Denny Hamlin won his second race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season in a rain-shortened Toyota 500 at Darlington Raceway.
Hamlin was leading the race when the caution came out with 28 laps remaining when Kyle Busch punted Chase Elliott on the frontstetch. Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet made heavy contact with the inside wall resulting in some crumpled sheet metal.
Elliott displayed his frustration with Busch after exiting his race car, displaying the middle-finger gesture to Busch as he drove by in Turn 1 during the final caution period of the race. (I am sure that Chase was letting Rowdy know that he still thinks that Rowdy is number one in Chase’s heart! Or he might have been think that “it takes all kinds of kinds”.) Elliott was scored 38th in the final results.
After a brief red-flag period, NASCAR officials made the race official with 22 laps to go after bringing the field to a stop on pit road.
Busch finished second in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, followed by Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Erik Jones to round out the top-five finishers.
Clint Bowyer swept both stages in Wednesday night’s rain-delayed race at the 1.3660-mile egg-shaped South Carolina oval, but following a spin with 34 laps remaining, he finished 22nd after a right-rear tire went down on the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.
THE FRATERNAL ORDER OF THE GO FAST
Not a single player was riding along with The Delivernator, Denny Hamlin, Wednesday evening at Darlington. So, once again, this prestigious weekly award will return to “the closet”!
THE MOVERS AND THE SHAKERS
The general analysis of this week’s results is the all the players faired fairly well for this mid-week race at “the track too tough to tame”.
The top scorers of the race is the duo of Dan Then Numbers Cruncher and Your Most Humble Sheriff! This somewhat mismatched tandem was rooting for Sunday’s winner “Freaky Fast” Kevin Harvick. They obviously really thought that “The Closer” could go back-to-back at Darlington, which did not happen. Nevertheless, each racked up a nifty 40 points to add to their totals!
Snoopy Dawn, Amber The Extremely Lucky Cheddar Head, and Jeremy The Coach picked up 39 points for this race. Even though the three players all earned the same amounts of points, the reward came from two different drivers. The Coach and The Cheddar Head were jointly supporting Sliced Bread, Joey Logano, at “The Lady In Black” Wednesday. But Snoopy received her points from That Jones Boy, Erik.
Meanwhile, Carlton The Doorman and Carole, aka, Rudy both thought that “Blazingly Bad” Brad Keselowski would have a much better race than the results that he ended up with. But it was still worth 33 points to this duo.
Edie The Las Vegas Super Star and Jim, aka Chiefy, banded together in their support for Mr. Seven-Time, Jimmie Johnson. It turned out to be worth 29 points for their loyalty.
Lastly, Linda The Cookie Mom and her partner in crime, Bernie The Bay Area Bandit, was rooting for The Rocket Man, Ryan Newman, at Darlington. Even though Newman did not win the race, he still delivered 23 points for these ladies.
This was pretty much a status quo week in the standings, five of the eleven players remained in their previous position, and six players changed zip codes, but only in small amounts.
The single biggest mover this race was Jeremy The Coach. The 39 points that he racked up for Darlington 2 was enough to catapult him up four (4) positions landing him in a tie for 6th place.
Linda The Cookie Mom stumbled and fell down two (2) places to tied for 10 place. More about her when I introduce The Outhouse inhabitants!
Bernie The Bay Area Bandit, Jim, aka Chiefy, Edie The Las Vegas Super and Carlton the Doorman all slid one position. La Bandita, Chiefy, fell one (1) place now residing in a tie for 6th. The Super Star, likewise, fell one spot and sits in 8th place. The Doorman, however, stepped up one place to sit in 9th spot now.
STRAIGHT FROM THE CRAPPER
This week The Crappiest Pick of The Week award gets to be shared by Linda The Cookie Mom and Bernie The Bay Area Bandit. Even though they each secured 23 points, which in most weeks would be a medium score and safe from ridicule, not so this week!
Additionally, The Cookie Mom gets to share another of our weekly prestigious awards. This week she moved into The Outhouse and is roommates with Dan The Numbers Dude. It is really fortunate that we had ten weeks down time with the COVID-19 Shelter In House. That has allowed our contractors to do some much need interior redesign on The Outhouse. It is now configured for up to four residents to comfortably share these confines!
Sunday Memorial Day weekend, NASCAR will have a home game at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, the Coca Cola 600.
TIL NEXT TIME, PULL YOUR BELTS TIGHT AND LET’S GO RACIN’!