THE LEFT TURN
NASCAR will be keeping it weird in Austin this weekend
May 21, 2021, 2:07 pm
Martin Truex Jr. is a good bet to make. Photo via: Wiki Commons.
The time has finally come, NASCAR makes its highly anticipated debut at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. This is one of the most unique tracks not just on the NASCAR schedule, but on the F1 schedule as well. There are two long straightaways and an incredible elevation change entering the first corner. This is also a very long racetrack as most laps take about two minutes to finish, we could very well see a lot of fuel conservation come into play as well. The biggest thing to watch out for this week is the weather with tons of rain in the forecast this week in Austin, so it is a real possibility that we see a rain tire race for the first time in NASCAR Cup Series history. If you thought the prospect of running on a brand-new racetrack was crazy, just wait until rain is added to the equation. This will be one race even a casual fan wouldn't want to miss.
Last week at Dover, it was all Hendrick Motorsports as Alex Bowman went on to his second victory of 2021. His teammates Kyle Larson, William Byron and Chase Elliott all followed as it was the first 1-2-3-4 finish for the team and the first since 2005 when Jack Roush's team did it. There had been much speculation about this team, many believed that they missed a step over the past few years but after winning the title last year with Chase Elliott, it looks like they have found their return to glory. Of the races four-hundred laps, THREE-HUNDRED AND EIGHTY TWO laps were led by a Hendrick car! That is 96 percent of the race! While this team has been good here, this was a whole new level of domination. The rest of the field will have a lot of work to do if they want to keep up throughout the season.
Last Tuesday, Adam Stern dropped a bombshell on Twitter regarding the 2022 plans of NASCAR champion Brad Keselowski. It has been reported that Keselowski has been offered a ride and an ownership role at Roush Fenway Racing. This sent shockwaves through the racing world. No one could have ever expected this. While yes, Roush Racing is pretty good and car owner Jack Roush has a great relationship with the Ford Motor Company, they aren't on the level of his current team, Penske Racing. One thing to remember is that this report is simply a rumor and has not been confirmed. So this is all subject to change, but this could be a huge first domino to fall. It will be interesting to see what car he will drive next season and if this ownership role allows him to return to potentially reopening his old Camping World Truck Series team.
There are a lot of unknowns going into this week considering this is the first race here and there isn't really any data to show who the favorites could be. But if I had to pick a winner this week, I would have to say Martin Truex Jr is a good bet to make. He has really excelled at road courses and is always a favorite, plus he also showed a lot of speed when he was testing here last month with Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott. I look for him to capture his fourth victory of 2021.
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There was a conversation Cleveland guard Donovan Mitchell had during training camp, the topic being all the teams that were generating the most preseason buzz in the Eastern Conference. Boston was coming off an NBA championship. New York got Karl-Anthony Towns. Philadelphia added Paul George.
The Cavs? Not a big topic in early October. And Mitchell fully understood why.
“What have we done?” Mitchell asked. “They don't talk about us. That's fine. We'll just hold ourselves to our standard.”
That approach seems to be working.
For the first time in 36 seasons — yes, even before the LeBron James eras in Cleveland — the Cavaliers are atop the NBA at the 25-game mark. They're 21-4, having come back to earth a bit following a 15-0 start but still better than anyone in the league at this point.
“We've kept our standards pretty high,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “And we keep it going.”
The Cavs are just one of the surprise stories that have emerged as the season nears the one-third-done mark. Orlando — the only team still unbeaten at home — is off to its best start in 16 years at 17-9 and having done most of that without All-Star forward Paolo Banchero. And Houston is 16-8, behind only the Cavs, Boston, Oklahoma City and Memphis so far in the race for the league's best record.
Cleveland was a playoff team a year ago, as was Orlando. And the Rockets planted seeds for improvement last year as well; an 11-game winning streak late in the season fueled a push where they finished 41-41 in a major step forward after a few years of rebuilding.
“We kind of set that foundation last year to compete with everybody,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “Obviously, we had some ups and downs with winning and losing streaks at times, but to finish the season the way we did, getting to .500, 11-game winning streak and some close losses against high-level playoff teams, I think we kind of proved that to ourselves last year that that's who we're going to be.”
A sign of the respect the Rockets are getting: Oddsmakers at BetMGM Scorebook have made them a favorite in 17 of 24 games so far this season, after favoring them only 30 times in 82 games last season.
“Based on coaches, players, GMs, people that we all know what they're saying, it seems like everybody else is taking notice as well,” Udoka said.
They're taking notice of Orlando as well. The Magic lost their best player and haven't skipped a beat.
Banchero's injury after five games figured to doom Orlando for a while, and the Magic went 0-4 immediately after he tore his oblique. Entering Tuesday, they're 14-3 since — and now have to regroup yet again. Franz Wagner stepped into the best-player-on-team role when Banchero got hurt, and now Wagner is going to miss several weeks with the exact same injury.
Ask Magic coach Jamahl Mosley how the team has persevered, and he'll quickly credit everyone but himself. Around the league, it's Mosley getting a ton of the credit — and rightly so — for what Orlando is doing.
“I think that has to do a lot with Mose. ... I have known him a long time,” Phoenix guard Bradley Beal said. “A huge fan of his and what he is doing. It is a testament to him and the way they’ve built this team.”
The Magic know better than most how good Cleveland is, and vice versa. The teams went seven games in an Eastern Conference first-round series last spring, the Cavs winning the finale at home to advance to Round 2.
Atkinson was brought in by Cleveland to try and turn good into great. The job isn't anywhere near finished — nobody is raising any banners for “best record after 25 games” — but Atkinson realized fairly early that this Cavs team has serious potential.
“We’re so caught up in like the process of improve, improve, improve each game, improve each practice," Atkinson said. “That’s kind of my philosophy. But then you hit 10-0, and obviously the media starts talking and all that, and you’re like, ‘Man, this could be something special brewing here.’”