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  • Keslowski wins 600 Pole, Stenhouse Jr. to Start Ninth

    Keslowski wins 600 Pole, Stenhouse Jr. to Start Ninth

    CHARLOTTE – If qualifying for the Coca Cola 600 in Charlotte, NC told us anything tonight, it is that the darker it gets Sunday evening, the faster we can expect speeds. Brad Keslowski rolled off 30th of the 48 cars that attempted to make the field for Sunday and ended up setting his Miller Lite Dodge on the pole with a speed of 192.089 MPH.

    “This car was awesome man. Awesome! Fast cars go fast and this is a team is making a lot of progress. We made some awesome gains in the Blue Deuce. Every week, we just keep picking away a little here, a little bit there. We’re starting to get more people to believe in us.” Keslowski said.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”247″][/media-credit]Keslowski was able to edge out A J Allmendinger for the pole. Allmendinger went out 26th in the qualifying order and will start on the outside of row one.  Carl Edwards and Jeff Burton were fastest in this afternoon’s practice session, but both came up short in qualifying this evening. Edwards will start third and Burton fifth. Denny Hamlin will start fourth.

    Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night was Ricky Stenhouse, Jr, driving the Wood Brother’s #21 in place of Trevor Baine. Stenhouse was the last of 48 drivers to qualify and ended up qualifying ninth. The remainder of the top ten – Jimmy Johnson, David Reutimann, David Ragan, and Clint Bowyer.

    Kyle Busch, who was the pole sitter for last week’s All-Star race, will start 19th . Other notable drivers outside the top ten were Jeff Gordon 11th, Kasey Kahne 17th, Tony Stewart 22nd, Dale Earnhardt, Jr 25th and Kevin Harvick 28th. Defending race winner Kurt Busch will start 26th.

    Starting Lineup
    Coca-Cola 600, Charlotte Motor Speedway
    May 28, 2011 – Race 12 of 36
    ==================
    Pos. Driver
    ==================
    1 Brad Keselowski
    2 A.J. Allmendinger
    3 Carl Edwards
    4 Denny Hamlin
    5 Jeff Burton
    6 Jimmie Johnson
    7 David Reutimann
    8 David Ragan
    9 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    10 Clint Bowyer
    11 Jeff Gordon
    12 Ryan Newman
    13 Mark Martin
    14 Martin Truex Jr.
    15 Greg Biffle
    16 Paul Menard
    17 Kasey Kahne
    18 Brian Vickers
    19 Matt Kenseth
    20 Regan Smith
    21 Kyle Busch
    22 Tony Stewart
    23 Joey Logano
    24 Marcos Ambrose
    25 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
    26 Kurt Busch
    27 Bobby Labonte
    28 Kevin Harvick
    29 Juan Montoya
    30 David Gilliland
    31 Travis Kvapil
    32 David Starr
    33 Michael McDowell
    34 J.J. Yeley
    35 Jamie McMurray
    36 Joe Nemechek
    37 Casey Mears
    38 David Stremme
    39 Mike Bliss
    40 Landon Cassill+
    41 Robby Gordon+
    42 Dave Blaney+
    43 Mike Skinner

  • 600 Miles In The Hub of NASCAR; A preview of this weekend’s Coca Cola 600

    600 Miles In The Hub of NASCAR; A preview of this weekend’s Coca Cola 600

    “It’s a great test of man and machine.” That is what you will hear at the beginning of old racing footage of the then “World 600″ at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Once a year, NASCAR decides to beef up the mileage by one-hundred and see who can survive the great endurance test. In the past, this race was run in it’s entirety in the daytime. After lights where installed at the speedway, the race became even more of a challenge as the six-hundred miles began at dusk and finished up under the night skies. This made both driver and crew chief forced to stay alert for the entire race as the track could slip away from them in an instant.

    [media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]In past years, you could always count on numerous engine and mechanical failures throughout the course of six-hundred miles. Mainly in the final stretch of the race. Now, with all the advances in technology in the mechanics and engines, there seem to be less and less failures every year. The result of that is more cars left running which leaves the possibility pit strategy still in the picture. That includes fuel mileage. We see it just about every other week, where fuel mileage comes into play in the end of the race. Whether a yellow falls or not, the mention of fuel at the end of the race seems to happen more often than not. It offers a chance for a possible first time winner or a surprise winner to pop up and steal a win away from one of the big boys of the Cup Series.

    Charlotte Motor Speedway was commonly refereed to in the mid 2000’s as, “The House That Jimmie Built” as then Johnson seemed to be the only driver that was able to win at the speedway. Also, his team’s sponsor, Lowe’s, also sponsored the track when Jimmie dominated at Charlotte. With the type of performance the five time champ showed last Saturday night in the All Star race, you may want to keep Jimmie in mind as a driver that could pop up and win the race.

    With how dominate the Roush-Fenway cars have been this year on mile and a half tracks this season, you can’t ever count them out as proven once again with David Ragan winning the showdown and Carl Edwards winning the All Star. Don’t count of Biffle or Kenseth either. Greg Biffle lead a good majority of the first segment of the All Star race and Kenseth, for a while, had the fastest car on the track. Each one of these drivers would be great picks for the weekend.

    If you want some sleeper drivers for the weekend, then look no further than here. Kasey Kahne won this race back in 2006. Kahne and his Red Bull Racing Team have really been picking up the pace as of late with fast cars. Although they don’t always finish the races, you can never count out a driver with speed to win a race. Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, David Reutimann, Martin Truex Jr and Jamie McMurray would all be good picks for this weekend as they have all either won or had good runs at Charlotte in the past.

    Look for an exciting marathon this weekend in Charlotte!

    Picks for the weekend:

    Top Gear 300- Kyle Busch
    Coca Cola 600- David Ragan

  • Elliott Sadler Happy Now But Doesn’t Want to End Career in Nationwide Series

    Elliott Sadler Happy Now But Doesn’t Want to End Career in Nationwide Series

    Elliott Sadler made no bones about it when saying he felt given the right situation he’d be in the thick of things in the Sprint Cup Series. While in the midst of what might eventually be known as his rebirth in the Nationwide Series, Sadler isn’t willing to settle for not running with the big boys.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”240″][/media-credit]Speaking Thursday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway where the NNS is preparing for Saturday’s Top Gear 300, Sadler was candid about both his current and past situation. Even before he did so though, it was clear as it has been since the season started, that he’s perfectly happy racing for Kevin Harvick Inc in the NNS where he’s leading the points. He’s competitive, he’s happy and he’s relevant again for all the right reasons. But he did admit that some things just aren’t the same.

    “I do miss the Cup Series,” he said. “I’d be lying if I told you I don’t miss racing on Sunday’s. Do I miss the situation I’ve been in the last couple of years? I don’t want to cuss, but heck no. I have learned that this sport is a lot more fun when you have a team around you and a supporting cast around you that believes in you and wants to do [well] at the racetrack week in and week out. That’s whether your racing go-karts, Trucks, Nationwide, Cup or what have you.”

    It’s the reason Sadler says, that should he ever get the opportunity to race on Sunday’s again, he’s going to make sure he does so with a competitive team. With a team that acts as one and not, not ride around just for the sake of saying that he’s a NSCS driver.

    “I’ve had the most fun this year I’ve had since I drove the 38 car for Robert Yates,” he said.

    That was during a time when Sadler not only ran up front in the Cup Series but won races. Perhaps, the best years of his life. In 2004 he found the winner’s circle twice and finished eighth in points. But the last few seasons Sadler has been nowhere to be seen and struggled at Richard Petty Motorsports where he said he learned to bit his tongue.

    Sadler though wasn’t done revealing. He stated that no matter how hard a driver works in the racecar if the team doesn’t believe in you, it’s not going to work.

    Now with a team of proven winners and with many preseason predictions of a championship, Sadler doesn’t feel pressure. That’s easy when as he says, he’s got an “army” of guys around him and an owner who will do anything to make sure they’re fast. That, according the Virginia native is cool.

    “I’ll give you a perfect example,” said Sadler. “I see all you guys in here with your cool computers and probably have the latest and greatest technology. Say I give you a story right now to break, it’ll be the biggest story ever and I give one of you guys a computer and I give one of you guys a hammer, a chisel and a stone. I want you to write the story before the other guy finishes it. If not I don’t want to hear no excuses, you should be able to do that. That’d kind of be the same thing I went through.”

    It’s not what he’s going through now. But Sadler made it clear that he couldn’t say that he would be happy racing in the Nationwide Series the rest of his life.

    “If my career ending as a Nationwide driver would I be happy, heck no. My goal is to one day make it back to Sprint Cup because I feel like I can drive circles around half the guys over there if I was in their equipment or in the same situation they were in. My goal is to win a championship this year in the Nationwide Series maybe next and if something good comes along, go back.”

  • NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: THE RETURN OF ‘OLD KYLE’ LITERALLY GOES OVER THE LIMIT

    NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: THE RETURN OF ‘OLD KYLE’ LITERALLY GOES OVER THE LIMIT

    When Kyle Busch decides to misbehave, he often does it in rather spectacular fashion. Last Tuesday’s citation, for driving 128 MPH on a North Carolina public road zoned for 45 MPH is his latest example of bad behavior.

    [media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Over the past several months we’ve watched an interesting transformation from Kyle Busch. The “Old Kyle”, a brash I’ll do and say what I want character, seemed to be determined to live up to his official “Rowdy” nickname. The antics of “Old Kyle” sometimes hit legendary proportions and, in some cases, were even highly entertaining. I can actually recall many times when I referred to his behavior as “job security.”

    Just when we started to get used to the antics of “Old Kyle, that side of the driver began to evaporate. Busch entered into a transformation and slowly but surely “New Kyle” began to emerge. That former high level of intensity and drama, often displayed out of the race car, was replaced by a more calm and mature demeanor. He became someone who chose his words very carefully, especially in front of the media. The very same things that used to make this driver angry within a New York minute now barely became blips on his personal radar. This transformation was likely the biggest sigh of relief his team owner, Joe Gibbs, has enjoyed in quite awhile.

    In all of us there’s that basic good versus evil struggle that has to be frequently dealt with. It’s not unlike the silly sequence from a Saturday cartoon where the tiny good angel stands on your left shoulder and says “on no no, this is wrong and we must not do this.” That is counteracted by the tiny little devil, standing on the right shoulder, that says “don’t listen to him, let’s go have some fun. Let’s do this.”

    In the case of Kyle Busch, the little devil on his right shoulder won the argument last Tuesday. According to reports from the Iredell County ACE, Aggressive Criminal Enforcement, Busch was driving a 2012 Lexus LFA sports car on a North Carolina public road between the communities of Troutman and Mooresville. That’s where he was clocked doing 128 MPH in a 45 MPH zone. He was issued a citation for speeding along with careless and reckless driving.

    That very same day there was an official statement released by Busch who profusely apologized for the incident. The statement said “I was test driving a new sports car and I got carried away.” The official apology also stated Busch’s willingness to take full responsibility for his actions along with an assurance that something like this will never happen again.

    While I don’t doubt that Busch is indeed apologetic and embarrassed by his latest episode, one can’t help but think the carefully worded prose in this official statement was carefully created by a spin doctor from Joe Gibbs Racing. It was likely created by the same person who spent a great deal of late night overtime sitting in an office trying to put a coat of polish on previous “Old Kyle” episodes.

    Hypothetically speaking, if local resident “John Q Public” committed this act he would also be issued a citation. The resolution would likely include a well deserved hefty fine and the possibility of a license suspension for 60 days per North Carolina DMV law. There could also be some possible stipulations regarding a period of community service and perhaps even probation. Once the matter was adjudicated in court, “Mr John Q Public” would settle his business with the county and its doubtful that his misdeed would barely make the next edition of the local paper.

    The situation was diversely different for Kyle Busch because of his well known celebrity status as a star in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The ink was barely dry on his traffic citation before the story was ran by every news and sports media center in the country. While the episode was certainly embarrassing for the driver, it was even more embarrassing for Joe Gibbs Racing. Once again the Gibbs organization found themselves having to explain the actions of this driver to their sponsors while in the midst of putting out his latest public relations fire.

    This incident is not going to become an official NASCAR matter. On Wednesday NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharpe issued a statement that said “this is a matter Kyle will have to handle with the authorities in Iredell County. Based on what we know right now, this would not impact his status as a NASCAR driver.”

    Paying the monetary fine from his citation is not a problem for Kyle Busch. He’s a wealthy man. It’s likely that a fine will be the only punishment he receives from actions that are widely regarded as being both dangerous and completely irresponsible.

    After all, he is a celebrity and it’s well known that in our country there are rules and procedures that apply to celebrities that would never be afforded to someone such as “John Q. Public.” If you find that hard to believe then ask anyone, including yours truly, from southern California about celebrity justice. We will quickly drop the names Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen just to name two. Don’t even get us started on the O J Simpson matter.

    If Kyle Busch is going to have any real problems from this incident it will likely come from Joe or J D Gibbs who were reported to be “looking into the situation.” They will likely instruct him to find a way to lock “Old Kyle” into a box never to be heard from again.

  • Cole Whitt Is Just Being Cole Whitt

    Cole Whitt Is Just Being Cole Whitt

    On the heels of the induction of the second class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, young up and coming driver Cole Whitt is just taking it all in and learning from the masters of the sport.

    [media-credit name=”Photo credit: redbullusa.com” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]But most of all, the soon to be twenty year old rookie who is now leading the point standings in the Camping World Truck Series is forging his own path. And yes, he is just being Cole Whitt.

    “Anyone that is going to be inducted in the Hall of Fame is going to be someone that I look up to for sure,” Whitt said. “I look up to all of them.”

    “But at the end of the day, you have to have your own style and your own way of doing things,” Whitt continued. “I’m really just pushing my own road and doing things the way I need to do them for myself.”

    “Cole Whitt is going to be who Cole Whitt is.”

    Right now Cole Whitt is currently the youngest points leader ever in the Truck Series. After his second consecutive top-three finish, the driver of the No. 60 Red Bull/ Fuel Doctor race truck leads veteran Johnny Sauter by a mere point.

    “It’s pretty amazing to think we did it, especially where the team has come from the beginning of the year,” Whitt said. “We really didn’t have that great of a Daytona outing but the team really turned things around.”

    “To come this far into the season and already grab the points lead, it’s been pretty cool,” Whitt said. “The team has really come together and things are clicking really well. It’s awesome to see this team come as far as we have.”

    While Cole Whitt preaches just being who he is, the young driver also credits his success solely with his race team. For him, the team is his main motivating source.

    “I think it’s just a matter of having a lot of good people,” Whitt said. “We’re not a big team, which makes it tough. But at the same time it’s easy to keep everyone on the same page.”

    “I try to keep the guys really motivated,” Whitt continued. “I’m at the shop every day and I try to put in as many hours as they do and work hard with them.”

    “I think the main thing is trying to keep everyone having fun,” Whitt said. “At the same time, we care about it a lot. When we don’t run good, we’re upset. But at the same time, we push each other to be better.”

    Whitt realizes that his team, with owner Stacy Compton, is one of those small team ‘Davids’ fighting some of the ‘Goliaths’ of the sport.

    “Stacy’s team has never been one of the biggest teams or one of the teams that is looked to as the one to beat but we’re trying to be that team,” Whitt said. “When everyone shows up at the track, we want them to say ‘We want to beat that team.’

    Whitt knows that it is just a matter of time until he and his team win a race this season. He currently is the only Truck Series driver to complete all 1,134 laps for the season, with five top-10s, finishing no lower than 14th to date.

    “So far, we haven’t really been the team to win races but we’ve been so consistent, driving up front,” Whitt said. “I think that win is just really going to come as long as we keep running as good as we have.”

    Whitt’s success in the Truck Series has also caught the eyes of others in the sport. He recently was offered the chance to run for Pastrana-Waltrip Racing in their No. 99 Nationwide car at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend.

    “It came together pretty quick,” Whitt said. “Jay Frye (Red Bull Racing) had been talking to me before about doing some Nationwide stuff and I just wasn’t really sure where it was going to go from there. He called me up and asked if I wanted to do this one weekend deal.”

    “I’m really excited to run for Pastrana-Waltrip Racing and give that 99 car a good run,” Whitt continued. “I’m excited more than anything to go back to a track that I’ve already been on and made laps on where it’s a little more familiar.”

    Whitt is also excited to celebrate the Memorial Day holiday at the race track as well as at home, a real treat for any professional stock car driver.

    “More than anything, I’m looking forward to getting into that Nationwide car,” Whitt said. “That’s kind of like my celebration I guess you could say.”

    “I’m going to hang out around the house more than anything,” Whitt continued. “The best part about Charlotte is sleeping in your own bed.”

    While Whitt could not be more excited to take on the new Nationwide ride, he is realistic about his expectations. And that is just another way that the young driver is being true to himself.

    “I wouldn’t say I expect anything,” Whitt said. “At the beginning of the season, if you had asked me, I would have never thought we’d be leading the points.”

    “Would I have really thought it would be possible? Probably not,” Whitt continued. “But that’s cool. We pushed forward and we have a team that’s better than we expected to be.”

    “There’s so much to grasp and I’ve just been absorbing everything that’s been thrown at me,” Whitt said. “I’m so thankful for the chance to learn.”

  • NASCAR Needs To Take Tickets From Cops More Seriously

    NASCAR Needs To Take Tickets From Cops More Seriously

    Yesterday, Kyle Busch was cited for careless and reckless driving after he was clocked at 128mph in a 45mph while driving a yellow Lexus LFA sports car.

    [media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”231″][/media-credit]Speeding on streets is something that should not be taken lightly as many individuals are killed in accidents each year. In contrast, NASCAR is not doing anything about their own little bad boy’s speeding incident.

    Busch released this statement after the incident.

    “Today I received a traffic citation in Iredell County. I was test driving a new sports car and I got carried away. I went beyond the speed I should have been going on a public road. I apologize to the public, my fans, sponsors, and race teams for my lack of judgment. I take responsibility for my actions and I can assure you that something like this will never happen again. I thank the Iredell County Sheriff’s Department and all law enforcement for the hard work they do every day to protect the public and to enforce the laws in a fair and equitable manner.”

    “Lack of judgements” and getting “carried away” resulted in Busch going 128mph and all NASCAR has said was that they’re going to let Busch deal with this on his own.

    “This is a matter that Kyle will have to handle with the authorities in Iredell County,” NASCAR’s Kerry Tharp said. “Based on what we know right now, this would not impact his status as a NASCAR driver.”

    Tharp was also quick to add that a NASCAR driver doesn’t need a valid driver’s license, just a NASCAR license. This is a rule that’s set in place more-so for young 15 year old’s who are trying to get their start as legally they can’t get a driver’s license till the age of 16. However, once they have one, they should know the proper rules of the road and how to act safely.

    Busch obviously doesn’t know that by what he’s done and the fact that he could have his license suspended for 60 days after the July court date. This is also not the first time for Busch as he was caught speeding.  In 2008 he was doing 55mph in a 35mph zone.

    In both incidents, NASCAR has done nothing except tell the drivers to deal with it. What kind of precedent does that set?

    Busch’s case is not the only one that’s popped up as look at Michael Annett’s case.

    Annett was arrested for a DUI charge in February and NASCAR hasn’t done anything to Annett as he continues to drive for Rusty Wallace Racing.

    “I’m owning up to everything,” he said back in February. “There’s no excuse for it. I’m taking full blame and hoping everybody can learn from this. It honestly scared the hell out of me.”

    All NASCAR has done is placed him on probation, when meanwhile he, in a sense, broke the substance abuse policy. What type of attitude does that show NASCAR having?

    If NASCAR wants to be taken seriously, they need to step up their game and do something about the actions of individuals as it doesn’t look good on the sanctioning body.

  • Will We Ever See The ‘1100’ Again?

    Will We Ever See The ‘1100’ Again?

    Memorial Day weekend plays host to arguably, three of the biggest races on the motor racing calender. It all kicks off with the Formula One aces taking there shots on the tight and twisting street course in the Principality of Monaco. The men and women of Indianapolis then take center stage with “The Greatest Spectacle In Racing”, The Indianapolis 500 mile race. The night cap brings us to the hub of NASCAR where the season’s marathon race, the Coca Cola 600 goes into the wee hours of the night. In the past, many drivers have attempted to run both the Indy 500 and the Coca Cola 600 on the same day. But recently, no driver has made an attempt at the famous feat.

    [media-credit id=22 align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]With so many current NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers with some form of open wheel experience, many race fans wonder why we haven’t seen the double. Drivers such as; Tony Stewart, Robby Gordon, A.J. Allmendinger, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, even Dale Earnhardt Jr and Jimmie Johnson are drivers that fans wonder why they haven’t done it. All of these men have said previously that they would love to take a swing at Indianapolis and Charlotte. But why haven’t they done it?

    With all the pressure involved today driving in NASCAR, it isn’t likely that we will see a full time NASCAR driver do the double. With all the media and sponsor obligations that are required for a driver to just drive in NASCAR, it would be too much to juggle and be competitive in one, let alone both. The issue of travel also comes into play. Although Indy has moved their start time back to the original one, the driver attempting to get back to Charlotte would have a long night ahead of them as they would miss the drivers meeting and start in the back. And what if they said driver wins the Indy 500!? They would have to do all the photos and the traditional interviews that go with winning the race. It would just be too much to handle now days with how much more media attention and pressure is on each and every one of these drivers in both series.

    Tony Stewart has been very add in saying that in order to do both things well, you need to be full time in both racing series. Seeing a driver that would run both the IZOD Indy Car Series and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series would be truly astonishing. But the chances of something like that happening are slimmer than a piece of paper. As much as race car drivers love to race anything they can get their hands on, there is no foreseeable way that one driver can run full time in two of the biggest racing series in the world.

    Seeing drivers attempt to run two crown jewel races in the same day is a site that both fans and media members would love to see. It would make for a capitulating story of a man (or Danica) trying to accomplish the unthinkable dream of winning the Indianapolis 500 and then winning the marathon race in North America’s most popular racing series. But unfortunately, the dream of that story may have to wait for a driver with the right opportunity to do it. When that will happen, no one knows.

  • Busch says he “got carried away” while testing sports car

    Busch says he “got carried away” while testing sports car

    [media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”241″][/media-credit]NASCAR star Kyle Busch confirmed Tuesday night that he was issued a speeding ticket, claiming that he “got carried away” while testing a new sports car.  Busch was going 128 mph in a 45 mph zone, according to the Statesville Record-Landmark.

    “Today I received a traffic citation in Iredell County. I was test driving a new sports car and I got carried away,” Busch said. “I went  beyond the speed I should have been going on a public road. I apologize to the public, my fans, sponsors, and race teams for my lack of judgment. I take responsibility for my actions and I can assure you that something like this will never happen again. I thank the Iredell County Sheriff’s Department and all law enforcement for the hard work they do every day to protect the public and to enforce the laws in a fair and equitable manner.”

    Busch is currently third in Sprint Cup Series points.

     

  • Is the Gordon and Johnson Domination Over at CMS?

    Is the Gordon and Johnson Domination Over at CMS?

    Charlotte Motor Speedway has in recent years been dominated by the Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR Sprint Cup teams. They might not have won every race, but they’ve dominated in many ways. Early on it was Jeff Gordon, but these days it has been Jimmie Johnson. What happened Saturday night and what does that mean for the 600 mile race next weekend?

    [media-credit name=”(c) CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”246″][/media-credit]Once upon a time, Charlotte was Jeff’s place. Gordon was almost a sure win at Bruton Smith’s track in the heart of NASCAR country. Slowly, Gordon’s driver (remember, he is the official owner of the No. 48), Jimmie Johnson took over the crown. Johnson had a good run of wins at CMS, but this weekend these two were not at the front at the end. What’s going on?

    As we now know, a group of Fords out of Jack Roush’s stable dominated the Sprint Cup All Star race. Carl Edwards dominated the event. David Ragan, another Roush-Fenway Ford won the first segment, and Edwards won the rest. Johnson was up front during some of that, but what of what the commentators call “Big Daddy” — Jeff Gordon?

    Gordon has had a long stretch of pretty much a drought of wins the last few years. The once dominator of Charlotte’s 1.5-mile track, has fallen on hard times. Yes, Gordon has won this year (at Phoenix), but he seems to struggle to get to the front. What’s the difference? It’s the big question. The same could be said for Johnson. Maybe it’s NASCAR, but it’s more likely what has become parity. Roush-Fenway has finally caught up to the standard HMS set for the rest of the field. But that doesn’t explain the nosedive for the No. 24 and No. 48 teams. The constant crew chief changes by Rick Hendrick’s teams have maybe caused part of the problem.

    Last year we saw HMS change crews change during the Chase with Gordon’s crew going to Johnson’s, and the constant changes to make Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s more competitive have had a negative effect on everyone concerned, or some it seems. In the meantime, RFR’s teams have become constant and the result is a point leader in Carl Edwards and tremendous performances. So what do we learn from this?

    Maybe the struggles of especially Jeff Gordon have more to do with changes than the actual driving abilities of the four-time champion. Chemistry is a very important part of this sport and chemistry is hard to explain or define. The HMS boys might prove me wrong in the future, but I see better chemistry in the RFR Ford camp than what I’m seeing at HMS. Time will tell.

    As we head to the big Coca-Cola 600 weekend, it will be interesting to watch what these two organizations do in the sport’s longest race. Will one or the other dominate or will a surprise winner come and spoil the show? My money’s on some organization other than the Hendrick gang. It’s probably a bad bet, but so far the performance isn’t there. Of course, that may change before Sunday night.

     

  • A Boring All Star Race? A Recap of the 2011 All Star Night at Charlotte

    A Boring All Star Race? A Recap of the 2011 All Star Night at Charlotte

    [media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]It is no secret that the 2011 edition of the Sprint All Star Race was anything but exciting. When you come to the annual All Star Race, you are right to expect one of the most exciting and intense races of the season. There are usually sparks flying, cars torn up and feelings hurt. Tonight was anything but that. We saw racing that we would normally expect in the Coke 600. Cars were strung out all over the race track and the only real battles for the lead or lead changes where under pit stops. For the first time maybe ever, the Sprint Showdown race was the one to watch if you were to only tune into one of the two races.

    The Sprint Showdown showcased many drivers that have never won a Sprint Cup Series race, are on a long winless streak or have never won a NASCAR race of any kind. The first was the case for one David Ragan as he took his Doug Yates powered Roush Fenway UPS Ford into victory lane. But his win wasn’t without competition. Ragan had to get around Brad Keselowski who was absolutely killer on restarts to claim his first win in the Cup series. The signature moment of the race however was the massive crash early on in the race. Landon Cassil blew a tire, spun and came back up the track and the hopeless Derrike Cope happened be in the wrong spot at the wrong time. Cope, with nowhere to go, T-boned the Cassil machine and caused one of the scariest impacts in recent NASCAR memory. Both drivers were okay which says a lot about the safety of these race cars. Dale Earnhardt Jr to no surprise won the Sprint Fan vote ensuring that NASCAR’s most popular driver would be in the All Star field.

    The race was kicked off with the All Star style driver introductions that showcase not only the drivers, but the the crew as well. The race went green and right away you could tell that the Roush cars of Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards were the ones to beat. Greg Biffle stepped out to a lead and held on to win the first fifty lap segment. That then lead to the twenty-five lap segment number two. That segment saw the late race battle between the 5 car of Jimmie Johnson and the 99 of Carl Edwards. Edwards passed Johnson with two to go and went on the claim segment two. Segment three looked a lot like a Nationwide Series race as Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards were the front runners but unlike Nationwide races, Carl Edwards won and Kyle Busch was second. Then came the ten lap shootout to decide the winner of the million dollar race. Carl Edwards won the battle off pit road from the required four-tire stop and never looked back. Kyle Busch tried to make a late race run by switching up racing lines but it was too little too late for Rowdy. Mr. Edwards then proceeded to attempt a “Matt Kenseth style” celebration and then wrecked his race car in the process.

    The 2011 edition of the All Star Race wasn’t what people were expecting. They all expect an all out brawl on the race track with lots of cautions and tempers flaring like fourth of July fireworks. Instead we saw strategy and actual racing on the track like we will see next week in the 600. Now, for an All Star race, this was a bad race. If it was the Coke 600, this would be considered an exciting race for the most part. You win some, you lose some. Hopefully next year when All Star time comes, we will see a “traditional” race.