I’m writing this three days after I meant to write it, and two days after it reasonably could have been written, so let’s just get that out of the way. I was supposed to recap the two most important non-NIT related sporting events from this past weekend: Burnley’s match with Bournemouth and the Pennzoil 400, NASCAR’s Cup Series race in Las Vegas. I did not recap them. But now I’m recapping them. Here’s that recap:
Burnley
Glory of all glories. The Burnley’s looked like they were in trouble at a few points, especially if you weren’t actually watching the game and just saw reports of goals followed by reports of heroic saves by VAR. In the most exciting thing that’s ever happened in a game of soccer, VAR simultaneously negated a Bournemouth goal and gave Burnley a penalty kick, which Burnley turned into their second goal (obviously) en route to a three-nil victory. The Burnley’s are now tenth in the table, which might or might not be better than where they started the weekend (were they eleventh?), but they’re within three points of a Europa League bid, which is what we’re all after anyway. Exciting times for Britain’s Team.
NASCAR
First off, since we last spoke about NASCAR on this website, we’ve learned that Ryan Newman is not only alive, but is in good enough health that he’s talking about returning to racing this season. The report is that he’s suffering from a head injury but no other injuries of note, and he’s been well enough to go fishing.
Now, the race:
Chase Elliott (NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver, which I just learned is an actual award voted on by fans) had the best car for most of the day but went down due to a flat tire late in the race. Ryan Blaney had been up there with him (Blaney has been arbitrarily chosen as our favorite driver around here because he’s from the Midwest, has good hair, is friends with Bubba Wallace who seems cool, and put out a couple sepia-toned old-fashioned country-accompanied video clips before the Daytona 500), and was in the lead with five laps to go, trying to hold off a hard-charging Alex Bowman.
Then, a caution.
I forget what exactly happened, but Ross Chastain—who was filling in for Newman—was the guy who got the caution, and a decision arose for crew chiefs regarding whether to have their drivers pit and grab fresh tires or stay out during the caution and hold position. Blaney pitted. Bowman pitted. Joey Logano, who was in third place, did not pit. And when the race restarted, things got a little wide coming through under the white flag, leading to a final caution and not enough time for those with fresh tires to gain on those who’d stayed out under caution. Logano won.
The implications of that aren’t that surprising. Logano’s one of the better drivers out there, and was assumed to make the playoffs, but he’s locked in now. Blaney and Bowman have each made the playoffs at least a couple years in a row, so the missed opportunity isn’t a disaster for either of them—yet, anyway—and beyond the two of them, it’s so early in the season that no one is too deep in the standings to climb out.
***
Next Up
Burnley plays at Newcastle Saturday morning, trying to continue their rise up the table.
NASCAR goes to California, which is the term used for the track in Fontana, CA, as opposed to the one up in Sonoma. The Auto Club 400 is what they call it. We may or may not have limited coverage at likely inopportune times. The Cup Series race is Sunday. There’s something going on with Kyle Busch and the truck series too, but I don’t think it’s happening this weekend, so remind me to figure out what exactly that all is.
