It took three decades, but North Wilkesboro came back to life this weekend for actual points-paying NASCAR races.
You wanna see what the Cup field look like the last time they raced there?
Jeff Gordon beat Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, Jeff Burton and Terry Labonte on Sept. 29, 1996. Lordy. What a top-five!
With all due respect to today’s NASCAR, these fellas ain’t touching those guys.
DALE EARNHARDT JR. BROUGHT NASCAR BACK TO LIFE 25 YEARS AGO THIS WEEKEND, BUT THE PAIN IS BACK
Not now, not tomorrow, not ever. A better time. A simpler time.
That being said, Joey Logano came close Sunday night, leading 323 of the 450 laps and holding off Denny Hamlin to win for the first time in well over a year.
That’s right. Joey Logano — a three-time NASCAR champ — had somehow gone over a year between Cup wins. In fact, he’d barely led a lap before Sunday night at North Wilkesboro.
Did it make the race boring? Eh. A little. But that’s less on Joey, and more on NASCAR for this terrible short-track product. Thanks, Next Gen car!
What else y’all wanna talk about today? How about the faith in and around the track all weekend long? Seriously. I know NASCAR is the only sport left that really acknowledges God (Lord knows it ain’t the WNBA!), but it was kicked up a notch at North Wilkesboro.
What an invocation! And what a Truck Series sponsor! You’ll see.
I’ve also got Brexton Busch winning on Friday for the first time since his dad died in May, and buddy, it was a surreal site. He even did the signature bow. Incredible.
OK, four tires, enough Sunoco racing fuel to get us to Indy, and maybe some communion for anyone who missed this weekend’s service at at North Wilkesboro … Monday Morning Pit-Stop — the ‘NASCAR Goes Back In Time’ edition — is LIVE!
Look, Joey Logano absolutely dominated this race. At one point, there were, like, four cars on the lead lap. Chase Elliott, William Byron and Kyle Larson all got caught a lap down early thanks to just a horribly-timed caution, and they never recovered.
I believe we finished this one with a total of six cars on the lead lap. Six! That’s almost unheard of in today’s NASCAR.
But this was a typical North Wilkesboro race. They used to average about 13 cars on the lead lap back in the day, and that’s pretty much what we got last night.
To me, though, this was a successful weekend for NASCAR — for a couple different reasons.
We’ve seen some rough-looking crowds this season (looking at you, Bristol), but not this weekend. Not at North Wilkesboro. They waited 30 years for a real race, and they weren’t going to miss it.
Go where you belong. Go where you are wanted. Go where you are appreciated. Quit trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.
Lordy. The Libs must’ve been just fuming after that. Angel Reese spent all weekend accusing some liberal Australian coach of being racist, while NASCAR was running the FaithFest Jesus is Lord 250.
Choose your fighter(s), America.
“I want to proclaim Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God.”
Again, you ain’t getting that sort of content out of the WNBA! I dump on NASCAR a lot, mainly because I like to keep them honest and someone has to hold their you-know-what to the fire.
But, credit where it’s due … this felt like a throwback weekend in more ways than one. Remember how miserable this series was six years right now? In that absolutely insufferable summer of 2020.
“The Summer of George!”
We’ve come a long way. NASCAR appears to be righting the ship. This was another good step.
OK, couple quickies on the way out. First? Brexton Busch won for the first time since his dad, Kyle Busch, died two months ago, and it was quite a scene at Port City Raceway in Oklahoma:
Goodness. Samantha Busch also wrote about the win on her Instagram, posting a video of Brexton’s bow with the caption: “Your bow. Your legacy. Our boy.”
Quick reminder: Kyle’s No. 8 RCR Chevy is being parked until Brexton wants it when he’s eligible. Seems like he’s on track for it.
Next? Let’s clean out the inbox on the way out. It’s almost August, you know?
From Bob (not Pockrass, sadly):
NASCAR needs to alternate between North Wilkesboro and Atlanta every other week; screw the other tracks.
Thanks, Bob! I wouldn’t mind that, although I would miss the $9 Busch Light drafts at Daytona twice a year. One more month! Can’t wait.
Speaking of those other races … from Bill C:
As a long-time NASCAR fanatic, I now watch only the O’Reilly races (Saturday). They are exciting, with a lot of good and interesting drivers who are easy to root for. Since Kevin Harvick stopped racing, the “other” race has not attracted me. O’Reilly races are fun, interesting, and exciting. As far as I’m concerned it is the only car race in town and the drivers are more human and accessible.
Thanks, Bill! O’Reilly (Busch) Series races have exploded in popularity over the past year, mainly because the car isn’t the absolute piece of crap the new Cup cars are. It lends to much better racing. No argument here.
That being said, I’m not sure a world exists where I’m watching an O’Reilly race over a Cup one. That’s a sort of commitment that I don’t have.
As for Cup races being boring … that leads me nicely into these … questionable … comments from IndyCar driver Scott Dixon:
“I find it really hard to watch a Cup race these days … it allows for a good nap.”
NASCAR fans are livid at Scott today, which is fair. In no way, shape or form should an INDYCAR driver be lecturing NASCAR on the excitement level of races. That’s the pot calling the kettle black.
That being said, Scott, I believe, was referring more to the length of NASCAR Cup Series races nowadays. In that vein, he is 100% right.
They are far too long, including Sunday night’s race at North Wilkesboro.
Thoughts, NASCAR fans? Let me know!
Until then … See y’all at Indy.
Here’s truck series driver Toni Breidinger dominating the ESPYs to hold everyone over:
