NASCAR Richmond Postscript

Kurt Busch credits whole team for win

Alan Marler/HHP for GM

Okay, we had to wait quite a while, from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon, to take in the anticipated action at the quarter mile, paper clip shaped, short track at Richmond. However, overall, it turned out to be worth the wait. Here's a few random observations regarding Sunday's Toyota Owner's 400 at the Richmond International Raceway:

THUMBS-UP. Kurt Busch returned to victory lane, ending a 35 race endless streak, after leading a career high 291 of the scheduled 400 laps. in a very dynamic, and dominant, performance. In victory lane, Busch made quick work of pointing out that the win was a "total team effort" and thanked Crew Chief Tony Gibson saying "I'm glad I got to work with him." There were also major shout outs for the performance of the pit crew which frequently delivered eleven second, four tire, pit stops throughout the race.

Welcome to the 2015 Chase line up Kurt Busch and the #41 Stewart-Haas Racing team.

Let's face it this driver created national news headlines regarding a high profile personal situation, involving domestic violence allegations during a former personal relationship, that led to an indefinite suspension from NASCAR which was lifted, after three races, when a District Attorney declined to file charges against Busch.

Upon his return to NASCAR Sprint Cup racing, there seemed to be a display of personal growth from this driver and the Richmond win had to be a sense of sweet redemption for Busch. After the win, Busch said: "it's an unbelievable feeling when you pull deep from within and you go through troubles and you know, when you're accused of something and things go sideways, your personal life doesn't need to affect your business life. I'm here in victory lane." ***************

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]THUMBS-UP. Kevin Harvick turned in his latest top two finish, in that "freaky fast" Chevrolet that also gave Stewart-Haas Racing a one-two finish in the race's final results. In a strong run towards the front, Harvick trimmed Busch's lead to a mere 0.754 seconds before time and laps ran out. Harvick now holds a 33 point lead over runner up Joey Logano in the current Chase standings and, with each passing week, this team is getting stronger and looking like repeat champions.

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THUMBS-UP. The always potent Hendrick Motorsports engine program provided power plants to six teams that finished in the top ten at Richmond, including the top four finishers. It makes me wonder if Hendrick will be picking up even more clients in 2016.

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WHAT's UP. The race was barely five laps old when a potential yellow flag situation developed. Fortunately heads up driving made the yellow flag unnecessary. The incident was triggered when Casey Mears accidentally got into the back of Danica Patrick's car. The result was Patrick sliding sideways through the frontstretch dog leg where she received a second hit from Dale Earnhardt Jr who had no place to go.

THUMBS-UP. Okay, like many of you, I've had my share of fun with Danica Patrick. But, the truth of the matter is: I have to be honest here and state that she did an outstanding job of keeping her car under control, under an extremely tense situation, and that's the reason why a sure fire multi car crash never developed.

WHAT's UP. Unfortunately, Patrick's Richmond surprises weren't quite over. Following a lap 127 yellow flag, the lead lap teams came down pit road for their second stop of the race. That's when Clint Bowyer accidentally clipped the rear of Patrick's Chevrolet and spun her out. It was another example of how tight the pit road conditions can be while racing at a short track. The incident also contributed to an unfortunate 25th place finish for Patrick.

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[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]WHAT's UP. It was a frustrating afternoon for fan favorite Dale Earnhardt JR who spent the afternoon at Richmond trying to reclaim lost track position due to unexpected incidents. The first of these incidents occurred on pit road, following a lap 50 NASCAR mandated yellow flag. While Earnhardt entered his pit box, his right front tire changer was in the process of running towards the car while carrying a tire. At the same time, Kevin Harvick was exiting his pit stall and accidentally clipped the tire which sent it flying out of the hands of the Earnhardt crew member. There was no penalty for the runaway tire, but the extra time on the pit stop, combined with the loss of track position, was a big hit for the team. Again, it was another example of tight pit road conditions at a short track.

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WHAT's UP. Earnhardt's loss of track position woes were not quite over. On lap 361 a right front tire blew on Tony Stewart's Chevrolet. The ensuing spin out resulted in Stewart making contact and damage to Earnhardt's left rear quarter panel.

THUMBS-UP. The oncoming race traffic did an outstanding job of avoiding Stewart's stalled race car. It was that heads up thinking and driving that prevented this situation from becoming a multi-car crash.

WHAT's UP. Stewart's effort to refire his damaged car and drive it pit road completely failed. The car was towed to the garage and the end result was a 41st place finish. It was also the latest round of disappointment for Stewart who has endured a terrible 2015 season so far.

THUMBS-UP. An extremely angry Stewart immediately went to his car hauler after declining a live television interview. This was a very smart move. It's far better for a driver to decline an interview than take the chance of saying something he might regret later. A case in point was an unconfirmed report that said an angry Stewart entered his hauler and threw his helmet across the entire length of the trailer.

THUMBS-UP. Dale Earnhardt did do a post-race live interview, regarding the Stewart incident, and quietly said "he hit me in the left quarter panel, so you just to ask him (what happened)". The response was quiet, quick and classy despite the noticeable anger in this driver's eyes.

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WHAT's UP. The Richmond race was extremely frustrating for driver Josh Wise. On lap 140 his car mysteriously lost power and stalled. He was on the high side of the track and, due to high speed race traffic, couldn't make it to the low line to access pit road. That was the reason for caution flag number three. After a lengthy time in the garage, for a reported oil pressure problem, Wise returned to the track on lap 163 only to have his engine expire which was caution flag number four.

All of this was just plain bad luck for Wise and his Phil Parsons Racing team who are trying to make all of the NASCAR Sprint Cup races on an extremely limited sponsorship program.

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SOME FINAL RICHMOND THOUGHTS

WHAT's UP. Mother Nature didn't even try to cooperate with the Richmond area weather Saturday night. This was a night when NASCAR was the absolute highlight on the TV guide. I was looking forward to some Saturday night short track racing and then spending Sunday afternoon watching the Indy Cars and NHRA Drag Racing.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]THUMBS-UP. NASCAR made the right call in a timely manner to postpone the start of this race. If you're going to declare a rain out, then do it on Saturday night and race on Sunday. It's easier for the fans, the teams and those NASCAR hauler drivers who were able to get their rigs back to the shop Sunday night so they could be reloaded for the upcoming trip to Talladega.

THUMBS-UP. I truly enjoyed the performance of "The Star Spangled Banner" by the Fort Lee 392nd Army Band. I like the thought of the "National Anthem" being played by men and women currently serving our country. It greatly enhances the sense of patriotism associated with that song. It's a huge improvement over celebrity singers who insist on putting a pop, or R&B, spin on the song while trying to make it their own. More often than not, the performance of those celebrity singers is, quite frankly, annoying.

DOUBLE THUMBS-UP. The opening ceremonies of the Richmond race began with a moment of silence for Fox Sports NASCAR analyst Steve Byrnes whom we recently lost, at the all too young age of 56, following a valiant fight against cancer. It was a very classy thing for speedway officials to do in honor of a man who was truly a class act.