THE LEFT TURN
NASCAR Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 preview
Trey Campbell
Jul 20, 2018, 6:20 am
Kyle Busch looks like he will be in the mix this week. Kylebusch.com
NASCAR heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend for the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301. Opened in 1990, this track is a 1.6 mile oval with absolutely no banking whatsoever and while technically it isn’t considered a short track, the track is known to be difficult to pass at due to its flat surface. Another unique aspect of this race is its distance. In 2008, then title sponsor Lenox Industrial Tools decided to add a lap as an ode to their employees and suppliers who “go the extra mile.” Even though the title sponsor has changed, the race distance became a crowd favorite and stuck around one decade later. This distance gives the second place driver one more chance to go and run down the leader and take the victory.
Last week at Kentucky, Martin Truex Jr went on to claim his fourth win of 2018 as he led a race high 174 laps. From the drop of the green flag, it was clear that the race would be for second place as Truex dominated every aspect of the weekend. He qualified on pole Thursday and was able to win all three stages of the race and claim maximum playoff and regular season points. It would appear now that Truex and his Furniture Row racing team are the guys to beat. Of the last four races, They have won two (Sonoma and Kentucky) and have not finished worse than fourth. However this week should be a little more challenging for the reigning champion. While, he has run pretty good here at New Hampshire, Truex has an average finish of 12.95. He has a total of five top 5’s and ten 10 10’s respectively but with all of these numbers, This is one of the tracks that he has never won at. Look for him to try and change that come Sunday.
The top storyline coming out of last week's race was the verbal sparring between Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Kyle Busch. If you are a fan of NASCAR, you know Kyle Busch getting into a “feud” with another driver is nothing new as he is easily the most outspoken driver in the garage. After the two were involved in an incident two weeks ago at Daytona, Busch took exception to Stenhouse not “reaching out” and apologizing for crashing him.
When asked if it would change how he would race Stenhouse, he replied with “I can’t worry about people who are that far back in the field.” Stenhouse responded by saying that “Busch should pick and choose his battles wisely” and he felt he didn’t need to reach out to Busch because he “ran his mouth enough.” P
ersonally, I think that both drivers should go out and confront each other rather than talk about each other through the media like they did this weekend. Both drivers do make good points though, Stenhouse Jr probably should have called and apologized for nearly turning Busch head on into the wall but Busch’s comments only added fuel to the fire. In the grand scheme of things, I don’t foresee this riff extending to the race track due to scrutiny that these drivers go through by the powers that be but it sure gave more talking points to a race that was fairly uneventful. Keep an eye out for when these two are close together on the track.
Appropriately enough, the favorite going into this weekend is Busch. In his 26 starts, Busch has won here three times including last year's fall race. Anytime the Cup series comes here, most experts pick him to win here and usually he does. Of all of the active drivers, he and Matt Kenseth have the most wins with three. Look for the No. 18 Interstate batteries Toyota to be the car to beat this weekend.
My pick to win this weekend is the other Kyle in the field -- no not Kyle Weatherman -- Kyle Larson. All year, he has come so close but for whatever reason luck just hasn’t been on his side but this week I think it should be a different outcome for him. In his last four starts here, he has a 7.75 average finishing position including a second place finish in the fall race last year. Look for lady luck to finally be on his side as Larson will take the checkered flag and solidify his spot in the “playoffs.”
One of my sleepers this week is Matt Kenseth. This week Kenseth is returning from a three week hiatus and while it’s been a season to forget so far for him, New Hampshire is easily his best track. In his last four starts, he has an average finish of 2.50, the best of anyone in the field and even though he is no longer driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, I still think that he can put together a decent run to get his team back on track. Kenseth should be in contention for a good result on Sunday.
(All stats and information used in this article is brought to you by the good folks at driveraverages.com and Racing-Refrence.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.