La conversación sobre el inicio de la temporada Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 2018 con la nueva camada de pilotos jóvenes subió de tono tras la victoria del veterano Kevin Harvick en Las Vegas y la mala fortuna del siete veces campeón Jimmie Johnson.
Tras el retiro de firmes candidatos al Salón de la Fama de la NASCAR como Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards y Dale Earnhardt Jr., y el ascenso de jóvenes como Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, William Byron y Daniel Suárez, entre otros, tiene el tema más vivo que nunca.
Harvick, de 42 años, empezó la polémica hace dos semanas cuando dijo que “había que enseñarle” a competir a los jóvenes en la máxima serie de la NASCAR, pero tras sus dos victorias consecutivas en Atlanta y LasVegas, sin duda tiene argumentos para hablar con autoridad.
Incredible couple weeks of being able to drive really fast race cars and park them in victory lane. More importantly getting to share these moments with a group of people that believes in everything each other does!! #100wins @jimmyjohns @BuschBeer @Mobil1 @FordPerformance
— Kevin Harvick (@KevinHarvick) March 5, 2018
Para Johnson, también de 42 años, las cosas no han ido tan bien como nos tiene acostumbrados y se unió a la discusión con un los “jóvenes” via emoji.
We over came some ud83dudca9 today. ud83eudd19
— Jimmie Johnson (@JimmieJohnson) March 5, 2018
How about those young guys! Oh wait… a 42 year old won. And won for the 2nd time this year… man I‘m happy to be 42. ud83dude0e
— Jimmie Johnson (@JimmieJohnson) March 5, 2018
I don‘t take it personal at all. I‘m just tired of hearing my age is related to my performance. https://t.co/74rcAhcCBM
— Jimmie Johnson (@JimmieJohnson) March 5, 2018
ud83cudfc1ud83cudfc1for the old guys!! With age brings wisdom!! https://t.co/c2eM0xWU0o
— Kevin Harvick (@KevinHarvick) March 5, 2018
Un piloto, no tan joven, se unió a las felicitaciones al campeón de 2014.
It‘s amazing how solid @KevinHarvick has been for @StewartHaasRcng. No better way to win 100th @NASCAR race then by dominating @LVMotorSpeedway. Way to go Kevin. #CHAMP
— Mario Andretti (@MarioAndretti) March 5, 2018
A pesar del dominio de Harvick, dos jóvenes, Larson y Blaney terminaron en el Top 5, pero el piloto de Chip Ganassi Racing sabe que tiene mucho camino por recorrer antes de alcanzar al No. 4.
Nice day for our @CreditOneBank team! 3rd all day long. Need a bit to keep up with the 4 but we‘re not far off from being dominant. ud83dudc4dud83cudffcud83dudc4dud83cudffc
— Kyle Larson (@KyleLarsonRacin) March 5, 2018
Larson — junto a Michael Waltrip — se aseguró de felicitar a Matt DiBenedetto, el piloto de 26 años, que terminó en el puesto 22.
Finished 22nd today…solid day for us! Beat a lot of cars on multiple times our budget and we take pride in overachieving like that as a small team! Proud of my guys ud83dudc4d pic.twitter.com/2XTvxKYx1E
— Matt DiBenedetto (@mattdracing) March 5, 2018
Damn good job buddy. You/your team is something that doesn‘t get near the exposure in our sport that you all deserve. Nice solid day again. https://t.co/fMwOKu6bBZ
— Kyle Larson (@KyleLarsonRacin) March 5, 2018
Thanks dude! One day I will be up there racin you for wins like the good ol days at Cycleland growing up! Haha https://t.co/qae5WPUSzX
— Matt DiBenedetto (@mattdracing) March 5, 2018
Glad I got to talk about @mattdracing on @NASCARONFOX today. Great run for him. 22nd is definitely over achieving for their small team. DiBurrito was also in the top 10 late in the #dayona500 before a wreck took him out. This guy can wheel it! Keep plugging buddy, happy for you.
— Michael Waltrip (@MW55) March 5, 2018
Thank you Mikey! That means a lot. We make the most of what we have as a small team and one day I plan to be in a position to be winning races! https://t.co/K9dMxeNTbj
— Matt DiBenedetto (@mattdracing) March 5, 2018
I want the world to know how impressive what you did today was. Two teams overachieved today. Yours and @KevinHarvick Congrats to both y‘all. @RodneyChilders4 Randy Cox @GoFasRacing32 @StewartHaasRcng https://t.co/JviYxj5zFi
— Michael Waltrip (@MW55) March 5, 2018
Kurt Busch, quien no tuvo tanto éxito como su compañero de Stewart-Haas Racing, tuvo una buena jornada a pesar del accidente que lo dejó fuera de competencia.
MORE: Busch collides with Chase Elliott
Not the result I had in mind. Can not believe I wrecked. I let everybody down and in the process, ruined @chaseelliott day. Then this happened… S/O to #FelixSabatesFordCharlotte thank you! And my love @MrsAshleyBusch for the surprise! pic.twitter.com/DK5IpilJHs
— Kurt Busch (@KurtBusch) March 5, 2018
Finalmente, otros pilotos compartieron sus comentarios y se mostraron ansiosos por llegar a Phoenix para la TicketGuardian 500 (domingo 3:30 PM, Este, por FOX, FOX Deportes) en la segunda fecha de #nascargoeswest.
Holy struggle! @BugaMike14 and the guys brought a good car. Weekend was pretty smooth sailing till today. Had to swing hard on the adjustments and finally got it to turning pretty good, then the wheels fell off…downhill from there! Silver lining take away is the Fords are fast
— Clint Bowyer (@ClintBowyer) March 5, 2018
Took a top 5 car and managed to finish 17th with it. Sped on pit road and that pretty much ruined our day. Oh and broke a valve spring with 20 to go.. when it rains it pours. Can‘t wait to get the PHX.
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) March 5, 2018
Flying home from @LVMotorSpeedway after scoring triple 6s in the stages & the race.
Not a bad result, not a great result, but a dang fine effort by the entire #2crew
Climbing out of our points hole from Daytona to 7th. @DiscountTire
— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) March 5, 2018
Well, we definitely improved from where we were at Atlanta. I thought we had a pretty good car, right up until we blew a right front. Overall I feel we made some gains. Looking forward to some double duty next weekend at Phoenix!
— Jamie McMurray (@jamiemcmurray) March 5, 2018
We were battle tested this weekend and pulled through. Finally a top-10 for our @SmithfieldBrand team. We’ve had fast Fords and everyone’s been working so hard, it’s nice to have something to show for it. pic.twitter.com/p30i7EooHc
— Aric Almirola (@Aric_Almirola) March 5, 2018
Hard fought day in Vegas for the @SpeedcoPM #38 team. Had some great strategy that didn’t quite work our way and made lots of adjustments the 2nd half. @Team_FRM has done a nice job building faster cars that still have more potential.
David Ragan (@DavidRagan) March 5, 2018