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1. Joey Logano: Title Contender or Title Faker?
Monday's race in Texas brought happiness to Joey Logano. Logano lasted through a very tense green-white-checkered to win his first race of the season in thrilling fashion. I won't discuss the finish in depth here because you will here about it in a few topics. Nonetheless, Logano walked into victory lane and was able to grab a cowboy hat and a boot for a trophy. This win should put him in the Chase for the second straight season. I do have one question about Logano. Is he a title contender or title faker? I truly believe he is a title contender. The main reason I feel this way is his season thus far this year. I mean, Logano and teammate, Brad Keselowski, have been dialed in. They have qualified up front almost all races this year, they have ran great in the races, and both now have a win. Logano has actually been more impressive to me than Keselowski. Logano has the win from Monday, three top fives, and an eleventh place finish at Daytona. Logano also has a twentieth at Bristol and a thirty ninth at Auto Club. Consider this about those two finishes, though. In both those races, he had a chance to finish up front or even win the race, but mechanical failures cut his days short. Still, Logano is running great. Finally, Logano has a completely different attitude. Let's face it. Logano's career looked over at Joe Gibbs Racing early on. The main reason was the fact he was way too young to be in a Cup car. Now, he has matured greatly and he is with a good team in Team Penske, which won the championship in 2012. That, to me, says that Logano is in a perfect place for him and he could very well take advantage of it. All in all, expect Joey Logano to be a title contender come Chase time in a few months.
2. Ryan Newman: Is Consistency Key or Winning More Than One Race?
Amidst all the talks of Austin Dillon and the number three for Richard Childress Racing, Ryan Newman has managed to fly under the radar with his new team at Richard Childress Racing. Newman has a pair of seventh place finishes, a pair of sixteenth place finishes, a pair of twentieth place finishes, and a worst finish of twenty second at Daytona. All those consistent finishes have Newman sitting tied for eleventh in points and in contention. The only thing Newman really doesn't have is a win. This brings me to my question for Newman's team. Is consistency key or is winning more than one race key? Honestly, winning more than one race should be key for the whole Richard Childress Racing team. Listen, you guys know I preach consistency, but this new Chase system seems to have caused a lot of winners to come up. I mean, we have seven different winners in seven races and contenders like Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, and others still haven't won yet. To me, it looks like we have a chance to have sixteen different winners in 2014. That means more than one win is critical. I believe Newman should be shooting for not just that one win, but two. I mean, consistency helps in building a good notebook for different race tracks, but wins are extremely important. With two wins, Newman and anybody else who could win two races would be in extremely good shape. Hopefully, Ryan Newman can continue his consistency through the season along with winning some races.
3. Kyle Larson: How Good Has He Done This Season?
Last week, we graded Austin Dillon's performance through six races of his rookie year. Now, we are going to grade Kyle Larson's rookie year thus far through seven races. If you recall, Larson ran full time on the NASCAR Nationwide Series circuit a season ago and made the jump to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for 2014 with Chip Ganassi Racing. The main question I have for you guys about Kyle Larson is this. How good has he fared this season so far? He has fared extremely well to start the season, in my opinion. It was expected that Larson would be the major contender for rookie of the year with Austin Dillon, but most, including myself, were seeing Dillon as the favorite. Well, I believe that is not the case seven races into the season. Larson has had a single bad race this season and it was at Daytona. In the other six races, Larson has one finish worse than twentieth, three top 10s, and two top 5s. Take into perspective that Austin Dillon has a single top 10 finish through seven races on the season. I mean, I am shocked at the way Larson has been running this season. I felt like he would run just like Juan Pablo Montoya did in the number 42 because the equipment didn't seem to be the best at all for Montoya. Plus, Larson was a rookie and it just seemed like it would take time for him to adjust and become great. It turns out that Montoya was to blame for the lack of success in the 42 because Larson has been doing great. Shockingly, though, Larson is still behind Dillon in the points standings. As the next few races progress, expect that to change quickly. If Kyle Larson and his team continue doing what they are doing, Kyle Larson will be your 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year without question.
4. What Would Have Happened If Joey Logano Didn't Win at Texas on Monday?
As promised, we are ready to discuss the finish for Monday's Duck Commander 500 at Texas. In case you missed it, let me set the stage. With only two laps to go, Joey Logano was gone, to put it bluntly. Brad Keselowski, who was running second at the time, was not anywhere in reach of Logano and a miracle would be needed for him to win. Well, the miracle happened. As Logano drove through turn 2 for the second to last time, Kurt Busch drove up the track in front of him. Logano was able to drive past without problem, but Busch was on the verge of problems. As he entered turn 3 on the apron, his tire blew up and debris flew onto the track and NASCAR waved a caution as Logano was a turn away from the white flag, which would have ended the race. Logano was almost screwed after pit stops put him third behind Jeff Gordon and Brian Vickers, who took two tires, but Logano was able to move back to the lead and win the race. No harm, no foul for Logano, but here is the thing. What would have occurred if Logano didn't win? Listen, it wouldn't have been good and NASCAR wouldn't have been blamed. It would have been all Kurt Busch's fault. I was listening to the race on the radio in the car and it seemed like a caution wouldn't occur. When I watched the caution on video, NASCAR was forced to wave a caution. I mean, there was too much debris on track, but it was really Busch's fault. He was barely on the apron and had he been lower on the apron, a caution would have been avoided. If Logano wouldn't have won, the situation would have exploded even more because Busch had issues with Brad Keselowski, Logano's teammate, a week before at Martinsville. Of course, it turned out okay for the sport, but I feel like media scrutiny would have occurred after the race. Honestly, I would have wanted the media to talk about it because I feel like Busch's intentions were to screw Logano out a win, plain and simple. Busch did not succeed and now both Team Penske drivers are most likely in the Chase along with Busch himself. Still, this finish will stick in my mind as the season progresses.
5. My Pick to Win
Darlington Raceway is like a short track and a superspeedway mixed together. Tempers are sure to occur after the race and huge, high speed wrecks are going to occur throughout the night. Along with that, Darlington races are highly unpredictable and a winner is tough to find. Notice the word tough in that sentence. If you don't believe it is unpredictable, just look at the winner of 2011's race. Regan Smith won the race thanks to a pit strategy move and he never even smelled the lead throughout the race. That win right there just speaks volumes that a winner is tough to come by in Darlington, South Carolina. Still, just based on the trends from the past few years, I have some drivers to look at for Saturday's race. Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, and Carl Edwards are drivers to look at as possible winners for Saturday’s race. Also, look at drivers like Jamie McMurray, Kyle Larson, Tony Stewart, and Ryan Newman because they could steal a win on Saturday. Well, I am headed out to Darlington tomorrow. Because of that, I am going to post my thoughts on an odd night to ensure you guys get my thoughts before the race. I am beyond excited and pumped for this weekend because it will be my first two race weekend ever. Expect some pictures to be posted throughout the next week of my trip. Well, that is all I have for today and until we meet again.
(More Stats Down Below!)
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