The last laps of last night’s race at Richmond were chock full of WTF moments I’m not quite sure where to begin.
First, Clint Bowyer’s alleged fake spinout to help his Michael Waltrip Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. get into the Chase. From what people were saying, including Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Ray Evernham, it seems that Clint’s motives were obvious. And from how Clint talked about the incident to ESPN’s Jamie Little after the race he didn’t seem to be his normal self. I think he did spin out on purpose. I don’t hate Clint Bowyer now because of that but that doesn’t mean I like what he did.
I really wanted Ryan Newman to win the race. Actually, I really wanted to Brad Keselowski to win because that would have been amazing, but whatever. Que sera sera.
Carl Edwards won the race but he did so after crossing the finish line first ahead of Paul Menard who was supposed to do that, and then Carl was supposed to give the lead back but he didn’t. It was pretty obvious, NASCAR.
NASCAR did release this statement this morning, so maybe some penalties are percolating:
“NASCAR is reviewing Saturday night’s race at Richmond International Raceway per protocol and has no plans for further statement until that process is complete.”
Anywaaay, then there was The Kurt Busch Show after the race. He’s in the Chase and he was crying and all emotional and there was talk about how he’d beaten all these “odds.” Now, I’m pretty sure that everything that’s happened to Kurt Busch in his career has been because of him. I’m also VERY sure that he’s leaving a team that gave him a chance, and has supported him to be successful enough to get in the Chase, at the end of the season to go to some other team. Is that another “odd” he’s overcome?? I don’t buy it. There’s something about him that just irks me. He doesn’t come across as genuine.
I’ve decided that this Richmond race is one that I HAVE to attend next year. I absolutely must go to this race if I don’t do anything else. It’s funny that I never realized this before, I mean, for the photo opportunities after the race alone it’d be totally worth it.