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Author: Tucker White

  • Stewart is frustrated to not have won any crown jewel races, but is glad to have run them

    Stewart is frustrated to not have won any crown jewel races, but is glad to have run them

    Tony Stewart, pondering whether failing to win any of the crown jewel events in NASCAR and IndyCar frustrates him, said it does, but “it was pretty damn cool to just have the opportunity to go race those races.”

    Speaking to the media earlier this afternoon at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the driver of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet was asked if there was anything missing from his resume that bothers him.

    “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed that I didn’t win a Daytona 500, a Southern 500 and most of all an Indy 500,” Stewart said. “But, I look at it and look at where I was when I was 15 years old, and 18 years old, I never even thought I would get a chance to race those races let alone in all three of them have opportunities to win the race. In a perfect world, yes, I would have loved to be able to cross those three off the list. But at the same time, I look at the big picture and it was pretty damn cool to just have the opportunity to go race those races.”

    In 617 career Sprint Cup Series starts across 18 seasons, Stewart has amassed 49 career wins (13th on the all-time wins list). He’s won at all but three of the tracks at which he’s raced (Darlington Raceway, Kentucky Speedway and Rockingham Speedway). He’s got three Sprint Cup Series championships from 2002, 2005 and 2011 to his name. He set a new standard for rookie drivers when he took the sport by storm in 1999 with three wins, 12 top-fives, 21 top-10’s, two poles, 1223 laps led, a 10.3 finishing average and and Rookie of The Year honors on his way to finishing fourth in points.

    He also has an IndyCar title from 1997 on his resume.

    However, absent from his hall of fame came in any of NASCAR’s “Winston Million” races: the Daytona 500, the Coca-Cola 600 or the Bojangles’ Southern 500.

    He also failed to capture an Indianapolis 500 victory. Although he has two wins at The Brickyard in NASCAR.

    But as he stated, he’s glad to have run those races.

    He also has no desire to run another NASCAR race after this Sunday, even to get that elusive Daytona 500 victory.

    “This is it. This is the last one,” he added. “I think I learned my lesson from Jeff (Gordon). Jeff tried to do somebody a favor this year and got roped into running half the season (laughs). Thank you Jeff for teaching me a lesson before I got roped into it. So, no, I’m not planning on that at all. We are going to be busy. In all honesty and I don’t have a schedule set next year, but I just know the things that I’m planning, my schedule next year is going to be much busier than it already is this year. There is just not going to be room for it.”

  • Knaus says Indy turned around the 48 team’s season

    Knaus says Indy turned around the 48 team’s season

    Asked where the 48 team’s season started to turn around, Chad Knaus points to the Brickyard as being where they began their run to the championship finale.

    Speaking to the media during a teleconference earlier today, the crew chief of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was questioned about, given the early season success and run of poor performance by his team and the entire Hendrick organization during the summer, when he felt the performance of his team started to level up to the point that they could compete for the championship.

    “I think about Indianapolis was the turning point for the 48 car,” Knaus said. “Now, albeit we didn’t have very good finishes throughout the summer months, that’s not necessarily indicative of how we raced. We had some very strong performances, much like I said at Indianapolis. Were we as fast as the guys that were perfectly up front? No, not really, but we were running in the top-five and we passed a lot of cars there, so I think that was a great start for us.

    “Pocono we had some good races, so on and so forth. Once again, I don’t know that we had the finishing results that we wanted, but we were starting to show signs of performance. Once we got a little bit later into the season, Darlington showed up, Michigan, tracks like that, we really started to put some finishes together and some very, very strong performances.

    “So I think about that time of the year.”

    Despite four wins on the season and competing for a record-tying seventh championship this Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, this season for Jimmie Johnson will end up being statistically one of his most under-performed seasons. A finish less than fifth would make 2016 the season with the second-fewest top-fives of his career. He’ll also finish the season with both less than 20 top-10’s for the first time in his career and less than half of his finishes being top-10 finishes. A lead lap finish this weekend would avoid this season having the fewest lead lap finishes since his rookie season.

    During the six-race stretch from Pocono Raceway to New Hampshire Motor Speedway during June and July of this season, Johnson posted finishes of 35th, 16th, 13th, 35th, 32nd and 12th, which amounted to a 23.8 finishing average. Three of his four DNF’s on the season came during that six-race stretch.

    The entire Hendrick organization was under-performing during this stretch. There were weeks where none of the Hendrick cars finished inside the top-10.

    To make matters worse, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was ruled out medically halfway through the season due symptoms of a concussion that stemmed from his wreck at Michigan International Speedway. Alex Bowman and Jeff Gordon have split time, with Bowman taking a slightly larger share, driving the No. 88 car the latter half of the season.

    Even rookie Chase Elliott, who was the most consistent of any HMS driver for much of the season, started to slip in performance in the summer months to the point that his Chase hopes went from a sure thing to questionable.

    Knaus made no bones about the lack of speed through the summer months at HMS. He discussed how all the crew chiefs banded together to work the problem out and that, he believes, is what solved their dilemma.

    “But yeah, it’s no secret that we were not performing the way we wanted to throughout the bulk of the season as a company, so we all buckled down,” he added. “I think the crew chiefs have put their heads together very well, and really started to work well together. Not that we weren’t before, but we just did it with more vigor than what we had in the past, and I think that’s a direct reason why we have the results that we do now. I think all of our teams are running great. I think at one time, Sunday, last week, we were first, second, third and fifth, I think, so the best showing we have had in a race competitively like that in a while.

    “I think everybody at Hendrick Motorsports is doing a great job of pushing our performance and making that a priority, and it should carry on, I hope, into next season.

  • Harvick proves a non-factor at Phoenix

    Harvick proves a non-factor at Phoenix

    Kevin Harvick was a virtual non-factor at a track he’s practically owned the deed to as of late, and not even a top-five finish was enough to transfer him to the championship race for the third straight year.

    Coming to Phoenix International Raceway this weekend, the driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet had won five of the last six races and led no fewer than 139 laps in each of them. This weekend, his car was just off the mark.

    From the start of the weekend, Harvick and team couldn’t find the setup that best suited his car, saying that he just began way off on Friday.

    It didn’t start better for him on raceday as he went from the top-10 to outside the top-10 in the second run of the race because his car was loose and progressed to “plowing through the center.”

    He had a chance to steal the victory in overtime after a turn 1 wreck involving Matt Kenseth and Alex Bowman, who ironically put on a drive one would expect from Harvick, but nothing materialized on the final restart and he settled for a fourth-place finish.

    “We just started way too far off on Friday. We never got a handle on the racecar,” Harvick said. “They made it a ton better in the race and we were in contention there at the end and just came up short. Just really proud of everybody for the effort that they put in. It was a very challenging Chase for us for all the mechanical failures and situations that we had going on. We kept rebounding and winning races and today we were a lap down and came back to have a chance at the end. That says a lot about the character of our race team and we just came up short this year.”

    He missed making the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway by 20-points.

    With the Chase reset, Harvick leaves Phoenix 11th in points five back of Chase Elliott.

  • Logano Books Championship Ticket with Win at Phoenix

    Logano Books Championship Ticket with Win at Phoenix

    With one final championship berth on the line, it was only fitting that the race went into overtime and it was also fitting that late race calamity allowed Joey Logano to sneak his way into the Championship 4.

    Alex Bowman led the field to the green flag at 2:48 p.m. and it only took until Turn 4 for a car, the 42 of Kyle Larson, to spin out and bring out the first caution.

    It went back green on the sixth lap and settled into a long green run. During the stretch, Kevin Harvick’s car fell back as he was complaining of his car first being loose, then “plowing through the center.” Martin Truex Jr. entered the top-10 for the first time on lap 63 after starting 40th.

    Green flag stops started on lap 79 and caution flew for the second time on lap 82 when Ryan Newman locked up trying to slow down getting onto pit road, spun out and slammed into the back of Larson. The damage to Larson was minimal.

    During the caution, Truex was held a lap for “pulling up to pit.”

    Back to action on lap 91, Logano worked his way to the lead two laps later. Jimmie Johnson drove by Logano on the backstretch to take the lead on lap 120. Debris on the frontstretch brought out the third caution on lap 132. Logano exited pit road first.

    Johnson was also held a lap “pulling up to pit.”

    The race restarted on lap 140. Bowman drove past Logano on the backstretch to retake the lead on lap 158. Debris in Turn 1 brought out the fourth caution on lap 210.

    On the ensuing lap 218 restart, a three-car accordion-effect wreck in Turn 2 involving Austin Dillon, Greg Biffle and Johnson brought out the fifth caution.

    The next run went close to 30 laps after restarting with 84 laps to go before a two-car wreck involving Newman and Truex brought out the sixth caution. Denny Hamlin opted to stay out and take the lead.

    On the ensuing restart with 51 to go, he lost the lead to Matt Kenseth.

    After debris slowed the race for the seventh time, it went back green with 43 to go.

    Bowman had the strongest car during the run and worked his way up to second with under 20 to go. But with an almost four-second gap, his only hope of catching Kenseth was a caution.

    A wreck by Michael McDowell with two to go gave him the break he needed.

    On the first overtime attempt, Kyle Busch got Bowman loose as he tried to go for the inside line going into Turn 1. In doing so, Bowman was left with no room to avoid hitting Kenseth going into Turn 1 and punted him into the wall.

    Based on the scoring loop, Logano was placed in the lead.

    The following restart was a clean restart and he drove on to score the victory.

    It’s his 17th career victory in 290 Sprint Cup Series starts, third of 2016, first at Phoenix International Raceway and 25th top-10 finish of the season.

    Kyle Busch came home runner-up.

    It’s his 24th top-10 finish of 2016 and 15th in 23 races at Phoenix.

    Larson rallied back from his lap 1 spin to round out the podium.

    Harvick, who had made Phoenix his playground since 2012, was a non-factor in a fourth-place finish.

    “We just started way too far off on Friday,” Harvick said. “We never got a handle on the racecar. They made it a ton better in the race and we were in contention there at the end and just came up short. Just really proud of everybody for the effort that they put in. It was a very challenging Chase for us for all the mechanical failures and situations that we had going on. We kept rebounding and winning races and today we were a lap down and came back to have a chance at the end. That says a lot about the character of our race team and we just came up short this year.”

    Teammate Kurt Busch rounded out the top-five.

    Bowman, who led a race-high of 194 laps, finished sixth.

    “It was a really fun day,” Bowman said. “Greg (Ives, crew chief) and all the guys made great changes all day. We had the best car all day long. Really disappointed. I hate that we got into Matt (Kenseth) like that. Just really disappointing end to the day, but one of those deals. Just a racing deal. I don’t know if his spotter cleared him or what, but I was up against the inside wall when we made contact. It says a lot about Hendrick Motorsports and Greg Ives and the whole Nationwide Chevy team. We were so strong all day, fastest car, but the fastest car didn’t win the race this weekend.

    “Man, it’s just really disappointing. But everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, the Hendrick engine shop, Nationwide, Axalta, it just means so much for them to put faith in me. I don’t think I have ever led a Cup race before and to lead as much as we did and to run like we did today is amazing.”

    Twenty-one cars finished on the lead lap and 38 were running at the finish.

    Only Gray Gaulding, fuel pump, and Truex, accident, retired from the race.

    The race lasted three hours, eight minutes and 59 seconds at an average speed of 102.866 mph. There were eight lead changes among five different drivers and nine cautions for 53 laps.

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  • Victory Eludes Dominant Bowman at Phoenix

    Victory Eludes Dominant Bowman at Phoenix

    Alex Bowman had a dominant day in the Valley of the Sun from start to finish, but it wasn’t enough for the native son to score his first series victory.

    The weekend started off with a bang for the driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet after he claimed his first Sprint Cup Series pole.

    He put on a performance reminiscent of what Kevin Harvick had come to deliver the last few years at Phoenix International Raceway, leading 194 circuits on three different stints.

    He lost the lead for good after a two-car wreck brought out the sixth caution of the race with 56 laps to go with Denny Hamlin opting not to pit, he still played a factor in who won the race.

    On the run to the checkered flag in the final 40 lap, Bowman had the strongest car in the field. He was passing cars with ease and cutting into Matt Kenseth’s lead by the time he made it to second with less than 20 to go, but the almost four-second gap wasn’t shrinking fast enough and his chance at victory were fading.

    Michael McDowell wrecking out with two to go gave him one more shot to earn his first victory.

    On the restart in overtime, however, he got blocked down next to the wall by Kyle Busch and ended up punting Kenseth into the wall, ending his chances at racing for the championship.

    “We had a great car. We took four there and restarted on the bottom twice. Our car didn’t really take off on restarts all day long very well, so had to make our way back up through there, and we got to second at the end and had that caution come out, and didn’t get a terrible restart, and the 18 turned me sideways getting into the corner, and I ‑‑ I don’t know, it almost feels like ‑‑ I almost feel like the 20 thought he was clear because I was against the ‑‑ I wasn’t at the best angle but I was also against the inside wall when we made contact. I guess he said something on the radio that he thought he was clear,” Bowman said in his post-race press conference.

    “I hate it for Matt. You take somebody out like that. I would have raced the hell out of him for the win, but definitely don’t want to do that.”

    He didn’t make much ground on the final restart and came home sixth.

    It still ended up being his best career finish and the 194 laps led were the most of any Hendrick Motorsports driver, other than Jimmie Johnson, since Jeff Gordon at Martinsville Speedway in October of 2014.

  • Kyle Busch Fastest in Final Cup Practice at Phoenix

    Kyle Busch Fastest in Final Cup Practice at Phoenix

    Kyle Busch topped the chart in final Sprint Cup Series practice at Phoenix International Raceway.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 26.401 and a speed of 136.358 mph. Brad Keselowski was second in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford with a time of 26.415 and a speed of 136.286 mph. Joey Logano was third in his No. 22 Penske Ford with a time of 26.431 and a speed of 136.204 mph. Alex Bowman was fourth in his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 26.462 and a speed of 136.044 mph. Austin Dillon rounded out the top-five in his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 26.475 and a speed of 135.977 mph.

    Chase Elliott was sixth in his No. 24 HMS Chevrolet. Kyle Larson was seventh in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet followed by Ryan Blaney who was eighth in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford. Martin Truex Jr. was ninth in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top-10 in his No. 20 JGR Toyota.

    Jimmie Johnson was 11th, Kevin Harvick was 14th, Carl Edwards was 15th, Kurt Busch was 20th and Denny Hamlin rounded out the Chase drivers in 22nd.

    Bowman posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 135.417 mph.

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  • Truex Fastest in Second Practice at Phoenix

    Truex Fastest in Second Practice at Phoenix

    Martin Truex Jr. topped the chart in second Sprint Cup Series practice at Phoenix International Raceway.

    The driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 26.573 and a speed of 135.476 mph. Brad Keselowski was second in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford with a time of 26.586 and a speed of 135.410 mph. Jamie McMurray was third in his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 26.646 and a speed of 135.105 mph. Kyle Larson was fourth in his No. 42 Ganassi Chevrolet with a time of 26.655 and a speed of 135.059 mph. Joey Logano rounded out the top-five in his No. 22 Penske Ford with a time of 26.664 and a speed of 135.014 mph.

    Kevin Harvick was sixth in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet followed by Chase Elliott in seventh in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Kyle Busch was eighth in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Kurt Busch was ninth in his No. 41 SHR Chevrolet and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-10 in his No. 11 JGR Toyota.

    Jimmie Johnson was 11th, Matt Kenseth was 13th and Carl Edwards rounded out the Chase drivers in 20th.

    Truex posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 134.539 mph.

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  • Bowman Takes the Pole in Phoenix

    Bowman Takes the Pole in Phoenix

    Alex Bowman will lead the field to the green flag on Sunday afternoon after topping the chart in the final round of qualifying in the Valley of the Sun.

    The driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet scored the pole for the Can-Am 500 after posting a time of 25.619 and a speed of 140.521 mph.

    “Man, it’s amazing,” Bowman said of getting the pole in Phoenix. “We weren’t really that strong in qualifying trim in practice. I don’t really know where that came from, but I just can’t thank everybody at Hendrick Motorsports enough. To do this in Phoenix, so close to home, means so much to me. We have had such fast racecars we haven’t had an ounce of luck, but to get a pole here means a lot.”

    It’s the first career pole in 80 Sprint Cup Series starts for the native of Tucson, Arizona.

    Kyle Larson will start second in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet after posting a time of 25.666 and a speed of 140.263 mph. Chase Elliott will start third in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet after posting a time of 25.671 and a speed of 140.236 mph. Joey Logano will start fourth in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford after posting a time of 25.689 and a speed of 140.138. mph. Denny Hamlin will round out the top-five in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota after posting a time of 25.701 and a speed of 140.072 mph.

    Kevin Harvick will start sixth in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. Austin Dillon will start seventh in his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Ryan Blaney will start eighth in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford. Jamie McMurray will start ninth in his No. 1 Ganassi Chevrolet. Matt Kenseth will round out the top-10 in his No. 20 JGR Toyota.

    Carl Edwards will start 11th and Kurt Busch will round out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying.

    Jimmie Johnson will start 17th and Kyle Busch will round out the Chase drivers in 19th.

    The 40-car field will be comprised of 22 Chevrolet’s, 11 Ford’s and seven Toyota’s.

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  • Larson Fastest in First Cup Practice at Phoenix

    Larson Fastest in First Cup Practice at Phoenix

    Kyle Larson topped the chart in first Sprint Cup Series practice at Phoenix International Raceway.

    The driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 25.802 and a speed of 139.524 mph. Joey Logano was second in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford with a time of 25.808 and a speed of 139.492 mph. Chase Elliott was third in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 25.844 and a speed of 139.297 mph. Denny Hamlin was fourth in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 25.871 and a speed of 139.152 mph. Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top-five in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 25.874 and a speed of 139.136 mph.

    Jamie McMurray was sixth in his No. 1 Ganassi Chevrolet. Jimmie Johnson was seventh in his No. 48 HMS Chevrolet. Kurt Busch was eighth in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. Ryan Blaney was ninth in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford. Matt Kenseth rounded out the top-10 in his No. 20 JGR Toyota.

    Edwards was 13th, Harvick was 15th and Kyle Busch was the lowest Chase driver in 19th.

    Truex wrecked in the closing seconds of the session and went to a backup car.

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  • Logano says Harvick is Beatable at Phoenix

    Logano says Harvick is Beatable at Phoenix

    Coming to Phoenix, a track that’s been Kevin Harvick’s playground as of late, Joey Logano acknowledged that Harvick is very fast at Phoenix, “but he is also beatable” at Phoenix.

    Speaking to the media earlier today at Phoenix International Raceway, the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford was asked if Harvick winning five of the last six races at the track changes the dynamic and if he was paying more attention to what Harvick does in practice than he normally would.

    “I think it is no secret that what he has done here is very impressive. He has won a lot of races here and definitely has something figured out,” Logano said. “We have learned as a race team to worry about ourselves. That is the only way we will control our own destiny. We also learn from what other people are doing to change what we are doing sometimes. We watch what he does on and off the race track. We have to. We have to see what it is and what makes him dominant at this race track.”

    In 27 career starts at Phoenix, Harvick has amassed eight wins, 12 top-fives, 16 top-10’s, 1,484 laps led, a 10.3 finishing average, finished on the lead lap in 20 races and never failed to finish a race at Phoenix.

    His eight wins at Phoenix both his career best of any track, nowhere else does he have more than three, and the most of any driver in NASCAR history.

    It’s been during the last four years, however, when Harvick has made the Valley of the Sun his playground. Since 2012, he’s finished second, first, 13th, first, first, first, first, second and first. In that span, he has a 3.8 finishing average. In the last five trips to Phoenix, he’s led no less than 139 laps in each race (leading 224, 264, 224, 143 and 139 laps in those five).

    He’s been nothing short of dominant in his career at Phoenix.

    Despite his dominance, Logano says Harvick is beatable here.

    “If you look at the spring race, that was pretty close. That was really close,” he added. “It was fun to watch for me on the way out here. There have been times that he hasn’t been very strong. He didn’t qualify very well here in the spring race. There are a lot of opportunities out there for us and it isn’t a given for him. This garage area is very tough and advantages don’t last very long. Yes, he has had an amazing run here and his advantages have lasted a long time and will still be a car we have to go compete against to beat but we don’t come in here feeling defeated. I feel like my team has everything it takes to beat him.”