2024 NASCAR

[220]

With the rest of the top 5 making changes and starting from the back SVG & AJ started one two and have checked out. 6 laps in and they are over 7 seconds up the road look like they will start putting cars a lap down by lap 10,

[220]

Caution with 5 to go, SVG passed AJ with 9 to go and had built a 2.5sec lead.

[JEBar]

Kyle Larson came from starting last to win in double overtime .... SVG was the class of the field but got shuffled back on the second OT start .... in trying to regain the lead he rear ended lead car and Larson passed them both to take the checker ..... Hailie ran toward the back of the lead lap pack all day and finished 24th

[220]

Think Larson's comments post race are a fairly accurate description, stated AJ is another level up in skill when it comes to road races and SVG is a further step ahead, Just like post Chicago Larsen was in awe and full of praise for SVG. Nice to see a champion that is happy to acknowledge fellow competitors.
The post race penalty for SVG is harsh even if it had been 3 laps from the finish think he still would have run top 10 but relegated him to last on the lead lap.
Think the Nascar field may have learnt today if you want to race SVG clean he will race you clean all day, some of the battles with Larsen and AJ earlier in the race were great. After Hill drove through him on the second overtime restart I was surprised SVG showed as much restraint as he did. I honestly expected him to not only return the favor but wreck him as well and once Larsen had showed he had the pace with fresh tires on the final lap pretty sure SVG shifted from trying to win the race to preventing Hill winning.

[220]

Announced today Cam Waters will make his first Nascar start in the trucks next weekend at Martinsville driving for ThorSport Racing.

Nothing on Brodie Kostecki yet, Dont know if his split with Erubus Racing in Supercars has effected the deal between them and RCR and Brodie.

No oval experience for Cam although he does spend the off season racing sprit cars on dirt.

[JEBar]

next up for the Xfinity series will be the ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway tomorrow, Saturday, Mar. 30 - 1:30 PM ET .... it will be shown on FS1 .... at Richmond 250 laps = 187.5 miles

[Cowboy Gun Fan]

Good Aim at Richmond today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N34N5yKhDEg

[JEBar]

I saw that when it happened .... contact from Dawson Cram sent Joey Gase into a spin late at Richmond leading .... Gase to expressed his frustrations.. .... my girl, Hailie Deegan, ran in the mid 20's all day but finished 31st when her Ford lost power about 4 laps from the end

[220]

Kaulig must have been well off with the setups today, both SVG and AJ pitted early under caution just to make adjustments and continued to make adjustments all race, With 70 laps to go they were among about a dozen cars that elected to stay out and not take tires banking on another caution. It didnt come so they finished the race on 100 lap old tires.
P15 for SVG, pretty good result given the way the race played out, had he taken tires with the rest of the field a top 10 was likely, had they got another caution then top 5 would have been on the cards and may well have been in contention for the win.
Despite Saturday's result, being relegated to last place post race at COTA and a DNF at Las Vegas he is still only 1 point out of the play offs. I thought he would make the playoffs with a road course win but he is already showing top 10 pace on every type of track. Could realistically be sitting safely in the play offs on points alone if a few races had gone a little different.

I am really enjoying some of the interviews he is giving on podcasts with the likes of Denny Hamlin, Corey Lejoy and Jr. He is undoubtedly one of the best drivers in the world but a total novice when it comes to Nascar, Interesting to see the different take's on things compared to drivers that have been doing it their entire lives.

[Cowboy Gun Fan]

More poor attendance at Richmond. It looked half empty to me. There's even talk about dropping a race. Bristol also had poor attendance in it's last race. Are the Old South tracks experiencing a trend? The tracks that built Nascar? If so, I (we) may know why.

[220]

Waiting to see if the truck race will be shown in Aus.
Keen to see how Cam Waters races, debut on a short track might seem a strange choice at first but given his background not really.
He does have quite a bit of spritcar experience, is actually a former modified sedan national champion, his brother won his second consecutive modified tittle last weekend and he has also raced late models.
Lots of experience racing ovals but all dirt track, a short track pavement start in trucks is just the next step up and pretty similar to the way many find their way into a truck seat.
He might not have the supercars wins and championships of SVG but certainly has similar level of skill, as often as not the leading Ford runner and can certainly hold his own with SVG when it comes to last lap battles on the track.

Cam & SVG going at it,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqSumNVWUJw

Comes from a bit of a racing family his father also raced dirt, his cousin is a 3x national superbike champion and has raced in the British SBK and World SBK championships and made a few starts in the USA.

[220]

22nd in qualifying for Cam, SVG qualified 28th in his short track truck debut.
If Cam cans stay out of trouble, learns on the run and they make the right strategy and calls on adjustments then a top 10 wont be out of the question.
Expect he will perform similarly to SVG improving through the race, slowly working his way forward and if he stays out of trouble be around the top 10 come the end of the race.

[220]

Cam got involved in a few late race wrecks and didnt make the race finish, classified 30th in the end.
With a lot of different strategy calls bit hard to get a real gauge on his pace, ran as high as 11th at times and dropped back to 30th or so with pit stops. Seemed to have the pace on fresh rubber to work his way back up to around 20th fairly quickly after pitting. Second half of the race was caution after caution and trucks running multiple different strategies with no real extended green running so hard to get a true gauge on his race pace.
Certainly didnt look out of place in a truck on a short track, commentary announced he would be doing another race in May but in post race interviews Cam said as of now he had nothing confirmed.

[JEBar]

looking forward to tonight's xfinity race at Martinsville .... SVG starts 19th .... Hailie starts 27th

[JEBar]

oh well, on Lap 36 Brennan Poole turned Hailie at the the exit of turn two causing her to hit the car .... that spun her car into Kyle Weatherman and damaged the nose of her car .... she's still running but lost 2 laps by the end of stage 1

[JEBar]

well, It looked like Hailie Deegan’s race would be over after a crash on Lap 36, which saw the front bumper of her car ripped off.... kept her head in the game, and her team help her to a solid 18th place finish.​

[JEBar]

the Cup series races at Martinsville today .... prerace 2:00PM .... green flag shortly after 3:00PM ....Kyle Larson's #5 Chevy on the pole .... good to see Chase Elliot finally get it together and starts 3rd

[Cowboy Gun Fan]

Well, the weather is a whole lot better here in this area of Virginia today. Compared to the last two nights of racing. They both had pretty small attendances, especially the truck race.

[JEBar]

the Cup race seemed to be better attended but that is usually the case .... Rick Hendrick had 1,200+ employees and their families there ... his cars finished first, second, and third ....

[Cowboy Gun Fan]

Denny Hamlin should not had pitted. I tried telling him, but I guess he couldn't hear me through my kitchen radio.