Two words: Las Vegas
Three letters: W. T. F.
I’m usually not a fan of the “action” at the cookie-cutter mile-and-a-half out in Nevada. For one thing, there were too many years where all the focus was on the dastardly Busch Brothers duo. Ironically, one of my favourite race winners of recent memory was Kurt Busch at Las Vegas (mostly because my Dad decided that he was glad to see Kurt win) and today, I was hoping this might be were Kyle Busch would break his long – and well-publicized losing streak.
Indeed, the Cup race at Las Vegas was rather entertaining – if not always for the right reasons. On the plus side, this week’s gridwalk featured Michael Waltrip interacting with Jimmy Hart and the Backstreet Boys, and the race included appearances by WWE Superstar Chelsea Green, John Schneider, and Morgan Freeman.
Okay, stop the horses! While not the worst pre-race command ever (that “honour” would go to the Olympic ice skaters at Michigan some years back), Freeman’s command felt a lot more like a suggestion. Yes, I understand that he’s 87 years-old but he sounded more like he was having a conversation with the cameraman than addressing tens of thousands of people. With this being probably the biggest mainstream celebrity (wait…does Trump count?) that NASCAR has had in that position perhaps in its history (well, maybe the Rock) and this was a huge missed opportunity. Swear to God, they need to get Larry Mac to give these celebrities some pointers!
If they were like WWE (or WCW back in the day) and hoping the celebrities would get new eyes on the sport, NASCAR didn’t exactly seem like they were bringing their A-Game…at times.
Instead of Las Vegas, perhaps the 2025 Pennzoil 400 should have been at Pocono, just to give the right setting for a race that seemed to be run by the Keystone Cops. There were about a dozen penalties on pit road, two loose wheels rolling around the track, and at least one pit stop that lasted over 30 seconds.
The story of Christopher Bell started out being him looking to win a rare four-in-a-row and should have ended with him being penalized a hell of a lot more than starting at the rear of the field after pitting outside his pit box. And when I say “outside his pit box,” he pitted several stalls away, in that of Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe. I feel for those guys who get penalized for stopping an inch of two outside their pitbox and lose all that track position, trying to back into their stall.
But in all seriousness, if this doesn’t result in a bigger penalty for Bell and his team, let’s just say this will be undeniable proof that the fix is in in favour of Joe Gibbs Racing.
Speaking of JGR, there was another edition of “Let’s Blame Carson” when Ty Gibbs blocked Carson Hocevar as he was trying to get out of his pit stall and then later, cut Hocevar off, resulting in the #54 being spun out. Rather than admonishing Gibbs for lack of situational awareness, the commentators fell all over themselves blaming everyone from spotters to crew members to, of course, Carson himself. Oh, and when I say everyone, I mean everyone on the #77 team. Gibbs shall remain blameless.
But while there was plenty to frown upon at Las Vegas, the racing got better as the day went along. The race set a new record for lead changes (32 among 19 drivers) at Las Vegas. While many veterans and the usual suspects (Logano, Larson, Byron, Reddick) were up front, we also saw some less regular names up there as well. Austin Cindric won the first stage and finished in the Top 10 along with Ryan Preece, Daniel Suarez and AJ Allmendinger. Alex Bowman and Ross Chastain have returned to the Top 10 for the first time in a while (or so it seems).
But the trip to Victory Lane went to Josh Berry and the Wood Brothers. It was Berry’s first Cup win and the Wood Brothers’ 101st. It was a feel-good win for a small but historic team and a driver that made his way through grass-roots racing and got a shot in the Xfinity Series thanks to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and made the most of it.
The win makes both driver and team eligible for the playoffs. Berry is only the third driver to make the 2025 playoffs (circumstances notwithstanding, of course). He’s probably the third most likely to win the championship but could 2025 be the year, the first in decades, that the Wood Brothers might log multiple wins in a season. Berry may be the dark horse in the championship picture but he might just have the grit and determination to make things interesting.
And in a sport where the big money teams rule all, seeing a small team, especially one with the history of the Wood Brothers, do well would warm the heart of this NASCAR blogger.
johnmilner.ca 