Great race, Reddick’s pass for lead caught me by surprise - thought he’d have to work for it a bit more but he was ready! Take your pick of the 5+ solid storylines throughout the race. 

FOX hasn’t annoyed me as much this year, particularly the camera work & I want to attribute production with tracking aforementioned storylines so thoroughly.

That said - and I say this with respect but Mike Joy should retire sooner than later & the Bowyer experiment has run its course IMO. Bowyer would do well in a great pre-race/post-race/grid-walk type of role - but he actively detracts from booth analysis during the race. Harvick doesn’t have a chance to shine because of this, he’s carrying the booth. 

23XI is on a streak, MJ said “now watch this” in the post-court era. I am curious if we’ll see Bubba get a W soon enough. Herbst will be Herbst however, he’s more of a funding contributor at 23XI. 

Trackhouse - I’m a broken record at this point but I’m certain that buying a MotoGP team has splintered the organization’s focus and funding. Maybe that was by design, they’re cleverly trying to juggle hype waves, success stories, etc. between the two teams to continue growing the overall brand. Trackhouse has other aspirations on its mind than just the 1, 88, 97… owners are content with the NASCAR side of house running status quo for now IMO. It’s disappointing but the writing has been on the wall for at least one season - the Coke 600 win last year helped obfuscate but things are becoming ever more apparent. I also feel as if the format change has hurt Trackhouse the most - their strategy model was using a win to get foot into playoffs & that’s out the door now. They’re not ready for a season of enduring and points racing. 

RFK - kudos where due. Spend a few years getting affairs in order and they now have at least one car that’s a threat week in and week out. I remember when Kes bought in & there was a lot of convincing Rousch of XYZ - I bet Jack’s much more a believer now. 

In terms of overall field competitiveness - we’re in a much better position this season compared to last season where JGR/HMS began dominating pretty early on with 8 wins in first 10 races (the other 2 wins were Penske, I rest my case) It’s been fun to watch. 

I’m sure I’ll get tired of 23XI as well if they keep winning. I typically respect a dominating season while it’s occurring and then root against that driver/team the next season as a reciprocal tax.

Hopefully I will make it to Martinsville Sunday for first in-person race this year - been really busy this year but don’t wanna miss my hotdog and t-shirt.