1. Hinga Dinga Durgen, Kevin Magnussen Came to NASCAR
Kevin Magnussen’s first foray into NASCAR was a success, even if the box score doesn’t indicate it.
The Dane ran mid-pack for much of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Naval Base Coronado on Sunday, June 21. During the last caution, Magnussen and a few other drivers took a gamble that there would be another caution and held onto a set of tires.
That caution didn’t end up coming, and Magnussen had to make a late pit stop. But that pit stop and new tires were an indication of how good his pace was by the end of the race, taking the Xfinity Fastest Lap late in the running. It’s particularly impressive considering Alex Bowman was another driver on that same strategy, and yet Magnussen was over a second faster than him on that run.
But the thing everybody will remember him for came after the race.
Early on in stage two, while battling for 32nd, Noah Gragson brake checked Magnussen, drove into the side of him, blocked him late down a straight and ran him wide in the tight chicane.
Now, maybe Gragson was responding to how Magnussen drove. It’s a long race and a long course. But the only clips I’ve seen that seem like an inciting incident were Magnussen making very light contact with Gragson in NASCAR’s video breakdown of the confrontation.
It’s something that can be chalked up to Magnussen still being new to the car and not fully comfortable; it did not justify this contact or Gragson banging away while under caution.
If you mess with a Viking, sometimes you’re going to get a spear up the ass.
Gragson then had the smart idea to try and confront Magnussen after the race. In which the Le Mans polesitter made Gragson look like a child confronting an adult. But hey, at least Gragson didn’t get punched in the face this time!
My two favorite bits from this video are Magnussen asking Gragson, “Do you not understand English?” and Gragson asking what it meant when Magnussen told him he “went into the wall and found out.”
It’s just really funny that anybody thought that Magnussen, one of the most aggressive drivers in the history of Formula 1 and now one of the most aggressive drivers in sports cars, would stand and take that kind of driving. Let alone be intimidated and back down after the race from this guy.
Magnussen then put dirt on the grave in his post-race bullpen, telling Frontstretch and other media that “[Gragson] could have had a good race but chose not to.”
Magnussen didn’t wallop him and would have been in the wrong to do so. But by not engaging with him, he made Gragson look so much worse.
And why should Magnussen engage with him? Again, he just won pole at Le Mans two weeks ago. This is a huge accomplishment for any driver. What has Gragson done in his career to justify anybody outside of hardcore NASCAR fans knowing who he is?
This is also why Gragson couldn’t walk away from the confrontation. He’s used to people loving him or hating him. He’s not used to being ignored.
2. What Does This All Mean for Gragson Long Term?
The timing for this couldn’t really be worse for Gragson, as he’s recently been rumored to be on Richard Childress Racing’s shortlist for the No. 33 Chevrolet next season.
If Richard Childress saw this, noted Gragson’s 29th place in points (over a race win down from his Front Row Motorsports teammates), saw Austin Hill’s impressive win in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race the day before and then saw Hill at least racing for the lead in Cup before inadvertently causing a race-ending crash, why would he hire Gragson?
Then you look back to Friday, when Layne Riggs christened himself “Layne van Riggsbergen” in another big win in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series to move into a 65-point lead in the points.
There’s really not much Gragson brings to the table for these teams besides money and headaches. And those are two things FRM and RCR don’t necessarily need going forward.
3. Farewell to Prime, Dearly Beloved
This week marked the final race of Prime Video’s coverage of NASCAR for the year, coverage that is going to be sorely missed.
Prime really blows all of the other broadcasters out of the water, with the exception of The CW. FOX’s coverage in particular has gotten so bad that it’s crazy that NASCAR seems perfectly happy with it.
Watching all three series this week from three different broadcasters, there was a significant shift in quality from the Truck Series sessions to the other two. And it’s not alone in that TNT’s coverage of NASCAR seemed like a step back last year and NBC’s coverage can be very hot and cold.
It’s about time for all of these stakeholders to realize that the best path forward for NASCAR is to really put effort into race coverage. The season is too long for so much inconsistent broadcasting. Whether that means everybody else gets their butts in gear or Prime simply takes over more of the schedule is up to it.
4. How to Make the In-Season Challenge Matter
This week marks the start of the annual NASCAR In-Season Challenge, something that I just can’t get invested in personally.
Ty Dillon’s near Cinderalla run last year was cool, but it’s hard to care about it when they’re ultimately not racing for anything. A million dollars is a million dollars, yes.
But it’s the same issue we’ve seen pop up at the All-Star Race recently, where a million dollars doesn’t mean much at all with inflation. Everybody also already assumes these guys are all multi-millionaires with Ricky Bobby mansions. What’s another million going to do for them?
The return to The Chase format this year has been well received. It’s not full-season points, but it’s probably the closest we’re going to get to that for a while.
I’m fine with there being one singular gimmick to it, a very simple one. If the tournament winner finishes in the top 15 in points after race 26, they should begin The Chase with an extra 10 points.
If they don’t finish in the top 15, they would instead enter the Chase as the 16th seed.
The chances that any driver is going to win the championship from the 16th seed are so unlikely with the current point distribution that it’s not going to destroy the legitimacy of the format.
Does the driver who finishes 16th in points necessarily deserve to be in the Chase over the tournament winner? Again, neither are at all likely to go on to win the thing. Let’s give at least some good reason for the tournament to take over Cup broadcasts for the next five weeks.
5. Corey Heim Should Be in the No. 67 Next Season
One pet peeve of mine is that Corey Heim got this big victory in the No. 67 Toyota, and next year, instead of simply staying with that number, he’s going off to the No. 35. With the win on Sunday, he’s already built up some brand equity in the No. 67. And if he goes on to win a bunch of races for 23XI Racing, then it’d be cooler for them all to be in the same number instead of having a forgettable piece of trivia.
I don’t care that Michael Jordan used the No. 35 in baseball. 67 is just a more aesthetically pleasing number, with the other numbers in 23XI’s range being No. 23 and No. 45.
It has nothing at all to do with some internet meme, believe me.
Michael has watched NASCAR for over 25 years and has covered it on-and-off for 14.
In addition to Frontstretch he also writes sporadically for his own websites GrandPrixFocus.com and StockCarFocus.com.
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