The Monsters Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams take on the very challenging Kentucky Speedway tonight and, from this fan’s view, it looks like the Chevys just might be chasing mostly the Fords if they want to take home a win. That’s not to say there won’t be a few Toyotas in the mix, but the Fords seem to have the upper hand when it comes to consistent speed over both. Daniel Suarez took the pole with a very impressive lap time and the rest of the field might be chasing him all night… or, not.
Okay, I know that was a pretty safe statement and here is why I said it the way I did. Kentucky Speedway is one of the more challenging tracks on the Cup circuit for several reasons, the first being the difference between turns one and two and three and four. Of the two ends of the track, turns three and four are the biggest challenge because of the difference in the banking. With the package NASCAR has mandated for the cars, the drivers seem to approach one and two with more confidence than they do turns three and four. One and two have more banking and three and four have less. The difference is enough to make navigating the two ends of the track a very definite challenge.
Another item that needs to be considered is that this race is an impound race so we don’t really know which of them will have the most consistent speed throughout a stage. Since it is an impound race, they have to start the race with the setup they qualified with. That could mean there may be a discrepancy in how the competition will actually pan out over the course of the race. Daniel may have been setup to qualify better than to start the race with a setup that would keep him out front.
That is one question that will quickly be answered as the first stage progresses. I guess it would be interesting if Suarez was the first to win from the Stewart/Haas camp. The Stewart/Haas Fords have had the speed they just haven’t been able to bring it home at the final flag, a point that has to be a major disappointment to all at SHR.
Even though the Hendrick Chevys have been showing a great deal of improvement over the last several races, this fan isn’t sure Kentucky is a place where they will continue to show they are ready to be contenders for the Championship this year. Of course the fact of this being an impound race could show they were working more on race setup than qualifying and they may surprise everyone with how they finish. From this fan’s view, it isn’t something I expect but it would be a pleasant surprise considering how they qualified and looked in the practice sessions. That’s one of the interesting things about impound races. You never know how it will go until they actually start the race. Personally, I don’t really know how the Chevys will do but I do hope they are able to make it interesting.
Just for a moment I want to take a quick look back to last week at Daytona. We all remember how “Bad” Brad sent a message to the rest of the drivers about how he wasn’t going to be lifting for those that might try to block him. In last week’s article, I also said he may have unintentionally opened a door the rest of the field to think the same way. I really expected most, if not all, of the drivers would take the same attitude but have to admit, I was surprised at how aggressive many of them were.
Yeah, I know they were also trying to beat the possibility of inclement weather and a rain shortened race but it was definitely a different attitude in the way many of them drove. In the end, two things happened. First, and interestingly enough, Kevin Harvick drove Brad Keselowski the same way he drove him earlier in the race and Brad ended up in the wall and out of the race from the bump and run incident. Second, Clint Bowyer didn’t lift for Austin Dillon and it caused the “Big One” that took out much of the field and allowed a totally unexpected driver and team to win the last July race to be held at Daytona. I guess in a way, you could say it was fitting.
Anyway, taking a quick look at tonight’s race at Kentucky Speedway, I don’t think even the drivers know exactly what to expect when all of them take to the track. During the practice sessions there wasn’t a whole lot of cars running together to see how they might react with each other in traffic. It appeared to be more about how to handle the two different ends of the track and how reliant they should be on the “sticky stuff” in the upper grooves in the turns. I don’t know about you but that could mean one of two things for tonight’s race. Either it is going to be runaway for one or maybe several or, it could be a wreck-fest. I reckon we’ll just have watch to find out…
See ya next time…
All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer
© July 13, 2019 – all rights reserved
Rusty Norman, Nascarfansview.com and Justafansview.com
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