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Surprising and Not Surprising: Richmond Federated Auto Parts 400

In a far less dramatic and controversial race than last year, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 57th Annual Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

Surprising: While the top seed is often coveted in other sports, from basketball to tennis, one NASCAR driver was dead set on achieving that distinction going into the Chase for the championship.

Brad Keselowski not only achieved his top seed goal by scoring his fourth win of the season, but also dominated the Richmond race, leading 383 of 400 laps and scoring the 400^th victory for Team Penske.

“It was just a phenomenal night for our team here and everyone at Team Penske,” the driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford said. “Car was fast. Pit crew was flawless. We put all the pieces together tonight.”

“I’m very proud of the result that comes from a win and what it means to the bigger picture of having the first seed entering the Chase. That’s really something. We want to keep that going as we get through this next 10 weeks.”

Not Surprising: Leave it to teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. to try to make his teammate feel better. Junior was parked behind his HMS teammate Jimmie Johnson when he saw that Johnson was not feeling well after the race.

“It was super-hot tonight,” Earnhardt Jr. said after the race. “I thought I might have some trouble with it because I had a sinus cold all week. …Jimmie is the most fit guy in this series and he must have something going on — something that didn’t agree with him today that he ate or drank.”

After helping Team 48 assist Johnson out of the car and to the infield care center where he was pumped full of IV fluids, Earnhardt Jr. stopped by to proffer some chocolate milk, hoping that would assist in the six-time champ’s recovery.

The milk offer must have helped as Johnson did attend his Foundation’s Wellness Challenge the day after the race, although he did not participate in the event as scheduled.

Surprising: They may both be in the Chase, but Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin have at least one thing in common. They are both looking for speed, for Harvick on pit road and for Hamlin under the hood and on the track.

“I can’t fix them, but it’s probably the biggest thing that we have to fix in order to contend for the championship,” Harvick said of his pit crew hiccups. “I think our cars are as fast as they need to be. The guys do a great job of bringing fast cars every week.”

“It’s just one mistake after another every week on pit road,” the driver of the No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet said. “Hopefully they have a plan as to what they think they need to do in the shop with the two teams in the Chase, but that’s not my department.”

“Pit crew would be our strength right now,” Hamlin said. “You know, we’ve got a lot of pieces of the puzzle put together for a championship run.”

“As important as track position is nowadays, you’ve got to have great pit stops, and we feel like we’ve got that part licked, it’s just you’ve got to have faster cars, you’ve got to qualify better,” the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota said. “There’s a lot of things that go into a championship run, and we’re missing a couple of them very important pieces, and that’s speed.”

Not Surprising: No doubt that there was no one more disappointed than Clint Bowyer, who had a good run at Richmond, finishing third, but still failed to make the Chase.

“The boys brought in the best they could possibly build, put a lot of effort into it, I raced as hard as I could,” Bowyer said. “Have some work to do.”

“Hell, everybody does looks to me like.”

Surprising: While Jeff Gordon, the runner up at Richmond, stated that he believes the cream will rise to the top in Chase even with the new format, he also thinks the championship competition will be, well, intense.

“I believe, no matter what the structure is, I still believe the best team wins,” the four-time champion said. “ I’ve always believed that and I still believe that. If it’s meant to be because you’ve prepared and you have the strong cars, the best team, I think you’re going to make it to Homestead and you’re going to win the championship.”

“But it’s going to be intense,” the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet continued. “Oh, yeah, it’s going to be really, really intense. I think you actually have to try to balance out that intensity to try to make it not too intense for yourself.”

Not Surprising: Even with the exemption granted by NASCAR for Chase eligibility with a win, it was not surprising that Tony Stewart, with all on his mind and his heart, simply could not pull of that feat.

Smoke had a problem on pit road with a missing lug nut, setting him back to the tail end of the field. The driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet finished 15^th.

Surprising: Although Roush Fenway Racing got two drivers into the Chase, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle, marking the 11^th time in 11 seasons of the Chase that RFR has gotten multiple entries into the playoffs, it was a still a surprisingly disappointing race night for their three team drivers.

Biffle was the highest finishing Roush Fenway Racing driver in 19^th, Carl Edwards finished 22^nd and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished 26^th.

“I’ll tell you what, it’s got to be the toughest race of my life,” Biffle said. “Man, I drove so hard, and we just missed the setup. It was clear that our whole company did, Carl and Ricky and myself.”

“We were way off tonight, which is frustrating because five top 10s in a row put us in this position, but tonight was not pretty.”

“I drove as hard as I could, and it was enough to get us in. I knew I needed to be in the top 20, and like I said, it was all I could do.”

“We just missed the setup,” Edwards said, echoing Biffle’s sentiments. “A year ago we won this race with our Kellogg’s Ford and we went on to finish last in the Chase. Hopefully tonight’s poor performance will bode well for the final 10 races.”

Not Surprising: Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick had the best repartee when it came time to discuss the drunken fan who climbed the Turn 4 catch fence, bringing out a caution with just 63 laps to go in the race.

Here is their conversation when asked about the fan on the fence:

DENNY HAMLIN: Yeah, I saw that.

KEVIN HARVICK: Those Virginia folks.

DENNY HAMLIN: That caution put me two laps down. Knucklehead.

KEVIN HARVICK: It used to be okay. I remember the first race I won, the whole backstretch grandstand was hanging on the fence. They never threw a caution then.

DENNY HAMLIN: If he wants to play in traffic, it’s his problem.

KEVIN HARVICK: Wasn’t a NASCAR employee, was he (smiling)?

Surprising: With so many other drivers just trying to ensure their chance at the Chase competition, Kurt Busch surprisingly advised that he was already running a Chase race at Richmond.

“We wanted to run tonight like we were running in the Chase,” the driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet said after finishing seventh. “We ran our own race tonight, finished 7th. If you can finish 7th the first three weeks of the Chase you’re going to advance. I think you can do that again in the next round of the Chase.”

“That’s what it takes to be a championship-contending team, and this Haas Automation team is ready, Busch said. “We’re ready. We have a nice 10 weeks ahead of us where we’ve prepared for it.”

“Here we are, so let’s go for it.”

Not Surprising: As with every playoff situation, there are those looking for that Cinderella glass slipper, including one from a small team and one from the King’s team.

“I feel like if we’re at our best, we have a shot at getting through the first three races and having a shot to move on,” AJ Allmendinger said. “We did a test at Charlotte, RCR has helped us get a new car ready for next week, so we’ve got to be ready to go. We’re at least in it, so we’ve got a shot at it.”

“We don’t want to be just happy to be in the Chase,” Aric Almirola said. “We want to go and execute for the next 10 weeks, and we’re going to have to be flawless. “We’re up to the challenge. We’ve got two good weeks under our belt with top-10 finishes, and going into the Chase with a lot of momentum I feel like.”

“I feel like we’re major underdogs, so we’re going to let it all hang out for the next 10 weeks and see

September 7, 2014
Then There Were 16 – The Chase Grid is Set for the 2014 Sprint Cup Championship

With only two more positions to be filled, and one race remaining, Saturday’s race at Richmond International Raceway held the promise of a no holds barred, fight to the finish. Instead it delivered an uneventful event but a dominant fourth win by Brad Keselowski who led 383 out of 400 laps. His fourth win also puts him atop the Chase Grid.

Keselowski was thrilled saying, “What a night! Part of me, I pulled into victory lane and I pinched myself once to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. These are nights you don’t forget as a driver, and you live for. The Miller Lite Ford Fusion was just flying, and this is, I couldn’t ask for a better way to enter the Chase than to win and take the first seed.”

Greg Biffle held on with a 19th place finish to make the Chase by seven points and is seeded 15th on the Chase Grid. Ryan Newman finished ninth to secure the 16^th spot.

The points have been reset and all of the 16 drivers in the Chase Grid begin with 2000 points. Three additional bonus points are given for each win during the 26 race regular season.

Keselowski is first with 2012 points. Positions second through fifth are held by the drivers who earned three victories each during the regular season accumulating 2009 points each. Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano are in positions second through fifth, respectively.

Jeff Gordon finished second at Richmond but is excited to begin the Chase.

“This team is on fire, and we just can’t wait to get it all started,” he said. “It’s been a heck of a year. Our fans and the way that they’ve embraced this season has been extremely motivating, and I know how proud they are. And we’re proud of the effort and the results that we’re getting this year. Ten more weeks that we’ve got to get it done, and this team is ready to do that.”

Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick, with two wins and 2006 points each, are sixth and seventh.

The drivers with one win during the regular season begin the Chase with 2003 points. Positions eighth through 13th, in order, are held by Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne, Aric Almirola, and AJ Allmendinger.

Matt Kenseth, with zero wins and 2000 points is in the 14th spot and is joined by Greg Biffle (15th) and Ryan Newman (16th), also with 2000 points each to complete the Chase Grid.

Next week on September 14, the series travels to Chicagoland, the first of three races in the Challenger Round. Then it’s on to New Hampshire on September 21 and the final race in this round which is at Dover on September 28.

The Challenger Round – 3 Races/16 Drivers: At the end of the Challenger Round, the top 12 drivers will advance to the Contender Round. Win a race in the Challenger Round and you automatically advance to the Contender Round. The remaining top 12 drivers will be set by points. All drivers who advance will then have their points total reset to 3000 for the Contender Round.

The Contender Round – 3 Races/12 Drivers (Kansas, Charlotte, Talladega): At the end of the Contender Round, the top eight drivers will advance to the Eliminator Round. Win a race in the Contender Round and you automatically advance to the Eliminator Round. The remaining top eight drivers will be set by points. All drivers who advance will then have their points total reset to 4000.

The Eliminator Round – 3 Races/8 Drivers (Martinsville, Texas, Phoenix): At the end of the Eliminator Round, the top four drivers will advance to the final Championship Round. Win a race in the Eliminator Round and you automatically advance to the Championship Round. The remaining top four drivers will be set by points. All drivers who advance will then have their points total reset to 5000.

The Sprint Cup Championship – 1 Race/4 Drivers: The final race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway will determine the new champion. The first to cross the finish line of the remaining four eligible drivers will be the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion.

September 7, 2014
The Final Word – A Kahne-Do Spirit Trumps a Fast Car, a Fast Pit Crew, and Two Brats at Atlanta

Atlanta was a race we thought would be decided by a driver who had a great car, one who had a great pit crew, or one who was simply too desperate for victory to be denied. In the end, it was decided by two guys who turned their high-powered machines into bumper cars to force a green-white-checker…or two.

Kevin Harvick had the car. He dominated the race, but when it came time to go to extra time he had a bit of ground to make up. Paul Menard, after a two tire stop, could not get going on the re-start. Harvick clipped him, and then Menard squeezed up to the wall as the two fresh tired Joey Logano came up behind. Harvick went from challenging for a win to being challenged by the wall. He finished 19th.

Denny Hamlin had the pit crew. 11-seconds and a tick were what they were giving him every stop, and he used the advantage to stay up near the front. By the time the smoke cleared, he was still up there, just two positions back of where he had hoped to finish.

Kasey Kahne wanted a win. He needed a win. He got by Hamlin with just over twenty laps remaining, then fended off Harvick, and it seemed that would be how they would finish, Kahne, Harvick, Hamlin…then it was time to waste away in Moronoville.

Not sure what prompted it, but with under a handful of laps left, Kyle Busch went into the rear of Martin Truex Jr. Then did it again. They he got tagged back, as the two proceeded to dance the auto tango to bring out the caution. They even had words later, with Rowdy in his car and Truex leaning in to chat. Neither mattered much on this day, but their spat could have affected things.

Well, it did affect Harvick’s finish, though it matters little at this stage. It did allow Matt Kenseth to duel Kahne in a battle of the winless for the decision in the second G-W-C attempt, but Kahne survived to win his Chase place while Kenseth locked himself a berth on points. In the end, all was right with the world.

Not for Clint Bowyer. He hold on a Chase place went to crap along with his shifter. It broke and he fell laps back to fall right out of the Chase. A win at Richmond, or he is left hoping for a repeat winner along with finishing well ahead of Greg Biffle on Saturday.

Anyone still in the Top 33 still has a shot at a spot in the Chase, but they need a win next week to pull that off. That makes Danica Patrick still a contender, and a sixth place finish at Atlanta made a bunch of happy reporters. Still, I will wait for a couple of back-to-back Top Fifteens before I get too warm and fuzzy about it. I mean, Aric Almirola also had a Top Ten, but no one seemed quite ready just yet to snap up his autographed bikini photos in celebration.

It was nice Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards had pretty good finishes, or even that Junior was 11th even on a day he was a non-factor. Too bad for Jeff Gordon, who looked good early before a tire and his hopes went away at about the same time. Tony Stewart was back, looked great the first few laps, but then Kyle Busch squeezed him into the grinder to damper his hopes. A blown tire a little later ended them. Still, it was good to see him back.

With Richmond coming up this Saturday night, it comes down to this. 13 drivers are in the Chase through wins this season and one is in on points. That leaves two open. Give one to Ryan Newman. As you check these standings, you will see that as long as Biffle does not make any great gains on him, or Newman blows up early, the Rocket is in. As for Biffle, it comes down to trying to catch Newman, holding off Bowyer, and hoping for a repeat winner…unless the winner is a guy named Greg. That would be fine by him.

So Richmond will be all about Newman, Biffle, and Bowyer, and the identity of the driver that wins. Nothing else really matters, but at least that keeps things rather simple.

The Locked in chasers…
1 – Jeff Gordon – 3 Wins – 871 Points
2 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 3 – 851
3 – Joey Logano – 3 – 791
4 – Brad Keselowski – 3 – 782
5 – Jimmie Johnson – 3 – 766
6 – Carl Edwards – 2 – 755
7 – Kevin Harvick – 2 – 748
8 – Kasey Kahne – 1 – 708
9 – Kyle Busch – 1 – 657
10 – Denny Hamlin – 1 – 636
11 – Kurt Busch – 1 – 614
12 – Aric Almirola – 1 – 594
13 – A.J. Allmendinger – 1 – 590
14 – Matt Kenseth – 0 – 794

One is in, but no guarantee as to another…
15 – Ryan Newman – 0 Wins – 747 Points
16 – Greg Biffle – 0 – 728
17 – Clint Bowyer – 0 – 705
18 – Kyle Larson – 0 – 704

A Win to be in…
19 – Paul Menard – 0 Wins – 675 Points
20 – Austin Dillon – 0 – 674
21 – Jamie McMurray – 0 – 666
22 – Brian Vickers – 0 – 650
23 – Marcos Ambrose – 0 – 628
24 – Casey Mears – 0 – 583
25 – Martin Truex, Jr. – 0 – 561
26 – Tony Stewart – 0 – 540
27 – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – 0 – 538
28 – Danica Patrick – 0 – 500
29 – Justin Allgaier – 0 – 443
30 – Michael Annett – 0 – 393

A win…and 30th or better…
31 – David Gilliland – 0 Wins – 392 Points
32 – David Ragan – 0 – 370
33 – Cole Whitt – 0 – 353

September 2, 2014
Surprising and Not Surprising: Oral-B USA 500

With an intense heat radiating from the track and an even more intense return to the track for Tony Stewart, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 55th annual Oral-B USA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Surprising: Kasey Kahne ended his Hendrick Motorsports lonely boy status with a thrilling green-white-checkered win to join his teammates Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Jeff Gordon in Victory Lane and in the Chase.

“It was kind of like you just know that you have to win,” the driver of the No. 5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet said. “I told a friend that this week, like I just kept saying, I have to win.”

“That was, it was all that I could think about,” Kahne continued. “I knew Atlanta was a better opportunity for myself to win at than Richmond. But I just knew that tonight was that — you know, we needed it.”

“When I came off Turn 4 and I could see the checkered, right there is the first time I knew I was in The Chase and it was such a relief.”

Not Surprising: He might not have been a winner, but Matt Kenseth’s second place finish, as well as his consistency all season long, earned him a place in the Chase race, post-Atlanta.

“That was the goal, to have all three JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) cars in the Chase and we were able to accomplish that,” the driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Husky Toyota said. “The ultimate goal is for one of us to be able to win the championship.”

“I feel like we’re gaining on it,” Kenseth continued. “I’m not a huge believer in momentum, but yet I feel like everyone is really clicking together and working well together and the stops are good.”

“I feel like we’re doing everything right right now, we just need a little more speed to be able to start getting those wins.”

Surprising: Move over Janet Guthrie as there is a new girl in town at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Danica Patrick, after taking the checkered flag in sixth, scored the highest finish by a female at the track. Janet Guthrie had previously held that record by finishing tenth at Atlanta on March 19th, 1978.

“It was a long night,” the driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet said. “Man, that race felt like it was 700 miles. Sometimes when you are running well they feel like that because you are hoping it stays there, keeps going well, and you keep improving and don’t lose it.”

“There were definitely a couple of times late in the race when we fell back,” Patrick continued. “In the middle of the race the GoDaddy car was very good. We took a little step back, and then it came back in the end.”

Patrick was also the strongest running Stewart Haas Racing team member as her teammates Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart finished 13th, 19th and 41st respectively.

Not Surprising: With the pressure of making the Chase reigning supreme, it was no wonder that all kinds of freaky things happened on the track. One of the most freakish occurred towards the beginning of the race when a cat or a squirrel ran for his life in right in front of race leader Kevin Harvick.

“That was a cat,” Harvick proclaimed. “The cat ran across the backstretch. That would have been a big mess.”

Clint Bowyer also experienced some freakiness when his gear shifter broke, Marcos Ambrose blew an engine, AJ Allmendinger had problems with a hub and fender brace and Michael Annett lost one of his contact lenses on Lap 150.

Surprising: Young Kyle Larson was surprisingly dejected after finishing as the Sunoco Rookie of the Race yet again with an eighth place finish.

“Yeah, it was a tough race,” the driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet said. “The first corner or so I felt pretty good. For whatever reason, we got pretty tight in the center and I couldn’t roll the bottom like I wanted to. Really couldn’t go anywhere.”

“Doesn’t really matter anymore because Kasey won,”Larson continued. “So happy for Kasey, but that pretty much ends our Chase hopes. Unless we win.”

“But Top-10 is not bad.”

Not Surprising: He may have had a rough night with a tire down early in the race resulting in a 17th place finish, but Jeff Gordon was still no doubt savoring his milestone 750th career start.

“That’s a big number,” the driver of the No. 24 Panasonic Chevrolet, said. “I hadn’t thought about it a whole lot until I saw a decal made up and I was like ‘Man, that’s a lot of races, especially in a row.’”

“Really proud of that,” Gordon continued. “It’s been an amazing career in the Cup Series. I’ve had a lot of good moments. Luckily for me, they far outweigh the bad moments.”

Surprising: Roush Fenway Racing had a surprisingly good night, putting two of its cars into the top-five, with Carl Edwards in fifth and Greg Biffle in tenth. While Edwards is already locked into the Chase with two wins, Biffle needed that solid run to keep his Chase hopes alive.

“That was crazy,” the driver of the No. 99 Subway Ford said. “Those last couple of restarts were really fun. I hate that we tore up a bunch of cars, but it was definitely exciting.”

“I hope we’re ready for the Chase.”

“If the 5 wouldn’t have won, we would have been close to getting locked in with the way all the points shook out,” the driver of the No. 16 Ortho Ford said. “I don’t think we would have been able to lose two spots, but it is what it is.”

“We’ve got to race as hard as we can,” Biffle continued. “We know if one of those guys behind us wins next week it bumps us out, so we’ll run as hard as we can.”

Not Surprising: In his own quiet, unassuming fashion, Aric Almirola, Chase participant by virtue of his win in the rain at Daytona, finished top-ten at Atlanta, catapulting himself from 14th to ninth on the last restart.

“We had a solid night,” the driver of the No. 43 Eckrich Ford said. “I just went through turns one and two and ran wide-open. I hooked my left-front around the top seam and it was just like the seas parted and I drove right through there.”

“Anytime you can walk away from Atlanta with a top 10 after the last six weeks that we’ve had, it was nice to walk away with a car that wasn’t crashed.”

Surprising: Kyle Busch made a surprisingly good choice to stay in his car with his helmet on after the race as he and his crew chief Dave Rogers were angrily confronted by Martin Truex Jr. Busch and Truex got together late in the race, resulting in a 23^rd place finish for Truex while Busch took the checkered flag in the 16^th spot.

“We had handling issues all night — couldn’t drive off the corners,” Truex Jr. said. “But we hung in there, fighting for every possible position until Kyle (Busch), for whatever reason, ran into the back of me, causing pretty good damage to our car.”

“I passed him clean earlier and then he comes back and hits me from behind,” Truex Jr. continued. “It was totally uncalled for and hard to figure out why he did what he did. We were in the top-15 when that happened and had a chance of picking off a few more positions.”

Not Surprising: Ryan Newman’s top-ten finish now puts his Chase hopes squarely into his own hands. Regardless if there is a repeat winner or if Kenseth pulls off a Richmond win, Newman gets to compete for the championship if he finishes 41st or better; or 42nd with one lap led minimum; or 43rd after leading the most laps.

If there is a new winner at Richmond next week, Newman gets into the Chase with an 18th or better finish; 19th and one lap led; or 20th with the most laps led.

September 1, 2014
Surprising and Not Surprising: IRWIN Tools Night Race

The Coliseum…..Thunder Valley…..and “The World’s Fastest Half Mile”…..here is what was surprising and not surprising from Bristol Motor Speedway in the IRWIN Tools Night Race.

Surprising: Although Team Penske scored a one, two finish, race winner Joey Logano and race runner up Brad Keselowski both admitted that was one of the toughest, most physically demanding races of the season to date.

“It definitely was a very, very tough race,” the driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford for Team Penske said. “I feel like it’s the most physically demanding racetrack, just the baddest, mamma jamma racetrack ever built, not only for the driver but for the race car. You’re just always on the gas or the brake or in the turn. There’s always something going on, and as a driver you don’t get a break inside the race car, either.”

“It was a hard night,” the driver of the No. 2 Wurth Team Penske Ford said. “I’ll tell you, first off, this place, the race pace is really brutal and aggressive. With the cars having all the extra downforce this year and tires improving and some of the new rules, compounded by grinding the track and the track’s high lane having a lot of speed, I swear, this is the most grueling race of the year.”

“It feels good just to complete it and be able to kind of look myself in the eye and know I gave it all I had,” Keselowski continued. “It just wasn’t enough, but I didn’t fall out of the seat, so I’m damned near as proud of not falling out of the seat as anything else.”

Not Surprising: Coach Gibbs has no doubt already sent out for the infamous milk and cookies for his driver of the No. 18 Doublemint Toyota and his crew chief Dave Rogers. The two exchanged some pretty heated words after Busch sped on pit road, got back in traffic and was collected in a wreck for a 36^th place finish.

“That’s just pro sports,” Coach Gibbs said. “Every now and then you get frustrated.”

“I think the night was totally frustrating,” Gibbs continued. “(Kyle) had a great car and it was a series of circumstances. Something like that happens in pro sports you can get frustrated.”

Surprising: While Kyle Busch vacated his race car without speaking to the media, his teammate Denny Hamlin could not stop talking about what happened between himself and Kevin Harvick, resulting in his 40th place finish in the Bristol night race. In fact, he even added some physicality to his words, tossing his HANS device at Harvick’s car under the caution laps.

“I’m just frustrated because we had a good run going,” Hamlin opined. “I thought for sure after the first couple runs that we were going to win the race.”

“It just didn’t work out,” the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota said. “Mistakes happen in racing. Obviously, I believe that Kevin (Harvick) made a mistake tonight and that’s just part of it. I was just on the short end of the stick.”

Not Surprising: Matt Kenseth, although winless, continued his consistent streak of good finishes, scoring the third position in his No. 20 Dollar General Toyota. Kenseth was also the highest finishing Toyota driver and, in fact, was the only Toyota to finish in the top-15.

“I feel like we’re getting better,” Kenseth said. “We just didn’t quite have it today and we still got a decent finish out of it, but we just didn’t quite have the speed we’ve had the last few races here.”

“We’ll keep working on it.”

Surprising: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had a surprisingly good finish, taking the checkered flag in the sixth spot. In fact, Stenhouse Jr. led the Roush Fenway Racing trio in the finishing order, with both of his teammates finishing behind him, in seventh and tenth respectively for Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle.

“We didn’t start off very good but Mike (Kelley, crew chief) made a lot of changes,” Stenhouse said. “Our pit crew did an awesome job on pit road and gave me some fast pit stops, and Mike made a good call to take the wave around to get back on the lead lap and then the caution came out quick and we were able to make our car a little bit better.”

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, but definitely really pleased with how we finished with how the car drove, so we’ll get it better and we’ll keep working on it,” Stenhouse Jr. continued. “That felt really good to pass some cars. It was a great night.”

Not Surprising: After leading 148 laps out of the 500 lap race, it would be natural to feel a bit befuddled after finishing eighth instead of ending up in Victory Lane.

“I don’t know what happened,” Jamie McMurray, behind the wheel of the No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet said. “Our car got really tight with about 100 laps to go.”

“We freed it up on the last pit stop and it didn’t really help,” McMurray continued. “But I’m really proud of everybody on our McDonald’s Chevrolet. McDonald’s has been in this sport for so long and they’ve only won a few races and I really thought tonight was going to be our night to put them back in Victory Lane.”

Surprising: Jimmie Johnson, six-time champ, and Kyle Larson, Rookie of the Year contender, may be at different places in their careers, however they had one thing in common at Bristol. They both had to overcome adversity, from Johnson’s two speeding penalties to Larson’s wreck in qualifying, to finish fourth and twelfth respectively.

Johnson was the highest finisher for Hendrick Motorsports and Larson was again the highest finishing rookie of the race.

“Top fives are good. We are happy about that,” the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet said. “We had some issues on pit road and got nailed for speeding twice which was totally on us. Just mistakes made there that kind of hurt us a little bit, but we still got a third top five, finished fourth.”

“I made our team have to work really hard with wrecking in qualifying,” the driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet said. “Just a long race I felt like I worked hard the whole time. That is the hardest I’ve ever raced. Especially having to do it for 500 laps.”

“That was pretty wild,” Larson continued. “I guess I’m happy with a 12th. That is probably about as good as we were. I had a few run in’s today, but still to come away with a 12th is pretty good.”

Not Surprising: Paul Menard quietly continued his string of good finishes, this time taking the checkered flag in ninth.

“We had a really good car,” the driver of the No. 27 Serta/Menards Chevrolet said. “We had two runs where we just got off. We took right sides and it didn’t work out very well. Then we did a chassis adjustment and put four tires. We feel backwards and got a lap down. We were able to put four tires on and pass some guys for the lucky dog.”

“We got that and we could race again.”

Surprising: Aric Almirola was the biggest loser of the evening, wrecking hard to finish 41^st and dropping three spots in the point standings to 24^th.

“I’m OK, just disappointed,” the driver of the No. 43 STP Ford Fusion said. “What an amazing race car these guys brought me – two of them – and to go out like that is certainly disappointing, but that’s racing at Bristol – you get caught up in other peoples’ wrecks.”

Not Surprising: AJ Allmendinger continues to ride the momentum wave after his win at Watkins Glen, finishing top-15 at a track where he admittedly has struggled.

“It’s a really good night because I’m not really good here,” the driver of the No. 47 Busch’s Beans Chevrolet said. “At times we had a top-10 car and even at the end there when the car was terrible.”

“We were inside the top-15 with decent speeds and that’s what I wanted to at least do here,” Allmendinger continued. “Times we were eighth, ninth, 10th like last week.”

“So, I think we are making progress. I’m just happy to get out of here and be able to run 500 laps. I think the team was a little bit better than me today. All in all, it’s the kind of momentum we need for going into Chicago.”

August 25, 2014
Hot 20 – Chase Races Should be Reserved for Only Championship Contenders

On the track, everything is just hunky dory for Dale Earnhardt Jr. For our money, he sits as the best on the season to this point, but there are a couple of storm clouds just over the horizon. Steve Letarte moves from crew chief to a pretty face on television next season, and the National Guard might be heading into the sunset with him. To be honest, we have long known about one, and have had suspicions about the other. Still, for you and I, these questions marks do not need to bother us until next year. We got a championship run to cheer on.

The championship. Once, the best at the end of the year was given the crown. Then we got the Chase, and it was a race between ten to a dozen contenders as it evolved, with more than 30 without a ghost of a shot still out there over the final ten weeks. Now, we go with 16 drivers, whittle them down by four every three weeks, until only four of the 43 who will take to the track at Homestead are still in contention, with winner (or the best of the four that day) take all.

We have not quite reached perfection just yet, though the change in the points system itself is about as close as it gets. Start, you get a point, and win you get 43 plus one for leading the last lap, one for leading the most laps and three as an extra bonus for winning. Not bad, but as I suggest in these rankings I would bump that bonus from three to 25.

As we have seen, a win and you are in gives teams an immunity for bad behavior as long as they retain credit for the victory and stay amongst the Top 30 in the standings. This season, that means compiling an average of just 16.5 points per race, or being somewhere between 26th and 27th each week. Teams that can not do that simply do not matter. A win has put Denny Hamlin, Aric Almirola, and Kurt Busch into a shot at contention, even though all sit outside the Top 20 in points. They would slip in, forcing the likes of Kasey Kahne, Austin Dillon, and Paul Menard out into the cold. Personally, I would rather give a larger points bonus, and not a free pass to single race winners, so I might see real contenders vie for the title rather than pretenders who had good fortune just for one day.

Why quit there? The Cup series has run 36 points races per season only since 2001. It was between 28 and 33 events between 1972 and 1998. So, let us cut it off at 31, then let the top 20 vie for the championship in a five race playoff. A real post-season, just like all those other big boy leagues, with just twenty contenders on the track and the rest stay home. So, what happens if one driver runs away with it over the final five? Give him or her the damn title and celebrate. Sometimes those other kids see their championships decided in four game sweeps. They seem to survive it.

*Win bonus expanded from 3 to 25

1 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 806 Points – 3 Wins
2 – Jeff Gordon – 801 – 2
3 – Brad Keselowski – 753 – 3
4 – Jimmie Johnson – 699 – 3
5 – Joey Logano – 677 – 2
6 – Matt Kenseth – 668 – 0
7 – Carl Edwards – 662 – 2
8 – Kevin Harvick – 652 – 2
9 – Ryan Newman – 642 – 0
10 – Kyle Busch – 633 – 1
11 – Clint Bowyer – 617 – 0
12 – Kyle Larson – 595 – 0
13 – Greg Biffle – 590 – 0
14 – Kasey Kahne – 589 – 0
15 – Austin Dillon – 588 – 0
16 – Paul Menard – 562 – 0
17 – Denny Hamlin – 554 – 1
18 – Marcos Ambrose – 541 – 0
19 – Brian Vickers – 539 – 0
20 – Tony Stewart – 537 – 0

August 8, 2014
Hot 20 – Hamlin Penalty Shows the Downside of Win and You’re In

Seventy five point penalty and nothing. No meaningful consequences, not even a dip in the standings. When Denny Hamlin’s car got tagged for leaving the covers on the rear firewall loose in order to leak high pressure air from under the car into the cockpit, something they were told not to do going into Indianapolis, NASCAR came down hard. Well, sort of.

Darian Grubb’s wallet is $125,000 lighter and the crew chief is gone until after Richmond. The same penalty was given to car chief Wesley Sherrill. A 75 point penalty would be crippling if not for that win in Talladega and his lock inside the Top 30 in points. With standings based first on wins, and then points, Hamlin was ninth and remains ninth, if only by just a point up on Aric Almirola and still 41 ahead of Kurt Busch. For a car that was running so slow in practice Grubb said he did not have enough air time to list its ailments, its sudden emergence to finish third on Sunday was a revelation. Sometimes, NASCAR is not big on revelations, especially after mandating that the one in this case had been specifically outlawed. It is enough to make Michael Waltrip wave his finger in admonishment.

Now, I love the win and you are in format. I like that someone like Aric Almirola can make it with just one great day, or that Kurt Busch can spin silk from an otherwise crap season. Sadly, now if you win, it seems you can also sin. Take the risk, and if it goes south just make sure you can afford the cash and the downtime.

This season I have been tinkering with an alternative system that erases win and you are in by simply inflating the win bonus from three to 25 points. It pays big to take the checkered flag, but without handing one immunity. Under that system, Hamlin would have dropped from 11th to 19th and under the Chase format he would now be 31 points out of the Top 16. That would have hurt. Instead, he will get back a well rested, albeit poorer and wiser, crew chief when they hit Chicago in mid-September. Oh, the humanity.

*Win bonus expanded from 3 to 25 points

1 – Jeff Gordon – 761 Points – 2 Wins
2 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 737 – 2
3 – Brad Keselowski – 732 – 3
4 – Jimmie Johnson – 694 – 3
5 – Matt Kenseth – 661 – 0
6 – Carl Edwards – 647 – 2
7 – Joey Logano – 635 – 2
8 – Kyle Busch – 631 – 1
9 – Kevin Harvick – 609 – 2
10 – Ryan Newman – 606 – 0
11 – Clint Bowyer – 577 – 0
12 – Kyle Larson – 562 – 0
13 – Austin Dillon – 559 – 0
14 – Kasey Kahne – 555 – 0
15 – Paul Menard – 551 – 0
16 – Greg Biffle – 550 – 0
17 – Brian Vickers – 532 – 0
18 – Tony Stewart – 529 – 0
19 – Denny Hamlin – 519 – 1
20 – Aric Almirola – 518 – 1

July 31, 2014
Surprising and Not Surprising: Brickyard 400

With the announcement by Roush Fenway Racing that Carl Edwards would not be returning in 2015 still reverberating throughout the garage, here is what else was surprising and not surprising in the 21st Annual Crown Royal presents The John Wayne Walding 400 at The Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Surprising: In spite of securing his second win of the season, as well as having the points lead well in hand, it surprisingly took securing his fifth win at the Brickyard and his 90^th career victory to make a championship believer out of Jeff Gordon.

“It’s so hard to gain confidence in this series,” the driver of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet said. “I think we saw we were points leaders, we saw we won at Kansas, but I don’t know if we believed we were capable of winning this championship this year, truly believe it.”

“We do now,” Gordon continued. “But a Brickyard 400 win, it just doesn’t get any better. I mean, to share that with that team that worked so hard, to see the look on their face, you can just see it in them now, you know, they believe.”

Not Surprising: The Kyle and Kyle tandem were at it again, with Kyle Busch finishing in the runner up spot and Kyle Larson scoring highest finishing rookie honors yet again with his seventh place run. This was Busch’s third runner-up result in the last four races, scoring bridesmaid honors at Kentucky, Loudon and Indy.

“I finished second at Kentucky, Loudon and here,” the driver of the No. 18 Snickers Toyota said. “We had some good races going. It would be certainly more beneficial to pick up some trophies, take some trophies home, get some of those benefits for the Chase.”

“Three second places, that’s 11 extra points that you miss out on,” Busch continued. “That sucks pretty big for the Chase and for those bonus points. But, you know, if we keep going that way, then things will pay off sooner or later. We’ll start winning some.”

With his top-10 finish, the other Kyle continued his domination of the Sunoco Rookie of the Year battle, now leading the standings by 37 points over Austin Dillon. Larson also sits 13^th in the points as he tries to make his way into the championship Chase.

“It was a good day for us,” Larson said. “The Target car was really good. We were a top-10 car the whole race.

“Cool to finish in the top 10 at the Brickyard,” the driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet said. “To see Jeff Gordon win is pretty special. It’s kind of like Junior winning the 500 this year. It was a really good day for everybody and all the fans, too. So happy about it.”

Surprising: Just when Denny Hamlin thought he and his Joe Gibbs race team had turned the corner after finishing third in his No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, some surprising post-race inspection issues reared their ugly heads.

NASCAR took several rear firewall block-off plates off the car for further examination back at the R and D Center. These particular plates could have improved the aerodynamics of the car so Tuesday will be an interesting day for Hamlin and company as far as any potential penalties.

“It was a little something; it wasn’t that big of a deal,” Jimmy Makar, Senior Vice President for Joe Gibbs Racing, said. “I don’t think it’s going to be a big deal (penalty-wise). It is just a questionable thing.”

As a result of his good Brickyard finish, Hamlin advanced one spot in the point standings to 11^th and is poised for a run at the championship with his win at Talladega earlier in the season.

Not Surprising: With Indy known as a track where passing is difficult, it was no surprise that restarts were key and where much of the action took place. And again, not surprisingly, the final restart was critical for so many drivers, from Matt Kenseth, who gained a few spots to finish fourth, to Kasey Kahne who lost the lead to finish sixth.

“It was interesting because I was — I was kind of picking on Jeff’s (Gordon) restarts all day because he just couldn’t get going on the outside,” Kenseth said. “He was getting on the outside of the front row. I was behind and was like, ‘Man, this is going to be bad.’ He got into (turn) one and kind of carried the 5 (Kasey Kahne) and the 5 must have got loose.”

“And, then Denny (Hamlin) gave me a break,” the driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota continued. “I got out in front of him and we were both able to pass Kasey (Kahne). Then Denny (Hamlin) got us three-wide. Once it singled out we were able to get away a little bit.”

For Kahne, behind the wheel of the No. 5 Time Warner Cable Chevrolet, the final restart result was not as favorable.

“Jeff (Gordon) just beat me,” Kahne said. “We got into Turn 1 he held me down and he was able to momentum off of Turn 1 which he did a better job.”

“I should have choose the outside, looking back, but I thought there was more grip on the inside down the front stretch,” Kahne continued. “Then he controlled the start. I just gave it up at that point. Either way that was the best we were going to finish.”

“That was alright though.”

Surprising: It was a surprisingly good weekend for the Dillon brothers, with Ty winning the Nationwide race and brother Austin finishing top-10 at the Brickyard.

“It’s great for us,” the driver of the No. 3 Dow/MyCogen Seeds Chevrolet said. “As a team we just want to build momentum and that was a solid day. Our car had some speed in it, but it was tough to pass because when you got in traffic you couldn’t do much.”

“I am very proud of my guys, solid day, and hard to back up that win that Ty got yesterday but I will definitely take a top ten in this series.”

Not Surprising: Paul Menard was NASCAR’s biggest loser after contact with Juan Pablo Montoya, back in a part-time ride for Team Penske, forced him to a 34^th place finish, dropping him five spots in the points to 16^th and teetering on the brink of Chase contention.

“It’s stupid,” Slugger Labbe, Menard’s crew chief, said. “People have no respect…. I just don’t get Juan Pablo, what he’s doing. It doesn’t make sense. You’d think the guy would come over and apologize or something.”

“We’re running for a spot in the Chase, and some part-time racer left-rears us and puts us in the fence,” Labbe continued. “Then you’re done.”

“It probably knocked us out of the Chase (for the Sprint Cup), but…we’ve just got to fight back in six more races.”

Surprising: In spite of a grueling day and a 42^nd place finish due to a broken axle, Danica Patrick still managed to find her happy place.

“It’s just one of those things,” the driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet said. “We were having a good day. It’s disappointing and the GoDaddy guys built me a really good car. Hendrick gave me great horsepower.”

“We were the fastest car out there at times,” Patrick continued. “We qualified better and had a good car for the race, it just didn’t end the way we wanted it to.”

“The good thing is, I get to come back to Indy and that makes me happy.”

Not Surprising: After a 16^th place run, Clint Bowyer in his No. 15 RK Motors Charlotte Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, was wishing his ride would turn magically into an IndyCar race car, complete with all its bells and whistles.

“No wonder them Indy car things have a push to pass button,” Bowyer tweeted after the race with the hashtag of #indyproblems.

“Our RK Motors Toyota was much better than our 16th-place finish,” Bowyer continued. “We had a little trouble in the pits and we got back in some traffic. We had to pit under that last caution because we got some debris on the grill from another car when we were leaving pit road.”

“It was a frustrating day but Brian Pattie and the guys gave me a good car just wish we finished better than we did.”

Surprising: Greg Biffle had a surprisingly lucky weekend, first hearing from his team owner that he would be the anchor driver for Roush Fenway Racing for 2015 and then gambling on pit strategy to finish lucky 13.

“Certainly the focus of our leadership is going to be with Greg Biffle and the things that he does with the racecar and the leadership he provides for the engineering initiatives we take,” Jack Roush said. “We had that split with Carl and Greg together this year, so that will be a little different next year.

“I had other options but I felt like I spent a lot of time there and we’ve always won races and I feel like we can win races again,” Biffle said. “The first half of the season has not been what we wanted. It’s no mystery.”

“I don’t think that’s a reason to jump ship and say I’m leaving because we haven’t won a race and we’re not performing the way we should.”

Not Surprising: With one win under his belt, it is not surprising that team Almirola is headed to test at Watkins Glen on their way to next week’s race at Pocono. Almirola passed many cars at Indy after starting in the rear in a backup car to finish 21^st.

“That’s a decent finish, but I’m frustrated because we’ve got to figure out how to get more speed,” Almirola said. “We’ve got six more weeks to get our cars better before the Chase, so we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us to try to figure it out and try to be more competitive.”

“But it is what it is,” the driver of the No. 43 Eckrich Ford said. “We dug ourselves a hole this weekend and finished 21^st.”

“We had one run where we drove up to like 15th, and I thought we were going to be pretty good, and I don’t know if we got a bad set of tires or what, but we could never recover after that.”

July 28, 2014
The Hot 20 – Elder Gents and Past Winners Lead the Way to New Hampshire

If you want to make the Chase, maybe one should win at New Hampshire. Out of 43 drivers entered and scheduled to make up the field at Loudon this Sunday, a whopping 16 of them have won at New Hampshire. They include the only four-time winner, 47-year old Jeff Burton, slated to drive the 66 Toyota of Jay Robinson. Along side will be his team mate, 50-year-old Joe Nemechek and a winner there in 1999, driving the 87. Kids. The oldest driver at Loudon has never won there in 14 attempts, going back to 1993. At the age of 72, Morgan Shepherd will be there in Joe Falk’s 33 Chevy.

Among our hot 20, based on points and super-sizing the winner’s bonus from 3 to 25 points, a dozen have had the post-race bubbly shower here before. Jeff Gordon is our king of the hill and while both he and Jimmie Johnson both have three wins at Loudon, neither really do not need another one. In reality, a win means a Chase spot, and they are both in. Same goes for Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Denny Hamlin. Matt Kenseth probably does not need one and Ryan Newman is still sitting pretty, but the same can not be said for Clint Bowyer, Greg Biffle, Brian Vickers or Kasey Kahne. Kurt Busch is not even in out Hot 20 but he has a win, though the same cannot be said for Tony Stewart.

As much as I think this system best showcases which drivers have actually been the most relevant during the season, I doubt NASCAR will adopt it. If I thought I had that much influence, you would never see ESPN’s current crew call another race, but I do not. Plus, giving a Chase spot to a New Hampshire winner would mean adios to the likes of Dale Earnhardt Jr, Brad Keselowski, and Carl Edwards, none of whom have won there. The kids, Austin Dillon and Kyle Larson, obviously have not. Take the free pass for last Sunday’s Daytona win, and Aric Almirola drops from 10th in the official rankings, drops from 19th on my list, down to 21st and with little hope of making the Chase. Of course, my method eliminates the Chase, and I have a feeling that Brian France would not be terribly receptive to that argument.

I think it a shame that wins put Almirola and Kurt Busch into a Chase place at the expense of Biffle and Vickers. Still, you cannot ignore the excitement that a single victory can bring to the driver, his team, or the fans. Winning is not easy, so maybe the reward is justified. Maybe.

That said, here is a look at my Hot 20 as they prepare for battle in New Hampshire this Sunday.

Ps – Driver – Pts – Wins
1 – Jeff Gordon – 673 – 1
2 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 668 – 2
3 – Jimmie Johnson – 662 – 3
4 – Brad Keselowski – 630 – 2
5 – Joey Logano – 590 – 2
6 – Carl Edwards – 587 – 2
7 – Matt Kenseth – 580 – 0
8 – Kevin Harvick – 558 – 2
9 – Kyle Busch – 546 – 1
10 – Ryan Newman – 534 – 0
11 – Paul Menard – 516 – 0
12 – Denny Hamlin – 515 – 1
13 – Clint Bowyer – 509 – 0
14 – Austin Dillon – 494 – 0
15 – Greg Biffle – 490 – 0
16 – Brian Vickers – 484 – 0
17 – Kyle Larson – 482 – 0
18 – Kasey Kahne – 482 – 0
19 – Aric Almirola – 474 – 1
20 – Marcos Ambrose – 472 – 0

July 10, 2014
Surprising and Not Surprising: Daytona Coke Zero 400

From a rain delay of a day to a rain-shortened race, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

Surprising: In spite of the fits and starts of the race due to the rain, the Coke 600 was still the stuff of legends, from the anniversary victory for The King and Richard Petty Motorsports to the last call of Barney Hall of Motor Racing Network.

RPM’s famed No. 43 made it to Victory Lane, thanks to some rainy luck for driver Aric Almirola and crew chief Trent Owens, on the 30th anniversary of The King’s 200th historic win at Daytona. Almirola was the 43^rd driver to pilot the No. 43, scoring his first win of his career at his home track.

“I couldn’t have dreamed of a better place to get my first win,” Almirola said. “I’ve sat in these grandstands and watched the Daytona 500. I’ve watched the Firecracker 400s. That’s what everybody always talked about, and as a young kid, coming over here and watching, just dreamed about what it would be like to have a chance to race at the highest level at this racetrack.”

“I think it’s very cool that we won on this weekend,” Almirola continued. “It’s 30 years to the weekend that The King won his 200th race with the President here. That’s really special.”

Another legend, Barney Hall, also called his final race at Daytona and will retire from race announcing at the age of 82 years.

“He has spoken to millions of fans and made millions of individual fans of our sport,” NASCAR president Mike Helton said. “I wanted to thank him for all he has done for us personally, but also all he has done for NASCAR.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr., an aficionado of the history of the sport, also shared his appreciation for the career of Hall.

“Barney Hall is a legend,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. tweeted. “I grew up listening to him. Forever grateful.”

Not Surprising: In spite of the weather drama and the strategy that was playing out to outfox the rain drops, it was not surprising that what caught the eye of mainstream media were the two ‘big ones’, involving a total of 42 crashed race cars.

Second place finisher Brian Vickers had a bird’s eye view of both incidents, barely making it through each incident.

“We went to the front, and then it got a little bit too dicey for my comfort that early, and guys were moving around a lot,” Brian Vickers, second place finisher, said. “So we went to the back, just had a bad feeling about kind of the energy in the pack and where it was headed, so we dropped back, and at about two laps later there was a big crash and we were fortunate to be out of that.”

“We ended up actually getting into the pack at about the wrong moment and were fortunate enough to get through the last big wreck,” Vickers continued. “I saw it kind of starting out of the corner of my eye, a car from the outside to the inside just went way too quick, and I just jumped on the brakes and as soon as I saw it opening downshifted and went to the gas and was able to get through it. But very lucky to get through that wreck and keep the FSU car out of trouble.”

Surprising: Kurt Busch had some surprising comments about his relationship with his crew chief Daniel Knost after finishing the race in the third spot.

“Yeah, the relationship with Daniel, you know, there’s some times when a driver and a crew chief hit it off and they’re off to the races right away. Daniel and I have been slower to mature together in our relationship, and so we’re 18 races into our first date,” the driver of the No. 41Haas Automation Chevrolet, said. “Now we’re going into the second half of the season, and all of our first dates are done.”

“We’ll go to New Hampshire next week, and that’ll be the last new track that we see together, and then from there on out, all the tracks that we’ve been to we have notes and we have test sessions planned, and that’s where we have to make the 41 team stronger.”

Not Surprising: There was no driver more excited about a top-five finish than Austin Dillon, who has been battling Kyle Larson for Rookie of the Year honors. And this race saw Dillon hold serve over Larson, who was involved in the first wreck and finished 36^th.

“It’s huge for us getting a top 10, a top 5; it definitely can change the rookie race,” the driver of the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/NRA Museum Chevrolet, said. “We’ve got some momentum now.”

“We’ve got the last four races, I think, in the rookie race, and just stay consistent and hopefully we can come out with this thing,” Dillon continued. “Our cars have been really fast all year, and we’re getting better each week. I feel like we’re gaining a little bit, and I’m excited about that.”

Surprising: Driver Paul Menard no doubt had the most appropriate car name for this Daytona race, driving the No. 27 SPLASH/Menards Chevrolet. Menard was marking time in the back but then got caught in the second big one to finish 16^th.

Menard did, however, gain at least one position in the point standings, regaining his spot in tenth.

“We battled weather all weekend,” Menard said. “Our strategy was to ride around in the back and miss all the wrecks, but with rain coming we knew it was time to move towards the front.”

“Of course, when we got to the front someone got turned around and we were caught up in a huge mess,” Menard continued. “Fortunately, my guys did a great job on pit road to repair damage and were able to keep us on the lead lap.”

“I think we moved up in points, so all-in-all it wasn’t a terrible day.”

Not Surprising: With Daytona, anything can happen during the ‘big ones’, including cars going airborne and upside down. Unfortunately, for both Jamie McMurray and Kyle Busch, each experience a little bit of both.

“It’s kind of scary I think my car got airborne,” McMurray, behind the wheel of the No. 1 Cessna Chevrolet, said. “I have never had that happen before it’s a helpless feeling when you are getting hit as you are in the air.”

“It was kind of scary, but glad it looks like everyone is okay.”

“Just felt like a slow carnival ride,” Kyle Busch said of his upside down ending. “I guess that’s fitting for the Fourth of July weekend. I just got T-boned there at the end and it just kind of toppled me over.”

“I got hit by the 26 (Cole Whitt) which just toppled me over and when I toppled over you know you just sit there upside down basically in your restraints,” Busch continued. “Your chest is held, your abdomen is held and everything is held and you just wait for them to come in there and get you and turn you over, because it’s way safer to get turned over in that seat because you already got turned over once then it is to try to undo the belts and bang your head off the ceiling and try to get out.”

Surprising: One would have thought that the race was at a short-track rather than on the high banks of a restrictor plate track with the way tempers were flaring.

“The No. 17 car (Ricky Stenhouse Jr.) got sideways on the lap that we’re all getting a competition caution,” Tony Stewart, behind the wheel of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Ducks Unlimited Chevrolet said. “I don’t know. I guess Ricky thought it paid something to get to lap 20. I don’t know. It didn’t make much sense to me, but I’m not that smart either; so I don’t know. I don’t know that I’m the right person to ask.”

“I guess is was just Stenhouse being an idiot,” Smoke continued. “It didn’t make much sense when we’re coming to the caution, we’re like a quarter of a lap from getting to the caution and he does something stupid.”

“It tore up a lot of people’s cars and a lot of people’s days,” Stewart said. “To get here on Wednesday night and sit here all day and run 19 and three-quarter laps and get wrecked by somebody who’s doing something stupid.”

Not Surprising: Like so many of the other racers, Martin Truex Jr. was ready to put Daytona in his rear view mirror. In spite of a vibration and battery change, Truex finished 15^th in his No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet.

“It was a roller coaster day,” Truex said. “We never could get going. I didn’t like what I was seeing early in the race and I hung back. That turned out to be a good move as we missed being collected in the first wreck.”

“Then we had a vibration in the car, and later we needed to make a battery change,” Truex continued. “As I was exiting pit road after the battery change, the second big wreck happened. We most likely would have been in that wreck had we not been on pit road changing the battery.”

“We eventually got back on the lead lap and we were ready to move forward. But we never got that opportunity because of the race being declared official following more rain.”

“It’s been one of those weekends you want to forget about and move on.”

July 7, 2014