Catchfence

NASCAR lived up to going back in time with the rescheduled Mason-Dixon 400, run in mid-May for the first time since 1986. Back then Geoff Bodine outlasted Harry Gant and won in a race that was tough on the field, as just Bodine and Bobby Allison finished on the lead lap while Richard Petty finished sixth and Bill Elliott finished seventh – both no fewer than six laps down.

It says a lot about the evolution of the sport that attrition of this level would be considered frightening 24 years later, yet it also says something about what has – and hasn’t – changed that this recent Mason-Dixon 400 wasn’t more competitive than the running way back then. The word that strikes the mind first about this race was tranquil. There were a few issues, notably Marcos Ambrose and Sam Hornish hitting the wall more than once – why the perennial non-achiever Hornish has not been kicked out of stock cars remains a mystery, especially as his former series, the IRL, can use him given his success there and the series’ need for some star power.

Tires generally weren’t a major issue despite a few blowouts, but they got criticized by the two Jeffs, Gordon and Burton, because “We’ve been trying to talk Goodyear into laying rubber on the track,”according to Gordon, and it wound up making it a single groove.

Given the history of Dover in the concrete era, that it became one groove would be considered typical Dover, yet to be fair the track had opened up more to where there was some genuinely good racing in recent years, and laying down rubber has over the years worked out elsewhere. That it didn’t this time is puzzling, but it also brings back the old concerns about using concrete instead of asphalt for racing surfaces.

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There is also what is becoming a more pronounced shift in power in the season. Since the switch to the spoiler for the COT, Joe Gibbs Racing has suddenly become stronger while Hendrick Motorsports has begun a bit of a slide. Nothing illustrates this more than the stunning pit speeding penalty that swatted Jimmie Johnson out of a win. For once NASCAR deserves some credit – usually an officiating call doesn’t go against one of the designated champions and that fact has earned NASCAR angry denunciation in the past, from the infamous Junior yellow line rule at Talladega to the constant disparity in punishments between the big teams such as Hendrick and smaller teams. That NASCAR hit Jimmie Johnson with a penalty that cost him a race is commendable evenhandedness in officiating the sport. There needs to be more for people to be fully convinced, but it’s a start.

The shift in power toward the JGR bunch is on display with a return to muscle not seen since 2008, except this time Denny Hamlin is the one winning everything in sight instead of Kyle Busch. Even so Busch’s win puts him back on track and puts the Hendrick bunch on the defensive. Perhaps now the sport is seeing the Toyota surge it has seen in the Trucks for the last four-plus seasons.

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The Headache Award had to go to A.J. Allmendinger. Sporting the classic Richard Petty color scheme, A.J. raced to the front like Petty but lost two laps on a cut tire and finished a frustrating 14th. Indeed, for several periods he was almost the only car who was actually passing people.

In contrast, the driver almost everyone wants to win again had another subpar effort, and the questions about Dale Junior’s inability to compete right now will likely come again.

There is also the RCR and EGR combos. Kevin Harvick leads the points but he’s been noticeably snippy lately between some mediocre runs and his contract situation with RCR. RCR had a decent day at Dover but it was hardly muscular, especially from the Clint Bowyer car that had most in the garage before the race scared he’d run off and leave everyone. EGR meanwhile continues to struggle with dismal finishes by McMurray and Montoya.

It all added up to a Dover grind that sweeps the sport toward the annual madness of Charlotte – and madness is likely to break out if Bruton can help it.