observations at the halfway point

I spent most of the first half of the race out on pit row. A few observations:

1) There was no way NASCAR was going to throw a yellow until this race reached the halfway point. Outside of a rain shower or wreck, or a big piece of a car out there, there was going to be no debris yellow. There were a few sprinkles around lap 80, but nothing serious. The reason for no yellow is that NASCAR wanted to get this race to the halfway point so it could be official if rain comes later.

2) When the cars are in a big pack at Pocono, you don't realize how much they have to slow down for the first turn. The front stretch is so long, they get a lot of speed, but with very little banking in the turns, they have to slow down a lot.

3) There's been a long-time argument on whether race car drivers are athletes or not. But there's no question, the pit crew guys are. More on that later.

4) The biggest cheer of the day so far was Kyle Busch spinning out early in the race.

5) The strongest cars are Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch.