1. Did Kansas mean more than ‘Dega for 23X1?
You never forget the one that was first, and that’s usually true in racing. Kurt Busch‘s victory Sunday at Kansas wasn’t the first win for 23X1 Racing; that came last October in Talladega with Bubba Wallace‘s win.
As sweet as that was, especially for Wallace, you can easily make the case that while Sunday at Kansas was not the first win for Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan’s race team, it was the high point for this organization, so far.
Wallace winning a restrictor-plate race didn’t come out of nowhere. He had been a strong contender at Daytona and Talladega already, and you had to figure a checkered flag at either track was a foregone conclusion.
Sunday was different. Busch had what was among the best cars in the field following the first stage, and Wallace probably unofficially passed more cars than anyone else. It was very evident that the light was finally on, so to speak, for the first time this season for both Wallace and Busch. You can only wonder if it’d have been a 1-2 finish for both drivers had Wallace not had pit road issues, to put it lightly.
Both the 23 and 45 were among the top five cars. A day like Sunday was likely what was envisioned when this idea of 23X1 Racing began.
2. Is the All-Star Race still relevant?
Back in the 1980s, NASCAR entered uncharted territory with the institution of The Winston. It fired things up even more in 1992 when the stroke of genius from Bruton Smith and his team at Charlotte Motor Speedway and others opted to run the event under the lights.
Over time, for various reasons, that buzz has worn off. Between race formats and others incentives, efforts have been made to spice the race up. Although an anomaly, the 2020 version being run at Bristol was a nice departure from having a race on a 1.5-mile track and hoping the race was somehow exciting.
That path diverted back in the opposite direction last year, going from Charlotte indirectly to Texas. The…
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