Bluegrass burnout, what a week for racing in our state. The Xfinity Series kicked off the week on Thursday with the Shady Rays 200 and followed on Friday night with the Alsco 300. This would have been such a great week to expose fans to racing and how great a facility Kentucky Speedway has been developed into.
The Xfinity Series kicked off the big week Thursday night with the Shady Rays 200. The gremlins of Kentucky Speedway came out early as the steering wheel of #21 Anthony Alfredo as he went out behind the pace car before the start of the race. The start of the first lap saw #8 Jeb Burton enter the corner and the rear end lose grip, slamming into the wall, bringing out the first caution. Early on many of the drivers were complaining about grip over the scanner feed that the track was dirty and the PJ1 was slick. It was easy to see the cloud of dust circle into the air as the cars went around the track. I would think Ky. Speedway would have put the blowers on the track before the race since there was no practicing or qualifying earlier to help clean the track.
The last stage saw some competitive driving as the #98 Chase Briscoe, #22 Austin Cindric, #10 Ross Chastain, and the big mover during the race #18 Riley Herbst, who started the race in the 23rd position, all fought hard for the win. Cautions kept the group close, but Kentucky is a lot like IMS once you get the clean air in the front it is hard to catch and pass. Briscoe seemed to be the biggest threat, but Cindric was able to get a better restart each time and put space between the cars. Due to a late caution the race went into overtime and Briscoe was right on the rear bumper of Cindric, but going into the corner he lost grip slid up a little and broke his momentum allowing Herbst and Chastain to pass for second and third.
Allgaier was involved in a last lap accident that saw him taken to the hospital to be checked out, but he was released on Friday.
This was Cindric’s first win of the 2020 season after Briscoe took one from him last week. Cindric said jokingly of Briscoe after the race, “I love the guy, but he’s won enough, geez.”
The Friday Xfinity Alsco 300 saw Austin Cindric sweep the week at Kentucky. Thursday’s race was his first win so following it up Friday made it a weekend the young driver won’t forget soon. I’m just so excited, this is a credit to my team. We came with one setup last night and won the race and came in with another setup tonight and won again.” Cindric said about his sweep.
The show didn’t stop at victory lane as Harrison Burton and Noah Gragson had a verbal disagreement and met behind the wall. The pair could not come to an agreement and started settling the problem with their fist and fought a few minutes before they could get pulled apart. Gragson should expect more of these situations based on his aggressive driving style.
The Gander Outdoor Truck Series only made it to the end of the second stage and was considered final after strong storms moved over the track.
#2 Sheldon Creed ended up the lucky driver as he finished stage two in the lead and claimed his first victory. Kentucky native #99 Ben Rhodes finished in second.
The Cup Series started the race with the threat of rain lingering on the fringes of the radar.
The first stage saw #10 Aric Almirola hold off #9 Chase Elliott and #22 Joey Logano to win the stage.The second stage went to #2 Brad Keselowski, who usually runs well at Kentucky. A hard driving #12 Ryan Blaney came in second followed by #41 Cole Custer.The big mover in the race was the #19 Martin Truex Jr. car. He was forced to start the race at the end of the pack due to failing pre-race inspection twice. He worked his way through the field into first place and led for 57 laps.
If you slept through the race and woke up just to watch the third stage that was a good move as all the excitement was in the final stage. The caution flag was waved four times in the final 37 laps. The final few laps were definitly the most exciting as #4 Kevin Harvick, Blaney, and Truex battled for the lead. On the last lap going three wide, the bumping started between the three which gave #41 Cole Custer the opening to make it four wide. In all the seasons I have attended Kentucky Speedway, I don’t believe I have ever seen this attempted in the cup series. Of course Custer is a rookie and probably didn’t know he wasn’rt supposed to try that. The agressive move paid off for Custer as he came around the outside and took the lead on his way to becoming the first rookie driver and youngest ever to win at Kentucky Speedway.
The ARCA Menard Series was a good race that saw #18 Ty Gibbs fighting for the lead at the end when he and #25 Michael Self got together and Gibbs lost control dropped a few spots, but battled back to the front and held on for the win.
The dirty move of the race was #15 Drew Dollar dumping #4 Hailie Deegan sending her into the wall and out of the race.
Dale Jr. fans Alert- tomorrow on the new NBC streaming network PeacockTV check out Lost Highways. It is a documentary about old abandoned racetracks that were the foundation of racing. JR. says in the trailer, “I’m about to embark on a journey to see and feel the soul of my sport.” Since anything Jr. is a part of is usually top notch you can be sure the stories told will be well worth listening too as well as visually seeing the old tracks being taken over by nature.
Jimmy Johnson was cleared and announced as the driver of the #48 car early last week at Kentucky after being forced to sit out the race at IMS due to a positive Covid-19 result. Johnson was also honored by Kentucky Speedway as they named a road at the facility after him. Johnson has picked the worst season ever as his last. I wish he would come back next season so he could go out with the recognition a champion like him deserves.
All Star fan voting is going strong with Bubba Wallace leading all vote getters at this time. Clint Bowyer is holding down second place in the voting results. Aric Almirola upped the competition by driving the #10 Smithfield car with a special paint scheme that said, “Vote For Bacon.” Now who in their right mind would not vote for bacon in any competition? The winner of the fan vote will be announced Wednesday, July 15 at 7 p.m. on FS1.
Florence Speedway held the Ralph Latham Memorial race on Friday for a purse of $12,000 in which fans were allowed to attend. Racingnews.com called it the closest race in the history of the Lucas Late Model Series with Pearson winning by .002 secondsThere was a total of 33 cars in the four heat races. . #1 Earl Pearson Jr. came away with win.
I couldn’t find any news or results for Saturday’s North- South 100 so I assume it was canceled due to weather.