Five things we learned
If you thought Brad Keselowski vs. Carl Edwards was going to be this year’s top feud, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Monday’s rain-delayed Martinsville race sparked more than a few rivalries — or in one high-profile instance, renewed one.
At the top of the list is the renewal of the battle between Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth. The championship duo, which has squared off in the past, played a game of bumper cars until the very last lap when Gordon pushed Kenseth out of the way, opening the door for Denny Hamlin to take the lead and win.
But that’s not all. Earlier in the day, Marcos Ambrose rubbed several drivers the wrong way, including Greg Biffle, whose spotter promised payback on the Aussie star.
Throw in the Joey Logano vs. Kevin Harvick rivalry from last week, and fireworks are set to shoot off in the coming weeks.
J.J. is human after all … sort of — Yes, even Jimmie Johnson can have a bad day at the racetrack. The No. 48 car looked good early, and was even up to third at the halfway point, but Johnson struggled with a tight condition until the end of the race. As a result, he failed to lead a lap for the first time in his last nine Martinsville starts and finished ninth, his first nontop-five finish in five years at the short track. The bad news? The result was still good enough to propel him to first in the standings.
Green + white + checker = gold — Jeff Gordon may not be a fan of NASCAR’s green/white/checker rule after it stole a victory from him Monday, but the overtime format created one of the best finishes in a long time. The drama from Kenseth and Gordon’s battle (see above) and Hamlin’s charge to victory was the finish fans deserved for this race.
More to come from Burton — The final results show Jeff Burton in 20th, but his performance Monday shows the partnership between him and crew chief Todd Berrier is successful and will be a winning one very shortly.
What if? — Imagine if Martinsville winner Denny Hamlin hadn’t torn his ACL during a pickup basketball game in the offseason. How about if he hadn’t opted to wait until now to have surgery? Just something to think about during the off week.
Four things you may have missed
The streak continues — Kevin Harvick wasn’t able to keep his grip atop the Sprint Cup standings, but he still remains the driver to beat in the Camping World Truck Series.
Junior knows what he needs — He may not like it, but Dale Earnhardt, Jr. realizes he needs a little tough love from crew chief Lance McGrew.
On the money – Forbes’ annual financial rankings came out last week. Any guesses which team is the most valuable? Here’s a hint, three of the teams’ drivers are also the highest paid in the sport too.
What a start – You may not know the name Darrell Wallace, Jr., but based on the Drive for Diversity driver’s debut in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East this past weekend, you will soon enough.
Three on top
Denny Hamlin — At least he won’t answer anymore of those “2009 Carl Edwards” comparisons now that he has a notch in the win column.
Joey Logano — When he’s on, he’s on (fifth at Fontana, sixth in Las Vegas, second in Martinsville). Now if only he gets better results when he’s off his game (20th at Daytona, 35th at Atlanta, 27th at Bristol), he’ll easily erase that 14-point gap between him and a spot in the Chase.
Jeff Gordon — What’s he got to do to get a win?
Two quotes heard around the garage
“The car was fine. We just weren’t real fast,” Dale Earnhardt, Jr., showing he can have a rough day and not use expletives to describe it.
One last thing
After plenty of hype, the return of spoilers on Sprint Cup Series cars has largely been forgotten in the aftermath of Martinsville.
And that’s just what NASCAR needed.
Sure, the real test of how things will change from the “Wing era” to now comes when NASCAR returns to aero-sensitive tracks like Texas Motor Speedway in a few weeks time. However, the fact that the blade at the back of cars was not maligned by drivers, owners, or fans in its debut shows that the preparation for the transition was spot on as nobody appeared to get caught off guard.
The return of the spoiler was much needed – both in response to demand from fans and for purely an aesthetic point of view (which street car has a wing?). And so far, it’s looking to be a winner all the way around.
