With the summer off week behind us, the 2nd half of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup season will about to get underway with road-racing at Sonoma Raceway this coming Sunday, and it will also be the last FOX/FS1 telecast of the season, meaning the last time we'll see Larry McReynolds in the broadcast booth as he makes room for Jeff Gordon in the 2016 season. Also it's the last time we'll hear from Darrell Waltrip, Vince Welch, Jamie Little and the rest of the FOX crew until next year. Beginning with the July 4th weekend, we'll see the return of NBC Sports returning to NASCAR. Well as we get ready for road-racing, it's time for me to give opinions of the first 15 races of the season.
At nearly the midway point of the season, it looks like it will be a Kevin Harvick/Kurt Busch/Jimmie Johnson fight for the championship, although things will change and reset after Richmond. Through 15 races, Harvick has led laps in every race, winning at Las Vegas & Phoenix, as well as securing 10 top-2 finishes so far in this season. Jimmie Johnson has won 4 races, including his 10th win at Dover, Texas, Atlanta and Kansas. 3 of those races are on 1.5 mile tracks, which is crucial in every season. Kurt Busch missed the 1st 3 races of the season when he was suspended by NASCAR, but has rebounded quickly with dominating performances at Fontana & Richmond (won), while going off-pit strategy to win at Michigan. Martin Truex, Jr. may finally have his chance at a championship, while dominating the Coca-Cola 600, Dover and eventually winning at Pocono. Those are 4 drivers who are not going away.
Kyle Busch missed the first 11 races and so far has been up-and-down, with 2 top-11 finishes and 2 DNFs. He is 173 points behind 30th Place Justin Allgaier in the Chase, and if he wants to secure a Chase spot, needs to get going and win races. Also, drivers like Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Larson, Kasey Kahne and others do not have a win yet in 2015, so with 11 races to the Chase, we could see multiple drivers hit victory lane.
The schedule has also been positive, with the early West-Coast Swing, as well as night races at Kansas, Charlotte and even Texas. However, some changes I'd like to see early on is a night race in Bristol (both races should be on a Saturday night), Richmond remain a Saturday night race, and Daytona 500 should start at 3pm ET. We'll see what NASCAR says.
So, with 21 races to go of the season, alot can happen.
INDYCAR
It's also past the halfway point of the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series. After Juan Pablo Montoya won his 2nd Indy 500, the Detroit doubleheader was weather-plagued and exciting with wins by Carlos Munoz & Sebastien Bourdais. Scott Dixon won the fastest Texas race in IndyCar history and Josef Newgarden chose a different pit-strategy to win at Toronto. 6 races remain this season. 4 of them are on ovals, so alot can happen. The ovals start this Saturday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA.
FORMULA ONE
We are nearly halfway in the 2015 F1 season, and just like last year, it's a battle of Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton & Nico Rosberg have combined to win 7 of the 8 races ran so far this year. Question is who will win the championship. It all depends on who wins the most races. Rosberg won last weekend's race in Austria, so will Hamilton win at Great Britain? We'll see.
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