An Unexpected Ending At Richmond
Did you see the race at Richmond? To be honest, I completely forgot it was on. Yeah, I know, my bad. Thank goodness for the DISH DVR though, because I got to sit down and watch it, and I even caught up right before the end. I’m glad I did too, because it was a bit dramatic.
For the first time in two years, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had the checkered flag within reach.
His agonizing 71-race winless streak was just three laps from ending. All Junior had to do was hold off red-hot Kyle Busch in a stirring showdown between NASCAR’s most popular driver and the kid who got dumped from Hendrick Motorsports for Earnhardt and has rebounded with a sizzling start to the season.
It wasn’t meant to be.
In a classic ending to a typical short-track race, the two drivers collided Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway as they battled for the win a little more than two miles from the finish.
Even though it didn’t work out for Dale Jr. (or Kyle Busch), it was good to see some back and forth action that wasn’t the result of “luck of the draw” even though Clint Bowyer did get the luck of the draw. Wow, that was weird.
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Clint Bowyer Wins At Loudon
Wow, we didn’t see this coming did we?
Clint Bowyer was seeded last in the Chase for the championship field. With zero Nextel Cup wins and hardly any laps led, he went off as a 30-to-1 long shot to win the series title.
One race into the Chase, Bowyer has turned into a legitimate contender.
He raced to the first victory of his Cup career on Sunday by embarrassing the field at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where he started from the pole and led 222 of 300 laps while beating Jeff Gordon to the finish line by over 6 seconds.
I wonder how many of the drivers are going to take themselves all but out of the running in the next two races? Will Kurt Busch pull it off and get back into the game? Damn. I can hardly wait to see.
The Race At Loudon Heats Up
Clint Bowyer heats up the Chase, before the first green flag.
Clint Bowyer already has a chance to win the Nextel Cup this season. On Friday, he put himself in a prime position to win his first career race.
Bowyer posted the fastest time in Friday afternoon’s NASCAR qualifying session at New Hampshire International Speedway and will start from the pole Sunday in the Sylvania 300 - the first event in the 10-race Chase for the Nextel Cup.
It was the second pole this season - and second career - for Bowyer, who clocked 130.412 miles per hour in a Chevrolet Impala and lapped the 1.058-mile track in 29.206 seconds.
The race this Sunday is going to be a good one. Four of the chasers are in the first two rows. Wow.