Motorsports Monday – Over Overtimes? Hamlin’s Hopes Are Down Again

It’s understandable that nearly every top-flight NASCAR race has gone to overtime. Both the Xfinity Series and Cup races at Watkins Glen went to extra laps over the weekend, bringing the total to 27 in NASCAR’s top three divisions. Sunday’s Cup race was a record-breaking 12th overtime, and the sport is on pace to break the National Touring Series’ all-time record of 29, set in 2023.

The play-offs are a double-edged sword. The latest trend was evident at The Glen this weekend, when both races featured multiple crashes, over-aggressive riding and carnage. But without the play-off, the incredible finishes between Chris Buescher and Shane Van Gisbergen would not have happened.

NASCAR doesn’t seem particularly interested in making any changes at this point, but that doesn’t mean drivers like what happens in the extra laps.

“It’s crazy that all these races always come down to this,” Martin Truex Jr. said after Sunday’s race. “I just don’t understand how guys can call themselves the best in the world when they’re just running over everybody on the restarts at the end of these races. It’s very frustrating, but that’s the way it is these days. I’m out of here.”

It’s interesting that when the Truck Series was going through a period of aggressive racing, NASCAR stepped in to send a message that, in most cases, resonated with the division. Many drivers, including Cup regulars, also spoke openly about what they saw in NASCAR’s third division.

But now, at least in the extra time, it’s almost a free-for-all, not just at the front of the pack. Drivers in the middle of the pack were making insanely aggressive moves that only led to more accidents and additional warnings.

It seems that the fierce battle, which included contact but was respectful, between Buescher and Van Gisbergen fighting for victory is an anomaly. The sporting spirit and respect on the racetrack are largely remnants of a bygone era, the extinction of which was fuelled by the introduction of play-offs.

Defending Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney has been the victim of early-race crashes in two of the last three races. Blaney was an innocent bystander when Martin Truex Jr. lost control on the second lap of the Southern 500 at Darlington over Labor Day weekend.

He didn’t even make it that far into Watkins Glen when Blaney was caught in a multi-car accident on the first lap. He finished last and now sits eighth overall with a 29-point lead over the cutoff line heading into Bristol on Saturday night, the final race of the first round of the Playoffs.

Blaney, however, was unhappy with NASCAR’s decision to tow his car directly to the garage rather than allow his team to assess the damage and possibly make repairs.

“At least let us look at it?” Blaney said as he returned to the garage. “They’re going to assess how it is, tow you back to the garage and not even give you a chance to look at it on the pit road and fix it? Like it’s not right.

“They said if I couldn’t come back, they’d take you to the garage. Well, you can’t come back on four flat tires, they’d take you to the pits, so where’s that rule? Why don’t you just let us watch?”

It turned out that Blaney’s car had a broken steering column, so he couldn’t get back to pit road under his own power. NASCAR did follow the rules to the letter.

However, given the scale of the situation as a Playoff driver, the incident may prompt the sanctioning body to reconsider the wording of the rule and perhaps give teams the opportunity to make their own decision as to whether to attempt to repair the damage under the guise of the Damaged Vehicle Clock and be forced to give in. The end result could be the same, but allowing teams to evaluate their cars themselves rather than making the decision for them may be a better option moving forward.

All eyes were on Denny Hamlin at Watkins Glen as the No. 11 team saw their strategic plan fall apart in the first round of the Playoffs in Atlanta. Hamlin had accumulated just 13 points in the ATL and was looking to make up ground at The Glen.

It didn’t happen.

Hamlin’s weekend began with a spin in Saturday’s practice session, and a lack of speed buried him back in the pack with a 30th-place qualifying finish. Hamlin then faced more challenges when he was involved in a crash on the first lap, as well as another later in the race.

All of this dropped Hamlin to 23rd and out of the playoff picture.

But with Bristol on the horizon, where Hamlin has won the last two races, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver is still confident heading into Saturday’s final race of the first round.

“I feel like we can go there and win,” Hamlin said after Sunday’s race. “… We feel like we control our destiny there.”

If Hamlin is wrong, it will be another chapter in his failure to win the Cup Series.

The term “generational talent” has been thrown around a lot lately. It’s a reasonable description of Kyle Larson, given his ability to win races and compete in everything from NASCAR race cars to Indy cars, sprint cars and dirt late models.

But there is one name that comes closer to earning this term and that is Connor Zilisch.

The 18-year-old phenom won his first Xfinity Series start at Watkins Glen on Saturday, less than 24 hours after crushing the entire field in Friday’s ARCA Menards Series race.

Zilisch has victories in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring, as well as successes in the CARS Tour, Truck Series and IMSA. Zilisch became the seventh driver in Xfinity history to win his first race in NASCAR’s second division.

He will now race full-time for JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series in 2025, while continuing to pursue other opportunities to compete in multiple motorsports disciplines. He has already proven he can compete.

Not bad for a kid who wasn’t born until after the 2006 release of Cars.

“Ka-Chow”, indeed.

Dells Raceway Park hosted the 59th edition of the National Short Track Championship” over the weekend, the Wisconsin track taking over the prestigious Midwest event after Rockford Speedway closed at the end of last season. Three days of racing took place on the 1/3-mile track with various divisions led by the UMA Super Late Models. Ryan Farrell of Big Bend, Wisconsin, topped the 24-car field in the High Deery 150, named for the legendary Rockford owner/promoter who started the special end-of-season trend with the first NSTC. It was great to see the tradition live on and hopefully the event will thrive in its new home.