There were several things that happened in today's race which fall into the questionable category. The firing of the
#48 pit crew during the race is something I've never seen happen before & I believe it has the potential to demoralize that crew with two races to go in the season. I don't know specifically what the problems were today, but Johnson finished 9th & I doubt if he would have done much worse if that change had not occurred. In my opinion, that pit crew change certainly detracts from the character of the team and has the potential to do much more harm than good. In fact, I believe NASCAR should consider instituting a rule preventing that from happening.The other occurrance which I find very questionable involved Kyle Busch. Although there wasn't good quality replay video available, the announcers implied that he was spun by Aric Almirola. The first thing that crossed my mind was that if this was possible payback for Busch beating Almirola last week in the truck series in a manner in which Almirola didn't think was legal.............although NASCAR didn't see it that way and, frankly, I didn't see it that way either. Then, when he went to the pits for a tire change, NASCAR penalized him a lap for speeding on pit road as he was trying to beat the pace car back out. That's pretty cut & dry as they have speed devices clocking the speeds, but when he came back in to serve the penalty & get two more tires, he signaled to the NASCAR official that he was
#1 in his book with the 1-finger salute............NASCAR promptly penalized him 2 more laps. In the first place, that is a severe penalty. Secondly, I have witnessed many drivers using the 1-finger salute many, many times during the heat of a race, and I have never seen a 2-lap penalty for that. There have been lesser penalties for far more dangerous things. This is one of those situations where the penalty doesn't fit the crime & one of which NASCAR has already received much criticizm for. It seems as if NASCAR has it's favorites & it's non-favorites. I don't believe that call would have been made against certain other drivers. Frankly, if I were Kyle Busch, I would be mad as hell.........not only at NASCAR, but Almirola as well.
The other occurance was the Gordon/Burton incident............and I'm really not quite sure what to make of that. Burton took full responsibility for causing it, but they are two of the last drivers I would have expected to see going at it trackside ala Cale Yarbrough/Donnie & Bobby Allison. That was a real surprise.
As much as I disagree with the "Chase" format, at least it's coming down to a close finish............and I was happy to see Hamlin win. I only wish Harvick had been 2nd.