Everyone’s an expert on something, in case you haven’t noticed.
At various times, everyone’s a doctor, a lawyer, a city planner or, unfortunately, an editor.
Around 10 o’clock Sunday evening, everyone became a schedule maker.
North Wilkesboro should be on the regular-season schedule became the near-universal rallying cry from NASCAR fans who fell back in love with what short-track racing is supposed to deliver.
On occasion, knee-jerk reactions enjoy long shelf-life. Other times, not so much. And since no one at HQ is going to rip apart the budding 2026 scheduling plans, this particular knee-jerking needs some time for digestion, for a couple of reasons.
What the hell, make it three.
1. Yes, the weekend of racing was first-rate at North Wilkesboro, particularly during Sunday night’s main event, when door-to-door battles were more norm than exception. But guess what. Asphalt ages. Tire formulas are tweaked. Today’s great track for racin’ isn’t necessarily gonna be tomorrow’s.
2. Ever try mapping out a schedule with 38 moving parts and dozens upon dozens of constituencies to please? If Chicago’s street race is disappearing after this year, some say, just plug North Wilkesboro into that slot. And ignore the possibility (or maybe probability, for all we know) of a near-future street-or-road race in Montreal or San Diego? Marketing is important, you know.
3. What’s wrong with just keeping the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro until further notice? It’s one of the marquee events on the yearly schedule, so doesn’t it deserve a quality racetrack?
As for an answer to the third point: Yes, it does. But, you may ask, what happens if North Wilkesboro isn’t producing quality short-track racing in a year or two, as suggested in the first point?
Beats me, so let’s change the subject(s) and go through the gears …
First Gear: Joey Logano with silly talk, Michael Waltrip with butter fingers
The last, and most consequential, of the side-by-side battles came in the last few minutes of the All-Star Race when Christopher Bell bullied his way past Joey Logano for first place and the eventual win, which came with a million-dollar payday for the No. 20 team.
“Bullied” in an acceptable rubbin’-is-racin’ kind of way. Bell had fresher right-side rubber (racing term!) than Joey and took advantage of it. Or took too much advantage of it, to hear Joey tell it. Joey explained his new strategy for Bell in the coming weeks.
“I just race him the same way. That’s all it is,” he said. “We’re racing for a million dollars. I get it. But we race each other every week, and we’re like elephants, we don’t forget anything.”
Speaking for everyone, well, I say we let Christopher Bell speak for everyone …
“Joey was frustrated? He was frustrated? That is interesting,” Bell said at his winner’s interview. “I genuinely would not have guessed that.
“I had got to him a couple times before, and he made it very difficult on me, as he should. And I got my run and I took the moment, as I should. I don’t think that I did anything that Joey has not done, and I’ve seen Joey do much worse. So we will continue on.”
Joey was also disappointed in that gimmick of a late “promoter’s caution,” but once that possibility hit the race’s rules sheet, you knew that yellow was gonna fly. Making a big show of it, with Mikey Waltrip hamming it up on the flag stand (and eventually DROPPING the flag onto the track), is another story entirely.
Second Gear: Kyle Larson 21st at North Wilkesboro (and Indianapolis)
We’ve spent a lot of time here discussing Kyle Larson’s inability to follow a win with another quality performance, but we wondered if the All-Star Race might be an exception.
In the end, it wasn’t. Kyle rallied from the rear of the field and was within striking distance when he slid up into the wall and finished 21st in a 23-car field. Coincidentally, 21st is where he’ll start the Indianapolis 500 this coming Sunday.
Weather permitting.
And right now, the weather is trending toward permissible. From about two weeks out until now, the long-range Indy forecast has shown partly cloudy skies, temps around 70(!) and no more than 20-to-25 percent chance of race-day showers.
After last year’s rain delay, Kyle should get the opportunity to just worry about the challenge of 200 Brickyard laps — assuming he stays on the lead lap, which in reality should constitute a victory for the moonlighting star.
Third Gear: RFK still trying to Make Kez Racy Again
He finished 22nd in a field of 23, so you’re led to believe the beat goes on for Poor Ol’ Brad Keselowski. In recent weeks, however, you may have noticed how Kez’s weekly bout with bad luck was preceded by a real uptick in performance.
Well, that uptick took a definite upturn at North Wilkesboro, where he won the pole and then dominated his heat race, leading 74 of 75 laps. Or, as the team’s press release put it: “With smart defensive driving, he effectively blocked both lanes and never relinquished control.”
He then led 61 of the first 63 All-Star laps, but he began losing tire grip and track position. While battling back toward the front, he clapped against the wall and broke his right-front shock. Progress, though.
“We’re connecting things, for sure,” Kez said. “We just haven’t connected everything, and when we do that, we’ll be dangerous.”
It seems he’s talking both figuratively and literally.
Fourth Gear: Uh-oh, it’s Prime time for NASCAR
For a year and a half now — since November, 2023 — we’ve been eyeballing this coming weekend. Some of us, or maybe many of us, have been wondering how we’ll break it to Aunt Mae and Uncle Ed that they won’t be watching the NASCAR races for over a month of Sundays.
We said it then and we can still say it now, 18 months later: “Oh, man, this ain’t gonna be good.”
This is it. This is the week Amazon takes over broadcasting the Cup Series on its Prime Video service, which you ain’t getting on basic cable. We’re talking $14.99 a month or $139 annually (do your own math, but yes, it saves you some money).
After five weeks, the Cup schedule shifts to TNT and will include the same Prime broadcast team, which includes Junior Earnhardt, so there’s that. Every now and then, NASCAR does something that doesn’t sit well with the longtime fans, and on a few occasions, there have been seismic disruptions — this is probably one of those.
And I know what you’re thinking: “It’s almost as if they’re trying to force me to pay for something I didn’t have to pay for before.” Well, if it makes you feel better, you’re right — you’ve figured them out. Amazon is trying to do that, and paying NASCAR big money to serve as one of their lures.
On the bright side, maybe you already pay for Amazon Prime, which you convinced yourself you needed — for the free shipping and, Lord knows, you don’t want to wait an extra couple days for those new pajamas. If you have Amazon Prime, you also get Prime Video as part of the package.
You just have to take the time to find it.
— Email Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com
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