*In a Nutshell:* Brian Scott took the checkered flag 0.666 seconds ahead of Kyle Larson to win the Lucas Oil 150 Friday night at Phoenix International Raceway. Scott took advantage of a green-white-checkered finish, pulling ahead on the restart to become the 15th different winner this season. Joey Coulter, Timothy Peters, and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-5 finishers.
Although Kyle Busch showed flashes of his past dominance in NNS competition early at Texas, Kevin Harvick cruised to a relatively easy win in his final start of the season on Saturday, leading 127 of the 200 laps run. Ryan Blaney trimmed the margin of victory by more than two seconds during the final green-flag run but was unable to catch the No. 33, settling for a career-best runner-up finish. Polesitter Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top 5 in this event dominated by Sprint Cup regulars.
With the Camping World Truck Series off for the next couple weeks, it’s time for teams and drivers alike to take a step back and regroup in preparation for the final four races of the season. Of course, along with off weeks comes a lack of news coming out of the series. In fact, it’s almost as if the series doesn’t exist during their breaks, so this week, I bring you a few random thoughts and observations.
*Record Breaking Year*
Parker Kligerman’s victory last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway marked the eighth different first-time winner (John King – Daytona, James Buescher – Kansas, Justin Lofton – Charlotte, Joey Coulter – Pocono, Nelson Piquet Jr. – Michigan, Ty Dillon – Atlanta, Ryan Blaney – Iowa) the series has seen this season. It breaks the previous record of seven set in 1997 and matched in 1998.
*In a Nutshell:* Ryan Blaney took the checkered flag 0.168 seconds ahead of Ty Dillon to win the American 200 Saturday night at Iowa Speedway. Blaney survived four restarts and a hard charge from Dillon to grab his first career Truck Series victory in his third start. Todd Bodine, Johnny Sauter and Cale Gale rounded out the top 5.
*Who Should Have Won:* *Ryan Blaney.* Parker Kligerman started on the pole and looked to be the guy to beat, having led 107 laps on the night, until late-race pit strategy forced the driver of the No. 7 to make a green flag pit stop.
Although Friday’s event was largely uneventful at the front, the same could not be said for the title contenders that endured a wild 250 laps. Sam Hornish Jr. cut a tire down after contact with teammate Ryan Blaney on lap 156, spinning into the turn 1 wall and eventually backing down directly into Timmy Hill’s path. The resulting wreckage left both ends of Hornish’s Dodge crunched and the fourth title contender with an ugly 30th place result. Even more notable was both the wreck and recovery of Elliott Sadler, who spun himself out trying to pass Ricky Stenhouse Jr., but rebounded with crash damage to salvage a 13th place result.
It’s certainly been a busy week on the NASCAR front. Between AJ Allmendinger, Dodge, Mother Nature and a did-he-or-didn’t he between Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon at Pocono, there has been plenty of fuel for the fire for NASCAR aficionados to mull over. So, being a muller by nature, I’ve had plenty to keep me busy!
First off, check out Mirror Driving…did we call it or did we call it on the Parker Kligerman situation? It wasn’t hard to put two and two together and figure that once Roger Penske replaced Kligerman with Ryan Blaney as Brad Keselowski’s fill-in in the No. 22 Nationwide car that it would only be a matter of time until Blaney would land a more permanent role.
*ONE: Where’s the Development Opening at Penske Racing?*
Yes, Ryan Blaney had a hell of a Nationwide debut at Richmond earlier this spring. Yes, the younger Blaney has all the makings of being the hottest prospect the 2012 season has found yet. But the question has to be asked: Why, exactly, is Penske Racing in the market for his talents?
Right now, the team has one seat up top in flux–the beleaguered No. 22 car. Sam Hornish Jr. seems to be all but a lock for the seat the remainder of this season (the chances of ‘Dinger’s test results coming back clean are about the same as Joe Nemechek running at the finish of a Cup race). He’s the safe choice for sponsor Shell/Pennzoil and a longtime Penske loyalist that has made his desire to return to Cup racing no secret.
If you still have questions, we’ve got answers after the latest rendition of the Bristol night race.
Until someone else steps up to take the title for themselves, the Cup Series championship goes through the Penske garage.
The Cup Series playoff field was shortened from 16 competitors to 12 on an unpredictable night with extreme tire wear and surprising contenders.