he got tangled up and into the wall allowing William to pass Sadler, and maintain the position ahead of Sadler. Without a win like his prior trip to Homestead, William came in third which bested his teammate Sadler to win the Xfinity Series Championship. William was over flowing with talent, and was poised to make the quick jump to the big series. Which, is what was poised to happen even before William won his championship. On August 9th, it was agreed upon that William would be taking over the 5 car for the departing Kasey Kahne. Twenty short days later it was announce publicly that William would be taking over the 24 car with the personnel being from the 5 squad. While, the current driver of the 24 would be switching to drive the 9 car with the 24 team personnel. It would shape up to be an interesting first season for the young man.
Here and now is the Future!
I have a strong feeling about this young man, as a fan of this sport. William thus far has had some really rough luck averaging a seventeenth finishing place. William struggled to an extent in all of his prior experiences and then all it took was one or two really good runs before this young man went on a roll. Due to some pit strategy at ISM the rookie was able to lead his first lap. After the race he was quoted saying "It just showed myself that I can do it" and do it is exactly what he did a few weeks later at Texas. William got his first top ten at Texas two weeks ago, and after his horrible qualifying efforts was lucky enough to secure a top ten start at Bristol after Kurt Busch had to start in the back due to a wreck in practice. His qualifying fortunes would continue on this past weekend at Richmond with a top ten start. Byron said in an interview with NASCAR.com at the beginning of March saying "once it clicks, its going to be the same as any other series, and you know what you need in the car, and you know how to produce results..." William has proven in every single series thus far that his quote is exactly true, and if you watch the young man race these last couple of races you see the confidence blooming. William was consistently running in the top ten all night long in Richmond. At some points it looked like the 24 team had a race winning car. William has improved as a driver more and more every single race, and his crew has grown to understand what he wants more and more. This young man is what this sport needs more of, on the race broad cast Jeff Gordon said that William is such a student of the sport that in practice he followed the 42 and 1 cars around the track just to see where or if he could improve. William unfortunately had a pit road penalty and that took them outta contention for the win. With that being said this young man had a chance and that's something to grow on. There are not to many of those young guns left like that, a lot of young driver rely on there ability or machine hoping for them alone to bring them into the win. The late great Dale Earnhardt once said "Finishing races is important, but racing is more important" and I believe as the season goes on we will see that more and more from this young man. Onto Dega right? Well here's my thought's on his chances there I believe this is a track that anyone has a chance to win, so why not William? His luck has been hit or miss at the super speedway with a thirty sixth place finish in his first Xfinity race and a tenth place finish in the trucks. So this week will be interesting to see. If William learns the draft a little better this go round, his team brings him a fast car there is no reason why this young man can not get his first win here, and watch out if he does. All it takes is one from this young man and he will start to run away from you. Stay tuned for my William Byron fans I'm gonna attempt to cover this young man week in and week out!

The Last Great Coliseum Done...Finally?

After a very long and cold weekend the boys finally finished the first Bristol race of the season. We finally seen some speed, and a little consistently from the Chevrolet camp. With one good thing comes a multitude of bad things though. The outcry from fans about the weather was a lot larger than I as a fan expected, and I have my own opinion about it but we will get to that at another time. The best part though was in typical short track fashion we finally got to see some rubbing with our racing. As we all know rubbing eventually leads to yellow flags. Not all our yellows this week occurred due to that teams again had an issue with loose wheels taking out serious competitors. Bristol weekend took a little longer than some might have thought, but its over and here's your weekly race review.

 Bristol Motor Speedway looked to be the same old same old conversation 

for the Chevrolet's. After qualifying only two of them were in the top ten. Kyle Larson appeared again to look for another strong run at Bristol, and Alex Bowman was looking to maybe get his first trip to victory lane. Both would eventually finish solidly in the top five, but only after a long race. Kyle Larson led a race high 200 laps, and once again was looking to win at the half mile track. At one point we even seen the 42 car out to a five and half second lead. Which given at Bristol can be gone in a madder of micro seconds but still the speed was there this weekend for Larson. Along with Larson, rookie "Bubba" Wallace, and his car had some speed along with Larson. Wallace was driving like a mad man at one point during the race throwing down with some of the best. Larson and Bubba would lead a combined two hundred and six laps. The most among st the three manufacturer's. Over all the weekend finished off pretty good, especially after the bumps that were suffered on pit road by mostly Chevrolet drivers we seen multiple pit road penalties, from the 88 team,43 team, 1 team and the 31 team. Now needless to say it wasn't just all Chevrolet teams, but they did have a majority of the penalties. After the bumps on pit road, though the camp recovered and put four cars in the final top ten. Once again though P1 was not a Chevrolet, but if anything was proven this weekend. It was that this car is slowly, but surely coming around for these guys. If your a fan of any "Team Bow tie" your driver's season is just about to begin I believe. 

Once this past weekend fell upon us as fans, we were finally relieved that this would be the week we would see some good old fashioned "short track racing." Boy did these guys not disappoint, we seen bumping and banging on both days this race was ran. Could you imagine if they would've got run the whole race in one day? Stay tuned I have some opinions on that myself, but anyways. We seen the boys running extra hard on Sunday. At the end of stage one we seen Brad Keselowski bump the 42 outta the way and take the stage win. Unfortunately though not all bumps were good for everyone. After the 32 got into an incident with the 6, Ryan Blaney was took out. Those guys were about to be lapped and were racing like that trophy sword was there's for the taking. Bristol is known for this type of racing but as we all know tempers flair once the bumper's are used. After losing the lead to the 2 car, Kyle Larson was making his way up the field when he cut across the front bumper of Ryan Newman. Newmans radio traffic was quoted saying "Let him know I'm sorry, but he can't cut across my nose." This race was split up into two days and both days up to the very last few laps was action packed fast racing. Kyle Busch to claim his umpteenth win it feels like at the track used his bumper to move the dominant car Kyle Larson outta the way and take the win. Many "soft" fans as I like to call them might complain because Busch has won a race already and Larson hasn't. As the late great Dale Earnhardt once said "You've got to be closer to the edge than ever to win. That means sometimes you go over the edge and I don't mean driving either." Rubbing is racing isn't that how the old saying goes and I will always firmly believe in that mantra.
I touched a little bit on the NASCAR issued pit guns last week. It appears that maybe somethings didn't change. We seen once again multiple teams have problems with loose tires. Now could that be a mental error with the guys. Or maybe there is an unknown issue with these guns. Teams like Brad Keselowski, and Denny Hamlin after leading had loose tire issues. Keselowski even had his tire fall off causing a caution. This is an issue as a fan I've noticed in multiple races this year, since these new guns have showed up. Needless to say the issue has always been around, but this year it appears its becoming more and more frequent. What do you as a fan think? Are these pit guys having issues with the guns? Are the guns themselves the issue? It'll be interesting to see as the season goes on What will happen.
So, here my final thoughts about Bristol. Something finally clicked for the Chevrolet camp and they showed some speed. Kyle Larson and Bubba Wallace led a combine two hundred and six laps. Showing some dominance finally at a track through out the race not just in pre-race activities. The boys "had at it" so to say this weekend and as a fan I enjoyed it. I had to wait to watch the whole race two days, and as unfortunate as that was it was still worth every minute. I really hope the aggressiveness continues at Richmond, and for the rest of the season. This one is an interesting thing for me, these pit road guns. NASCAR wanted to make things fair among st the teams, due to the spending from multiple teams on equipment. I am excited about Richmond, and I'm always a fan of some night racing. After a long race weekend, on to Richmond I'll have the race preview ready for Richmond after qualifying today sometimes! Stay tuned I've also got a entry coming up about my thoughts on the rain delay situation and how the fans and officials handled it.   

The Last Great Coliseum Preview!

The Food City 500

This year's Spring Bristol race once again is looking to be threatened again by some horrible weather. Hopefully, for all the Bristol fan such as myself we get that race off tomorrow as planned. The weekend to this point has defiantly been a fast paced one and after Texas how could we expect any less. So as usual I'm gonna give you guys a little back story on Bristol to start out. Then some race predictions and last but not least some fantasy options from my point of view. So lets get started ladies and germs!

Bristol Motor Speedway, was constructed in 1961 and one short year later held there first NASCAR race. Even though this track is small, and short it has become on of the most popular tracks on the NASCAR circuit for fans and drivers alike for many years. The short track in northern Tennessee is the fourth largest sports venue in the U.S and the eighth largest in the world! The dang world are you kidding me? A small town track that has twenty to thirty degree banking, is one of the largest sports venues in the world. Bristol has a historic record book needless to say. The King himself Richard Petty holds three records,with twenty six top fives, thirty seven top tens, and sixty starts. The guy who holds the record for the most wins is Darrell Waltrip, and a respected short track driver in his own right. The Last Great Coliseum as it is now called, is a highlighted track for most fans and drivers alike.

The race weekend in Bristol started off with something race fans at Bristol should be familiar with seeing. Kyle and Kurt Busch qualifying on the front row. The Busch brothers are notorious for being good at this track with a combined eleven wins since 2002. Kyle Busch swept both races in 2009 and then went back to back with the fall 2010 race and the spring 2011 race. Combined the younger of the Busch brother's has five wins in the last ten years. With that being said he did claim the pole position for this weeks race, and only three times in ten years have the pole winner won the race too. Unfortunately for older brother Kurt his Sunday isn't gonna start how he wanted after Friday in final practice Kurt hit the wall and will be starting Sunday from the back of the field in a backup car along with Johnson and Harvick. The starting ten appears to be something this season that is not new. Before the 41 cars trip to the rear of the field there was set to be seven blue ovals, two bow ties, and one camry. The last ten years the manufacters have split this race pretty well almost even well unless your Toyota. Ford has four wins, Chevrolet has five, and before Dodge was left the sport they scored two wins. Toyota on the other hand has kinda shown some dominance since entering the sport with nine wins, and five coming from the 18 team. With Kyle leading the field to the green flag whether that be Sunday or Monday this could lead to be another Toyota win. Now also the unspoken contenders in the field are the 42 team and Kyle Larson, I've been very vocal this year about these guys and the new cars but this is the very track that they could finally start there ascendance to some victories. In final practice Chase Elliott and the 9 team where just one of four teams in the final top ten of practice speeds. Shockingly an unlikely driver and team were leading those guys with that being David Ragan and the 38 team. So here are my predictions for the race. I as always look forward to this race because one of two things is gonna happen. There will be a major surprise winner come outta this race, or a usual winner example Kyle Busch will dominate. I think after all we've seen this year there is no reason not to think that Kyle Busch won't run away with this thing especially if it gets to go off without a hitch today. Now if some rain comes in before the halfway mark or even before the race starts in general and changes the track we could see possibly a first time winner at Bristol and in the series completely. I would really love to see this race get off to a competitive start, but with only the bottom groove showing any promise in the Xfinity race I don't know how the competition will fair. Still got some more to come I've got some fantasy options for the race too if you are still unsure of who to pick. 

I as a fan, have really gotten into the fantasy side of the sport a little more and more every weekend. So, I thought why not add it to my weekly preview. I've got some easy to make picks and some possible sleepers for the "Thunder Alley." So your pole winner and last years fall race winner Kyle Busch really needs to be your first pick if possible. I know that the NASCAR website put's a limit on the times you can use each driver, but the youngest Busch is a shewn anytime he comes to the half mile track. The other dominant car this season Kevin Harvick, now even though he is coming from the rear in a backup car. This team proved last week after multiple mishaps on pit road they are always a contender. The other two drivers that should be common sense picks are the 42 and 22. Kyle Larson led a combined 272 laps in two races last year, yes I know different car and different season but his bad luck is bound to end some where. Joey Logano  isn't typically a short track guy but he has been consistent enough at Bristol that a win is bound to occur. Now the fun and much more unpredictable picks the "sleeper's." Clint Bowyer, snapped a 190 race winless streak earlier this year at Martinsville, undoubtedly would lead to some sorta confidence. Now even though they are way different tracks Bowyer has seven top fives in twenty four starts, he could definitely be a contender. Another young driver, Eric Jones led seventy seven laps in the fall and was a contender all race. Now with that being said his teammate Hamlin, won here in 2012 and has finished third three times since. It might be his break through weekend, this weekend. The final sleeper is a big and might I say BIG sleeper. Ricky Stenthouse, has an average finish at Bristol of 10.8 second only to Eric Jones. Stenthouse is the hard nosed short track type driver that is perfect to pull off a surprise win today!

To finish this post off, my readers on the last entry didn't get up to par with all my other entries. So as an aspiring young writer I want to know what as my reader's you guys would like to see more of in my post. I love this sport and seeing the number of people have gave me a shot was so amazing and i hope to keep you guys around, and with that being said LETS GO SHORT TRACK RACING IN BRISTOL BABY!

Great American Speedway Review

So, now that I am finally getting some quiet time to write this entry. Lets review the race at the "Great American Speedway" Texas Motor Speedway. There was huge temperature drop to begin the weekend. Which I guess apparently the temperature drop affected the tires, and caused some possible mental mistakes with pit crews. I mean what was up with all the pit road mistakes? Lets get started with this race review!

Race weekend started off with Stewart Haas dominating qualifying. Even with the Ford camp starting off hot, the temperatures did not approve. It was in the low to mid 70's Friday when teams arrived at the track. As nice and warm as it was Friday it did not stay that way, Saturday for practice the high was around 44 degrees, and race day wasn't much better with a high of 59. The race started off with a few car dropping to the back due to multiple reasons. Kyle Larson's 42 car failed inspection three times, and his team was penalized for it. The team lost the car chief and has to go to the rear of the field. William Byron and the 24 team swapped engines due to a oil pressure issue in practice. So right off the bat we had two decently fast car's having to battle there ways up the running order. 

Stage 1 

The Stewart Haas teammates led the field to the green flag. Green flag racing didn't last that long with the first yellow coming out around lap four. The Nationwide 88 driven by Alex Bowman hit the apron on the track and collected the 21, 19 and damages the 3 car. After that first caution, racing went over all pretty smooth. We are off to a all to familiar site with the 4 car and Kevin Harvick leading. When the thirty lap mark rolled around the top ten, looked kinda familiar too with seven outta the top ten being fords. That would last for long though last years race winner Jimmie Johnson cracked the top ten around lap 31 and looked to be on a roll. The issues would start to occur though shortly for a lot of teams because the 78 car was about to split the stage. Around lap 41 Truex, came in for a green flag stop, and the field soon followed suite. With green flag stops in full swing, the 12 car recieved a pit road penalty for an uncontrolled tire. The penalty were not done there with the 11 team recieving one on lap sixty three. Harvick, and his team got off pit road and continued to dominate the first stage. With five to go in stage one Martin Truex blew a right front tire and hit the wall hard effectively ending his day, also ending the first stage. The 78 cars unfortunate luck with tires would not be the last of the day. Harvick went on to claim the stage one win and lead the most laps in the stage. Something that couldn't be denied is that Kyle Busch was dialing in his car to make a run.

Stage 2

Stage two started with a new leader after pit stops. The 18 team got "Rowdy" off pit road ahead of the dominant Harvick. The Camry out front, wouldn't last long with Harvick coming back and taking the lead. Around lap 41 of the stage, the four car's cruise control was set to on and he didn't look back. Unfortunately for him and Kyle Larson, Larson blew a right front tire and hit the wall hard almost identically as hard as Truex. The reason it was unfortunate for Harvick, is because his pit team had some horrible luck and he lost eight spots on pit road. Fox live race coverage showed, a lug nut jumping into the jack causing the jack to get stuck. The front row consisted of the Busch brothers battling for a lead. With older brother Kurt taking the lead for his turn out front. Kevin Harvick bad luck in stage two just continued, with reports of a loose wheel on lap 52 of the stage. Things were not all bad for the Stewart Haas team with the 41 car pulling away from second place. More wheel issues started to arise with the 12 car complaining of a loose wheel, and once again the 18 car said his vibration from earlier in the race had not went away. With 26 to go in the stage we see some speed out of the Hendricks camp with Chase Elliott running sixth, on the other end of the spectrum the 48 car was running 24th and struggling. Once again in stage two we seen, another car complaining of a vibration with Joey Logano advising his crew he has one unsure if loose tire or not. With 8 to go in the stage Kurt Busch looses some momentum due to a lap car allowing younger brother Kyle to take the lead and go onto get his second stage win of the season. The final top ten at the end of stage 2 consisted of a majority of Fords with six,one Chevrolet, and three Toyota's.   

  Final Stage!

The final stage of this race was shaping up to be another interesting one. Stage pit stops commenced and winded up with sophomore driver Eric Jones winning the race off pit road. The stage two winner Kyle Busch didn't loose much coming out second but to start the stage was extremely loose which didn't help. Around lap 179, there was a big wreck which took out some potential race contenders, including Johnson, Hamlin, and Keselowski. The carnage on the track was so bad the race was red flagged on lap 180. As the red flag came out Kyle Busch made a comment about how the 9 car caused him to get extremely loose. Along with that the 4 cars bad luck was looking to continue with a possible loose tire. Which lead to his crew chief making a comment about the NASCAR issued lug wrench system. After approximately a rough ten minute red flag period, Eric Jones and his youth movement counter part Chase Elliott would lead the pack back to green on lap 183. The 4 team has to make a pit stop, causing them to go a lap down and also add some looseness to the handling of the car. Chase Elliott was able to lead four total laps before loosing the lead back to the 20 car. Who at this point in the race looked to be chasing his first career victory. Potential race winner Kurt Busch obtained some damage to his splitter which would in indefinably hurt the handling of his car to an extent. Rookie driver's William Byron and Bubba Wallace looked to have a strong showing in this race with Byron leading a lap and "Bubba" not giving up a free pass spot easily to veteran Kevin Harvick. With 124 to go, Eric Jones and his team were out front still, and once again another team has a right front tire issue with Elliott and the nine team having to make a pit due to possible loose tire. Which after his pit stop would put him in a battle with Harvick for the free pass spot with 109 to go. Five short laps later green flag pit stops started to happen, but at 4:53 PM the 21 Ford Fusion got into the wall bringing out the caution and allowing Kevin Harvick to get back into P2. Unfortunately for his pit crew another mistake was made with too many men over the wall. This penalty could possibly ruin this teams chances. You can only recover so many times. With 94 laps to go "Rowdy" took the lead from his JGR teammate and was off. Kyle Busch would win a race off pit road after Kahne and Bane collided in a wreck and would go onto have a three second lead with 60 to go. The driver of the Busch blue Ford Fusion had brought this car back no madder what mishaps had occurred all race and with 50 to go was back in second. Twenty laps later Ryan Newman blew a surprise surprise right front tire and hit the wall hard to bring out another yellow. Eighteen short minutes later with ten laps to go the Ford of Harvick and Toyota of Busch were battling it out. Kyle Busch went on to win the race, and lead 116 laps in total. Claiming his first victory of the season after a string of consecutive top three finishes. 

Conclusion 

Texas didn't disappoint from a fan's point of view, but there were some definite headlines coming out of this race. Goodyear's right front tire had multiple issues with some serious contenders like Truex and Larson blowing tires and wrecking out of the race. Could it have been a bead issues on the wheels or was it a tire issue within itself. Good year hasn't commented on the issue from what I have heard but it's still something to think about for the fall race. Especially if the temps are much warmer than the Spring race. Another issue was the abundance of pit road penalties with Hamlin, Blaney and Harvicks teams having issues. Was it the cold weather, or maybe just a mental lapse we are a few races in at this point. The biggest headline following this race was the criticism that the NASCAR issued pit guns from the Stewart Haas, Ford team. Harvicks crew chief Rodney Childers was quoted saying on twitter "I can't explain how frustrating it is when you don't win with the best car.." Kevin Harvick himself also said himself after the race "The pit guns have been absolutely horrible all year, and our guys do a great job on pit road, and the pathetic part about it is that you get handed something that doesn't work correctly and those guys are doing everything they can to make it right." Harvick's team have not been the first team to complain about the pit guns, race winner Kyle Busch and his crew chief have made complaints known earlier this year. Busch's team owner Joe Gibb's himself even said when talking about the guns "I don't like things not in our hands." He also went onto say "To be quite truthful, I've taken a stand on that. That's something I hope we continue to reevaluate." Other teams haven't been as vocal as JGR and now the Stewart Haas teams but with the multiple loose wheel issues that arose in this race it is something that might need to be reviewed by NASCAR. So, what did you guys think? Could Texas have been more interesting? What are your opinions on the pit guns, and how can NASCAR fix it? Any who guys ITS BRISTOL BABY! Race preview for this weeks race coming tomorrow stay tuned!

Great American Speedway Texas Race Preview!

O'Reilly Auto Parts 500

The first race, after the holiday break: Texas Motor Speedway. The track is located in Fort Worth, Texas. It was opened February,29th 1996 and the first race was a little over a year later on April 6th, 1997. The "Lonestar" track has historically been dominated by one manufacturer, much like Martinsville; Chevrolet. There teams have been struggling thus far this season to show up any where but qualifying or practice. Mr. Seven time himself Jimmie started off his season last year with a win at this very track. Unfortunately, for all the other drivers Kevin Harvick, and Ford are on a roll and looking to continue it at a track they are pretty familiar with. Unless JGR, and FRR with there Camry's can show up to the scene to start stealing some wins. Also, since I've come to the realization that a lot more people are playing NASCAR fantasy in some way shape or form. So, Ill give you all my opinion on the fantasy outlook for one of the funnest tracks to watch on the circuit arguably. 

This weeks race could very well be the turning of the tides for the dominant manufacturer

 at this track. My previous race reviews, I have been very critical of the new body that Chevy is running, but in all reality that's not what I think might be holding them back completely the race speed just doesn't develop early enough in the race. Which isn't good because your competitors are showing speed from start to finish. I mean come on Harvick won three in a row, and once Bowyer got out front he didn't look back. Given the circumstances, they adjust, and work on there cars and gain some small speeds. This week the highest qualifying Chevrolet is Jimmie Johnson at ninth. Qualifying was cancelled after round one due to lighting at the track. Jimmie does have a pretty good pedigree at this track. After all he does hold four track records here with wins(7), top fives(15), top tens(21), and laps led(1041). Jimmie scored his first win last season at this very track, and silenced some of his critics. With that being said there is another very hungry driver right behind him in tenth, Kyle Larson. This is the exact track he has a shot to get his season going in the right direction. Larson led 74 laps in the fall race and looked like he was gonna win, but was took outta the race due to a wreck. That could just be more motivation for him this spring to go ahead and cement his playoff position. The spring race last year had five Chevy drivers in the top ten after the checkered flag dropped last year. They know what it takes to win here but after those two you have to go back to 15th to even start to consistently see anymore Chevrolet drivers. That has to be a bothersome thing for a lot of fans and even the drivers because no madder what they do, something with these new cars and speed just hasn't came together. Hendrick's, Richard Childress, and all of the other owners and drivers have a lot to prove at this track. The season is still very young don't get me wrong, but I think something has got to give for the Camaro. Otherwise Ford might run away from them and not look back until they take home another championship.
This week qualifying was called after the first round due some weather in the area. That didn't put a damper on Kurt Busch though. Who claimed his second straight pole at the track. The guy holds the track qualifying record from his fall pole award. What is arguably a little less surprising is that his teammates Harvick and Bowyer claimed second and third. Honestly, Almirola didn't to bad either with a twelve place starting spot. Half of the top ten spots were claimed by that pesky blue oval. With Blaney who lead the most laps last Spring, and Logano being the other two in the top ten. These fusions are coming into each and every race and proving it that they have a chance to win. While I was coming up with my notes for this race, my headline for the Ford group was "Can they keep it up?" I guess after qualifying we don't really need to ask that question. Now could things have ended up differently if qualifying wouldn't have gotten cancelled? Yes, but you can alway argue the "what if's" This track last year was Blaney's for the taking in the spring and Mr. Harvick did take it in the fall. Ford teams led a total of 267 laps last spring, even though they didnt lead quite as many in the fall they led 39 and one of those was the one that madders.  After "Happy Harvick" there were four more Ford drivers who finished in the top ten. They apparently figured something out after watching the Chevy's take the victory in the spring. To this point Penske has showed some speed, but just hasn't been able to close it out against Stewart Haas, and no offense but the Roush drivers haven't been anywhere to be seen since Stenthouse won last year.  Stewart Haas received alot of slack for leaving the Chevrolet group a few years ago after winning a championship with Harvick, but now they are starting to look like a bunch of genius's. Ford fell off for a few year's the early 2000's was dominated by Roush driver's something happen and they lost a step but they seemed to have gained it back. This group of teams and drivers have been solid this year over all and there is no reason to think that they can't be again at Texas. Unless, the Camry's show up? Or maybe does that Camaro wind up in victory lane?
Last year's fall race, well lets be honest most of the year was dominated by Toyota and Truex. Truex and his team led 107 laps in the fall only to see Harvick take the win. A race that has twenty seven lead changes, saw 208 laps total led by those Camries. They know how to get around this track, and they showed that again with Hamlin, Truex, and Kyle Busch qualifying in the top ten. They went from only one driver in the top ten in the spring to four in the fall race. Truex won his first race earlier this season in California, and has been the only driver besides Austin Dillon to win a race that don't drive a ford. Toyota has been solid this year, they do have one win, and they have led some laps. The problem is this year as a fan I've noticed that those guys haven't exactly "come" together in there alliance. Last year with Truex being the new guy on the Toyota block they shared a ton of information which in return showed the dominance that really all the drivers had early on. Toyota as a whole won almost half of the total races last year with sixteen wins. If they can come together, not necessarily share everything but share more than they have. The chance to de-throne the Ford's as the dominant team.  Is the issue maybe an egotistical thing amongst the driver's? I mean they did loose a pretty humble veteran with Kenseth being replaced by Jones. We all know how Denny and Busch can be as racers. Eric Jones may not be as egotistical as the other two, but much like Suarez he's young and hungry. I'm not saying go to each other about every single thing you find out that make your cars fast but they want a chance to win another championship they need to start sharing the information like last year.
So, I have come to the realization that a lot more people are playing fantasy NASCAR to some extent. Even myself has decided to get in on the new thing to do. I attempted to play fantasy football, but something about the way nascar.com has there fanstasy set up makes it funner for me. My predictions this week for Texas. I think after how the Fords have been dominant this year you would be about stupid to pick against them. Because unless a massive wreck happens and takes out all four Stewart Haas, and the three Penske drivers at least half of those guys have a chance to be in the top ten. You only get ten uses outta each driver so the solid picks if you haven't almost used up all there uses. I've got Harvick, Kyle Busch, Truex, Johnson and Larson. Any of those guys I believe are solid starts for this week.. You guys may wonder why no Kurt Busch, or the other two Penske cars. Well, Kurt hasn't won here since he drove a Dodge and the last time Penske won here was four years ago. It's really hard to pick against "JJ" I know his season has been sub par, but he is the record holder here. This could be the track he turns it around, Larson needs a good race to turn some things around here and this track fits his driving style. You guys don't really need an explanation for the other guys do you? I mean come on Harvick is Harvick, Truex is your reigning champion, and Kyle Busch can win at any track he races. Now for some really solid sleeper picks. I like Bowyer, Keselowski, Austin Dillon, and Bowman or Elliott. Bowyer is coming off his first win in 190 races, and qualified third he could ride that win back into another one. Brad Keselowski and the 2 team ran solid at speed weeks but we haven't really seen them to much since. Could Texas be the breaking out party for them. Your Daytona 500 champion Austin Dillon, has a knack for showing up when you least expect it and this week he could do it again. Now these last two drivers are guys I'm fans of Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman. Chase Elliott's best finish is fourth at Texas in 2016 but his first even Xfinity win came at this very track and he's still looking for the hardest win of them all the first win. Alex Bowman yes only has one top twenty finish here, but lets face it he was racing in sub par equipment before that one 16th place finish in 2016. Any of these guys I think are solid starts for this week barring any wrecks they could all score you some solid points.
I don't know about you guys but one week off was one to many for me I'm ready to see some racing again, madder of fact as I typed this I was watching cup practice and now the Xfinity race is about to start. What do you guys think, can history repeat itself and Chevrolet get there second win this year? Will the Toyota camp come together and show that dominance from last season. Will the Ford's just continue on like nothing is new this season for them? Either way as a fan no madder what I wanna see some good competitive racing and Texas hardly ever disappoints on that side.  Stay tuned for the post race review hopefully Monday evening, and always tighten those belts, turn it up loud and LETS GO LONE STAR RACING!

Q&A with Part-Time Driver for RCR-Shane Lee

First off, I'm sorry it's been so long for some of you guys who have been waiting for my next entry. My personal life got pretty busy with work and the holiday, but I plan on this week being a busy week. I've had the opportunity to speak with another young up and coming driver. Shane Lee will be making his first of fourteen starts in the Xfinity series with RCR, and he was nice enough to answer a few questions for me. So, you guys don't have to wait any longer here is the second Everything NASCAR Q&A with Shane Lee. 

Q: You started racing at a very young age in go karts but it wasn’t long before you were competing with some of the best. What was it like being so young and competing with the best in the kart racing scene?

A: Racing go karts definitely had a impact on my racing career and had a pretty good bit of success racing go karts with a lot of the competition even though I only ran the adult class for probably a year before I moved on to the late model ranks.

Q: You’ve raced a bunch of short tracks and local tracks. You’ve got around 18 or so wins if I’m not mistaken. What about racing on those small tracks do you think is different than racing on the big tracks in the premier series?

A:As far as the short track racing goes the biggest different from the big tracks is the aero the cars have on high speed tracks are a huge difference and probably the biggest factor.

Q: I seen that your suppose to race a few races for RCR this year in the Xfinity series, what were you feeling whenever you found out that RCR wanted you to run some races knowing what RCR has meant to the sport of NASCAR?

A: It's awesome being able to run for Richard Childress especially in the 3 car for 14 Xfinity races with my first coming at Bristol in 2 weeks. Hopefully all goes well.

Q: Your first start in the truck series was at Martinsville, what was it like driving into such a historic short track? And finally getting to turn some laps on the track?

A: The Martinsville truck race was a good learner for me I wasn't in the best of equipment it was more just to learn the track and get approved to run bigger tracks in the series. I have ran late models at Martinsville before so I had known the track for a couple years.

Q: Your a young man living on the edge racing for fun hoping to make a career out of it, but what is something Shane does when not racing that people may not know?

A: My biggest thing I probably do away from racing is probably golfing. I picked it up about 5 years ago and been hooked ever since. If not golfing or racing I'll be at the gym lol

Q: Out of everyone you’ve seen race who do you think your driving style most relates too? Are you more of a "Intimidator" or more of a Jimmie Johnson type of guy and just make the most outta what you got?

A: Definitely not the Intimidator lol, but it would be hard to ever compare your self to Jimmie Johnson who I believe is the best ever in NASCAR.

Being a young up and coming driver, Shane Lee has got a great opportunity to run some races with Richard Childress Racing. I believe that he will take one race at a time, learning the in's and out's and who knows may come away with a win. What do you guys think of this young man? Do you think he will be able to make the most of his chance? We will see, I'm hoping to get back with Shane after his first start at Bristol. Go look this guy up and give him a follow, he's a hard working driver with a lot of racing in front of him.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShaneLeeRacing

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShaneLeeRacing/