from a NASCAR Fan’s View
There is one person that won’t be the least bit concerned of how the race this weekend turns out, he’s already in. Yeah, you know the one I’m talking about – Joey Logano. After managing to pull off a victory at Kansas last weekend, he and his #22 team have two weeks to work on the car they will bring to the Final Four at Phoenix. There are some that think that now gives him an advantage for the Final Four championship race and it could be a repeat of his run for the Championship in 2018. After a relatively lack luster year in 2020 Cup, that could be the biggest surprise to many that had already counted him out of the running for this year’s Championship race, including me.
As I stated last week, I’m not the biggest Joey Logano fan. That doesn’t really matter all that much when it comes to what other fan’s may or may not think but, even I have to admit his winning last weekend was a very big surprise to me. From my view, he just didn’t look like he was going to make it to the Final Four this season. I thought others would have a better shot but, once again, Joey Logano won a race at the absolute best time he could and he will be one of the one ones running for the big prize in a couple of weeks. If he didn’t have the win, he would have less points than Chase Elliott. (Can you believe it? After all the 2020 NASCAR Cup season has negotiated, we’re actually down to the last three races of the year.)
Logano’s win kinda threw a wrench into the works and really changed the look of the upcoming two races as well as the look of the Final Four. His win definitely knocked someone out of contention for moving on to the final round, but which one remains to be seen. Now it’s up to those below the cutline at the present time to win and make sure it’s not them that won’t be in. Which of them that can over the next two weekends will make the final show but, even that isn’t guaranteed if someone unexpected or outside the round of eight wins. This fan believes that will make the racing at Texas and next weekend at Martinsville even more dramatic and intense along with high emotions just in case something out of the ordinary happens.
So… let’s talk about those drivers below the cut before this race starts. Some thought Chase Elliott would be in the top four but, because of Logano’s win, he is in fifth place in the standings. I admit, that surprises me as much as Logano being where he is. Chase hasn’t been running bad at all but he needs to finish at or near the front in the next two races IF he wants to make it but, a win would definitely remove all doubt.
Alex Bowman just about needs a win or the worst to happen to those above him in the standings. Winning would put him in and make it harder for several of the others, including Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott. He has been running consistently but has been lacking track position and speed at times. He could win at Texas or Martinsville but this fan just isn’t sure he is going to make to the Final Four. He is another to watch out for this weekend for taking a win and canceling someone out for moving on.
Kurt Bush needs to win. Without a win I don’t believe there is any way he can make up the gap that opened with his engine failure. He had been running strong and looked and sounded very confident until the engine failure that put him well behind in points. Even though he is still upbeat, like I just said, without a win, he is done for this season a least from this fan’s view.
The two in the most precarious positions are Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski. Depending on how they run this weekend at Texas will dictate just what they have to do next weekend at Martinsville to make the Final Four. Of course, either of them could win this weekend but, there is no guarantee either of them will. I’m not so sure that someone unexpected won’t win this weekend but I’m not going to count either one of these guys out just yet.
I think Martin Truex Jr. this weekend is in the same boat as Joey Logano last weekend. He needs to take a lot of points away from this weekend whether by winning or just winning the stages and finishing in the top three or top five. I find it interesting that two former NASCAR Champions have struggled a bit this season and yet a win has put one of them in the Final Four and the other could be in with a win. (How’s that for drama?)
All of this could become completely out of sync if someone outside the Round of Eight wins and those in the Eight have normal finishes just like any other weekend. Has anyone ever heard of someone named, Jimmie Johnson? He has been known to rule at the Texas track in years past. Oh, that’s right… he hasn’t won in long time and is retiring at the end of this season. I guess that means he doesn’t have a chance of winning this weekend either, huh? Yeah, well, this fan won’t count him out completely just yet…
See ya next time…
All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer
© October 24, 2020 – all rights reserved
Rusty Norman, Nascarfansview.com and Justafansview.com
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