Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: Bobby Labonte

  • Bobby Labonte’s Career Is One of Trials, Triumphs and Raw Deals

    Bobby Labonte’s Career Is One of Trials, Triumphs and Raw Deals

    Bobby Labonte made his 700th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) start at Talladega Superspeedway this past Sunday leading laps under green before being swept up in a late race wreck finishing 20th. Today is the champ’s 49th birthday and I thought a good way to celebrate it would be to remember all of his great NASCAR accomplishments. His Cup debut came back in 1991 driving the No.14 Slim Jim Oldsmobile for his father, Bob Labonte at Dover. He finished 34th after starting 33rd. He won the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) title that year and just about won it again in 1992 losing by 3 points to Joe Nemechek.

    His big break came in 1993 getting a ride with Bill Davis Racing in the No.22. He finished a respectable 19th in the standings with a best finish of 7th and a pole at Richmond. In 1994, he had a career best result of 5th at Michigan and finished the season 21st in points. With Dale Jarrett leaving Joe Gibbs Racing, Bobby got a chance to pilot the No.18 in 1995. It was a match made in heaven and the true potential of Bobby Labonte was about to be witnessed. He won the Coke 600 and swept the Michigan races in route to a solid 10th place points finish leading nearly 300 laps and turning a lot of heads. People realized very quickly that this guy was the real deal as the success continued into 1996 and beyond.

    Bobby had a decent season in ’96 but failed to win a race until the final event of the year at Atlanta Motor Speedway. His older brother Terry was trying to win the championship while Bobby starting on pole for the event. In one of the more memorable moments in NASCAR history, Bobby crossed the line winning his 4th NSCS race while Terry finished 5th winning his second championship. The two celebrated together and the family was ecstatic. A few years later, it was Bobby’s turn to hoist the hardware.

    After winning 5 races and finishing runner-up to Dale Jarrett in 1999, Bobby was determined to win the Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) title. He won 4 more races in 2000 including the highly sought after Brickyard 400 trophy. He battled fiercely with 1989 NSCS champion Rusty Wallace for the victory and finally made his way by with 14 laps remaining. Bobby went on to win the title by a massive margin of 265 points over arguably the greatest stock car driver that ever lived, Dale Earnhardt. He was unable to defend his title in 2001 and what he is most remembered for that year has to be his scary crash at Talladega. Bobby was trying to work the high lane battling for the win with Dale Jr. on the final lap when Bobby Hamilton attempted to make a move underneath the No.18. The Bobby’s made contact and Labonte was sent over on his lid while 20 other cars piled into the massive wreck.

    Labonte was unharmed thankfully and soldiered on to a 6th place finish in the standings and winning the IROC title. 2002 was a tough year for the champ; in fact it was his worst showing since 1994 when he was with Davis. Although he won a race at Martinsville, he only managed to get a 16th place points finish posting just 7 top 10’s. 2003 was better for him making his way back into the top 10 in the standings (8th) and winning two more races. The 2003 finale at Homestead was a significant one for NASCAR being the final Winston Cup sponsored race. Bill Elliott looked to have it in the bag until a flat tire with half a lap to go handed the victory to Bobby Labonte. Bobby had now won at least 1 race every year for the past 9 which is obviously an impressive feat.

    Unfortunately, we are nearing the 10 year anniversary of that win and Bobby has yet to visit victory lane since. He has come so close so many times but win number 22 eludes him. In 2004, Jimmie Johnson narrowly beat him off pit road at Darlington and even though he had a faster car, Labonte was unable to get around the No.48 who won the race. He also finished 2nd to Rusty Wallace that year at Martinsville on his way to a 12th place finish in the standings. 2005 ended up being the worst of Bobby’s career up to that point finishing 24th in the standings while his teammate Tony Stewart won the championship.

    Photo Credit: Chuck Burton/AP
    Photo Credit: Chuck Burton/AP

    On a very strange night at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2005, Bobby almost won the Coke 600. It happened to be the 10 year anniversary of Bobby’s first ever NSCS win at that very track almost to the very day. The race had a record 22 cautions and went past midnight. Tempers flared between multiple drivers and big wrecks were the story until Joe Nemechek found himself leading with 10 to go. Suddenly, he crashed and Jimmie Johnson narrowly avoided him as he came back down the track. Bobby Labonte was now leading the race driving the FedEx paint scheme because Jason Leffler who was supposed to have that sponsor missed the race. The FOX commentators talked to Bobby under caution and you could tell that the tension was high and he was anxious to get going. The race became a 5 lap knock-down drag-out fight to the finish between Bobby Labonte and Jimmie Johnson who had much fresher tires and much faster car. Bobby held him off even when JJ made a move to the inside on the final lap. They drove off into turn 3 and it seemed Bobby might win until Johnson got alongside him running the high line. It was a drag race to the line and in a spectacular photo finish, Jimmie Johnson defeated Labonte by .027 hundredths. In frustration, Bobby kicked the side of his car knowing that he might never get a chance like that again.

    At the conclusion of 2005, he left Gibbs and joined the legendary Petty Enterprises team trying to bring them back to their former glory. He almost did nearly winning Martinsville in a thrilling late race battle between Hamlin, Labonte and Johnson. He gave the team its best points finish in 7 years finishing 21st and improving to 18th in 2007. In 2008, Bobby signed a 4 year extension with Petty and this is the part where I start talking about raw deals. Right before Christmas, he was released from the team and they merged with Gillet-Evernham. A former champion of our sport who poured his heart and soul into that No.43 team sat there ride-less. Fortunately, he got a car in late January driving for Hall Of Fame Racing which teamed up with Yates. At Las Vegas, the car was blistering fast and Bobby battled for the lead with Kyle Busch late in the race. The caution flew, pit stops were made and bad luck bit Bobby once again. He was blocked in his pit stall costing him multiple spots forcing him to restart around 8th or 9th. He drove through the field and was actually 2 tenths quicker than race winner Kyle Busch on the final lap in traffic but he ran out of time finishing 5th.

    Victory had been in Labonte’s reach yet again before slipping through his fingers at the last second. Later that year, he got screwed (for lack of a better term) by his team when they replaced him mid-season with Erik Darnell who brought sponsorship. Bobby ran for TRG finishing 10th at Talladega; the best finish ever for that team. In 2010, he joined them full-time and ran the 24 Hours of Daytona nearly winning that historic race before the car ran out of fuel 3 laps ahead of the 2nd place car costing them the win. May 16th, 2010 was a sad day for Bobby Labonte fans everywhere when he pulled into the garage on lap 65 at Dover International Speedway. He didn’t have a mechanical issue, he was start and parking. A former NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide and IROC champion was parking his car early in a race for a $75,000 pay day. He left the team soon after and drove for many different teams the remainder of the year. The teams included Robby Gordon, Phoenix Racing and Stavola-Labonte Racing which was c0-owned by his older brother. It was the first time he ever went a season without a top 10 with a best finish of 16th.

    Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images
    Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

    In 2011, he joined JTG-Daugherty Racing where he remains to this day. In his very first race with them, he had another chance at victory lane. It wasn’t the Coke 600, Martinsville, Darlington or Las Vegas though…..it was the 53rd running of the Daytona 500. He shoved rookie Trevor Bayne far out in front of the field with half a lap to go but as he got ready to make his move to try to steal the win, the Fords of Carl Edwards and David Gilliland crashed the party pushing Bobby back to 4th as they raced to the line. He was visibly disappointed following the race after watching yet another win pass him by. In 2012, he had his best season in 4 years finishing 23rd in the standings. So far in 2013, Bobby has led 5 laps and posted a best finish of 15th at the Daytona 500.

    From hoisting the championship trophy in three different series to start and parking, Bobby Labonte’s career has been full of many ups and downs. He has fought through all the adversity though and continues to race on hoping to one day win that 22nd NSCS race. There is a contingent of people out that that feel the need to criticize Bobby saying that he’s washed up and needs to retire but let me tell you how ignorant that statement really is. Since leaving Joe Gibbs Racing, Bobby has given teams such as Hall of Fame Racing, Petty Enterprises, TRG and JTG some of the best runs of their existence or in quite some time. If you put him in a top tier ride, he will perform. Champions don’t forget how to drive a racecar and this champion could be a contender again in faster equipment. He seems content though using his experience to try to help JTG build their program and there is nothing wrong with that. He is a great person and has proven that he belongs in NASCAR and should be allowed to race for as long as he pleases without anyone judging him or telling him what to do. NASCAR needs more drivers like Bobby Labonte and he deserves respect for what his done; not criticism. Lastly, I’d like to say congrats on your 700th start Bobby and good luck in final 26 races of 2013!

  • Matty’s Picks 2013 – Vol. 2 Phoenix International Raceway – SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500 – March 3, 2013

    Matty’s Picks 2013 – Vol. 2 Phoenix International Raceway – SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500 – March 3, 2013

    We head west this week for the first of two annual visits to the one-mile, low-banked, tri-oval that is Phoenix International Raceway, more commonly known as PIR. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series makes its first stop on the west coast this season (Phoenix also happens to be the final west coast stop on the tour as well) and NASCAR fans will get their first look at the new GEN6 car on a more traditional style track this weekend.

    One interesting fact about the two races at PIR is that contrary to the more traditional NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races measured in miles, the ‘500’ in SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500 is actually in kilometers. This makes Phoenix the only oval to have its race distances measured in kilometers and not miles or laps as, both road course races at Sonoma and Watkins Glen have their races measured in kilometers. So 500 kilometers or 312 laps is the distance this week and with a new car, a perfect weather forecast, and with last fall’s race full of fireworks, I expect Sunday’s SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500 to be just as exciting as last week’s kickoff to the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ season in the Daytona 500.

    Daytona Recap

    It was a fantastic start to the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series campaign last week and I was able to get past my hatred for restrictor plate racing and actually really enjoyed watching the Daytona 500. There were so many unknowns surrounding the race last week that added to the drama of this year’s kickoff to the season that it was hard not to try and gain some new fans of the sport in my non-NASCAR friends and family. Who would win the first race in the new GEN6 car? How would the field of drivers handle the return to pack racing at the plate tracks? How would Danica Patrick handle the pressure of being the first woman to start on the pole of a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race? Did she have a legitimate shot at winning the Daytona 500?

    All the questions were answered last week, and I must say I was thoroughly impressed with the performance of the new car, the return of the pack style racing, and Danica’s performance in the Daytona 500. I completely discounted her being a contender last Sunday, and she absolutely proved me wrong with her performance last week, despite her reaction in the post-race interview.

    As for my picks, I was able to pare down the list of potential winners by using a historical trend formula I was able to develop in the 3 month off-season leading up to last week’s Daytona 500. I made the call that the winner would not come from the front row, would not be Kevin Harvick (the winner of the Sprint Unlimited and one of the Duel races), and the winner of the Daytona 500 would have taken home the Harley J. Earl Trophy once before. This left seven drivers for me to pick as my Winner Pick last week (Matt Kenseth, Trevor Bayne, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Michael Waltrip).

    I went with Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was the second-best pick last week out of the group of elite drivers my formula pared the field down to, and I can’t complain about picking the runner-up given the new car, the style of racing, and the uncertainty surrounding the race at Daytona last week. I picked a Hendrick Motorsports driver to win the race last week, but came up just one position short of starting my season off with a win. Dale Jr. had this to say following his runner-up finish last week:

    “Real happy with the way the car run all day. You couldn’t pass much. But when I was able to really see what my car could do, it was plenty capable of winning the race. The guys did a good job all winter trying to prepare for running well. We got 1-2 out of our shop. Really happy with Hendrick and all our effort.”

    My Dark Horse pick was just that, a true Dark Horse pick. I went with JTG Daugherty driver, Bobby Labonte who had a respectable points day and managed to dodge all the troubles that come along with a restrictor place race, but did not earn me a Dark Horse top 10 last week. Running as high as sixth with less than 25 laps left in the Daytona 500, Labonte finished his day in the 15th spot as a result of a late-race shot on the right front of the No.47 Kroger/USO Toyota Camry. Not a bad finish, but not exactly what I am looking for going forward.

    Phoenix Picks

    Phoenix to me is a big short track, if that makes sense. It’s a one-mile tri-oval with a tricky configuration, including inconsistent banking throughout and the 9-degree banked ‘dogleg’ on the backstretch. Fine sand plays a major role on tire wear, after all, the track is in the middle of the desert. Some of the guys you think of when you think recent dominance on short tracks in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, you think Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Brad Kesolowski, Jimmie Johnson, and Clint Bowyer.
    For Phoenix in particular, it is tough not to make a case for Jimmie Johnson as he has an average finish of fifth in seventeen starts at PIR, and it has been only been three races since Johnson has visited Victory Lane in consecutive weeks. What is holding me back from picking Johnson this week at PIR is his recent history in the desert, as since the reconfiguration in 2011, Five-Time has finished 14th, 4th, and 32nd in the three races since the repaving.

    Winner Pick

    The other guy likely to be a favorite when the final odds are released this evening is Denny Hamlin. He is the defending champion of this race, a race he won by 7.13 seconds last season, and is the guy I will turn to for the win this week. Mark Martin was the pole-sitter last season when Hamlin won the Subway Fresh Fit 500, and he will look to become the first driver to start inside the first four rows to go on and win a race at PIR since the track’s reconfiguration in 2011. Before the facelift in 2011, just two drivers had won a race at Phoenix after starting outside the top ten, the last being Jeff Gordon in the final race before the repaving in 2011. Since the SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500 is such a short race, the woes of the Joe Gibbs Racing cars from Daytona should not play a factor in this week’s race.

    Dark Horse Pick

    Why not look at the guy starting first this week at PIR as a guy who may be overlooked by most handicappers as he has not won a race in over 2 years, but has a storied history in the desert. Mark Martin is 9th best in driver rating over the past eight years at PIR, and has really set the stage all weekend for all of Michael Waltrip Racing drivers. In practice today, teammate Clint Bowyer radioed in to crew chief Brian Pattie that if his car was set up any differently than Martin’s, to immediately change the setup to whatever Martin was running. Though the temperature for today’s first practice session was far lower than what is forecasted for race time tomorrow, Martin has looked fantastic since he unloaded on Friday. Watch for Martin to start up front and stay up front for the majority of the day tomorrow.

    That’s all for this week, stay tuned for next week’s picks when we roll the dice in Vegas! Until next time, you stay classy NASCAR NATION!

  • Matty’s Picks 2013 – Vol. 1 Daytona International Speedway – Daytona 500 – February 24, 2013

    Matty’s Picks 2013 – Vol. 1 Daytona International Speedway – Daytona 500 – February 24, 2013

    It’s another NASCAR season, and I’m proud to be kicking off the third season of my weekly column devoted to picking a couple drivers with the potential to make some noise on Sunday afternoon. Before I begin my outlook on the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Season and tomorrow’s 55th running of the Daytona 500, I’d like to share my thoughts and prayers for all those fans injured today at Daytona International Speedway on the final lap of the NASCAR Nationwide Series’ DRIVE4COPD 300. It is extremely unfortunate when fans who show up to be entertained, actually become a part of the action.

    After a stellar rookie season in 2011, my sophomore season as a NASCAR handicapper saw its ups and downs, which is why I am excited for a clean slate to start off this 2013 season. We’ve got a new reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion for the first time since 2004, a few newcomers to the Sprint Cup Series, a new driver/driver relationship known as “Stenica”, a few team changes, one less manufacturer, and an entirely new race car to start off this 2013 season. With so many unknowns to start this 2013 season, selecting winners this season is looking to be my toughest task yet as a sports journalist.

    Nothing to recap this week as I move out of my three-month NASCAR hibernation (which couldn’t come soon enough this year as my Buffalo Bills finished at the bottom of the AFC East standings with a dismal 6-10 record, and my fainted Buffalo Sabres currently fight to lift themselves from the bottom of the NHL’s Eastern Conference Standings) so, we’ll move into my thoughts on the 55th running of the Daytona 500.

    Daytona Picks

    I absolutely loathe restrictor plate racing as it tends to be more mayhem than actual racing talent, but I will not take away from the excitement surrounding the start of the 2013 campaign and reserve my comments for the time being.

    Though it is said that the four restrictor plate races on the schedule are “a roll of the dice” in picking winners, but I tend to pare down the potential list of winners using historical trends. For instance, it has been twelve years since the last driver took home both the Daytona 500 and the Sprint Unlimited (formerly the Budweiser Shootout) in the same year. This feat has been claimed five times by four different drivers, but the last time a driver won at Daytona in consecutive weeks, dates back to 2000 when Dale Jarrett took home the Daytona 500 and Sprint Unlimited in the same year for the second time in his storied career. For this reason alone, I eliminate Kevin Harvick as my Winner Pick for tomorrow’s Daytona 500.

    It has also been a dozen years since the winner of the Daytona 500 has come from the front row, and if you’ve ever solicited advice at the Roulette wheel, anyone with experience will tell you to never bet against the recent trends . Dale Jarrett not only won the Sprint Unlimited and Daytona 500 in the year 2000, but he did it by starting from the pole position of The Great American Race. It was the second year in a row that the winner of the Daytona 500 came from the first starting spot, and for this reason I’ll eliminate Danica Patrick and Jeff Gordon from contention tomorrow.

    Last year’s Daytona 500 marked the first time in seven years a repeat winner took home the Harley J. Earl Trophy, the second-longest streak of first-time winners (the longest streak of new winners being seven races, from the inaugural race in 1959 to The King’s second Daytona 500 victory in 1966). Sticking with historical trends, I am making a prediction that the winner of tomorrow’s race will have taken home a Daytona 500 at least once already. This means that the winner will come from either Matt Kenseth, Trevor Bayne, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., or Michael Waltrip. The two other drivers with Daytona 500 wins (Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick) have been eliminated from my list of potential race winners under previous historical trends.

    Winner Pick

    So, we’ve got the list down to seven potential winners based on my historical trend formula, and out of these seven drivers, I’m most comfortable saying Dale Jr. will walk away as the second driver in two years to win their second Daytona 500 win. Dale Jr.’s first Daytona 500 win came back in 2004, giving DEI their final Daytona 500 victory before merging with Chip Ganassi Racing, forming Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. He has visited Gatorade Victory Lane more recently than 2004 as he started off his career with Hendrick Motorsports with wins in both the Sprint Unlimited and his Budweiser Duel race prior to the 2008 Daytona 500. He was also the runner up in both his Duel race and Daytona 500 last season.

    This year, Jr. has looked extremely comfortable in the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet, and the No. 88 car has looked comfortable in the pack draft. This is the style of racing the Earnhardt family is known for and the Hendrick camp has put a truly magnificent product on the track again for Dale Jr. He’s been in the mix of the faster cars all week, including winning the final practice session on Friday for the 55th Annual Great American Race. I’ll be watching the No. 88 to immediately work his way to the front from his starting spot in the middle of the pack, and for Jr. Nation to start their 2013 season off with a win.

    Dark Horse Pick

    It is tough to call a past NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion a Dark Horse, but there is a guy making his 65th start at Daytona International Speedway this week who has shown he can keep his nose clean and finish the race strong. Bobby Labonte will be another driver starting mid-pack on Sunday, and will look to keep the nose of his Kroger Toyota clean in order to finish strong in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota Camry.

    Now, is been 324 races since his last victory, so I’m stretching here for a Dark Horse pick, but Labonte’s recent history at The World Center of Racing has be believing he might play a factor in Sunday’s race. Drivers like to draft with guys with experience, and experience Labonte has. Watch for the No. 47 to mix up the front of the field come lap 199 on Sunday.

    That’s all for this week, so until we head west for the second stanza of the season, you stay classy NASCAR NATION!

  • 2013 Sprint Cup Team Preview: JTG Daugherty Racing

    2013 Sprint Cup Team Preview: JTG Daugherty Racing

    Photo Credit: AP Photo
    Photo Credit: AP Photo

    Up next in our 2013 Sprint Cup team previews is the team of JTG Daugherty Racing, a single car operation that fields the No.47 Toyota Camry in the Sprint Cup Series.

    The team, owned by the husband and wife team of Jodi and Tad Geschickter as well as former NBA player and ESPN analyst Brad Daugherty, will once again field the No.47 Toyota Camry, sponsored by numerous sponsors, including Clorox, Kingsford, Kroger, Bubba Burgers, Reese Towpower, Bush’s Baked Beans, Charter, and Scott, among others. Bobby Labonte, 2000 Cup champion, returns to the team in 2013 along with crew chief Brian Burns, who has been promoted from an interim role in 2012 to full time in 2013.

    While having a former Cup champion as the driver for your team is never a bad thing, JTG Daugherty Racing will have an uphill battle as a single car operation against the numerous multi-car teams in the Sprint Cup Series.

    Labonte and JTG Daugherty Racing showed flashes of brilliance in 2012 with a few top 10 finishes after stumbling out of the gate to start the season. With Labonte and Burns having a year under their belt together, look for the team to improve upon its 2012 progress and have some more good finishes this year.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: New Hampshire Sylvania 300

    Surprising and Not Surprising: New Hampshire Sylvania 300

    [media-credit name=”Noel Lanier” align=”alignright” width=”246″][/media-credit]From late-arriving pit crews to the second time around for the Cup Series at the mile track in Loudon, New Hampshire, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the second Chase race, the Sylvania 300.

    Surprising:  While being in Victory Lane is always special, it was a surprisingly big moment for the winner of the Sylvania 300, his team and his team owner.

    For Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota, it was truly a big moment as he delivered on his promise, via tweet, to win the race.

    And it was a major accomplishment for his team, who after overcoming mistakes of the previous race and during their qualifying lap at New Hampshire, rallied around each other and their driver to score the victory.

    But most of all, it was a huge moment for team owner Joe Gibbs, who achieved a milestone, his team’s 100th NASCAR Sprint Cup win, at the Magic Mile. The 100 wins were scored by Tony Stewart with 33, Denny Hamlin with 22, Bobby Labonte with 21, Kyle Busch with 20, Dale Jarrett with 2 and Joey Logano with 2 wins.

    Joe Gibbs Racing is now only one of six teams in NASCAR history to achieve the 100 victory mark.

    “It was a huge day for us,” Coach Gibbs said. “Bobby Labonte came into victory circle and I appreciated Bobby, Dale Jarrett, Jimmy Makar, everybody when we first started, Tony Stewart, so it took a lot of people down the road.”

    “But, certainly, gosh, thinking back on my 21 years – just doesn’t seem like it was that long ago and you realize that we’ve got a hundred wins.”

    “That was a huge deal for us.”

    Not Surprising:  Runner up for the second week in a row, Jimmie Johnson, continues to not only rack up the points, but count each one most carefully, right to the points lead.

    This was Johnson’s 15th top-10 finish in 22 races at the Magic Mile and his 19th top-10 finish for the season.

    “We had a great race car, just not an amazing car like the No. 11 had,” Johnson said. “To only leave seven points on the table in two races is pretty good.”

    “We missed the win last week and this week and we didn’t lead the most this weekend,” Johnson continued. “But it is probably seven points total.”

    “That’s not bad.”

    Surprising:  Brian Vickers did his own surprising Denny Hamlin impersonation, slicing and dicing his way from the back of the field after an engine change to a ninth place finish.

    “Really proud of the guys – everyone at MWR, Toyota, just this 55 crew,” said the driver of the No. 55 Freightliner/Jet Edge Toyota. “All the guys did a great job.”

    “We had a car good enough to go and race with them for a little while.”

    Not Surprising:  In spite of still being 45 points behind the leader and in the 12th Chase position, this driver continues to keep the faith, just like every other four-time past champion should.

    Jeff Gordon, in the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, started on the pole and finished 3rd at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    “It was a really solid effort,” Jeff Gordon said. “It’s a shame what happened to us in Chicago last weekend because I think we would have back-to-back top fives.”

    “There is no doubt we can get ourselves back into this.”

    Surprising:  It was surprising just how badly the Ford camp performed, especially Chase competitors Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle, who finished 14th and 18th respectively.

    “We were just battling overall grip,” Biffle, pilot of the No. 16 3M/GE Appliances Ford, said. “We chattered the front tires. We chattered the rear tires.”

    “There at the end we chattered all four.”

    “On a long run, we had about a 10th place car, which is probably a little bit better than we usually do here,” Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Zest Ford Fusion, said. “But on short runs, we weren’t very good at all and then we got that caution there at the end and that didn’t work in our favor.”

    “We weren’t that great overall.”

    Not Surprising:   As has his season gone, so did the New Hampshire race play out. Kyle Busch had a great outside pole start go south with engine woes yet again.

    And while his crew chief Dave Rogers attempted to put the best spin on it, Busch was less then complimentary behind the wheel of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota.

    “Unfortunately, we picked up a ‘miss’ under the hood,” Rogers said. “We just stayed out there and rode it out, and got the best finish possible.”

    When told by his crew chief that he could not fix the car and to just ride it out, Busch said simply “Imagine that.”

    Surprising:  The two Michael Waltrip Racing teammates in the Chase had diametrically opposite experiences at the Magic Mile this past weekend. Clint Bowyer, in the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota, finished fourth but Martin Truex Jr., in the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, finished 17th.

    “We had a solid race car,” Bowyer said. “But we needed a little bit more.”

    “There’s a lot of racing left,” Bowyer continued. “It was a solid finish and kept us in the game going to Dover.”

    Not Surprising:  While Stewart Haas Racing had a seemingly solid day, with Tony Stewart finishing seventh and teammate Ryan Newman finishing tenth, both were disappointed when the checkered flag flew.

    “It might’ve been a solid result, but we need to be better than that,” Stewart said simply.

    “It was just not what we wanted,” Newman said. “Two top-10s aren’t bad, but we’d like to get Aspen Dental a win, too.”

    Surprising:  Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet, had a surprisingly consistent run at the Magic Mile. He finished in the same place as his number, position five.

    “We had another consistent day,” Kahne said. “We have been pretty consistent so far so the first two are good for the Chase.”

    “Hopefully, we can keep it going and get a little faster if we want to catch those other guys,” Kahne continued. “That would be pretty cool.”

    Not Surprising:  With a thirteen place finish and an issue with his pit stop, it was no surprise that the Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was in a state of dislike.

    “I didn’t like the car in practice and didn’t really like it all weekend,” Junior said of his No. 88 AMP Energy/Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard Chevrolet. “We’ve got to get our stuff together to compete with these guys.”

    “This ain’t good enough.”

    Surprising:  Regan Smith, celebrating his 29th birthday and finishing 16th, got a real surprise. He found out that he was being replaced in his No. 78 Furniture Row/Farm American Chevrolet.

    “You just have to keep plugging away,” Smith said. “You need to figure out a way to make the best of the situation.”

    Not Surprising:  Brad Keselowski, scrappy as ever, could only talk about beating, banging, clawing and digging after his 6th place finish in the Blue Deuce.

    “There was a lot of clawing in the race,” Keselowski said. “We’d have liked to have been a little faster but we still had a decent day.”

    “Like my 2 crew does every week, they just keep digging and made something happen.”

    When asked about his position in the point standings, now just one point behind Jimmie Johnson, Keselowski was direct and to the point.

    “One point doesn’t seem too bad,” Keselowski said. “We’ll go to Dover and give ‘em hell.”

     

  • Pure Michigan 400 Review: Bizzare Day at Michigan

    Pure Michigan 400 Review: Bizzare Day at Michigan

    [media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”232″][/media-credit]As the 43rd Annual Pure Michigan 400 came to a close, the race was anyone’s game with some of the top names in the sport racing for the lead position. Brad Keselowski held the lead with 10 laps to go, as five-time champion Jimmie Johnson was putting the pressure on him. Keselowski’s No. 2 Miller Light Dodge got loose one lap later and Johnson was able to sneak by him to take over the lead. Greg Biffle, who was running third with ten to go, was able to pass Keselowski for second as Johnson took over the lead.

    It looked as if Johnson would drive on to win his fourth race of the season, until his engine expired with 6 laps remaining – making that the third Hendrick Motorsports engine with problems this weekend. The race would finish under green-white-checkered as Biffle held off a hard-charging Keselowski to win for the second time this season and third time at MIS.  Kasey Kahne finished in third position, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Marcos Ambrose rounding out the top five.

    “It was a wild race. We struggled with our car throughout the weekend, worked real hard on it overnight,” said Biffle after the race. “My car was super good at the beginning of the race when the track was green. Once I got on restarts and in traffic, I wasn’t that good.

    “We just kept working on it, trying different things. But, we were so good out front. I knew once we got out front we’d be tough to beat. I know that a lot of people don’t expect us to win the championship, and don’t think we can compete for the title. But, we will be a factor when it comes down to Homestead.”

    This moves the No. 16 team to the points lead, with 20 points over Roush Fenway Racing teammate Matt Kenseth. Earnhardt moves to third position in standings, with his teammate Johnson dropping three positions to fourth. Keselowski rounds out the top five, 47 points behind the leader.

    Cautions Breed Cautions

    First caution of the day occurred on Lap 6 when Aric Almirola and David Gilliland got together on the front stretch. Unfortunately for the rest of the field, this was just the start of the cautions for the day.

    [media-credit name=”Wesley Hitt/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”221″][/media-credit]Mark Martin started the race from the pole position and ended his day with a bizarre crash on Lap 64. Juan Pablo Montoya and Bobby Labonte were racing in front of Martin in an attempt to stay on the lead lap, when the two got together coming out of Turn 4. Martin dove low to try and avoid the incident, but sent his car spinning down pit road. His car then crashed into an opening of the pit wall just in front of the No. 5 team’s pit stall. Crew members dove to safety as debris flew from the pit stall and the No. 55 Toyota.

    “That was a pretty freak angle that I got at that,” Martin said. “I’m not sure what you could do. It could have been really bad if I would have got in that hole a little deeper where it caught me in the door instead of in the crush area back there. It’s hard to keep up with what exactly is going to be happening there. I was hoping that I was going to miss the pit wall completely and not tear the car up, but then I saw that the angle I was going that I was going to hit the end of pit wall.”

    Luckily, Martin was able to walk away from the incident safely, along with the crews on pit road. If the car would have hit any closer to the driver’s door than it did, Martin may not have been so lucky. Martin will continue driving part-time for Michael Waltrip Racing in 2013, with 22 Sprint Cup races on his schedule.

    Drivers were having a tough time getting their cars to stick to the track in Turn 4 on Sunday, including Watkins Glen winner, Marcos Ambrose. On Lap 77 his Stanley Tools Ford got loose and slid up the track and tapped the No. 78 sending him into the Turn 4 wall. Regan Smith was able to continue, but finished the race in 29th position, 47 laps down.

    The numerous amounts of cautions continue on Lap 90 when Joey Logano blew a right front tire due to a fender rub he sustained a few laps earlier. Two laps earlier the No. 42 of Juan Pablo Montoya got into Logano and forced him into the outside wall, causing the fender rub. Montoya finished in 26th position, Logano in 31st place.

    On Lap 135 Kurt Busch’s bad luck continued as he appeared to break something in the right front of his No. 51 Toyota and slammed into the wall. This brought out a caution and changed up pit strategy as 11 cars did not pit, including Earnhardt who assumed the race lead. Earnhardt led the field for a total of 25 laps after starting in the back of the field due to wrecking his car in final practice on Saturday.

    The last crash-induced caution occurred when Trevor Bayne blew his right front tire on Lap 182, causing him to finish in 24th position.

    Chase for the Sprint Cup

    With only three races left until the Chase for the Sprint Cup, all eyes are on drivers like Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin who are riding the line for falling out of the top ten in points. Kahne is only 33 points away from jumping into the top ten and continues to hold one of the wild cards that will allow him access into the Chase. If he races his way into the Chase and Hamlin or Stewart were to drop out of the top ten, this would give the wild card slot to one of them. As of now, Kahne and Ryan Newman hold these cards.

    Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Marcos Ambrose, and Joey Logano still have a shot to steal the wild card away from Newman, as they all hold one win this season. The wild card option goes to the drivers outside of the top ten who have the most wins this season; so far the only driver with more than one win outside of the top ten is Kahne.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Brickyard 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Brickyard 400

    [media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”254″][/media-credit]At one of the most storied tracks on not just the NASCAR schedule but the motor sports circuit overall, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 19th Annual Crown Royal Presents the Curtiss Shaver 400 at the Brickyard.

    Surprising:  It was surprising that the emerging points leader after the race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway enhanced his proud team owner’s sleep habits.

    Hendrick Motor Sports principal Rick Hendrick had just one thing to say about his driver, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who assumed the coveted lead by 14 points after a fourth place finish at the Brickyard.

    “I will be able to sleep better tonight,” Mr. H. said simply after the race. His HMS driver has not led the point standings since September of 2004 after the race at New Hampshire.

    Junior echoed his team owner’s sentiments of pride, while reiterating that he not only wants, but needs more wins to keep that top spot.

    “I’m proud of that because it says a lot about our body of work,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. “I have felt that way about our position in points all season long.”

    “But we need to win more races,” Junior continued. “If we want to win the championship, we have to.”

    “We’d like to step it up just a little bit more.”

    Not Surprising:  While making history with his fourth Brickyard win and tying teammate Jeff Gordon and idols Al Unser, A.J. Foyt and Rick Mears for four victories, it was not surprising to see this driver’s  little girl Genevieve steal the show during the post-race ceremonies.

    Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, simply could not convince his daughter to kiss those hot, gritty bricks in spite of his intense coaxing.

    “I don’t really think she knew what was going on,” Johnson said. “The asphalt was pretty hot, so she got her hands down on it and I think that scared her.”

    “She’s a very cautious girl and that is going against everything we’re trying to teach her,” Johnson continued. “She just wasn’t in to it.”

    Surprising:  It was most surprising that the second place finisher was so ecstatic about his finish that he wanted to do his own ‘victory’ burnout after the race.

    Kyle Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota, posted his career best finish at the Brickyard and his best finish of the season since his third place finish at Charlotte in May.

    “It feels so good to actually run well and finish well,” Busch said. “We’ve been needed to do this for so long.”

    “It felt like a win to us,” Busch continued. “I wanted to do a burnout, but I’ll save that for when we really do collect the checkered flag.”

    Not Surprising:  Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford, proved one NASCAR adage true, that loose is fast. Biff came in third, his sixth top-10 finish in ten races at Indy.

    “We were pretty loose all day long,” Biffle said. “It was unfortunate we were that free and we couldn’t fix it.”

    “We were too loose to get it done so we came in third.”

    Surprising:  With a great qualifying run, an outside pole starting position and a brand new crew chief in Chad Norris on the box, it looked like nothing could derail Carl Edwards from finally pulling out a decent finish and a good day in the points race for the Chase.

    But a surprising mechanical problem forced the driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford to go laps down early in the race and finish 29th.

    “We didn’t know what was wrong with the engine and we were kind of points racing but also racing for the win,” Edwards said. “We stayed out there with seven cylinders or so and then got caught up on pit road again and went another lap down.”

    “That was pretty much the death knell for the whole thing.”

    Not Surprising:   As is so often the case, being at the back of the pack leads to trouble. And that’s just what Matt Kenseth experienced on lap 134 when Joey Logano lost control, slid into Trevor Bayne, Bobby Labonte and ultimately Kenseth.

    “The farther that we went back, the dumber people drove,” Kenseth said after exiting his fiery No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford. “You could see it was just a matter of time before the wreck happened.”

    Kenseth finished the race in the 35th position and, not surprisingly as a result, fell to second in the point standings.

    Surprising:  Jeff Gordon surprisingly has not posted a top-3 finish in his last 23 races and he continued the longest stretch of his career in that mode with a fifth place finish at Indy.

    “I’m pretty disappointed really,” the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet said. “It’s always nice to finish in the top five but at this point in the season, I feel like it was a little bit of a missed opportunity.”

    Not Surprising:  So much uncertainty continued to reign for the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Penske race team, even at the Brickyard. Although Sam Hornish, Jr. was still behind the wheel, finishing 16th, the cloud of the A.J. Allmendinger indefinite suspension for the failed drug test continued to hang over the proceedings.

    “There are so many questions,” Roger Penske, team owner said after the drivers’ meeting at Indy. “Our phone is ringing off the hook with people who are interested in the ride in the No. 22.”

    Penske has since made the decision to release Allmendinger as their driver and have named Hornish Jr. the driver for the remainder of the 2012 season.

    Surprising:  Only one driver could compare the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway to a junk yard but Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Jimmy Johns Chevrolet, did just that, at least when it came to his 13th place car.

    “We were junk all weekend,” Harvick said. “No matter if we were turning left or going straight.”

    “That pretty much summed up today.”

    Not Surprising:  Stewart Haas racers Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman showed their Midwestern pride by scoring top-10 finishes at the Brickyard.

    Stewart, who qualified his No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot in the 28th position, rallied to finish tenth and teammate Newman, in the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet, finished seventh.

    “We just were a little bit tight in the center of the corner and that’s kind of what we fought all day,” Smoke said. “So, I was proud of the gains we made.”

    “I’m from the Midwest and so is Quicken Loans so it was nice to get a top-10 finish,” Newman said. “We just didn’t have quite the speed we needed.”

    This was Newman’s sixth top-10 finish of the season and his second top-10 finish in 12 starts at the Brickyard.

    The Cup Series will next take on the ‘Tricky Triangle’ at Pocono Raceway.

     

  • 2012 Sprint All-Star Review: The No. 48 Team Dominates All-Star Week

    2012 Sprint All-Star Review: The No. 48 Team Dominates All-Star Week

    Sprint Showdown: Dale Jr Back To Victory Lane

    AJ Allmendinger put his No. 22 Pennzoil Dodge on the pole; however, as the field was coming out of Turn 4 to take the green-flag, Allmendinger was forced to pit for a flat left front tire. This moved Allmendinger to the back of the field, remaining on the lead lap. Allmendinger’s loss was Dale Earnhardt Jr’s gain. Because of Allmendinger’s misfortune, Earnhardt took over the pole position, with Martin Truex Jr. starting in second. Earnhardt looked like a bullet shot out of a gun when he jumped out to a 1.398 second lead over Truex within three laps of the green-flag.

    Earnhardt held onto the lead through the end of the 20-lap segment. While under caution, majority of the teams from third position back went down pit road for adjustments. Earnhardt remained on track to hold onto the lead for the restart and once again jumped ahead of the field by half a straight away. After starting in the back of the field, Jamie McMurray stayed on track during this caution to pick up the second position.

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Allmendinger and Truex battled aggressively for third position for nearly 10 laps, with Allmendinger finally taking the position with 12 laps to go. Allmendinger then caught McMurray with 10 laps to go, battling for the position to advance to the All-Star race. This battle continued in the final ten laps – all the while, Dale Jr. held onto a two second lead.

    With a lap and a half to go, McMurray got loose coming off the backstretch which allowed Allmendinger to get under his bumper and make an aggressive pass on him. Earnhardt went on to win the Sprint Showdown, with Allmendinger getting the second place transfer spot. “I got to give most of the credit of our performance to the team”, Earnhardt said. “They put a great car out on the line today that was fast right out the gate.”

    Earnhardt was assumed by many to win the fan vote. With Earnhardt winning the showdown race, this opened up the fan vote to Bobby Labonte. “Actually, the story is two weeks ago we weren’t even going to show up here because this is not in our budget to run this race”, Labonte said. “Guys stepped up, so we got this far. Hopefully we can just keep going. Again, just thank the fans for doing that. That’s really a great deal.”

     

    Sprint All-Star Race: Johnson Steals All-Star Victory

    Kyle “Rowdy” Busch started on the pole for the race, with Ryan “Rocket Man” Newman on the outside pole. Jimmie Johnson showed he had a fast car right off the bat, taking over the lead on Lap 16. After the first segment ended, pit stops and strategy began to play out. Jimmie Johnson pitted twice under this caution; while seven other drivers, including Earnhardt and Denny Hamlin, did not make a pit stop. Hamlin restarted the race in first position, with a fast Earnhardt restarting in 6th position.

    Caution waved on Lap 26 when Carl Edwards’ engine expired. The race restarted on Lap 31 with Hamlin and Marcos Ambrose, who did not pit, leading the field. Just one lap later, Kenseth wasted no time taking over the second position from Ambrose. On the same lap, Earnhardt began to put pressure on Ambrose for third position. Kenseth took over the lead just before the end of the second segment, with Earnhardt taking over third.

    Seven drivers stayed out under caution, allowing Keselowski, Kasey Kahne, and Kevin Harvick to take over the top three positions. Right at the start-finish line, Kahne tried his best to steal the lead from Keselowski, but was about an inch shy of taking it.

    Beginning the fourth segment, Kurt Busch took over the lead of the race after staying on track under caution. It only took Earnhardt, who restarted in second, two laps to take over the lead. Running on old tires, Busch dropped back to fourth position, as Allmendinger and Kahne took over the second and third positions.

    Caution waved on Lap 68 when the second Roush Fenway Ford of Greg Biffle, lost an engine. With 16 to go on the restart, Earnhardt took over the lead once again and jumped out to a hefty lead.  As the final segment came to a close, the 10-lap shootout began. Johnson led the field off pit road, with Kenseth, Keselowski, and Earnhardt following. In the same week that his No. 48 Lowes team won the pit crew challenge, Johnson took his Lowes Chevrolet to victory lane in the All-Star race for the third time in his career. This win has tied Johnson for most All-Star victories with Dale Earnhardt and his teammate, Jeff Gordon.

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”342″][/media-credit]At the end of the race, instead of driving the flag around the track in victory, Johnson took his car owner for a victory lap. Rick Hendrick was at the end of pit road and told Johnson to come pick him up. Once Hendrick put his leg inside the car, he was in for a ride.  Rather than driving his owner to victory lane, Johnson took his car owner for a little joy ride around the tri-oval.  Rick waved to the fans around the track in a humorous manner. Johnson won a total of $1,071,340 with his All-Star win.

    Race Results : Sprint All-Star Race
    Sprint All-Star Race – May 19, 2012 – Exhibition

    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time Bnd
    1 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 0 90 Running
    2 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0 90 Running
    3 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 0 90 Running
    4 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 0 90 Running
    5 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 0 90 Running
    6 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 0 90 Running
    7 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 0 90 Running
    8 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 0 90 Running
    9 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 0 90 Running
    10 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 0 90 Running
    11 22 AJ Allmendinger Dodge 0 90 Running
    12 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 0 90 Running
    13 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 0 90 Running
    14 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 0 90 Running
    15 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 0 90 Running
    16 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 0 90 Running
    17 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 0 90 Running
    18 34 David Ragan Ford 0 90 Running
    19 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 0 90 Running
    20 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 0 90 Running
    21 55 Mark Martin Toyota 0 90 Running
    22 16 Greg Biffle Ford 0 67 Out of Race
    23 99 Carl Edwards Ford 0 25 Out of Race
  • Aaron’s 499 Review: Talladega Puts On a Show

    Aaron’s 499 Review: Talladega Puts On a Show

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photography, Inc.” align=”alignright” width=”228″][/media-credit]When NASCAR comes to Talladega it’s almost like playing the lottery; you never know who is going to win, but it’s still fun to gamble. Jeff Gordon started on the pole with last year’s champion Tony Stewart on the outside pole. The race was delayed for about 30 minutes due to rain that flooded the track overnight, but once the race got started it was an entertaining show.

    Overheating started out early on Lap 16 when Regan Smith blew an engine to bring out the caution flag. Tony Stewart, who was leading when the caution came out, got off pit road second to Matt Kenseth. Kenseth was able to hold the lead until Lap 26 when Michael Waltrip took his No. 55 Toyota to the lead.

    The overheating woes continued on Lap 44 when Ryan Newman took his car to the garage when water began to pour out of his windshield. The top three drivers under this caution were Waltrip, Kenseth, and Stewart. At Talladega a driver can go from the rear of the field to the front instantly with the help of the two car tandem and that’s exactly what Jimmie Johnson did on Lap 46 with the help of his teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kurt Busch.

    Kenseth took the lead in his Best Buy Ford on Lap 53 with Jeff Gordon in tow. Around this time is when Johnson reported to the team that his engine was blowing up due to overheating.  After green-flag pit stops on Lap 58 Earnhardt took over the lead from Kenseth for about 20 laps, until Earnhardt lost the draft and dropped back to 15th position. Approximately 50 laps into the race Kasey Kahne was forced to make a spotter change. His interim spotter Kevin Hamlin was suffering from laryngitis at the time and eventually lost his voice. The No. 5 team replaced Hamlin with Joe Nemecheck’s spotter to finish the race.

    From 80 laps to go on, the leader of the race changed almost every ten laps. The drivers exchanging the lead were Greg Biffle, Kasey Kahne, Kenseth, Casey Mears, Brad Keselowski, and Kurt Busch.  Busch caught a big break on Lap 141 when his car ran out of fuel just as caution flew on the race track. In Turns 3 and 4 the big one struck involving Landon Cassill, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Juan Montoya, Terry Labonte, Aric Almirola, and Dave Blaney. Under this caution Kenseth and Ambrose were penalized for pitting too soon. Kurt Busch and Bobby Labonte also pitted too soon after running out of fuel.

    Paul Menard led the restart with Keselowski on his outside. Keselowski took the lead with 39 to go. Mears spun his race car in Turn 3 to bring out a caution with 15 laps to go. During this caution Stewart brought his car down pit road for overheating issues. The cautions continued when former teammates Keselowski and Kurt Busch got together, sending Busch spinning through the infield.

    As the field attempted to restart, another caution flew once again. Hamlin jumped out of line to try and make it three wide down the middle. Allmendinger blocked Hamlin and started another big wreck. Menard, Kevin Harvick, and Waltrip were also involved. Just before the restart Hamlin blew a tire causing the caution to be extended for debris on the track.

    The race was settled by a green-white-checkered finish between Kenseth, Keselowski, and Kyle Busch. Keselowski pulled ahead by three car-lengths over the field to win his second race at Talladega.

     

    [media-credit name=”articles.boston.com” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Kurt Busch, or Should I Say “Ricky Bobby”?

    Kurt Busch’s paint scheme for Talladega looked very familiar to race fans, and even non-race fans. Busch ran the colors of “ME” from the popular movie “Talladega Nights”. Not only did he run Ricky Bobby’s paint scheme, his entire team took this role to a whole different level. The team referred to Busch as “Ricky” over the radio and quoted the movie throughout the entire race. The team even carried a stuffed animal cougar named “Karen” in the racecar with them.

    Busch’s race was going very well until Lap 181 when Keselowski and Busch got together, sending Busch sliding across the start-finish line. With limited damage to his race car, it looked as if Busch would be able to get back on track and continue racing. However, when Busch drove his car down pit road backwards in attempt to get to his pit stall, he was forced to pit again. This is when the fun and games ended between the team and driver, and the No. 51 car finished in 20th place, one lap down.

     

    Fresh Faces Finish in the Top-20

    After losing his Cup ride at Roush Racing last season, it was nice to see David Ragan finish in 7th position. Ragan ran a clean race and was able to stay out of trouble to keep his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford in the Top-10. Trevor Bayne is running a part-time NASCAR schedule this season due to lack of sponsorship with Wood Brother’s Racing. Bayne is known for being a good plate-track racer and he finished in 8th position in the Aaron’s 499. Aric Almirola is another driver who we don’t normally see at the top of the field, but was able to finish in 12th position. David Gilliland, who is Ragan’s teammate at Front Row Motorsports, finished in 13th position. Travis Kvapil, who is running a par-time schedule, finished in 16th position.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Kansas STP 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Kansas STP 400

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Tyler Barrick/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]From the command to start engine from Victory Junction Gang campers to Brad Keselowski manning the tank to rip up the Kansas track after the race ended, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 2nd Annual STP 400.

    Surprising:  While Kansas may be known as the Land of Oz, it was more like the land of highs and lows for this race day, with an extremely high number of engine failures and pit errors to a record low number of cautions.

    Dale Earnhardt, Jr., driver of the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard, was one of the first to struggle on pit road, missing it completely as he attempted to pit early in the race. Other drivers, such as Kasey Kahne and Kevin Harvick barely made it to the pits after running short on fuel. And even five-time champion Jimmie Johnson had his own set of pit woes with his team struggling with a loose lug nut.

    There were also an extremely high number of engine problems, affecting  drivers from Bobby Labonte and Mark Martin to four-time champion Jeff Gordon, all of whose engines either sputtered or just plain blew up completely.

    And as for cautions, there were only three, the lowest ever for a Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway. Although there was the lowest number of cautions, on the flip side, the average speed was surprisingly the highest at Kansas, 144.126 mph, a new track record.

    Not Surprising:  On the rough surface of the Kansas Speedway, it was not surprising that tires made all the difference in the outcome of the race. Just ask Martin Truex, Jr. whose tires fell off after leading 173 laps, costing him the race win and handing it to Denny Hamlin with just 31 laps to go.

    “We put that last set of tires on and it wasn’t anything like it had been all day long – just bad, bad loose,” the driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry said. “We had them. I don’t know what happened with that last set of tires but they were terrible.”

    With Truex’s tire troubles, Denny Hamlin capitalized, scoring his 19th victory in 231 Cup Series races. This was the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota driver’s second victory and fourth top-10 finish in the 2012 season. It was also the first time his manufacturer, Toyota, was in victory lane at Kansas.

    “I knew that he was driving his heart out as well as I was driving mine,” Hamlin said. “What got me the lead was driving hard and that’s kind of where we were able to stretch it out.”

    Surprising:  After scoring the pole position, it was surprisingly heartbreaking that the troubles that have been omnipresent for A.J. Allmendinger continued. The driver of the No. 22 AAA Dodge for Penske Racing went from race leader to a 32nd place finish because of engine troubles.

    “Man, it’s just starting to feel like ‘Ground Hog’s Day’,” Allmendinger said. “We were off to such a great start and then the gremlins hit us.”

    “Not sure how to explain it other than you’re on the pole one minute riding around leading laps and then the next thing you know your car isn’t right,” Dinger continued. “I just couldn’t believe it. Like I said, ‘Ground Hog Day.’

    Not Surprising:  With his confidence growing, it was not surprising to see fellow Penske racer Sam Hornish Jr. have a respectable run in his one off deal for the team. The driver of the No. 12 SKF Penske Dodge scored a 19th place finish.

    “We had a decent day,” Hornish Jr. said. “We led some laps and made a very respectable effort.”

    “It was good to get back in a Cup car again.”

    Surprising:  Since everyone wants to win in front of their friends and family, it was surprising that no home town heroes were in victory lane at Kansas Speedway. Carl Edwards, who was able to drive to the track from his home, finished ninth and Clint Bowyer, fellow Kansas native, had engine troubles, finishing in the 36th spot.

    “It was just a major bummer,” Clint Bowyer, the driver of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota, said. “I just wish it wouldn’t have happened here.”

    “It wasn’t a great result but a really good effort,” Edwards said of his run in the No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion. “I wanted to win here more than anything but we get to come back.”

    “It’s humbling and I can’t wait to come back,” Edwards continued. “We’ll do it.”

    Not Surprising:   The quest for the 200th win for Hendrick Motorsports is not surprisingly beginning to resemble the streak that Susan Lucci experienced with her Daytime Emmy awards. While Hendrick Motorsports had a fairly good day, with the exception of Jeff Gordon, the 200th victory still remains elusive.

    “It just didn’t happen,” the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger said. “As a group, we know it’s coming.”

    “It’s just when you have a target, it always makes it more challenging,” Gordon continued. “We’re trying not to put too much pressure on us with that and just trying to go out and do our thing and do our job.”

    Surprising:  While Hendrick Motorsports struggled to reach their 200th win marker at Kansas, it was surprising to note that there is another quest for a 200th victory. The race winning No. 11 car in fact now has 199 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories, breaking a tie for most wins all-time with the No. 43.

    Other drivers who have won in the No. 11 car include Cale Yarborough with 55 wins, Ned Jarrett with 49, Darrell Waltrip with 43, Denny Hamlin with 19, Junior Johnson with 11, Bill Elliott with 6, Geoff Bodine with 4, Terry Labonte with 4, Bobby Allison with 3, Buddy Baker with 2, A.J. Foyt with 1, Mario Andretti with 1 and Parnelli Jones with 1.

    Not Surprising:  Greg Biffle, to no one’s surprise, has continued his consistently good runs. The driver of the No. 16 3M Ford finished fifth and more important maintained his points lead.

    “It’s not a disappointing day for a fifth-place finish,” Biffle said. “But it’s probably a disappointing day for how the car ran.”

    “It feels good to be disappointed with a fifth-place finish,” Biff continued. “Fifth is OK but we wanted to compete better on the race track.”