Photo via: Kylebusch.com
This week, the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series heads for Wine Country in Sonoma California for the Toyota Save Mart 350. This track is the first of three road courses on the schedule. Since 1989, this track has been one of NASCAR's most prolific tracks on the NASCAR racing circuit. This year the track will bring back the "carousel" around corners 4-7 to commemorate this track's rich fifty year history. This decision was met with great praise by fans and drivers alike as it adds a new dimension to the race. The section features an elevation change and plenty of passing zones. This should definitely be the place to watch come Sunday.
While the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series was on an off-week after Joey Logano went on to victory at Michigan, both the Gander Outdoor Truck and Xfinity Series drivers were in Iowa. While rising star Christopher Bell was easily able to race to victory in the Xfinity race, the controversy occurred during the truck race. Early on, Austin Hill and Johnny Sauter were involved in an altercation after Hill hit the right rear quarter panel of Sauter causing him to crash into the wall. During a caution period, Sauter retaliated by T-Boning Hill into the turn two wall. In response to this, NASCAR parked Sauter for the duration of the race.
To add insult to injury, on Tuesday it was announced that he would be suspended for this week's race at Gateway motor speedway. While many people didn't agree with NASCAR's sanctions, I think that it was the right call. What he did was inexcusable, he not only damaged his own truck more but he also nearly ruined Austin's day. While I can understand his frustration, wrecking someone under caution is not a move that will do you many favors with the powers that be. On the bright side, he will not lose his eligibility for the playoffs which would usually happen should a driver be suspension.
After all the dust settled, Ross Chastain went on to win his second race of the season until he failed post-race inspection after his truck was deemed too low. This gave the victory to second place finisher Brett Moffitt who led a grand total of zero laps. It was simply one of the most bizarre weekends in NASCAR history as a precedent has been set for drivers who fail inspection in all three levels of NASCAR. While I hate to see him lose a race in something that he didn't have a lot to do with, it is good to see NASCAR stick by the rules they set at the beginning of the season. It will definitely make drivers and teams think twice before they try and skate by the rules.
The driver that I have winning this week is Kurt Busch. Over the course of Kurt's Hall Of Fame worthy career, he has really evolved into one of the elite road course drivers on the grid. You have to go all the way back to 2014 to find the last time Kurt finished outside of the top ten here. He just seems to know this track inside and out and while there will be a new layout this week, I think he will have no issue figuring out this race track. I look for Busch to continue his stellar 2019 with his first win of the season.
(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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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.”