Roger Diez: NASCAR heads to Bristol and the dirt

Racing was weird last Sunday. Of the three major national/international racing series, only one ended under a green flag. It almost makes one think that NASCAR got it right with their overtime rules. Although I’m still not sold on stage racing.

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Formula 1 led off the weekend with the Rolex Australian Grand Prix. Mercedes got off to an excellent start, running 1-2 in the early laps. But George Russell was caught out by a red flag (the first of two) and ended up out due to an engine fire.

Max Verstappen soon demonstrated the advantage his Red Bull has over the rest of the field, pulling out a 10-second lead over Lewis Hamilton until the second red flag. Sadly, the race finished behind the safety car as there were not enough laps left to get a green flag.

Red Bull won their third race of three, but it wasn’t a 1-2 as Sergio Perez finished fifth behind the two Aston Martins as Fernando Alonso finished third yet again and Lance Stroll come home fourth. Attrition saw only 12 of the 20 starters still running at the end. With the Chinese Grand Prix canceled, the next race will Azerbaijan on April 29.

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The NTT IndyCar race at Texas Motor Speedway saw some extremely high-speed racing with tires being a big part of the story. Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward was the class of the field, but he was trapped in second place by a caution flag while racing with Josef Newgarden, who took the win for the second year in a row.

Attrition was not quite as high at Texas as in Australia, but half a dozen of the 28 starters weren’t around at the checker and only seven cars finished on the lead lap. Next up for the series is the Long Beach Grand Prix on April 16.

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Kyle Larson’s up and down season finally came right in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond on Sunday. Larson took the checker after a quick pit stop put him out front in the late going. However, he had to hold off Josh Berry, substituting for Chase Elliott in the No. 9 Napa Chevy. The finish gave Hendrick Motorsports another 1-2 finish and highlighted Berry as a potential regular in NASCAR’s top division.

Larson is the second Hendrick driver to qualify for the playoffs, joining William Byron who has two wins. Alex Bowman, though winless so far, leads the point standings, ahead of Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell, Byron, Kevin Harvick, and Larson.

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In years past, Easter weekend was one of the few weekends that NASCAR did not race, but that tradition has gone by the wayside. The Cup cars are racing at Bristol on dirt Sunday for the third time.

Joey Logano and Kyle Busch won the first two races although neither driver has extensive dirt track experience. Larson opined at Richmond that the Cup cars are so different from what he normally drives on dirt tracks that he doesn’t have a particular advantage. Of course, this just may be to psych the competition.

Nevertheless Larson tops the opening odds at 5-1 with Tyler Reddick at 6-1. Three-time Chili Bowl winner Christopher Bell is at 7-1, Chase Briscoe 9-1, and 2022 winner Kyle Busch 10-1. Byron’s opening odds are 12-1, 2021 winner Logano is 14-1, and Denny Hamlin shares 16-1 odds with Ryan Blaney.

Saturday, FS2 will air 15 lap qualifying races for the Craftsman Trucks at 1:30 p.m. followed by NASCAR Cup at 3 p.m. The Weather Guard Truck Race airs on FS1 at 5 p.m. Sunday, FOX will broadcast the Food City Dirt Race for Cup cars beginning at 4 p.m.

Happy Easter!