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  • The Final Word – Raise your hands if you loved Kentucky…anyone?

    The Final Word – Raise your hands if you loved Kentucky…anyone?

    What excitement Kentucky brought us last Saturday night. Let me see if I have it right. Kurt led, then Kyle, Brad for a while, before Kyle did it in style as few can do for career Cup win #22. Oh, Jamie blew up, Junior came in for two when he needed at least three, and after a pair of late cautions, Reutimann, Johnson, Newman and Edwards came out of no where for Top Fives. That pretty much sums it up. Did I mention that the televised version was boring as hell?

    [media-credit id=24 align=”alignright” width=”229″][/media-credit]Okay, so Bruton Smith, who owns pretty much everything the France family hasn’t already tied down, promises that Kentucky will soon become THE place to go to watch a NASCAR race. Maybe he is right. I heard him talk about how they needed to fix the terrible interstate feeding into the facility, how he planned another 150 acres for parking. Maybe somewhere in there he promised to bulldoze the place and start anew and I just missed it.

    That isn’t to say that the 107,000 fans who took up the challenge to fight their way to the facility did not get their money’s worth. The televised version is nothing like the real deal. You might see some things better or closer up from the couch, but you not only hear the roar of the engines, you feel them when you are there, and there is nothing better than to watch it all under the lights. However, the best way to watch this from home was with the PVR, with all those commercials a lot easier on the conscience to flip by than the so-called action. Kentucky provided a race, not a broadcast spectacular. Heck, due to rain, it didn’t even give us a Waltrip as Michael’s qualifying run in that car saluting his Hall of Fame brother got washed out.

    Daytona and Infineon gave us something to watch, If Loudon doesn’t do the same this weekend, I’m sure Indianapolis will in a couple of weeks. What Kentucky did was it moved Kyle Busch into a first place tie with Kevin Harvick, with 3 wins apiece, with Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon each with a pair. Thanks to his win at Daytona, David Ragan has one wild card spot, with Tony Stewart currently holding down the last one. Brad Keselowski has a win but remains three points shy of the 20th place spot that would give him that final place in the Chase. Once again you have proof that you don’t need exciting racing to provide interesting statistics.

    I just would rather have both. Enjoy your week.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Inaugural Kentucky Quaker State 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Inaugural Kentucky Quaker State 400

    The bluegrass state, known more for its horse racing than horse power, hosted its first ever NASCAR Sprint Cup race, the Quaker State 400. Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the inaugural running of the cars at Kentucky Speedway.

    [media-credit name=”Joe Dunn” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Surprising:  It was a bit surprising to find the biggest complaints of the fans echoed the complaints of the drivers on this historic night. And it was all about the traffic, on and off the track.

    Many fans never even made it into the race because of the traffic. This situation was so bad that both the track management and NASCAR had to issue statements of apology.

    Several drivers also complained vehemently about the traffic on the track as well, especially about not being able to pass. Four-time champion Jeff Gordon, driving the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet, was most vocal about the both sets of traffic situations.

    “When the green flag dropped, I was surprised with how little grip there was because we had so much grip throughout the weekend,” Gordon said. “It was so impossible to pass here.”

    “I think the only thing that made this a great race today was the green-white-checkered and the excitement and energy of the fans,” Gordon continued. “I think when Bruton (Smith) is looking at how to get the traffic in here, he’s going to have to look at the race track as well.”

    “It’s rough and it’s really hard to pass.”

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising to see one driver yet again prove his versatility and driving skills, especially with the spotlight shining on the inaugural run in the bluegrass state.

    That driver, Kyle Busch, proved that he can not only drive from the back of the pack to the victory, as he did in the Camping World Truck Series race, but also start from the pole, lead 125 laps of the 267 laps in the race, and win the first ever Cup event at Kentucky Speedway.

    “This is cool man,” the driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota said. “This is right up there with the best of them.”

    “I haven’t won the big ones, so this is as good as it gets right now,” Busch continued. “I can’t put it into words. The way we ran tonight was awesome.”

    This was Busch’s 22nd victory in 240 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races and his third victory in 2011. The victory also catapulted the 26 year old driver into the lead in the Chase standings by 4 points over Carl Edwards.

    Surprising:  David Reutimann, driver of the No. 00 Tums Toyota Camry, surprisingly not only starred in the Tums commercial with team owner Michael Waltrip, but also starred in his best career finish, runner up to race winner Kyle Busch.

    This was only Reutimann’s second top-10 finish for the entire 2011 season.

    “It was a great race man,” Reutimann said. “It was a phenomenal race.”

    “We got a run on top and got it pointed in the right direction,” Reutimann said of the final lap as he battled five-time champ Jimmie Johnson. “Jimmie gave me enough room up there and we ended up getting a decent finish.”

    Not Surprising:   It was not surprising that the winner of the Kentucky Speedway Nationwide race was the closest contender in the Cup race as far as laps led to the race winner. Brad Keselowski, winner of the Nationwide race at Kentucky, led three times for a total of 79 laps in the first-ever Cup race.

    Unfortunately for Keselowski, driver of the blue deuce for Penske Racing,  the late restarts did not work in his favor and he ended up finishing seventh in the inaugural Cup run atKentucky.

    “It was an incredible Miller Lite Dodge Saturday night,” Keselowski said. “I led a bunch of laps and I have to thank my team for that.”

    “But I would have liked to have gotten a better finish from where we ended up.”

    Surprising:  Old five time Jimmie Johnson made a surprisingly uncharacteristic mistake behind the wheel of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet. He lost count of the laps and thought there was one more lap to go in the race instead of it being completed.

    “I didn’t see the white flag,” Johnson said. “I saw some type of flag when we were coming, which was the checkered, but I didn’t see the white for some reason.”

    “I think the 18 was going to be the winner the way it was,” Johnson continued. “It didn’t change the outcome of the race by any stretch of the imagination.”

    Johnson finished the race in the third spot. He also moved up one spot in the point standings to fifth place.

    Not Surprising:  While Juan Pablo Montoya, behind the wheel of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, may be known as a fiery, aggressive driver, it is not surprising that he and his crew chief Brian Pattie are calculating their every move with the Chase fast approaching.

    Montoya had a good car at Kentuckyand was up in the front lurking for much of the race. Although he finished 15th after qualifying for the outside pole, Montoya has inched ever nearer to Chase contention, moving up one spot to the 13th position in the point standings.

    Surprising:  Jamie McMurray, driving the No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet, is having a surprisingly bad run of motor failures for the season. The engine gremlin struck him again at Kentucky Speedway and it blew up, exuding a tremendous amount of smoke that forced him to a dead stop on the track.

    “Yeah, I got a little freaked out because I felt the motor start shaking and blow up and the smoke came in the car so fast I couldn’t see,” McMurray said. “That’s the first time that’s ever happened to me.”

    “I’m really frustrated,” McMurray continued. “I can’t believe we broke three engines in 18 races or however many we’ve run so far. I don’t know that I’ve blown up three engines in the last five or six years.”

    “So, it’s unbelievable that we seem to keep getting the engine that breaks.”

    Not Surprising:  After several drivers experienced challenging runs at their first ever attempt at Kentucky Speedway, it is not at all surprising that the last words out of the mouths of these drivers is how much they cannot wait to get to the next race in New Hampshire.

    “That was a tough night for the NAPA Know How team,” Martin Truex, Jr., driver of the No. 56 NAPA Good To Go Toyota Camry, said. “We started slow and then it looked like we were going to get a good finish but our car kind of plowed there at the end.”

    “I’m looking forward to New Hampshire.”

    Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry, echoed Truex’s sentiments.

    “It was a fight,” Hamlin said of his inaugural Kentucky run. “We couldn’t make any moves, especially when it came night time and it seemed like our car went away from us.”

    “I’m looking forward to going back to a short track likeNew Hampshire.”

    Hamlin finished 11th and moved up to 10th in the point standings. Truex, Jr. finished 18th and held steady at 23rd in points.

  • Fans used as game pieces in power play of greed and arrogance

    Fans used as game pieces in power play of greed and arrogance

    Up until this weekend NASCAR’s biggest debacle had been the Indy tire disaster of 2008. This weekend made that look tame.  15,000 – 20,000  people were turned away from the track that were holding valid tickets. Traffic was backed up for miles. The track was not ready for a cup date. The track knew it was not ready for a cup date in May of last year. But two words motivated the weekend. Two words that resounded loudly through every statement from the General Manager, Mark Simendinger and track owner, Bruton Smith’s mouths; those two words are arrogance and greed.

    [media-credit name=”Brian Douglas” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Kentucky Speedway was not ready for a Cup date. They said so themselves in May of 2010 when in a press release they stated, “a 2011 cup date at the Kentucky Track, may not be feasible because of a variety of capital improvements needed to the track.”

    Kentucky added 40,000 seats to accommodate the Cup race but they did not expand parking or bathroom facilities to match that. Lines for Port a Potties were 20 to 50 people deep and mostly located inside the facility not in parking areas. By the time the green flag flew parking lots were full and fans were walking as far as three miles to get to the track.

    At the drop of the green flag traffic was still backed up for 20 miles. Traffic advisories posted by the Kentucky State Highway Patrol read, “Traffic backed up for 20 miles and at a stand still. Avoid area.” Rather than apologize for the situation, track owner Bruton Smith said, “I 71 sucks. Blame the state of Kentucky.”

    About  halfway through the race officials began turning people away from the track regardless of the fact that they had a paid ticket. Track owner Bruton Smith stated, “15 – 20,000 ticket holders were turned away when the traffic pattern was reversed to allow flow of traffic out of the track.” By that time they were being turned away anyway, because all the parking lots were over flowing and cars were double and triple parked. The track general manager stated in response to questions on the parking/traffic situation, “It was the number of cars that threw us, not the number of people.”

    The General Manager of the track Mark Simendinger estimated the total number of fans in the stands to be 97,000 people by ticket scan. But the capacity of Kentucky Speedway is 107,000 people. The numbers given by both GM and Owner lead one to believe that the track was over sold by 5 – 10,000 seats.

    The truly sad part is people in the area said, “We knew it would be bad. But this is way worse than we anticipated. This is a nightmare.” There appeared to be no rhyme or reason to the traffic patterning. There appeared to be no communication between Kentucky Speedway and other SMI tracks that handle Cup date traffic on a regular basis. It appeared for all practical purposes to be a power play by both the state of Kentucky and Bruton Smith who used the traffic fiasco to leverage his bid for highway and road improvements by failing to utilize 4 lanes of road leading into the track in favor of using only 2. Perhaps sadder still paying fans were used as the pieces in a game of mine are bigger and I’ll show you.

    In temperatures and humidity that reached critical points, the speedway was unprepared to fill the hydration needs of it’s patrons with several sections running out of food, water and ice during the race. Interestingly enough, Kentucky is one of the few tracks remaining with a no coolers policy which leaves spectators at the mercy of the track in regards to prices and availability. Reports of four dollars for a bottle of water and nine dollars for a cheeseburger, two dollars for a cup of ice were reported by fans on Social Media sites like Twitter and Facebook. It should be noted that it is illegal in Kentucky to allow coolers according to Smith.

    The track itself was in need of improvements and repair as well. Former series Champion, Tony Stewart stated on Friday, “They don’t have enough SAFER barriers yet. Not near enough SAFER barriers for what we’re doing here and how close the wall is to the race track. Hopefully, none of us will have to test that out and see anything.”

    Four time champion Jeff Gordon echoed his sentiments saying, “I was just making a comment after last week’s announcement by Richmond(International Raceway). ‘I wonder why other tracks don’t have Safer Barriers.’ Then I came here and saw the inside wall. Hopefully that is the only time I notice it this weekend. You understand that they have put a lot of effort, you can tell they’ve put a lot of time and money and effort into getting this race track ready. Hopefully it’s not an issue. We’ll see. There is definitely some areas out there that could be addressed. Right now, the way that this track is, I see that the inside is not as much of an issue as maybe it is at some other tracks. But, we’ll have to get through a race and I’m hoping I’m not the crash-test dummy this weekend.”

    The track itself showed deterioration with bumps all around the track. Dale Earnhardt Jr stated, “Well, the last time I tested here, the track was in a whole lot better shape. It’s kind of deteriorated a ton since we tested here last time. I think it was a couple years ago.” Bob Pockgrass of Scene Daily who participated in the pace car ride with former driver Brett Bodine at the wheel stated on twitter, “Pace car ride showed me that track has lots of small bumps. Not many big bumps but it’s the number of bumps that is issue.” When asked if the bumps were worse than those often talked about at Charlotte, he responded, “definitely more of them and no way to avoid them.”

    Track owner Bruton Smith, made light of the drivers concerns, stating, “If they just follow Kyle Busch and drive where he drives they will be fine.” When he was asked about possible repave before next year, he stated, “That is all talk. We will look at it maybe after the 2013 race.”

    The race itself didn’t rescue the venue from the arrogance of its owner; the long drawn out lack luster race was boring to say the least. Even TV commentator Kyle Petty concluded the broadcast with, “This wasn’t the most exciting race. But some guys really made something happen here.” Unfortunately for Petty it wasn’t the TV broadcast people. With poor camera work and too many specialty features the race was mainly silent. Many commented that after having watched the whole race they still were not sure what exactly had happened. Sadly, TNT went from the best broadcast of the season in Daytona to the worst broadcast in Kentucky.

    The follow the leader racing on a two groove track was drawn out. The lack of cautions turned it into a mono tone recital of the same song that most, not all, of the1.5 mile cookie cutter tracks have fallen into. Track position was everything. Fuel mileage was a must. And aero and handling were premium. In short the drivers raced the track and the inherent disadvantages of the car of today rather than other teams and drivers. When it is viewed in light of the full day test on Thursday, the true impact of the poor race becomes clear. Changes are needed to the car if we are to ever return to the type of racing that made that NASCAR a household word.

    The final observation of this disaster of a weekend is the obvious passing the buck of responsibility in regards to the Kentucky. NASCAR says it’s our job to bring the show. We brought the show we put on a race. The track says roads are not our responsibility our responsibility is to provide the track and the date. The state is responsible for the roads. The state says we gave you millions in tax abatement’s and you built seats without making accommodations for the people who would sit in them.

    All three seem to be missing the point here. People who worked hard for the 170 dollars for a ticket to see the race were left out in the cold in some cases literally. The disappointment of children and adults across the board for this race is huge. Many are saying they will never go to Kentucky again.

    This is the heart of racing country. With the current situation of ratings and empty seats, can NASCAR truly afford to have another half empty cookie cutter track on its schedule? Can the state of Kentucky afford the hit it will take in the department of tourism over the black eye for their highway system? Can Kentucky Speedway truly afford the loss of revenue and to start its life in Cup racing with the reputation of being the race weekend that never happened and the track that should never have had a date? In my opinion, the answer to all of the above is NO. But only time will tell how the fans will be compensated for this fiasco, will arrogance and greed take precedent over loyalty and devotion? Tune in next year to find out. Same traffic jam channel same traffic jam time.

    ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * * * * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

    Congratulations to Kyle Busch on his Camping World Truck Series win and his Sprint Cup victory.

    Congratulations to Brad Keselowski on his Nationwide Series win.

    That said, to all the competitors in all the series thanks for giving us everything you have to give, you are our heroes. Most importantly, thanks to all the families who shared their loved ones with us so we could cheer our favorite driver and favorite teams. You are the true heroes of the sport and we are forever in your debt.

    Many Thanks to Jim Utter and Bob Pockgrass for their contributions to this piece via Twitter, you guys are an inspiration.

  • Kentucky Race a Disaster for Fans

    Kentucky Race a Disaster for Fans

    NASCAR does a lot of lip service saying that this sport is for the fans. It’s everywhere in advertising and in driver comments. That didn’t happen at Kentucky Speedway this weekend.

    Adding 40,000 seats and not developing adequate ways to get in and out of the track are tremendous mistakes that fall on the shoulders of Speedway Motorsports and NASCAR. What were they thinking?

    [media-credit name=”Joe Dunn” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Fans in the area had long coveted a Sprint Cup race at the Sparta, Kentucky speedway. Never mind that is was of the cookie-cutter variety. You’ve seen them all by now and they don’t differ much from the others. Tri-oval, low banking and, unfortunately, boring racing. For long periods, the drivers seemed to resemble a long freight train with no one passing. That wasn’t the worst part.

    Fans had to deal with so much adversity that I’d be surprised if they could sell half the tickets they sold this year. I consider myself lucky that I considered heading to Kentucky for the race, only to be convinced that a colleague was closer and would take the job. He couldn’t attend and I once again considered traveling to the track. I’m glad that I didn’t.

    If you have a twitter account, you know what I mean. Stories of people being stopped in traffic for hours and one lady actually walking three miles to the track only to see her husband after the race started were common. Many never got to the race. I’ve been to Rockingham in the old days and spent hours in traffic, but always got out in an hour or two. I’ve heard about Texas in 1997 and have lived Atlanta way back when, but never have I heard stories like this. NASCAR fans are loyal to their sort, but with the faltering economy and things the way they are, can we really expect them to support a track that was so indifferent to getting people in and out of the facility? Can we expect fans to continue to watch racing that is somewhat mediocre at best (at one point, Kyle Busch had an unbelievable 8-second lead and many cars already a lap down) and put up with the long trip back home on a Saturday night?

    A close friend who lives in Cincinnati, just up the road from the track, emailed me (oh, the glory of smartphones) that he was going across the interstate and heading home after sitting still in traffic for over two hours with the green flag only an hour away and finding himself 50 miles away. The $300 he had spent was not worth it even in these troubled times.

    We have to hope that next year things get better for the Kentucky track, but one thing is certain. Before NASCAR and SMI make the decision to add a track, adequate roads need to be there for people to get to the track and get out. That didn’t happen here. It’s something that happens far too often in this sport. And it’s something that wouldn’t happen in the other major sports. That’s what separates our sport from the others. Money talks, as they say, but these days it’s going to take more than having an event and expecting folks to put up with anything to see the event. Those days are gone.

    Yet, another lesson learned, I hope.

  • The Inaugural Fiasco in Kentucky

    The Inaugural Fiasco in Kentucky

    [media-credit name=”Joe Dunn” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]That was of course the date of the Inaugural Quaker State 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Kentucky Speedway, in Sparta, KY.

    For sure the folks with the Kentucky Derby would take exception to that claim. Kentucky Speedway officials had claimed for weeks that the 107,000 seats had been sold out and they began selling Standing Room Only and Infield Standing Room tickets in addition. Asked about Derby claims of 150,000 in attendance, Smith claimed, “They don’t have the facilities or ability to get even 100,000 people into that Horsey event they have.”

    One thing was clear as the weekend began, the folks involved in the traffic plans had failed miserably. Thursday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, UNOH 250 went relatively smooth with it’s normal smaller attendance, estimated at 25,000.  But Friday night, as the green flag dropped on the Feed the Children 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race, the long lines of cars were still backed up for miles on Interstate 71.

    With 50 laps remaining in the race, fans were still spilling into the grandstand.

    For Saturday’s Quaker State 400, fans had been encouraged to start arriving 5 hours before the race start., which would have been 2:45pm. By 1:00 pm the backup on I-71 was reported to be about 10 miles. By 5:00 pm, it was said to be as much as 27 miles long, and that did not include the secondary roads leading to the track, estimated to be more than 30 miles away.

    As the green flag dropped at 7:45 pm, it was obvious that at least 30,000 seats were still empty and the radio reports of traffic backups continued. The infield fan section was very sparse also as the race began. At 180 laps into the race, fans were reporting on twitter that they were being turned away by Kentucky State Police, who told them that there was no more parking available. Fans leaving with 75 laps remaining reported that they were at a standstill attempting to get to the Interstate. It was about that time that track General Manager Mark Simendinger issued the following statement.

    “We’ve had an overwhelming response to our Inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup Series ‘Quaker State 400’. We know we had challenges related to traffic. We’re already planning improvements and looking forward to a much better situation for next year’s event.” Can you say, ‘Too Little, Too Late’ Mark?

    The traffic was not the only thing that made this a disappointing weekend for the fans and the folks that work these events. A general attitude among the press members in the press box was that the track failed miserably with the traffic situation, and that for whatever reason, the weekends racing was less than exciting. In addition to the problems for the fans, the media accommodations were sorely lacking. The Media facilities were adequate for the previous years when they hosted single events for the Camping World Truck and Nationwide Series, but for a Cup race they needed major improvements.

    At the June 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Kentucky, Smith promised that a new media center would be constructed before the 2011 events, as well as a new garage area, similar to those at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That promise failed to materialize and media personnel arrived to find about 75 seats for over 200 writers while Photographers found 50 seats for more than 175 credentialed workers. The track staff was helpless in addressing this problem as it was a physical facility problem and out of their hands.

    The staff at the track should be commended for keeping their cool and always presenting a smiling and upbeat appearance. They were also constantly going out of their way to help folks as much as they were able to. But despite these efforts, there are sure to be thousands of fan complaints, especially from those who purchased tickets and were denied or prevented from reaching the track.

    Although the track does have to accept partial; responsibility for the traffic woes, as a retired law enforcement officer with a background in planning and providing traffic direction and control for large spectator events, the true failure here is the responsibility of the Kentucky State Police who appeared to have not had a clue or a plan.

    I have no doubts that the SMI folks will do everything within their power to resolve the problems before the 2012 race weekend, but they will still have to deal with thousands of disgruntled fans in the mean time.

  • The Inaugural Debacle at Kentucky

    The Inaugural Debacle at Kentucky

    At one point early in the Quaker State 400 at the Kentucky Speedway Kyle Busch has a lead of over 8 seconds. Busch, who started on the pole by being the fastest in happy hour practice after the qualifying session was cancelled due to rain, gave up the lead for a while to Brad Keselowski held off David Reutimann in a 3 lap shoot out at the end.

    [media-credit name=”Brian Douglas” align=”alignright” width=”273″][/media-credit]The majority of the race was uneventful as the leaders enjoyed the clean air while others struggled mightily with the track. Unfortunately, most of the action was reportedly outside the track as race fans struggled with gridlocked traffic trying to get to the racetrack. There were reports of fans being turned away when they finally made it to the track.  Jeff Gordon said after the race, “I think the only thing that made this a great race today was the green-white-checkered and the excitement and energy of the fans. I think when Bruton (Smith) is looking at how to get the traffic in here he’s going to have to look at the race track as well. It’s rough. It’s really hard to pass. The layout needs a little help; but the surface most importantly, to give these fans what they really deserve. You never know how it’s going to go. It was certainly exciting there at the finish, so that’s cool.”

    Busch had regained the lead late in the race during green flag pit stops but shortly after Dale Earnhardt Jr., who took fuel only blew a left front tire shredding his fender all over the back stretch. On the subsequent restart Jimmie Johnson was chasing down Busch but Clint Bowyer also appeared to have lost a tire and that brought out the final caution.

    Jimmie Johnson finished third , Ryan Newman fourth and Carl Edwards rounded out the top five. Johnson said, “The No. 00 was coming and got by me so i was hoping I had a shot just to fight for second. I felt like the win was kind of gone at that point. But I didn’t see the white and I came around and everybody let off and I was still on the gas and going and I was like wow I guess its over. Great night for the Lowe’s Chevrolet. We had a a very solid race car. Drove up through the field a few times and raced for the win. The No. 18 was a little better than us and we were on equal tires there at the end. We had a shot at him on new tires. That restart went good for me. If I could have stayed along side of him going into turn three and been side-by-side off of four I could have a shot at it but just didn’t work out that way. If there was another lap I think that No. 00 was going to go right by that No. 18, he was coming awfully fast.”

    Johnson also made comments about the issues of getting to the track. People who follow NASCAR on twitter (@coombsegater_sm) would have seen that even the drivers and crews were not immune to the traffic issues as they all struggled getting to the track even hours before the green flag flew.  Johnson said when informed of Hamlin’s issues, I went home to Charlotte. It was my daughter’s birthday yesterday. I went home. I was going to drive in. I had heard there were some issues with the Nationwide race. So I made different arrangements and helicoptered in. I fortunately didn’t have any issues.

    The stories I heard sounds like there’s some upset fans, people that were turned away and weren’t able to get into the event today.

    It’s disappointing. I mean, the SMI group knows racetracks and does a very good job at all the racetracks they own. It’s unfortunate we were unable to look ahead and see where these potential problems were.

    This is such a great market, so many fans are enthused to come and want to be here. To not get them all in the door is kind of a bummer. Knowing Bruton (Smith), he’ll get it fixed for next year and unfortunately it happened this year.”

    During the race the track sent out this statement, “We’ve had an overwhelming response to our inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup Series “Quaker State 400.” We know we had challenges related to traffic. We’re already planning improvements and looking forward to a much better situation for next year’s event

  • Kyle Busch Claims the Inaugural Win at Kentucky

    Kyle Busch Claims the Inaugural Win at Kentucky

    [media-credit name=”Joe Dunn ” align=”alignright” width=”269″][/media-credit]With his second win of the weekend, Kyle Busch took the honors for the Inaugural Quaker State 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Kentucky Speedway. The win marks his 22nd Cup series win and his third of 2011, pushing him into the points lead.
    David Reutimann finished second, his second top ten for the season. Jimmie Johnson was third, followed by Ryan Newman and Carl Edwards fifth. Matt Kenseth finished sixth followed by Brad Keselowski, David Ragan, Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon rounding out the top 10.
    Busch leads the most laps, leading 7 times for 125 laps. There were 12 leaders, including Brad Keselowski for 79 laps, Kurt Busch for 41, Reutimann for 7 and Hamlin for 5. The race had 6 cautions for 32 laps.
    Comments following the race, from the top three:
    KYLE BUSCH: “This is cool man. This is right up there withn the best of them. I haven’t won the big ones, so this is as good as it gets right now.”
    DAVID REUTIMANN: “We had that restart and you knew Kyle wasn’t going to roll over for anything, and Jimmie Johnson’s pretty intense too, so we just ended up coming in and Kyle threw a block to kill Jimmie’s momentum down the front. I had a little bit of run down the back and Jimmie was either going to go to the top or the bottom getting in and I was not going to go where he was.”
    JIMMIE JOHNSON: “I think Kyle’s car was a little bit better than us at the end. The run before that it seemed like he was just a touch better, but I was going to try as hard as I could and got a good restart, was inside of him. My car really didn’t fire off on that last set of tires like I had seen earlier in the day.”
    Of the 6 cautions, only one was for an accident, one was a competition caution, one for the #1 car stopped on the track and three for debris on the track.
    Traffic was the big story for the weekend as several fans missed the race due to traffic backups and the lack of parking. The staff at Kentucky Speedway apologized for the problems and promised to make then right for the 2012 race.

  • Keselowski’s Fuel Outlasts Harvick’s

    Keselowski’s Fuel Outlasts Harvick’s

    Brad Keselowski dominated the Feed the Children 300 at the Kentucky Motor Speedway leading 132 of 200 laps. His closest challenger, Kevin Harvick had an apparent miscue from his crew chief that cost him valuable time as there was some confusion as to whether Harvick was stopping for fuel in the final 10 laps. As Harvick slowed, Keselowski pulled away further even though Harvick’s crew chief called off the stop. That allowed Keselowski to conserve fuel more. The final 61 laps were run under green flag conditions.

    Harvick finished second was said he thought that his car was great but there needed to be better communication from on top of the box. Kyle Busch finished in third after starting the field in 43rd as a result of him crashing during his qualifying effort.  Busch was followed by Kasey Kahne who drove the JR Motorsport No. 7 Go Daddy car, his first time in that Chevrolet. Pole-sitter Elliot Sadler finished 5th and left Kentucky with the points lead even though he struggled at times during the race to get into the top 10.

     

    Busch said about his night, ” I screwed up qualifying today and ‘fenced’ the NOS Energy Drink Camry.  But, we had another one in the truck.  The guys did a great job putting it together and getting it ready and just in time.  Probably didn’t have as much time as they would have liked to have spent on it, but all in all we gave it the best we had.  Probably was going to be about a fifth or sixth before all the fuel exchanges and everything going on there at the end.  Thank all the guys.  They did a great one for me tonight. ”

    The win was Keselowski’s 13th in the series. One thing that was overheard in the media center was Keselowski explaining that his beer was better than Harvick’s. Both run in Saturday’s 400 mile race .

    “This car was awesome. The boys at Penske Racing spent some extra hours on it and it feels good. I think we got more in the hopper. To see this team start coming along feels great.

     

    “The guys at Discount Tire have been behind me, supporting me. They made this program possible so we could win the championship last year. (We) got banned from it this year, so now we’re just out here having fun.

     

    “If you keep doing the right things long enough, you will be rewarded and today was a day of reward. I can’t wait to see a bunch of the Discount Tire guys this week bring them home a trophy,” Keselowski said.

    [media-credit id=12 align=”alignright” width=”240″][/media-credit]

  • NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: WILL WE SEE THE BEGINNING Of A NEW RACING TRADITION IN KENTUCKY?

    NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: WILL WE SEE THE BEGINNING Of A NEW RACING TRADITION IN KENTUCKY?

    Since 1875 the most prestigious racing event located in the state of Kentucky has been the annual Kentucky Derby. This spectacular race for thorough bred horses is a huge part of the state’s rich history.

    [media-credit name=”KentuckySpeedway.com” align=”alignright” width=”233″][/media-credit]Will we see the beginning of a new racing tradition in the state of Kentucky this Saturday night? It’s very possible that a new form of horsepower will take a prominent position in Kentucky’s top annual events. The stars and cars of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series will finally make their racing debut at the Kentucky Speedway. This is an event that has been a long time coming. A large contingency, from speedway executives to fans, wanted this event to become reality. But there were numerous obstacles along the way including difficulties with scheduling realignment and even some court house drama.

    After a lengthy period of point-counter point, it’s finally time for the Sprint Cup Series to shine under the lights of the Kentucky Speedway. Because this is an inaugural event, the winner of the Quaker State 400 is going to collect bragging rights connected with leading some key Sprint Cup categories. That includes most Cup wins at this speedway, most laps led and someone will spend the next year holding the track’s qualifying record.

    ************

    THE VEGAS BREAKDOWN

    So, who’s going to set new NASCAR records for the first time ever following the Quaker State 400? There are no previous stats from this speedway to refer to, but one good source for stats can be found among the driver numbers for intermediate race tracks. The Kentucky Speedway’s 1.5 mile oval is very similar to other race tracks of the same size on the NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule.

    The clues for solving this riddle can also be found via the hard work of the professionals of the Las Vegas based World Sports Exchange, (WSE).

    Topping the WSE rankings for Kentucky is Carl Edwards and his Roush Fenway Racing Ford at 7 to 1 odds. Edwards suffered an early race setback last weekend in Daytona and found himself falling from first to second in the standings. However, the deficit is only five points and he’ll be looking to make that up Saturday night. Edwards is strong on intermediate tracks, again around 1.5 miles in length, and has 17 wins on them along with a healthy average finish ratio, (AFR), of 12.0. The fact that he’s been a major player in Sprint Cup racing all season long is another reason why he’s always going to be a safe bet consideration.

    In the 8 to 1 category is the duo of Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch. When it comes to racing on intermediate tracks, it’s very hard to top the team of Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus. This championship tag team has 37 wins on these tracks along with an awesome AFR of 9.8. The car looked strong during Thursday’s first practice session. Johnson set a chart topping speed of 175.839 MPH. Johnson is currently sixth in the championship standings, 22 points out of first. He and Knaus will be working on that between now and the time the official Chase line up is announced on September 10th. The drive for championship number six is on.

    By the time you read this you’ve probably already heard that Kyle Busch won Thursday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at the Kentucky Speedway. He will be racing in all three of the NASCAR events this weekend and he will be looking to perform a trifecta sweep similar to what he accomplished at Bristol last August. Prior to the win in the truck series, he scorched the competition during the second Sprint Cup practice session with a lap of 178.849 MPH. This driver, and his Joe Gibbs Racing team is always a solid consideration to win a race.

    The WSE has Kurt Busch ranked at 9 to 1 odds to win the Kentucky race this Saturday. That’s very possible. This is the most improved team in NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing. At fourth in the standings, only 16 points from the top, their Chase presence is looking stronger than ever.

    At 10 to 1 odds you will find the duo of Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth. Hamlin’s championship hopes are somewhat at a crossroads right now and it’s time to solidify that position. He’s currently 11th in the standings only three points away from that coveted top ten. On a more positive note, he does have 11 wins and a 13.4 AFR on intermediate tracks. His one win this year will help with his wild card status, but the team known they can’t rely on that. It’s go time for Hamlin and company.

    Matt Kenseth has 14 career wins, and a 13.5 AFR, on these so called “cookie cutter tracks.” This year he’s having a rock solid season with two wins and his fifth in the championship standings. He has a habit of blending into the pack during the first two thirds of a race without barely a mention of his name during a live broadcast. Then all of a sudden, in the latter stages of the race, there’s Kenseth taking on the role of a major player in the finish. He could very easily do that again Saturday night in Kentucky.

    At 11 to 1 odds you will find drivers Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick. As an elder statesman in the Sprint Cup Series, as well as a four time champion, Gordon has 40 wins on intermediate tracks and a healthy 12.1 AFR. He also holds a unique NASCAR status in winning the series’ debut races. He won the inaugural events at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1994, the inaugural race at the California based Auto Club Speedway in 1997 and he won the first ever Cup race at the Kansas Speedway in 2001. He’ll be looking to add the Kentucky Speedway to that list Saturday night.

    Meanwhile Kevin Harvick is a nine time winner on intermediate tracks. However, the strength here lies in the fact that this Richard Childress Racing Team is looking more and more like Sprint Cup champions. His three wins, and six top five finishes, now has him on top of the championship standings.

    Owner-driver Tony Stewart is ranked at 12 to 1 odds by the WSE this week. Traditionally, it’s always been believed that Stewart’s performance levels gets hot during the summer months. Summer is here and the temperature is plenty hot. It’s time for this team to get motivated, and do it quickly, if they’re going to making this year’s Chase line up. He’s still looking for his first win of the year and he’s currently 12th in the championship standings but is only four points from the top ten. On the plus side, Stewart is very solid at intermediate tracks with 20 wins and a 12.4 AFR.

    Greg Biffle is riding in the same boat as Stewart. He’s 13th in the standings, looking for the first win of the season and has slid to 25 points away from the top ten. It’s go time for this Roush Fenway team. His career stats shows 15 intermediate track wins and a 15.4 AFR. Biffle is ranked at 13 to 1 this weekend.

    It’s Junior time. NASCAR’s most popular driver is ranked 15 to 1 to win Kentucky. The focal point for Dale Earnhardt Jr this weekend will be the ability to halt the slide from the past two races. Granted he was caught up in racing situations that were both unavoidable and not of his making, but none the less the collateral damage was a slide from third to seventh in the standings. The one major strength is his crew chief, Steve Letarte, who is very good at keeping his driver calm and motivated during a race.

    In the middle tier of this week’s WSE listing you will find drivers Clint Bowyer and Kasey Kahne ranked at 25 to 1 followed by Joey Logano at 30 to 1. Let’s pause and reflect on the Logano rating. Granted, he’s been having a tough season and the team hasn’t lived up to the pre season potential that everyone expected. First off, Logano has some strong momentum going for him following last weekend at Daytona where he won the Nationwide Series race and finished third in the Cup race. Also prevalent here is Logano’s Nationwide Series record at the Kentucky Speedway. He’s won the last three races there and won all three of them from the pole position. At 30 to 1 odds, Logano might make an interesting wager for those of you who like to roll the dice on long shot bets.

    At 35 to 1 odds you will find the trio of Ryan Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya and Mark Martin. The 40 to 1 category features Jeff Burton, Martin Truex Jr, David Reutimann, and Brian Vickers. Closing out the WSE rankings this week are last week’s Daytona winner David Ragan, 45 to 1, and Jamie McMurray at 50 to 1. If you didn’t see the name of your favorite driver listed then he’s automatically placed at 8 to 1 by the WSE.

    Now for this week’s disclaimer. NASCAR wants us to remind you that these odds numbers are for information and entertainment purposes. They neither encourage nor condone the placing of wagers on their races. But, if you’re going to do it anyway, then you will need the latest information from the professionals at the World Sports Exchange. I’m thinking some of you are already pondering those Joey Logano stats aren’t you?

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    THE RACE BREAKDOWN

    The Quaker State 400 will be 267 laps/400 miles around the Kentucky Speedway’s 1.5 mile oval.

    The race has 48 entries vying for the 43 starting berths. 18 of those entries are on the go or go home list. These teams are not guaranteed an automatic starting berth because they are currently outside of NASCAR’s top 35 in owner’s points. These teams will have to rely on qualifying speeds to make the race.

    That could be a problem due to weather. The Friday daytime forecast for Sparta-Kentucky calls for cloudy skies and a 40% chance of thunderstorms. Saturday race night has an improved forecast calling for clearer skies and 68 degrees.

    The Kentucky Speedway is a 1.5 mile oval with 14 degrees banking in all four turns, 10 degrees banking in the tri oval but only four degrees in the straightaways.

    The speedway does have a few bumps in its asphalt surface especially in turns three and four. This will be a challenge for crew chiefs to develop a good shock package prior to the race to help their car’s handling capabilities.

    To accommodate the inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, the Kentucky Speedway added additional grand stand seating and can now accommodate 117,000 fans. On Thursday speedway officials declared Saturday night’s race a sell out.

    The Quaker State 400 will be broadcast live by the TNT Network beginning at 630 pm eastern time. The race re air will be Wednesday, July 13th, at 12 pm eastern on SPEED.

  • Kyle Busch Claims 5th Truck Victory of 2011

    Kyle Busch Claims 5th Truck Victory of 2011

    For Kentucky Speedway the UNOH 225 NASCAR Camping World Truck series race the kick off to the biggest weekend in the track’s history. The track joined a small group of NASCAR tracks that can boost of running all three of NASCAR’s top series on the same weekend and all night races at that.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”238″][/media-credit]To go along with the multi-series events, Kyle Busch began the weekend by winning the Truck series race. The win Thursday night marks his 5th win of the 2011 Truck series season and his 29th overall in the series,

    But Busch had to work a bit harder for this win. On a day where he ran a 4 hr Cup practice, two Nationwide series practices and then winning the pole in Truck series qualifying, he showed up seconds late for the driver’s meeting. That slip up forced him to start the race from the back of the field.

    It took Kyle 61 laps to finally work his way back to the number 1 position, but he remained up front for the rest of the night leading twice for a total of 61 laps, the most by a single driver. He faced late race challenges by Nelson Piquet, Johnny Sauter, Joey Coulter and finally Parker Kligerman, but held them all off to take the checkered flag on a G/W/C finish at lap 152.

    Following Busch across the line were Kligerman, Brendan Gaughan, Todd Bodine and Jason White. Rounding out the top ten were Elliott Sadler, Coulter, David Starr, James Buescher and Travis Kvapil.

    The NASCAR Nationwide Series 11th annual Feed the Children 300 is up next Friday night at Kentucky Speedway as Busch looks to claim victory number two for the weekend.

     

    Unofficial Race Results
    UNOH 225, Kentucky Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=10
    =========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 8 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 0
    2 5 29 Parker Kligerman * Dodge 42
    3 14 62 Brendan Gaughan Toyota 42
    4 20 30 Todd Bodine Toyota 40
    5 9 23 Jason White Chevrolet 40
    6 4 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 0
    7 6 22 Joey Coulter * Chevrolet 38
    8 18 81 David Starr Toyota 36
    9 12 31 James Buescher Chevrolet 36
    10 16 5 Travis Kvapil Toyota 34
    11 22 9 Max Papis Toyota 33
    12 13 32 Steve Arpin Chevrolet 32
    13 23 4 Ricky Carmichael Chevrolet 31
    14 2 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 31
    15 17 46 Justin Lofton Toyota 29
    16 25 17 Timothy Peters Toyota 28
    17 28 92 Clay Rogers Chevrolet 27
    18 33 63 Jack Smith Ford 26
    19 26 39 Ryan Sieg Chevrolet 25
    20 30 99 Charles Vest Ford 24
    21 11 7 Miguel Paludo * Toyota 23
    22 3 8 Nelson Piquet Jr. * Chevrolet 23
    23 34 7 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet 0
    24 1 13 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 21
    25 32 93 Shane Sieg Chevrolet 19
    26 10 60 Cole Whitt * Chevrolet 18
    27 7 33 Ron Hornaday Chevrolet 17
    28 19 116 John King Toyota 16
    29 24 15 Josh Richards Toyota 15
    30 29 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Ford 0
    31 36 57 Norm Benning Chevrolet 13
    32 15 88 Matt Crafton Chevrolet 12
    33 35 84 Chris Fontaine Chevrolet 11
    34 31 138 Mike Garvey Chevrolet 10
    35 27 66 Justin Marks Chevrolet 9
    36 21 20 Johanna Long * Toyota 8