Category: RC NASCAR Cup

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photography, Inc.” align=”alignright” width=”210″][/media-credit]Kasey Kahne broke the track record in qualifying on Friday at the newly repaved Kansas Speedway.  Kahne captured the pole with a lap of 191.360 mph for Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400.

“Our Farmers Insurance Chevrolet was awesome right there. It was great. I tried to get a little…I went into three, and felt like I could go wide open. So I went back to wide open, and then I started just chattering a little bit. So, I eased off the throttle and back down.” Kahne said.

Mark Martin qualified second with a lap of 191.238 mph, Clint Bowyer third, Kyle Busch fourth and Aric Almirola qualified fifth.

“The race track has got a lot of grip, but my car was kind of a handful there, and that’s entirely too long to go holding your breath. I’m used to only having to do it for one lap, so that was a long time.” Martin said.

Jimmie Johnson qualified seventh and points leader Brad Keselowski qualified 25^th.

“We had a very solid lap with my Lowe’s Chevrolet. I think we are going to be strong on Sunday. We’ve been here so many days, I can’t figure out what day we are on, but we’re on

Friday, so come Sunday we’ll be great.” Johnson said.

Subbing for Dale Earnhardt Jr., Regan Smith qualified 40^th.

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”230″][/media-credit]Clint Bowyer saved enough fuel over the final 56 laps to win Saturday nights NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“Who thought in a million years I’d walk into the situation I’ve walked into?” Bowyer said in victory lane.

Bowyer beat Denny Hamlin by .417 seconds in route to his third win of the season and the first in the chase.

Jimmie Johnson finished third, Greg Biffle fourth and Kyle Busch finished fifth.

Points leader Brad Keselowski, who ran out of fuel before his final pit stop, finished 11th and now holds a 7 point advantage over Johnson in the series standings.

“It’s blackjack, you’re not going to win every hand. When you got a bad deal you have to try not to have too many chips on the table.” Keselowski said.

Across the United States, homecoming is a traditionally celebrated at high schools and colleges through the month of October. Race weekend in Charlotte has the same feel. After all, the Charlotte, NC area is home to many of the teams and the fall race is an opportunity for the teams to gather with old friends and enjoy the weekend.

Charlotte found itself in the middle of homecoming, without it’s king. On Thursday, the news came that fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. would miss the next two races. The loss of Earnhardt felt like losing the star quarterback the day prior to the big game.

Second String

Regan Smith was given the opportunity to drive the No.88 car during the absence of Earnhardt. Smith was the last to take the track on Thursday during the first practice session due to the changes that had to be made to the car. Watching Smith in his garage, I saw the image of a young man waiting anxiously to open his Christmas presents. It was clear that he was eager to go.

This was not a good weekend for the legion of 88 fans. Smith qualified 26^th for the Bank of America 500 and quickly made his way through the field, moving into the top ten and appearing to be poised go further, when the engine blew. One was left to wonder what could have been.

“Needed one more stop and I think we would have had it dialed in and then just chased the weather from that point on. It’s disappointing. It’s a good team, it’s a good car and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports does a great job. I’m looking forward to next week.” Smith said.

The Points

I would love to see Nascar tweak the points system used in the Chase. As it currently stands, it is extremely difficult for a team to recover from a bad weekend. Jeff Gordon is a prime example. Gordon suffered a bad day on the first race of the Chase in Chicago. Since then he has continued the solid run that he had the last six weeks of the season, which got him into the playoffs. However, the hole was too deep.

My recommendation is that during the Chase, the 12 drivers that are competing, are given points differently than the rest of the field. There would only be 12 points available, and only 3 points for a victory bonus. The Chase driver that has the worst finish in the event but would be scored the equivalent of twelfth versus, say 35^th. This would allow drivers to dig their way out after a bad day and would hopefully have more drivers eligible going to Homestead.

The Track

Every time I spend time at the track, I find interesting things and lots of interesting observations –

Grit Chips – Samples were given out of Jeff Foxworthy’s new Grit Chips. Chips made from grits. What else could a southern boy love? The chips are glouten free, for those that are limited in their diets, and are delicious. I was told they began shipping to stores this past week – look for them.

Entertainment – Charlotte Motor Speedway always does a great job with their pre-race entertainment and Saturday was no different. Big & Rich got the crowd fired up and it was interesting to see daredevil Nik Wallenda walk a tight rope from the top of the grandstands to victory lane. However, for me, honoring America’s finest is always a highlight of any weekend at the track. No thank you ever seems sufficient when you see those that have given so much, including the members of the Wounded Warriors project that played a big part in the pre-race.

Fans – The fans are what racing is all about. Sports like to claim thy have the best fans, but I would argue with any of them when it comes to Nascar. Race fans are like no other. They love to have a good time, but I find them very generous as well. I am always amazed when I am working around the track how many will offer a cold drink on hot day or something to eat. For those of us that do this – thank you to each and everyone one of you!

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”212″][/media-credit]CONCORD, NC – A cold night at Charlotte Motor Speedway set up qualifying for the Bank of America 500 to favor those that went late in qualify. At least that was the plan and for most of the night, the script was followed. That was until Greg Biffle rolled his 3M Ford onto the track. Biffle was the 32nd car onto the track, but when the dust had settled, Biffle found that his 193.708 lap had put him on the pole for Saturday night’s race.

Joining Biffle on the front row will be former teammate Mark Martin. No one seemed to challenge Biffle until Martin rolled off as the next to last car to qualify. His lap seemed to put a charge into the crowd as many knew that his lap was quick.

Series points leader Brad Keslowski found his Miller Lite Dodge could only manage a 20th starting position. Ryan Newman was able to put his car in the third starting position. However, at this point in the season, it is clear that the cream definitely rises to the top.

Sprint Cup Chase contenders Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch and Kasey Kane completed the top ten, qualifying fourth through tenth respectively.

On a day that started with the announcement that fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. would be out for the next two races due to a concussion, many wondered if replacement Regan Smith could manage to put the Mountain Dew car in the top ten. Unfortunately, Smith was only able to turn in a 26th starting position.

Other notables, Kevin Harvick will start 11th, Jeff Gordon 13th and Tony Stewart 32nd.

Nationwide Series regular Ricky Stenhouse Jr. qualified 29th and AJ Allmendinger returned to NASCAR putting his Phoenix Construction Chevrolet in the 38th starting position.

[media-credit name=”Credit: Tom Pennington/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”217″][/media-credit]Denny Hamlin captured the pole for Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway with a lap of 159.299 mph.

“That was an amazing run. Definitely wasn’t what I expected, but it sure feels good to get a pole here. Our car was really strong in race trim and really wasn’t all that good in qualifying trim. Hopefully, this is a good sign of things that will give us a strong run here on Sunday.” Hamlin said.

Hamlin, who has an average finish of 20.5, hopes have a better finish on Sunday with the top starting spot.

“For me to qualify on a pole that doesn’t reward my style and obviously having a car as strong as it is. It’s a good thing that Darian (Grubb, crew chief) is as good as he is at setting up race cars. I just think that we have things rolling right now and we just are taking it one week at a time.” Hamlin said.

Clint Bowyer qualified second with a lap of 159.264 mph.

“It was good. It’s just a little bit too loose, kind of knew that. You knew what you were fixing to be up against when you were watching everybody run. It looked like everybody was skating around on the top of the race track. We (Martin Truex Jr.) were both kind of talking and I was too loose in (turns) one and two, but because of that the car turns really good and you’re almost on the bottom too much in (turns) three and four and then you get over there three-quarters of the way around and the thing will get tight and lose the nose on you.” Bowyer said.

Martin Truex Jr. third, Sam Hornish Jr. fourth and Kyle Busch qualified fifth.

“The Shell/Pennzoil Dodge was really good. The guys have worked hard to give me a fast car. Our race runs yesterday didn’t have the speed that we needed, so I’m really happy that I qualified well.” Hornish Jr. said.

Chase drivers Greg Biffle qualified sixth, Jeff Gordon seventh, Kasey Kahne ninth, Brad Keselowski 10th, Jimmie Johnson 11th, Matt Kenseth 12th, Kevin Harvick 13th, Tony Stewart 24th and Dale Earnhardt Jr. starts 25th.

“We were not very good in practice. I don’t know what to expect. We struggled all weekend really. We just haven’t had real good speed.” Earnhardt Jr. said.

[media-credit name=”Noel Lanier” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Earlier this week Denny Hamlin told everyone via Twitter that he would win this week’s Sylvania 300 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The proclamation came after a disappointing finish in Chicago where he ran out of gas and lost valuable positions in the chase for the Sprint Cup. Hamlin definitely backed up his predication with a dominating win as Jimmie Johnson came in second by almost 3 seconds and pole-sitter Jeff Gordon finished third. With his win Hamlin moved up to third in points only seven points behind the new leader Jimmie Johnson who now leads Brad Keselowski by a single point.  Fellow chase participants Clint Bowyer and Kasey Kahne rounded out the top 5.

Hamlin’s weekend was somewhat disappointing when his qualifying efforts only secured him a 32^ndstarting position.  On Sunday he was in the lead by lap 93 of the scheduled 300 lap event. From that point Hamlin dominated the race extending his lead to over six seconds at times. No one really challenged him for the lead although pit strategy did see Hamlin lose the lead in the pits, only to be out front in very short order. He led 193 of 300 laps securing the bonus point for leading the most laps.

“It doesn’t hurt to have a little confidence in the team,” Hamlin said. “I said we were fast enough to make it up, and we were. I’ll have these guys back until I die. Just our team. These are lightning-fast race cars they’re giving me.”  About his prediction he said, “You don’t want to sound too cocky, but I knew what we were capable of. Our car was extremely strong, and I have a really good knack for this race track. The two together, with a crew chief like Darian, it’s a winning combination.”

Jimmie Johnson said in the media center afterwards, “We just did all we could today.  We just missed a little bit of speed and the 11 seemed to have everybody covered.  And after that, we were the next‑best car and I just kind of ran there all day.”

Jeff Gordon in the media center was happy with his results, “Yeah, it was a great performance.  Certainly helped qualifying on the pole, getting that No. 1 pit stall.  That was important.  We had good pit stops, good pit calls and strategy and then good adjustments. We weren’t very good at the start of the race, but we hung in there with our track position and then we made an adjustment about halfway through the race that wasn’t very good for the short runs, but it seemed to maintain pretty good on the longer runs.  So allowed us to get up there into fourth and then that restart, we were able to jump into third.”

The race saw long green flag runs slowed only for a few caution periods all for debris on the race surface. The Sprint Cup Series will be in Dover Delaware next weekend.

[media-credit name=”Credit: Rainier Ehrhardt/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”244″][/media-credit]Jeff Gordon captured the pole for Sunday’s Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with a lap of 134.911 MPH (28.230 secs). This was Gordon’s second pole of the season.

“This car has been awesome in qualifying trim all day long. I just give a lot of credit to this Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet team. Don’t forget to text Hunger to 50555 to continue to help this great cause. What an awesome effort, great lap. It felt good. The car got off the corner really strong and I thought that it would be really close and as tight as these times are you just never know.” Gordon said.

Gordon shaved his mustache after a parts failure struck him down during the Chase-opening race at Chicagoland last Sunday. At New Hampshire, a clean-shaven Gordon hopes to get back in the championship hunt. But he has a huge up hill battle to accomplish that goal.

Kyle Busch qualified second with a lap of 134.753 MPH.

“That was a pretty good lap from where we were earlier in the day with the M&M’s Camry. Dave (Rogers, crew chief) and the guys did a really good job making some good changes to it to make it pick up speed. I felt like the car had decent balance, just needed more grip to make speed. They did a good job of that.” Busch said.

Tony Stewart qualified third.

“It seemed like it got better grip the second lap. Just took a little longer for the tires to come in.” Stewart said.

Brian Vickers qualified fourth and Carl Edwards qualified fifth.

“We had a pretty good lap with our Aflac Fusion, which is very good, and now we just go race. We’ll tune in the race car tomorrow in practice, but the track is very fast right now.” Edwards said.

Last week’s winner and the series points leader Brad Keselowski, qualified 15th.

“We’re just missing a little bit in qualifying trim and I think we’ll have it in the race.” Keselowski said.