Blaney hit, in almost identical fashion, at almost the same place where Dale Earnhardt spent his last moments on Earth. Thank the heavens we’ve come so far with NASCAR safety.
I don’t know how we haven’t noticed this yet but we’re basically living in 2005.
-24 car wins Daytona
-99 car wins Atlanta in a photo finish
-48 car (now the 5) wins Las Vegas in dominating fashion
Erik Jones emerging out of the smoke and letting it dissipate around him will never not be one of the coolest burnouts ever.
Man was burning it down like it was his last win.
Hendrick Motorsports hasn’t gone a season without winning Martinsville at least once since 2020. And since 2020 three different HMS drivers have claimed the win.
Chase Elliott (2020)
Alex Bowman (2021)
William Byron (2022)
Perhaps a Kyle Larson win is in order today?
I do love how 23XI Racing has unironically taken the mantle away from Trackhouse and getting drivers from other series in their cars.
Project 91 is basically dead (thanks Shane) so now we have this
Hot take: Chase Elliott is the best driver in the Next Gen era. Technically was the best driver in 2022 under a full season format and looks to be the best driver this year. Also wasn’t bad in a down year for the team in 2023.
Fun little project I’ve been working on the last few weeks. Calculating every playoffs champion before 2014.
Take what you will from the data as they certainly would have raced differently. This is all just a fun hypothetical.
Now, which one surprised you the most?
Corey Lajoie.
Jeb Burton.
Grant Enfinger.
What do these full timers all have in common in their respective series?
They’ve never scored a DNF this year…yet.
Denny Hamlin said 23XI would have a Cup car ready for Martin Truex Jr. if he wanted to run an occasional race after retiring from full-time competition. Hamlin: "I told him that I will have his Daytona 500 car ready immediately. Just tell me the word."
The Cup Series will be STACKED this year. We’ll have individuals who have:
-Said a racial slur
-Liked a racial message
-Gotten themselves involved in a domestic violence case
-Brought a weapon to a foreign country
-Was charged with disorderly conduct
Am I missing anything?
Cody Ware says that the plan is for him to run some Cup races in the No. 15 car this year with the first in April. Kaz Grala already has been announced as driving 25 races. Still TBA who will race it at Daytona.
I do find it wild how fast the perception of Elliott has changed.
Went from being seen as the next Jeff Gordon
-Fast, sharp phenom
-Future multi time champ
To the next Bill Elliott
-Past 1x champ
-Perennial contender
& now post 96 Terry Labonte
-Shadow of teammate (s)
-Slow
Random inquiry of the day:
In your opinion which NASCAR team's shop looks the most visually appealing?
For me I love the layout of Trackhouse's and the way everything is organized there.
Was listening to the DJD and it’s interesting how Dale Jr. said that after “43” drivers begin regressing. So I had to take a look. Years/wins listed:
Bill Elliott (98-12): 4 wins
Mark Martin (03-13): 8 wins
Jeff Burton (10-14): 0 wins
Jeff Gordon (14-16): 3 wins
(Contd.)
Spire Motorsports:
-Started off as a motorsports agency
-Bought a charter from FRR in ’18 and won in their first year
-Expanded to 2 cars in 2021 with a major grab
-Won 1st truck race in 2022
-2 FT drivers in 23
-Now potentially 3 in 24 with 2 major steals
Pretty rapid ascent
I’m seeing a trend…
2021: Kyle Larson is the winningest driver of the season
2022: Chase Elliott is the winningest driver of the season
2023: William Byron is the winningest driver of the season
2024: Alex Bowman winning the most races and finally breaking through???
Tyler Reddick put up the best argument against a one race format that I think I’ve ever seen between 2018 and 2019.
The season finale was practically designed for him…
So if the Stewart-Haas/Front Row rumors are true, this probably means we’ll see a lineup of:
-Berry
#4
-Briscoe
#14
-Gragson
#34
-Gilliland?
#38
Losing Gragson, I would think, would be a massive blunder for Ford.
It’s pretty clear that Austin should retire at this point. I mean I guess he can run a PT schedule if he wants to but he’s better served in a leadership position at RCR.
Yearly reminder that this week we should be racing at Daytona. I’m not saying we should or should not be racing at the Chicago SC. Simply put, they’re upset we are hogging Grant Park on 4th of July weekend. And I’m upset we’ve abandoned a time honored tradition.
Well fortunately Atlanta is next up on the schedule! Surely Hendrick Motorsports can't dominate a superspeedway!
The last 2 winners on the new Atlanta Superspeedway:
Last year Cole Custer scored his first career pole during the 9th race of the season driving the 41 car.
This year Ryan Preece scores his first career pole during the 9th race of the season driving the 41 car.
Irony finds its way everywhere in Motorsports.
Still blows my mind how the US Racing
#55
in 1991 driven by then rookie Ted Musgrave eventually morphed into the
#19
we see today.
Charter/owner lineage is so fascinating.
Everyone's been talking about the different points systems different motorsports series have and the different ways those motorsports series decide their championship. Just for fun, I wanted to see what NASCAR's standings would look like with the F1 points format.
Does the females in NASCAR cycle continue?
-Danica came from Indycar and floundered
-Johanna Long left due to sponsorship, very talented
-Decker is too busy on OnlyFans
-Breidinger & Balcaen are doing nothing
-Deegan is rubbish
-Avedisian and Robusto are in the hype phase rn
Once again I must state my ambivalence to the Latford system. Hamlin literally disappeared due to one small mistake and he’s out of the picture for the rest of the season.
In the IRL reg season standings he’s only 6th, still very much in it.
That one time Sam Mayer was signed to drive the second half of the 2021 NXS season in the JRM 8 car but since Dale Jr wanted to run Richmond they cast him to BJ McLeod Motorsports for a race.
In 2016, USA Today published an article titled “12 Questions with Kyle Busch.” One of the questions he was asked was, “Who do you think wins the Sprint Cup championship in 2021?” His answer was Erik Jones. 5 years later Jones finished 24th in points for RPM & Chevy.
Still will never get over how Chase Briscoe almost pulled off the biggest underdog championship in NASCAR History.
A possible late race caution at Martinsville and a little luck at Phoenix would have done the trick.
🧵
With the 2024 season looming right around the corner I thought I might give a mildly detailed analysis of roughly how well I think each driver will do this year. This is certainly not meant to be concrete, rather just something for fun. So without further ado:
I’m still trying to process Briscoe to JGR tbh. Not just because I’m team Nemechek but because he’s a Ford guy. Like I’m going to be blunt, Briscoe is NOT a Toyota guy.
-Midwestern
-Blue-collar
-Chris Buescher build
-Balding
-No aura
Man is going to have to transform in 2025.
@LostSchemes
It is pretty wild how the narrative changed. Last year everyone was sold on Nemetoad going to the 19. And everyone was doubting Briscoe because he finished P30 in points. The turns tabled quickly.
This sounds made up but Ty Dillon tied for the 2nd most fastest laps in this race with Kyle Larson. Hamlin beat them with 47 of the fastest laps today. Absolutely nuts.
( Photo Credit:
@SpireMotorsport
)
Wait so Nemechek gets his own banner, firesuit that’s not a Truck one with a Cup patch over it, and logo on the name rail but Ty Gibbs is still driving with Kurt’s stuff? Interesting.
Kyle Busch fans after Michigan 2016: “Nooo the engine blew up! We fell 4 spots in the points and are down to 9th! 4 finishes outside the top 30 lately. Nothing but pain.”
Kyle Busch fans after NHMS 2024: “Huh. Look at that. He wrecked again. Oh well.”
How times have changed…
What if, instead of coming up with a one size fits all points format, we just ran different formats across the top 3 series of NASCAR?
Cup could have the Latford system (prestigious series with a prestigious championship)
Xfinity with the Chase format, Trucks with the playoffs
Dover Avg Finishes in Last 2 Races:
1) Chase Elliott 2.0
2) Alex Bowman 3.0
3) Kyle Larson 4.0
4) Kevin Harvick 7.5
5) Ross Chastain 9.0
6) Justin Haley 11.0
7) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 11.0
8) Daniel Suarez 11.5
9) Christopher Bell 12.5
10) Chris Buescher 12.5
NEWS: Focused Health Joins
@ZaneSmith
for 2024!
The national health insurance agency will serve as the primary sponsor for the No. 71 in 20 races.
Details:
Not going to lie, I kinda miss the era of seeing “drivers that definitely should not have been racing in Cup”. A few recent examples here.
Something we got rid off during the NextGen era.
The jury is still out on whether Ross just pulled a Irvan/Bowyer by having a randomly good season out of nowhere or whether this was the beginning of something special kinda like Earnhardt.
Chastain is such an intriguing talent and I’m curious as to how his career will pan out.
There are so many sponsors that have come into the world of NASCAR that you’d never guess were international. For example: Nutri Chomps is Vietnamese, Castrol is British, Schluter is German and Lenovo is from Hong Kong.
@BlackFlagMatter
Personal takeaways
1) Didn’t directly apologize to Larson
2) Seems pressured by 23XI and corporate sponsors with a bit of a PR taste
3) Timely; before penalty report
@JettMDK
What they should do in the future:
Even Numbers Years: Oval (Track started in 1994-Even Numbered Year)
Odd Numbered Years: Road Course Config (RC Config began in 2021-Odd Numbered Year)
It'll drum up more excitement as you only get the specific track type every other year.
Few weeks ago I devised a formula which projects drivers wins total by the time they retire.
(Current Wins / by Current Years in Sport Times * Total Hypothetical Years [All retired by 45)
Decided to put it to the test and these are the results!
*Applies to current winners
Y’all liked the last tweet so here’s the flip side of the coin.
Drivers with most DNFs by series:
Cup: Austin Dillon-7
Xfinity: Anthony Alfredo & Blaine Perkins-7
Trucks: Dean Thompson-9
It still feels so wrong that this is his final win. It’s like saying Gordon’s final win is Dover 2014. Like you know there’s more to come.
I thought for sure we’d get at least 1 in there in 2023…