There’s domination and then there’s what Kyle Busch did to the field in Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600.
Busch led 377 laps, swept all four stages and did what all drivers dream about when the green flag drops – he stunk up the show. And in the process, he made more history by becoming the first to win at all 23 tracks currently on the Cup Series schedule. It’s an accomplishment that will be challenged in the fall when the new Charlotte road course makes its debut, but Busch can bask in the glory for a few months anyway.
The beat goes on in the Cup Series during the 2018 season with one dominating performance after another. There have been a couple “moments” such as the last lap of the Daytona 500 and Kevin Harvick’s late race drama to win at Kansas. But they stand out more so because they have been few and far between.
The top teams and drivers are flexing their muscles this year and Busch now has visited Victory Lane four times just one behind Harvick’s five triumphs.
But they don’t come any more dominant than the butt kicking Busch turned in Sunday in Charlotte.
- As expected racing in the 600 didn’t look anything like what was on track during last week’s All-Star Race, which featured a different rules package including a restrictor-plate and aerodynamic modifications to the cars. The combination of the event’s length and the current rules configuration generated a large number of laps run single file with restarts the best opportunity to gain position. And of course when someone dominates like Busch did it compounds the matter. There does appear to be some sentiment around the sport to bring back the ASR rules later in the season with the second Pocono and Michigan races as well as the new September Indianapolis date the best bets. However, for as dominating at Busch was Sunday night, I’m not sure any rules package would have changed the outcome.
- It was inevitable that at some point Kevin Harvick would have a challenging weekend. That came at Charlotte a week after winning the All-Star Race. Thursday’s pre-qualifying inspection problems relegated Harvick to the 39th starting spot. But he quickly worked his way through the field and was near the front when he had a tire issue that sent him into the wall and out of the race. By no means does the disappointing 600 outing rule Harvick from returning to his dominating self as soon as this week’s trip to Pocono. However it does demonstrate just how many variables there are to deal with in order to succeed at NASCAR’s top level.
- Saturday’s Alsco 300 was the first Xfinity Series race in sometime with Cup drivers in the field. Thanks to the Dash 4 Cash races and two off weeks, the last time Cup drivers participated in an NXS event was back on April 7 at Texas Motor Speedway. Ryan Blaney won that race and Brad Keselowski wasted no time getting a Cup regular back in Victory Lane with his Charlotte win. Saturday’s race wasn’t a blowout by any means but the fact Keselowski won and he and Kyle Busch teamed up to lead 170 of the day’s 204 laps will certainly generate more conversation about the need for Xfinity Series drivers only competing in NASCAR’s number two division.
- The Coca-Cola 600 capped off a day full of major racing events around the world with the Formula One Grand Prix of Monaco and the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500 leading up to Charlotte. Unfortunately for some the misguided notion of pitting one event against another or that somehow fans of open wheel racing shouldn’t concern themselves with stock cars or vice versa took up a great deal of social media conversation. I’ve been very steadfast in my view that when once facet of auto racing is successful all of motorsports benefits. The Memorial Day weekend is maybe the one time of the year when motorsports gets the spotlight and fans of major events like the three run on Sunday as well as regional and weekly racing around the country should all come together and not divide the auto racing universe.
The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the Motor Racing Network.
