After watching the longest race of the season and viewing a week of comments on social media, its time to set the record straight. Martin Truex Jr. simply put on a clinic for the rest of the field in the Coca-Cola 600 dominating from pole to the checkered flag. This has been something NASCAR fans have been seeing from this single car team from Denver. Yes they receive technical help from Joe Gibbs Racing; but they have been running super strong all season, and if it wasn’t for bad luck they would have more wins this year. It was also very touching to see Truex Jr. and his longtime girlfriend celebrating the win.
NASCAR Week: Truex Jr. Puts on a Clinic, RPM Halts Xfinity Series, and More
Now with the good in our sport comes the bad, and that was hearing Richard Petty Motorsports would be halting their Xfinity Series program due to sponsor issues and lack of payments. This is a great example of how expensive this business is when no cheques are received, teams have to stop the on-track activities immediately. The rumors indicate that RPM has not received money for a bit. This has a direct impact on Jeb Burton who had signed on to drive for the entire season. Hopefully the sponsors and team can reach a solution to these problems and Burton can climb back in and run competitive for the remainder of this season.
Danica Patrick’s Defense
Now for the not true. It seems this week, like every week, while viewing social media and news with regards to NASCAR, I find myself coming to the defense of a NASCAR driver. As often seems to be the case, the driver in question is Danica Patrick. This writer has sometimes been critical of her performance, but to constantly read that she cannot drive is simply not true. There was a recent article an off-track photo shoot that she modeled for. Nothing was mentioned about her physical strength or her fitness regime, all the so called fans were interested in commenting on was her lack of driving skills. I am well aware that she doesn’t need me or anyone coming to her defense but the “she can’t drive” comments are getting old. Maybe her performance could and should be better but the reality is she is employed as a full-time driver for a top team in one of the hardest, if not the hardest, motor sport series in the world. If it was so easy everyone would do it. When fans say its easy to capture a pole at Daytona because you just keep the gas mashed it is amusing. Yes she is attractive to sponsors but the sponsors these days will not cut a huge cheque to race teams if the driver can not drive the car. She could do better, but she is doing it every week while fans go about regular jobs, and that says something about her skills.
