NASCAR Kentucky postscript

Houston we have a problem – another NASCAR race with massive number of empty seats. As AR1.com has written, the young generation is losing the connection with the automobile and it is a major problem. The Route 66 NHRA race also had a massive number of empty seats.

We all know that Kentucky, the Bluegrass State, is the home of the Kentucky Derby, one of the most famous horse races in the world. However Kentucky is also a favorite venue for that other form of horsepower: auto racing. It's been that way for literally decades now and was greatly enhanced in 2011 when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series first dropped a green flag at the Kentucky's Speedway's 1.5 mile oval.

The Quaker State 400 was originally scheduled for Saturday night, June 29th, but Mother Nature had other ideas and dropped a ton of rain in Sparta, Kentucky that day which forced NASCAR officials to postpone the event to the following afternoon. The weather forecast called for a 60% chance of additional race on Sunday and a 70% chance Sunday night. First and foremost a huge thank you goes out to Mother Nature for changing her mind and allowing this race to run the full distance without disruption. It turned out that the Quaker State 400 was worth the wait.

MATT KENSETH. Using a familiar format, Matt Kenseth turned up at the end of the race and parked his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in victory lane for the fourth time this season. That occurred after crew chief Jason Ratcliff elected to roll the dice on a hero or zero pit call. When the field came to pit road, following the race's next to last yellow flag, Ratcliff called for a fuel only stop while all of the other teams used the logical two tires and fuel plan. The gained track position from this move turned out to be pure gold.

After the race, Kenseth said "I didn't roll the dice, Jason did. But I did think that he was slightly crazy when it happened." It was a case of one extreme or the other. Either Ratcliff was going to host the team victory celebration or he was going to have to explain himself to a very upset race driver. One can only assume that a good time was had by all at the party.

JIMMIE JOHNSON. The #48 team was strong at Kentucky and led 182 laps of the race. Johnson was lined up on the front row, with Matt Kenseth, for a restart with 19 laps remaining. With the green flag in the air, Johnson came over his radio and complained that Kenseth intentionally slowed the pace of the restart to gain an advantage. Video replays displayed a different story that said Kenseth simply pulled off a great restart.

When the field entered turn one, Johnson found himself in the middle of a three wide situation between Joey Logano and Kyle Busch. That's when his car snapped around and went into a long slide towards the bottom of the track. Johnson performed a stunning display of car control and kept away from the inside wall. This was backed by heads up driving from those behind him who helped avoid what certainly looked like a multi car wreck. Johnson came back to pit road for new tires and then charged his way from the back of the pack to a ninth place finish. He also extended his points lead to 38. That's what we call making chicken salad out of chicken do do.

DALE EARNHARDT JR. After winning the pole position, and setting a new track record, this driver had his Junior Nation fan club all hyped up and thinking win. However, on lap 38, Denny Hamlin was approaching pit road with a flat right front tire. All of a sudden the carcass, or outer liner, of Hamlin's tire rolled off of the car and journeyed up the track directly in the path of Earnhardt's car. The tire struck the front of the car and punched a hole in the grill. It also bent the right side of the splitter which created havoc with the car's handling package. The tire careened off of the Earnhardt car and then created minor damage to Jimmie Johnson's car. It was one of those one in a million bizarre racing moments. After returning from pit road following repairs, Earnhardt worked his way to a 12th place finish. That's also making chicken salad out of chicken do do.

DENNY HAMLIN. This driver survived the unscheduled pit stop from the lap 38 flat tire. He didn't survive the lap 147 flat tire that sent him hard into the turn four wall. There was some reports that said Hamlin had some pain in the knee from the impact but he later said he was fine. He also assured everyone that his back injury, sustained from the wreck last March in Fontana, was also fine. Unfortunately, his chances of making the Chase line up took another hard hit. After the race Hamlin said "we're just going to try to win races. That's my job for the rest of the year, try to win and do the best I can for my sponsors and my team."

BRAD KESELOWSKI. The defending Sprint Cup champion had yet another disappointing weekend. On lap 49 he was spun following contact from Kurt Busch. Keselowski's Ford was then hit hard by Greg Biffle who had no place to go. Seven cars were damaged in the pile up resulting in a red flag to allow track clean up. A very humble Kurt Busch said "just a bonehead move on my part. I feel like an idiot, if I could give my points to them I would." Busch survived the wreck and finished seventh. Keselowski and Biffle took a hit in the points with their 33d and 34th place finishes.

KYLE PETTY. Just prior to the Kentucky Speedway weekend, the always candid, and often funny, Kyle Petty made an appearance on SPEED Channel's popular "NASCAR Race Hub" program and took a few verbal shots at Danica Patrick. He called her a "marketing machine" and then further stated "she can go fast but she can't race. I think she's come a long way, but she's still not a race driver and I don't think she's ever going to be a race car driver."

The reaction was instant and varied. It became a major story for the NASCAR themed television and print media. Needless to say, Petty's comments literally blew up every form of the social media you could name. The big question is: WHY? This isn't exactly a fresh news story. Kyle Petty has been firing one line shots at Danica Patrick for close to two years now. Why did it take so long to become a major story? The truth be known, it's not a story at all.

Guess who's really happy regarding all of this national attention from Petty's remarks? That would be Go Daddy (dot) Com, Patrick's long time sponsor. Petty's remarks somehow became another benefit from Danica Patrick: Marketing Machine.