Keep an eye on Kyle Larson this weekend. Photo via: Wiki Commons.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads west for the Wise Power 400 in Fontana, California to kick off its west coast swing. It’s hard to believe it, but this will be the first race at this track since 2019. Since then, this massive two-mile oval has set dormant both figuratively and literally as there are many questions regarding its future. Back in 2020, it was announced that the track would be reconfigured to a half-mile short track. This was met with mixed reactions among fans and drivers alike. There were many questions about how this would work. How were they going to actively take a two and a half-mile racetrack and turn it into a short track, and most importantly, when? The long-term goal was to run a final race on this current configuration last year, but due to pandemic-related reasons, NASCAR couldn’t go to the track, and now it has moved the renovations back a year. There is even a chance they don’t change it all. Only time will tell. For now, in the track's current iteration, we see a lot of bumps in the racing surface which makes it difficult on tires. There is a good chance we see tire wear come into play this weekend.
Last weekend at Daytona, Austin Cindric took home his first career victory. The race was pretty much your typical race at Daytona, everyone sort of laid back after the first big wreck, then went right back to crashing at the end.
The finish was rather controversial as Cindric threw a block forcing his teammate Ryan Blaney into the wall and causing a melee at the finish line. Over the radio, Blaney exclaimed “I’m going to kill that kid,” then when interviewed outside the infield care center, Blaney thanked everyone but his rookie teammate. This could be an interesting storyline going forward, but more than likely Roger Penske will step in. I don’t see this progressing much further, after all it was for the Daytona 500, and you don’t get many opportunities to win the biggest race of the year.
Bubba Wallce continues to improve on his superspeedway efforts, he backed up his victory at Talladega in the fall last season with another impressive second place finish in the 500. In the final 100 yards, it looked like Wallace was gaining momentum to take the victory, but simply ran out of time. While he was disappointed he didn’t get the victory, this could be a really big building block for the rest of the season. I look for the 23XII racing team to make great strides this year
After all of the dust settles at Daytona, this week we will see a bit more of the usual suspects at the front. This Sunday will be no different as I am taking the defending champion Kyle Larson to win. Even in the early parts of his career, Larson always dominated these tracks like Auto Club and Michigan. At one point, he had four victories in a row on these types of tracks. Overall, he seems to be able to run the outside around the wall here better than anyone and find grip where no one else can. Another thing to consider is how much better a racecar he will have this time around as opposed to his last start here in 2019. I look for Larson to begin his title defense with a win at Auto Club come Sunday.
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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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