Roger Diez: Talladega demolition derby lived up to its reputation

Tonight is the finale of the two-day Western States Dwarf Car Regional race at Fernley 95A Speedway. Also on tap tonight are the Modified, Street Stock and Super Stock 4 divisions. Racing will start at 6 p.m. Admission is $12 for adults (13 and older), $8 for kids 6-12 and seniors 63 and older, and kids five and under and military with ID free. A $30 family pass which includes two adults and two kids also is available.

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The Talladega demolition derby lived up to its reputation Sunday, ending with broken and battered machinery, shattered hopes for many, and relief among the survivors. Brad Keselowski became the second two-time winner in the 2016 Sprint Cup series championship battle, joining Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson as top seeds in the Chase for the Championship. The Xfinity race on Saturday also was wreck-strewn with Elliott Sadler taking a birthday victory when the caution came out on the last lap.

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This week, the NASCAR Sprint Cup is at Kansas Speedway, more than a mile shorter than Talladega but not without its own unique challenges. Kansas is one of the newer tracks on the circuit, active since 2001. It has only hosted 20 Cup races. Jimmie Johnson (surprise) leads the winners’ list with three victories, the most recent just a year ago. Joey Logano has two Kansas wins including last fall’s race. Logano is joined by Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, and Tony Stewart as two-time Kansas winners while Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, and Ryan Newman have one Kansas win apiece. It’s one of three current NASCAR tracks where Kyle Busch is still winless, and he’s motivated to put three notches on his race car after being denied by teammate Carl Edwards at Richmond two weeks ago. The season is shaping up to be a battle among the Gibbs, Hendrick and Penske teams. When you consider the Furniture Row team an adjunct to Gibbs, the Wood Brothers a Penske satellite, and the Stewart-Haas organization a Hendrick partner, it pretty much locks out the rest of the field. Roush-Fenway and Ganassi have been second-tier organizations for the past few seasons, and I see nothing this year that signals a significant turnaround. And Childress may win a race or two, but I don’t believe that team is going to be a serious contender for the championship either.

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Formula One visited Russia last weekend, and the Mercedes team finished 1-2 yet again. Nico Rosberg extended his race-winning streak to seven, joining an elite group of only four drivers who have accomplished that feat. Lewis Hamilton charged from his 10th place starting position to claim the runner-up spot. The race was not without drama for Mercedes. Hamilton performed a “miracle” according to the team, nursing his car home with zero water pressure for the last 16 laps, and Rosberg had to finish the race in “safe” mode after experiencing difficulties with his power unit controls. Modern Formula One cars are marvels of technology, no longer using mere engines, but “Motor Generator Units,” or MGUs. Each car has two, the MGU-K (standing for “kinetic”) and the MGU-H (meaning “heat”). Hamilton’s MGU-H failed in qualifying, forcing the team to fly parts in and perform repairs overnight. Rosberg had issues with his MGU-K in the closing laps of the race, causing the switch to “safe” mode. There’s no question Mercedes is on top of the field in terms of performance, but the complexity of today’s F1 technology brings the car’s reliability into question. We have also seen reliability issues with Mercedes’ nearest competitor Ferrari, and no doubt other teams are going to experience problems as the season wears on.

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In other F1 news, Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat is being sent down to the Junior Varsity team of Toro Rosso, while teenager Max Verstappen is going to move into his seat at Red Bull. Kvyat has had some issues with four-time Champion Sebastian Vettel the last couple of races, and has ruffled other feathers as well. The team wants to see how well Verstappen stacks up against Red Bull’s No. 1 driver, Daniel Ricciardo, in identical equipment.