Sports Eye View : 30 Degrees of Banking

NASCAR Nuggets: Coca Cola 600

By Ryan Frisco

I feel like I've said it too many times this year, but I'm going to say it again; I love NASCAR under the lights! You just never know what's going to happen, and this week was no different, as NASCAR's longest race got even longer thanks to the second craziest thing I've ever seen in the sport. But, let's start with...

Photo Cred www.newsobserver.com

The Victor: Kevin Harvick, the Closer, closed out another one. Creeping the entire race, slowly working his way up through the field, Harvick, in his patented form, stole the race at the end to pick up his second victory of the year. After falling just short of the championship in 2010, Harvick looks primed to make another run at it this year.

The First Loser: Kasey Kahne. The victor last year in the 600, he fell just short after dominating the race, settling for second. The same thing happened last week, as he had the race in hand, but lost the lead to Jimmie Johnson in the All Star Race. All in all though, a great run. It's nice to see Kahne's finishes reflect how strong he is and not be ruined by a certain someone *cough* Kyle Busch *cough*. The Kahne Gang is keepin' it strong!

Pat on the Back: Kurt Busch has run surprisingly strong this year, especially for the below par equipment he's driving. If not for a stroke of bad luck here and there, he'd be sitting in the Top 10 in points. Great job to come home third, let's hope he can keep his attitude in check to stick around for a while.

Denny Hamlin had another great Top 5 run. The field better watch out if he makes the Chase.

For the first time all year, I'm writing something positive about Tony Stewart! He finally got another Top 10!! He finished 7th, and teammate Ryan Newman came home 6th. Easily the best overall showing for this team all year.

In case anybody overlooked it, Marcos Ambrose came home with a Top 10 finish. Good run for the Aussie.

Okay, let's get to the craziness. First, the big crash. Watch:

There were more crashes, but this one was the best. I know for most people reading, this is the highlight of the race you were looking for. You're welcome.

Caught on Camera...Literally: This is the real craziness of the race. I've never seen anything like it before! So, like in football, FOX Sports has added an overhead camera to get an aerial view that moves around the track. Somehow, one of the cables running over the track to drive this camera broke, and was left hanging on the track, suspended from ground to air. The leader, Kyle Busch, ran over the cord, snapping it off as well as mutilating the right front of his car. Three or four cars in total sustained damage from the cord, and NASCAR had to red flag the event for over half an hour to clean up the camera mess and let the cars and crew fix what the cord had ruined. What?!! Seriously, I've seen a lot of crazy things, but this is by far the second craziest in NASCAR ever.

What is the first, you might ask?