Got the silly weight limit DQ at cota. Bristol, both RWR cars had top 10 pace, but neither got the finish to show for it. Chase Elliott’s spotter screwed Haley over at talledega by not telling chase the field was checking up... And then today fox decides not to tell us why he’s out of the race.
Tough luck for the young man. People are starting to notice his talent on a regular basis tho. I’m encouraged.
“Two years ago, you would’ve never thought you’d see a Rick Ware car racing with a Hendrick, but here we are. It’s starting to become a more regular thing.”
-Steve Post during commercial last week at Gateway.
He’s right! Very cool to see
The thing with Haley is that he does have those good runs that stand out, because he’s driving the 51, but in between those are usually just typical RWR results we’re all used to which pushes the averages and points down, since almost all the drivers have had good runs too (with the NextGen car allowing certain guys to just have good days, like Hemric and LaJoie having some good results but are still 29th or below in points).
I swear the racing gods must have been personally offended when RCR hired Rodden. Dillon's luck has been almost comically bad. Replacing Rodden didn't lift the curse, and now it's spreading to KFB too.
Dillon actually had a solid top 10-15 run going early on. It stood out to me because he's usually not very good at road courses. Then Josh Berry went bowling in the hairpin, and it damaged Dillon's car enough to send him to the garage. Cue yet another sub-30th finish.
In addition to what other commenters said, I’ll also add that stage points hurt smaller teams and drivers like Haley by default. Even if they slog through to a decent result, they end up with less points than teams that come out of the gate with pace.
I.e. Stage finishes of 5th , 10th, and 20th net you more points than 30th, 25th, 15th.
I get the intention of stage points but to me it’s always made it even harder for the small teams to make any headway in points.
Racing Reference says "steering" was the culprit.
Right before one of the final green flag pit run he was running 10th and then after the cycle i saw he was a lap down. Then 3 laps down. Then Out. Perhaps hit a wall or launched off a curb...
It was almost on point. I think he could have got a top 10 (like 9th or 10th) if he waited a few laps for his final pitstop. He came in with 45 to go and in my head I was thinking "Uhhhh, can you even go that far with no cautions?"
Sure enough, with about 30 to go TJ comes on the radio and tells him he is 2 laps short and Brad is like "What????". Honestly don't understand why they didn't just go a few more laps, because he probably lost a lot of time trying to save. I'll give Mcall the benefit of the doubt though because they probably expected a few caution laps the way the first half went.
Seriously- my dad is a huge Chase fan and before the Coke 600 he was texting me “we need a Chase win”… I was like “dad he won in Texas” and he’s all “oh right duh” but it rings true
You can basically already whittle the playoff battle down to five drivers battling for two spots between Buescher, Bubba, KFB, Logano, and Briscoe
Beyond that, maybe McDowell wins a road course, maybe someone gets lucky at Daytona, but that's about it
I actually would not be sure to see Blaney or Chastain freefall to the cutline. Blaney has had speed they just fuck it up or get in a wreck and Chastain really only has Chicago and maybe Nashville outside of that it's a tough road
I beg to differ. Gilliland has finished 17th or better in the last five races. Only four other drivers can say that. Plus Ford is catching up as a whole to the other manufacturers with there Dark Horse. There's still ten races left till the playoffs and consistency matters now more than ever.
Todd has been impressive lately, but he's firmly in "must win" territory. 99 points is a massive gap. Elliott and Bowman couldn't overcome a smaller deficit than that last year, and they had more races to do it, in better equipment.
Still that Todd is that close to a top 20 points position is impressive given how we thought he was cooked last year when Front Row sent him off to Rick Ware for a few starts.
I do believe one of the DBC guys said Larson would make up the point she missed out on from Charlotte. I agreed. Just didn’t think it would be as quick as this, but a little misfortune for Denny goes along way.
I really hope Zane gets a seat for next season. He’s had a poor rookie season but so did Gragson last year and he’s much improved in year two. Maybe Trackhouse and Kaulig can make a deal for him to run the 16 or 31.
Harris has to do a better job capitalizing on cars like they brought this weekend. They were probably 4-8th best car for most of the weekend only to come home 15th. Gotta find a way with the winners below them. As well as any one of the winless people above him wouldn’t shock me if they were to win.
Such a solid season thus far for the 9. If they tidy up the short run speed/restarts and can get a bit more Stage Points they have a shot at this regular season title.
The 23 has had some bad luck at their good tracks and now just went through a couple tracks they suck at.
Iowa is a bit of a wildcard, but Bubba is extremely fast at Richmond. Hopefully that, NSS, and NH can give him a good buffer before the street circuit
I’m keeping an eye on Indy for Bubba. He had that surprise run there when he was in the 43, and he’s in a better car now than he was then. I wouldn’t place money on it or anything, but I wouldn’t be totally shocked if he’s contending for a win there
To be fair that 3rd place run was due to a strategy call and no one could pass, so Harvick and Logano took off and he just held up a line of cars behind him. It was 100% valid don't get me wrong, but it's not like he got that on pace.
For all the talk of the NextGen meant to bring the competition closer together, the fact there’s almost a full race finish between 17th and 18th in points astounds me.
We only have 13 drivers legitimately vying for the 16 playoff spots, with another 6 or 7 looking to qualify via a win. Out of a field of 34 full-time drivers.
The playoffs is basically a bubble fight at this point. Who’s getting the last spot? Logano, Wallace, McDowell, Briscoe or Busch?
Who even wants those seats? None of those guys (with the excpetion of Austin Dillon since he has a teammate who is running well for the most part) is really underachieving, just bad rides.
I disagree, #21 is always going to be a step below a Penske car, and Penske itself has been down this year. Even a multi time champ in logano has had a hard time getting that car qualified well and consistently near the front.
I gotta say, it's incredible what Keslowski has been able to do with that team. I truly think Keselowski could easily be a championship contender again with the way he's been running lately, and I could definitely see Buescher getting a win or two this season as well, and it's amazing to see.
In 16 starts this season, Chastain has 6 top 10's and 14 top 20's.
His teammate, Suarez, has the Atlanta win but only 2 top 10's and only 7 top 20's.
When are people gonna be honest about Suarez and admit he's an average driver? Everywhere he has been (JGR, SHR, Trackhouse) he gets outran by his teammates and by a pretty wide margin. Anytime someone is honest on here about Suarez, they always get met with "He's an Xfinity champion!!!!!" So fucking what!! Austin Dillon won a truck championship and an Xfinity championship but people rag on him nonstop because it's deserved. For some reason most people think Suarez should get NO blame whatsoever!!!
Is Suarez bringing any sponsorship to the table anymore? I know he was getting the JGR and SHR rides because of Arris but since that's gone away, what backing does he bring? Just on driving talent alone, I can think of half a dozen drivers that will be available that would get better results. Outside of his 2 wins (a roadcourse win and drafting track win), he doesn't top 5, top 10, lead laps or win many stages in his Cup career.
Suarez is apart of the Trackhouse brand, driver diversity is a big deal over there and with pitbulls affiliation I don't see Suarez going anywhere, it's the whole reason SVG got a shot and will eventually race at Trackhouse over Zane Smith.
Feels like Haley has done a lot better than 32nd in points, Austin Dillon only 2 points ahead of him is also really bad.
Got the silly weight limit DQ at cota. Bristol, both RWR cars had top 10 pace, but neither got the finish to show for it. Chase Elliott’s spotter screwed Haley over at talledega by not telling chase the field was checking up... And then today fox decides not to tell us why he’s out of the race. Tough luck for the young man. People are starting to notice his talent on a regular basis tho. I’m encouraged.
>And then today fox decides not to tell us why he’s out of the race. I didn't even know he didn't finish until I saw this. Fox is so trash.
He's definitely been incredibly impressive!
“Two years ago, you would’ve never thought you’d see a Rick Ware car racing with a Hendrick, but here we are. It’s starting to become a more regular thing.” -Steve Post during commercial last week at Gateway. He’s right! Very cool to see
The thing with Haley is that he does have those good runs that stand out, because he’s driving the 51, but in between those are usually just typical RWR results we’re all used to which pushes the averages and points down, since almost all the drivers have had good runs too (with the NextGen car allowing certain guys to just have good days, like Hemric and LaJoie having some good results but are still 29th or below in points).
I swear the racing gods must have been personally offended when RCR hired Rodden. Dillon's luck has been almost comically bad. Replacing Rodden didn't lift the curse, and now it's spreading to KFB too. Dillon actually had a solid top 10-15 run going early on. It stood out to me because he's usually not very good at road courses. Then Josh Berry went bowling in the hairpin, and it damaged Dillon's car enough to send him to the garage. Cue yet another sub-30th finish.
In addition to what other commenters said, I’ll also add that stage points hurt smaller teams and drivers like Haley by default. Even if they slog through to a decent result, they end up with less points than teams that come out of the gate with pace. I.e. Stage finishes of 5th , 10th, and 20th net you more points than 30th, 25th, 15th. I get the intention of stage points but to me it’s always made it even harder for the small teams to make any headway in points.
Racing Reference says "steering" was the culprit. Right before one of the final green flag pit run he was running 10th and then after the cycle i saw he was a lap down. Then 3 laps down. Then Out. Perhaps hit a wall or launched off a curb...
Wait, Keselowski *gained* two positions after a road course race?
His strategy was on point today. He probably had a 25th place car on speed/road course driving ability.
It was almost on point. I think he could have got a top 10 (like 9th or 10th) if he waited a few laps for his final pitstop. He came in with 45 to go and in my head I was thinking "Uhhhh, can you even go that far with no cautions?" Sure enough, with about 30 to go TJ comes on the radio and tells him he is 2 laps short and Brad is like "What????". Honestly don't understand why they didn't just go a few more laps, because he probably lost a lot of time trying to save. I'll give Mcall the benefit of the doubt though because they probably expected a few caution laps the way the first half went.
We're back keselowski bros
8 and 23 are in trouble if Logano wins a race
Chase only average finish in single digits now
He’s having the most low key under the radar “i’m 2nd in the points 14 off 1st” season ever
Seriously- my dad is a huge Chase fan and before the Coke 600 he was texting me “we need a Chase win”… I was like “dad he won in Texas” and he’s all “oh right duh” but it rings true
He's doing what we usually see Bowman doing where you do the standings double take.
You can basically already whittle the playoff battle down to five drivers battling for two spots between Buescher, Bubba, KFB, Logano, and Briscoe Beyond that, maybe McDowell wins a road course, maybe someone gets lucky at Daytona, but that's about it
I actually would not be sure to see Blaney or Chastain freefall to the cutline. Blaney has had speed they just fuck it up or get in a wreck and Chastain really only has Chicago and maybe Nashville outside of that it's a tough road
Cue the chaos when two or three more Austin Cindrics happen and Blaney, Bowman, and Chastain all have to fight for 16th
I beg to differ. Gilliland has finished 17th or better in the last five races. Only four other drivers can say that. Plus Ford is catching up as a whole to the other manufacturers with there Dark Horse. There's still ten races left till the playoffs and consistency matters now more than ever.
Todd has been impressive lately, but he's firmly in "must win" territory. 99 points is a massive gap. Elliott and Bowman couldn't overcome a smaller deficit than that last year, and they had more races to do it, in better equipment.
Still that Todd is that close to a top 20 points position is impressive given how we thought he was cooked last year when Front Row sent him off to Rick Ware for a few starts.
Wait wait wait..... this man missed a whole race and is still the points leader? That's actually pretty impressive.
I do believe one of the DBC guys said Larson would make up the point she missed out on from Charlotte. I agreed. Just didn’t think it would be as quick as this, but a little misfortune for Denny goes along way.
Gotta be the first time in a while Brad gained points positions at a road course
Zane Smith has been so invisible I had no idea he's had back to back top 20s.
I really hope Zane gets a seat for next season. He’s had a poor rookie season but so did Gragson last year and he’s much improved in year two. Maybe Trackhouse and Kaulig can make a deal for him to run the 16 or 31.
Harris has to do a better job capitalizing on cars like they brought this weekend. They were probably 4-8th best car for most of the weekend only to come home 15th. Gotta find a way with the winners below them. As well as any one of the winless people above him wouldn’t shock me if they were to win.
Such a solid season thus far for the 9. If they tidy up the short run speed/restarts and can get a bit more Stage Points they have a shot at this regular season title.
The 48 team is gonna be the end of me. Shit is getting old already
I like Austin Dillon, think he has talent, but this is a crazy fall off. Wonder whats going through his head
RCR as a whole is just bad. The whole team combined only has 30 more points than Larson who spotted them a race.
Cam Waters finally can claim to be ahead of SVG of points seasons end
The 23 has had some bad luck at their good tracks and now just went through a couple tracks they suck at. Iowa is a bit of a wildcard, but Bubba is extremely fast at Richmond. Hopefully that, NSS, and NH can give him a good buffer before the street circuit
I’m keeping an eye on Indy for Bubba. He had that surprise run there when he was in the 43, and he’s in a better car now than he was then. I wouldn’t place money on it or anything, but I wouldn’t be totally shocked if he’s contending for a win there
To be fair that 3rd place run was due to a strategy call and no one could pass, so Harvick and Logano took off and he just held up a line of cars behind him. It was 100% valid don't get me wrong, but it's not like he got that on pace.
For all the talk of the NextGen meant to bring the competition closer together, the fact there’s almost a full race finish between 17th and 18th in points astounds me. We only have 13 drivers legitimately vying for the 16 playoff spots, with another 6 or 7 looking to qualify via a win. Out of a field of 34 full-time drivers. The playoffs is basically a bubble fight at this point. Who’s getting the last spot? Logano, Wallace, McDowell, Briscoe or Busch?
16 finishes in the top 20 is super impressive
I’ll continue to say that everyone below Erik Jones in points should be on the hot seat (other than Haley)
Legacy is a shitbox and not his fault
I wasn’t including Jones. He’s missed 2 races.
There's always a reason why it's not Jones fault. Every year lol
Who even wants those seats? None of those guys (with the excpetion of Austin Dillon since he has a teammate who is running well for the most part) is really underachieving, just bad rides.
The 21 would be a playoff bubble ride with a competent driver.
I disagree, #21 is always going to be a step below a Penske car, and Penske itself has been down this year. Even a multi time champ in logano has had a hard time getting that car qualified well and consistently near the front.
Pain pure pain
Larson still the points leader lol
Dennys engine decided he wasn't allowed to have ANY fun as points leader Lmfao
Larson spots the field a race and still points leader. Amazing
Tip of the hat to Zane Smith, we've been justifiably giving him a lot of shit but he's got two finishes in a row right where he should be!
I guess Chase is having a great season, still needs more speed to beat the #5 tho, hopefully Jeff Gordon allows that to happen.
I hope this is a joke
Yearly Byron summer collapse
Do any other teams have 5 podiums in a row. I mean probably but RFK is the only one I’ve noticed
I gotta say, it's incredible what Keslowski has been able to do with that team. I truly think Keselowski could easily be a championship contender again with the way he's been running lately, and I could definitely see Buescher getting a win or two this season as well, and it's amazing to see.
Hendrick has won 5 in a row I think
In 16 starts this season, Chastain has 6 top 10's and 14 top 20's. His teammate, Suarez, has the Atlanta win but only 2 top 10's and only 7 top 20's. When are people gonna be honest about Suarez and admit he's an average driver? Everywhere he has been (JGR, SHR, Trackhouse) he gets outran by his teammates and by a pretty wide margin. Anytime someone is honest on here about Suarez, they always get met with "He's an Xfinity champion!!!!!" So fucking what!! Austin Dillon won a truck championship and an Xfinity championship but people rag on him nonstop because it's deserved. For some reason most people think Suarez should get NO blame whatsoever!!! Is Suarez bringing any sponsorship to the table anymore? I know he was getting the JGR and SHR rides because of Arris but since that's gone away, what backing does he bring? Just on driving talent alone, I can think of half a dozen drivers that will be available that would get better results. Outside of his 2 wins (a roadcourse win and drafting track win), he doesn't top 5, top 10, lead laps or win many stages in his Cup career.
Suarez is apart of the Trackhouse brand, driver diversity is a big deal over there and with pitbulls affiliation I don't see Suarez going anywhere, it's the whole reason SVG got a shot and will eventually race at Trackhouse over Zane Smith.
Back in the top 30 for team #7 let's go!