(Photo by Andrew Coppley for Chevy Racing)
Jimmie Johnson did not qualify all that well, but his car was fast enough with the new rules package that he was able to hold off a gaggle of cars on the final restart.
NASCAR and Fox hyped the crap out of this race as the first under the new low downforce rules package.
Remember how great the Kentucky and Martinsville races were last year? Don’t you want to see more of that kind of racing?
Well, when you consider how bad the racing product was in 2015, then 2 races that were actually good do kind of stand out I guess. And I am not sure HOW we are supposed to think that those two races from last year will translate into 36 great races this year.
Your perspective on this race probably stems from how you consumed it: the Fox broadcast, PRN or in person. The Fox broadcast was pretty boring even with Jeff Gordon. As is often the case, the PRN broadcast was good and I will have to defer to those in person. I have seen some positive reaction in social media from those that were there, even though it was a smaller crowd on a beautiful sunny day. Atlanta hasn’t had a lot of great weather races the past few springs.
The drivers loved the new package and they had to actually drive the cars instead of just pointing them in a direction and mashing the gas. It was obvious the cars were moving around if you paid attention and the in car cameras really made it noticeable. But when you finish a race with less than 10 cars on the lead lap and the race leader was 5 seconds ahead of the second place car, it can be boring, especially when the TV broadcast only shows the leader. I daresay this race was not a repeat of Martinsville from last year.
Without cautions, the race became a tire management race since Atlanta is an abrasive track and ate up the soft tires that Goodyear brought.
Matt Kenseth had one of the best cars in the field but a pit road error came back to bite them when Kenseth did not take his drive through penalty while his crew chief argued with NASCAR officials. That caused NASCAR to stop scoring Kenseth for two laps and put him in a whole he would not be able to dig out of.
Unlike Kyle Busch who won the pole but was disqualified when his car failed tech afterwards. He started at the rear of the field and drove to the front, finishing third.
Harvick paced the field and led the most laps by far but was never able to get past Johnson, spinning his tires twice on the final restart.
It was a much better day for Hendrick with Johnson winning, Earnhardt, Jr. second, Chase Elliott eighth and….poor Kasey Kahne bringing up the rear in 23rd. I don’t know what is going on with that operation but they need to get that ship righted, and quickly.
Interestingly, some the cars that started up front, Trevor Bayne, Stenhouse, Jr., McMurray and Newman did not fare too well. Stenhouse wound up with a top 10 finish but the rest of the drivers struggled with the new package in race trim. Like Johnson said, don’t worry too much about where you qualify, just make sure your car races well.
And having a little speed doesn’t hurt.
The Penske Fords tried to run up front but were not too successful. They did not qualify or practice too well. It may be an aberration but you have to wonder why they were struggling to find speed with the new package. Let’s see how Las Vegas goes before we pass judgment.
And speaking of Ford, Stewart-Hass Racing will be moving to Ford in 2017. That is huge news and came out of nowhere. When you don’t even hear a rumor of that magnitude in the garage area, then you know how tightly kept that secret was. Don’t feel bad for Hendrick, they will surely make engines for someone else. But as fast as SHR has been with their Chevy’s, I was surprised at the move. Ford must be offering them the world to make this worthwhile. Consider Atlanta where the Fords were the back markers of the top 10 and placed only five cars in the top 20. But to move from 11 cars to 14 next year is a sizeable jump for Ford, that is if they do not lose any other team.
That’s it for now, hope you enjoyed the race. Las Vegas is a fast track and we should see more of who has this rules package figured out in the coming weeks. It could be a long year for Clint Bowyer.
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