NASCAR wraps up “10 Days of Thunder” at the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway. Over the 10 days, fans saw action from the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Xfinity, and Camping World Truck teams in the Sprint All-Star Race, North Carolina Education Lottery 200, Hisense 4K TV 300, and the Coca-Cola 600. Here are five takeaways from the Charlotte Motor Speedway weekend:
 
·      Day vs. Night: Over the ten days, fans saw all but one-day race. The races that were run during the daytime hours seemed to be the most entertaining of the whole ten days. The Coca-Cola 600, which was run during the night, saw a dominating performance. Although Charlotte Motor Speedway prides itself in having night races, maybe it is time for Charlotte Motor Speedway and TV to consider making one of the races at Charlotte during the day. The aero package is great, but I believe it is lacking the factor of the heat of the day.
 
·      Aero Package: During the Sprint All-Star Race, the 2017 rules package was tested. Honestly, it produced some of the greatest racing so far this season. Teams have officially gained back some of the downforce that NASCAR took away during the 2016 season. NASCAR announced test changes to the 2017 rules package in an effort to take more downforce off, but it will be tested at Michigan and Kentucky before the final rules package is determined. 
 
 
·      Monkey off the Back: The monkey that was on Martin Truex Jr. has came off. He had a dominating performance in the Coca-Cola 600. Usually if Truex is dominate throughout a race, something happens that causes him to ultimately lose the race. Kenseth and Truex have released the monkey off their back. Who will be the next driver to have the monkey taken off their back?
 
·      Kyle Busch: Busch was determined to win this weekend at Charlotte since it is one of two tracks he has not won on. However, he will have to wait until October to take Charlotte off this list. Busch was not a factor during the weekend at Charlotte. Will he win at Pocono to bring this record down to only Charlotte? We will have to wait and see next weekend.
 
·      Weather: Weather plagued the 10 Days of Thunder in the Charlotte area. All-Star Weekend saw a busy racing schedule on Sunday. For the Coca-Cola 600, Tropical Storm Bonnie was planning its attack on the Charlotte area. Although it rained on the morning of the 600, it turned out to be a beautiful and windy day for racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Hopefully Mother Nature will be kind to Charlotte when the series returns for the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
 
What are your takeaways from the 10 Days of Thunder at the Charlotte Motor Speedway
Caleb Whisler
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