Oh boy. To say last Monday’s Interstate Batteries Monday Night Racing Series event at Eldora was messy would be an understatement.
In a race full of massive drama, this season’s consistent hallmark, Max Kennon found himself on top, which is why Kennon highlights this week’s “Who’s Hot” section.
It was an absolutely wild race that had everything from crashes to last lap penalties, which leaves everyone in the Monday Night Racing community to wonder: what the hell is gonna happen at Talladega this week? I have absolutely no idea. Honestly, literally anyone could bring home the checkered flag, and after last week, I am at least 95% sure a majority of the field won’t even finish. So, without further ado, here’s this weeks pre-race Talladega preview.
WHO’S HOT
Max Kennon (81 Overall): There is no doubt Kennon should be higher than an 81 overall. He was the leading driver in the points without a win before Eldora, and now he’s got one. Max only has one finish outside the top ten, and it was at the chaotic season opener at Daytona, where he finished thirtieth. Since then, Kennon has brought it home fifth, ninth, third, and first; a fairly incredible stretch with an average finish of 4.5.
Adam Cabot (92 Overall): There’s a reason why Adam Cabot has the highest driver rating out of anyone in the field (tied with Collin Fern). It does not matter where we go; Cabot is always fighting at or near the front. Besides a tough outing at Texas where he wrecked out early, Cabot has been third, seventh, and second in his last three races. Cabot has yet to find victory lane this year, but I guarantee you he will at some point.
WHO’S NOT
Collin Fern (92 Overall): It is interesting to see Fern on here especially considering his astronomically high driver rating, but truth be told he has had a disappointing season by his standards. Fern has just one top ten in five races this year (A runner up finish at Texas), and brought it home a disappointing 24th last week at Eldora. I am not hitting the panic button just yet on one of last years championship four, but there is no doubt Fern needs to start bringing home consistent finishes.
David Schildhouse (89 Overall): I bet you I’ll hear about this one in our TobyChristie.com Discord Server. Another Championship Four driver from last year who has just consistently struggled. The speed has been there at times for Schildhouse, but it has resulted in zero top fives and only two top tens for David, who has a disappointing average finish of 16.4 this year. It is slightly alarming; in the last five races of last season, Schildhouse had just one finish outside the top ten and zero outside the top fifteen. In the first five races of this season, Schildhouse already has three finishes outside the top twenty.
WHERE’S THE BEEF
Will Rodgers and Gary Sexton – If you read my Eldora recap, you already know where this is going. These two have already had some contact this season, but it reached a boiling point at Eldora. Sexton was spun to bring out the caution on lap 37 by Rodgers. Sexton would proceed to drive up to the back bumper of Rodgers under caution, and just completely dump him. The two were extremely unhappy with each other in the chat. There’s no doubt who won this war at the end of the day though. Rodgers would bring home his machine in a disappointing 30th place, while Sexton would rebound to earn a top five finish.
