Mister Consistency Takes Victory

October 12th is turning out to be a motorsport epic morning. Nascar, live from Charlotte was my first stop of the night. The night race in the US started at 1am Irish time.

It’s the first time I’ve pulled an all nighter for Nascar. Usually I’ve taped them, because staying up without sleep for a race, it’s quiet difficult. It goes to show how things have changed, that I‘m happy to stay up till five am.

Charlotte didn’t disappoint either. The five hundred mile race had its thrills and spills before Jeff Burton ignited his title challenge with victory. The #31, who is a model for consistency, took fuel only on his final stop to maintain track position. The clear track was all important at Charlotte. On multiple times during the race, he who was out front, legged it.

Jimmie Johnson came home in sixth position after running up front all day. The #48 faded in the latter stages, but finished in front of Biffle. Carl Edwards had a torrid day. A pit under green to change tires due to a vibration but him a lap down before his car lost power. By the time the crew got the #99 restarted, he was 16 laps down.

The Coke 600 winner, Kasey Kahne finished second with Kurt Busch coming home in third. Kyle Busch put his nightmare start to the Chase behind him with fourth. The younger Busch bounced back from a lap down due to a drive through penalty is finally showing the sort of competitiveness that we saw for the first 26 races.

It was a day of what might of been for many, with the likes of Gordon, Stewart, Ragan, Vickers all running close to the front at some stage. All ended up running into difficulties, with Stewart and Ragan picking up pit lane speeding penalties. Gordon and Vickers both smacked the wall, damaging their cars. Recent performances by Vickers and Ragan show that both are due for a trip to victory lane sooner rather than later.

With his victory, Burton now moves into second spot. The question to be asked is – can he sustain a championship challenge. Consistency usually isn’t a problem for the #31, but he needs to raise his game to beat a driver of Johnson’s calibre.