Category: NASCAR Cup Series

April Fifth, 2009: the economic downturn is in full swing. Roughly 663,000 people have lost their jobs in the weeks prior, raising the unemployment rate to 8.5%. The automobile industry is amidst a crisis and United States President Barack Obama has just announced his plan for worldwide nuclear disarmament.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”229″][/media-credit]Meanwhile, a cowboy-hat adorned Jeff Gordon fires two pistols into the air, celebrating his win in victory lane at Texas Motor Speedway.

If you were to tell a fellow fan that it would be almost two years and 66 races before Gordon would return to victory lane, you would have been laughed at- but such was the case for one of NASCAR’s biggest stars.

Much has changed since that spring afternoon in Fort Worth, where Gordon still had more championships than his teammate Jimmie Johnson.

The 2011 campaign was one of heartbreak, where Gordon finished second eight times and found himself playing second-fiddle to teammate Jimmie Johnson a majority of the time. To return his company to it’s once overall dominance, team owner Rick Hendrick reacted by naming Alan Gustafson the new crew chief for Jeff as part of an organization-wide personnel shuffle- a change that clicked immediately.

Gordon was extremely fast during Daytona Speedweeks, but an accident early in the Daytona 500 forced him to watch the race from the infield with many other drivers who were involved in the accident.

Gordon’s return to victory lane this afternoon in Phoenix was more than just capturing his 83rd career win or having a fast car, but proof that the California native isn’t done yet.

“When we dropped the green flag, I knew I had something special,” said Gordon, who led a total of 138 laps after sustaining left-side damage in an early wreck that took out nearly half the field.

“Every driver knows that they may not get back to victory lane, and I was hoping that wasn’t the case for me,” said the emotional winner, who admitted this afternoon in the media center that he has often questioned whether he still has what it takes to compete at the sport’s highest level.

After a disappointing start for the season last week in Daytona where he finished 28th, Gordon has moved to 5th in the points standings, just 15 markers behind after his win.

After being asked about his outlook on the remainder of the season, Gordon replied saying “I’m so excited about this season, and think we can do it (win) again.”

For the latest NASCAR news and information, follow Kyle on Twitter: @KyleBrandtSM.

Amid the reports and concerns of struggling television ratings, NASCAR has delivered some unique racing and interesting storylines to kickoff the year. For example, a change in the point’s systems awards winners and those drivers that elected to run for points specifically in one series. The new nose on the Sprint Cup car provided unique drafting, and the elimination of the catch can man changes the crew dynamic. And while all these changes are being sorted out, the boys are racing again.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”295″][/media-credit]The 2011 stock car racing season is underway and is being scripted like a fairy tale despite the rulebook. On track action and results have been incredible. The Cinderella season started on the Daytona high banks and found the rookie Trevor Bayne at the center of it all. Driving the famed No. 21 for the legendary Wood Brothers, Bayne claimed the checkers in the season’s most prestigious race, at the age of 20

“It’s definitely been way more than I expected, “Bayne commented after a media tour that spanned across the country for the Daytona 500 champion. “I was just telling them over here that I knew myself and everybody in our community thought the 500 was a really big deal, “ he said. “We all look forward to it every year, but I just didn’t realize the support we were gonna get from outside our community. The rest of the United States is just really fired up about everything for the Wood Brothers and the history and then the youth part of it. It’s just been a really, really cool week and a humbling experience.”

The Daytona 500 win came on the heels of two other well-run events. Michael Waltrip’s emotional victory in the Camping World Truck Series brought tears to the eyes of many, as he remembered Dale Earnhardt Sr. ten years to the date of his death. Driving the No. 15 tribute to Earnhardt, Waltrip returned to victory lane at Daytona after a last lap pass to secure the win. He was absolutely speechless.

Then, it was Tony Stewart taking the checkers in his fourth consecutive Nationwide Series win on the restrictor plate facility. All three Daytona winners earned no points for their respective wins. And as the teams leave the Cinderella stories behind them, an ugly step-sister was waiting in Phoenix for some of the Daytona top finishers.

Bayne felt the eyes of the world upon him after hitting the wall in practice. His goal of a top 15 finish quickly turned into disaster during the race as well. While working his way toward the front of the field in a backup car, Bayne’s Ford met an untimely fate as he spun out and hit the wall. He would finish 40th.

Kyle Busch claimed two checkered flags in the desert and came up just one spot shy of the three-peat. “It was a rough beginning there for a while for a lot of guys and we were able to persevere and work through it and work on our car and get most out of the day, “ Busch said. “We came back strong and we had a really good car there on the long runs, and on the really long runs we were kind of running those guys down.

But it seemed after the restarts, Jeff was just really, really good. We thought we could beat him after 20 or so laps but he had just so much forward bite today we just could not hang with him,” he continued.

Busch, a previous HMS wheeler himself was gracious to his on track successor. “I think he was on a mission today, that’s for sure and when Jeff Gordon has a good car and he has the opportunity to beat you, he’s going to beat you, “ Busch said. “There’s no doubt about that. He’s my hero and I’ve always watched him and what he’s been able to accomplish over the years. It’s no surprise that he beat us. Congratulations to them, they are my old five bunch, so cool to see them get the win,” he added.

Hendrick Motorsports veteran wheeler Jeff Gordon defeated a sixty-six race winless streak dating back to Texas in 2009, to place his No. 24 machine in victory lane. Running in his nineteenth Sprint Cup season, Gordon has 83 career victories in 619 starts, and a new sponsor. He is driving for AARP and the Drive to End Hunger.

This win tied Gordon for fifth on the all time win list with Cale Yarborough. “How cool is that to tie Yarborough? That is the ultimate. First guy I ever drove a Cup car for was Cale Yarborough,” Gordon said. “A lot of people don’t realize that. Of course, I spun that car that day, too.”

A four-time series champion, Gordon continued, “I have not been in a position to put pressure on the leader to force him to make mistakes and be in control of the situation in a very long time. And that’s what I love so much about today is to be in that position was such a cool feeling,” he said. “And at that moment, you don’t care if it’s Kyle Busch or who it is; you feel like you’re in control of your destiny.”

Alan Gustafson, Gordon’s Crew Chief, is the fifth crew chief to visit victory lane with the wheeler. Making this trip special is a twist of fate. Gustafson and Gordon began working together in the off-season thanks to a structural change inside Hendrick Motorsports.

“I thank Mr. Hendrick for putting me in position to work with drivers of that caliber. There are a lot of people there are going to work their whole lives and never have opportunities like that. “Gustafson said. “I think it’s awesome that I’ve got those chances and to work with Kyle and Mark and now Jeff, they are three Hall of Fame drivers, arguably three of the best ever to drive these cars, and I’m just ecstatic that I’ve got those opportunities.”

More opportunities abound next week as the NASCAR Superstars gamble their way into Sin City. If the first two races are any indication of what is to come, set the DVR recorders now. In true fairy tale fashion, the underdog or winless would win each week, keeping the point hounds at bay. But, before saying they all lived happily ever after, there are 34 more races to finish the season. And while it may be interesting now, it may get even more dramatic before the final checkered flag falls. After all, this is just the beginning.

Just off a whirlwind week of racing at Daytona, NASCAR’s top three series headed for Phoenix for some non superspeedway racing. The Big One at Daytona was left in the mirror, or so everyone thought.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]For the Daytona 500 winner, the charm at Daytona quickly faded with a wrecked car on his first lap of practice. Out came the back up car and young Trevor Bayne began what appeared to be a cautious weekend. Unlike his two previous Cup starts, a poor qualifying run put the youngster back in the field, starting 33rd.

On Saturday Bayne looked forward to the NASCAR Nationwide Series race as he is in the championship hunt in that series. A decent qualifying run put the #16 unsponsored Roush Fenway Racing Ford Mustang in the 4th row, starting 7th. He showed a strong and steady course although never seen as a challenger to leader Kyle Busch or the pack of Cup regulars up front all day. That steady run came to an abrupt end for Bayne on lap 164 when a flat tire sent the car into the wall. The damage was so extensive it ended Bayne’s night finishing in 31st place. The finish resulted in a drop of six positions in the point standings to 11th.

Kyle Busch led the Basha’s Supermarket 200 from flag to flag with Carl Edwards finishing second. This was without a doubt the most boring NASCAR race so far for 2011 in the top tiers. Most of the race saw the top six positions in running order occupied by Cup series regulars. That situation hardly changed as Reed Sorenson was the top finishing Nationwide driver, finishing 5th, with 5 Cup drivers in the top 6 finishing spots. With the new points program in place, Reed Sorenson is the new leader, five points ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Overnight rains presented a green track on Sunday morning, prompting NASCAR to call for a competition caution on lap 40. The race was under way for 20 laps when debris on the track led to the first caution. On lap 35 Robbie Gordon got a push from behind that sent the #7 dodge spinning across the track. NASCAR took that opportunity to move the competition caution to lap 35.

Lap 50 saw Trevor Bayne turned into the wall ending his day in the Subway Fresh Fit 500. The damage to the #21 Wood Brothers Ford was severe enough that the decision was made to load it up. Ten laps later Kyle Busch would get loose up high, but he saved his car as he bounced off the #99 of Carl Edwards. As Edwards spun, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton all suffered minimal damage. But the Ford Fusion of Edwards would head to the garage for extensive repairs.

The race was only green for 1 lap when the big one came, as Brian Vickers has a left rear tire cut down and spins in front of the pack. Fourteen cars were involved with most of them headed for the garage. Big wrecks at Superspeedways like Daytona are the norm, but at a short track like Phoenix it is rare. With the car count reduced due to attrition, it seemed that things calmed down for a long time as the race stayed green until lap 127 when David Ragan cut a tire crashed and eventually the car went up in flames.

The final 22 laps came down to an intense battle between four time champion Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch who was looking to claim another trifecta after winning both the Truck and Nationwide races. Busch took the lead from Tony Stewart on lap 291 with Gordon in tow. It appeared that Busch was going to run away with the race, but Gordon showed determination and on lap 304 he pushed past the #18 of Busch and never looked back. The win for Gordon brought to an end his 66 race losing streak.

Despite his second place finish, Kyle Busch moved into the point lead in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series, with older brother Kurt second.

During the NASCAR weekend at the Phoenix International Raceway we were prepared for a single driver to sweep all three races in the valley of the sun. Then we watched a wily veteran break the man’s broom during the third and final race of the weekend. We wondered about the merits of a “big one” getting launched on a one mile track and last week’s hero discovered that sometimes NASCAR racing can become a cruel mistress. With those thoughts in mind, let’s begin this week with:

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”282″][/media-credit]HOORAH to four time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon for returning to victory lane in Phoenix last Sunday and ending a 66 race winless streak. It was also his first win with new crew chief Alan Gustafason and the first win with Gordon’s new primary sponsor: AARP drive to end hunger.

Talk about ending hunger. Gordon has been hungry for a Sprint Cup win and was understandably charged with emotion after ridding himself of that 66 race streak that he was constantly reminded of. The return to victory lane marked his 83d career win which now ties him for fifth, with Cale Yarborough on the all time series’ win list.

Gordon’s Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was strong. He ran down race leader Kyle Busch with eight laps left in the race and then ran off to the checkers. He also picked up bonus points for leading a race high 138 laps. By the way, after the victory lane ceremony Gordon hopped a quick flight to Los Angeles where he celebrated his win at a post Academy Awards party.

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Kyle Busch also deserves a major HOORAH for his outstanding performance during the Phoenix weekend. He was entered in all three of NASCAR’s national touring series events and appeared well on his way to sweeping the entire weekend. He began the process Friday night by winning the Lucas Oil 150 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. Driving his Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota Tundra, he led 107 of the 150 laps. The event marked his 25th win in the truck series as well as his second win, along with six top ten finishes, in seven starts at Phoenix.

But that was a warm up exercise compared to his performance the following night during the Bashas Supermarkets 200 NASCAR Nationwide Series race. After winning the Coors Light Pole during qualifying, Busch climbed in his familiar Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and led the field under the initial green flag. That was pretty much the story of the race. When the checkers fell he set a track record after leading all 200 laps of the race to claim his 44th series win. The last time anyone managed to lead every lap in a Nationwide Series race was Dale Earnhardt Sr at Daytona back in 2003. But this is not to imply that the process was easy. Busch and Carl Edwards put on a terrific duel in the final laps of this race.

When the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series took the green flag to start the Subway Fresh Fit 500 on Sunday it was apparent from the beginning that Busch was not going to have an easy time to completing the weekend sweep. He started fourth on the grid but the car just wasn’t handling to his satisfaction and there was an early race brush with the wall. At one point the frustrated driver came over his radio and said : “I’m tired of being a ping pong ball out here, this is pathetic.”

But the ping pong ball aspect came on lap 59 when Busch made contact with early race leader, and pre race favorite, Carl Edwards. The Roush Fenway Ford of Edwards, which led the early portion of the race two times for 21 laps, was badly damaged and spent a lengthy amount of time in the garage before returning to the race. A pre race favorite to win turned into a 28th place finish.

However, despite the massive amount of frustration, Edwards deserves a HOORAH for his calm and diplomatic demeanor displayed during a post wreck television interview. Busch deserves another HOORAH for his post race interview when he accepted full responsibility for this accident and apologized to Edwards for the incident.

While Busch spent more than half of the race dealing with the ping pong effect, crew chief Dave Rogers was slowly but surely master minding the adjustments the car needed to get his driver in position for a Phoenix sweep. The extra effort paid off of lap 291 when Busch became the new race leader. It appeared that he was going to literally sweep the dust right off of the Phoenix Raceway. But a hard charging Jeff Gordon was on his way to Busch’s rear bumper. Gordon officially broke Busch’s broom when he made his winning move on lap 304.

Enroute to his attempted Phonix sweep, Busch ran three races and a total of 672 laps. He won two of the races and led 330 laps in that process. I’ve said it many times before and I will raise the point again now: whether you’re a proud member of this driver’s fan club or one who literally cringes at the mention of his name there is no denying this man’s driving talent and the amazing statistics it has created in such a short amount of time.

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WAZZUP with the level of aggressive driving the early stages of the Phoenix Cup race? At times it resembled racing for the win during a final lap green-white-checker finish. It was too much too early and the collateral damage sent a lot of high profile drivers and teams to the garage area for repairs.

This was especially true of of a lap 67 incident that turned into a 13 car wreck and a red flag period that lasted 14 minutes for track clean up. This is the type of “big one” normally associated with restrictor plate racing at Daytona or Talladega. It’s not what we expect to see on a one mile oval like Phoenix.

Contact between the cars of Brian Vickers and Matt Kenseth launched this melee. The Vickers Toyota spun in front of traffic on the backstretch and the carnage began from there. In the aftermath came driver frustration and harsh words. This was especially true in the case of Vickers who claimed that Kenseth door slammed him into the wall. Vickers also made it clear that he was very upset with Kenseth and said “I felt like that move was unnecessary and it will sure come back to him.” That will be something to keep an eye on during a future race.

One of the many victims in this melee, Clint Bowyer, probably put it best when he stated that “we’re supposed to be professionals-this is embarrassing.”

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WAZZUP with the NASCAR reality check delivered to Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne? A little over a week ago this young driver was standing in victory lane at Daytona basking in the glow of a stunning victory. He spent the majority of last week on a nationwide public relations blitz where he was courted by every form of the media that you could name.

But when the Phoenix racing weekend began Bayne found out that sometimes NASCAR racing can become a very cruel and fickle mistress. In all fairness what happened to him was just plain bad racing luck but it came during a three day tidal wave that had to seem overwhelming.

The problem started on Friday when Bayne crashed his primary Wood Brother Cup car during practice. The damage was substantial and forced the team to roll out a back up car which meant they would have to go to the back of the field for Sunday’s race.

On Saturday Bayne climbed inside of his full time NASCAR Nationwide Series ride, fielded by Roush Fenway Racing, for the running of the series’ Bashas Supermarkets 200. A little past the halfway point of the race, Bayne crashed that Ford as well and wound up with a 31st place finish.

By the way, WAZZUP with Bayne’s Roush Fenway Racing Nationwide car running completely unsponsored? I was hoping that his stunning performance at Daytona would help alleviate that situation.

During Sunday’s Cup race Bayne found himself destroying his third Ford of the Phoenix weekend on lap 49. The damage from that crash forced him behind the wall for good and netted the snake bit driver a very disappointing 40th place finish.

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The HOORAH award for making chicken salad out of chicken do do belongs to Dale Earnhardt Jr. NASCAR’s most popular driver found himself starting the Subway Fresh Fit 500 from a disappointing 35th position. He frequently spent much of the early stages of the race languishing somewhere between 20th and 30th, he lost track position due to a pit road speeding penalty and sliding out of his pit box, he came perilously close to getting creamed in the big 13 car wreck and then fell a lap down late in the race due to a loose wheel.

Despite all of this Earnhardt, aided by the calm demeanor of new crew chief Steve Letarte, kept his nose to the grindstone, worked his way back to the lead lap and then scored a tenth place finish. All of this has been perceived by many observers as a true sign of bigger and better things to come.

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A double HOORAH goes to the administrative team at the Phoenix International Raceway. They wanted their Sprint Cup race to be a sell out but realized that their fans, still struggling with the state of the economy, were going to need some help. The speedway came through big time with a ticket value package that featured $25 tickets for the Cup race, $15 for the Nationwide Series race and $7 for the Camping World Truck Series. That’s a total of $47 for three nights of NASCAR racing. Granted these seats were in the lower levels of the grandstand but, with the way the speedway is configured, there really isn’t a bad seat there. By the way, the promotion worked very well and Sunday’s grandstands were packed.

An additional 12,000 brought their lawn chairs and sat in a general admission area known as Rattlesnake Hill which overlooks turns three and four of the speedway. That leads to another HOORAH to volunteers who spent the week prior to the race rounding up and removing a reported 800 plus rattlesnakes from the area.

I was really impressed with this effort. That’s because I’m extremely sensitive to all snake issues, including rubber ones purchased at a toy store.

The snake round up also leads to a HOORAH to SPEED Channel analyst Kenny Wallace for a great line when he said “I heard a rumor that one of those snakes was Jimmy Spencer.”

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I suppose whether or not this final item is a HOORAH or a WAZZUP depends on how you feel about watching reality television. NASCAR fans are well aware that driver Kyle Busch married the lovely Samantha Sarcinella in Chicago this past New Year’s Eve. Now it seems that the entire wedding process was filmed and edited for a reality show to be presented by the Style Network.

“Fast And Fabulous: A NASCAR Wedding” will air on Style beginning March 5th at 8 pm eastern time. The series includes an inside look at all of the planning procedures involved in a lavish wedding including footage of the bachelor and bachelorette parties.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]The announcement of a change to the distribution of points across NASCAR national series sparked debate among even the most conservative NASCAR fans.  One of the explanations behind the change was to develop a more dramatic points battle to increase fan interest.

A debate arose over the fact that a quick calculation would show that very little, if anything, would change in the final championship standings. Here, I shall contend that debate with weekly comparisons across the three most commonly mentioned distributions, plus my own personal points schedule designed to reward both race winners and consistant high finishes.

Classic Points System – Standings After Race 2

Much like the current system, the Busch brothers sit atop the standings with the younger Busch leading the elder by a mere 15 points. Jeff Gordon moves up to third with A.J. Allmendinger and Ryan Newman rounding out the top five.

Notable changes in position compared to current system: Mark Martin (-5), Kevin Harvick (+2), David Gilliand (+2)

F1 System – >Standings After Race 2

After his Phoenix win, Jeff Gordon now sits tied at the top of the F1 standings with Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne. Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards both lurk three and seven points back respectively, while five-time champion Jimmie Johnson rounds out the top five.

Drivers without points: Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer, Greg Biffle

Notable changes in position compared to current system: Kevin Harvick (+14), Carl Edwards (+8), Jimmie Johnson (+8), Denny Hamlin (-4), A.J. Allmendinger (-9)

IRL System – >Standings After Race 2

Again, Kyle Busch holds the point lead but this time by just two points over Phoenix winner Jeff Gordon. Trevor Bayne’s Daytona victory keeps in the top five in third, while Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards round out the top five.

Notable changes in position compared to current system: Kevin Harvick (+11), Carl Edwards (+7), Tony Stewart (-7), A.J. Allmendinger (-8)

Phat’s System – >Standings After Race 2

For an explanation of the points distribution, please see image on standings page.

Jeff Gordon’s victory would leap frog him to the points lead by nine points over Kyle Busch. Despite his 40th place finish, Bayne would again hold on to the third spot with Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards rounding out the top five. 

Notable changes in position compared to current system: Paul Menard (-6), Juan Pablo Montoya (-5), Denny Hamlin (-5), Kevin Harvick (+11)