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  • Matty’s Picks: Pure Michigan 400 Vol. 14 – Michigan – August 21, 2011

    Matty’s Picks: Pure Michigan 400 Vol. 14 – Michigan – August 21, 2011

    The NASCAR Sprint cup series heads back to the two-mile D-shaped superspeedway situated in the Irish Hills region of southeastern Michigan for the second and final time of the 2011 tour. Being one of the fastest tracks on the NASCAR schedule (with corner entry speeds in excess of 205 mph), NASCAR races continuously draw upwards of 125,000 fans to the 1,400 acres that makes up the MIS complex.

    The wide sweeping corners of Michigan International Speedway were not very kind to my picks in the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 back in June, so I am looking to rebound and continue my short streak of solid picks this weekend.

    Watkins Glen Recap

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”235″][/media-credit]With last week’s race being at the track that I am most familiar with, there is no reason my picks should have played out any differently than they did. Watkins Glen International is the track that I call home, and the race Monday reinforced my decision to travel to the races each year at the historic 2.45-mile road course at The Glen. No matter where you were situated along the track on Monday Morning, there was action in front of you.

    First, Kudos to WGI in their efforts to improve fan-viewing areas in erecting new grandstands (which look more like 6-story towers than grandstands) in turns 1, 10, and 11. I climbed to the top of the grandstands in turns 1 and 10, and they truly enhance the historically-difficult fan’s viewing perspective at Watkins Glen International. My family has sworn by the same seats in the Ninety Grandstand for the past 15 years, and I believe they will be seeking to make the change to one of the three brand new monstrosities ISC has erected at The Glen when NASCAR makes its return in 2012.

    None the more fitting for my home track, Monday’s Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen boasted my best results of the season thus far with a win for my Winner Pick and a 4th place Dark Horse finish.

    Marcos Ambrose went into the weekend at Watkins Glen as the favorite for not only me, but for many writers in the racing industry. It was only destiny for Ambrose to win a Sprint Cup race after coming so close so many times throughout his brief history in NASCAR.

    Ambrose had a sniff at the track record during qualifying, only to be outdone 69-seconds later by his teammate A.J. Allmendinger, and then again by Kyle Busch. This meant that Ambrose would start third for the Cup race, but wasted no time showing why he was many people’s pick to win at The Glen.

    I will quote my column from last week, “Ambrose has the car to beat this weekend…he’s going to win.” Now I’m not trying to toot my own horn on this one, but that was a ‘Nostradamus of NASCAR’ pick last week (Almost as solid as picking Dale Jr to win the Fan Vote in the All-Star Race back in May).

    The No. 9 car didn’t get the win very easily on Monday, coming from third on the Green-White-Checkered start to taking the checkered flag for his first victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Marcos Ambrose had this to say in Victory Lane on Monday “Just a dream day. The sacrifices you make, we all make to get here, Todd and all the team, the Petty family, my family to get here, to be a contender in the Cup Series, to finally get to victory lane, it just is a dream come true for me.”

    My Dark Horse Pick also faired well on Monday, finishing fourth. Martin Truex Jr.’s car was “just a bit off” on Monday morning. He had enough to run towards the front of the pack all day long, but fell just short at the end when the checkered flag flew.

    Truex explained the chaos of the final restart after his fourth-place finish “I’m not really sure exactly how the last restart went. All I know is I was three-wide so I was kind of paying attention to the guys around me and not so much what happened up in front. I know I saw Kyle (Busch) way out off the curb off of (turn) one so I knew he was in trouble, and they were two-wide under him I guess. I was just glad to get out of there alive. I was a little nervous that last three-white checker.”

    As I said before, it was a great weekend for Matty’s Picks at The Glen marking my two best picks yet this season. I hope I can carry my momentum into Michigan this week with two picks even better than last week.

    Michigan Picks

    Winner Pick
    Since I picked a Chevy and a Toyota to win in June, I’ve decided to pick the other two makes this week at MIS despite two JGR Toyotas finishing in the Top-3.

    For my winner pick, I’m going with the runner-up of June’s race at MIS. Three of the four Roush Fenway Racing cars were in the Top-5 earlier today in Sprint Cup practice. Matt Kenseth is also one of three active drivers that average a Top-10 finish at Michigan; Carl Edwards (6.2), Kenseth (9.5), and Denny Hamlin (10.0). He has two wins at the track, his last coming in 2006, and also has a Top-5 finish in his last two starts at MIS.

    Kenseth was quickest in practice earlier this afternoon, edging out Ryan Newman by just 6-thousanths of a second. Matt Kenseth is sitting in fairly good shape as far as the Chase is concerned, but his third win of the season could be on the horizon this weekend at MIS. Look for Kenseth to be aggressive in his march towards the front, but conserve a Top-5 for his points run.

    Dark Horse Pick
    I think I’m going to get some backlash on qualifying this next driver as my Dark Horse pick for this weekend, but the numbers are the numbers.

    Brad Keselowski is arguably the hottest driver in racing right now, but has never finished better than 24th at MIS. Following a crash that could have possibly ended his season or his driving career, Keselowski has been on a mission to prove his toughness and existence in the Sprint Cup Series. Many drivers in the garage gave him props last week for his courage to not only stay in his car for the weekend, but to take the Blue Deuce and finish second.

    Since his horrific crash in testing at Road Atlanta, Keselowski has a win at Pocono and a runner-up finish on Monday at Watkins Glen. He sits atop the leaderboard for one of the two Wild Card spots in the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup with his two wins. A win on Sunday would all but seal-the-deal for his Chase hopes, and put the Blue Deuce in contention for a Driver’s Championship, something no other driver of the Miller Lite Dodge has ever been able to accomplish.

    Brad Keselowski will put his average finish of 27.5 at Michigan behind him this weekend and put the Blue Deuce in the Top 5 for the fifth time this season.

    On a side note, I was glad to see all the drivers involved in the horrific crashes on Monday at Watkins Glen International walk from their cars under their own power. It is really unfortunate that drivers have to find those dangerous spots on the track before the owners of the facility do, but hopefully WGI will continue to improve the safety in and around the track. I commend the track on what they’ve done so far, and am 100% certain they will investigate the incidents at the facility very closely, and institute an action plan to alleviate the dangerous situations we saw on Monday.

    Until Next Week…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!!!

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen

    Not to be outdone by the weather at Pocono last weekend, Watkins Glen International took it one step further with a full course, one day rain delay. Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Monday matinee Cup race at the Glen.

    [media-credit name=”Ed Coombs” align=”alignright” width=”245″][/media-credit]Surprising:  In a race in which he started from the pole position and clearly dominated, leading three times for a record-high 49 laps, it was surprising that Kyle Busch was not in Victory Lane yet again. The driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota took the checkered flag in the third position, one back from his runner up position at Pocono the weekend before.

    Busch lost the lead on the final restart, a green-white-checkered one at that, of the race. Known for his usually stout re-starts, Busch made a surprising mistake in Turn One, taking it just a bit wide enough to allow both Brad Keselowski and Marcos Ambrose through to the lead.

    “Just knew exactly what not to do and did it anyway,” Busch said. “I just screwed up.”

    “I felt like we were right there and had a shot to win,” Busch continued. “I knew it was going to come down to one corner and I messed it up.”

    Surprisingly, although Busch did not score the win, he did re-emerge as the co-leader in the point standings. Busch climbed two spots to tie with Carl Edwards, both atop the Chase leader board with 752 points each.

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising to see road course redemption collide with another first time winner, resulting in Marcos Ambrose, driver of the No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion, being in Victory Lane.  With his loss of the win at Sonoma due to his own error firmly behind him, Ambrose redeemed himself to become NASCAR’s fifth first-time winner of the season.

    “I’ve fought so much to get here, to finally win and be in Victory Lane is a dream come true,” Ambrose said. “To win in the Cup Series is an incredible feeling and I’m very, very proud.”

    Ambrose’s win was Richard Petty Motorsports first since 2009 when Kasey Kahne won on the road course at Infineon. Ambrose’s win officially came on his 105th Cup start.

    “It’s just a dream day,” Ambrose continued. “The sacrifices you make to be a contender in the Cup Series, to finally get to Victory Lane is a dream come true for me.”

    Surprising:  As surprising as Brad Keselowski’s ‘Iron Man’ performance was at Pocono, with his win there in spite of his broken ankle, the driver of the No. 2 ‘Blue Deuce’ pulled off an ‘Iron Man Redux’, with a runner up score at the Glen.

    “I wouldn’t say it got easier,” Keselowski said of racing with his injured ankle. “But when your car is fast, you can put a lot of stuff behind you and make it work.”

    “I think that’s about as good as the racing gets right there,” Keselowski continued. “I’m proud to be a part of it. Life is good when you have fast race cars.”

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising that the stars of several other traditionally good road racers shone at the Glen. Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, finished seventh and AJ Allmendinger, who started outside pole in his No. 43 Best Buy Ford, finished eighth.

    Allmendinger was particularly proud to not only see his Richard Petty Motorsports teammate in Victory Lane, but also took great pride in his comeback after an altercation with Kurt Busch early in the race.

    “It’s great to see Marcos in Victory Lane and it’s great for the team,” Allmendinger said. “I’m proud of my guys and proud of the way we fought back all day. The car was fast.”

    “Our Target Chevy was really good,” Juan Pablo Montoya said. “I thought we had a winning car. We were really close but it was all okay. It was a good day for us.”

    Surprising:  It was most surprising to see Boris Said and Greg Biffle channeling the fighting spirits of two other competitors, Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch. This week, instead of Johnson and Busch feuding, it was Said and Biffle who were trading paint on the track and harsh words in the garage as well.

    Said, standing in for Landon Cassill in the No. 51 Phoenix Construction/Thank A Teacher Today Security Benefit Chevrolet, was furious with the way Biffle, in his No. 16 Valvoline Ford, raced him in the waning laps, especially since Biffle was a lap down at the time.

    Said accused Biffle of ‘flipping him off’ and Biffle countered by accusing Said of causing the last race crash that sent two cars hard into the wall. After the race, the disagreement really heated up into not only harsh words but also some attempted punches.

    “He wouldn’t even let me get out of the car and he comes over and throws a few little baby punches,” Said said of Biffle. “Then when I get out, he runs away and hides behind some big guys.”

    “But he won’t hide from me long,” Said continued. “I won’t settle it out on the track. It’s not right to wreck cars.”

    “But he’ll show up at a race with a black eye one of these days.”

    Biffle, for his part, had equally strong reactions.

    “Let me tell you something,” Biffle said. “Boris, the ‘road course ringer’ caused that wreck. He did the same thing to me earlier in the race.”

    “Then ‘Mr. Class’ pulls in behind my truck after the race today,” Biffle continued. “How unprofessional and disrespectful.”

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising that the aforementioned feud between Johnson and Busch did not continue to percolate at the Glen, especially since the two drivers were nowhere near each other on the race track.

    The driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge spun early in the race and then lost his brakes on Lap 49 after a tire failure sent him hard into the wall. Busch did not finish the race, scored in the 38th position, causing him to fall two positions to sixth in the point standings.

    “I had a big problem getting into the braking zones today,” Busch said. “I had to crank eight rounds of front brake into our car just to survive.”

    “All that does is generate brake heat and I blew out the left-front tire,” Busch continued. “It was a bummer of a day.”

    Johnson, on the other hand, had a top-ten finish in his No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet. The five-time champ currently sits just six points behind Chase co-leaders Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch.

    “We had a great day,” Johnson said. “To have the pace that we did all day long, even though we weren’t up there leading, we had a very fast race car and that’s what we wanted to have here.”

    Surprising:  It was a bit surprising that a 15th place finish left NASCAR’s most popular driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and his crew chief Steve Letarte feeling so very optimistic. Both agreed that they ‘did what they had to do’ to solidify their place in the Chase, a place where Junior has not been for the past three years.

    Dale Junior, admittedly not a lover of road course racing, scored his first top-15 in six years of racing at the Glen. The driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Amp Energy Chevrolet now sits solidly in the ninth spot in the Chase standings.

    “I think we’re a good enough team to make the Chase bar none,” Earnhardt, Jr. said. “We should be able to get in there no problem.”

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising at all that the calls for safer barriers at Watkins Glen International have intensified after several very hard hits at the road course in the midst of the Finger Lakes.

    Not only did Kurt Busch hit hard into the wall, but Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, also lost his brakes and took a nasty lick head on into the tire barrels.

    “Something blew out in the left front,” Hamlin said after being checked and released from the infield care center after his hit. “I had no brakes. There was nothing you could do.”

    The worst of the hard hits, however, came in the final lap of the race where David Ragan, driver of the No. 6 UPS “We Love Logistics” Ford, wrecked hard himself and then spun into David Reutimann, behind the wheel of the No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota, sending him into the air and into the wall as well.

    Both Davids were rattled but escaped major injuries, exiting gingerly from their mangled race cars as they attempted to catch their collective breaths.

    “It’s just a product of close quarters racing at the end,” Ragan said. “I’m sore. That was a hard hit.”

    “I looked down at my feet and my pedals and my leg rests were all pushed over,” Ragan continued. “It’s a shame that a race track we go to in 2011 doesn’t have a better wall design all the way around the race track.”

    “Hopefully they’ll look at that,” Ragan said. “I’ve been to some dirt tracks that have better walls than that.”

    “This is one of the bigger hits I would say, but it’s part of the gig,” Reutimann said. “You sign up to do this stuff every once and awhile and you’re going to hit something.”

    “Overall I’m okay,” Reutimann continued. “I’m thinking where I hit would probably be a good place for SAFER barriers.”

    “I’m good and will be ready for Michigan next week.”

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Watkins Glen

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Watkins Glen

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Carl Edwards: Edwards finished a solid 12th at Watkins Glen, Roush Fenway Racing’s top finisher in Monday’s Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips At The Glen. Edwards is now tied with Kyle Busch for the lead in the Sprint Cup point standings.

    “Should I be worried that I no longer sit alone atop the point standings?” Edwards said. “Of course not. I’m NASCAR’s resident pretty boy, and like it or not, I even look good in a ‘tie.’”

    I hear Boris Said has it out for my Roush Fenway Greg Biffle. Boris said one day soon, a driver will show up at the race track with a black eye. I tend to believe him. Stranger things have happened. Heck, twice a year, a driver shows up at the track with an afro!”

    2. Kyle Busch: Busch led 49 of 92 laps at Watkins Glen and was leading on the race’s final restart with two laps to go. But both Brad Keselowski and Marcos Ambrose slipped by on the restart, and Ambrose muscled his way to the win. Busch finished third, his series-best 11th top 5 of the year, and is now tied with Carl Edwards atop the point standings.

    “M&M’s may simply melt in your mouth,” Busch said, “but apparently, leads evaporate altogether in my hands.”

    How about poor Denny Hamlin, losing his brakes on lap 66 and crashing hard into the Turn 1 wall? He’s okay, but with brake issues on top of all the engine problems he’s experienced this year, you have to believe there will be some changes with that team. I say it’s time for Viagra to return to NASCAR sponsorship, and Hamlin’s No. 11 car would be a perfect fit for a product with a proven solution to equipment failure.”

    3. Jimmie Johnson: After a week of feuding with Kurt Busch, Johnson finished 10th at Watkins Glen, scoring his 13th top-10 finish of the year. Johnson is now third in the point standings, trailing Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch by six.

    “So, Kurt Busch says he’s ‘in my head?’” Johnson said. “Well, he’s out of his mind. Now, he needs to get out of mind. Anyway, I finished 28 places better than he, which just goes to show that Kurt’s a punk, and karma’s a bitch.”

    4. Kurt Busch: After winning Saturday’s Nationwide race subbing for Penske teammate Brad Keselowski, Busch found the going much rougher during Monday’s rescheduled Sprint Cup race. Busch spun out on lap 4, then blew a tire and slammed the Turn 5 tire barrier on lap 49. He finished a disappointing 38th, and dropped two places to sixth in the point standings, 40 out of first.

    “It’s nice to know,” Busch said, “that I can get in Keselowski’s car and win a race. Especially since I, the former driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, have witnessed Brad get into my car and win. Twice.”

    At The Glen, I barely made it to the halfway point of the race. You could say I couldn’t ‘break a sweat,’ which, incidentally, is exactly what Jimmie Johnson said about my fighting ability.”

    5. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished sixth at Watkins Glen, posting his first top-10 result since Daytona on July 2nd. Harvick is now fourth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 14 behind Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch.

    “I’m certainly pleased with the result,” Harvick said. By no means am I a road course ringer. Now, if I would have been in Boris Said’s shoes, I would have been a road course wringer, because somebody would have been choked.”

    You may have seen me throw out the first pitch at the Angels-Yankees game inNew Yorklast week. One thing’s for sure: that baseball won’t get a ticket for speeding on pit lane. My incident with Kyle Busch at Darlington, coupled with my pitching skill, just goes to show that his right arm can’t hit a target, moving or otherwise.”

    6. Jeff Gordon: Gordon led six laps at Watkins Glen on his way to a 13th-place finish in the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips At The Glen. He remained seventh in the point standings and is 52 behind Carl Edwards.

    “What I finish,” Gordon said. “That last lap was a lot like a Kurt Busch radio tirade, because all ‘hell’ broke loose. And David Reutimann was much like Indy Car driver Will Power at New Hampshire—they both flipped. Of course, Power’s middle finger salute to the race officials drew a fine. I guess that’s the ‘Power’ of ‘one.’ You would never see a Sprint Cup driver flip off NASCAR officials. Not because our manners are any better than Power’s, but NASCAR officials don’t have a problem not throwing a caution. And they don’t need any rain to do it.”

    [media-credit name=”Ed Coombs” align=”alignright” width=”231″][/media-credit]7. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth suffered an early setback at Watkins Glen, running out of gas midway through the race, but fought back to come home 14th. He moved up one spot to fifth in the point standings, and is now 28 out of first.

    “Thanks to Greg Biffle for the push back to the pits after I ran out of gas,” Kenseth said. “According to Boris Said, that’s the only ‘push back’ Biffle’s good for. If Biffle does show up for an upcoming race with a black eye, then he’ll be the only ‘Said head’ who’s not a member of Boris’ fan club.”

    8. Tony Stewart: Stewart finished 27th, the last car on the lead lap, after his No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil Chevy spun and was hit by another car. Stewart fell one spot in the point standings to tenth, and is 25 ahead of Clint Bowyer in 11th.

    “I wouldn’t classify my finish as ‘Heluva Good,’” Stewart said. “I would, however, classify Boris Said’s challenge to Greg Biffle as a ‘heluva goad.’”

    9. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski nearly captured his second-consecutive win of the year, leading with one to go at Watkins Glen before Marco Ambrose bulled past him. Keselowski settled for second and further solidified his wildcard chances.

    “Ambrose is the first Australian to win a NASCAR race,” Keselowski said. “I say that’s ‘Aus-some.’ He’s establishing quite a few milestones. Last year, he became the first Australian to stall his engine while leading the race.”

    10. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt finished 15th in the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips At The Glen, joining Hendrick teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon in the top 15. Earnhardt improved one position in the Sprint Cup point standings, and is in ninth with four races before the Chase opener.

    “I like my chances to make the Chase For The Cup,” Earnhardt said, “if the Chase started tomorrow. Hopefully, I can survive these next four races and maintain my position. One thing’s for sure: I won’t be winning my way into the Chase.”

  • Marcos Ambrose Claims First Sprint Cup Series Win at Postponed Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen

    Marcos Ambrose Claims First Sprint Cup Series Win at Postponed Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen

    The rain held off and 85,000 race fans were treated to an exciting race today at Watkins Glen International. At the start, it looked as if NASCAR was trying to fit a square die in a round hole, but the showers held and all of the scheduled 90 laps (92 actually) were completed today at The Glen. All this action coming today after yesterday’s weather forced a Monday race for the second time in three years.

    [media-credit name=”Ed Coombs” align=”alignright” width=”239″][/media-credit]The Tasmanian native surged to his first NASCAR Sprint Cup series victory in dramatic fashion, surviving a wild Green-White-Checkered finish that will go down as one of the most epic two laps in The Glen’s storied history. For a second race in a row (the other coming in Saturday’s Zippo 200) the driver who led the most laps at The Glen would not come home with the race win.

    Crew Chief Todd Parrott proved his strategy for today’s race would be relatively conservative in comparison to other teams when he called Marcos Ambrose in for his first of three pit stops on the day coming at lap 17. Others like the No. 18 team of Kyle Busch, the No. 24 of Jeff Gordon, and the No. 2 of Brad Keselowski tried to stretch their fuel mileage in exchange for improved track position.

    There were really two ‘groups’ of cars today, those going conservatively and those trying to squeeze every drop of fuel from their cars in an effort to come to pit road just twice rather than three times.

    The caution flag waived just 5 times today at Watkins Glen International, four of which were created by rather violent crashes across various points on the 2.45 mile road course.

    The first caution caused by contact came past the half-way point in the race involving the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger on lap 50 when Kurt Busch’s car blew a left front tire sending him into the outside tire barrier in turn number 5.

    Kurt Busch explained the incident after climbing from his wrecked car “I had a big problem getting into the braking zones today, the rear brakes locking up. I had to crank eight rounds of front brake in our Shell/Pennzoil Dodge just to survive. All that does is generate brake heat and I blew out the left-front tire. It was just a bummer of a day and not anything that we expected. It must have been something with the brake package.” This marked Kurt Busch’s first DNF dating back to Michigan in August of 2010.

    Kyle Busch was shown as the race leader following the caution lasting for three laps, but would lose the point to limping Brad Keselowski just 5 laps after the restart.

    The second bad accident came on lap 67 when Denny Hamlin went for a ride off of the 90 degree turn number 1 at Watkins Glen International. The replay showed Hamlin’s car with the front brakes completely locked up with the rear wheels still going forward, and eventually plowing the wall in the first turn causing the wall to buckle upwards of 15 inches. The Toyota driver would later explain that something felt like it had broke in the front end causing him to drive straight through the hard right hander.

    Eventual race winner, Marcos Ambrose along with Juan Montoya had pitted just one lap prior to the caution moving them into 4th and 5th respectively behind leader Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, and Martin Truex Jr. when the green flag came back out on lap 69.

    Marcos Ambrose wasted no time after the third restart in his effort to drive to the front, zipping past Truex on lap 72 for third, and past Keselowski for second on lap 76. Ambrose whittled away at Kyle Busch’s 2.5-second lead throughout the next few laps, forcing Busch to burn more fuel to stay at the point.

    Crew Chief for the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Dave Rogers, was asked on lap 83 if the No. 18 had enough fuel to make the 30 laps he needed to take the checkered and responded “Oh, that’s going to be close, I’m more worried about the No. 9 (Ambrose) right now.”

    Dave Rogers’ prayers for a caution were answered when the second tire issue of the day caused the No. 27 of Paul Menard to smash the wall exiting the top of the esses. Menard’s car leaked fluid all the way around, almost to the entrance of turn number 10, forcing an imminent Green-White-Checkered finish.

    Under caution, the leader Kyle Busch putted around the track, shutting down his engine several times in an effort to conserve fuel for the two lap dash that would make up the finish of the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen. Ambrose had 4 laps more fuel than Busch, so the No. 18 knew Ambrose would be charging hard on the final restart to overtake him.

    The stage was set for the final restart with Kyle Busch in the lead, Ambrose starting to his left in second, Brad Keselowski starting inside row 2, Martin Truex Jr. in fourth, and Juan Montoya in fifth.

    The race would go green for the final time on lap 91, with Kyle Busch hammering down towards the hard right hand turn number 1. Marcos Ambrose faltered on the restart, spinning his tires just before the start/finish line, giving room for Brad Keselowski and Truex to become a threat in the race. Busch drove his Toyota Camry too hard into turn 1, going sideways at the exit, giving way for Keselowski to sneak by on the inside.

    Kyle Busch had this to say about his slip up in turn 1 “Just knew exactly what not to do and did it anyway. Just got in there and didn’t think I got in there too fast, but the car just didn’t slow down the way I needed it to and then it didn’t turn the way I needed it to. Saw sprinkles on the windshield, but everybody else made it fine through there. I just screwed up.”

    Keselowski maintained the lead all the way up the esses, down the backstretch, and through the bus stop chicane. Ambrose would make his move on the Blue Deuce in the carousel turn, sneaking past Keselowski on his right. Once Ambrose got to the point halfway through lap 91, there was no turning back. He was absolutely flawless for the next lap through the 11 turns that make up the short course at WGI.

    The final caution would come on lap 92, ending the race and putting Marcos Ambrose in Victory Lane for the first time as a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver. Heavy contact between the No. 6 of David Ragan and No. 00 of David Reutimann caused the caution to fly just as the field made their way through the first part of the esses in turn number 2. The crash was the most vicious one of the day, leaving Reutimann on his roof and Ragan with safety concerns about the track at Watkins Glen.

    “That was a hard hit. I looked down at my feet and my pedals and my leg rests were all pushed over. It’s a shame that a race track we go to in 2011 doesn’t have a better wall design all the way around the race track, so hopefully they’ll look at that. I’ve been to some dirt tracks that have better walls than that. It was a hard hit, but our cars are safe.”
    Said David Ragan, following his trip to the Infield Care Center.

    Race winner Marcos Ambrose has no concerns with the safety at Watkins Glen “The track itself is a first-class facility. It’s a great race track. I think they’ve done an awesome job in some of the safety features they’ve already implemented around this place. I don’t drive around this place looking at any one spot saying, ‘Ooooh, that looks nasty to me.’ I think they’ve done great with what they’ve got. If you don’t have a guard rail off of turn two, you end up going down a bank, so that’s not good either. I think the track itself is fine, I think we just have to keep working on safety…But I think the track is a classic road racing circuit. You don’t want to make it too sterile. You’ve got to have bumps and lumps and change of camber and roughness and all that kind of stuff that makes it what it is.”

    Ambrose’s win today marks the 5th different First-Time Winner in the Sprint Cup Series this year, and it’s the first win for Ford at Watkins Glen since Geoff Bodine’s win at The Glen in 1996.

    Marcos elaborated on his win in Victory Lane just before 1PM today “I’ve sacrificed so much to get here and to finally win and be here in Victory Lane in the Cup Series is a dream come true. I flew the kids home yesterday. It was the little one’s first day at school. I was desperate to be there for her and this kind of makes up for it. I’ve just got to thank the Richard Petty Motorsports team, Stanley, DeWalt, everybody involved. Mrs. Petty is not doing so well at home. We wish her the best. This win is for her and the whole Petty family. Richard and everyone else who gave me the chance, thank you very much. Winning in the Cup Series for Stanley is just an incredible feeling and I’m very, very proud.”

    The rest of the top 5:

    battered Brad Kesolowski – 2nd

    3rd-Kyle Busch

    4th-Martin Truex Jr.

    5th-Joey Logano

    Kyle Busch leaves Watkins Glen tied for the points lead after a 12th place finish from Carl Edwards. Jimmie Johnson dropped one spot to 3rd following his 10th place finish at The Glen.

     

  • The ‘smaller the better’ believes Kurt Busch about the Chase and Penske success

    The ‘smaller the better’ believes Kurt Busch about the Chase and Penske success

    There are five races left before the Chase for the Sprint Cup gets underway in Chicago but Penske Racing wouldn’t mind if it started this weekend.

    Their two drivers, Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski, are climbing through the point standings and charging for the win every weekend. Keselowski scored his second win last Sunday in Pocono and Busch has also been in victory lane this season.

    [media-credit id=24 align=”alignright” width=”224″][/media-credit]Just a few weeks ago it appeared Busch would be the only Penske driver in the Chase but Keselowski has come on strong and now has a chance at the wildcard. Saturday morning in Watkins Glen Busch had kind words about his teammates turnaround.

    “I felt like Brad’s intensity for that Nationwide car really kept him back a little bit last year,” said Busch. “But that was the focus, to bring that championship home and continue to build on the Cup side. So to see him settle in with Paul [Wolfe] and where they are as a team is great.”

    Keselowski and Wolfe won the NNS championship last season for Penske Racing, but on the Cup Series side Keselowski struggled. He finished 25th in points with crew chief Jay Guy and the No. 12 team. Team owner Roger Penske made changes, cutting down his organization to just to two teams from three.

    Sam Hornish Jr. was the odd man out due to lack of sponsorship. Keselowski moved into the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge that had been driven by Busch and Wolfe was promoted to the Cup Series. Busch moved into the No. 22 Shell / Pennzoil Dodge and wit that the company set out for Daytona.

    Busch won two of the three races during Speedweeks, missing out on the points-paying Daytona 500. Keselowski won a fuel mileage race in Kansas followed by a Busch victory in Sonoma. Keselowski’s triumph in Pocono moved him to 18th in points while Busch moved to fourth after finishing third.

    Lately, it’s been all about Busch and Keselowski as Penske has both teams running and succeeding equally. Except for one area where Keselowski’s team has the advantage.

    “Their pit crew on the No. 2 car is hands down faster than the No. 22 this year,” said Busch. “Those guys have that desire, youthful exuberance, to go out and to try different things and find it. Right now they’re putting it together. My team needs to feed off of that and find the groove the next few weeks to be that championship leader within the Penske team.”

    This weekend at the Glen Busch will be attempting to sweep the road course events. Keselowski, while trying to win his third race of the year, will be working to remain in the top 20 in points in order to be eligible for the wildcard. Keselowski won’t be racing in Saturday’s NNS race as he still heals his broken ankle.

    Busch though is already looking forward to the Chase and the likelihood that Keselowski will be apart of it. With the newly reformed Penske Racing it would mean the organization put both their cars in the Chase and best part is that they are both competitive.

    Something that’s hard to do as Hendrick Motorsports found in 2009 when their cars finished 1-3 in points and the other finished 25th. The same has happened to Roush Fenway and Richard Childress Racing. Every NASCAR organization has fought the battle of trying to make sure every driver and team is running to par.

    “It’s just more hard work from those fabricators in the shop,” Busch said about multiple cars in the Chase. “Last year we made the Chase, Brad didn’t. If there was a car that was built off of new specs and went to the wind tunnel and showed brand new numbers, obviously it would go to the championship running team.”

    Or another example, “If you have a new car that is built and it spits out these great numbers and you have to have it this next week at Charlotte, we need to have two now,” said Busch. “Maybe if I was going to run my car at Charlotte, then he would get that car and I would get the new one based off of where we are in points.”

    In 2004-2005 when Busch was still driving for Roush Fenway there was a year where they had all five cars in the Chase. Busch revealed it became almost chaotic about which drivers were getting which cars as everyone tired to get their team the best parts.

    “We had cars going everywhere,” Busch said. “We had people pulling ropes like it was tug-o-war trying to get the best pieces for them. I remember winning the Loudon race the year that I won the championship and Mark Martin wanted that car for Phoenix. Where do we stand?”

    Busch was torn because while he was running higher in the point standings, he felt Martin as the veteran was supposed to be running at championship level. “It gets very difficult when you have a lot of cars in the Chase,” he said.

    Penske Racing shouldn’t have the same problem. First though, Busch and Keselowski must make it to the Chase before the company has to start worrying about news cars and parts, which Busch doesn’t see happening.

    “Luckily at Penske Racing we have the facility and the people to crank out good new equipment if something comes up,” he said.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Good Sam RV Insurance 500 at Pocono

    On a weekend where the patriarch of Pocono Raceway, Doc Mattioli, dramatically announced his retirement and sporadic rain made both the NASCAR Camping World Truck race and the ARCA Series race two-day events, it was no wonder that there was drama aplenty in the 38th Annual Good Sam RV Insurance 500.

    [media-credit id=43 align=”alignright” width=”230″][/media-credit]Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Long Pond, Pennsylvania track known affectionately as the ‘Tricky Triangle’.

    Surprising:  Although known for his victory lap celebrations displaying a large American flag, it was surprising how the race winner put aside both the celebration and the pain of his broken ankle to patriotically pay tribute to the lives of the troops lost this weekend.

    Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, climbed gingerly from his race car after taking the checkered flag to pay tribute to the Navy Seals and all who protect the country.

    “I’m no hero,” Keselowski said. “The heroes are the guys that died in Afghanistan this weekend. And I want to spend time thinking about them.”

    “I have a cousin in the Navy Seals,” Keselowski said. “It was really inspirational to me.  That’s what it means to man up.”

    “They were my inspiration for this weekend,” Keselowski continued. “I’m glad that we could win today but those are the heroes. I just drive race cars.”

    This was Keselowski’s third victory in 74 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races and his second victory in the 2011 season. This was also Keselowski’s first victory at Pocono Raceway.

    Not Surprising:  With Keselowski’s set up in his car, it was no surprise that his teammate Kurt Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Dodge, finished third. This was Busch’s 12th top-10 finish in 22 races at Pocono Raceway.

    Although Kurt Busch did everything he could after the race to deflect the attention, it was also not surprising that he had the most significant altercation in the race, on and off the track. Busch got into it with five-time champ Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, as the two battled for position late in the race.

    “Today was definitely a hard fought battle,” Busch said. “We were hanging on to it at the end. And I brought her home third.”

    “We had a good battle all day, especially at the end with the 48,” Busch said. “We’ve had our battles and a lot of times I come out on the short end of the stick. But what I saw today was good hard racing.”

    “That’s what race fans love to see, that’s what they bought this ticket for, that’s what they’re sitting in the grandstands, rooting on their favorite driver for to see him get out there, mix it up clean, and bring it home, just like what we were third and fourth.”

    Surprising:  At a track the he admittedly does not do well at and after spinning in the early laps of the race, as well as being penalized for pitting too soon, it was surprising to see the other Busch brother, Kyle, finish in the runner up position. This was the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota driver’s fifth top-10 finish in four races at Pocono but his 13th top-10 finish in 2011.

    “The guys were flawless this weekend,” Busch said. “We worked real hard at it and it was fast.”

    “That last caution killed us,” Busch continued. “I was really hoping to see it go green the rest of the way. Our car was fast out front.”

    “All in all, it was a great day to come in second at one of my worst tracks.”

    This was the second race of the day in which Busch finished second. He was also the bridesmaid to Kevin Harvick in the Camping World Truck Series race, held over due to the rain.

    Not Surprising:  Speaking of weather, it was not surprising to see it impact the race, which ended up being was halted for a rain delay lasting one hour, 40 minutes and 46 second. Principal among those drivers who suffered the consequences of the precipitation was pole sitter Joey Logano.

    The driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet not only started the race in front but was in the lead when the rains came pouring down. In spite of doing every rain dance possible, Pocono Raceway got the track dry and the race resumed. Logano, however, did not resume well,  struggling after the race restart, cutting a right rear tire down late in the race and finishing 26th.

    “We just had a flat,” Greg Zipadelli, Logano’s crew chief, said. “You can’t predict that.”

    Surprising:  Teammates Brian Vickers, driver of the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, and Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota Camry, had their hopes for a good race weekend surprisingly dashed at the ‘Tricky Triangle.’

    Vickers suffered an engine failure early in the race and suffered his first DNF since Talladega, officially finishing 39th.

    “We lost an engine,” Vickers said dejectedly. “It was tough. I think we had a good car.”

    “We just haven’t had things go our way.”

    Teammate Kahne also did not have things go his way. He got into a late race collision with Juan Pablo Montoya and finished 28th.

    “We started the weekend off pretty strong,” Kahne said. “But in the race we just were behind.”

    “It definitely wasn’t what I expected, especially for a team that’s run so well here in the past.”

    Not Surprising:  Since Jeff Gordon  won the June 12th Pocono race, it was not surprising to see him power his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet back from a qualifying encounter with the wall to finish top ten in the August 7th Pocono race.

    “I’m happy with our finish considering were we started, deep in the field,” Gordon said.

    It was also not surprising that his fellow Hendrick Motorsports teammates had good finishes as well, with Jimmie Johnson in fourth, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in 9th and Mark Martin in 13th.

    “We had a good car all day long and I’m real happy how that worked out,” Dale Earnhardt, Jr. said.

    Surprising:  With all the focus on ‘Iron Man’ Keselowski for gutting out his win and the new feud brewing between five-time champion Jimmie Johnson and one-time champion Kurt Busch, the driver of the No. 27 Certain Teed/Menards Chevrolet went surprisingly unnoticed.

    Yet Paul Menard followed up his surprising win from last week at the Brickyard with a tenth place finish at Pocono.

    “It was a good follow-up to last week’s win,” Menard said. “We fought hard for this top-10 finish.”

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising that the three turns of Pocono wreaked havoc with many drivers, most significantly the driver of the No. 6 UPS Ford. David Ragan brought out the second caution early in the race when he spun, heavily damaging the back end of his car.

    “I was probably a little too aggressive this early in the race,” Ragan said. “I ran out of race track and didn’t have enough room to chase it.”

    With his 34th place finish, David Ragan not surprisingly became NASCAR’s biggest loser, plummeting three positions in the point standings to 19th, all but shattering his Chase hopes.

    Surprising:  There were a surprising number of lead changes, however, they were primarily due to green flag pit stops and not passing on the track. Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, had the lead four times for 65 laps and yet, in spite of that, still finished a surprisingly poor 15th at a track where he has excelled in the past.

    Not Surprising:  Given the intensity of the restarts, especially on the long Pocono straightaway, it was not surprising to see yet another driver get bit by a changing lanes before the start-finish line penalty. Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M/811 Ford, was assessed a pass through penalty, yet was able to learn from his mistakes, overcome it, and rebound to finish 8th.

     

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Pocono

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Carl Edwards: Edwards finished seventh at Pocono, just days after signing a multi-year contract extension with Roush Fenway Racing, leading two laps on the way to his 13th top-10 result of the year. He remains atop the Sprint Cup point standings, and leads Jimmie Johnson by 11.

    “Jack Roush went ‘all in,’” Edwards said. “Now, he’s ‘all out,’ and I’m a very rich and happy man. He made me an offer I couldn’t refuse, and I put my name on the dotted line. That’s called a ‘dollar sign.’”

    [media-credit id=43 align=”alignright” width=”226″][/media-credit]But how about that finish in Saturday’s Nationwide Series U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway, in which I crashed into and pushed Ricky Stenhouse’s car across the finish line. What a great time for Nationwide insurance to push their ‘accident forgiveness’ promotion.”

    2. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson posted his seventh top-5 finish of the year, taking fourth in the Good Sam RV Insurance 500 at Pocono. Johnson and Kurt Busch scrapped for third place during the final laps, and after the race, the two exchanged words and had to be separated by their crews. Johnson is second in the point standings, 11 behind Carl Edwards.

    “Kurt Busch is a lot like a cosmetic surgeon’s scalpel,” Johnson said. “He really knows how to get under your skin. Lucky for him, I have compassion for a driver whose personal life is obviously in turmoil. Kurt is just a few weeks removed from marital breakup; I didn’t want him to get ‘dumped’ again, so I held back.”

    It’s true that Kurt and I had to be separated by our crews. And it’s also true that Kurt and I are separated by four Sprint Cup championships.”

    3. Kyle Busch: Busch chased Brad Keselowski down the stretch at Pocono, but was unable to catch the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, falling short of his fourth win of the year and instead settling for the runner-up spot. Busch improved one spot in the point standings and is now 16 out of first.

    “In a footrace,” Busch said, “the result would have surely been different. But let’s give Keselowski credit for dealing with the pain, and by ‘pain’ I don’t mean his teammate, and my brother, Kurt Busch. Brad puts the ‘Ow!’ in Keselowski.”

    4. Kurt Busch: Busch outdueled Jimmie Johnson for third at Pocono, banging doors down the stretch in a battle that continued after the race. Busch and Johnson argued vehemently after the race and had to be pulled apart by their respective crews. Busch improved two spots in the point standings to fourth and is now 14 out of first.

    “They say the No. 48 crew is one of NASCAR’s best,” Busch said. “I agree. Not only did they keep Johnson out of trouble, they also did the same for me, because without their intervention, I likely would have been punched.”

    But I refuse to back down from Johnson. And I’ll tell him that. I’ll speak my mind, and say to him the same thing I would say to my most bitter rival, or my car owner, or the former Penske technical director. I have a dirty mind, and I’m not afraid to speak it.”

    5. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished a mediocre 14th at Pocono, his fourth-consecutive finish outside the top-10. Since winning atCharlotte in late May, Harvick’s best finish is a fifth, and while he’s still considered a championship contender, he needs to rekindle his winning ways before the Chase starts.

    “I’ve got three wins on the year,” Harvick said, “and not much else lately. It’s known around here as the Harvick ‘win or else’ strategy.”

    But if I need a good kick in the behind, recent history tells us that Richard  Childress is probably good for it.”

    6. Jeff Gordon: Gordon overcame a poor qualifying effort, starting 31st, on the way to a solid finish of sixth at Pocono, his tenth top-10 result of the year. He remained seventh in the Sprint Cup point standings, and is 52 out of first.

    “Did you see the size of Brad Keselowski’s broken left ankle?” Gordon said. “With that being said, let me congratulate him on such a ‘swell’ victory.”

    7. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth faced handling issues and faltering brakes at Pocono, yet recovered late in the race to finish 16th. Kenseth fell one spot in the point standings to sixth, and is now 26 behind Carl Edwards.

    “What’s the significance of Jack Roush’s lucrative offer to Carl Edwards here at Roush Fenway?” Kenseth asked. “Well, it means there’s at least one person who wants Carl around.”

    8. Tony Stewart: Stewart finished 11th in the Good Sam RV Insurance 500, following Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Ryan Newman, who finished fifth, across the line at Pocono. Stewart overcame a flat tire early in the race, falling a lap down, before rallying to nearly crack the top 10.

    “Let’s hear it for Brad Keselowski,” Stewart said. “The guts it must take to not only drive, but win, with a broken foot. It appears nothing can stop young Keselowski, except a wall at Road Atlanta.”

    9. Ryan Newman: Newman finished fifth at Pocono, scoring his seventh top-5 result of the year. He remained eighth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 62 out of first and a well-cushioned 40 point edge over Denny Hamlin in 11th.

    “I imagine Brad Keselowski had to be gentle with his broken left ankle,” Newman said. “For that kind of courage, Tony Stewart and I commend him. That’s something I think neither Tony nor I would be able to do, because, as our personalities suggest, we’ve never ‘pussy-footed’ around anything.”

    10. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski took an unlikely victory, winning at Pocono despite a broken left ankle suffered in a scary crash at Road Atlanta on Monday. Keselowski zoomed past Kyle Busch on a lap 185 restart and held off Busch over the final 15 laps. It was Keselowski’s second victory of the year, and placed him in prime position to claim a Chase For The Cup wildcard spot.

    “I guess it’s now a good thing to be called a ‘wildcard,’” Keselowski said. “Sure, my win at Pocono was a surprising one. Surprising not because a driver won with a broken foot. Surprising because a driver was taking legal pain killers.”

  • The Story At Pocono…No Guts No Glory!

    The Story At Pocono…No Guts No Glory!

    Pocono, home of mountains, endangered ducks, heart shaped bath tubs, and the location of the latest victory for a very very gutsy young man named Brad Keselowski.

    [media-credit name=”Kirk Schroll” align=”alignright” width=”273″][/media-credit]The Good Sam RV Insurance 500 was delayed by rain for 90 minutes. For 90 minutes, Joey Logano and his crew chief Zippy did the rain dance. They would have probably sacrificed small cut out crew chief effigies had they been able to get them for it to continue raining. But it didn’t. And when the green flag fell again it was Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch showing the way.

    A late race caution as a result of contact between Juan Pablo Montoya and Kasey Kahne would set up the final plays of the race. It would be the Blue Deuce up against the M&M’s Toyota of Kyle Busch and the No. 48 of 5 time and reigning Champ Jimmie Johnson. Johnson dove to the bottom of the track making it three wide and challenging for the lead into one. But the Blue Deuce would hold him off and Kyle Busch would hold his ground, leaving the 48 to slip back to 3rd and ultimately 4th. Once the nose of the Miller Lite Dodge Charger cleared into clean air it was smooth sailing. Well as smooth as it can be with a driver with a broken left ankle and multiple bruises lacerations and incredible back pain.

    Brad Keselowski proved he was everything and more that his mentor, Dale Earnhardt Jr., thought he was back in 2007 when he signed him to drive his Nationwide Series Car full time. Keselowski never looked back then and he never looked back today. For that matter even with the painful reminder of the broken ankle that had to be drained of fluid and blood during the red flag, he never looked back to Road Atlanta where he broke the ankle hitting a non safer barrier on Wednesday.

    In victory lane, Keselowski showed he had more than just a lot of guts, he also had humility. “I am no hero. Heroes are those guys that died in Afghanistan yesterday. I just drive race cars. This win is for them.”

    3 Time Champion Darrell Waltrip, tweeted about the young driver, “If you think you can, you will, if you think you can’t, you won’t! Great drivers rise above adversity, matter a fact, they thrive on it!”

    Keselowski earned that victory. Flat out. He and his team worked for it. He claimed it, and he then he dedicated to people he felt were more deserving of hero status than he was.

    But in the celebration something was over looked. Something that perhaps NASCAR was glad was over looked, the failure of the series to protect the drivers in accordance with its Driver Safety First initiative.

    The driver safety first policy has brought us a lot of incredible things that have made the sport safer for the drivers, S.A.F.E.R. barriers for one. As a matter of fact those barriers are so important that Steve O’Donnell of NASCAR told me, “We don’t race on tracks without S.A.F.E.R. barriers.”

    They may not race on tracks without them but teams are forced to test on tracks that don’t have them. Teams are forced to go to these tracks and test because of the no testing rule put in place in 2008 by NASCAR.

    NASCAR said at the time that it was a cost containment measure that was requested by the team owners. Yet the teams continue to test at tracksthat are outside of the watchful eye of NASCAR.

    A lack of testing has lead to a decrease in competition according to Tony Stewart and Rusty Wallace. Both of whom are past champions and team owners in the sport.

    With the current situation of empty seats and follow the leader racing one has to ask what is being gained here. There is no cost containment when the teams test anyway. There is no cost containment when they spend millions of dollars on computer programs and engineers to create ways of getting around the testing ban.

    It’s not bad enough that the drivers have an increased chance of getting hurt for the sake of being competitive on the race track. Once they do get injured they put others at risk by driving injured. In the protective boot, Keselowski could not work the brakes and clutch the way he needed to because he couldn’t feel the pedal. It was illustrated when he slid through his pit box on the first pit stop of the day.

    Other situations of drivers hurt but that raced anyway include, Denny Hamlin following Knee surgery during an off week, Kyle Petty with a femur fracture, Mark Martin with an injured leg, Ken Schrader in a flap jacket that impaired movement, and the biggest Dale Earnhardt with a broken vertebra in his neck. These are not the only examples but they are some of the most vivid.

    It’s time for NASCAR to look at the big picture. If you are going to put driver’s safety first that means it’s always first. That means that you can’t look the other direction when teams go to test for Watkins Glen at Road Atlanta and a young rising star hits a concrete steel reinforced wall without a S.A.F.E.R. barrier and then is dependant on two other drivers to assist him from the car because they reached him before the safety team did.

    You can not claim safety first when you allow an injured and obviously impaired driver to compete. You can not claim safety first when teams must test to be competitive and yet you prevent them from testing where the testing would be done at the most up to date tracks with modern safety features. You can not claim safety first when they can not test where the testing would be the most beneficial to all at the track they are going to race at.

    If teams were allowed to test at the track they were going to race at, it would improve the competition on that track. If the competition improved at places like California, Pocono and Sonoma for example, perhaps their ticket sales and TV ratings would go up. It’s a win/win situation.

    If the teams were allowed to test at the track they were going to race on the information from the car’s black box would not be lost for other teams also competing on that same track when there is a serious accident. But because Keselowski’s wreck was not a NASCAR sanctioned track that information is available to the team involved and it’s drivers and engineers only.

    So why is it, NASCAR continues to hold to a policy that is in itself a giant loop hole? Why do they continue to hold to a policy that is at best ineffective at accomplishing the task it was meant to accomplish?

    This is the second safety issue within the last two weeks within NASCAR’s upper echelon of competition. In both cases the drivers were lucky to escape with their lives. It’s time for NASCAR to become proactive and not reactive. It is the policy of wait and see and if it happens to be retired. It is time for NASCAR to live up to the promises and policies they already have in place and to change the outdated ones that don’t work. If for no other reason than the world has lost enough heroes and champions, we don’t need to lose anymore.

    ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * * * * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

    Congratulations to Ricky Stenhouse Jr on his Nationwide Victory in Iowa. The quote of the week came from the NNS broadcast when Ken Schrader commented on Stenhouse Jr being upset with team mate Carl Edwards, “We used to get turned over and on fire before we got mad, now it takes a tire donut”.  Which leads us to the reminder that racing is still a full contact sport.

    Congratulations to Kevin Harvick on his Camping World Truck Series Victory in Pocono.

    Congratulations to Brad Keselowski on his victory in the Sprint Cup Series Race at Pocono. It was an inspiring and gutsy show of why fans look at their favorite driver as a hero. It is also the perfect illustration of drivers as athletes.

    That said, to all the competitors in all the series thanks for giving us everything you have to give, you are our heroes. Most importantly, thanks to all the families who shared their loved ones with us so we could cheer our favorite driver and favorite teams. You are the true heroes of the sport and we are forever in your debt.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Brickyard 400 at Indy

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Brickyard 400 at Indy

    With Big Machine Records as the presenting sponsor, the Indy pre-race festivities were destined to feature artists such as Reba McIntire and Rascal Flatts performing ‘America the Beautiful’ and the national anthem respectively, as well as CEO Scott Borchetta waving the green flag for the race start.

    [media-credit name=”Adam Lovelace” align=”alignright” width=”245″][/media-credit]Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 18th annual Brickyard 400 presented by BigMachineRecords.com:

    Surprising:  In spite of leading the race at the halfway point, clicking off a position a lap in the final twelve laps of the race, and being the only car assured of finishing the race with enough fuel, it was surprising that the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, Jeff Gordon did not win the race.

    Gordon did, however, come in a solid second, improving his point standings to being just 52 points behind leader Carl Edwards. This was Gordon’s 14th top 10 finish in 18 races at Indianapolis Speedway and his ninth top-10 finish in 2011.

    “Oh my goodness what a day,” Gordon said. “I am so proud of this Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet team. I mean they were just flawless.”

    “It was all we could do to put pressure on those guys and hope they would run out,” Gordon said of his battle with those in danger of running out of fuel. “I passed all of them but one.”

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising that the one that Gordon could not get past was a driver with a family history as storied as the Brickyard itself. Dedicating the win to his father John, Paul Menard, driver of the No. 27 NIBCO/Menards Chevrolet won his first ever NASCAR race at the track where he had been coming with his family since he was a youngster.

    “You know I’ve been coming here since I was a kid and my Daddy has been trying to win this race for 35 years,” Menard said. “So this is for my Dad.”

    “I can’t believe we won Indy,” Menard continued. “This is just a really special place for my family and myself.”

    Menard made a little history at the Brickyard himself, becoming the first driver to win his first career race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This is also the first Indy win in a Menard’s sponsored race car.

    This is Menard’s sixth top-10 finish in 2011 and his first top-10 finish in five races at Indy. He also became the fourth different first-time winner for the 2011 NASCAR season.

    Surprising:  One of the biggest surprises of the day was how many drivers pitted under green for fuel directly after a restart towards the end of the race. One of those drivers who did just that was NASCAR’s favorite son Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in his No. 88 Amp Energy/National Guard Chevrolet.

    Junior’s fuel strategy did not, however, play to his advantage. He finished 16th and dropped one more position in the point standings to tenth, just barely maintaining Chase contention status.

    “You don’t want to be hanging around out there on the race track when everybody else is already inside a fuel window,” Earnhardt, Jr. said. “So, yeah I can understand why it turned out like it did.”

    Not Surprising:  Since the Brickyard is considered one of the ‘big’ races on the NASCAR schedule, it was not surprising that two drivers who have won ‘big’ races in the past had good runs. Regan Smith, behind the wheel of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet and winner of the Darlington Showtime Southern 500, scored the third place finish and Jamie McMurray, Daytona 500 and defending winner of the Brickyard 400 last year, took fourth in his No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet.

    “It was a great run for the Furniture Row Chevy and my guys worked their butts off all weekend,” Smith said. “This is not a great track for me, so I am happy and if I couldn’t win, the guy in Victory lane is my best friend on the circuit and I can’t wait to congratulate him.”

    “We got a little bit lucky today,” McMurray said. “We’ve had a tough year and a lot of things go wrong and a lot of bad luck. So, it’s very nice to have good luck and a good finish.”

    Surprising:  In spite of an uncertain future for 2012, with his ride for Rick Hendrick ending at the end of the season, Mark Martin in his No. 5 Quaker State/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet pulled off a surprisingly good top-10 finish.

    Martin took the checkered flag at the Brickyard in eighth place, advancing his point standings by two spots up to the 18th position.

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising that the winner of the final Nationwide race at Lucas Oil Raceway continued his great weekend run over at the Brickyard. Brad Keselowski, behind the wheel of the Blue Deuce, finished top-10.

    “It was kind of an up-and-down day for the Miller Lite Dodge,” Keselowski said of his ninth place run. “At the three-quarter part of the race, I thought we were going to win the Brickyard.”

    “It just didn’t quite work out, but we made our car faster throughout the day and I was proud of that.”

    Surprising:  Even Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota, surprised himself by battling not only track position and fuel strategy but also a tussle with Tony Stewart in the pits to attain a top-10 finish.

    “I definitely had no idea that the day would be so ugly, but yet come out of it smelling like a rose I guess,” Busch said. “We worked our butts of this whole weekend trying to get something out of nothing.”

    Not Surprising:  In spite of a crew chief change, Jeff Burton, RCR veteran and NASCAR statesman, continued his downward spiral. Burton finished 35th in his No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet.

    “We had a little miscommunication on pit road,” Burton said. “The radios blanked out and I couldn’t hear him (Burton’s new crew chief Luke Lambert). I drove by pit road and it just put us in a hole the rest of the day.”

    “We were fast but we just had a lot of crap go on.”

    Surprising:  With so many media pundits predicting a victory at Indy, it was surprising to see how badly Indy 500 champ Juan Pablo Montoya finished. JPM, piloting his No. 42 Target Chevrolet, finished 28th.

    “It sucks when you run good all day,” Montoya said. “We unloaded really bad but at the end, we were a really competitive car.”

    “Right now it’s all about looking at the future.”

    Not Surprising:  After their one, two finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, it was not surprising to see the two drivers of Stewart Haas Racing have another fairly good day.  Tony Stewart, piloting the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet overcame adversity on the track and on pit road to finish sixth.

    Stewart’s teammate Ryan Newman, behind the wheel of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet, also had a decent day, finishing 12th. Both drivers maintained their positions solidly in the top ten in the point standings.

    “I just fought for everything I could get all day,” Stewart said. “We didn’t have the best car by any means.”

    “Whatever you get here, you appreciate it because you had to earn it,” Stewart continued. “You don’t get anything free here.”

  • Brad Keselowski Captures Unexpected Win at Lucas Oil Raceway

    Brad Keselowski Captures Unexpected Win at Lucas Oil Raceway

    [media-credit name=”Adam Lovelace” align=”alignright” width=”245″][/media-credit]After starting on the pole and leading 189 laps of the Kroger 200 Nationwide Series race at Lucas Oil Raceway Saturday night, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. could almost taste the win. But with Brad Keselowski in the picture nothing is certain.

    After a green-white-checkered restart, Keselowski wasted no time in overtaking leader Stenhouse Jr. and blasted across the finish line for his second win this season in the Nationwide Series.

    “It’s a very special win being from Michigan,” Keselowski said. “I’ve been coming to this race track for years. I’ve been to victory lane as a team guy and a mechanic but never a driver. It’s so special to win here and win here in a Dodge.”

    The majority of the race was tame with Roush Fenway Racing teammates, Stehnouse Jr. Carl Edwards and Trevor Bayne leading the pack.  Elliot Sadler who started the race in last position and rookie Austin Dillon were also looking strong as the race began winding down.

    The action became more heated towards the end of the race. Things began to go badly for Carl Edwards after a caution on lap 175 for a wreck involving Steve Wallace, Michael Annett and Tim Andrews. Edwards was penalized for exiting too fast off of pit road. He slowly worked his way back towards the front but the penalty cost him a shot at the win.

    Dillon did not pit and restarted the race in first position, followed by Stenhouse Jr., Bayne, Sadler and McDowell. But Dillon didn’t keep the lead long and was quickly passed by Stehnouse Jr. and Bayne advanced to second place.

    But with only twelve laps to go, Bayne suffered a blown engine, bringing out another caution.

    More chaos ensued when Justin Allgaier, who had made his way into the second position, had a brake fire which forced him off the track.

    Because the drivers had already lined up for the restart, the NASCAR rule which states that drivers must stay in their lanes, went into effect.

    This moved Brad Keselowski, who had been behind Allagaier in fourth, up to the second position.

    Keselowski, who had been mid-pack for much of the race, was now in a position to make something happen.

    On the restart, Keselowski quickly made his move, forcing Stenhouse Jr. high and taking the lead.

    The race was under green for only two laps when Elliot Sadler spun out, collecting his teammate Austin Dillon, and ending their hopes for a top five finish.

    Finally, on lap 202, the race was underway again but Keselowski held onto the lead to capture the victory.

    After the race, Stenhouse Jr. was obviously disappointed saying, “It’s frustrating. I’ve been working on my restarts all year, but it got us tonight. Our car was pretty fast, but you couldn’t say it was dominant since we didn’t win the race.”

    However, Keselowski gave Stenhouse Jr. credit for having the car to beat.

    “I had a great short-run car that could give Ricky a run for his money.  If the race was two or three laps longer, I’m sure Ricky would have drove around us.”

    James Buescher finished in second place with Stenhouse Jr., Aric Almirola and Carl Edwards rounding out the top five.

    Stenhouse Jr. leads the points standings in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, followed by Reed Sorenson, Elliot Sadler, Justin Allgaier and Aric Almirola.