30 Degrees of Banking

NASCAR Nuggest: Food City 500

By Ryan Frisco

Photo Cred www.dallasnews.com

The Victor: Well, he finally did it.  I said last week, it wouldn't be long till we saw Kasey Kahne in the Victor column, and here he is.  Kasey drove a solid race at Bristol (I feel like he was never lower than 5th on track!). At the end, he ran away with it comfortably.  This is the first time in his career that Kasey has both been on the same team and had the same crew chief for two years in a row.  Things are rolling with this #5 car.  I picked him before the season to take the championship, and he's showing week after week that he has the fastest car out there.

The First Loser: Kyle Busch was the touted favorite to win.  He smashed the track record in qualifying.  He should have ran away with this race.  So what happened?  For the second week in a row, Kyle got caught for speeding on pit road, miring him well back in the field, having to fight the whole race to get back to the front.  He almost did it, and it was an admirable run.  Kyle just missed out on the Chase last year, and runs like this are what is going to keep him out again.  Silly mistakes like this over and over again cannot continue.

Big Name Drivers, Big Time Crashes: Four of the big name drivers this week crashed hard at Bristol.  Tony Stewart was the first victim of this, cutting a tire and spinning into the wall on just lap 10.  Later on in the race, Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth (last week's winner) were battling for the lead when Gordon cut a tire.  He flew up the track right into the wall and Matt Kenseth.  Both cars were immediately retired from the race (video below). Finally, Jimmie Johnson, five time champ and this year's Daytona 500 winner, cut down a tire late in the race and nailed the wall, ruining his day.  Like I said Saturday, anything can happen at Bristol.  This was a big hit for these four drivers.

A Fresh, New Rivalry: It looks like we've got a new rivalry in NASCAR to overtake the Clint Bowyer/Jeff Gordon drama.  During the race, Joey Logano was in second place trying to pass Jeff Gordon.  When he couldn't complete the pass, he fell in line in second, in front of Denny Hamlin.  This cut Denny off the first time, making him check up to not run into Joey.  This happened again; this time, Denny wasn't as forgiving.  He gave Logano a little tap that sent Joey spinning into the wall.  Joey was a bit upset by this (I for one blame it all on Joey, Denny didn't do anything wrong) and vowed to get him back.  There wan no further altercation until after the race, when Joey went over to Denny's car, causing a fuss.  I don't know about you, but I don't think this one's over yet. Oh, and another twist; these two were teammates up until this year.

A New Leader: That's right, defending champ Brad Keselowski has overtaken the points lead.  He finished third, his fourth top five of the year, and now holds the lead over Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jimmie Johnson.  

Upcoming is the 2 1/2 mile superspeedway in Fontana, California.  I'll be back here Saturday to break down NASCAR's weekend in the California sun.