Sunday, November 20, 2016

NASCAR's Fiery Finale

So today was the last NASCAR race of the 2016 season. It was in Florida. I thought I would watch the end, and glad I did.  Without going into detail, they have a system of determining the overall season champion and there were four racers eligible for the season championship.  Despite winning two races this year, our favorite driver, Martin Truex, was not eligible to be the season champion. Why is he our favorite?  Because the owner of his car, Barney Visser, is a customer of AgroLiquid on a very large farm near Denver.  (Check out the May 30 blog post when Martin won the Coca-Cola 600). But he was one of forty drivers that wanted to win the race anyway.  

What's this?  An interview after a crash?  What happened.
 Well on a re-start with only a few laps left, there was a chain reaction wreck, and for some reason his car caught on fire.  But he was not the one who caused it, but did pay the consequences.
 No he is not still racing.  It just takes a while to come to a stop when racing, plus it looks like his view might be somewhat obstructed.
 He did eventually get stopped and quickly jumped out...unhurt.  Not even a singed toe.  Well that was a tough way to end the race for Martin.  But it was a successful year for the 78 with two victories.  
Here is winner of both the race and the season championship: Jimmy Johnson.  This is his seventh championship.  And he is only 41 years old.  But now he is tied for the most championships with Richard Petty and Dale Earhardt.  (Check out the blog on July 28, 2014 when I saw Richard Petty at the Ag Ph.D Field Day.)
So that made for some exciting Sunday TV.  Hopefully I can report on Martin's victory next February when the 2017 season kicks off at the Daytona 500.