Be careful making too many assumptions about the 2019 NASCAR season.
There have been exactly two race weekends run on a pair of tracks that couldn’t be more polar opposite than Daytona and Atlanta. Trying to extrapolate any kind of trend or narrative at this juncture is a slippery slope indeed.
Last Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta was simply a variation of the full blown rules package being implemented in the series this year. While the lower horsepower, taller spoiler and a few other body changes were utilized the air ducts to complete the overall aerodynamic modifications designed to work in concert with the speed reduction were not. The result was a race on Atlanta’s very worn surface that looked a lot like previous visits to the 1.5-mile track.
The cars were certainly bunch up longer after restarts than in the past and leaders – even in clean air – weren’t able to check out quite as far ahead of the field as before. Statistics depicting more competition were marginal at best with some categories up but others either flat or slightly down.
The only fair way to judge the early results of the dramatic change in rules is to be patient. A body of work at a variety of tracks including Atlanta Las Vegas, ISM Raceway, Auto Club Speedway and Texas at the end of March will give a much better indication of the impact.
A wait and see approach is also prudent when judging organizations and their performance.
It was well documented how much Hendrick Motorsports struggled last year with only Chase Elliott’s three victories on the board for the entire organization. Sunday at Atlanta was not much better than what the Hendrick stable did most all of last year. Alex Bowman was the highest finishing driver in 18th and really only generated attention for the angst he caused Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. on pit road. But making the assumption Hendrick is no better and as worse as last year after the Atlanta effort is premature at best.
Any skepticism about Truex Jr.’s assimilation to Joe Gibbs Racing was quieted for now by a strong run at Atlanta. Truex Jr., who had a legitimate beef with a lap down and 18th-place running Ricky Stenhouse Jr. being in the way in the closing circuits of the race, posted a second-place finish behind Brad Kesleowski. The west coast swing will be an important barometer to truly gauge how Truex Jr. and crew chief Cole Pearn are adapting to the Mother Ship.
There was also understandable optimism in the Ford camp with Keselowski taking the new Mustang to Victory Lane in only the make’s second outing. There were five Fords in the top-10 with three of those taking top-five finishing spots. Chevrolet teams struggled mightily last year in the manufacturer’s conversion to the new Camaro but did have two cars in the top-10 at Atlanta in 2018. Ford has won the last two Las Vegas races but Sunday’s with the full-blown new rules package in play will be an interesting test for the new model.
So that’s two down, 34 to go and a lot more questions than answers at this juncture of the season.
The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the Motor Racing Network.
