2021 NASCAR Cup Series Race Thirty-Six Phoenix

Back in town and in front of the television. I’ve had a lovely birthday weekend so far. Checking into the race in the third stage. Restarting on lap 254 of 312 with Joe Gibbs Racing teammates and championship contenders Martin ‘MTJ’ Truex Jr (19) and ‘Desperate’ Denny Hamlin (11) on the front row.

Thirty-nine cars took the green flag today.

Rusty Wallace of MRN reports the lights have just come on at the track.

Championship contender Chase Elliott (9) may have kissed the wall on lap 273 of 312.

Caution on lap 281 of 312 for debris from David Starr (13). He lost a brake rotor on the track.

Restarting on lap 288 of 312 with Kyle Larson (5) and ‘Desperate’ Denny Hamlin (11) up front followed by Martin ‘MTJ’ Truex Jr (19) and Chase Elliott (9).

Larson (5) gets the early lead. MTJ (19) takes over second from his teammate Hamlin.

Larson takes the white flag.

Kyle Larson easily wins..

I’m glad I was travelling for most of that race and was only subjected to the boredom of about 60 laps. It was a lackluster race to a disappointing conclusion.

Champions week is scheduled for November 30 – December 2 in Nashville with the awards ceremony scheduled for December 2, 2021.

Jeff Gordon has his champ. He telephoned Kyle Larson about the deal at Hendrick Motorsports. I was so disappointed in Mr. Hendrick when the deal was initially announced. I expected more of him. After thinking about the deal a while I realized that Jeff Gordon was likely behind that travesty. To find out I was right affirmed my opinion of his character. Of course it doesn’t eliminate my disappointment in Mr Hendrick, but it does provide necessary context.

Bunny is highly disappointed and actually mentioned not watching NASCAR next season. She mentioned something similar when Larson was so quickly reinstated. I believe the combination of mediocre racing and distasteful policies have combined to obliterate her love of the sport. Maybe the racing will improve next year and bring her back. We’ll see.

I understand her point. The sport that claims to support and encourage diversity and to object to racism just crowned a 29 year old person who claimed to not understand the harm in using a racist slur during a televised event a a couple years ago. Since actions speak louder than words, the unified forgive-and-forget party-line of the voices of NASCAR tell me I’m not valued. In my opinion the people harmed by an action should be the judges of adequate punishment for said action. The parties harmed should also determine appropriate reparations. In the case of Kyle Larson non-injured parties decided a few months away from the Cup series was punishment enough followed by business as usual. So be it.

Overall it has been a disappointing season. The on-track product improved incrementally. The off-track product, the drivers, the NASCAR reporting, the radio broadcast and the audience/fan engagement was unchanged at best, if not a bit worst. The television broadcast product was definitely a bloody shambles. The season provided no incentive to follow the series in 2022. A new car? I’ve experienced the changing of cars and the degradation of the on-track product and the sport overall which accompanied those changes. So the next-gen car is definitely not a draw. There are a handful of drivers, across the three top series, worth following. Again, out of approximately 125 drivers, a handful worth following is not a viable recommendation. Maybe my nostalgia for the NASCAR I fell in love with will overcome the memory of the NASCAR of 2021. Maybe it won’t. We’ll see.

Motorsport News:

Next Race: Daytona

GO 9!!!!