If Burger King is all about “have it your way”, NASCAR has traditionally been the polar opposite in its approach. 

For the past 75 years, NASCAR’s leadership has resided with the France family (First Big Bill France, followed by Bill France Jr., Brian France and now Jim France). Since it launched, NASCAR has operated its stock car racing operation essentially as it wished.

Sure, drivers and teams and fans can complain about some decisions, but at the end of the day, NASCAR makes the rules, and there isn’t much anyone could do about it.

I mention this all as background for the earthquake news that broke on Wednesday morning that two NASCAR teams — 23XI Racing (co-owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin) and Front Row Motorsports — have filed an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR and Jim France.

Signs of trouble began about four weeks back, when it was announced that all Cup teams other than 23XI and Front Row had signed a new charter agreement that would govern the team owners from 2025 through 2031. Many in the sport wondered what the two teams were thinking. What leverage did they have now that all the other teams had signed on to the new deal?

We got our answer Wednesday with this bombshell lawsuit, which puts NASCAR in very unfamiliar territory and opens them up to outside scrutiny. Especially of note is that the two teams’ legal representation is the formidable Jeffrey Kessler, who has had past success battling the NCAA regarding athlete compensation.

Saturday’s race at Daytona was an exciting conclusion to a season where we’ve seen everything under the sun, as we finished our second regular season with the Next Gen car.

The three-wide racing for much of the night was downright thrilling and the best of what plate racing has to offer. On the flip side, no pun intended, Ryan Preece went on a terrifying ride when he barrel rolled at least a dozen times before finally landing right-side up. Thankfully he did not sustain any serious injuries, nor did any of the drivers involved in a “big one” at the end of the second stage.

While the extreme tumbling is cause for investigation by NASCAR (and they are examining the Preece car for data on why that happened), the fact that Preece could walk away shows that the Next Gen car has the goods to keep drivers safe even in extreme wreck situations like the one Preece experienced on Saturday.

The big news, of course was Bubba Wallace’s strong run that locked him into the final playoffs spot. Making the playoffs is a big burden off Bubba’s shoulders. And now he just has to perform and try to get as far along in the playoffs as possible. This will be a tough task to execute, with so many strong drivers ahead of him. But if he makes it to at least the round of 12, I would consider that a successful year and a launch pad for further playoff marches in the future.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman both missed the playoffs, and it’s been a rough year for Hendrick, which has only 2 cars in the playoffs. William Byron and Kyle Larson qualified and should both be contenders. But to put that in perspective, the Hendrick team only qualified as many cars as RFK Racing and 23XI racing, and one less than Joe Gibbs Racing.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T. 

Many talk about it, but few give it. 

It’s the reality of racing today. Even those who preach respect often go and wreck people themselves (see: Denny Hamlin punting JJ Yeley at Richmond)

Kyle Busch says no one races with respect anymore, but he’s been known to punt his competition when necessary. Ditto for Kevin Harvick, another veteran.

The young drivers may be a big more brash than the veterans at times, but let’s be honest, nobody is innocent in this regard. It’s a byproduct of the way the sport is set up today.

NASCAR’s bet on a spectacle in L.A. paid off

Many doubted NASCAR when this unprecedented event was announced. But between the amazing and historic venue that looked beautiful on TV (and no doubt in person, too), tremendous on-track action and musical entertainment from Pitbull and Ice Cube, and an impressive crowd, the Clash at the Coliseum is something that exceeded NASCAR’s wildest expectations.

Joey Logano put on a tough battle with Kyle Busch up front to take the inaugural win for the Next Gen car, and in the process NASCAR exposed itself to a California audience largely composed of people who don’t normally follow the sport. Here’s hoping they stick around and remain fans of the sport as we head into the Daytona 500 and beyond.

I can see the Clash coming back to the Coliseum next year, but we need to be careful to make these things special, and not try to do them multiple times a year. Make it a destination every February; and later, once it’s served its purpose, give another stadium a chance. 

One thing is certain. The Clash, which had become an almost forgotten and frankly boring event at Daytona, has been revitalized, and we’re not going to back to the old ways again. Kudos to Ben Kennedy, the future of the sport’s leadership, for pushing the sport in bold, new directions despite some howling from legacy fans.

Thoughts as NASCAR leaves Phoenix and heads to Homestead for the 2019 season finale:

— It’s imperative that NASCAR does something with the Cup aero package for shorter tracks before the 2020 season, at least in regard to shorter tracks. They simply can’t have the title race decided by 10 seconds. This was one of the worst races of the season, and we can’t have a repeat of that in 2020 when a championship is being decided at Phoenix. 

— There’s a lot of talk about young guns in NASCAR, and there is definitely lots of young talent in the ranks in all three major series. But look at the top ranks in Cup, and what do we see?: An average age of 38.5 among the final four at Homestead. The lesson: For now, experience rules. Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, William Byron and others will get their shot at the title soon enough. But they’re going to have to get past the veterans to do so, as long as they’re around.

Things were heating up this weekend in Martinsville, both on the track and on pit road afterward. Here are my takeaways on what we learned this week in terms of the championship fight, and what that Logano-Hamlin fight was really all about.

Truex is top dog at Gibbs, Busch in the dumps

There is no more debate to be had. After his thoroughly dominating run to the checkered flag at Martinsville, Martin Truex Jr. and the 19 team are clearly the best chance that Joe Gibbs Racing has to win the Cup title this year.

Even if Truex, Hamlin and Kyle Busch all make it to the Homestead 4 (which at this point is very possible), former team leader Kyle Busch probably has the lowest chance at winning the title of the three. And honestly, the way things are going, he might not even be in the Final Four.

He’s been inching backward toward being a mid-pack car for what seems like a very long time now, he can’t figure out how to drive with this aero package as well as his teammates, and quite frankly doesn’t seem happy most of the time.