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This weekend, the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series makes its second trip to Long Pond, Pennsylvania for the Gander RV 400 at Pocono Raceway. Unlike last time, this track will feature a new traction control compound to help provide for more traction and more racing lines around the track. With this track being as wide as it is, this possibly could really improve the product on the track. The decision received positive feedback from two time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin. In an interview with journalist Jim Utter, he was quoted as saying "I've been an advocate for using traction compound at Pocono for a while now. It gives us much more lane options and that's what this aero package needs." This is a welcomed change after the last race here was fairly lackluster with Kyle Busch pretty much running away and winning by two seconds. We shall see what the future holds and if there are more lead changes than we saw back in June.
Last week, Kevin Harvick was able to claim his first win of 2019. He was able to hold off Denny Hamlin and score not only his first win but his team's first win as well. The conclusion of this race continued with NASCAR's recent run of fairly tame races with incredible finishes. On the last lap, Hamlin attempted to move Harvick out of the way but to no avail as he was able to save the car and drive to victory. Getting this victory was huge for him as he is now guaranteed a spot in the round of 16 and while he has run well enough to be in pretty good shape, they needed to get this monkey off their backs. Look for Harvick and his team to be legitimate favorites to win the title.
As we draw closer to the playoffs, the race to crack the top 16 is heating up. With nine drivers having already clinched a spot by winning, everyone else is battling to get above the sixteenth place cut-line in points. The most notable of those drivers is Jimmie Johnson. He currently sits 17 points out of the chase behind Clint Bowyer. This is truly uncharted waters for the seven time champion, as he has never missed the postseason since it was implemented back in 2004.
These last couple of weeks for Johnson have been horrendous as he has finished 30th in back to back races. Many have begun to speculate about what is going on with this team and why they are struggling as bad as they are. One aspect that most point to is the split between Jimmie Johnson and longtime crew chief Chad Kanus, while this definitely has some impact on his performance, one of the main reasons I believe is because of their inability to adapt to stage racing. Since stage racing was implemented back in 2017, Jimmie has all of one stage victory so he is definitely leaving a lot of points on the table when it comes to getting into the playoffs and whether we like it or not, stage racing is not going away anytime soon. This season Jimmie has amassed only 47 stage points from each race and with the drivers ahead of him and behind him in the standings accumulating more points, it doesn't seem to be getting any easier for him to get into the chase at the rate he is going. Overall, while he has shown flashes of being the driver of old a win is almost essential to get him into the playoffs. This week at Pocono, he is going to a track where he has won three times but has struggled as of late as his average finish here since 2017 has been 23rd. Jimmie will definitely be a driver to keep an eye on come Sunday as he looks to get back into the chase.
The driver I have winning is Erik Jones. Overall, he has been on a roll for the last two weeks as he has finished in third place at Kentucky and New Hampshire and after a difficult start to the season, he is beginning to establish himself as a driver that can contend for wins on a weekly basis and now he gets to race at a track where he has performed extremely well. Over the course of his five starts at Pocono, he has finished in the top five three times including a third place finish here back in June. Going into this season, this team has flown under the radar and has quietly been improving week in and week out and now they will finally get to reap the rewards of their hard work. I look for Erik to get his second career win come Sunday and get each of the four Joe Gibbs Racing cars comfortably into 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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Astros keep doing this, and it’s getting hard to ignore
Jun 25, 2025, 10:01 pm
While the rolling Astros have a week of possible World Series preview matchups against the Phillies and Cubs, it’s the Rockets who made the biggest local sports headline with their acquisition of Kevin Durant. What a move! Of course there is risk involved in trading for a guy soon to turn 37 years old and who carries an injury history, but balancing risk vs. reward is a part of the game. This is a fabulous move for the Rockets. It’s understood that there are dissenters to this view. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, including people with the wrong opinion! Let’s dig in.
The Rockets had a wonderful season in winning 52 games before their disappointing first-round playoff loss to the Warriors, but like everyone else in the Western Conference, they were nowhere close to Oklahoma City’s caliber. While they finished second in the West, the Rockets only finished four games ahead of the play-in. That letting the stew simmer with further growth among their young players would yield true championship contention was no given for 2025-26 or beyond.
Kevin Durant is one of the 10 greatest offensive players the NBA has ever seen. Among his current contemporaries only Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic make that list. For instance, Durant offensively has clearly been better than the late and legendary Kobe Bryant. To view it from a Houston perspective, Durant has been an indisputably greater offensive force than the amazing Hakeem Olajuwon. But this is not a nostalgia trip in which the Rockets are trading for a guy based on what he used to be. While Durant could hit the wall at any point, living in fear that it’s about to happen is no way to live because KD, approaching his 18th NBA season, is still an elite offensive player.
As to the durability concern, Durant played more games (62) this past season than did Fred VanVleet, Jabari Smith, and Tari Eason. The season before he played more games (75) than did VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, and Alperen Sengun. In each of the last two seasons Durant averaged more minutes per game (36.9) than any Rocket. That was stupid and/or desperate of the Suns, the Rockets will be smarter. Not that the workload eroded Durant’s production or efficiency. Over the two seasons he averaged almost 27 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor, 42 percent from behind the three-point line, and 85 percent from the free throw line. Awesomeness. The Rockets made the leap to being a very good team despite a frankly crummy half-court offense. The Rockets ranked 21st among the 30 NBA teams in three-point percentage, and dead last in free throw percentage. Amen Thompson has an array of skills and looks poised to be a unique star. Alas, Thompson has no credible jump shot. VanVleet is not a creator, Smith has limited handle. Adding Durant directly addresses the Rockets’ most glaring weakness.
The price the Rockets paid was in the big picture, minimal, unless you think Jalen Green is going to become a bonafide star. Green is still just 23 years old and spectacular athletically, but nothing he has done over four pro seasons suggests he’s on the cusp of greatness. In no season has Green even shot the league average from the floor or from three. His defense has never been as good as it should be given his athleticism. Compared to some other two-guards who made the NBA move one year removed from high school, four seasons into his career Green is waaaaaay behind where Shae Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, and Devin Booker were four seasons in, and now well behind his draft classmate Cade Cunningham. Dillon Brooks was a solid pro in two seasons here and shot a career-best from three in 2024-2025, but he’s being replaced by Kevin Durant! In terms of the draft pick capital sent to Phoenix, five second round picks are essentially meaningless. The Rockets have multiple extra first round picks in the coming years. As for the sole first-rounder dealt away, whichever player the Rockets would have taken 10th Wednesday night would have been rather unlikely to crack the playing rotation.
VanVleet signs extension
Re-signing Fred VanVleet to a two-year, 50 million dollar guarantee is sensible. In a vacuum, VanVleet was substantially overpaid at the over 40 mil he made per season the last two. He’s a middle-of-the-pack starting point guard. But his professionalism and headiness brought major value to the Rockets’ kiddie corps while their payroll was otherwise very low. Ideally, Reed Sheppard makes a leap to look like an NBA lead guard in his second season, after a pretty much zippo of a rookie campaign. Sheppard is supposed to be a lights-out shooter. For the Rockets to max out, they need two sharpshooters on the court to balance Thompson’s presence.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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