Kyle Busch picked up another win. Kylebusch.com
This Sunday, we head for the tricky triangle at Pocono Motor Speedway for the annual Pocono 400. Pocono is a 2.5 mile triangle, the only race track on the schedule that has three turns as opposed to four. Last week, Kyle Busch dominated the Coca-Cola 600 as he led 377 laps en route to his fourth victory of 2018.
Throughout the weekend, Busch and his team never really had any competition as he not only won the race but the pole position as well. Aside from Busch, the other big story was the radio and the issues that the drivers faced. Somehow, a fan or a group of fans were able to tap into the radio communications of the drivers and their crew chiefs. This proved to be an issue with drivers like Busch, Alex Bowman, David Regan and Jamie McMurray. Busch who was leading at the time, was shocked to hear a muffled voice “how his tires were.” this caused Busch to be without communication with his team for five laps.
The snafu brought on debate of whether or not NASCAR should better encrypt the radios to where fans can not hear the teams' communications with the drivers. I personally believe taking away these capabilities amongst fans would make the sport less unique but if it comes down to where it is a distraction maybe upgrading their means of communications would not be a bad idea.
One of the biggest surprises of last week's race was Jamie McMurray after he was able to come out of Charlotte with his second top 10 of the season. The veteran was near the front for most of the race and even ran as high as second at one point. Even though McMurray did not have a car capable of winning, this run was still a big confidence booster for a driver that has struggled immensely this season. McMurray and his Earnhardt-Ganassi teammate Kyle Larson both were able to finish sixth and seventh respectfully. The Driver that I had winning last week was Denny Hamlin. Going into the weekend, Hamlin and his team had an impressive qualifying effort as Hamlin rolled off third; he would go on to finish exactly where he started in third.
Kevin Harvick came into the week as one of the heavy favorites to take his third Coca-Cola 600. Prior to the weekend, he won the last three races at Dover, Kansas and the All-Star race. Going into the race, Harvick was not able to make a qualifying attempt and was forced to start last. When the race began, Harvick appeared to be on the move but on lap 85, he cut down a tire and slammed the wall in turn four ending his day. Look for Harvick to be a threat to bounce back at Pocono this sunday.
The favorite going into this weekend is Brad Keselowski. Over the past four races here at Pocono, Keselowski has an average finish of 3.75 and has not finished lower than fifth. He also has a victory here in 2011 when he beat Busch for his third career victory. Not only was this win important for that season for Brad, it was also a major step forward for his career as he went on to win two more races that season at Bristol and Dover and then win the championship the following year. Look for Brad and his team to try and duplicate what he did then and get his first win of 2018 and solidify his spot in the chase.
The driver that I predict will take the checkered flag is Kurt Busch. The 2004 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series Champion has flown under the radar this year. He has seven top-10s and two top fives and is currently sixth in the points standings. While he has been consistently in the top 10 for nearly half of the season, he still has yet to claim his first win of 2018.
This should change come Sunday. Kurt is going to a race track where he has ran well at over the years, as in his 33 starts, Busch has won here three times. In all active drivers, only Denny Hamlin has more wins here. Look for Kurt Busch to become the third Stewart-Haas racing car to go to victory lane in 2018.
A dark horse driver to keep an eye on this week is Ricky Stenhouse Jr. as 2018 has been pretty solid for the sixth-year driver as he has four top 10s and two top fives so far. He currently sits in 15th in the points and is in contention to make the playoffs for a second consecutive year. By no means has Pocono been a good race track for Stenhouse Jr. In fact, he has never finished higher than 11th here but I think this weekend will be different. Last week he claimed his third top 10 of the season in the Coca-Cola 600, so look for Stenhouse to build on last week as he continues to try and get Roush Racing back on track.
(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.