Partly cloudy skies let the sun shine on 36 cars led by Chase Briscoe (14) with his first Cup series pole. The MRN team seem on the verge of hysteria. They are so hyped about this first Cup race at Gateway. The stages are 45-95-100 laps.
I found it interesting to hear MRN crowing about a sell-out crowd of 57,000. I remember watching Xfinity series races at Gateway, back when the series used to put on a great show, and constantly hearing the response – it’s too small – when NASCAR was asked why the Cup cars didn’t race at Gateway. I doubt Gateway increased in size. I guess NASCAR’s expectations pivoted. When the fans wanted to see the racing at Gateway NASCAR said no. When the fans slowed down on attending races at other tracks, NASCAR said, what about Gateway? The lack of responsiveness to the fans seems to be an issue that has grown exponentially since that time. NASCAR listens to the people who are only interested in the latest thing trending and have no interest in loyalty. They seem surprised when those same people don’t hang around for long. People who chase the trends cannot be depended upon to remain faithful for several years, to the end of the season, nor for the duration of a Cup race. People who follow trends constantly move on to the next thing.
Chase Briscoe (14) has a flat left rear on lap 28 of 240. The green flag stays out.
Stage one ends with Austin Cindric (2) crossing the line first.
More with the baby shots on the television broadcast. There was a baby crying as its mother adjusted its headphones. I’m not sure how a howling baby is good race coverage, but that’s what we got.
Caution on lap 54 of 240 for Denny Hamlin (11) hitting the wall after getting Chastained according to MRN. The incident occurs during a television commercial break.
Ross Chastain (1) ran into the back of ‘Desperate’ Denny Hamlin (11) sending Hamlin into the wall.
Hamlin is back on the track, several laps down and less-than-pleased with Chastain. The first time Chastain tried to pass Denny, Hamlin ran Chastain to the apron. The next time Ross approached, Hamlin mirror drove and blocked him for as long as possible.
Caution on lap 94 of 240 for Ryan Blaney (12) losing a left rear tire and tagging the wall.
Hamlin and Chastain are providing the most interesting television of the broadcast so far. The television production folks were bored by the end of the first stage. During the restart lap of the second stage we were stuck watching the side panels of cars. Until the antics of Hamlin, they were going with fish-eye lens and other stupid camera tricks. Since they so rarely show the field racing I have no idea if the race action is any good.
Caution on lap 101 of 240 for a spin by Chase Elliott (9) who got Chastained. Darrell ‘Bubba’ Wallace (23) also went for a spin trying to avoid hitting Chase. The incident also collected Harrison Burton (21) and Austin Dillon (3).
On the restart lap Chase Elliott tags the back of Ross Chastain sending Chastain up to the wall then Chastain was passed by Hamlin who is now mirror driving in front of Chastain. Chastain has 3 laps to make minimum speed. Chastain finally makes the pass on lap 104 of 240 and makes minimum speed. MRN reports NASCAR Race Control told both Hamlin and Chastain they’re refusing to make minimum speed and they were in danger of being parked. Hamlin sped up which allowed Chastain to make minimum speed.
Michael McDowell (34) stays out and leads the race.
Caution on lap 129 of 240 for a spin by Bubba Wallace who was tapped in the rear by Ricky Stenhouse Jr (47).
The clouds appears to be getting a bit thicker, but the sun is still shining.
Tyler Reddick (8) pulled away from his pit stall and took the gas can with him.
Leader Kurt ‘KuBu’ Busch (45) and seven other cars stay on the track during the pit sequence.
KuBu (45) wins the stage.
Twenty-two drivers stay out.
Caution on lap 182 of 240 for a spin by Tyler Reddick (8).
Caution on lap 200 of 240 for a spin by Ricky ‘Wrecky Spinhouse’ Stenhouse Jr. (47).
FS1 miraculously had a shot of most of the field and captured Ricky Stenhouse’s spin as it occurred.
The early part of the race was boring. The portion with Hamlin and Chastain was fun. Since then its gone back into the boring lane.
There was a pretty good 3-wide battle going on. TV showed it for a while then changed to an in-car shot that distorted the perspective making it impossible to determine what was going on with the battle.
Later they were showing a two-car battle. As it continued it degenerated to a shot of the lower side panel of a car and the rear tire making it impossible to determine what was actually going on in the battle.
That leads me to believe there may actually be some good racing on the track; we’re just not allowed to see it in the television broadcast. They’re spending a lot of time on the gimmick shots, side skirt, bumper, side-window, split-screen of driver driving, a single car on the track without any other cars in the picture for reference or context. Now a split screen of a driver driving in one side and a wide shot of the infield with the track on the edges of the picture. Ludicrous.
At the moment I’m regretting not arguing in favor of watching the IndyCar race instead of the Cup race. We were on the fence about it and in the end she decided to watch the Cup race. While I enjoyed the battle between Hamlin and Chastain with a little input from Chase Elliott, I think the IndyCar race would’ve provided better racing.
Caution on lap 221 of 240 for Cole Custer (41) tackling the wall.
A child is entertaining himself and those around him by clowning and we’re stuck watching it, along with a variety of other children. A guy is riding with a kid on a scooter somewhere and we were shown that. Seems like the shot caller need to go home and see their kids or something.
Race action and we’re stuck with a split screen of the race and Kyle Busch’s wife watching on the pit box. Why are we looking at her? What does she have to do with the race? When I want to watch her I’ll try to find her tv show, Racing Wives, airing somewhere.
The top two cars are battling for the lead. We’re stuck with windscreen shots and zoom-ins on the cars. Frustrating!
Caution on lap 235 of 240 for Kevin ‘KHarv/Happy’ Harvick (4) spinning, then sliding up into the outside wall.
We’re heading to overtime.
KHarv seemed to lose the right front.
Video of a guy with a backpack seemingly leaving with a child beside him whose arm and hair we could see. Why are we looking at that?
Restarting with Kyle Busch (45), Joey Logano (22), Ryan Blaney (12), Kurt Busch (45), Aric Almirola (10), Erik Jones (43), Ross Chastain (1), Martin Truex Jr (19), and Christopher Bell (20) up front.
Joey Logano (22) wins.
The overtime battles was good racing. They were side-by-side with multiple cross-over moves for position.
Instead of the fireworks we were watching Joey’s car drive down the track. When Joey started the burnout we were stuck with a split screen of Joey driving and the view out of the window. So the burnout was ruined visually.
The race was okay. The broadcast of the race seemed to be worst than the actual on-track action in the second half of the event. The Hamlin-Chastain-Elliott situation brought much needed entertainment to the broadcast. Once that stopped, the race broadcast was dull with little cohesive racing coverage. Occasionally the television viewer could see an on-track battle, then the video would switch to shots that obscured the racing. As a result we didn’t get a chance to see the racing, nor the conclusion of the battle for position. The overtime contest between Joey Logano and Kyle Busch was enjoyable when we could watch the cars battle each other. The video looking out a window, the video looking at the driver, the video of Kyle Busch’s wife on the pit box, and the video from the blimp are useless overall and completely detract from engagement with the race and enjoyment of the event.
The race was ‘just okay’. The intensity was okay. The excitement was low. The memorability was okay as a result of the Hamlin-Chastain-Elliott situation.
I wish I would’ve watched the IndyCar race live instead of the NASCAR race.
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