Parks Pit Report: Quaker State 400 Presented by Advance Auto Parts

I just hate it when Mother Nature decides to mess up a race weekend for teams.  Some may think that this week could be an exception as the race was originally scheduled for a Saturday night and with the postponement, instead was run on Sunday afternoon.  An alright theory, but with how this portion of the schedule works, it’s still one less day to prepare for the next race.

On a normal weekend, when NASCAR holds the Sprint Cup race on a Sunday, should rain decide to postpone the race, it is then run on Monday. This then means that teams instead of having on average four days to load up and be at the track on Friday for the next event, it’s down to three.

This weekend, the race at Kentucky was slated to run Saturday night, but as I mentioned in the postponement piece, consistent rain in the evening put those plans down the drain, no pun intended.

So, race was run on Sunday, so teams still have maybe four days to plan right…well, not really.

The next race on the schedule is a return trip to Daytona, for NASCAR’s own mid-summer classic on the Independence Day weekend.  This race is on a Saturday night, and the first practice truly begins on Thursday, and that is the only day of practice for these teams.  The reason being is because Friday at the track is qualifying, and at this race and all other restrictor plate races minus the Daytona 500, it is considered an “impound” race, where teams are only allowed to make minor changes to the car such as tape on the nose, some air pressure, and a few other things.

So, trying to get set for a normal weekend is out of the question now, as still it means one less day to get prepared for a race, much less one where the rules package is completely different than ones at any other track on the circuit.

Not to mention, even if a race is postponed from a Saturday night to a Sunday afternoon, the biggest inconvenience is for the fans, with most despite having off Sundays, may use that day to travel back to their homes, catch their flight and get ready to go back to their normal routines on Monday.  Sure, some may have planned ahead and put the calls in to change flights and pay for an extra stay at the hotel, but in reality it’s still an inconvenience to many.

Was the race held during the day worth it, no doubt.  The battle late between Kenseth and Johnson on the next-to-last restart will be the talk of the week leading into Daytona, but imagine if that battle happened in darkness rather than daylight.

Oh well, Mother Nature is one thing no one can control.

RESULTS:  1-Kenseth  2-McMurray  3-Bowyer  4-Logan0  5-Kyle Busch  6-Kurt Busch  7-Truex Jr.  8-Gordon  9-Johnson  10-Harvick

NOTABLE FINISHES:  11-Kahne  12-Earnhardt Jr.  20-Stewart  21-Edwards  23-Patrick  33-Keselowski

CAUTIONS:  10 for 42 laps.  Lap 32-35 (competition), 39-42 (debris-T4), 44-46 (#18 spin-T2), 49-51 (#2, 7, 16, 27, 33, 78, 93 accident-T1; RED FLAG-Lap 49 [18 Mins, 37 Secs]), 89-94 (debris-BS), 108-112 (debris-T1), 149-154 (#11 accident-T4), 196-199 (debris-BS), 243-246 (#55 accident-T3), 248-250 (#48 spin-T2).

LEAD CHANGES:  11 among 6 drivers.  Earnhardt Jr. POLE, Edwards 1-31, Earnhardt Jr. 32, Gilliland 33, Earnhardt Jr. 34-42, Johnson 43-94, Kenseth 95-108, Johnson 109-149, Mears 150, Edwards 151-154, Johnson 155-243, Kenseth 244-267.

TIME OF RACE:  3 Hrs, 2 Mins, 7 Secs.

AVERAGE SPEED:  131.948 MPH

MARGIN OF VICTORY:  0.699 Seconds

POINTS (Top-10, Wild Cards):  1. Johnson, 610 points; 2. Edwards, -38; 3. Bowyer, -41; 4. Harvick, -66; 5. Kenseth, -82; 6. Earnhardt Jr, -98; 7. Kyle Busch, -110; 8. Truex Jr, -120; 9. Biffle, -121; 10. Logano, -131.  WILD CARD:  Kahne (11th, 1 Win), Stewart (16th, 1 Win).