NASCAR Coke Zero 400: Preview and Prediction
Who’s Not?
Going into Sonoma, Martin Truex Jr. was untouchable. He had a win in his back pocket and had finished top-10 in 14 of 15 races. All that changed when him and David Ragan got into it on the track. With no room to go, Truex Jr. and Ragan were side by side.
After Truex Jr. got into the side of Ragan and in front of him, Ragan got into the back end of Truex Jr.’s vehicle and sent him straight into the barrier. The barrier actually ended up shifting and as a result brought out the red flag, which brought the race to a halt.
Truex Jr. would finished 42nd and his string of top-10’s would be over. To add injury to insult, Truex Jr. was slowly reeling in Kevin Harvick on the points standings. The wreck dropped him back several points behind. However, with a win on hand, those points are inconsequential at this point.
This would be a good week for him to bounce back.
If finishing 42nd was a bad day for Martin Truex Jr., then finishing last in 43rd is something David Gilliland would like to forget as well. At Sonoma, Gilliland had one of those wrecks that was so insane, you’d have to see it to believe what had just happened.
Gilliland not only was buried at the bottom of the standings, his car was also buried under a large mound of tires. This season has been a struggle for Gilliland, and nothing has really been built into anything successful. Right now, he’s the definition of “Who’s Not?” when it comes to who’s hot and who’s not in NASCAR.
Carl Edwards was the other driver at Sonoma that had a run-in with David Ragan on the track. However, that incident appeared to be more of an accident as Edwards hit a bump and caught air. The end result was him and Ragan sliding off the track and hitting the barrier at an odd angle.
Since winning the Coca-Cola 600, Edwards hasn’t put anything together to jump into the mix of drivers that look to win a championship this season. He really hasn’t shown anything to believe he will capitalize off his victory.
He certainly could be playing it safe and test out the tracks as he gets ready for the stretch run, but his races have been anything but inspiring to say the least. He and the rest of Joe Gibbs Racing have a strong team and there’s a very good chance that all four drivers will be in “The Chase.”
He’s gonna need to work with his team and put together some strong finishes to show that he will be ready and a contender when it really matters.
While every NASCAR race comes with its fair share of wrecks and car mishaps, there is always that one driver that is truly the recipient of bad luck that you feel sorry for. Last week, that award went to AJ Allmendinger, who had won the pole for Sonoma, and looked like the strongest car on the track.
Then Allmendinger lost a fuel cell and fuel pressure and that was the end of his chances of winning a road race to get into “The Chase.” Last season, he won at Watkins Glen to get in, and this past week was his chance to do it again. He’ll have a good shot when NASCAR goes back to Watkins Glen in August, but this past week could have been a great day of celebration for him and his team.
Daytona probably isn’t his best bet to bounce back with heavyweights abound looking to dominate a track they’re good at. Allmendinger in all honesty will have one last shot at getting in during the next road race in August.
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