Five thoughts after Sunday’s race at Dover International Speedway…
1. You see where this is going, right?
There have been plenty of NASCAR seasons when one driver stomps everyone and shows up as the team to beat every week. For example: Martin Truex Jr. last year.
But this year seems a bit different: There are two drivers on two different teams who seem evenly matched — and are collectively destroying the competition.
Of course, we’re talking about Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch, who have combined to win seven of the 11 races so far. After nearly one third of the season, the duo is on pace to win 23 races! Crazy.
It’s just been a tag-team butt-kicking, and they’re not always on at the same time.
But together, the drivers have accounted for more than half of the playoff points awarded so far — and that’s after Harvick lost some with his encumbered win earlier in the season.
This is a battle that is shaping up to continue all summer. And you know what? While it might not be ideal for fans who don’t like either driver, it’s a hell of a lot better than just one guy dominating week after week.
2. Stewart-Haas is the best team
Sorry, Joe Gibbs Racing and Furniture Row. You’ve been dethroned.
Though the Fords in general have been strong, it’s clear Stewart-Haas Racing in particular is the team to beat so far. SHR has the fastest, most consistent cars among all four of its entries — with three top-five finishes at Dover to emphasize that point.
Harvick has been great, but it’s not just him. Clint Bowyer (second on Sunday) has won a race and shown potential for more. Kurt Busch has become a regular face in the top 10 again and Aric Almirola is making people say, “Damn! Aric Almirola can drive!”
One key to the team’s success, aside from moves like Tony Gibson coming off the road to help guide collaboration in the shop, is the drivers apparently require similar things from the car. Bowyer said the various setups “are all relatively the same, and it shows on the racetrack.”
That’s a pretty important factor, because it means only one driver or crew chief needs to find something for all of them to benefit each week.
“When you can get four cars that are running as well as these four did today, it’s an awesome feeling,” Tony Stewart said.
3. Suarez on the rise
Doesn’t it seem like Daniel Suarez often gets left out of the top young drivers conversation?
Sometimes it feels like it’s all about Chase and Blaney and Bubba (and maybe Larson, if you consider him young enough to be in that group).
But after a horrible start to the season which saw him sitting 26th in the point standings after seven races, Suarez has put together an impressive four-week stretch: 11th, 10th, 10th and now third at Dover.
Suarez’s best career oval finish boosted him to 17th in the standings — suddenly just seven points out of a playoff spot.
“Once you get to this level, it’s always tough for (drivers),” Joe Gibbs said after the race. “We brought him up a year early. I think he’s just now getting confidence as he goes.”
Suarez said it was a combination of both driver and team getting better at the same time. And he’s learning every week, he said.
“If I have confidence and the team doesn’t, it doesn’t work,” he said. “Momentum in this sport is huge. In the last five or six weeks, we’ve had good speed and consistency — and that’s something I’m very proud of for my team and myself.”
It feels like Suarez is starting to emerge as a driver who can consistently run in the top 10 — and on a good day like Sunday, perhaps battle for wins.
4. What about the 48?
Dover is Jimmie Johnson’s best track, so it was a good weekend to watch how his team performed and see if the 48 is any closer to a turnaround.
The verdict? Eh, maybe.
Johnson got to third place for awhile on Sunday before a pit call cost him track position he never fully regained. He finished ninth, which isn’t great by his standards — but it was the best result by a Chevrolet driver.
And maybe that’s the fairest way to judge Johnson right now. He might be the greatest driver in history, but even the best can’t just take a 10th-place car and manhandle it to a win.
If Johnson gets outrun by Chase Elliott or even Kyle Larson every week, then it definitely makes people wonder if he and Chad Knaus have lost their magic. But Johnson is actually the top Hendrick driver in the standings now (12th) and the second-best Chevrolet to Larson. He has four straight top-12 finishes.
That’s not to say his team is in championship form at the moment. But he might not be as far off as it has seemed at times.
5. Stage 1’s odd ending
NASCAR made an unusual call on Sunday at the end of Stage 1 that is worth further examination.
Typically, NASCAR lets TV go to a commercial at the conclusion of a stage and then opens pit road as the commercials end. That has been part of the rhythm of stage racing since it began last year.
But at Dover, with many cars close to running out of fuel thanks to a strategy play, NASCAR opened pit road as soon as it could. That allowed drivers to make it safely to pit road with a little gas left in their tanks.
That was helpful to those teams, to be sure. But should NASCAR factor team strategy into their decisions? There’s no rule that says NASCAR can’t open pit road in that situation; it just hasn’t happened in other races.
NASCAR said it changed course primarily out of concern for the potential shitshow (my words, not theirs) it could cause if a dozen cars suddenly ran out of fuel at the end of the stage. NASCAR wouldn’t have had enough wreckers to get the potentially stalled cars to pit road, and then might have been in an even worse situation if pit road was blocked for a time. Because then other cars then would have run out of gas and created one of those only-in-NASCAR circus moments.
The desire to avoid that makes sense on many levels. On the other hand, if cars were going to run out of fuel, that’s not NASCAR’s fault. That’s part of the race; some drivers and teams would have played it better than others, and those who didn’t would suffer. Fans would understand that.
So if possible, NASCAR should avoid straying from its typical procedure — it looks bad, because some teams will always benefit more than others when that happens.
But what if the 4 and 18 peaked too soon. With this current chase/playoff set up they could be out of luck in October, nevermind what they did in the spring. Not a fan of a set up where a driver could miss 10 races or so and still crowned champion
“So if possible, NASCAR should avoid straying from its typical procedure — it looks bad, because some teams will always benefit more than others when that happens.”
Better yet, instead of having things done “typically,” have an ACTUAL procedural that needs to be followed the same every race (or at least set in advance before the race if it needs to differ based on track length, etc), instead of allowing it to Nascar’s whims. Such as, Pits open X laps after the caution flag that ends a stage. Only deviation would be if pit road can’t be opened for a safety reason (wreck occurred on or affecting pit road just as stage ended, etc)
Things could change. The weather has been a factor this year making grip better at many tracks than it normally would be. This maybe is playing into the hands of Stewart Haas, If things get hot and greasy at tracks this summer, and Stewart Haas continues to show strength, well then, okay. I still think it is too early to say these two drivers- Harvick and KyBu- are the two to beat the rest of the year. I say, “Stay tuned……)
NASCAR caught a break with the brief rain delay. If I was one of the 10,000 in attendance and they had to call the race when they turned down the option to bump up the start, there would have been a different kind of crapshow.
These 2:00 and 3:00 starts at tracks without lights are ridiculous.
I didn’t realize that NASCAR opened the pits early at the end of Stage 1. That sucks and needs to be looked at closer and clarified in the future. When teams gamble on fuel mileage for a stage win the extra cautions laps need to be factored into that decision. If they run out of fuel and can’t make it to the pits that’s their problem. The whole point of gambling is that you might lose and for NASCAR to accommodate those who gamble to increase their odds of success isn’t fair. Shit storm or not.