Sunday at Martinsville wasn’t just another Sunday at Martinsville unless you were Denny Hamlin, who just happened to win the “Tums Fast Relief 500”. Kudos to Denny Hamlin for calling out the media for saying “the chase was over!” Nothing is over; until it’s over….and you can quote me on that! The only thing faster then Hamlin in the final 30 laps was the number 5 of Mark Martin, who was tearing up the field to finish 2
nd after the horrible day he had earlier. Finishing 3
rd was the number 29 of Kevin Harvick who has made the Chase a three man race for the Championship. Kevin Harvick is just 62 points out of the lead in third place. Other top finishers were Kyle Busch in 4
th, Jimmie Johnson in 5
th (who is now 6 points ahead of Denny Hamlin in the Chase). Joey Logano. Dale Earnhardt Jr, Carl Edwards, Jeff Burton and Brad Keselowski wrap up the top 10 finishers in the race. As for Jeff Gordon’s dream for a 5
th Championship in 2010, it went away at lap 385. Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch were battling for 12th place when the Blue Duce put a bumper to the 24 and spun him into the wall bringing him to a 20
th place finish and out of reach for the Championship.
Saturday racing in the Nationwide Series in St Louis at Gateway International Raceway for what could be the final race there, so Brad
Keselowski made the best of it and took the checker flag for the win. Your top 5 finishers were Mike Bliss 2nd, Justin Allgaier 3rd, Jason Leffler 4th and Carl Edwards 5th. Would somebody just hand the Nationwide Series Championship trophy to Brad already please, this is getting painful to watch as he is 485 points ahead of Carl Edwards. NASCAR needs to fix this series so championships aren’t a runaway game for one team. Should Cup drivers be in the running for the Nationwide championship or limited to how many races they should be allowed to race? This series needs its own identity.
Staying in the Nationwide Series, there is one driver I failed to mention. Not because of her super spectacular driving skills or her 22nd place finish at Gateway International Raceway. Oh no, in fact is has nothing to do with racing at all. Danica Patrick found time away from the track to drop the puck at a St Louis Blues game…perhaps she has found her calling? I’m just saying!!!
Ron Hornaday earns his first Martinsville victory in The Camping World Series in the Kroger 200, beating out 2
nd place finisher Kyle “Rowdy” Busch. Todd Bodine was 3
rd (our thoughts and prayers go out to the Bodine family, their mother passed away this passed weekend), Jason White finished 4
th and Aric Almorola finished 5
th. Aric was doing double duty this past weekend as he drove the number 9 Budweiser Dodge for Richard Petty Motorsports in the Sprint Cup Series finishing 21
st one lap down.
Moving on in the Sprint Cup Chase for the Championship, we head into one wild and crazy race. Welcome race fans to TALLEDEGA!!!!! This is no ordinary race track. It’s a 2 mile high banked, fast speed, hold on to your seat kind of race. Where the men become men and the boys….well, usually get caught up in the Big One! Our top 3 championship contenders hope just to survive this track and move on to the final 3 races. Who will be leading the points when we leave Talladega? Tune and find out….
Catch the WING Racing Show Wednesday night at 6pm for Eric the Great and myself breaking down the Race for the Sprint Cup and your calls. See you then…
Brian “BC” Casey
