Larson Finally Breaks Through

Kyle Larson finally took home the checkered flag.

His start to the 2017 season has been remarkable. He came close to grabbing the Daytona 500 and has only followed that up with three 2nd place finishes and a victory. 

The Chip Ganassi stable seems to have things pretty figured out this season. Larson's teammate Jamie McMurray is performing consistently in the top 10. It seems the team is benefitting the most from the Stewart-Haas switch to Ford. 

The extra help from Chevy and the lowest downforce these drivers have dealt with since the Car of Tomorrow debuted, has played right into Larson's pocket. The former dirt ringer likes his cars sliding around the track a paper widths from the wall. 

There was never any doubt that Larson had talent. It became apparent in his second ever start in the Xfinity series when he took Kyle Busch to the line at Bristol. His two year and change career in the Cup series has been somewhat up and down. The team admitted they found something during their test at Pocono last summer. Since that test, Larson has been wheeling. 

His win last summer at Michigan seemed to take the monkey off of his back. If it hadn't been for some bad luck, untimely cautions, and some unwanted incidents, Larson would have much more than two career victories. 

This guy is going to take this season by storm. He has the car beneath him to match his driving skill. His combination of speed and aggressiveness is unique. Look out NASCAR, your newest star was born Sunday. 

How Far I've Come

Blogging Ain't Easy

These days blogging takes effort. Especially when your blog focuses on covering a sport that requires weekly updates. With so many blogs available today, the best ones get their ideas out quickly. It's also important to be entertaining. Grabbing the readers attention and keeping may be the most important part of this whole thing. Starting with a headline that captures them from the beginning, you have to be mindful of the reader the entire post. Blogging is also a growing world. It grows daily and almost everyone thinks they can write one. That makes it even more important to stick out.

Change is Good

In the beginning of my blog I felt it was going to be a simple news blog. Just simple updates from the world of racing. Instead, it evolved into much more of an opinion oriented blog. I enjoy throwing my opinion out there with updates of the sport. The best posts I've written are heavy in opinion. Although I still do some reporting, opinion has turned into my bread and butter.

Blogging and Me

Blogging is very important to my major. I am pro media and am focusing on sports writing and opinion. This blog helps me practice my writing for publishing. It also helps me with getting recognition covering this sport. For future employers it allows to see an archive of written pieces about racing. It may not have an affect on my career a long way down the road, but in those early job hunts it could play a huge part.

An Everyday Fan

Blogging for a sport I love has changed me. It's made me focus more on the daily news of racing. It's taken me from a Sunday only fan, to an everyday fan. I have to pay attention to every little detail of the sport. I can't miss an opportunity to post something, especially something newsworthy. I've begun paying attention to various racing leagues, as well. Although this blog focuses NASCAR, the entire racing world is entwined and this blog has helped me realize that.

Playing For Keeps

The most important lesson to me has to be how this can affect my career. This has given a platform to post in the genre I would most like to work in. Knowing that others have been hired because of their blogs has made me focus on making sure my work is professional. I make sure all of my posts are something that I would want perspective employers to look at. I think that is what has stood out to me the most. Also, the grammar lessons aren't half bad.

Blogging in Racing

            In the world of racing journalism, blogging has long played an important role. Arguably, more of a role than any other sport. The website Jayski.com began in the early days of blogging. They have broken many stories that beat other racing publications, even those bigger media outlets.

            Recently, more and more racing journalists have begun switching to their own media coverage on their blogs. Jeff Gluck has had a long career covering NASCAR for many different major publications. This year he decided to leave his post at the U.S.A Today and focus all of his coverage on his blog. The flexibility and time around his family were the reasons for his switch.

            More coverage is another advantage of this trend. The sport is so vast and there are so many levels, the big publications tend to ignore the lower series. With the blogging world becoming bigger in racing, all of the series get covered. It makes it easier to hear about and know the upcoming drivers who will become the future stars of the sport. Blogging is one of the greatest things in the coverage of racing.

            Blogging is important to the racing world and is vital to the coverage of the sport. This trend is not surprising as it has been around since the beginning of the internet. With the internet, racing coverage has become more in depth and has never been better than it is right now. That is all thanks to blogging.

Atlanta: Recap, Repave, and more

The Folds of Honor Quiktrip 500 was held at Atlanta Motor Speedway Sunday. The big talk around the garage was this being the last race on the old surface.

Shortly before the race, news broke that the track may consider holding off on the repaving. The wrong idea if you ask me.

While the old surfaces create multilane racing, tire fall off, and poor handling race cars, there is a point when the surface is too old.

Atlanta is too old. Strategy almost gets taken out of your hands. There isn't even an option, if you've raced more than 5 laps, you pit. No matter what. If you stay out, you'll find yourself a lap down with no chance to make it up.

Furthermore, these old surface tracks tend to have one car that dominates the entire race. For example, Kevin Harvick leading almost 300 laps of a 325 lap race. It simply allows one car to nail the setup and that's all she wrote.

Not to mention the threat of weather hindering the entire day. A 30 minute shower could kill the chance of any on-track action. This is exactly why Texas was forced to repave this off-season.

Atlanta should not put this off. Repave now. The sooner, the better. Get that new asphalt broken in as soon as possible. It has to happen.

Now, on to the race. No surprise that Harvick dominated the majority of this thing. The guy has lead more laps at Atlanta over the last 4 years than the previous three leaders combined. He just can't manage to finish the job. His last win came in 2001.

Losing this week was entirely of his own accord. Despite his fans trying to blame the 3 for causing that late race caution, which I thought was a weak move by the RCR team, Harvick was the one who got caught speeding on pit road.

Then the race seemed to fall in the hands of Kyle Larson. Until he chose to run a line that he hadn't touched all day. I didn't understand it, but Brad Keselowski may have been too good on the short run.

For a raceday dominated by Harvick, Keselowski grabbed the checkered. Ford is 2/2 on the season. Picking up SHR may have been the best thing to happen to the blue oval in years.