On a night where we saw a late race caution that had all of the mystery and theories of Grassy Knoll conspiracies, Carl Edwards was in the right place at the right time. Edwards took home the victory at Bristol Motor Speedway.
With the Grandstands filled with empty seats after a long rain delay and dreadful weather forecast, Edwards was cruising to an easy victory when, with three laps remaining, the caution flag flew. Quickly the chatter on the radio was that NASCAR had no idea why the caution came out. Trigger conspiracy theory #1.
Could NASCAR just accidently on purpose throw a late race caution to give the race one last chance at a great finish? Could they be that evil? Smart? NASCAR eventually came up with an answear as to what had caused the caution to fly.
Here’s NASCAR’s explanation: “A flagman leaned on the manual override switch for the caution lights, triggering the final caution with less than two laps remaining in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway Sunday. Once the flagman realized the caution lights were on — but not realizing what had happened — he used his discretion and threw the yellow flag.”
Got that? He leaned on a switch (Oops) and then decided to wave the flag. In the end the evil plot was destroyed as Mother Nature once again showed the power she has over NASCAR race days. The race never resumed under caution as the rain came and Edwards did his patented back flip in front of some really brave race fans.
Some other things we’ve learned after four races:
– Brad Keselowski is back! Off last week’s victory Keselowski leaves Bristol Motor Speedway as the NASCAR Sprint Cup point leader. His victory last week at Las Vegas, a cookie cutter 1.5 mile track similar to many on NASCAR’s circuit, serves notice that the #2 team is ready to make a serious run at their 2nd Sprint Cup Championship.
– The demise of Tony Stewart may have been a bit premature. Stewart who is essentially racing on one and a half legs, had a top five finish at the tough Bristol oval. Many were curious to see how Stewart’s still healing leg would hold up under the punishing short track corners of Bristol. We got our answer. He’s just fine, thank you very much.
– Danica Patrick continues to struggle. The accident on pit road sums up her struggles perfectly. Finishing a typical four tires and fuel stop, Patrick then ran into the car of Clint Bowyer as he was finishing his pit stop. Thankfully Bowyer’s crew was not on that side of the car at the time. Patrick had been reporting she only had 4th gear at the time and her defenders were quick to point out that the transmission problem may have played a role in the accident. She finished 18th, one lap down, which is now considered a good finish for her. Sad.
– Like Tony Stewart the demise of Jeff Gordon may have been premature. Gordon, with all four race finishes in the top 10 now sits 4th in points, highest of any of the non race winners. Unlike the last several years, Gordon’s car has been solid right out of the hauler. The #24 team seems to like the new car setup and handling. A win or two seems to be in his future this year.
– Have we ever had a better set of rookie drivers? Preseason favorite, Austin Dillon is attempting to become the first to win the Rookie of the Year award for all three major NASCAR series. Dillon won the rookie award for the Truck Series in 2010 and Nationwide Series in 2012. He’s got a serious challenge from Kyle Larson, Justin Allgaier, Michael Arnett, Alex Bowman, Parker Kligerman, Ryan Truex and Cole Witt. Dillon driving the #3 Richard Childress Chevrolet holds the lead after Bristol finishing just outside the top 10 in 11th place. Kyle Larson in the #42 Target Chevrolet finished 10th.
NASCAR now visits the 2 mile oval at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana California. My picks:
1) Jimmie Johnson
2) Tony Stewart
3) Kyle Busch
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