30 Degrees of Banking

NASCAR Nuggets: Autoclub 400

By Ryan Frisco

Seriously, I feel bad for people who aren't watching NASCAR these days.  Seriously!!  What was the one thing I said I was looking forward to this past weekend?  How the drama between Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin would play out.  If you somehow missed what happened, please watch the video below of the last lap at Fontana (that's Joey Logano in the 22, Denny Hamlin in the 11).

The Victor: Lost amid all hustle and scuffle that is Logano and Hamlin, people forgot the important thing about Sunday; Kyle Busch won the race!  Sitting there, waiting, watching from a distance as the two knuckleheads battled it out, Kyle picked the opportune moment to squeak past them in the final turn on his way to victory.  A great win for Rowdy, and much deserved.  He has had the fastest car on more than one occasion this year, and hasn't won because of stupid mistakes.  Now, to keep this up till Chase time, and then perform in the Chase!

Photo Cred www.espn.go.com

The First Loser: Oh, well looky here, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. ended the race in second position!  NASCAR's former winner of most popular driver a million times in a row now finds himself atop the Championship rankings.  He did that pretty quietly too, as no one's really talked about him too much.  Five races, five top tens. Not too shabby Junior.  The last two runner ups (Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch) ended up winning the next race.  What do you think, will we see Dale in victory lane after the race at Martinsville in two weeks?

Pat on the Back: Two big names here, and both have been here before.  Kurt Busch is the first one, after coming in fifth.  That's his second top 5 of the year, and a really giant step towards his return to relevance.  Getting this sort of drive out of the car is huge for a team like Furniture Row Racing.  Keeping this up, and taking this car into the playoffs would be unthinkable.

Paul Menard is our next standout.  He finished eighth, which makes his third top ten of the year!  I still can't see him keeping up this pace, but I wouldn't be surprised either.

Logano vs. Hamlin (and Stewart) - This ongoing battle is awesome for NASCAR's TV ratings.  After an in-race and post-race altercation last week, these two came into California with questions; could Joey Logano catch Denny Hamlin, and if so, would anything come of it?  Well, ironically, and conveniently,  Joey did catch Denny, on the last lap of the race!  The two bounced off of one another, trading the lead numerous times.  Exiting the final corner, Joey had it and tried to spin Denny, who clipped Joey into the wall on his way around.  You saw it in the video above, not pretty, as neither won the race.  

Photo Cred www.docsportalstalk.com

No fines were given out, but Hamlin's extremely hard impact in the inside wall resulted in a compression fracture in his vertebrae.  He will miss at least five weeks, putting his championship dreams on hold another year.

After the race was over, Tony Stewart parked his car next to Logano's on pit road, and the two crews went at it.  Stewart was unhappy at Logano for running him into the grass on the last restart when Stewart had a run.  His momentum was stunted, and Tony fell through the field no his way to another poor finish.

So, if you didn't watch the race, that's what you missed.  Nothing much.  I'm sure you could see that kind of action anywhere.  No big.  Come on people, you're missing out if you're not tuned in Sunday afternoon!  I feel bad for you!

NASCAR is off for the Easter weekend.  I'll see you next weekend as they head to Martinsville, Virginia for the second short track race of the year.  If you don't remember what happened there last year, let me remind you.