Hello, motorsports enthusiasts! Welcome to another edition of Seven Points with Kobe Lambeth and Kenneth Lee Jr. We will provide a weekly discussion each Wednesday on various topics in motorsports. Most content will focus on NASCAR but other racing series will be discussed as well.
Lambeth is a student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, who is a Communications major with a concentration in mass media and minor in journalism. He is a contributor to The Podium Finish and RockinghamNow. Lee is a graduate of Tuskegee University with a bachelor's degree in Communications, an alumnus of the NASCAR Diversity Internship Program, and an Associate Producer in Content Development for the Motor Racing Network. 1. NASCAR Xfinity Series regular Justin Haley and Spire Motorsports surprised the entire garage by winning the rain-shortened Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway, on Fourth of July weekend. Haley became a first-time Cup winner, in his third start, at the sport’s top level. However, the upset victory was overshadowed by controversy. Do people have a right to be angry? Lambeth: Hate the game, don't hate the player. In my opinion, if folks are truly angry over Justin Haley and Spire Motorsports for winning this race, they should direct their anger at NASCAR for allowing this agency to have a team. This type of practice would not be allowed in other professional sports. If you want to read more about this situation, I have provided a link from Yahoo.com's Nick Bromberg (above). As for Haley, I feel bad for him because his first Cup win is supposed to be a special moment for any driver. He was just driving the car and Spire Motorsports capitalized on Mother Nature. Simply, NASCAR has a broken system that needs to be fixed. How do you fix it? I have no idea. But I hope someone knows. Lee: Despite a ton of people that are pretty angry about what happened, it’s all within the rules of NASCAR. I get that none of this would be allowed in stick and ball sports, but it’s clearly not the case in NASCAR. It’s unfortunate that social media was pretty harsh on Justin Haley, who was just driving the car. He didn’t celebrate as if he passed 20 cars at the end of the race, but just simply hugged and high fived his team. Is the system an issue? Sure, but will they ban the charters anytime soon or a sports agency owning a team? I highly doubt it. Sadly, this win will be forgotten as it was called, due to weather. 2. Ross Chastain led the charge for Kaulig Racing, earning the organization’s first victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Chastain and Justin Haley earned a 1-2 finish. AJ Allmendinger would have finished third, but his car failed post-race inspection. Nevertheless, it was a wonderful night for team owner Matt Kaulig. What did you think of Chastain’s emotions post-race? Lambeth: Chastain's emotions on the frontstretch, following the race was quite a sight to see. Winning at home meant a lot to the Florida driver. The "Watermelon Man" let his emotions show and celebrated with the trademark watermelon smash at the start/finish line. Fans seem to appreciate drivers, who are passionate and show their emotions. If you did not know anything about Chastain, you would probably believe that he won his very first race. He celebrates every win like it is his first. The watermelon farmer introduced us to his unique personality, which is something that fans should enjoy. Lee: The story that just keeps getting better in 2019 is easily Ross Chastain. He’s been on a tear on the NASCAR circuit from being disqualified, bouncing back the following weekend with a win, to winning at Daytona. The Florida native mentioned the times he would go out to the races on Fourth of July weekend. I bet him winning at Daytona must’ve been an absolute joy. I love his celebrations and energy that he brings to NASCAR. It’s needed and welcomed by fans. 3. Mazda Team Joest scored back-to-back IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship overall victories in another 1-2 finish at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. However, it was the No. 77 Mazda RT24-P DPi of Oliver Jarvis and Tristan Nunez celebrating at the top of the podium. The previous week, the sister car (No. 55) claimed overall victory at Watkins Glen. It appears that Mazda is finally beginning to figure things out with their DPi program, right? Lambeth: Mazda Team Joest came out of nowhere to dominate the last two rounds. For a program that struggled for years, it is nice to see something positive happen for the entire Mazda brand. Let's see if they can keep the momentum rolling into the final stretch of the season at Road America, Laguna Seca and Road Atlanta. Lee: Mazda has somehow found a way to have both proper pace and reliability in the last two weeks. For a team that has shown pace over the last few years, but have always experienced some type of mechanical failure or misfortune, it’s great to see them win two race weekends in a row. It will be interesting to see if they can maintain the pace for the final stretch of the season. It could possibly make the DPi championship quite compelling. 4. Victor Franzoni suffered a frightening shunt, during Sunday afternoon’s IMSA race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The No. 50 Juncos Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R experienced heavy damage. Luckily, Franzoni was able to walk away without suffering serious injuries, following a trip to the hospital. Is this a testament to Dallara for building a safe chassis? Lambeth: Franzoni is very lucky to have escaped major injury. His heavily damaged Cadillac DPi looked like something shoved in a drawer, if you saw the photos of it sandwiched in the tire barriers. Kudos to Dallara for building a safe, strong chassis, allowing drivers to walk away from massive shunts. Lee: Pretty big crash for him, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that happen to a driver. Plenty of times, I’ve seen a driver get into the tire barrier but never seen the entire car put into the barrier. Thankfully, he was able to walk away from the incident. I’m glad that Dallara is able to provide a safe car for drivers. 5. DJR Team Penske announced an unchanged lineup for the 2020 Virgin Australian Supercars Championship season, with Fabian Coulthard and defending series champion Scott McLaughlin returning to the team. How important is it for a team to have continuity? What does this say about McLaughlin’s rumored move to NASCAR stateside? Lambeth: An unchanged driver lineup for DJR Team Penske means that team chemistry will remain intact for the foreseeable future. Coulthard and McLaughlin are a great pairing, so having them both continue with the team does not surprise me. As for McLaughlin, if his NASCAR aspirations remain strong, they will have to wait a little while longer as the Captain keeps the defending champion Down Under in 2020. In the future, I would love to see how McLaughlin performs in a stock car. Lee: There was a ton of speculation on what the lineup was going to look like in the 2020 season, especially with the likes of McLaughlin being linked to a potential NASCAR ride. With that out of the picture, for now, the team can continue to build upon the chemistry and dominance that they currently have 6. Sage Karam will return to the NTT IndyCar Series, on the streets of Toronto, driving the No. 31 Carlin Racing Chevrolet. SmartShop Self Storage will sponsor the 24-year-old American driver. Could a strong performance lead to future opportunities for Karam, who was once considered American open-wheel racing’s next superstar? Lambeth: Absolutely! This is a great opportunity for Karam to remind folks why people thought so highly of him, a few years ago. Karam has grown tremendously as a driver over time. He gained some maturity and appears to be ready to tackle Toronto. I am intrigued to watch him drive on a street course with the current aero kit, considering it has been a while since his last street course IndyCar race. Lee: I think this is a good opportunity for Karam to be back in the car again. At a point, people were pretty high on him as the next open-wheel racing star, but things don’t always pan out that way. I’m sure he’s going to make the most of his seat time at Toronto. 7. This weekend is a doubleheader and season finale of the 2018-19 ABB FIA Formula E Championship season with the New York ePrix, on the streets of Brooklyn. Defending series champion Jean-Eric Vergne leads Lucas di Grassi by 32 points heading into the title deciding weekend, in the Big Apple. Who wins the championship? Lambeth: I am predicting that Jean-Eric Vergne wins back-to-back Formula E championships. With his current lead, he would need something catastrophic to happen, in order to hand the title over to Audi driver Lucas di Grassi. A doubleheader weekend, with a championship on the line, places an enormous amount of pressure on the title contenders. Lee: Big time weekend for Formula E as they get prepared for their doubleheader season finale in Brooklyn. With the gap between Vergne and Lucas di Grassi, it should be a fun battle between the both of them. Given the pace and strength of Vergne, throughout the season, I think he takes home a second title.
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