30 Degrees of Banking

NASCAR Nuggets: FedEx Autism Speaks 400

By Ryan Frisco

The Victor: WHERE IN THE WORLD DID THAT COME FROM TONY STEWART?!!!!!  I definitely was not expecting Smoke to come out on top at Dover.  Not at the start, not at the 3/4 mark, not at the 7/8 mark.  After a completely dirt poor start to the season, a 7th last week and win at Dover is a HUGE upgrade to the season.  Tony finds himself in prime position to nab one of the two Wild Card spots as the Summer is just heating up.

Photo Cred www.usatoday.com

The First Loser:  Another guy I didn't expect to see there at the end; Juan Pablo Montoya.  Juan didn't have the fastest car Sunday, but he made the right call at the right time to be at the front when it mattered the most.  Montoya has impressed as of late, and he's keeping himself in position so that if he does nab one or both of the road course wins, he'll have a good shot of grabbing a Wild Card berth in the Chase.

Pat on the Back:  Jeff Gordon came home 3rd.  A good finish for him in another season of bad luck.

Kurt Busch ran another great race, only to be stung by poor pit strategy.  Good job to come back to 12th.

Photo Cred www.whattalking.com

Penske Racing:  Brad Keselowski finished 5th, Joey Logano 7th.  This team has been great at times, poor at times and wrapped up in controversy.  Although Keselowski was penalized 6 points for failing post race inspections, finishing up front again is encouraging after a rough stretch in May.  Logano is still working back from his 25 point penalty.  Penske looks to be back on track somewhat.

Jimmie Johnson Penalized: Yep, that's right.  Jimmie Johnson broke the rules, and paid the price.  That should silence the critics! Johnson was on the bottom line during the race's final restart, next to Juan Pablo Montoya, the leader.  Jimmie started the race prematurely (the leader, Montoya, was supposed to) and failed to give the position back to Montoya before the start finish line.  That led to a black flag, penalty trip down pit road and a 17th place finish one lap down.  

Was it controversial?  Yeah, you could argue that Juan spun the tires and didn't get going when he should have.  But, NASCAR made the call and I believe it was the right one.  Take a look at the video and decide for yourselves.

Next up is Pocono!

Ryan Frisco is a co-founder of Sports Eye View, as well as the Head NASCAR Analyst.  He can be reached at ryanafrisco@gmail.com