If there’s one thing that I hate more than a rain delayed or postponed race is one that never has any action leading up to it. By that, I mean no cautions…not even debris.
Now, I’ll be the first to admit I’ve seen some great caution-free races in my day as a fan. Best one was in 1997 at Talladega, which is officially on record as the fastest 500-mile race ever run in NASCAR. The odd thing of that race, it was a restrictor plate track, so everyone was expecting at least a few slides in the corner, and maybe the big wreck it’s been known for. But, everyone minded their manners and it turned out to be a competitive event.
But some tracks, in a way, you expect to go for a long while without cautions. The Auto Club Speedway has been known for long runs under green, but Sunday was unique.
The race already was possibly going to be delayed because of rain, so the start time was moved up. It seemed like every driver was racing to the halfway point, wanting to make sure the race was in and official. Sure enough, it got to that point, but it got to that point with not one driver having to deal with a flat tire, damaged fenders, or an angry competitor.
Quite honestly, the race was boring. The only excitement that came about happened under caution.
When a driver runs over debris under caution, and has it go through an oil line or an oil fitting, and seeing him smoking on the apron, thinking he may not make it many more laps, was entertaining.
The difference between this race and other California races that I’ve considered boring, this one ended with the knowledge that the driver that was leading could honestly have been the one to beat if ran the full distance. That is something that does not happen very often, as rain-shortened races are sometimes won on strategy calls, such as Joey Logano at New Hampshire or David Reutimann at Charlotte. This time, the right car was out front when the rain fell.
Besides, the rain wasn’t going to let up as the night progressed. So, even if the race was just to be finished tomorrow, I couldn’t see anyone beating Tony Stewart.
It’s likely best that the race ended when it did; even if it did restart, I don’t see many fans coming back in the track if the last 71 laps would be like the first 129.
RESULTS: 1-Stewart 2-Kyle Busch 3-Earnhardt Jr. 4-Harvick 5-Edwards 6-Biffle 7-Newman 8-Truex Jr. 9-Kurt Busch 10-Johnson
NOTABLE FINISHES: 11-Hamlin 14-Kahne 16-Kenseth 18-Keselowski 26-Gordon
CAUTIONS: 1 for 5 laps. Lap 125-129 (Rain [Red Flag at lap 129])
LEAD CHANGES: 9 among 5 drivers. Hamlin 1, Kyle Busch 2-67, Hamlin 68, Gordon 69, Johnson 70, Kyle Busch 71-84, Stewart 85-104, Johnson 105, Gordon 106-107, Stewart 108-129.
TIME OF RACE:Â 1 Hr, 36 Mins, 39 Secs
AVERAGE SPEED:Â 160.166 MPH
MARGIN OF VICTORY:Â Under Caution
POINT STANDINGS:Â 1. Biffle, 195 points; 2. Harvick, -8; 3. Earnhardt Jr, -17; 4. Stewart, -18; 5. Truex Jr, -20; 6. Kenseth, -22; 7. Hamlin, -24; 8. Bowyer, -38; 9. Johnson, -39; 10. Newman, -40; 11. Menard, -47; 12. Edwards, -49.
