THE LEFT TURN
Here's everything you need to know about NASCAR's midweek racing
May 19, 2020, 1:54 pm
Matt Sullivan/Getty Images
The Cup Series returns to Darlington for the Darlington 500k. This will be an important race in NASCAR history as it will be the first race to ever be run on a Wednesday. This is a huge milestone for the sport considering there has never been a race run this late in the week. For years, the idea of racing during the middle of the week had been floated around but it took a global pandemic to finally convince NASCAR to pull the trigger. Considering that the race will be on in prime-time and that there isn't much going on in the sports-world, all eyes will be on Darlington. The field will be set with Ryan Preece and Ty Dillion on the front row as both drivers finished 20th and 19th.
On Sunday, Kevin Harvick drove off into the sunset en route to his fifteenth career win. While Harvick did lead a race-high 159 laps, the story of the race was Hendrick Motorsports and what appeared to be their breakout race. In the early stages of the race all four team cars occupied four of the top five spots as Jimmie Johnson took the lead from Brad Keselowski with his teammate's William Byron, Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott behind him. Jimmie and his teammates appeared to be in position for a great result until lap eighty-nine when Johnson ran into the lapped car of Chris Buescher sending him into the backstretch wall ending his day.
After this, it was the young William Byron's turn to find misfortune as he would suffer a blown tire sending him around and ending any chances of him getting his first win. Even Chase Elliott ran into trouble as well after he was nabbed for speeding off pit-road, he would however recover to finish fourth. The only Hendrick driver who really had a clean race was Alex Bowman as he spent most of the day in the top three. While the results may not have been exactly what Rick Hendrick and his team would have hoped for, Sunday's race was definitely a breath of fresh air for the struggling team. They will be the team to watch come Wednesday.
Lost in all the storylines, one pleasant surprise was John-Hunter Nemechek and Tyler Reddick and their impressive 6th and 9th place finishes. For Nemechek, this is not only his first top ten finish but the first top ten finish for his team on a track that isn't Talladega or Daytona. The second generation driver has shown flashes of potential in all of his other previous starts but to come to arguably the toughest race track in America and run as good as he did really speaks volumes to how talented this young man is and what he can do in the future. His rookie counterpart Tyler Reddick also had a great showing as he went on to finish 6th. In his opportunities in the cup series, the California native continues to impress fans and drivers alike as he continues to run near the top-5 and top-10 on a weekly basis. I look forward to seeing how he follows this up.
Racing wasn't the only thing that made its comeback on Sunday as both Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth also made their return as well. As we all know, Newman was involved in one of the scariest accidents we have ever seen. Because of the injuries he sustained, he missed three races but because of the break, Newman had time to heal and miraculously was able to return to racing. For most of the race, he ran around the top ten until spinning out in turn 1 on lap 254. Despite all this he was able to rebound and finish sixteenth. Matt Kenseth was also impressive in his return as well as he finished tenth. What made this so impressive was how long was out and how much the sport has changed in his absence. For both of these drivers to run as well as they did really shows how talented these drivers are. It will be fun to watch how they do come Wednesday.
The driver I have winning is Kurt Busch. After an impressive third place showing on Sunday, Kurt has shown a lot of speed this year and has been one of the most consistent drivers on the grid. Over the last three races, he has yet to finish worse than third. The 2004 champion is primed for a breakthrough, Look for him to capture his first win here and secure his spot in the playoffs.
(All stats and information used in this article is brought to you by the good folks at driveraverages.com and Racing-Reference.com the best website for all NASCAR stats)
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.