Racing News Digest

Six races under out belts so far this year. I got to looking at who has won races, who hasn’t, who is performing well and who is not. There are a couple of things that really stick out for me that are probably no-brainer’s.

Stewart-Haas Racing
I think my biggest overall surprise of the year is how well Stewart-Haas Racing Is doing. Tony Stewart being the team owner and a driver has been sitting at the top of the points for a couple of weeks now in his first year as owner/driver. Hats off to him. He is doing great and already has 2 wins (1 points win) under his belt. I think that is pretty incredible.

And being a big Ryan Newman fan you have to applaud that team as well. Ryan moved over to Stewart-Haas Racing after leaving Penske. So far it seems like it was the right decision. Newman is currently sitting 6th in the points.

I think that whole operation is my biggest surprise of the year. Maybe more so being a Ryan Newman fan, I don’t know. I just expected it to be a little bit bumpy of a season for that whole team and that has not really been the case. Newman did start off rough, but made up ground fast.

I know Ryan and Tony have it in them, I just wasn’t expecting it this year.

Kurt Busch

Huge turn around for Kurt Busch this season so far. He finished 18th in the points last year. Back to Ryan Newman, I figured Kurt would be running for Penske as soon as possible as well. Now I am not so sure. He is running great this year with 1 win, 4 top 5’s and 8 top 10’s.

Once again, I know Kurt has it in him, just didn’t think we would see him rebound until he left Penske.

Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch sitting 9th in the points surprises me. He dominated last year then blew it in the Chase. He is 9th in points with 3 wins, 4 top 5’s and 5 top 10’s. In the last 6 races he has finished 31st, 6th, 23rd, 22nd, 13th and 22nd. Right before that string was his latest win this year.

I figured we would be seeing Kyle up front all year again. And while being inside the top 12 (or top 10) is great, he is -402 points outside of 1st.

And in the big picture that isn’t really going to matter to much because he will have the bonus points of those 3 wins applied to his chase points. So all in all, at this point, he probably isn’t to bad for the chase.

BUT, he is only 48 points away from dropping out of the top 12.

GUYS WITH MULTIPLE WINS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE TOP 12

I don’t know why, but I find it kind of fascinating and probably irrelevent that all the drivers with multiple wins are sitting at the bottom of the top 12 with the exception of Jimmie Johnson (2 wins) who is in 3rd.

The single race winners (that are in the top 12) are at the top of the list. Tony Stewart (1st) – 1 win. Jeff Gordon (2nd) 1 win and Kurt Busch (4th) with 1 win.

Multiple race winners sitting at the bottom of the top 12 are Mark Martin (11th) – 3 wins, Matt Kenseth (10th) – 2 wins, Kyle Busch (9th) – 3 wins.

ROOKIE PERFORMANCE

Dismal to say the least. I don’t want to hear about a “learning curve” or anything like that. I want a rookie to come into Sprint Cup Series and blow everyones (drivers and fans) doors right off the hinges.

Joey Logano was suppose to be that kid. We were disappointed. He is up to 24th in the points which is a lot better off from where he started.

In fact Logano is really the one we can talk about. He is the only that has completed all 16 races.

Scott Speed is also someone that I had hoped to get behind. He is in 35th and has only completed 15 races.

I wouldn’t mind seeing either of these guys succeed and they probably will. But I just love seeing a rookie come onto the scene and dominate. We have been missing that I think.

Richard Childress Racing

What happened over there? Jeff Burton is 15th in points followed by Clint Bowyer in 16th, Casey Mears in 21st and then we drop down to 25th to find Kevin Harvick.

These guys (not including Mears) were all in the chase last year. They still could be…but…..Harvick would really have to make up some ground.

Just some items that have caught my interest. Maybe no surprise to others.

What are some of your biggest surprises of the year in the NASCAR world? Good or bad!