Oh, we weave …
Let’s begin with the poor of us at Low cost Tires, which is headquartered in Phoenix, by the best way.
The corporate’s Boys in Advertising and marketing have been in full lather as Ryan Blaney, carried by the Low cost Tires Ford, took the to safe a championship shot this coming weekend in … sure, Phoenix.
Their man wins in clutch trend, simply as he did a yr in the past, and will get a shot to win NASCAR’s greatest prize, simply as he did a yr in the past. And he did it sporting the Low cost Tire colours and, guess what, no person paid him a lot consideration.
YES, MORE VOTING
We’re into all this advertising discuss for a few apparent causes. First, advertising budgets, within the type of race-team sponsorships, are the mom’s milk of a racing group.
And secondly, NASCAR itself depends closely on a strong advertising technique. However no technique can sandbag in opposition to the weirdness that engulfed the tip of Martinsville and sure had a bunch of informal viewers asking, “You suppose halftime of the Lions-Packers sport is over but?”
First Gear: NASCAR ‘pocket safety’ … Chevy version
I promise we’ll get to Christopher Bell ordering a Harvey Wallbanger, however first, the stuff informal followers or the random passerby would contemplate weird.
And it will assist should you go forward and watch the tweeted video above first.
How in regards to the wingman efforts by Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon for fellow Chevy pilot William Byron within the closing laps? It ranked someplace between Smokey and the Bandit’s freeway rocking chair and Secret Service element.
Granted, producer teammates routinely assist one another every time possible. Notably at Daytona and Talladega, the place drafting mates are key to getting up entrance and staying there. However this was completely different — a rolling wall of safety.
Byron was Chevy’s solely shot at a championship shot, and so they weren’t risking any Jack Ruby moments (do your individual analysis, and, sure, I’m being barely over-dramatic).
Mildly surprising to your aggressive senses? Nicely, subsequent got here Bubba Wallace’s hold-my-beer second.
Allegedly, in fact.
Second Gear: Ross Chastain ruined it for Christopher Bell
Bell wanted to realize one other place. Bubba had one to present. Each males drive Toyotas.
What a time for Bubba to have one thing go haywire in his Camry. Just a little lack of footing, up the observe he goes, and there goes Bell to the within for the go.
Uh-oh, he couldn’t make it stick going into the nook. Slides excessive, to the wall, and like a cat doing the walk-and-rub on a settee entrance, he simply sticks there by way of the nook earlier than gathering himself and darting down the frontstretch.
Drawback is, two years in the past, after Ross the Boss pulled that stunt for practically all the final lap at Martinsville, such issues have been outlawed by NASCAR. And after listening to the potential for dangerous unintended penalties, they have been in all probability proper to banish it.
However as a supposed one-off, it was fairly a magnificence. Let’s assessment …
However it reared its head in shorter kind Sunday, to the replays they went, and upon additional assessment, it’s Byron to the “remaining 4” (decrease case, quote marks, to keep away from NCAA trademark violations!).
Third Gear: NASCAR guidelines, after some time
NASCAR is listening to loads of gripes about how lengthy it took to assessment issues and make the decision. Simply shy of a half-hour, in truth. It made for nice TV drama, however gripers gotta gripe.
This isn’t grandpa’s NASCAR, simply because it isn’t grandpa’s NFL. Trendy tech provides officers the chance to assessment and reset. In auto racing, it’s not only a visible replay, however precise in-car and on-track telemetry that may be reviewed to assist the Johnny Regulation construct a case.
And there’s certain to be extra to return, by the best way, after an intensive dusting of prints on the vehicles of Bubba, Dillon and Chastain. Radio transmissions don’t vanish, both.
In the meantime, Ryan Blaney received! Did you hear? He received Race 35 final yr, too. Then received the Cup championship seven days later.
With no wingman!
Fourth Gear: Martinsville serves weak punch and F-bombs
In the event you suppose Blaney was overshadowed, contemplate the fellas of Friday and Saturday racin’. It wasn’t for an absence of making an attempt, although.
Bear in mind, NASCAR’s Truck and Xfinity circuits additionally set their Remaining Fours (oops, “remaining fours”) this previous weekend, and man did it get saucy.
Friday, Tanner Grey wanted a win to advance to Phoenix with a shot on the Truck title. As a substitute he was crashed, completed twenty ninth, blamed Christian Eckes, and knew proper the place to seek out him, since Christian received the race. With the TV cameras and microphones on the scene, Tanner dropped sufficient F-bombs to empty the battery on the bleeper.
Saturday, it was Chandler Smith going after Cole Custer after the Xfinity race. That one ended with Chandler throwing a “punch,” which will get quote marks as a result of upon assessment, I swear it’d’ve been open-handed. And albeit, it hardly packed the proverbial punch.
In comparison with that, Muhammad Ali’s proper hand to Sonny Liston in Lewiston was a George Foreman haymaker.
