Category: The Final Word

Damn engines. They can put you in front, as it did for Brad Keselowski for 31 laps. They can break your heart, when he had to drop back as it went from an eight to a six cylinder. They can leave you parked in 35th when it finally lets go. It left the defending series king with pretty much of a must win situation when they resume Saturday night in Richmond.

Seven in, five to be decided. After Atlanta, we know the Chase will feature Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth, all in by points.  We know that even if Kasey Kahne finishes outside the top-10, he is in as his two win total can be matched but can not be beat among wild card entrants. That reduces further to four openings if Dale Earnhardt Jr can manage to finish among the top-30 this weekend.

Four spots, nine contenders, unless you want to include Paul Menard, who would need to win and hope for something just short of an alien abduction of Martin Truex Jr and Ryan Newman to make it.

Jamie McMurray could make it with a win, but he would need neither Truex or Newman to appear in the Top 20 at Richmond.  All could still make it on points, though the odds get longer the deeper they are in the pack. Wins by Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, Truex or Newman would lock them in one way or the other. A bad day outside the top-30 and the wrong guy winning has all on this list vulnerable.

Rating Atlanta – 7.5/10 – It should have been higher. Two leading the race, Keselowski and Clint Bowyer, disappear due to engine woes and a botched restart leaves both Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson with sub-par days, ESPN even had some decent camera shots, if they bothered to use them. In the end, this one seemed to drag on despite the drama. NASCAR is like baseball at 190 mph in that it often seems that little changes from lap to lap, or pitch to pitch. Unless the broadcast weaves a narrative it can get rather monotonous.

While it is likely Junior will make it, a win at Richmond would end all speculation. He has three there, though the last was in 2006. Jeff Gordon always seems to run well there, but the last of his two victories at Richmond came in 2000. Newman won back in 2003 and has a great average finish ratio. Kurt was a winner in 2005.  In the end, I think the present standings gives us the best clue as to how this all will finish. My prediction is that Logano and Biffle will get in on points, while Gordon and Kurt battle to the end for the tenth spot, with Truex and Newman in a tight fight to see which gets the second wild card. No point talking about additional wins, unless you are talking about Kyle Busch.

Now, on to Richmond! Enjoy the week.

Usually we care about the big names, the pied pipers leading the way. At Bristol, there was some excitement as Matt Kenseth held off two-time winner Kasey Kahne to win his fifth of the season and locked a spot in the Chase. It was an exciting finish, but in the scheme of things as to what is most meaningful at the moment, not so much.

Just as Jimmie Johnson running into the back of a spun also ran to take out his radiator meant little. Just as Clint Bowyer, who led 50 laps and recovered from a spin out and a collision, winding up 14th to secure a Chase place. Or Carl Edwards having his car blow up early or Kevin Havick leaving with the rear of his car torn to pieces or Kyle Busch surviving to come home 11th did not exactly make the headlines. All of those boys were going to head to Atlanta still in a playoff spot no matter what.

Kurt Busch, now that was another story. A loose wheel led to a damaged rear hub that led to time in the garage and a 31st place result. Going in he had a six point cushion, but that deflated and now he is six out behind Joey Logano. Logano had been the first man out, but now he is in. Brad Keselowski had been in by eight, but after getting tangled up in a wreck with just over 50 to go the defending champ wound up 30th and four points in arrears. A win for the two former champs would sure come in handy about now, as it would for Jeff Gordon who is 11 points in the weeds.

With the points from Bristol pushing Kahne back into the top ten and Logano in by points, Martin Truex Jr retains his wild card spot while Ryan Newman regains the other. At least for the moment. At least until the smoke clears at Atlanta.

Rating Bristol – 7.5/10 – The racing was not exactly up to Bristol standards, but there was enough wrecking and other surprises to keep it interesting.

Johnson, Bowyer, and Kenseth are locked in, while Harvick, Edwards, Kahne, and Kyle Busch should be a week from now. Barring disaster, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Greg Biffle should still be holding a spot in the Chase heading to Richmond, though a win by Kurt Busch, Gordon, or Keselowski could put Logano, Truex, or Newman in jeopardy. Sunday in Atlanta would be a good time for some of the boys to have a good day. Five times in the past Gordon has shaken the bubbly there, while Gene Haas’ new favorite has had the pleasure three times. Enjoy the week.

Time often rewards us with maturity, often only after we face some adversity. The man who won at New Hampshire Sunday is not the same lad who, as a 20-year old, claimed what is now the Nationwide series crown in 2003. He is not the same guy who took out both Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr for his first Cup win just shy of his 23rd birthday in 2006. Brian Vickers presently is the best Cup driver without a full-time ride, something that will assuredly change next season, in the same car he drove past Tony Stewart to lead the final 16 laps enroute to victory this past weekend.

Vickers has paid his dues. After early career success he moved on to the new Red Bull team in 2007, failing to qualify for 13 races. Things seemed to be on the upswing before he was forced out of the car in 2010 after blood clots were discovered in his legs and near his lungs.  He fought back, only to discover his return in 2011 was with a team on the down slide and about to go the way of the dodo. Without a ride, he became a part-timer for Michael Waltrip, yet in just 16 races these past two seasons he has won a race, claimed four top fives, and eight top tens. Talented, life tested, and all grown up, an even better version of Brian Vickers is back.

One driver needing to be better than he has been recently was, as Brad Keselowski finished fourth and returns to the Top Ten in the standings. An 11th place result did the same for Kasey Kahne. Stewart thought he had enough fumes to win, but that decision saw him fall all the way down to 26th when things went dry. He is back to relying on his single win for the second wild card spot.

Great day for Jeff Burton, finishing third to sit 17th in the standings. Only 31 points separates the 9th place Keselowski from Burton and only two between the 10th place Kahne and the 11th place Jeff Gordon. If Gordon moves ahead, then Stewart could find himself behind both Kahne and Martin Truex Jr for wild card dibs as he currently trails Truex by three and Kahne by five points. Gambling he had enough in the tank might prove to be costly for Smoke.

Ryan Newman gets word he is a man without a ride after this season, then he wrecks in his next race. No sympathy card coming from Kyle Busch, however. As the boys battled for eighth, Newman drifted up and wound up taking out Kurt Busch, who was having a pretty good day up to that moment. In response to his brother’s plight, the younger Busch boldly stated in a Sirius radio interview that Newman was a stupid idiot, a big ogre who does what he wants “because he can probably kick anybody’s butt” and Kyle was “glad he’s out of a job.” Ouch. Where is the love, people?

As Keith Whitley sang to us, sometimes those in love say it best when they say nothing at all. On a certain plane ride home, maybe all one heard was crickets Sunday night as Danica Patrick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr left the venue. Patrick got into Stenhouse, who picked up Travis Kvapil, and in the end none of them were very happy. The good news is that nobody expects much from any of them right now. Maybe the love birds could have invited Kvapil to join them on the flight home. I’m sure he would have had something to say.

At the age of 71, Morgan Shepherd became the oldest man to ever drive in a Cup race. He drove less than a third of the race, finishing 41st after parking the beast due to a vibration. How impressed should we be with his feat? Not very. Yet, it probably was more impressive than 77-year old Minnie Minoso drawing a walk in 2003 with independent baseball’s St. Paul Saints, or the single shift taken by 69-year old Gordie Howe with minor hockey’s Detroit Vipers in 1997. At least Morgan drove the damn car for more than a couple of minutes.

If you seek meaningful, there was June 18, 2005 when 46-year old Julio Franco hit a pair of homers for the Atlanta Braves against Cincinnati. Nine days later he hit a pinch-hit grand slam home run against Florida. As for Mr. Hockey, Howe scored his final NHL goal on April 9, 1980 for the Hartford Whalers against the Montreal Canadiens, his 15th of the season, at the age of 51. As for NASCAR, only four drivers have recorded a win after passing their 50th birthday. Their names are Harry Gant, Bobby Allison, Mark Martin…and Morgan Shepherd. Now, that is something to be proud of.
F
Rating New Hampshire – 8.5/10 – I was pretty sure Tony and Steve Addington blew the call about gas, unless Larry McReynolds was completely wrong. He was not. We had four drivers dominate, in the Busch boys, Matt Kenseth, and Tony…before Vickers simply won it. There was drama, there was heart break, there was TNT’s crew for the final time this season. No point complaining about that right now. There will be time for that in a couple of weeks.

Indianapolis comes up on Sunday, July 28th. Until then, we can preview the ESPN gang by taking in the Nationwide action from Chicago this Sunday or the Indy action on the big track a week from Saturday as Mr. Vickers returns to action. Of course, the marquee event between now and the Brickyard will be the return to the dirt as the truck series visits Mr. Stewart’s track at Eldora Speedway on Wednesday, July 24th. That should be a blast. Enjoy the next two weeks!

When you see Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus, I swear a Queen song can be heard in the background. “We Are The Champions”, they seem to be once again serenading the rest of the field during recent events. Johnson has been so dominant this season, he even has tossed away a few races he should have claimed while he proved selfish enough to grab his 4th victory of the season Saturday night in Daytona. He owned that race, and maybe he is about to reclaim that title he had owned for five straight years before loaning it out to Tony Stewart and Brad Keselowski.

Stewart, who might lean toward pudginess from time to time, yet has never reached Meat Loaf proportions, might be thinking that “Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad,” The 2011 king (and in 2002 and 2005) was second at Daytona and moved back into the top ten in the standings. Keselowski, on the other hand, continues his big chill, falling just out of the top ten. After a 21st place finish on Saturday, he may be only 11 points back of Stewart, but since leaving Kansas the defending champ’s average finish has been 22.4. That includes six outcomes where he wound up outside even the top twenty. When Foreigner sang “Cold As Ice”, they were singing about Brad.

It was a CCR end of the day for Joey Logano, Juan Pablo Montoya, Martin Truex Jr, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, and Kasey Kahne. They all started in the sunshine but in the end all saw a “Bad Moon Rising,” At least they all lasted longer than Paul Menard, who went up in smoke on just lap 23.

Rating Daytona – 10/10 – It was Daytona. It was a visual spectacle. We do not watch to see them wreck. We watch due to the lap by lap promise that all hell just might break loose, and while often it does we are amazed when it does not. I am not even talking about the last lap where, as Dirks Bentley mentioned, things more often than not go a little bit “Sideways.”

Will things get tamer in New Hampshire on Sunday? Last year’s summer and fall victors, Kahne and Hamlin, sure hope so. Jeff Burton has the most wins there, with four, while Stewart. Gordon, Ryan Newman, and Kurt Busch, who has newly arrived in the top ten this season, all have three.  So does Mr. Johnson. The good news for the rest of the field is that he has been blanked there in his past five attempts. All he did last year was finish 7th in July, 2nd in September, and last year sucked for the team. I mean, they only finished third in the standings. Last night I dreamed of Chad wearing a Freddie Mercury jumpsuit atop the war wagon singing “We Will Rock You.” I woke up screaming. Enjoy the week.

How do you win four races in a season? You Matt’er down of course, which is exactly what Mr. Kenseth did at Kentucky on Sunday. He might not have had the best car on the day, but he did when it counted as he claimed his 28th career victory. The victory moves him to fifth in the standings and, even more important, three bonus points up on Jimmie Johnson in re-calibrated Chase points.

Johnson, he of so many wins he can just give them away. He beat the late re-start at Dover, and wound up 17th. He spun out late at Kentucky, and came home ninth. He will be at 65 soon enough, so why rush? 182 laps leading and then just giving it away.

Dale Earnhardt Jr would not do that. Maybe early in his career, he might have, when he claimed 16 wins in his first 201 races. However, not since then. Not since the past 285 events have produced just three victories, the last one more than a year ago. Junior started from the pole, he was leading the race, but when the carcass of Denny Hamlin’s tire slapped him up side the splitter he was just glad to hang on to 12th.

Hamlin will not make the Chase. After his hurts, he keeps getting hurt points-wise and physically. He eventually crashed out, got his bell rung a little, and finished 35th. Hamlin has nine races to make up 44 points (to make the Top 20) and win a couple. It is not going to happen.

Brad Keselowski will not make the Chase. The defending champ with the big Twitter may be only 14 points out, but he has been deplorable over the past ten. He might have a couple of Top Tens, but he also finished 33rd at Richmond, 32nd at Darlington, 36th at Charlotte, and 33rd on Sunday. His next nine will have to be as awesome as the recent past has been awful.

For the first time in 35-years, since 1978, a Labonte failed to start a Cup race. With Bobby sat down in favor of A.J. Allmendinger, his streak of 704 consecutive starts came to a close. Allmendinger finished 22nd. I hope the feedback was worth it.

Rating Kentucky – 8/10 – It was a day late, but you hate to fly through the race as you might miss something the TNT crew brings up. I wish I had missed Carl Edwards’ guest selection from Saturday. Thanks to fellow writer Kelly Crandall, I did not, sharing the joy that is Turtleman. To be fair, she did indicate that it was a train wreck, but I still might have to remove Kelly as a Facebook friend. So, who will be on next week, Honey Boo Boo?

This Saturday night is the Firecracker 400 at Daytona. Johnson won there last spring, Tony Stewart a year ago, and Kenseth in the 2012 season opener. Jamie McMurray was second in Kentucky, and has won twice on the track at Daytona. Back in the Top 20, he sure could use a third about now. Enjoy the week!

Martin Truex Jr has the best sideburns in the business, and now he has the shortest losing streak. That 218 race gap between victories came to an end as he drove away in the hills of Sonoma, just outside of San Francisco on Sunday. Have there been longer droughts? Certainly. Michael Waltrip went 462 before he finally won a Cup race. J.D. McDuffie went 653 and never won. In fact, in 1991 he died at Watkins Glen in his final attempt.

Kurt Busch roars in to the pits, way over speed, and gets a drive through penalty. He again roars in to the pits, way over speed, and gets a stop and go penalty. All he did after that was drive through the field, got his lap back on the track, and wound up fourth. A bad day just three positions behind the guy with a great day. I wish I was that bad.

So does brother Kyle. He got spun by Juan Pablo Montoya early, then stalled on pit road, got punted by Carl Edwards, and went for a spin in the dirt. Some Busch’s finish fourth, others 35th. One consolation is that Kyle finished just one position behind Montoya. Funny how one can be second at one moment and 34th at another when the fuel runs out on the final lap. Yes, I bet his team thought it real hilarious.

Just in case you were wondering, Jacques Villeneuve was entered at Sonoma, my mother was not. The former F1 champ lasted 19 more laps than Mom did, and picked up three points to Mrs. Thornton’s zero. Neither are slated to run at Kentucky on Saturday night. Just keeping you informed.

So, JTG-Daugherty Racing sat Bobby Labonte so A.J. Allmendinger could provide them some feedback as to what the team might be missing. On Sunday, Labonte was back in and the damn car blew its engine on the first lap. So, unless the former Cup champ did something real stupid real early, or the problems with that team has nothing to do with who is driving but rather who is working on it. Just an observation.

Rating Sonoma – 9/10 – Can you beat the rolling hills in the background? Can you beat the surprises that often lurked in the turns, especially that last one? Is there a better crew than Adam, Kyle, and Wally, or better tech analyst than Larry, or better track-side reporters? Any worse? I will let you think about that for a few weeks. I am sure some names will come to you.

As they venture to Kentucky Brad Keselowski might consider repeating his win from last year. Presently, the defending Cup champ is just nine points to the good, with no wins in 2013. A hiccup on Saturday night, especially should Paul Menard, Kahne, Jeff Gordon, or Joey Logano do very well, could prove to be rather nasty. As for two-time winner Kyle Busch, he remains 16 points within a Chase place, but another bad day for him and things could start getting complicated. Enjoy the week.

1000 victories. That is a pretty hefty number no matter what you are talking about. For Ford, Greg Biffle’s performance at Michigan allowed the manufacturer to hit the milestone, 64 years after Jim Roper was declared the winner at Charlotte in the first ever NASCAR event. For the Biff, it marked his first win of the season and the 19th of his career to leave him eighth in the standings.

The only guys who had something that might have challenged the Ford driver was the Chevy boys from Hendrick. Sadly for them, they each had rather less than stellar finishes. Jimmie Johnson was tracking Biffle down, until a tire went down and the challenger creased the fence with two to go. Johnson finished 17th. Dale Earnhardt Jr had a car to contend with, but he went from first to a bug smudge as his engine let loose. Junior was finished in 37th. Kasey Kahne had a car that could anywhere, but he went from the front to the wall when a tire let go. He wound up 38th. That left Jeff Gordon, but he got pinched into the fence when Bobby Labonte broke loose just six laps in. Gordon was to end his day 39th. It was one hell of a day for Mr. Hendrick.

We had folks do well. Jeff Burton had gone 12th, 11th, and 11th in recent weeks before coming home 10th last Sunday to be within 20 points of a Chase place. Austin Dillon took his fuzzy cheeks out there and brought grand-dad’s car home in 11th. Danica Patrick looked like crap early (okay, her performance, not her own perky self) yet finished 13th.

They dumped Labonte from his regular ride to see if A.J. Allmendinger could find some answers. How did Bobby respond? Well, Labonte wrecked early while driving for James Finch to end up dead last. Allmendinger was 19th to be the best among the 30-something entries; those usually found 30th or something beyond that. Expect Labonte back for Sonoma, while former open wheeler Allmendinger is not listed driving for anyone.

As expected, road course ringer Ron Fellows is back. Making their Cup debuts will be Puerto Rico’s Victor Gonzalez Jr and former Craftsman driver Paulie Harraka. Also on track will be former CART, Indianapolis 500, and Formula One champion Jacques Villeneuve. 43 spots are open, just 43 cars are entered for this Sunday.

Rating Michigan – 8/10 – Dear Lord: It might be too much to ask for, but might we have an entire season broadcast by TNT? While we might tune in for the action, often we stay watching a race due to insightful and entertaining commentary. We might not miss much on the track, but we know we might miss something from the broadcast booth, thus we stay watching. Lord, I think those folks on ESPN are wonderful people, but I shudder to think what the Pocono and Michigan experiences will be like with them in August. Anyway, if you could perform a miracle here and keep Wally, Kyle, Adam, Larry and their track side colleagues on the air this summer and fall, I sure would appreciate it. Love, Ron. PS: I hope you had a great Fathers’ Day.

Next time out, they will be turning left…and right. Tony Stewart has won a pair at Sonoma and Jeff Gordon has done it five times, but the last time for them was back in 2005 and 2006. Since then, winners include such names as Montoya, Busch (both of ‘em), Kahne, Johnson, and Bowyer last year. You do not have to be a ringer there, just a great driver, like some guy named Earnhardt was back in 1995. Any one of those past winners entered could pull it off. Mark Martin won in 1997 but more often than not he also enjoys a Top Ten day in California. The boys and girl take to the track just north of the streets of San Francisco this Sunday. By the way, in case you were wondering, the last Ford winner there was Ricky Rudd, in 2002. Enjoy the week.