Commentary
NASCAR Cup Kansas
Five things we learned from Kansas
Martin Truex Jr. put the garage on notice on Saturday night with his resounding win at Kansas Speedway.
Lee Spencer
Edited: May 16, 2017, 9:53 AM
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If his average finish of 4.5 on the first four intermediate tracks is a harbinger for the playoffs, which include five such speedways, the competition has some catching up to do.
While Truex stole the show at the finish of the GoBowling.com 400, there was plenty of action before the checkers to capture fans interest.
1) The Fireball 200
Aric Almirola’s crash, one of a record-tying 15 cautions, will likely be fodder for race promotions for years to come. With the assistance of track safety workers, Almirola was removed from his car. After he was held overnight for observation, Almirola returned home to North Carolina. Despite fracturing his T5 vertebra, Almirola eventually will race again. NASCAR took the remains of the No. 43 Ford back to the R&D Center for further evaluation. Once Almirola is up to it, the sanctioning body’s safety team will follow up with the driver to better understand the safety conditions within the cockpit--belts, seat, HANS and headrest--prior to his wreck.
2) Picking up the pace
Although Joe Gibbs Racing hasn’t won in 2017, the teams continue to show improvement. Kyle Busch continues to lead the way, and Saturday night was no exception. He held the point for 59 laps and led the first stage of the race before picking up his fourth top-five finish of the year. Like Busch, Denny Hamlin picked up points in two stages but was collected in a wreck on the last restart while running sixth. He finished 23rd. Matt Kenseth finished eighth in the second stage and benefited from attrition on Saturday night to finish 12th. Daniel Suarez scored his third seventh-place finish of the season. While he has yet to pick up stage points, Suarez gains consistency each week.
3) Fear the 4
Kevin Harvick didn’t have a sexy drive on Saturday night, but it was consistent. After qualifying eighth, Harvick scored four bonus points after finishing seventh in the first stage. A tire vibration resulted in an unscheduled pit stop for the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford on Lap 135. He fell off the lead lap, but with a caution five laps later, Harvick took the wave-around then climbed through the field. Despite finishing out of the points in Stage 2, he restarted 13th for the final segment and raced up to third for his fourth top-five finish in the last five races. Harvick moved to sixth in the standings, 128-points behind leader Kyle Larson.
4) No fluke
No, Roush Fenway Racing didn’t pick up another win at Kansas, but Trevor Bayne posted his second top 10 of the season. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished 11th behind him. Both drivers are in the top 15 in the Monster Energy Cup Series standings. Last year, Stenhouse was 19th in the standings after Kansas. Bayne was 20th. Now, they’re 13th and 14th. While the numbers aren’t stellar yet, there’s marked improvement. Bayne’s 17.8 qualifying average is his best since 2012. He’s earned 10 lead-lap finishes in the first 11 races and has a career-best average finish of 15.8. Stenhouse is not only enjoying his best career average start (14.2) to date, but his average finish of 13.8 this season is seven positions better than his career average (20.8).
5) The debacle that is inspection
NASCAR will meet this week to review the problems associated with the inspection process. There were just 15 cars on the grid when time trials started on Friday. Missing in action were hometown hero Clint Bowyer, seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. NASCAR VP of competition Scott Miller acknowledged this morning on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, “Right now, it’s not good for anybody but there’s not a lot of consequence to it.” In other words, taking practice time away from the teams is not enough of a deterrent. Miller believes that the teams are working right to the edge of the tolerance — and therein lies the problem. “They seem to think this thing should be absolute where no measuring equipment is absolute,” Miller added. “They’re trying to get to the edge and we’re trying to make sure we have a level playing field.”
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