From a NASCAR Fan’s View
Even though it seems to be getting easier, it is still the first time on the Kansas Speedway track for the Next Gen car. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you what that means. That’s right… it means they need the practice time on the track, short though it may be. Any data they can gather is data in the bank for figuring out how to make the Next Gen car go fast and make them more competitive. Though it is short, every little bit of time they can spend on the track is another step toward possibly ending up in victory lane.
At the time of me writing this, there appears to possibly be a little bit of problems with left rear tires. Now look, I’m not saying it will still be a problem when it comes to race-time. I guess it could be a problem all day on Sunday but, I don’t think It will continue as a problem though. Of course, it wouldn’t be the first time I was wrong either. Usually, it is dependent on the fact that they know what was, or is, causing the situation in the first place. If it rears its ugly head again in the race, that could mean a big problem for any that would like to walk away with the win.
Changing the subject back to last weekend for just a moment, there has been a lot of speculation of what might transpire between William Byron and Joey Logano. Honestly, I’m a little at a loss about that for a couple of reasons. The first is, I know what I would like to see happen and the second is what happened when Byron tried to do a little payback at a race against Kyle Bush. In case you don’t remember that little incident, it was when Chad Knaus told William to give Bush a little payback in the form a bump. The problem was that when he did catch up to give the payback, Kyle brake-checked him and did a whale of a lot of more damage to his car. I don’t think it would be a great idea to go for something like that at all considering the end result that last time.
As a fan and a former local stock car driver, I completely understand both sides of the story but, I do totally disagree with the way Joey handled it. From my view, William didn’t do anything that Joey hasn’t done in the past and even with his own teammates. If that doesn’t sound like a little bit of “karma” payback, I don’t know what does. It is just unfortunate that William Byron’s tires were going away or Logano would have probably never caught him. Still, I and several others think Logano overdid the bump, saying it was payback for Byron leaning on him and forcing against the wall. (You may have seen it differently but, that’s the way I saw it.)
But… let’s go back to Kansas…
Once again this weekend, it looks like the JGR Toyotas showed up with some very fast cars. It looks like they’ve figured out a few things concerning the Next Gen car because, lately, they have been showing up fast off the trucks. So far, it has been tough for them to make Victory Lane a regular visit but they have been fast just not mistake free. Yeah, I know Denny Hamlin and Kyle Bush managed to squeak out a victory each but, it hasn’t been all that pretty. Christopher Bell has been running strong but has also struggled to finish. However, with him starting on the pole tomorrow, this just may be his weekend to take home the trophy.
The Hendrick Chevys once again showed they may have what it takes to pull off the victory, IF they can keep their cars running to the end. You see, I’m not so sure the left rear tire problems that several experienced during practice are over yet. From my observations, I’m not even sure they know what was causing the problem other than possible improper tire pressures. Even if that was part of the problem, I’m not sure everyone is free of having left rear tire problems yet. I reckon we will see as the race progresses but it was a bit strange when the problems occurred within so few laps.
There are the four JGR Toyotas starting in the top ten, three Fords and three Chevys starting in the top ten and the other two Hendrick Chevys of William Byron and Chase Elliott start thirteenth and fourteenth. Oh, and did I mention Tyler Reddick starts second and Kyle Larson starts third. That’s a pretty stout bunch starting up front in the top ten.
So… if the tire problems are fixed, the drivers don’t mess up on pit road and the pit crews don’t make mistakes, it could be anybody’s race in the top fifteen or so. If some or any of the above happen, then it is still anybody’s race and it just could be someone tot ally unexpected…
Hey, this is Russ and that’s my view… See ya next time…
All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer
© May 14, 2022 – all rights reserved
Rusty Norman, Nascarfansview.com and Justafansview.com
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