Tag: Austin Dillon

Hot 20 over the past 10 – The junior circuit needs a rejig, while our Cup leaders hope to avoid a bad day in Charlotte

Grading the Sprint Cup Rides – 2013 Third Term Report

Crunching The Numbers: Chicagoland

Round one to Hornish

Nationwide Series championship contenders, Sam Hornish and Austin Dillon are locked in the closest points battle among NASCAR’s three national series that are closing out their season’s this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

A mere eight points separate the two drivers with Dillon on top. Round one, however, for the weekend goes to Hornish. In first practice on Friday, Hornish was fourth fastest, laying down a lap of 167.848 MPH. Dillon only managed a lap of 166.590 MPH, which placed him 14^th on the final sheet.

There was, however, a small bit of drama during the session. Hornish brushed the wall slightly in his No. 12 Penske Racing Ford Mustang. On Thursday, Hornish talked about the pressure he is under trying to win his first NASCAR championship, “It’s not the way we would have liked to come into the race. We feel like we’ve had a good year at Penske Racing. We’ve been strong a lot of races this year. Capitalizing on the days we were strong is one of the things we need to continue to work on. At the end of the day we feel real proud to be in the position that we are and to have the opportunity to win the championship. There’s a lot of things that need to happen. We’d like to go out there and lead the most laps, win the race, do all that good stuff. If Austin finishes third, that’s all for not. We’ll try to be smart, figuring out the best way to do this. One of the things that gives me confidence going into this weekend is our performance on the mile-and-a-half’s this weekend and the fact we got to come here and test. It’s a big gamble to look at Miami and say that we need to be the best that we can possibly be when we get there, but we had a feeling that we were going to need to be strong here. Saving that test day for here hopefully will be a real good thing for us.”

Dillon who has won a Camping World Truck Series championship is confident heading to the final weekend of the year, “God blessed us with a good season. We were consistent. That paid off for us at the end of the year. Love coming to the mile-and-a-half’s. We were strong there all year long. Homestead was a place where we led a lot of laps last year. I’m glad this is the last race of the year. Feel like we need to approach it with a win. We don’t have any wins this year. To finish off the year with a win in the championship would be great.”

The Nationwide Series championship is providing us with the perfect ending to a fantastic season. Two drivers in a tight battle, one with a racing resume’ that demands respect, the other – a young gun driver who is already writing his own impressive resume’. Additionally, we have a classic Chevy vs. Ford battle and a manufacturer’s championship that currently has the two only two points apart.

What more could we ask for?

November 15, 2013
Homestead Championship Preview

It’s hard to believe it but the longest season in sports is just about over with. In a few days, three new NASCAR champions will be crowned. Matt Crafton leads the Camping World Truck Series standings and only needs to start the race in order to clinch his first title. Austin Dillon is the points leader at the Nationwide level with Indy 500 winner Sam Hornish Jr. stalking him from only eight points back. The owner’s title is still up for grabs as well and will come down to Gibbs’ No.54 car versus the No.22 of Penske Racing. In Cup, 5-time champion Jimmie Johnson can almost taste his 6th Cup and only needs a top 23 finish to ensure the crown is his but Kenseth and Harvick will be ready to pounce just in case the unthinkable happens and that No.48 stumbles. Here’s a breakdown of what is at stake in the season finale, who the players are and my predictions regarding who will emerge victorious when the checkered flag falls on 2013.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

As I previously mentioned, this battle is all but over. Matt Crafton has only won a single race this year but 19 top 10’s in 21 races is more than enough to compensate for the lack of visits to victory lane. He leads Ty Dillon by 46 points and when he takes the green flag Friday night, it will preclude anyone from challenging him no matter what happens during the race. This is Matt’s 13th full-time season in the Truck series and to finally win that first title will be such a relief for him and his team. Speaking of his team, the fight for the owner’s title is not quite over with just yet. ThorSport leads by 23pts which is still a fairly comfortable margin but the man and team chasing them happens to be Kyle Busch who has won four races and posted seven top five’s in just 10 starts this season. Yeah, he’s kind of a big deal when he shows up at these Truck races.

My Prediction: The No.3 team will not lock Matt Crafton up in a Port-O-Potty and he will easily win the driver’s title with probably another top ten finish to end his impressive year. I also believe that ThorSport will hang on against the hard-charging Kyle Busch and his No.51 team to win the owner’s championship.

NASCAR Nationwide Series

Austin Dillon is a former Camping World Truck Series champion and his opponent is a former winner of the Indianapolis 500; Sam Hornish Jr. A mere eight points separate these guys and a slip up by one will all but hand the title over to the other. Dillon wants it because he’s moving to the Cup level in 2014 and Hornish wants it because, well, he currently doesn’t have a ride for next year. The owner’s standings is an even closer battle with just four points between the top two and things have gotten fairly hostile between the rival teams as of late. Joey Logano will pilot the No.22 for Penske Racing which is currently in command of the points while Joe Gibbs Racing wisely has Kyle Busch in the No.54 car. An interesting detail that should not be overlooked is the fact that Penske is entering a third car in the race which will be driven by none other than Brad Keselowski who has vowed retaliation against Busch for spinning him out at Kansas. Will he fulfill his promise? I highly doubt it but will he do everything he possibly can to make Kyle Busch’s day a living hell? Of course he will! That’s why he’s in this race…to take points from that No.54 and the No.3 as well as do his best impression of a moving roadblock when necessary.

My Prediction: This will be the most enthralling title bout of the weekend and Austin Dillon will win the driver’s title with a top five finish while the No.54 steals the owner’s championship from Penske by winning the race.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Jimmie Johnson is at it again! After winning five straight championships and taking a two year hiatus from the big table in Vegas, the California native is closing in on the #SixPack. Three drivers mathematically have a shot at taking home the hardware but it is going to take a catastrophic failure on the No.48 or a crash to even give gentleman Matt and the pugnacious Harvick a chance. It’s unlikely but can definitely happen though. Jimmie may seem infallible but in reality, bad luck can just as easily bite him as it can his adversaries. In fact, his last two finishes at Homestead are 36th and 32nd. In 2011, he spun out with what was an awful car and in 2012, he suffered rear gear failure so don’t fool yourself into believing this thing is over with. Remember, this is NASCAR. We set race tracks on fire and break our ex-teammate’s back; okay. If Jimmie were to have some unforeseen issues that consequently costs him the title, imagine the dogfight we would have between JGR newbie Matt Kenseth and lame-duck Kevin Harvick! RCR hasn’t won the Sprint Cup championship since 1994 with Dale Earnhardt; that was nearly 20 years ago and it’s been a decade since Matt was last crowned champion.

My Prediction: Jimmie Johnson survives and wins his 6th championship but if he were to falter and it came down to the two guys chasing him, I think Matt Kenseth would prevail seeing that JGR has practically dominated most of the 1.5 mile races this year.

No matter which drivers and teams are able to call themselves champions when the day is done, I can honestly say that I’ve enjoyed the 2013 season. It hasn’t been the best year in NASCAR’s 65 year history but it was certainly an interesting one. Good luck to all those chasing championships this weekend and may the best (or luckiest) man win!

November 14, 2013
Two Strong Partnerships Now Ending Under Unfortunate Circumstances

On February 18th, 2001, NASCAR was changed forever. Dale Earnhardt was gone but in the wake of his death, two relationships that we erroneously assumed would last forever were born. On that dark day, NAPA sponsored Michael Waltrip and together, they won the Daytona 500 and the loss that overshadowed their triumph seemed to create an unbreakable bond between the two. Young gun Kevin Harvick was plucked from RCR’s developmental program and given the task of driving the late, great Earnhardt’s car. In just his 3rd start, the 25 year old won his first race in a spectacular photo finish at Atlanta. The victory revived the withering and despondent team and like NAPA and Waltrip, created an unbreakable bond that many thought could withstand the test of time itself. Due to some imprudent decisions though, these two relationships have taken a turn for the worse.

NAPA was featured on the hood of Waltrip’s car for every race from the commencement of the 2001 season to the conclusion of 2009’s. They jumped from DEI with Michael when he formed Michael Waltrip Racing in 2007. They persevered through the infamous jet fuel controversy and helped the team grow into the powerhouse it is today. Michael went to victory lane four times in his career and every single time, there was a NAPA logo getting sprayed with champagne and adorned with confetti. They now sponsor MWR’s Martin Truex Jr. who has also enjoyed success with the company. We’ve laughed at the many commercials, shook our heads at the countless shameless NAPA plugs by Michael and you could never think of one without thinking of the other.

Now, we look at the two with a bitter taste in our mouths as our thoughts wander back to the scandal that was Spingate in Richmond just a couple months ago. Bowyer spun, Vickers pitted, Truex made the chase and unprecedented events quickly followed. Truex was knocked out of the chase, hefty penalties were handed down and NAPA began rethinking their involvement with Michael Waltrip Racing. On September 19th, the auto parts store announced that it would cut ties with the team at season’s end, terminating their 12 year partnership that had endured through so much up to this point. Truex Jr. is losing his ride because of the decision and the organization is being forced to downsize.

Kevin Harvick is a NASCAR superstar and some will even say that he saved Richard Childress Racing or at the very least, bolstered it. As a rookie in 2001, he quickly asserted himself as their new flagship driver winning races hand over fist. Together, they’ve won 22 Cup races, made seven chases and even collected a Harley J. Earl Trophy in the 2007 Daytona 500 as well as a couple Nationwide crowns. RCR got back on their feet after Earnhardt’s untimely death and expanded around Kevin’s success. Harvick and Childress seemed like a perfect match and everything was going smoothly until Kevin Harvick surprised a lot of people in 2012 by announcing that he would be leaving the team at the conclusion of 2013.

It didn’t faze the organization much at first as they continued their winning ways and made the chase once again this year. Kevin was making a mockery of the “lame-duck” status some decided to label him with. There were rumblings that the reason why he was leaving the team is because of the Dillon boys. Austin and Ty are the grandsons of Richard Childress and they have two Cup cars waiting for them in the RCR stable when they are ready. Kevin didn’t appear to be hostile towards the Dillons (at least from my point of view) but it just seemed like he could read the writing on the wall and decided it was time to move on. No one could have foreseen the chaos that would erupt in Martinsville this past weekend.

Ty and Kevin were engaged in an enthralling battle towards the end of the Truck race and as the laps clicked away, patience thinned and a game of bumper tag commenced. It ended with the two crashing in what seemed like just one of those racing deals. Immediately, Richard Childress came over the radio and told his grandson to go after the No.14 but Kevin beat them to it slamming into the No.3 under caution. The two went around for half a lap hitting one another multiple times before entering pit road where the incident escalated to a dangerous level. Harvick stopped in Dillon’s pit box and the crew went after him. There was pushing, shoving, yelling and some guy had the bright idea to throw a sledge hammer that narrowly missed his fellow crew guys, a NASCAR official and Harvick’s arm. Kevin Harvick delivered the final blow with an incensed interview directed towards the Dillon boys.

“The No.3 jut dumped me. Exactly the reason why I’m leaving RCR because you got those kids coming up and they got no respect for what they do in this sport. They’ve had everything fed to them with a spoon…I cut him slack all day and he just dive bombs in there and dumps me. It’s a shame you got to get taken out by some rich kid like that.” – Kevin Harvick

Ty was caught on video after the race talking to his grandfather and said “he has done nothing for RCR but f*** s*** up.” RC agreed and said that he’s “got plans for him.” Ty also referred to Kevin as someone he once revered but now called him a punk. Harvick apologized for his comments the following day but although I believe he does regret his actions, I think everything he said may be truly how he feels. It’s sad really that we watched a 13 year friendship deteriorate on national television like that.

There’s cruel irony in the fact that these partnerships started around the same time and are now ending at the same time under a cloud of controversy and animosity. MWR handled NAPA’s contract termination in a professional manner after their Richmond transgressions but I’m sure it hurts for Michael to watch them walk away after everything they’ve been through together. Despite the now infamous Martinsville run-in, Childress stated in an interview that he promised Kevin he would do everything humanly possible to help him win the title and that he still intended to keep that promise but also vehemently declared that he will never apologize to Kevin. Austin Dillon responded to the incident in a very classy manner saying that he’s already forgiven Kevin for what he said but admitted that it did hurt his feelings.

I truly believe that with time, the angry words and insults thrown around at “The Paperclip” will fade into the past and become no more than a whisper. They will repair their now broken friendship but maybe that’s just the optimist in me coming out…I just see too much history there for both parties to hold a grudge and completely burn the bridge. With Waltrip and NAPA, that’s sadly a case where there’s no going back. It’s less about friendship and more about breaking the trust of a loyal business partner. When these two partnerships began, the No.3 vanished from the race track and with their demise, we will most likely be seeing the No.3 return next year….funny how fate would have it work out that way.

As the old adage goes, “all good things must come to an end.”

October 30, 2013
The Final Word – Jimmie and Matt continue their battle, Harvick starts a family feud at Martinsville

We were wrong. We were wrong about the big wild card that is Talladega, though to our credit neither Jimmie Johnson nor Matt Kenseth finished in the top ten that day. Still, even with a runner up finish there, Dale Earnhardt Jr remained miles away from the leaders. Kyle Busch made up all of seven points on Johnson and a whopping 15 on Kenseth, but still nowhere near enough.

We were wrong about Martinsville, which should be renamed Johnsonville the way Jimmie lays it down there. While Jeff Gordon tied Five Time in wins at the paper clip, claiming his 8th at the track and the 88th of his Cup career, and while Johnson made it 17 top fives in 24 attempts, Kenseth finished second. It was only his 4th top five there in 28 attempts. So, it would appear that whatever the 2003 champ did while employed by Jack Roush no longer applies in any negative sense since he joined Joe Gibbs. For Matt, his history is history as he forges a new path.

What we have is a new Matt, a renewed Jimmie, and as we change our focus to Texas we have these boys tied in points, 27 points ahead of Gordon and 28 up on Kevin Harvick. It remains a two way fight, unless fate intervenes and messes up the plans of one or both of them. Could that intervention come in Texas? Based on the past two weeks, how in hell should I know?

Still, both leaders have done well at Fort Worth in the past. Both have a couple of wins there, both have an average finish of better than tenth, both are tied with 15 Top Tens on this track. So, both should do well on Sunday. Should.

There should be peace and harmony the world over, but Kevin Harvick is preparing to leave RCR after a thirteen year association by crapping all over the bosses grandsons. It is one thing to criticize a young driver with whom he had issues in the truck race on Saturday. It is another to state that a reason for the job change next year was due to these punk-ass, rich kids, who have had everything spoon fed to them, coming up to eventual Cup rides with grand pappy while having no respect for the sport. Who urged the boy to run into Harvick to get things nice and hot? Well, that would be Grandpa Childress himself, never mind the less than loving comments the two had in regards to Harvick in the garage area afterwards. Kevin said on Sunday’s telecast that he was sorry. I am sure that will make everything all better between all concerned. Hallmark, no doubt, has a new card to write.

Rating Martinsville – 5.5/10 – The oldest venue on the NASCAR circuit deserved better on Sunday’s telecast. We all did.

Fort Worth just means more of the same. A two-man race with a few waiting in the wings for something bad to happen to the front duo. Maybe we should dub this the Tango in Texas, because it takes two to…ah, forget it. Enjoy the week.

October 28, 2013
Surprising and Not Surprising: Talladega Camping World RV Sales 500

In a race where the spotters sound like auctioneers as they guide their drivers around the track and where anything from chess-like strategy to last lap mayhem can happen, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 45^th annual Camping World RV Sales 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Surprising: While many drivers and crew chiefs alike assessed the race as ‘uneventful’, with only three cautions, no major multi-car wrecks and primarily single-file racing in the last laps, a few drivers at least might take exception to that viewpoint.

In one international incident, Marcos Ambrose lost control of his vehicle on lap 78 and took out Juan Pablo Montoya in the process.

“The Target Chevrolet was pretty good to be honest,” Montoya said. “We were running two-wide so it was comfortable.”

“We started running three-wide and the spotter told me ‘get out’ and I backed up going into the tri-oval and the next thing I know, I just saw out the corner of my eye somebody coming towards me and that was it.”

Even more dramatic, however, was the white flag lap crash where Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made contact with Austin Dillon, driver the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet for Stewart Haas Racing, sending the latter airborne.

“The No. 17 had a little bit of a run and I tried to go with him and came back across and hooked me,” Dillon said. “What a wild ride.”

“Who needs skydiving?”

Not Surprising: There are times at a race track when even the trophy is not the most important thing in Victory Lane and not surprisingly, this was the case for the lucky winner who wound up in Victory Lane.

Jamie McMurray, driver of the No. 1 Cessna Auburn University Chevrolet, not only ended his 108-race winless streak but, as he had always dreamed, he celebrated in Victory Lane with his family, including wife Christy and his two children Carter and Hazel.

“Well, that was — I mean, that’s top two or three moments of my life, to get to experience that with them,” McMurray said. “I don’t know if you guys heard, but I rent a space from Matt Kenseth to keep my go-karts and stuff in at his shop.”

“So I was out in the front where they have some office space, and he’s got pictures hanging inside and there was a picture of Matt and Katie and Grace and Kaylin, and I think it was Dover Victory Lane, and I remember seeing how excited Kaylin was,” McMurray continued. “I went home and told Christy, I hope that we get to have that moment.”

“That’s really special — especially having a little boy who is into Lightning McQueen and racing in general,” McMurray said. “Yeah, to get to have that with my family is really cool.”

This was McMurray’s first win of the season, his second victory at Talladega, and his seventh victory in 398 Cup races.

Surprising: Dale Earnhardt Jr. was surprisingly upbeat in spite of not having his dream of snagging that elusive first win of the season come true. The driver of the No. 88 Mountain Dew/Xbox One Chevrolet was a bridesmaid in the runner up position yet again.

“It wasn’t the best run in the world,” Dale Junior said. “It wasn’t what I dreamed it would be, all those last few laps.”

“But it was a good enough run I think to get up to his (McMurray’s) quarter panel and get beside him.”

“Really happy with the way the car ran and it was good to run up front, good to lead,” Earnhardt Jr. continued. “We’ve really struggled this season with being competitive, and to drive up through there and do that like we did today, and it felt great.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. scored his 14^th top-10 finish in 28 races at ‘Dega and posted his 18^th top-10 finish of the 2013 season.

Not Surprising: In spite of a punishing Truck race the night before, Kyle Busch not surprisingly proved again that he was the redemption story of the race weekend. The driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Halloween Toyota bounced back after missing his pit box to get his lap back and finish fifth.

And although he had some harsh words on his radio after getting blocked out of his pit box by none other than race winner Jamie McMurray, Busch was giving all the glory to God at the end of the race.

“Our M&M’s Halloween Camry ran great all day,” said Busch, who earned his fourth top-five finish in 18 starts at Talladega, including his April 2008 win at the 2.66-mile oval. “It was fun to finish one of these things.”

“It’s God’s grace that allows us to finish one of these, and we appreciate it today, especially coming home with another top-five.”

Busch also redeemed himself in the point standings, moving up two positions to reclaim the third spot, just 26 points behind the leader.

Surprising: Talladega proved a surprising dichotomy for the two primary Rookie of the Year contenders. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished third while his primary ROTY competitor Danica Patrick finished 33^rd after having a pit road calamity.

“I thought the racing was great all day,” Stenhouse, driver of the No. 17 Nationwide Insurance Ford, said. “We were two, three, and four wide for a long time.”

“For our Nationwide Insurance team we were solid all day, in the top-10 a lot of the day and led a few laps, which was good for us.”

On the other hand, while Danica Patrick had been also running toward the front of the pack, her good day was ruined by an error on pit road during a green flag stop where she missed her pit stall and then incurred a speeding penalty to boot.

“We just didn’t communicate well on that final pit stop,” the driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Breast Cancer Awareness Chevrolet said. “We were on the high side and couldn’t get down to where we needed to be to pit.”

“It’s disappointing and none of us feel good about it.”

Not Surprising: David Ragan and David Gilliland, both of whom have proven that they can drive at the superspeedways as evidenced by their one, two finish in the spring race at ‘Dega, not surprisingly fared well again in the fall affair.

Ragan, behind the wheel of the No. 34 SaferCar.gov Ford, finished sixth, with his teammate Gilliland, driving the No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford, right behind him in the seventh spot.

“We had a chance to win the race, took the white flag in seventh or eighth and kind of had a good plan,” Ragan said. “But the caution came out so we got a top-10 finish and that’s a good thing for our Front Row Motorsports team.”

“David and I worked together for a good part of the race and we were in position,” Gilliland said. “And then the caution came out on the last lap.”

“Thankfully, we weren’t part of it and we were able to get a top-10 finish and a clean car to take home.”

Surprising: Paul Menard, driver of the No. 27 Menards Duracell Chevrolet, surprisingly bettered his Talladega statistics by finishing fourth. This was Menard’s only finish inside the top-10 at Talladega in fifteen starts there other than a runner-up finish in 2008.

“At the start of the race, we took off and the car drove really good,” Menard said. “We drove to the front and kind of hung out in the top-10 all day long.”

“We could make the middle groove work to gain spots and then get to the outside,” Menard continued. “Ultimately the outside lane kind of won out over the long run.”

Not Surprising: Channeling his best Ricky Bobby from the movie ‘Talladega Nights”, Kurt Busch exemplified the notion that ‘if you’re not first, you’re last’ or at least 18^th, which is where he finished in his No. 78 Wonder Bread car.

“Restrictor plate racing is all about being in the right place at the right time,” Busch said. “We were in the right place for the majority of the race, but when it counted at the end, we weren’t there.”

“It’s disappointing because our Wonder Bread Chevy was fast and to finish 18th didn’t do us justice,” Busch continued. “I tried to make something happen, but couldn’t get there.”

Busch fell two spots in the Chase standings, from seventh to ninth, now 61 points behind the leader.

Surprising: At a track where handling usually does not matter, Matt Kenseth surprisingly struggled with an ill handling race car that set him back tremendously during the midsection of the race. Kenseth never quite fully recovered, finishing 20^th and losing the championship points lead to Jimmie Johnson.

“It was really bizarre — typically, handling is a non-issue here and we just got so loose I couldn’t even hang on to it,” the driver of the No. 20 Let’s Do This Home Depot Toyota said. “I pretty much had to run in the back for two runs which was disappointing.”

“We finally got it fixed that last run, but we only had 20 laps to get back up there,” Kenseth continued. “I really needed to be up there like we were early and feel like I was controlling the race more — the lanes and the runs and all that and I could never get back to there.”

Not Surprising: While Jimmie Johnson may also have not had the race that he envisioned, his 13^th place finish was better than Kenseth’s run. And after surviving Talladega, which was his goal, the five-time champ now has Martinsville, one of his best tracks, in his sights.

“You know I feel that the races forward now are up to where the competitors go earn it,” the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet said. “You don’t have this luck issue that can take place at plate tracks.”

“So I am happy to have the points lead and we went through a lot of work to get there,” Johnson continued. “We just go racing from here.”

“Martinsville has been good to us in the past, but we’ve got to go there and race,” Johnson said. “We will make sure that we get buttoned up and ready to go to that paperclip and see what we can do.”

“It’s just going to be a dogfight to the end.”

October 21, 2013
The Final Word – Talladega may have been smokin’, but expect Johnson to smoke the field at Martinsville

We waited with anticipation for the action, and Talladega once again delivered. Once again, we watched the cars (and trucks for those watching on Saturday) go flying around inches apart in aircraft formation, in wonder that they could pull this off lap after lap without it all going up in smoke and torn sheet metal. In the end, they could not avoid the unavoidable.

Dale Earnhardt Jr was pondering his final lap move to get by leader Jamie McMurray when the third running Austin Dillon got spun, then rear ended into the sky in what he described as “a cool roller coaster ride.” That allowed Ole Dimples to keep Junior behind him when the caution came out to claim his first win in more than three years.

If that was not wild enough for you, Saturday saw Matt Crafton solidify his strangle hold in the Camping World series while pushing team mate Johnny Sauter to victory. Sauter crossed the line all by his lonesome as our top eight became a top five which became Mr. Sauter doing a solo by the time they all quit wrecking coming to the line. What was left of Crafton’s truck backed across the line in ninth, leaving him an entire race and a bit ahead of Ty Dillon in their standings.

As for the Cup boys, neither Jimmie Johnson or Matt Kenseth finished in the Top Ten. Yet, by finishing seven spots ahead of his rival (13th vs 20th) and by leading the most laps, Johnson earned enough to vault ahead to take over by four points going into Martinsville. Their company got slightly closer, but by finishing fifth the best Kyle Busch could do is tie Kevin Harvick for third in the standings, both still 26 points away. They remain close should disaster hit the leaders, but until such time disaster strikes both will remain simply interested observers.

Rating Talladega – 9/10 – The action kept you on the edge of your seats, drivers could move from the back to the front, and you even had your dose of carnage. What else could you ask for?

So, the track on steroids is now behind us as we return to “normal” racing. With his seven career wins at Martinsville, Jeff Gordon might look good but for two small facts. One, he trails Johnson by 34 points. Second, Jimmie has won eight times himself at this venue.

Five Time won there in the spring, and he won there last fall. His worst finish was on his first attempt in 2002, when he came home 35th. Since then, his worst finish is 12th, to go with an 11th, to go with 16 Top Fives, 20 Top Tens, in 23 Martinsville starts. As for Kenseth, he goes in 0 for 27, with just eight Top Tens in his career.

Game four of the World Series goes Sunday night as St. Louis hosts Boston. That could wind up a closer contest than what we might see out of Virginia. It is not over, but I think somebody just knocked on the Fat Lady’s dressing room door. Enjoy the week, for it appears the odds favor Johnson enjoying his Sunday afternoon.

October 21, 2013
Kyle Busch Claims Victory in the 32nd Annual Dollar General 300

A cool, October night at Charlotte Motor Speedway was anything but serene as forty-six drivers battled for victory in the 32^nd Annual Dollar General 300. Intense competition at the lead of the pack resulted in an all too familiar outcome, Kyle Busch won his eleventh NASCAR Nationwide Series race of the 2013 season.

Tonight’s win marks Busch’s eighth NASCAR Nationwide Series win at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He also has five Camping World Truck Series wins that makes him the driver with the most wins collectively at Charlotte Motor Speedway. While celebrating in victory lane Kyle and his wife, Samantha, announced that they are donating all of tonight’s winnings to the Pretty in Pink Foundation.

When asked how special it is to win this race tonight, Busch said, “I certainly want to do this tomorrow night also, but first and foremost our breast cancer survivors are with us tonight—they are the champions that we have here tonight. This is an honor to them—Samantha’s done a tremendous job with her Project Pink Initiative. To come out here and try to raise money—we had a dinner on Tuesday night, we had a mammogram unit at KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports) on Thursday and she’s done a tremendous job. She deserves all the credit this week.”

NASCAR’s support of Breast Cancer Awareness month was evident throughout the track with a variety of paint schemes and evidence of charitable support.

Although Busch has had tremendous success in the Nationwide Series this season, his trip to victory lane tonight did not come easy. Nationwide regulars, Austin Dillon, Sam Hornish Jr., and Kyle Larson, gave Busch a run for his money.

When asked how he was able to catch Sam Hornish Jr. in the closing laps, Busch commented, “I felt like I didn’t have a chance to win the thing and went and found the top groove and chased Sam back down, got by him and I tell you without the help from upstairs—that’s the biggest help you can get these days.”

After a hard fought battle to the finish, driver of the No. 12 Detroit Genuine Parts Ford, Sam Hornish Jr., finished the night in third place posting his second top-10 finish in seven races at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

When interviewed after the race, Hornish said, “We had that restart with about 40 to go and felt really good about our car and what we were gonna be able to accomplish. The Detroit Genuine Parts Ford Mustang was good, but our problem throughout the night that we continued to build freer as the runs went on and I think there were probably a lot of people that were in the same boat, but we could never get it tight enough at the start of the run to be not busting-free towards the end. We caught Kyle there and got around him and thought I was pulling away from him far enough to be ok, and then all of a sudden he just started reeling me back in. I was too free to run up there where he ran that last bit of the race.”

Hornish is eight points behind the Nationwide Series points leader, Austin Dillon. Hornish and Dillon battled for position during much of the race and Hornish stayed right with Dillon in the points tonight.

“Yeah, we ran around each other a lot the second half of the year here,” Hornish said. “It seems like no matter what we’re always right there together, but we got out there and led a bunch of laps and got that extra bonus point and kept it even up, so we’ll just keep working hard. We go to some tracks that I really like going to coming up.”

Nationwide points leader, Austin Dillon, finished the 32^nd Annual Dollar General 300 in second place posting his second top-10 finish in four races at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It is his twentieth top-10 finish in 2013.

Commenting on his night, Dillon said, “It was a good one, they asked us early in the week what it would be like to be the points champion without a win, that right there should show you how great the racing is and how tough it is. Had three guys fighting it out there until the end for everything we had and that was a heck of a race and like I told Sam, it was the best race I felt like I was a part of all year, slicing and dicing out there…”

Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 32 Target Chevrolet, was the highest finishing rookie with a thirteenth place finish. Larson made the bold move of running the high line on the track for much of the night, and it proved to be successful until he hit the wall during the final laps, which resulted in his thirteenth place finish.

The No. 22 Discount Tire Ford, with eleven wins this season, was driven by Joey Logano and ended the race with a seventh place finish. After the race Logano said, “It starts in practice. There was an adjustment on the car we went back and forth on and couldn’t figure out what we wanted to do and we went down a little bit more of a risky road, but it was faster and it bit us. I feel like I should have known better. I feel like I steered the boat down the wrong way, so I’m mad at myself. But you win as a team and you lose as a team, but it’s just frustrating.”

Other notable finishes in tonight’s race were Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth finishing in fifth and sixth places, respectively. Trevor Bayne, Parker Kligerman, and Michael Annett rounded out the top 10 in eighth, ninth, and tenth places.

The NASCAR Nationwide Series will travel to Texas Motor Speedway on November 2^nd for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300.

October 11, 2013

As we head into Charlotte, there is a birthday to note and a milestone to recognize. Dale Earnhardt Jr has celebrated his 39^th birthday, and on Saturday night he will run in his 500^th Cup start. It is a track he has yet to win on, a track that launched his Cup career back in 1999.

Of course, by that time Junior had already won his first of two junior circuit titles. In doing so, in 1998 and 1999, he claimed 13 victories. Imagine that, the champion of what, for now at least, is known as the Nationwide series actually winning races. Regan Smith has won two and sits in second place. Sam Hornish Jr and the eighth place Trevor Bayne each has one. Austin Dillon leads Smith by eight points, and he has not yet won a blessed thing. I wonder why?

Four Nationwide drivers have won just four of 29 events. Maybe it is a good thing that Kyle Busch missed seven of those races, for he has won 10 of those he has run. Brad Keselowski has five, Joey Logano has three, and two more claimed by Matt Kenseth. After fellow Cup drivers Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick get credit for their wins, that leaves only the one to youngster Ryan Blaney and the two for two run of A.J. Allmendinger when he found the time when not running Cup or IndyCar. So, exactly what is the purpose of the Nationwide series?

If it is to develop future Cup drivers, rather than providing Chasers or former Cup champions yet another opportunity to showcase their talents against lesser lights, then just maybe we have undermined the purpose of the series. Maybe we have turned the exercise into something of a joke. I do understand why they run there, why the track owners want to see them there, but as much as I would love to see such names as Cabrera, Ellsbury, and Scherzer on the field should I take in a game in Winnipeg, it would be wrong for them to be there in a regular American Association game. It is just as wrong for Kyle, Joey, Matt, et al to take the place of drivers who have hopes of climbing the ladder. There is nothing to be gained by having established stars simply dropping down to the bushes, as it were.

A solution? Allow Cup drivers five, and no more than five, opportunities to compete in any lower series than the one they are competing for points in. If Kyle Busch wishes to race in five Nationwide races and five truck events, let him do so. The fans would love it…but no more than five in each. Up and coming drivers would love the opportunity to compete, and to do so against their peers. They deserve no less. You can discuss.

While the others await a stumble from Kenseth as we head toward the fifth of the ten Chase events, our points leader remains the hottest driver over the past ten events. While Jimmie Johnson sits three points back in the standings, he is buried in 17^th place over the past ten starts. So, what if there is no stumble, what if these drivers average a tenth place finish the rest of the way?

With the advent of the Chase, whomever is the best over the final ten races of the season should be the champion. Obviously, making the Chase is necessary as well as taking into consideration the bonus advantage the leader takes in. Three points is what Kenseth had over Johnson going in, and three points is what he has today.

As we replace the results from Pocono, Watkins Glen, Michigan, Bristol, Atlanta and Richmond by those of Charlotte, Talladega, Martinsville, Fort Worth, Phoenix, and Homestead, let us assume both Kenseth and Johnson will average 34 points, a 10^th place finish, from this point onward. If that were the case, Kenseth would end with a ten race total of 372 points, a dozen better than what he has today. If Jimmie Johnson replaces those results (13^th, 8^th, 40^th, 36^th, 28^th, and 40^th) in similar fashion, he also would wind up with 372 points, jumping his total by 103.

While Five Time is not among our hottest today, he will be in six weeks if he hopes to make it six. As hot as the Busch boys, Logano, Gordon, and Harvick might be right now, they will need better than a series of 10^th place finishes to get back into the picture. That said, a bad day for two could equate into a great one for a few others.

TW	Driver	Win	T5	T10	Points	LW	Rank
1	Matt Kenseth	3	3	5	360	1	1
2	Kurt Busch	0	6	7	352	5	7
3	Joey Logano	1	5	7	348	4	10
4	Jeff Gordon	0	3	7	342	6	4
5	Kyle Busch	2	5	6	337	2	5
6	Kevin Harvick	1	3	5	332	9	3
7	Greg Biffle	0	1	5	330	7	6
8	Ryan Newman	0	3	5	317	3	12
9	Jamie McMurray	0	2	2	310	8	14
10	Carl Edwards	1	3	5	304	10	11
11	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	0	2	6	294	11	8
12	Marcos Ambrose	0	0	3	288	15	20
13	Paul Menard	0	2	4	285	14	17
14	Juan Pablo Montoya	0	2	3	280	12	22
15	Kasey Kahne	1	2	3	275	13	13
16	Brad Keselowski	0	1	3	274	17	15
17	Jimmie Johnson	1	3	5	269	16	2
18	Jeff Burton	0	0	2	258	22	19
19	Martin Truex, Jr.	0	2	4	252	18	16
20	Aric Almirola	0	0	1	246	20	18
21	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	0	0	2	246	19	21
22	Clint Bowyer	0	1	4	242	21	9

October 9, 2013

This grading system is pretty basic. Top 10’s, with extra consideration given for wins and Top 5’s, can help you earn an A+. Keep it in the Top 20 each race and that is worth a B. Just by finishing 30^th each time out and that would still get you a C-. Less than that is a failure; a failure to compete, a failure to get noticed.

Grade: A

The top students have been to joy to have in class, even though Jimmie did cost himself an A+ by playing hookey in the weeks leading to the Chase. We are hopeful Kyle continues his stellar work through the final part of the year, though he has had trouble in the past. Matt has really hit the books as of late, and could wind up class valedictorian if he continues his progress. Carl once again is near the head of the class, but time will tell if can charge to the front to finally be number one.

CAR	DRIVER	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	TOP 20	TOP 30
48	Jimmie JOHNSON	4	11	17	21	25
18	Kyle BUSCH	4	13	17	20	22
20	Matt KENSETH	7	8	15	21	24
99	Carl EDWARDS	2	8	14	24	26

Grade: A-

Kevin has been in the top half of the class pretty much the entire year and only twice has the dog eaten his homework. Clint is usually a very popular boy, but for some reason I detect that many of his classmates do not want him to wind up at the head of the class this year.

CAR	DRIVER	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	TOP 20	TOP 30
29	Kevin HARVICK	2	7	14	25	25
15	Clint BOWYER	0	8	14	24	26

Grade: B+

Kurt, who usually does not play well with others, has some cheering for him. It will be interesting how he works with his new friends when class resumes next year. Kasey had some trouble last week, as did little Joey a week earlier. Dale is once again a very popular boy while Ryan has had some issues to work through, but seems to have replaced former friends with some new ones for next year. Martin has had some problems as well due to the company he keeps, and I am not sure how that will work out. Greg remains a solid student, with Mark helping Tony since he hurt his leg. Meanwhile, Jeff needed some help near the end of the term, though I am not sure it will be enough for him to realize his dreams by the end of the school year.

CAR	DRIVER	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	TOP 20	TOP 30
78	Kurt BUSCH	0	9	14	20	23
5	Kasey KAHNE	2	8	11	18	20
22	Joey LOGANO	1	8	14	19	23
88	Dale EARNHARDT, Jr	0	5	15	21	24
39	Ryan NEWMAN	1	6	13	21	22
56	Martin TRUEX, Jr	1	6	12	21	23
16	Greg BIFFLE	1	4	11	23	24
14	Tony STEWART	1	5	10	19	27
24	Jeff GORDON	0	5	13	21	22

Grade: B

It has been a disappointing year for some students. Brad has stumbled a bit since being last year’s valedictorian. Juan Pablo plans to transfer out of our school next year, returning to where he had previously enjoyed very good grades. His friend Jamie will remain with us, and has hopes of improving his status next year. Mark has been busy, first helping Brian earlier this year and now Tony. I am expecting good things when Brian returns full-time next year. Along with Paul, they might not make the honor roll this year, but these boys have done enough work to show they belong here.

Grade: B-

Aric has shown signs that we might expect better things ahead for him. Jeff, as always, was expecting more. As he leaves us a year early, we will miss this well spoken young man.

CAR	DRIVER	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	TOP 20	TOP 30
43	Aric ALMIROLA	0	1	5	22	24
31	Jeff BURTON	0	2	6	17	23

Grade: C+

Marcos and Ricky have been okay, though not great. They both manage to get their work done, but I still would like to see better things from them before the year is out.

CAR	DRIVER	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	TOP 20	TOP 30
9	Marcos AMBROSE	0	0	5	19	23
17	Ricky STENHOUSE, Jr	0	0	2	20	25

Grade: C

I do not know what to say about Denny. I know he was hurt earlier in the year, but he has not been his old self since he returned. It appears he would just as soon end the year, go on vacation, and start afresh next year.

CAR	DRIVER	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	TOP 20	TOP 30
11	Denny HAMLIN	0	3	6	12	19

Grade: C-

Casey is not quite ready to compete with the big boys just yet, but I have been pleased with his progress. I am interested to see how he might do next year. I will miss Bobby, though he has had another disappointing year. Some seem happy with Danica’s progress, but I feel we should expect more by this time. She is blessed with so much more than a lot of the other students. David did succeed on the subject of Alabama geography, with some help from his close friend, the other David, but neither are quite there yet. As for A.J., who sometimes goes by Regan or Austin or, just last week, by Michael, might make some real progress once he figures out who he really is.

CAR	DRIVER	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	TOP 20	TOP 30
13	Casey MEARS	0	0	1	9	23
47	Bobby LABONTE	0	0	1	8	21
10	Danica PATRICK	0	0	1	6	23
34	David RAGAN	1	1	1	4	21
38	David GILLILAND	0	1	1	5	20
51	A.J. ALLMENDINGER	0	0	2	7	18

Grade: F

To be honest, I am not sure why these boys are even in my class. Both Dave and Travis, I am sure, would do so much better at Nationwide High. What can you say about J.J. (other than he enjoyed Daytona seven months ago), David S. (who just isn’t the same boy the past two weeks), David R. or Timmy? No, really. What can you say about them? Well, I’ve seen worse. I feel bad for Trevor, as I think if he would attend class more often he might be able to pull in a better grade than this. However, to be fair, of the nine assignments he has done, none have been much to write home about. As for Landon, things just don’t seem to work out. He and Tony R. have done most of the assignments for Austin, which is too bad as the young fellow has done so much better on the two he has written on his own. There are other students who drop in from time to time, but I have reserved my remarks for those who have tried to attend class at least nine times this year. God bless Scott, Michael, Joe, and Mike, but if the school board ever considers reducing class size, they make a good argument. To be honest, they usually do not stick around long enough to become a nuisance. The sad thing is, all four have ability but you never get to see it.

CAR	DRIVER	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	TOP 20	TOP 30
7	Dave BLANEY	0	0	0	2	18
93	Travis KVAPIL	0	0	0	4	15
36	J.J. YELEY	0	0	1	2	14
30	David STREMME	0	0	0	4	13
83	David REUTIMANN	0	0	0	1	14
32	Timmy HILL	0	0	0	2	12
21	Trevor BAYNE	0	0	0	4	8
40	Landon CASSILL	0	0	0	4	8
33	Austin DILLON	0	0	0	2	12
95	Scott SPEED	0	0	1	1	3
98	Michael MCDOWELL	0	0	1	1	2
87	Joe NEMECHEK	0	0	0	0	3
19	Mike BLISS	0	0	0	0	1

September 24, 2013

Brad KESELOWSKI

Juan Pablo MONTOYA

Jamie MCMURRAY

Brian VICKERS

Paul MENARD

After a wild and controversial weekend for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series at Richmond and for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in Iowa, all three series meet back up for another tripleheader weekend in Chicago as we’re getting down to 10 races or less in the championship race for each series.

Sprint Cup Series – Geico 400

26 races down. 10 to go. For the third straight year, Chicagoland kicks off the Chase for the Sprint Cup and can set the early tone for a successful Chase. Last season, Brad Keselowski won at this track and used the momentum gained from the victory here to carry himself all the way to the championship. Can one of the Chase contenders do the same this season? We’ll find out at the end of 400 miles on Sunday.

Driver	Races	Win	Top 5	Top 10	Pole	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
Jimmie Johnson	11	0	6	9	2	537	7.5	9.3
Brian Vickers	6	0	1	3	1	12	5.8	9.5
Clint Bowyer	7	0	1	6	0	8	15.0	10.1
Kevin Harvick	12	2	6	7	0	282	18.8	10.5
Jeff Gordon	12	1	6	7	1	134	12.1	12.1
Mark Martin	12	1	1	5	0	239	15.5	12.6
Matt Kenseth	12	0	2	4	1	348	17.1	12.8
Kyle Busch	8	1	3	3	0	174	15.4	13.4
Brad Keselowski	4	1	2	2	0	80	19.5	14.0
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	12	1	3	5	0	121	17.0	14.2

Who To Watch: When it comes to excelling in races in the Chase, the first driver that usually comes to mind is five-time champion, Jimmie Johnson, so it should be no surprise that Johnson leads all active drivers in stats at Chicago. Despite never having won at Chicago, Johnson has six top fives, nine top tens, two poles, 537 laps led, and an average finish of 9.3 in 11 races.

Brian Vickers will be running both the Sprint Cup race and the Nationwide Series race this weekend at Chicago and in six Cup races at the track, Vickers has a pretty good track record. In those six races, Vickers has one top five, three top tens, one pole, 12 laps led, and an average finish of 9.5.

Others to keep an eye on include: Clint Bowyer, who will have a little added pressure on himself after what took place at and after Richmond last week, with one top five, six top tens, eight laps led, and an average finish of 10.1 in seven starts; Kevin Harvick, with two wins, six top fives, seven top tens, 282 laps led, and an average finish of 10.5 in 12 starts; and Jeff Gordon, with one win, six top fives, seven top tens, one pole, 134 laps led, and an average finish of 12.1 in 12 starts.

Nationwide Series – Dollar General 300

As the Nationwide Series heads to Chicago for the second time this season, Sam Hornish, Jr. still holds onto the points lead by 18 points over second place Austin Dillon. With only eight races remaining in the Nationwide Series schedule, the current four man race for the championship between Hornish, Dillon, Regan Smith, and Elliott Sadler is poised to go right down to the wire

Driver	Races	Win	Top 5	Top 10	Pole	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
Austin Dillon	3	0	2	3	0	77	2.3	4.0
Sam Hornish, Jr.	4	0	2	4	1	79	3.8	5.2
Joey Logano	5	2	3	4	1	249	4.8	6.4
Justin Allgaier	7	1	2	5	0	9	12.6	8.1
Parker Kligerman	3	0	0	2	0	0	13.3	8.7
Brian Scott	6	0	2	3	1	5	14.0	9.2
Brian Vickers	5	0	4	4	0	3	7.2	9.2
Matt Kenseth	7	0	3	4	0	62	11.0	11.4
Michael Annett	7	0	1	3	0	2	17.7	12.0
Kyle Larson	1	0	0	0	0	4	22.0	12.0

Who To Watch: No surprise that the top two in points are also the top two statistically at Chicagoland. Austin Dillon, sitting second in points, holds the upper hand at this track with two top fives, three top tens, 77 laps led, and an average finish of 4.0 in three starts. Points leader Hornish isn’t far behind though, with two top fives, four top tens, one pole, 79 laps led, and an average finish of 5.2 in four starts.

Others to keep an eye on Saturday afternoon include: Joey Logano, who will be driving the strong No. 22 Ford, with two wins, three top fives, four top tens, one pole, 249 laps led, and an average finish of 6.4 in five races; Justin Allgaier, with one win, two top fives, five top tens, nine laps led, and an average finish of 8.1 in seven races; and Parker Kligerman, with two top tens and an average finish of 8.7 in three starts.

Camping World Truck Series – EnjoyIllinois.com 225

With seven races remaining in the Camping World Truck Series schedule, points leader Matt Crafton, who has been Mr. Consistency this season, still holds a points lead of 37 points over defending series champion, James Buescher, as the series heads to Chicago. Without any drastic changes between now and Homestead, it looks like this championship is Crafton’s to lose. Time will tell if Buescher or any of the other series regulars can make any headway on Crafton’s points lead.

Driver	Races	Win	Top 5	Top 10	Pole	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
Kyle Busch	3	2	3	3	0	210	7.3	2.3
Ron Hornaday	4	0	1	3	0	12	10.8	7.8
Brendan Gaughan	2	0	1	1	0	83	11.5	8.0
Matt Crafton	4	0	1	3	1	23	9.5	8.0
Johnny Sauter	4	0	2	3	0	2	11.0	9.2
James Buescher	4	1	1	1	0	6	9.0	11.0
Ty Dillon	1	0	0	0	0	17	3.0	12.0
Miguel Paludo	2	0	0	1	0	5	9.5	12.5
Timothy Peters	4	0	1	2	0	8	16.0	12.5
Joey Coulter	2	0	0	0	0	3	6.5	13.5

Who To Watch: No surprise at who is tops statistically at Chicago in the Truck Series. In three races, Kyle Busch has two wins, three top fives, three top tens, 210 laps led, and an average finish of 2.3. Whichever driver has their sights set on Victory Lane will definitely have to go through Busch to get there.

Others to keep an eye on are Ron Hornaday, Jr., with one top five, three top tens, 12 laps led, and an average finish of 7.8 in four races; Brendan Gaughan, with one top five, one top ten, 83 laps led, and an average finish of 8.0 in two starts; points leader Matt Crafton, with one top five, three top tens, one pole, 23 laps led, and an average finish of 8.0 in four starts; and Johnny Sauter, with two top fives, three top tens, two laps led, and an average finish of 9.2 in four starts.

September 13, 2013