What a week for NASCAR. I'm not sure if it's was good, bad, or indifferent, but it was ... something. It was certainly newsy. Certainly not boring.
You can call the sport a lot of things after this past week. "Boring" ain't one of them. And, if you ask insufferable Stephen A. Smith, "sport" ain't one of them, either! We'll get into it.
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Carson Hocevar became another first-time Cup winner Sunday at Talladega. I can unequivocally say that Carson winning was good for NASCAR. Let's get that out of the way right off the bat. In a week where the sport experienced major turnover, and turned a major eye towards the future, it got a much-needed kick in the pants with a guy like Carson Hocevar winning.
NASCAR has needed a face for a while now. Chase Elliott was supposed to be the guy, but that ship sailed a long time ago. Denny Hamlin doesn't have a lot of years left. Kyle Busch is very clearly past his prime. Bubba Wallace ... well, forget that. It ain't gonna be Bubba, although I would LOVE to see that fallout.
I've banged on the Hocevar drum for a year now. Some kids just have it. Carson has it. We'll get into that, too.
What else? I've got The Big One at Talladega, which I'm fairly certain deserves an even bigger name. That HAD to be up there in terms of biggest crashes in NASCAR history. I've never seen anything quite like it.
I've also got Jim France stepping down, Steve O'Donnell stepping in and the greatest sponsor in NASCAR history — Cowboy Pillows — is BACK! What a moment.
OK, four tires, enough fuel to get us to Texas, and maybe a couple more tow-trucks to help finish cleaning up yesterday's mess ... Monday Morning Pit-Stop — the 'Is There Anyone Even Left?' edition — is LIVE!
Let's spin the wheel today and start with ... the chaos! It's the final Monday of April, after all. Let's end it with a bang.
Look, these wrecks are a dime-a-dozen at places like Talladega and Daytona. I'm not here to hype up crashes. I've seen them all. I'm numb to most of them at this point.
That being said, every once in a while, you get a pileup like what we got on Lap 115 yesterday at Talladega. One of those Big Ones that takes out half the field. One of those that goes viral because it's mesmerizing to watch unfold.
"Parking lot" was the sexy word everyone used yesterday. The field "looked like a parking lot" after this one. That's what usually happens when the leaders wreck at Daytona and 'Dega. When you're going 180 mph and everyone in front of you starts spinning left and right, it's tough to miss.
Here's the kicker ... everyone's favorite driver, Bubba Wallace, was the one who got the party started. Of course he was!
Was it his fault?
Well ...
Rollllllllll tape!
So, the official count from NASCAR was 26. Twenty-six cars involved in that wreck, which puts it up there with one of the biggest ever. Two years ago, we had 28 cars wreck at 'Dega. At the time, folks called that the largest Cup crash ever.
For those wondering, the 2002 Busch race at ... you guessed it, Talladega ... still holds the record for most cars involved with 31. So close! Maybe next time.
Anyway, back to Bubba ... fans, obviously, jumped all over him after that. I get it. At first glance, it doesn't look great. How do you wreck from the lead? Did he just try to throw an unnecessary block with 80 laps still to go? Is he just an awful driver?
That one, by the way, is the most popular opinion on the internet this morning:
I could go on and on. Trust me. It's a WAR ZONE on NASCAR Twitter today. It's a bloodbath.
Here's the part where I ... don't blame Bubba! I know. Please don't yell at me. Fair is fair, and I can't watch that — knowing how bad these Next Gen cars are — and still blame Bubba Wallace. I'm sorry. I know you're angry.
Look, these cars stink. All the drivers hate them. All the fans hate them. They've made superspeedway racing unwatchable. You can't draft. You can't push. You can't bump. Hell, you can't really get good gas mileage. I'm just not sure what they're good at.
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That sort of hit should not have sent Bubba into the wall. Five years ago, it wouldn't have. But these cars are so squirrely, the driver really doesn't have much control anymore.
Listen to Joey Logano. He's a two-time Cup champ. He knows how to win a restrictor-plate race. He's got absolutely no allegiance to Bubba Wallace, or to Toyota:
"Round bumpers and unstable cars." There you go. That's the Next Gen car in a nutshell.
That's a bad combination for places like Daytona and Talladega. It just doesn't work. It's why you see guys running around single-file for half the race now. The second they start racing, they start wrecking.
It's pathetic. It's embarrassing. It's, frankly, killing the series.
Ryan Blaney ... thoughts?
Yeah, I mean, I don't know what to do at this point, beyond tearing it all down and starting over. I doubt NASCAR is gonna do that given the investment they made in this car years ago.
The good news is, I don't have to make those decisions ... Steve O'Donnell does! He's the new man in charge of NASCAR after Jim France announced Saturday he was stepping down as CEO.
Was it a huge surprise? No. Jim's 81. Frankly, his position is far more ceremonial this point than anything. Steve O'Donnell and Ben Kennedy have been in charge for years now. With Steve Phelps thankfully removed earlier this year, this was the logical next step.
Steve's in charge, Ben's his No. 2, and NASCAR should be off to the races!
... right?
I've heard that spiel from NASCAR for two decades now. It's why they went to places like the LA Coliseum and the Chicago streets. It's why they went to Mexico last year. It's why they're going to San Diego this year.
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Has it worked? I don't know. There's a reason they're all of a sudden resurrecting places like Rockingham and Chicagoland now, right? There's a reason they've gone back to North Wilkesboro the past few years. "Finding news fans" has been the sexy buzz term for a decade now.
How about just finding the right fans? We ever thought about that?
Maybe employ Carson Hocevar as your new spokesperson while you're at it!
As I said 1,200 words ago ... this guy is what NASCAR needs. They need him to win again. And then again after that. And then a few more times after that.
Let's inject some life back into the garage. Let's find someone with an ounce of personality. Carson Hocevar fits the bill.
It was a good win to kick off the Steve O'Donnell era.
OK, that's it for today. Solid Monday. Even better when you end it with Cowboy Pillows.
THIS is how you sponsor a race at Talladega!