We did arrive in time on Sunday to check into our hotel room so I could catch the last 35 laps of the Phoenix race. Carl and Kevin's thrilling finish was one exciting way to kick off my vacation! My roommate pronounced NASCAR as something she would rather watch than golf. I am not sure how to take that.
While in Vegas, I did find track down a sports book so I could place two bets. One on my beloved Green Bay Packers to win the Super Bowl next February, and the other on Carl to win the Cup Championship in November. If both come true many months from now, I am going to be thrilled beyond words as well as a bit richer than I am right now. Wish me luck.
Carl's visit to Fontana did not start out spectacularly. In the first practice, his car was 25th fastest. His teammates did not fair much better, with positions ranging between 15th and 24th. Not what we have come to expect from the Gibbs camp. I wondered what was off, but only until qualifying rolled around. Then Carl snagged the 5th spot on the starting grid. And in the two remaining practices, he was 1st and 2nd, showing very promising speed for the race.
And he did show speed in the race, too. He spent a good portion of the first part of the race in the top 3, even leading a couple times. It sure does feel good to see that 19 car at the head of the parade. Even when a pit road speeding penalty buried him deep in the field, his car still had the power to get him back up to the front and into contention. Unfortunately he did not have any tires left so he slid into the back of the top ten. A late race restart got him back up with the leaders, and for a moment I thought he was going to grab the victory that eluded him last week. But it was not to be; he finished the race in 7th place, another top ten finish.
It does seem that the broadcasters are giving him a bit more attention. Fox even had Jamie Little assigned to his team on pit road. He is having a marvelous start to his season. Currently he sits fifth on the Chase grid, the highest positioned driver without a win. And because he has more points than some of this season's winners, he moved up two positions to sit 3rd in the drivers' standings, behind only Harvick and Johnson. When you consistently run as good as he has been, it is only a matter of time before he will be driving that #19 into the winner's circle. I am confident.
And one if-the-Chase-were-to-start-right-now observation: Roush would have Stenhouse #17 car in the Chase. He has been having a fairly nice start to his season. I would also mention that Chase Elliott is having a nice rookie season, but I am sure you have heard Jeff Gordon say that quite enough already.
In the midst of a lovely Fontana weekend, there was a hiccup of sorts at the end of the Xfinity race. What looked to be a certain victory for Kyle Busch was snatched away when he blew a tire on the final lap. For one fleeting moment it looked like Daniel Suarez would claim his first Xfinity victory, but then he ran out of fuel. (I so hate fuel mileage races.) Instead Austin Dillon drove through the melee to win the race.
For several weeks now, Kyle has been beating up on the youngsters and taking all of their trophies. But this tiny bit of back luck . . . which really does not matter much in the grand scheme of things for a reigning Cup champion . . . brought out the old, petulant, crybaby Kyle. Just when it seemed that he had achieved a certain level of decorum, he blew it away by whining that NASCAR did not throw a caution, then stomped off without fulfilling his media obligations. When NASCAR's work week gets started and they review the weekend's problems, I hope they decide to slap him around by making him sit out of the Xfinity series for a while. Cup drivers who participate in the lower series should set a positive example for the up-and-comers, not model embarrassing behavior.
I hope you enjoy the Easter weekend off. When we come back, it will be short track time!
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