It’s been an exciting start to the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, with six different winners in the first seven races heading into the Easter break.
Here’s my take on ranking all seven races from worst to best.
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7
Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500
There was some good racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but this race had the fewest number of leaders (five) and lead changes (nine) of any Cup race this season. Kevin Harvick led 292 of 325 laps, but a late-race pit-road penalty cost him the victory, as Brad Keselowski triumphed instead.
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6
Auto Club 400
The race at Auto Club Speedway went to overtime, and when it did, Kyle Larson made a perfect restart, but second-place Denny Hamlin didn’t, with Larson fending off the hard-charging Brad Keselowski and Clint Bowyer to win and break his streak of three consecutive runner-up finishes.
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5
O’Reilly Auto Parts 500
With a new repave and some rough moments for the drivers on Friday, a lot of people expected the race at Texas Motor Speedway to be boring. But the second groove came in during the second half of the race and Jimmie Johnson had to battle hard with Joey Logano and Kyle Larson for the victory in a surprisingly good race.
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It’s hard to go wrong with good, old-fashioned short-track racing and at Martinsville Speedway, Brad Keselowski became the first Ford driver to win there since 2002 and the first Team Penske driver to win there since Rusty Wallace in a Dodge in 2004.
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3
Kobalt 400
It looked as if Brad Keselowski had this one in the bag, but something broke in the front end of his Team Penske Ford on the last lap at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, allowing Martin Truex Jr. to steal the win. And afterwards, there was scrum between Kyle Busch and Joey Logano’s crew, with Busch leaving the scene with a bloody forehead.
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2
Camping World 500
A great story here, as Ryan Newman broke a 127-race winless streak for himself and a 112-race winless streak for Richard Childress Racing thanks to crew chief Luke Lambert’s late-race gamble not to pit at Phoenix Raceway.
1
Daytona 500
Four different drivers led the final four laps, and winner Kurt Busch led only the final of the 200 laps to win his first Daytona 500 and the first for Stewart-Haas Racing. Plus, it’s Daytona, the biggest race in NASCAR, and it came after all the off-season build-up. It truly lived up to the hype.
LAT Images Nigel Kinrade
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