Best and Worst of the Greatest Day in Motorsports

The best weekend in Motorsports left us with not only great racing but also some good and bad that had us talking afterwards.

This past Sunday did not disappoint us and proved why it’s known as the greatest day in motorsports. A streak was broken in F1 at the Monaco Grad Prix. The very first Japanese-born driver won the Indianapolis 500. There was a surprise first-time winner in the Coca-Cola 600. While that might be some of the best, those are not the only things. There also some bad that came out of the weekend. Here are the best and worst stories from the greatest weekend in motorsports.

Formula One

Best of the Monaco Grand Prix

As mentioned above, a streak was broken that dates back to 2001 when Michael Schumacher won the Monaco Grad Prix. Sebastian Vettel gave Ferrari its first Monaco win since 2001.

With Mercedes dominating Monaco for the past few years, for Ferrari, it would be an understatement to say it’s sigh of relief to be back at P1 on the podium.

There is more good news for Sebastian Vettel and his team coming out of the weekend. Not only was it the team’s first 1-2 finish since 2010, but Vettel is now 25 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the driver championship standings.

Vettel’s teammate Kimi Raikkonen finished right behind him for a 2nd place finish and Daniel Ricciardo finished 3rd.

Worst of the Monaco Grand Prix

McLaren left Monaco scratching their heads. Both Jenson Button and Stoffel Vandoorne qualified 9th and 10th, respectively. McLaren thought they could score some of their first points of the season. That didn’t happen.

At around lap 65, Button collided with Pascal Wehrlein going in to the Portier corner. Vandoorne, on the other hand, was running 7th and was battling with Sergio Perez for the final point position. Due to cold tires and brakes, that did not work out for him on a restart on lap 67.

IndyCar

Best of the Indianapolis 500

History was made at the Brickyard. It’s a historic accomplishment. Takuma Sato became the first Japanese driver to win the Indianapolis 500. Helio Castroneves finished 2nd.

This is part of the worst of the weekend, but it was great to see Scott Dixon and Jay Howard walk away from a terrifying crash like the one they were involved in. Even if you see it a dozen times, you would still not believe that both got out of it okay.

Worst of the Indianapolis 500

As told above, the accident involving Dixon and Howard is one that we have not seen in a long time and hope we don’t have to either. The only person that was injured in the crash was the photographer that was on the other side of the catch fence.

Once again, we all saw all the safety measures that are put in place work. Even though we don’t want to see if they do work or not, when we do see a crash happen, it’s nice to know they do work.

NASCAR

Best of the Coca-Cola 600

Austin Dillon scored his first ever Monster Energy NASCAR cup series win during a fuel mileage race. Let’s backtrack to January. NASCAR introduced stage racing as a part of the 2017 season. Most people thought there would be no more fuel mileage races.

There have been three races so far this season that fuel has been on the top of every driver’s  mind at the end of the race. Most of this race was dominated by the Toyota drivers as it has been the past two years. That ended Sunday with Dillon and Chevrolet.

Worst of the Coca-Cola 600

I’ll be the first to say that there are some times that I can be a good loser and take it with stride and there are some times that I can be a sore loser and I mope about it for days. That happens either when I’m playing a simple board game with friends or watching a race and the driver that I picked to win finishes poorly. So I know how Kyle Busch feels.

The reason that Busch is part of the worst of the weekend is not how he responded to the media, however, how the situation went down. Should Busch have presented himself in more of a professional manner? Of course, as he is an athlete. Eyes are on his behavior all the time.

However, losing a race that you thought you won must hurt.

After getting out of his car, Busch answered all of the questions that were asked, getting asked over and over again at 1 in the morning and after 600 miles.

The reason that it’s part of the worst of the weekend is that it shined a spotlight on NASCAR that I don’t think NASCAR wants to be a part of.

Next: Motorsports TV Schedule: June 1 to 4

Next weekend, Formula One heads to Canada. They will also have a new tire, one that is softer than the ones they are using now. IndyCar will be in Detroit for the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit. NASCAR heads to the Monster Mile in Dover.