Roger Diez: NASCAR enters the playoffs

NASCAR’s regular season finale at Daytona featured not one, but two “big ones” and a deluge of biblical proportions caused the worst Formula 1 race since the 2005 debacle at Indianapolis when only six cars started. NASCAR crowned a regular season champion and set its playoff field, while another deluge, this one of criticism, swamped Formula 1’s sanctioning body. This weekend both series are back on track, one in Darlington, South Carolina and the other at Zandvoort, Holland.

•••

It was a wild finish in overtime last Saturday night at Daytona. Ryan Blaney took the checkered flag as chaos erupted behind him with the second “big one” of the race. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished second, but his car failed post-race inspection, promoting Bubba Wallace from third place to second. It was Blaney’s third win of the season, and he is now tied with Martin Truex Jr. for second in points with 2024 going into the first round of the NASCAR Cup playoffs. Regular season champion Kyle Larson finished 21^st after getting caught up in the last-lap melee. He is top seed in the playoffs with 2052 points.

•••

The playoffs begin this weekend with the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, one of NASCAR’s oldest tracks. NASCAR’s first superspeedway, Darlington is known as “The Lady in Black” and “The Track Too Tough to Tame.” There are five former Darlington winners in the playoff field, led by Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin with three wins each although both are winless this season. Martin Truex Jr. has two Darlington wins, and Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch have one each. Despite being winless at the track, Larson is the favorite at 11-4 odds, followed by Truex at 5-1. Busch’s odds are 13-2, Hamlin’s 7-1, and Chase Elliott’s 8-1. Harvick is 9-1, William Byron 12-1, and Penske teammates Keselowski and Joey Logano both at 14-1. Blaney, who will start on the pole, is 18-1 as is Alex Bowman. The Xfinity race airs on NBCSN Saturday at 12:30 p.m., Camping World Trucks are on FS1 a 10:30 a.m. Sunday with the Cup race on NBCSN at 3:30 p.m.

•••

The Spa Francorchamps track for last Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix was more suitable for hydroplane racing than for race cars. After two formation laps behind the pace car, the field came into the pits under a red flag which lasted for over two hours. Medical car driver Alan Van der Merwe logged the most laps of the day as he went out several times to determine the track’s suitability for racing. Finally, the cars re-entered the track, but after two more laps (deemed race laps) behind the pace car, the stewards called the race, with half points awarded per the sporting regulations. By virtue of setting pole time on Saturday, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took the win with Williams driver George Russell a surprising second, his first podium finish. Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes was third and he retains the season points lead over Verstappen by three points. McLaren’s Lando Norris is a distant third, 89.5 points behind Hamilton after crashing heavily in Saturday qualifying. He finished out of the points in 14^th. This weekend the series is at Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix, Verstappen’s home race. It is the first time Formula 1 has visited the circuit since 1985, and organizers have made considerable improvements to the track in the interim. Some of the competitors have raced there in junior formulas, but it will be the first time at Zandvoort in a F1 car for everyone.

•••

Finally, Alfa Romeo driver Kimi Raikkonen, oldest driver currently in F1 at almost 42, has announced his retirement at the end of the season. He will be missed.