Roger Diez: NASCAR crowns its champions

First off, happy Veterans Day to all who served. You are appreciated.

All three of NASCAR’s top series championships were decided last weekend, two in overtime. But the champion won the race in only one.

Friday night, Christian Eckes won an embarrassingly wreck-strewn Craftsman Truck finale while Ben Rhodes in fifth barely held off Grant Enfinger to take his second series title. There were a dozen caution flags and the race finally finished after four overtime restarts totaling 29 extra laps.

Saturday’s race saw Cole Custer take the checker after a three-wide overtime restart. Custer, intent on returning to the Cup series, gave that goal a big boost with his championship run. Justin Allgaier finished third to take second in the standings with Sam Mayer fifth in the race and third in the title chase. John Hunter Nemechek had a bad night, finishing 28th for the fourth spot in the championship battle.

And on Sunday, Ryan Blaney held off Kyle Larson to take his first NASCAR Cup championship, finishing the race second after an intense battle with winner Ross Chastain. Championship contenders Larson and William Byron were third and fourth while Christopher Bell finished 36th after an exploding right front brake rotor put him in the wall, ending his championship quest. Congratulations to all the newly crowned Champions.

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Formula 1 was in Brazil for yet another sprint race weekend. Max Verstappen’s Red Bull won both the Sprint and the Grand Prix while Lando Norris took his McLaren to second in both. The margin of victory was 4.287 seconds in the Sprint and 8.277 seconds in the Grand Prix. While Verstappen was never in jeopardy there was close, exciting racing through the rest of the field. The last-lap duel between Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin and the Sergio Perez’s Red Bull was intense, with Alonso holding off Perez for the final podium spot. Five different constructors took the top six spots with Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes fourth, the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc fifth, and Yuki Tsunoda’s Alpha Tauri sixth. McLaren still holds a 20-point lead over Ferrari for second in the Constructors’ championship while McLaren is just 21 points ahead of Aston Martin for fourth. In the Drivers’ championship, Perez holds a solid second place, 32 points clear of Hamilton. Fourth to sixth is very much up for grabs with Alonso at 198 points, Norris 195, and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz 192.

 Verstappen’s Brazil victory gives him the all-time record for highest win percentage in a Formula 1 season – 17 out of 22 or 85%, besting Alberto Ascari’s 1952 mark of 75%. Even if he doesn’t win final 2 races, he will still hold the record at 77.27%. Next up is the Las Vegas night race on Nov. 18.

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Finally, here’s a fond farewell and some personal memories of Kevin Harvick. Harvick is retiring after 23 seasons in NASCAR’s top series. But I first encountered him when he was racing in the old NASCAR Southwest Tour. At the time I was the announcer and publicist for the American City Racing League, and we raced on the same ticket as both the Southwest Tour and Winston West back in the late 90s. So I saw Kevin race at the old Mesa Marin Speedway in his hometown of Bakersfield, at Heartland Park in Kansas, and the 1999 LA Street Race. His talent was obvious, and when Richard Childress picked him after Dale Earnhardt’s tragic death in 2001, I knew he would do well. And he proved me right, winning the first of his 60 Cup wins in only his third race in the series. Kevin, we will miss you.