Sometimes "wow" is all I can say. I understand some people liked that and will defend it but for me that was just **** racing and a product of "win and you're in." I completely understand why the 3 did it but just like with Chase and Suarez a few weeks ago at Chicago - There is a difference between the bump and run and just driving through someone. Maybe when a driver gets seriously hurt NASCAR will stop this "win and you're in" BS and stop trying to attract the attention of fans that won't pay attention for more than 5 minutes anyway.
All that said, where did the speed from the 3 car come from? I knew they could improve from how bad they have been but I am not sure I have ever seen a car run THAT bad for 2/3 of a season and then just show up and have that kind of speed. He was the ONLY chevy to have race winning speed and outran his teammate and the likes of HMS by a lot. If anyone tried to say they saw that coming out of the 3 I will call BS all day.
Other takeaways - Cliff Daniels is the BEST crew chief in NASCAR right now and here's why - He calls the race based on what his driver has - not what the race winning strategy will be. He saw right away that the 5 did not have the speed to drive through the pack and called a strategy that said "let's do what they are not." It really did not end of working out but I still loved it. I get so frustrated with AG because he seems to try to keep Chase on what he thinks the race winning strategy will be - even if they don't have a winning car. Last night was a perfect example - I did not understand their strategy at all as they seemed to be in between the 1 stop per stage and 2 stop per stage strategy. They were always the last car to come in of those stopping twice and lost tons of track position to guys on new tires because of it and it did not really work out on the other end. I think if AG is more aggressive and committed to one of the 2 strategies then Chase - who had a decent at best car - would have kept his track position all night and been in a better spot at the end.
The option tires - I guess I like it and I can't believe that some teams not in a position to win did not use their last set on the final 50 lap +/- run because they fell off at about 30-35 laps. I mean why not try something and just see what happens? If you're borderline top ten then why not? Overall though, I liked that if you were mired in traffic you had an option (no pun intended) to try to gain some track position.
Last but not least - I have said it all year and will keep saying it - On flat short tracks (except maybe Martinsville which is a different animal) the Chevys are bringing a knife to a gun fight. Yes - The 3 was puzzlingly the best car - especially at the end - which shows the Chevys CAN compete but for whatever reason they are not. HMS was very mid. Chase had a good qualifying run and seemed to have decent long run speed but poor strategy. The 5 and the 24 seemed to be OK but mired in traffic and unable to pas most of the race. The 48 was MIA all night from what I saw. They better figure something out before Phoenix.
Yeah, listening to the radio and Larson all year, their motto has been execution. As a driver and race team, let's maximize our day, whatever that looks like.
Larson has made far fewer mistakes this year. After the 600, he did string together a few bad weeks in a row, Iowa (which was gonna be a win) and Chicago (probably a top 4 finish).
I was on Daniel's ass yesterday because I just didn't see that stage 2 strategy working out, and I didn't see the necessity of it. I turned out to be right for that stage, and even still, Cliff found a way to get them a good finish.
Early on, Larson was pretty unsure about what to request in terms of changes and balance and Cliff basically made a decision to adjust the car to help with early run turn. Larson was able to drive into p10 early in stage 2, taking advantage of that. Then, Cliff made the 1 stop call to gain further track position, presumably to get some stage points. It didn't work out and he ended the stage in p14. A net negative.
Cliff made the car better for one run in stage 3, and Larson was able to get back up to p12. Then, Cliff called Larson in to start the pit cycle, knowing that their weakness was short run speed in traffic. As a result, he got a clean pit entry/exit, and about 2 lap fresher tires, and was able to run a significant portion of the "weaker" part of his run in clean air. It netted him out about 7 spots ahead of where he was running and ultimately lead to a top 10 finish.
I thought the stage 2 mistake more or less ended the day as a good points day, but they still managed to defend the points lead with a 7th place finish with probably a 12th place car.
Considering how well Reddick ran, and how Elliott was able to accumulate 6 stage points, it was a good race.
Larson had zero useful feedback all race. It was bad. Cliff made a decision that minimized their car's weakness. It was great