Tyler Riddick had a good weekend in Indianapolis, but NASCAR Cup Series as a whole did not. The Verizon 200 featured nine major changes, but none in the last 25 laps. Everyone left town before we had a good explanation (and we still don’t have one) What made Kyle Larson obliterate the Chevy Ty Dillon.
Naturally, Andy leads the mailbag for this week.
I gave up my Brickyard 400 tickets a long time ago but almost got back to IMS over the weekend. I’m glad I didn’t. What’s the allure in sitting around three hours of watching until the race reaches the train wreck at the end? (From AN via AOL.com)
You can’t pay me to watch another farce of that farce. (Editor’s note: Ah, John, we need to talk about your familiarity with your job description.) After watching the restart after the stage break, I implored the racing gods to make sure there would be no need for a restart past 10 laps.
Unfortunately, that was not the case. We got a complete mess in the first turn to start overtime.
So how do we fix it?
Good: Line up the cars in three lengths of replay instead of two long lines. While it seems counterintuitive as it crowds the field upwards, it also prevents 12 cars from swinging wide to create a cavalry charge unless the men move alongside them. But more players in the inner and outer columns tend to be steady on the line and have a chance of taking the first turn no worse than three.
Too extreme? Yes maybe. So go for a one-line reboot and pretty sure the winner will come from one of the first three cars.
Better: move the starting line back to give the cars a longer run on the main straight line (hopefully) to give the drivers more time to create the class. Five wide traffic heading into the sharp right turn is probably less than worse than three. This will still force people to ride on the grass, but probably won’t affect the outcome nearly as much as we saw on Sunday.
The best: You don’t have to wait until 2024 to get back into the elliptical shape. Get off the road track now.
I’m glad it looks like Eric Almerola He will postpone his retirement and return next season, even if it is only part-time. What do the odds make? (FS via Gmail)
Let me start with the easy part: If Almirola returns, Stewart-Haas Racing will only be able to put him in the car part-time and take one of its cars out of the race for a place in the NASCAR playoffs. Sponsors want the car that bears their names to be seen as a potential champion. Kaulig Racing has the luxury of sharing the ride this year with AJ Allmendinger, Noah Gragson and Daniel Hemric in the #16 Chevy because this car wasn’t going to compete in the team’s Cup Series debut.
Insiders point out that Smithfield’s continued sponsorship of Foods depends on Almerola’s return. That’s practically a full year of coverage for the No. 10 Ford. If Joe Gibbs Racing and Kyle Busch are reported to have earned $25 million annually for the M&M brand on 75% of the races, then SHR should pay in the same neighborhood as Smithfield.
It’s as if SHR should make it worth Almirola while running the full schedule in order to get the most out of it. As it stands, Tony Stewart and Gene Haas already have a decision on Cole Custer. Sure, reserve driver Ryan Press could step in for one of them, but not both.
I made it 90% that Almirola sticks with and runs another full season for NASCAR. Of course, this only serves to push Smithfield’s care dilemma back a year.
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Do you have a question or note about the race? John Moriello of Sportscasting does a mailbag column every Friday. Write to him at JohnM@Sportscasting.com.
Related: NASCAR must be embarrassed by his inadvertently cheeky tweet