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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Through 20 games, the Houston Astros have managed just six wins and are in last place in the AL West.
Their pitching staff trails only Colorado with a 5.24 ERA and big-money new closer Josh Hader has given up the same number of earned runs in 10 games as he did in 61 last year.
Despite this, these veteran Astros, who have reached the AL Championship Series seven consecutive times, have no doubt they’ll turn things around.
“If there’s a team that can do it, it’s this team,” shortstop Jeremy Peña said.
First-year manager Joe Espada, who was hired in January to replace the retired Dusty Baker, discussed his team’s early struggles.
“It’s not ideal,” he said. “It’s not what we expected, to come out of the shoot playing this type of baseball. But you know what, this is where we’re at and we’ve got to pick it up and play better. That’s just the bottom line.”
Many of Houston’s problems have stemmed from a poor performance by a rotation that has been decimated by injuries. Ace Justin Verlander and fellow starter José Urquidy haven’t pitched this season because of injuries and lefty Framber Valdez made just two starts before landing on the injured list with a sore elbow.
Ronel Blanco, who threw a no-hitter in his season debut April 1, has pitched well and is 2-0 with a 0.86 ERA in three starts this season. Cristian Javier is also off to a good start, going 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA in four starts, but the team has won just two games not started by those two pitchers.
However, Espada wouldn’t blame the rotation for Houston’s current position.
“It’s been a little bit of a roller coaster how we've played overall,” he said. “One day we get good starting pitching, some days we don’t. The middle relief has been better and sometimes it hasn’t been. So, we’ve just got to put it all together and then play more as a team. And once we start doing that, we’ll be in good shape.”
The good news for the Astros is that Verlander will make his season debut Friday night when they open a series at Washington and Valdez should return soon after him.
“Framber and Justin have been a great part of our success in the last few years,” second baseman Jose Altuve said. “So, it’s always good to have those two guys back helping the team. We trust them and I think it’s going to be good.”
Hader signed a five-year, $95 million contract this offseason to give the Astros a shutdown 7-8-9 combination at the back end of their bullpen with Bryan Abreu and Ryan Pressly. But the five-time All-Star is off to a bumpy start.
He allowed four runs in the ninth inning of a 6-1 loss to the Braves on Monday night and has yielded eight earned runs this season after giving up the same number in 56 1/3 innings for San Diego last year.
He was much better Wednesday when he struck out the side in the ninth before the Astros fell to Atlanta in 10 innings for their third straight loss.
Houston’s offense, led by Altuve, Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker, ranks third in the majors with a .268 batting average and is tied for third with 24 homers this season. But the Astros have struggled with runners in scoring position and often failed to get a big hit in close games.
While many of Houston’s hitters have thrived this season, one notable exception is first baseman José Abreu. The 37-year-old, who is in the second year of a three-year, $58.5 million contract, is hitting 0.78 with just one extra-base hit in 16 games, raising questions about why he remains in the lineup every day.
To make matters worse, his error on a routine ground ball in the eighth inning Wednesday helped the Braves tie the game before they won in extra innings.
Espada brushed off criticism of Abreu and said he knows the 2020 AL MVP can break out of his early slump.
“Because (of) history,” Espada said. “The back of his baseball card. He can do it.”
Though things haven’t gone well for the Astros so far, everyone insists there’s no panic in this team which won its second World Series in 2022.
Altuve added that he doesn’t have to say anything to his teammates during this tough time.
“I think they’ve played enough baseball to know how to control themselves and how to come back to the plan we have, which is winning games,” he said.
The clubhouse was quiet and somber Wednesday after the Astros suffered their third series sweep of the season and second at home. While not panicking about the slow start, this team, which has won at least 90 games in each of the last three seasons, is certainly not happy with its record.
“We need to do everything better,” third baseman Alex Bregman said. “I feel like we’re in a lot of games, but we just haven’t found a way to win them. And good teams find a way to win games. So we need to find a way to win games.”