Cars in field: 36
Pole: William Byron (24)
Outside pole: Martin Truex Jr. (19)
Stages: 60-125-227
William ‘WilliB’ Byron (24) wins stage one.
MRN called a lively stage. NBCSports showed full-screen split-screens of the championship four drivers’ from the in-car camera. We also saw the view from the front windscreen of a car of the track surface and occasionally a car beside it. As a result we saw helmets and visors and window nets; nothing interesting.
Caution on lap 108 of 312 for Christopher ‘CBell’ Bell (20) tackling the wall. MRN reports there’s a brake caliper fire on the right front of the car. They call for the fire extinguisher to put it out since it did not go out in the time it too CBell to get the car into his pit. NBCSports is in full-screen commercial break. MRN reports CBell says, “the wheel is straight, but the car is killed”. His crew-chief said they would take a look at it and see what they have. Unfortunately NBCSports comes out of commercial and show pit road with the crew removing a smoking tire, then change to a split-screen of an in-car camera shot of the driver (helmet, visor, window net) and the view from the windscreen of the track surface and wall, before finally showing the incident as it occurred in replay. MRN reports CBell had been complaining about the brakes before the crash. The television coverage is truly deplorable.
MRN reports a part failure put Bell in the fence and he is done for the day.
Restarting on lap 116 of 312.
MRN’s Rusty Wallace says it’s 91 degrees with a track temperature of 108 degrees on lap 128 of 312.
On lap 132 of 312 Austin ‘MyDaddyIsAPenskeExec’ Cindric (2) tags the wall and heads to pit road, under green, with the right rear wheel wobbling badly.
On lap 136 of 312 MRN reports Cindric’s teammate Joey Logano (22) bounced off the wall, but continues on.
NBCSports broadcast personnel, Steve Letarte and Jeff Burton, were both impressed with Christopher ‘CBell’ Bell (20) interview when he left the infield care center. According to them, he answered several questions, he looked directly into the camera, he gave good answers, he had his head held up. They thought that spoke well of the type of person he is. They mentioned his talent is evident. They felt that he represented himself well under very disappointing circumstances.
The camera was showing the shadowy passenger-side interior of a car and the track surface through the windscreen. You could see the bars of the frame as well as the drivers hands on the steering wheel and the side of his helmet. Why would one ever choose that camera shot? And if you made that unfortunate choice why would you linger on that shot for what seemed an eternity? It seems the people in charge of camera-shot selection for the NASCAR races hate racing, finding it much less interesting than watching the wall pass and the track surface roll by. If one is attempting to draw an audience I’m not sure those are the people who will best serve your business use case.
Lead change on lap 172 of 312 as Chris Buescher (17) passes Ross Chastain (1).
NBCSports is showing the pass for the lead on replay and a shot of the track surface and a hood in the other split-screen box. Useless. The goes to the track surface and wall and a driver’s gloved hands and steering wheel and window net. The driver’s gloves are swapped with Roger Penske watching the race. It would be nice if those of us who can’t afford to attend the race could actually watch the race.
So far, this is one of those events that the best you could say about it is at least the laps are passing relatively quickly. It’s still very boring.
Chris Buescher (17) wins stage two.
Green flag pit stops underway on lap 239 of 312.
Caution on lap 274 of 312 for a spin by Kyle ‘KyBu’ Busch (8).
Restart on lap 281 of 312 with ‘Desperate’ Denny Hamlin (11) and Erik Jones (43) on the front row followed the championship three – Larson (5), Byron (24), Blaney (12), Ross Chastain (1), and Martin Truex Jr (19).
After showing the on-track battle, NBCSports went to a split-screen of track surface and the driver’s gloves. MRN is calling an exciting battle between the top two championship contenders, including contact between the two. We’re unable to see it on television with 20 laps to go in the event.
On lap 306 of 312 MRN reports Brad Keselowski (6) and Darrell ‘Bubba’ Wallace (23) get together, but keep going. The green stays out.
Ross Chastain wins the race by 1.23 seconds. Ryan Blaney (12) finishes second in the race, and first in the 2023 championship points.
2023 NASCAR Cup Series Champion:
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- Ryan Blaney (12)
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Kyle Larson (5) and William ‘WilliB’ Byron (24) finished third and fourth respectively.
Congratulations to Kevin ‘KHarv/Happy’ Harvick (4) on his final race as a full-time Cup series drivers. He finishes in seventh position.
That was a totally boring event with a fantastic championship result.
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