Well well well, after a grueling five-hundred miles at NASCAR's original super speedway, Martin Truex Jr. is back in victory lane and is looking like he could be a favorite heading into The Chase in two weeks. Truex led the final 15 circuits on Sunday evening and took advantage of Kevin Harvicks pit crew mistakes to win one of NASCAR's crown-jewels and a throwback, the Bojangles Southern 500.
A Tail of Two Races: If five-hundred miles weren't enough at the track nicknamed "Too Tough To Tame" the sun-set and track changes made this race hard to pick. Drivers who were fast during the twilight stages of the race weren't fast late in the race. With tire wear the way it was, teams had to be fast on track and on pit road and thats exactly what determined this finish.
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| Credit: Josh Hedges/Getty Images |
Happy Ain't Happy: You would think after a second place run, Kevin Harvick would be excited about his chances heading into The Chase in a few weeks. That wasn't the case last night after several miscues on pit road. A faulty air gun cost Harvick and the Busch Beer team a chance at the win on lap 281. Afterwards, the 2014 Sprint Cup Series Champion called his crew out "Im over being a cheerleader. Those guys get paid a lot of money to perform on pit road, and cheerleading hasn't really been working. You've got to get after it on pit road and do your job."
Tony Smokes Scott: For many NASCAR fans, the chance to troll point blame at Tony Stewart is gladly accepted and Stewart sent the invite on Lap 204 when he and Brian Scott had a incident that ended Scotts day. Scott, who was already a few laps down, thought it was intentional. While Stewarts day would come to a end on Lap 317, when asked about the incident, he smirked up to TV reporters and said "He wrecked" has he walked off the camera. NASCAR did talk to Tony Stewart and no fine or disciplinary action is imminent.
Right in The Feels: Feel good stories have always been a big part of NASCAR and it only seems fitting another feel good story would happen at Darlington, during throwback weekend. Josh Wise took to twitter last week answering questions from fans and said his team would rather have extra tires than a throwback paint scheme. A #HASHTAG here and a #HASHTAG there and Josh Wise ended up with not just a new/old paint scheme, he and his team got a new sponsor. Incredible-Bank, a internet only bank, sponsored the number 30 TMG Chevy this past weekend and has signed on to sponsor the team at Chicagoland Speedway in two weeks.
Possible Penalty Before RIR?: At the conclusion of Sunday nights race, Ryan Newman was only 7 points behind Jamie McMurray and the final Chase spot. After the race though, Ryan Newmans 31 RCR Chevrolet failed post race inspection. Possible fines and point penalties will be announced Tuesday and if any is levied to the 31 team, Saturday nights race will be a MUST WIN if he wants to advance into The Chase.
My Take: The race was a huge boost to Truex and the Furniture Row Racing bunch and the guy who has had so much bad luck was finally able to take advantage of someone else's mistakes. Heading into this weekend, drivers outside the Top 16 in points better bring their best bullet and win this race cause right now, it looks bleak for drivers like Kahne, Blaney, and Bayne. Drivers are gonna have to tackle the competition just like Cole Custer did in Sundays Truck race!
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