There was no question as to who the favorite was coming into the night race at Bristol. There wasn't any doubt who would be the guy to beat.
But, who'd of thought the guy they needed to beat wouldn't exactly have a great night.
Yes, Kyle Busch was the favorite coming into the 2011 night race at Bristol, but an uncharacteristic night for the No. 18 led to a 14th-place finish. This coming from a guy for the past two weekends won every race, with the exception of the modified events, at Bristol. But, that is how the cards fell.
The cards that did fall were the ones for Brad Keselowski.
Since his injury, Keselowski finished first, second and third in successive races. That put him not only in contention for a wild card spot, thanks in part to his earlier win at Kansas, but he was becoming a threat to earn his way into the top-10 and not fall back on the wild card.
At Bristol, he made it much clearer that he wants to be in the Chase, and do it the hard way. Keselowski beat the two best cars on the night, Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth, on the final pit stop.
Then, he made his way around cars taking two tires, and he simply drove away.
Seeing the No. 2 in victory lane at the Bristol Motor Speedway seems very appropriate. Rusty Wallace drove that car to many wins at the famed track, so having such a young driver bring that car back to victory lane at Thunder Valley seemed very appropriate.
As appropriate as that is, the writers did not exactly have the best of nights. In fact, no writer had a better finish than 14th. So, the Bull Ring had a bad vibe for our writers, which comes as a surprise.
Here's how they now stack up after the Irwin Tools Night Race:
Sal Sigala Jr. (818) Kyle Busch finished 14th (4)
Kelly Crandall (804) Kyle Busch finished 14th (3)
Michael Hirshbein (803) Kyle Busch finished 14th (5)
Christopher Leone (787) Kyle Busch finished 14th (3)
James Broomhead (785) Tony Stewart finished 28th (2)
Billy Fellin (778) Kyle Busch finished 14th (2)
Ryan O'Hara (733) NO PICK SENT (2)
Kara Martin (730) Kyle Busch finished 14th (1)
Rob Tiongson (726) Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 16th (2)
Misan Ayuka (723) Kyle Busch finished 14th (3)
Dustin Parks (711) Kevin Harvick finished 22nd (0)
Next Race: Speeds will still be fast next week, but the track is much larger. In fact, it is the fastest track on the circuit.
The Sprint Summer Showdown comes to a conclusion as up next is the Atlanta Motor Speedway. A few years ago, this speedway took a date from the Auto Club Speedway to host a race the day before Labor Day, which was long ago a date taken by the Darlington Raceway.
In just two races, this weekend has become one of the hot spots of the season, and considering this is the only race Atlanta is hosting this year, the crowd is going to be huge.
It's a popular stop for the drivers as well, and many are already looking forward to the second of four straight night races.
Writers, lay the hammer down as picks for the AdvoCare 500 are due by Thursday, Sept. 1, at 10 p.m. ET.
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