Introducing The CatchCan

Firstly, I’d like to give a warm welcome to everyone who follows and reads this blog.

My name is Anthony Nagle. I am 25 and have been a fan since of NASCAR since 1997. 
The reason why I’ve come to this blog is to contribute my creative resources towards the sport at hand.

Which now is why I am introducing what will be my signature weekly article series: The CatchCan.

It’s not your normal editorial. It’s a combination of a week in review mixed with cynicism that NASCAR fans have come to expect. Don’t be too surprised to see mentions of other series’ in here as well.

At the same time there will be other articles written on other subjects covering all three of NASCAR’s top divisions.

Here is a small sampling of what is in store:
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Ron Hornaday saw his ride shuttered this past week. This is probably the rudest way of telling someone to retire I’ve ever seen.

The ten people who saw the Truck race (this past)Sunday saw perhaps the best finish of all 2014. Not just in NASCAR, but probably in all motorsports.

Ryan Blaney won the duel with German Quiroga. Like a slithering snake, German was on Ryan’s tailgate for more or less the last third of the race. Going into turn 9 at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, Quiroga took Blaney’s line away. With the poise of a polished road course veteran, the very young Blaney owned his ass did a crossover move off of turn 10 and won the sucker by a fender.

Denny Hamlin reportedly has no beef with Kevin Harvick after their tangle at Bristol. Guess so, because the only thing that was flung freaky fast at Harvick’s #4 was a HANS device. Smoke’s double-handed helmet toss is still the gold standard of the last five years.

Oh wait a second, we’re not supposed to be throwing stuff are we? That’s not how “other race series’” does it isn’t it?

No, Formula 1 saw Nico Rosberg get disciplined by Mercedes for doing something that happens every weekend in NASCAR. Well, maybe not that severe, but in the case of Hunt vs. Lauda 2014, the championship implications for Lewis Hamilton were huge!

Also what about that Indycar season?

It’s already over!

Will Power finally got the big one as finally bad luck happened to someone else other than him in the finale.

Helio Castroneves got a speeding penalty during his last pitstop at the California (erm, Auto Club) Speedway, because apparently he doesn’t have a beer belly.

I’d rather see my driver well-fed and be happy rather than someone intentionally starve themselves fitting into a car that quite frankly is the size of a lawn dart.

Speaking of freaky fast, what about ‘Happy’ Harvick at Atlanta? He led 159 out of 195 laps in the Nationwide race (the other 36 led by JR Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott), and then proceeded to whip the Cup boys into seemingly pulverizing submission.

Harvick’s Achilles’ heel came back to bite him in the butt though. Pit stops!

Not because his pit crew sucked but because circumstances couldn’t dictate his outcome.

Joe Gibbs Racing had experimental equipment that led to ROARING FAST stops all night. In addition, a couple of daring calls put the drivers out front back a row or two.

For Harvick, this was disaster.

My beloved Paul Menard (by the way, this is sarcasm) spun his two fresh tires right the hell off in the outside lane. Harvick tried to make a run, but was forced into the wall.

That allowed hard-luck Kasey Kahne to roar into not only victory lane, but the playoffs as well.

The runner-up? Matt Kenseth. He has no wins yet this year. Don’t worry; he’s in the playoffs based on points no matter what happens at Richmond.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a mediocre night at Atlanta by his season standards, but still came home 11^th.

Brad Keselowski’s night ended in hilariously awfully spectacular fashion. Hamlin made a fake into the pits, and Brad hit a lapped car. Not a (Josh) Wise move!

Tony Stewart’s return was an emotional roller-coaster. He got a rousing ovation akin to “Stone Cold” Steve Austin in Attitude-Era WWE events. The first few laps saw him ride the high line into the top five from a 12th starting spot.

Then Kyle Busch got loose on a later restart and put Stewart into the wall.

Tack on another 100 laps and Smoke’s night was done for good because of a tire gone soft. Stewart may not make the playoffs, but any doubt about his driving ability should be thrown in the trash.

Then you have Jeff Gordon. Runs second, blows a tire, and hits the wall. He goes two laps down for repairs. He stays that way for just about 250 laps. That last caution saw him get back on the lead lap, but only to gain one spot. However, when you consider he went from 39^th to 17^th with a car destined for the junker, it’s no wonder Gordon is still the hottest ticket in the Sprint Cup series.

So in essence, Gordon’s 750^th start was a lot like his first: in the wall, but with a lot of potential.
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In the meantime, I leave you with a video of perhaps this writer’s favorite race that is not on restrictor plates: the 2001 Cracker Barrel 500. The Kleenex will need to be handy:

If you can read this: at least with an official NASCAR video, it won’t be taken down next week. The full race (as opposed to a 50 minute rough edit) is available on other channels.

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