Cars in field: 37
Pole: Joey Logano (22)
Outside pole: Kyle Larson (5)
Stages: 80-85-102
Weather: Sunny, 63°F, Feels like 57°, Wind SSW 20 mph, Wind Gusts 27 mph
Caution on lap 9 of 267 for Christopher ‘CBell’ Bell (20) losing a right rear tire.
Restarting on lap 16 of 267.
Some pit, some stay out. Those that pit easily drive by those that stayed out.
Caution on lap 26 of 267 for Chris Buescher (17) losing a right front tire and wheel then bashing the wall.
Most pit, three stay out.
NASCAR will stop the field on the track for repairing the wall where Buescher hit. Red flag displayed at 1620 eastern on lap 32 of 267.
The teams have a total of nine sets of tires including the set qualified on the car.
Restarting on lap 35 of 267 with Daniel Suarez (99) and Michael McDowell (34).
Chris Buescher said, “Nut came off. Half the wheel came off. Something in the suspension cut the wheel in half.”
PRN is having a long discussion about why they are repairing the SAFER barrier where they are because they say Chris Buescher hit further down the wall. Since Buescher said something in the suspension cut the wheel in half, I wonder if that’s what caused the damage in the wall where they are welding, or if it is another case of the PRN guys (Doug Rice and Mark Garrow) again calling something completely wrong. NASCAR had planned to have the welding truck up near the wall to allow the race to continue under yellow, but they realized they couldn’t do that, so it’s parked lower necessitating the red flag. According to PRN that info passed along by Mike Ford of NASCAR. 1631 eastern yellow flag is out and the cars are rolling.
Kyle Larson (5) wins stage one.
Tiny bits of action shown on the television broadcast. So far things are pretty ho-hum.
Restarting on lap 88 of 267 with Martin ‘MTJ’ Truex Jr (19) and ‘Desperate’ Denny Hamlin (11).
Green flag pit stops are underway on lap 118 of 267.
NASCAR has ‘drive’ available on the site today so you can see and hear the race through one to four of certain drivers’ in-car cameras. I’m viewing Martin ‘MTJ’ Truex Jr (19), Kyle ‘KyBu’ Busch (8), Alex Bowman (48) and Corey LaJoie (7). It’s nice, because I can actually hear the sound of the engine. They offered this feature previously under the moniker ‘race buddy’. At that time it also included a few views outside the car. I really enjoyed it tremendously and generally watched the race using 2-3 outside camera views and 1-2 views from my favorite drivers’ cars. It was a delightful way to watch the race. Then they began to add things like an an announcer and commercials and it became less attractive than the regular broadcast. Typically I would lose the cameras when the commercials concluded and I detested the announcer. Today it’s simply the sound of the cars. The one negative is that Corey LaJoie’s camera keeps turning to the rear which is aggravating. It would be nice if that was controllable so we could continually watch the action ahead; though his camera also seemed to be in the car for a while so we could see the side of his helmet and his drink bottle and straw. Now it seems to be showing the same view as the other cameras. Actually it’s still different. LaJoie’s is showing the view from his front windscreen. The other cameras are showing a view with what appears to be black bars down the window and a piece of equipment of some sort in the lower left corner. And in the time it took me to type that LaJoie’s is now showing the dark interior of his car including a pair of white bars in the center of the car, the back and side of his helmet, the ceiling of the car, the window netting, the rear-view mirror and the top of the dashboard. Yeah, it would be nice to be able to select which view I’d prefer so I can set them all to the forward view showing only the outside of the car. I don’t understand what those black railings (bars) are that are showing down the windscreen of the shots now. LaJoie’s camera keeps switching shots/views. Watching the in-car view of the front is exciting, at times, during restarts. After a few laps though the field gets more spread out which is less exciting.
Caution on lap 154 of 267 for a smoky spin by Christopher ‘CBell’ Bell (20).
Restarting on lap 161 of 267 teammates Alex Bowman (48) and Kyle Larson (5) on the front row.
Kyle Larson (5) wins stage two.
Restarting on lap 172 of 267 with Kyle Larson (5) and Tyler Reddick (45) up front.
Green flag pit stops underway on lap 209 of 267.
Caution on lap 233 of 267 for a spin by Corey LaJoie (7).
Restart on lap 240 of 267 with Kyle Larson (5) leading the way.
Tyler Reddick (45) has caught up to Larson on lap 265 of 267.
Larson legs it out on the white flag lap putting distance between himself and Reddick.
Larson wins. Reddick finishes 0.441 behind.
Ryan Blaney (12) finished third 3.827 seconds behind.
The race itself was just okay, but watching it through the in-car cameras of my choice (from the limited pool provided) on my computer was fun. Being able to just listen to the cars was very, very, very enjoyable. It made the time pass enjoyably. Drive, as it is now, isn’t something I would pay for since I have no control over what the camera shows at any given time and there were several occasions I wanted to see things from a particular driver’s camera and instead it was pointed behind the driver, or mostly showing the driver’s car interior. Possibly, if I had the option to view the race from a couple of grandstand camera viewpoints, as well as from my chosen drivers’ cars, and could control the camera to keep it pointed forward, or forward and backward, and also control the exterior camera view so I always had a good view, I think I would pay for that. The pleasure of being able to hear the cars as they run, and of having a decent view of the race would be invaluable. The television broadcast on FOXSports shows great video of the skies, but very little great racing coverage. NBCSports is dramatically worst during its ‘coverage’. The televised in-car camera shots tend to be nauseating at best and inscrutable the rest of the time. Rarely do they show an in-car camera shot when it would be most beneficial to the television viewer wanting to see the racing action. They have a tendency to cut away from interesting racing to show an in-camera shot that is showing the door of a random car, or a driver in the dark driving; thoroughly useless shots.
“Same shit, different year. It just gets kinda frustrating”, says Tyler Reddick (45) to end his television interview.
PRN’s Doug Rice congratulates Noah Gragson (10), whom he said they (PRN) weren’t thinking about, on getting a sixth place finish for Legacy Motor Club. Mark Garrow reminded Rice that Noah drives for Stewart-Haas Racing. Doug also said it’s probably Noah’s second and probably last chance to resurrect his career after making some missteps.
Time to get caught up on the latest racing news.
Motorsport News:
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- Fields, Rahal team, McMurry sweep Radical Cup at Sebring.
- Down on Power, Justin Allgaier Hangs On for 10th at Vegas.
- Barber wins TA2 at Thunderhill after nearly two-decade absence.
- Counting CARS: 3 Takeaways from the CARS Tour Pro Late Model Season Opener.
- This was F1’s most dispiriting season opener in decades.
- Jett Lawrence Wins Daytona Supercross and Extends Points Lead.
- Verstappen after win: F1 grid is more competitive.
- Christian Horner: Jos Verstappen says controversy ‘driving team apart’.
- Larsson dominates Vegas finale to take second Nitrocross crown.
- Verstappen’s dad calls for Horner’s Red Bull exit.
- Sainz believes Bahrain showed hints Ferrari can challenge Red Bull.
- Ray Evernham Pulls No Punches in New Book, Trophies and Scars.
- Vegas has been “a little bit of a struggle” for points leader Kyle Busch.
- With wins in the IMSA and WEC openers, Porsche Penske Motorsport is a team transformed.
- Peugeot #93 Disqualified From Qatar 1812km.
- Ray Evernham Tells The Stories Of His NASCAR Hall Of Fame Career.
- Max Verstappen’s dad denies being source of Christian Horner’s leaked messages.
- Column: Horner dodges through messy F1 opening amid leaked evidence, Verstappen’s father, fan flames.
- 2024 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge: Nasser Al-Attiyah gets Ultimate redemption.
- Jos Verstappen: The tough-love father convicted of assault now taking on Christian Horner.
- Formula 1: Takeaways from Max Verstappen’s season-opening win in Bahrain.
- Buescher crash red flags Cup Series at Las Vegas for wall repair.
- Larson out-duels Reddick to win NASCAR Cup race at Las Vegas.
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