So Close, Yet So Far

It was in Dover, DE where Kyle Larson almost scored his first career Sprint Cup victory (87 races).  Unfortunately, Larson could not out last the 20 machine of Matt Kenseth, whom snapped a 17 race winless streak.  Another in the running of a thrilling finish was Chase Elliott, whom picked up his 4th top 5 finish this season.

Bright Road For Kasey Kahne 

Right behind the thrilling top 3 finishes was Kasey Kahne driving the Farmers Insurance Chevrolet.  For Kahne, this is his second top 5 finish this season after 12 races.  Last season, Kahne had only 3 top finishes after 36 races and after getting his second already after 12 races, Kahne has plenty of races to surpass that 3 from last season and even scoring a win.  He also finds himself back in the chase grid.

-TH

courtesy of http://www.nascar.nbcsports.com

Make NASCAR Great Again

From a prayer to begin the race to national anthems that contain flyovers, NASCAR acts as the elite of all motor sports.  With sports icons, a dynamic fan base and a marketers dream, NASCAR has many benefits that make it arguably the most undervalued sport.

-TH

Winless

After 11 races in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, there are a few surprises when it comes to claiming victories.  Some of the ones discussed are personal favorites and the others should come to a surprise on all cylinders.

Matt Kenseth 

Kenseth claimed his first victory in the 2015 season the 8th race of the season at Bristol.  With some late season dominance and a run in the chase, Kenseth has failed to bring that momentum into the 2016 season.  However, Kenseth has also been apart of some misfortunes, such as the catastrophic Talladega race a couple weeks ago and at Daytona the first race of the season for the historic finish.  Capping a 2015 season with 5 wins, I’m sure you’ll expect a solid couple wins for Kenseth in time to come.

Martin Truex Jr. 

For as dominant as Truex has been this season and competing in the championship 4 in 2015, he still has 3 career wins over 13 seasons.  After his heartbreaking finish at Daytona this season, Truex has still yet to find a victory this season.  In a rise in dominance and the recent joint of forces with Joe Gibbs Racing and Furniture Racing, Truex will claim his 4th career victory this season, possibly more.

Joey Logano 

Starting 2015 off right with a victory in Daytona, Logano claimed 6 wins in the 2015 season.  After 11 races this season, Logano claims 3 top fives, but no wins.  After thinking Logano was going to win the chase last season and dominating in the seasons end, expect to see Logano develop more career victories.

Others 

Kasey Kahne- must make chase this season in order to develop job security with Hendrick Motorsports.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.- Jr. Nation, Daytona is still coming where Dale Jr. won last season, he will claim at least one win this season.

Austin Dillon- even though the young star is in his 3rd season in the Sprint Cup, he still seeks that first Sprint Cup win.

Jamie McMurray- for as dominant as Jamie Mac has been, could we see career win number 8 here in 2016?

Tony Stewart- must win and place in the top 30 in points to make the chase.

-TH

Win no. 37

Sunday night arrives, a day spent without a NASCAR race.  The only thing happening on this very Sunday NASCAR related is the premier of “NASCAR: The Rise of American Speed” on CMT, as a result from a Saturday night Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway.

After 400 miles, Kyle Busch adds win number 37 to his résumé.  Due to a misfortune to Martin Truex Jr. and the 78 team, Busch is the first driver to pick up a third win of the season, solely in the Sprint Cup, and his first in Kansas.  Due to the misfortune, Truex led 172 laps out of 267 when he was struck by a vibration that cost him his fourth career win in the Sprint Cup.

Can Busch be put to a stop on winning a second straight Sprint Cup?  Not to get ahead of myself, but Busch did bring his winning formula to the 2016 season.  If his third win of the season isn’t enough, you can catch him on Saturdays steam rolling the young guns of the Xfinity Series when not loaning his ride to Matt Tifft, the 19 year old college student.  Anything can be said about Kyle Busch, but it must be said that the Joe Gibbs Racing and Kyle Busch Motorsports teams cannot be stopped.  To stem from that, Friday night hosted the Camping World Truck Series race, where an 18 year old William Byron picked up his first career Truck Series win.  The young Byron is just one of the many talented drivers of Kyle Busch Motorsports.

Needless to say from a Sunday-free Sprint Cup race, this weekend was a Joe Gibbs fest.  For Hendrick fans, Jimmie Johnson picked up the win at Dover in May last season.  Johnson also holds the record for most wins at Dover with 10.

-TH