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Surprising and Not Surprising: Darlington Showtime Southern 500

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”283″][/media-credit]Honoring one of NASCAR’s most historic race tracks, as well as celebrating their mothers, NASCAR’s most elite drivers battled the track dubbed as “too tough to tame.”

Here is what was surprising and not surprising for the Showtime Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway this Mother’s Day weekend.

Surprising: With his mother Lee unable to accompany him due to her work with animals impacted by the tornados in Alabama, a most surprised and emotional Regan Smith, driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet, finally got that elusive first Cup win.

Smith led just eleven laps during the race. The 27 year old driver had his fastest lap at the end when it counted, just barely holding off a hard-charging Carl Edwards.

With his voice choking and tears dotting his cheeks, Smith sincerely thanked his crew chief and his team for enabling him to finally achieve his dream to win a race.

“I can’t believe it, you guys,” Smith said. “This is the Southern 500. We’re not supposed to win this thing.”

“This race is so special and so meaningful,” Smith continued. “We were standing there looking at the names and the faces on the trophy, and you think, ‘My face is going to be there right next to these guys, and it’ll be there forever.’”

Not Surprising: After attending to the birth of his second child, son Michael, it was not surprising that Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 60 Aflac Ford for Roush Fenway Racing, continued his big week with a runner up finish at Darlington.

“First of all, congratulations to Regan,” Edwards said graciously. “I’m sure that will feel good tomorrow, but right now, I wanted to win that race.”

“I guess if I had to get beat, it’s all right to get beat by him,” Edwards continued. “We’re leading the points so we’ll just go to the next one.”

Surprising: At the track where getting the infamous ‘Darlington stripe’ is more a question of when not if, it was surprising to see the number of problems on pit road instead of on the track.

Several drivers had a tough time getting into their pit stalls, including Dale Earnhardt, Jr., driver of the No. 88 Amp Energy Sugar Free/National Guard Chevrolet, who just nicked the commitment cone coming in for his pit stop.

Martin Truex, Jr., in the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, also had trouble getting to his pit box. Yet Truex was trumped by Paul Menard, driver of the No. 27 Turtle Wax/Menards Chevrolet, who spun into the pits ending up head first into his stall.

Four-time champion Jeff Gordon, this week in his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, also experienced pit difficulties, dragging his gas man almost out of the pit stall on exit.

His Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson was unlucky in his pit stall as well, hanging a lug nut on the No. 48 Lowes/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, and having to return to pit road for repairs.

Not Surprising: While it was not surprising that the ‘Lady in Black’ brought out the dark side of many drivers’ temperaments, it was Kyle Busch versus Kevin Harvick, rather than Juan Pablo Montoya and Ryan Newman, that took center stage after the race’s overtime finish.

The two tangled dramatically on the track in the waning part of the race, trading pushes and shoves, which then carried over as both tried to make their way to pit road.

Harvick struck first, blocking Busch’s entrance to pit road. Busch tried has best evasive action, going back onto the track and even backing up to get away from the driver of the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet.

Unhappy Harvick continued the pursuit, hopping out of his car to confront the driver of the No. 18 Wrigley’s Doublemint Camry. Busch had the last ‘word’, bumping Harvick’s driver-less car into the wall on pit road.

“It was tight racing after the restart there,” Busch said. “I gave him (Harvick) room but he came off the wall and lifted early and then drove in the back of me,”

“It was just uncalled for, just unacceptable racing.”

For his side of the story, Harvick had little to say as he emerged from the NASCAR hauler.

“Obviously, we were just racing hard and doing what we had to do at the end,” Harvick said. “And things happen. That’s it.”

Busch finished the race in eleventh, while Harvick came in 17^th. Both drivers held position in the point standings, third and fifth respectively.

Surprising: While Kurt Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge, continued his struggles, wrecking his primary car during practice and not having much better luck in his back up car during the race, the other half of the Penske duo had a surprisingly good finish.

Piloting the Blue Deuce, Brad Keselowski, mirroring Smith’s decision to stay out on the late caution, had a good run at race end, taking the checkered flag in third.

“To have a chance at it I was going to have to get the first restart and I just wasn’t strong enough to do that,” Keselowski said. “I ended up giving Regan a whale of a push and once he cleared Carl, he was gone.”

“I’m really happy for Regan and wanted to make sure that if I couldn’t win, he would and it looks like it worked out for him and his whole team,” Keselowski continued. “It’s a win for the underdogs tonight.”

Not Surprising: Kasey Kahne, after qualifying his No. 4 Red Bull Toyota on the pole, was strong from the drop of the green flag to the end of the race. Although he led the most laps, Kahne also had a collision with the wall, which relegated him to a fourth place finish.

“We were tight and we had to keep tuning the car up and fixing the car,” Kahne said after the race. “I killed the crush panel so I’m covered in fumes and rubber and stuff.”

“We didn’t finish as good as we should have,” Kahne continued. “But fourth’s good for as hard as I hit the wall.”

May 8, 2011
Richmond – A Camoflage Affair

[media-credit id=18 align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]It was a short track. It was a night race. So this race should have been an incredible journey back to the old school racing that made NASCAR a household word. But from the beginning of the week end it was obvious that something was missing. The first races of the weekend might have been the problem. Did they set the pace.

The K&N East series race lacked luster and excitement. It was to be blunt, dull. It was a close race at the front between Darrell Wallace Jr and Max Gresham. Wallace, from Mobile, Ala., gained his third victory in just his 13th career start in the K&N Pro Series East. He took the lead from Gresham for the first time on Lap 55, and the two later swapped it following a restart on Lap 78, and for the decisive time on Lap 79.

“We just had to be patient, and be there at about halfway,” Wallace said. “[Max] Gresham was pretty strong, and I think we just a little bit better car and a better line, and we just took it away from him.”

Next on the schedule was the Denny Hamlin Late Model charity race. A thunder storm that moved through the area kept the crowd to a minimum but Denny Hamlin finally won his own charity race.

Although he was scheduled to start on the pole for the race, he choose to start from the back. Hamlin moved his way through the pack avoiding accidents along the way to join team mate Kyle Busch at the front of the field. The final restart came when Max Gresham and Darryl Wallace Jr tangled causing the final caution.

Busch took the lead at the green but ran out of gas on the back stretch allowing Hamlin and Michael Waltrip to take over the point. “I’m glad he ran out of fuel because it might have got ugly,” Hamlin said. “Trust me; if Kyle wouldn’t have run out of gas, I would have done everything possible to get around him.”

Hamlin, who said last week that the race raised over $100,000 last year, said he will wait to see how much money was raised this year, then give 10 percent to help tornado victims. Where that money will go specifically will be determined by where there is the most need, he said.

His usual charities — the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, St. Jude Children’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital in Richmond — will receive the other 90 percent of money raised.

Friday would bring the Nationwide Series to the spotlight with Carl Edwards starting the Fastenal Ford Fusion from the pole of the Bubba Burger 250. The race would have strange turns of events throughout its course.

The most prominent of those oddities was the lack of cautions. Only 2 yellow flags waved for the entire race. The long green flag runs made for a decisively boring race that saw Denny Hamlin lead for 199 of the 251 laps.

The second was a penalty assessed by NASCAR to pole sitter Carl Edwards. Edwards who ran out of gas and had to push started was penalized for working on the car outside the pit box even though the rule clearly gives him 3 boxes to be pushed by crew to restart the car. The penalty put the pole sitter 5 laps down and for the most part eliminated him from competition.

NASCAR would announce on Saturday that they had made an error with the penalty and in fact Edwards and his Jack Roush crew were in the right. No change was made to the finishing order.

The third oddity came when Aric Almirola’s Hellmann’s Chevrolet ran out of fuel on the back stretch. Almirola who asked for team mate Josh Wish to give him a push, instead found help from former Jr. Motorsports driver, Brad Keselowski. Keselowski pushed the car to the opening of the pit road and then took a run with a hard push to propel the 88 down the pit road before resuming his position on the track.

Almirola who was not under power at that time was deemed to be speeding on pit road. His crew who worked quickly to refuel and change tires got the car to refire almost immediately.

As Almirola left the pit road it was deemed that he was speeding off pit road as well. To further add confusion to the issue, television commentators stated the speeding was to avoid going a lap down and a penalty would be assessed. With in seconds Almirola began to back up in the line up to the last position on the lead lap as is customary for speeding under caution. The final position was 7^th. Almirola came across the line in 5^th position on the checkered flag which waved with the caution flag.

The 88 was originally credited by NASCAR timing and scoring as finishing in the 5^th spot. Shortly after the conclusion of the race Almirola was relegated first to the 6^th position and then finally to the 14^th spot one lap down. NASCAR put him one lap down due to the speeding penalty and said he should have started at the end of the one lap down cars.

Almirola who was obviously upset, stated, “They are going to have to explain this one to me. I went from 5^th to 14^th after the race.” Almirola and Crew Chief Tony Eury Sr spent time in the NNS hauler discussing the issue.

In defense of Almirola, he was scored first 5^th then 6^th then 14^th. He was not alone in his finishing position being changed after the race several drivers’ positions changed and the final finishing order was not available until after 1 AM CST. At that point Nascar.com still listed Aric Almirola and the 88 in 5^th position. The next morning the line up had been changed yet again.

The final oddity occurred when Danica Patrick was shown as the driver for the 7 car out of the JR Motorsports stable. The NASCAR 2011 game sponsored car was driven by Josh Wise and finished 6^th. Speeds “unofficial results” show Patrick as finishing 3^rd in the 7 car. The 7 car however, was never in the 3^rd position on the race track.

The Sprint Cup race would be frustrating to say the least. Long green runs were followed by yellows every 10 laps and then a long green flag run to the checkers. The viewers at home and the fans in the stands seemed to be the only people wondering about the outcome, the announcers for Fox seemed to know who the winner would be from the beginning of the race. Constant proclamations of Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin would indeed prove to be the case as the Gibbs team finished 1^st and 2nd.

The race was full of action typically seen on a short track. Tempers flared between Juan Montoya and Ryan Newman with Newman going to the hauler to see “what they intended to do with the 42.” Montoya exited the track on a golf cart immediately following the race with no comments given to the press.

Jeff Gordon who undoubtedly had one of the strongest cars in the field was wrecked in a multiple car pile up on the front stretch and hit hard with the driver’s side door on the only accessible wall that did not have a safer barrier. Gordon was slow to exit the car, but said later on Twitter that he was fine, but would be sore for a couple of days.

The usually strong Budweiser Chevy faded late in the race to finish a lap down, a performance very uncharacteristic of Kevin Harvick. He was not the only car to struggle uncharacteristically. Jimmie Johnson rallied late to finish 9^th but struggled the entire race. As did Dale Earnhardt Jr who had to stop late in the race for fuel and was thus relegated to a 19^th place finish 2 laps down.

The fact that a short track race became a fuel mileage situation was frustrating. Fuel mileage races are for the most part a boring affair. This was no different. Although it had all the short track action, it was just an ok race. It left this writer scratching her head.

What happened? Why did this race go from being a promise of exciting old school racing to a snoozer? All the pieces were there. Yet the most excitement came from the radio communication of drivers like Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr, and Ryan Newman. If you were not able to partake in the scanner communications the race was well drab.

This race truly was a camouflage affair. It had all the promise of the hunt and yet at the end it fell short of its promise. It was not the track itself. It was not the cars or even the drivers’ performances. It was that one missing link. It was the missing something that kept the race from being good that made it just ok.

Richmond was full of the high strung antics of the thoroughbreds that make up the Sprint Cup roster. The angry words, the angry antics, the promise of long memories, drivers who were angry at cars, engineers, teams, pit stops and well just themselves; for all of the hype Richmond fell short of being a good show. That perhaps was the biggest surprise of all.

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

Congratulations to Darrell Wallace Jr on his K&N East series win. He showed the grace and class in victory lane that one must possess to be a champion of the sport. I look forward to watching him grow within the sport. Congratulations to Denny Hamlin on his Nationwide Series win. He put on a dominating performance. Congratulations to Kyle Busch on his Sprint Cup win. Happy Birthday Kyle and may you have many returns on the day. Kudos to the Lowes Race team on never giving up, the perseverance of champions was never more evident than it was in Richmond on Saturday night. You proved how you became 5 time champions and why you are challengers for the 6 pack.

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.

May 1, 2011
Surprising and Not Surprising: Richmond’s Crown Royal 400

After the sounds of the US Marine Drum and Bugle Corps playing the National Anthem and the command to start engines by surviving war hero and race namesake Staff Sergeant Matthew Hansen faded, Saturday night racing was officially underway at Richmond International Raceway.

Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Crown Royal Presents the Matthew and Daniel Hansen 400.

Surprising: It was surprising to see just how quickly the pole sitter Juan Pablo Montoya, in his No. 42 Target Chevrolet, fell from his prime starting position into a world of trouble with Ryan Newman, piloting the No. 39 US Army Medicine Chevrolet.

After some tussling back and forth for position, Newman had had enough with the ever assertive Montoya, sending JPM into the wall on Lap 106. Montoya returned to the track and on Lap 236 took his revenge. [media-credit id=5 align=”alignright” width=”258″][/media-credit]

After being spun out by Montoya, Newman was definitely hot under the collar. “I can’t believe they’re not going to black flag that 42 car,” Newman said. “I’m going to take care of this after the race.”

Newman did indeed head straight for the NASCAR hauler after the race to share his concerns and see what the sanctioning body had to say about the incident. Montoya, on the other hand, waved off the media, jumped on his golf cart and headed back to the motor coach lot without comment.

Newman declared he just wanted the situation to be handled fairly by the sanctioning body.

“I know that he (Montoya) ran up on me of (Turn) 2 there and I clipped him. I mean I’m not going to try to dump myself into the wall,” Newman said. “But to retaliate the way he did just didn’t show much class.”

Not Surprising: Since the track was Richmond, it was not surprising to see the Joe Gibbs Racing team at the front of the pack when the checkered flag flew. While Denny Hamlin had dominated the weekend, winning his own charity race as well as the Nationwide event, it was JGR teammate Kyle Busch, in his award winning M&Ms Pretzel Toyota, that led 235 laps including the final 84, to claim the victory.

“This race tonight was a good one,” Busch said. “We knew if we could go through traffic, we could win.”

“We just really got beat by our teammate,” Hamlin said. “He drove a great race. Our cars were dead equal. We just got beat.”

Surprising: There were definitely some surprising names in the top ten finishers when the checkered flag flew at RIR. Both Red Bull drivers, Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, and his teammate Brian Vickers, behind the wheel of the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, had good nights.

Kahne, still smarting from his recent knee surgery, finished third and Vickers posted a tenth place finish.

Another driver David Ragan, piloting his No. 6 UPS “We Love Logistics” Ford for Roush- Fenway Racing, had a strong car especially at the end of the race, finishing fourth.

“It was a fun night,” Ragan said. “This is my favorite track to come to. Back in 2007, we finished third here and I have really liked the place since.”

The final driver not usually in the top ten but with a great run at Richmond was AJ Allmendinger. With new sponsor Nautica on his No. 43 Ford Fusion, the ‘Dinger brought his car home in the seventh spot.

“Sometimes in these races, you have to get a little lucky,” Allmendinger said. “We have been on the bad end before with good cars so I will take luck over skill any day.”

Not Surprising: Although mightily struggling for much of the race, five-time champion Jimmie Johnson found his inner rally and finished eighth.

“We had a good finish out of it but it was a long, long night,” Johnson said. “We got the car semi-competitive and then finally got some strategy, got back on the lead lap and we went from there. So, frustrating night but a good points night.”

Surprising: Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jeff Gordon had a surprisingly bad night. Gordon yet again found a non-safer barrier wall and wrecked into it driver’s side first.

The crash on Lap 301 also collected Paul Menard, Mark Martin, David Reutimann, Bobby Labonte, Jamie McMurray and Matt Kenseth.

“It knocked the wind out of me,” Gordon said after his visit to the infield care center. “I seem to find the worst angles of walls.”

“What a shame,” Gordon continued. “The Dupont Chevrolet was so strong. With 100 laps to go everyone was losing their patience including me. I just wish they had a safer barrier there.”

Not Surprising: Unfortunately, it was not surprising that Team Penske continued their struggles. Kurt Busch, in the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge, had all kinds of trouble, from the initial wreck involving Montoya, continuing throughout the race. Teammate Brad Keselowski, in the Blue Deuce, was also involved in several crashes. Busch finished 22^nd and Keselowski finished 36^th.

Surprising: After returning to the lead lap via the ‘lucky dog’ process, Dave Blaney, with his newly committed sponsor Golden Corral on his No. 36 race car, managed to move forward at the end of the race to finish 13^th, his season’s best. Blaney, racing not start and parking for Tommy Baldwin Racing, has now locked himself into the top 35, firmly ensconced in 32^nd in the point standings.

Not Surprising: Carl Edwards had another strong run, posting a fifth place finish in his No. 99 Scotts EZ Seed Ford. He also maintained the top spot in the point standings, nine points over second place Jimmie Johnson and thirty points ahead of race winner Kyle Busch in third.

“That was a lot of work,” Edwards said. “I think that feeling of fifth here tonight will be replaced with the points lead feeling in a little bit and that will feel better.”

May 1, 2011
Big Things Come In Small Packages

[media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”247″][/media-credit]The oldest track on the circuit is also the smallest. They say big things come in small packages; and this weekend Martinsville delivered in a very big way.

The weekend was marred by more tire issues. Goodyear brought new right and left side tires. The right, a softer compound than the fall race of last year and the left a harder compound. They were trying to improve forward bite and add grip to the tire, something every team and driver had asked for. However, with no testing to prove the compound Goodyear was at a decided disadvantage. The new compound proved to be a border line situation with the track not taking rubber and the tire giving up after approximately 12 – 15 laps. Once the tire gave up it began to shred and throw rubber marbles to the second and upper groove of the track making them virtually unusable. Multiple drivers complained about the tires and the lack of grip and forward bite the cars obtained from them. But NASCAR and Goodyear didn’t view it as a concern. They continued to hold out hope that the track would rubber in after qualifying for the trucks and Cup cars and the Truck race.

It didn’t happen. And although, Kevin Harvick, who finished 4^th in the truck race stated, “The tires are just such pieces of crap,’’ and Kyle Busch stated, “There’s no rubber on the race track,’’ after finishing 2^nd in the Truck Race, tires were not a major factor.

The Camping World Truck race was an entertaining display that saw a Camping World Truck series regular in Johnny Sauter take the checkered flag ahead of series dominating, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick.

Sauter who passed Kyle Busch on the next to the last lap held on to record his first victory of the season. Busch who has never won at Martinsville held on to finish second by .453 seconds and was followed by Ron Hornaday and Kevin Harvick who over came a 2 lap deficit early in the race to garner a 4^th place finish.

[media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”215″][/media-credit]Anticipation was high heading in to Sunday or should I say trepidation. The concern over the inadequate tires continued to mount. Everyone from Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon to Dale Earnhardt Jr and Brad Keselowski voiced concerns over the tires. The concerns seemed to loom even larger for fans that had looked forward to the old school bump and run type racing that Martinsville had always delivered. “The poor tire situation is a direct result of not testing.” tweeted Keselowski. “Testing was eliminated in an effort to control costs but the owners just spent even more money on computer simulation programs and equipment that simulates testing.”

When start time rolled around, Mark Martin was set to make his 800^th start in the series and Greg Biffle his 300^th series start. Tires or not the cup drivers were ready to run the best race that they could.

They did not disappoint. The race was a return to the history of the sport. With the bump and run the most prevalent move of the day. The scariest occurrence was not tire related at all and came on lap 222 when the throttle stuck on Martin Truex’s Napa Auto Parts Camry causing him to take out both he and Kasey Kahne. The 56 of Truex momentarily caught fire and Kahne was slow to exit his car. But both drivers were checked and released from the infield care center with a clean bill of health.

The accident however resulted in a 22 minute red flag period to repair the safer barrier which was damaged when Truex hit it head on at speed.

Clint Bowyer, Jeff Gordon, and Kyle Busch all lead at different points in the race. But perhaps the feel good story of the race came from the Hendrick Motorsports 88 team. Dale Earnhardt Jr took the lead on lap 480 with a bump and run on Kyle Busch. He would hold that lead until lap 496 when Kevin Harvick would take the lead when the 88 got loose going into turn one. Dale Jr would finish a bumper in front of Kyle Busch who came across the line in 3^rd.

Earnhardt Jr who moved up to 8^th in the points with the second place finish, his best points position since last spring at Texas doesn’t believe he is quite where he needs to be yet, “I ain’t really proved it to myself yet,” he said. “I’ll let you know when I feel like I’m back, personally. Anyone that watched that race today knows that we weren’t a second‑place race car or even a third‑place race car all day. We never were up there to prove that point. So there’s no argument: We got some work to do still.”

“We are faster, we are more competitive than last year. But we still got a little ways to go.”

But the promise shown by the 88 team has JRNation excited. It has NASCAR excited. Is he back? Maybe not, but his performances are showing all the promise of a young man who came on the scene and won in his rookie season against what was and arguably remains one of the toughest fields in NASCAR history.

This race was without a doubt the best of the season. It was a race of steps some big and some small. But steps none the less. This race showed us without a doubt that life and racing draw many parallels and if we are to succeed regardless of the quality of our equipment or our history we have to dig down and find the courage to take that step forward, even though the results could be disasterous. Whether you won last week or 98 races ago the champions of NASCAR took that huge step of faith on tires they doubted in cars that they were unsure of. They gritted their teeth put their trust in men on the roof and on the pit box and somewhere in the back of their minds they said, “Boogity Boogity Lets go racin boys.”

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

Congratulations to Johnny Sauter and Thorsport racing on their first Camping World Truck Series win of the season. Congratulations to Kevin Harvick and Richard Childress racing on their 2^nd win in a row.

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.

April 4, 2011
Let’s Count the Reasons Bristol’s Attendance Was So Poor

[media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”294″][/media-credit]Many were shocked as the Nationwide Series race approached at Bristol Motor Speedway. Why? No one I talked to could ever remember there being that many empty seats as the race began. It got worse on Sunday as the Sprint Cup drivers were entering their cars to go racing. Empty seats were everywhere and huge chunks of the stands sat empty. The “official” estimate was 120,000, but common sense told most people that it was closer to 90,000 fans in the stands. That had to be disappointing for the track and the drivers, but what was the reason? Is it the economy, the reconfiguration of the track, or the price of gasoline? It’s probably all of the above plus something else.

Yes, the economy, though improving, is doing so slowly. Yes, people miss the old Bristol track where excitement happened on every lap. That doesn’t happen anymore unless you’re a racing purist, and let’s face it. Most fans, especially in the numbers that NASCAR attracted in the last three decades, are not racing purists. They want to see action, as in beating and banging. It just didn’t happen much, especially in the Sprint Cup race. And yes, the price of gasoline on the trip down ranged anywhere from $3.75 – $3.45 per gallon. But that’s less than the prices of a few years ago.

I think in addition to the reasons mentioned earlier, it’s also the hype and what the economy has done to corporate sponsorship. Someone who might know told me this weekend that corporate sponsors usually took over 20% of the tickets (about 32,000) to give away to employees, customers, salespeople, and friends. That’s not happening these days. Another reason is the constant advertising on what a knock-down, drag-out race the Jeff Byrd 500 was going to be. Ever since the track was resurfaced, it hasn’t been that kind of race. It reminds most fans of a smaller Charlotte Motor Speedway. Giving the drivers another lane to race in was a popular idea…with the drivers, NASCAR and the media. It’s not so great with a lot of the fans who loyally came to Bristol in huge numbers for years to see beating and banging, but there’s another angle that is confusing.

It doesn’t cost anything (except maybe your cable bill) to watch the race on television. Folks stayed away on Sunday. Several theories have been brought forth, and they go anywhere from the sunny day, the beginning of spring (both of which could lead to outside activities), and even the fact that Kyle Busch dominates races at Bristol these days. Whatever the reason, viewership was down 7% in early reporting. That’s a bunch for what many call “The Bristol Race.” Maybe by August, the economy will improve, gas prices will drop, and drivers will start using the “chrome horn” again because they can. Maybe corporate sponsorship will return, but I doubt they’ll be changing the track back to what it was before progressive banking was installed in the high-banked turns. The new Bristol is different, and we might as well get used to it. Besides, this Bristol is much better than no Bristol at all!

BITS AND PIECES

Strange as this may sound, there was lots of action at Bristol this weekend, but most of it was not during the race (which is an unfair assessment—there was some good racing in both the Nationwide and Cup Series races).

Goodyear decided the tire they brought to Bristol was simply not going to work, so they did something that was both heralded as brilliant and stupid in one stroke. After all the teams had practiced and qualified on the new tire, Goodyear decided to use the right sides from last year, essentially negating all the practice times teams had logged in. Since the tire company had to mount a lot of tires, teams were only given one set to use in practice on Saturday. The result threw several teams for a loop. Pole-sitter Carl Edwards didn’t find the right setup until the last 50 laps of Sunday’s race, and he finished second. Kudos should go to Goodyear, however, for correcting what might have been a bad situation if tire failures continued.

Jennifer Jo Cobb didn’t start Saturday’s Nationwide Series race after a disagreement with her car owner. Both sides disagree on what happened, so we’ll leave it at that. Car owner Rick Russell said that starting and parking was in the plans all along. Cobb said that she first heard about it 10 minutes before the race. The result was Cobb refused to drive the car, saying that she had a commitment to her sponsors, NASCAR, and her fans to not start and park. Watching the drama as the race started with Cobb’s shiny red Mustang parked in the infield at the start of the front stretch pits was drama at its best. Apparently Cobb no longer drives for Russell’s team. Stay tuned.

Finally, in on-track news, Brad Keselowski got the ire of Jeff Gordon on Sunday. Keselowski had problems early in the race that took him out of contention. He got back on the track and was trying to have a good finish. Jeff Gordon had fallen back from his top-10 starting position, but was at the edge of the top 10 when trying to pass Keselowski, who was three laps down. Then, while Gordon was attempting his pass, Keselowski “door-slammed” Gordon, making his march to front short-lived. “I’ll just tell Brad that the next time I’m three laps down, and he’s on the lead lap, just expect the same out of me, you know?,” Gordon said. Keselowski finished 18th, and Gordon finished 14th.

March 21, 2011
Mark Martin Lucky in Vegas While Danica Patrick Makes History

Mark Martin, driving the No. 32 Dollar General for Turner Motorsports for the first time, not only was lucky with his fuel mileage but also took advantage of the bad luck of Brad Keselowski to win the 15th Annual Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

[media-credit name=”Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”239″][/media-credit]This was Martin’s 49th Nationwide win Series win, making him the seventh oldest driver to win a Nationwide race.

“We only had one chance to win the race and that was to win it on fuel,” Martin said in the media center after celebrating his win in Victory Lane. “When I caught Brad, I realized that it was going to take all the gas I had to get past him.”

“Trent (Owens) gave me great information,” Martin said of his crew chief, who scored his first win ever. “I managed to back off the throttle and wait to see if Brad (Keselowski) would make it or not.”

“It worked out for us today,” Martin continued. “It was a great team effort. Turner Motorsports is doing such good work and I wanted to get in there and be a part of it.”

“It was a real special win for us,” Martin said. “We got us another trophy and that’s all I care about.”

Martin’s Turner Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier also had good luck in Vegas, scoring a second place win in the No. 31. This was Allgaier’s third top-10 finish in three races at Las Vegas and his second top-10 finish in 2011.

“This was a really good finish for us because we battled through a lot of adversity,” Allgaier said. “To be able to come out of here one, two and to be able to be beat by Mark Martin, as much as I wanted to win the race there is only one person in the garage that I’d rather have beat me and it would be Mark.”

“Mark is really cool.”

While luck was on the side of Martin and Allgaier, Brad Keselowski had some of the worst luck of the Vegas Nationwide race weekend. According to Keselowski, the weekend started bad and ended even worse.

“We started off this weekend and we were atrociously bad,” Keselowski said. “My team worked all weekend long and found speed in my car.”

“From there we used great strategy and smarts to get in position to win the race,” Keselowski said. “I was trying to conserve my stuff and felt we had it, but obviously didn’t.”

“I just ran over something because it went down pretty quick,” Keselowski said of his blown tire. “It was just one of those days where you do everything right and don’t win. That’s why they call it racing.”

“I just feel bad for my guys,” Keselowski continued. “We’ve had three great cars in the last three races and something has happened. It just has to come back around. We’re on the down side of the roller coaster and I’m ready for it to come back up.”

While Martin took the checkered flag, Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 7 GoDaddy.com for JR Motorsports crossed the finish line in the fourth position, making her own brand of history as the highest finishing female ever in a NASCAR national series. With Patrick’s fourth place finish, she topped the record of Sara Christian, who finished fifth in 1949.

“I guess that’s something I don’t think about,” Patrick said when asked about her history-making run. “I don’t think about trying to be the highest finishing female. I just think about trying to win the race.”

“It was a good day,” Patrick, running in just her 16th race, said. “We just had a good car. I knew it from the beginning of the race.”

“We worked so hard on the car this weekend and we did have a lot of practice time, which was good,” Patrick said. “I missed those lucky dogs like three more times and we finally got it.”

“It allowed me to be consistent at the end, cautious and not over drive,” Patrick said. “It was a good day for GoDaddy and JR Motorsports.”

Trevor Bayne, the Daytona 500 winner, rounded out the top five for the Sam’s Town 300. After a fairly chaotic run last weekend at Phoenix, Bayne felt most fortunate to have been so close to the front of the field.

“It was cool to get a top-five out of that,” Bayne said. “You take them how you get them.”

“It is awesome for these guys to get a top-five and we probably didn’t deserve it,” Bayne continued. “But we saved gas and put ourselves in that position. I can’t wait to watch the tape on this one.”

Carl Edwards, who had been so dominant in the early part of the race, finished in the sixth position. Denny Hamlin, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Jason Leffler and Kenny Wallace rounded out the top ten.

Reed Sorenson maintains the Nationwide Series points lead, with Ricky Stenhouse and Jason Leffler following closely behind in second and third respectively. Danica Patrick and Justin Allgaier round out the top five in the point standings.

Unofficial Race Results
Sam’s Town 300, Las Vegas Motor Speedway
March 5, 2011 – Race 3 of 34

Pos. St. No. Driver Make Pts. Bon. Laps Status

1 – 32 Mark Martin Chevrolet 0 0 200 Running

2 – 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 42 0 200 Running

3 – 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0 0 200 Running

4 – 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 40 0 200 Running

5 – 16 Trevor Bayne Ford 39 0 200 Running

6 – 60 Carl Edwards Ford 0 0 200 Running

7 – 20 Denny Hamlin Toyota 0 0 200 Running

8 – 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 36 0 200 Running

9 – 38 Jason Leffler Chevrolet 35 0 200 Running

10 – 9 Kenny Wallace Toyota 34 0 200 Running

11 – 30 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 33 0 200 Running

12 – 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 32 0 200 Running

13 – 62 Michael Annett Toyota 31 0 200 Running

14 – 11 Brian Scott Toyota 30 0 200 Running

15 – 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 29 0 198 Running

16 – 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 28 0 198 Running

17 – 19 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 27 0 197 Running

18 – 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 26 0 196 Running

19 – 99 Ryan Truex * Toyota 25 0 195 Running

20 – 14 Eric McClure Chevrolet 24 0 194 Running

21 – 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 23 0 193 Running

22 – 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Dodge 22 0 193 Running

23 – 97 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 21 0 193 Running

24 – 15 Timmy Hill * Ford 20 0 193 Running

25 – 28 Derrike Cope Chevrolet 19 0 190 Running

26 – 81 Donnie Neuenberger Dodge 18 0 189 Running

27 – 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 17 0 181 In Pit

28 – 33 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 0 0 168 Running

29 – 70 Shelby Howard Chevrolet 15 0 165 Running

30 – 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 0 0 130 In Pit

31 – 79 Jennifer Jo Cobb * Ford 13 0 127 Running

32 – 141 Carl Long Ford 12 0 83 In Pit

33 – 40 Scott Wimmer Chevrolet 11 0 72 Out

34 – 27 J.J. Yeley Ford 0 0 25 Out

35 – 25 Kelly Bires Ford 9 0 14 In Pit

36 – 55 Brett Rowe Chevrolet 8 0 12 In Pit

37 – 24 Kevin Lepage Ford 7 0 11 In Pit

38 – 39 Josh Wise Ford 6 0 10 In Pit

39 – 52 Daryl Harr Chevrolet 0 0 8 In Pit

40 – 103 Charles Lewandoski * Dodge 4 0 6 In Pit

41 – 168 Tim Andrews Ford 0 0 4 In Pit

42 – 44 Jeff Green Chevrolet 2 0 2 In Pit

43 – 87 Kevin Conway Chevrolet 0 0 2 In Pit

March 5, 2011
NASCAR Drivers and Teams Guardian Angels for Paralyzed Veterans of America

NASCAR Kurt Busch, Martin Truex, Jr., A J Allmendinger, Brad Keselowski and team owners Richard Petty and Roger Penske are used to competing out on the race track. But this weekend they were deemed guardian angels instead to the Paralyzed Veterans of America.

“Honestly, these NASCAR drives and owners are guardian angels,” Randy Pleva, a paralyzed veteran from West Virginia and a volunteer leader with the PVA, said. “We know we can count on them and I know that they just won’t wash their hands of us ever.”

[media-credit id=11 align=”alignright” width=”240″][/media-credit]The new Paralyzed Veterans of America initiative, supported by NASCAR, is called ‘Mission Able’. This effort will focus on bringing awareness to the needs of veterans who have served their country but have returned home with some sort of disability due to a war injury.

Kurt Busch, who has participating in a karting race, The King’s Cup, to benefit PVA shared why he was involved with the organization.

“I’ve been working with some military groups this year,” Busch said. “It’s a mind blowing experience to see what these men and women have been through. To have Penske Racing teamed up with PVA means so much.”

“This is my first year with PVA,” Martin Truex, Jr., driver of the No. 56 Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, said. “The things the military does for us, it goes unsaid how much we appreciate it.”

“They make the ultimate sacrifice for us to do the things we love,” Truex, Jr. continued. “We wouldn’t be here racing in the greatest country in the world. This is just a small thing that we can do that, when they come back from battle, there is someone battling to take care of them.”

One of the longest partners on the PVA team, at least on the NASCAR driver’s side, A J Allmendinger, was glad to have some new teammates in assisting the organization. Allmendinger donated space for the PVA logo on his Rolex car when he raced at Daytona to call attention to the new PVA program ‘Mission Able.’

“For me, it’s just an honor to be a part of the PVA,” Allmendinger said. “Every year I’ve gotten to run the PVA paint scheme during the Fourth of July. That is a big honor.”

“The PVA has been a big part of the King and I’ve been honored to work with the great people of the PVA,” Allmendinger continued. “What they do for this country, you can’t even put into words. When they come back, we’ve got to take care of them.”

Brad Keselowski is also in tune with the needs of paralyzed veterans. His new foundation has focused on wounded warriors and those who have sacrificed.

“If you look back to the history of NASCAR, a lot of it was started by folks that had served,” Keselowski said. “So NASCAR has a long, storied tradition of being involved with the military. Today this announcement is their next evolution and I’m proud to be a part of it.”

Keselowski also shared a personal story of a friend who was wounded by and IED.

“You see how real it is,” Keselowski said. “And you wonder who will be taking care of him. It’s very special what the PVA does.”

“It’s a pleasure for me to be here today,” Roger Penske, team owner and new PVA partner, said. “The men and women who serve our country are a big family as is the NASCAR family.”

Fellow team owner, Richard Petty, a long time supporter of PVA also weighed in on why he feels so passionately about this organization and ‘Mission Able.’

“It is the right thing to do,” Petty said. “We need to help however we can to raise money and awareness so that our military and veterans can live the lives they deserve.”

For PVA, they again reiterated how much the NASCAR partnership has meant to their organization.

“We are pleased to have these NASCAR drivers supporting our mission,” Bill Lawson, National President of PVA, said. “With their help, we will be able to continue changing the lives of our wounded heroes.”

February 19, 2011
Jeff Burton Claims Second Duel Victory; Brian Keselowski Makes the Show

The second Gatorade Duel race was all about teamwork and brotherly love. Clint Bowyer pushed his Richard Childress Racing teammate Jeff Burton to the checkered flag and victory, while Brad Keselowski pushed his brother Brian into a place in the Daytona 500.

[media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]”It’s a shame two cars can’t fit in here,” Burton said in Victory Lane. “Clint and I decided that we would find each other early and it worked out well. For us, this is a good start and being in Victory Lane means a great deal.”

“I learned a lot of things,” Bowyer said for his part, acknowledging the pusher role. “I don’t know if there will be another rule change. It was fun out there.”

While Bowyer and Burton were high fiving one another after taking the checkered flag, Brad Keselowski was leaning in to congratulate his brother Brian, newly announced Rookie of the Year candidate, who made the biggest race of his life.

“I owe my brother in a thousand ways,” Brian Keselowski said. “We wouldn’t have made it here without him.”

Keselowski, racing an old Ray Evernham car built in 2006, seemed almost in shock that he had raced his way in to the Daytona 500. “I owe everything to eveybody right now,” Keselowski said.

“I didn’t get to start driving until I was 18 years old,” Keselowski said. “But I had to do it all on my own. If I didn’t put it together, I wouldn’t be racing right now.”

Michael Waltrip, former Daytona 500 winner, also made it in on time, thanks to his third place finish. While he felt “blessed to be here,” Waltrip also admitted that he was really “tired”, particularly mentally after that challenging race.

“You wouldn’t believe how relieving it is to get in no matter how you get in,” Waltrip said.

Thanks to Waltrip’s finish, Travis Kvapil secured his place in the race on his time. This was his first time to really experience the two car tango in race conditions.

“Well it feels great,” Kvapil said about racing his way into the show. “Last year, we missed this race and we have worked really hard over the wintertime. It paid off for us and it’s great for our team.”

The second duel race had a record 22 lead changes and also had a few more cautions than the first race. One of the first drivers to get involved in a wreck was Joey Logano, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota.

“Sometimes you’re the bug and sometimes you’re the windshield,” Logano said. “Today I was the windshield. Wrong place, wrong time.”

Denny Hamlin also had a less than stellar day. The driver of the No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing had a tire go down and then was involved in a single car spin.

“I have to have a sense of humor I’ve learned this weekend,” Hamlin said. “What’s so crazy is the fact that we were spun out and three laps later we go from deal last to second or something like that.”

“This has been an amazing ride and hopefully our weekend is steadily improving,” Hamlin continued. “We finally did finish. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens from this day forward.”

One of the most heartbreaking wrecks occurred late in the race, when Trevor Bayne, who had been stellar all race long, tussled with Jeff Gordon, causing a multi-car accident. David Ragan was also a significant victim in this wreck as well.

“I really had a blast working with Trevor Bayne,” Gordon said. “He’s a good kid. He’s a heck of a race car driver.”

For his part, Bayne was thrilled to have been working with his boyhood hero, Jeff Gordon.

“Gordon and I worked awesome together and it was just down there at the end,” Bayne said. “I hate it for all these guys because we were doing awesome, but that’s part of it. That’s racing. We’ll get there.”

In addition to the two car tandem of Jeff Burton, winner, and runner up Clint Bowyer, Michael Waltrip, Kyle Busch and Brian Keselowski rounded out the top five finishers. Jamie McMurray, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex, Jr. and Carl Edwards completed the top ten in the second Gatorade duel.

February 17, 2011
Penske Racing announces sponsorship for Busch, Hornish and Keselowski

Kurt Busch joins Coca-Cola Racing Family

Kurt Busch, the 2004 Sprint Cup Series champion, will join the Coca-Cola Racing family of drivers for the 2011 Sprint Cup Series campaign, Coca-Cola and Penske Racing announced Monday evening. Busch will be featured in many Coca-Cola in-store promotions this year as well as make promotional appearances for the brand.

[media-credit name=”Motorsports Images and Archives” align=”alignleft” width=”250″][/media-credit]“I am honored to represent Coca-Cola during 2011 racing season,” said Busch, who scored two wins and two poles in 2010, finishing 11th in the final Cup Series standings. “We’re looking forward to a great season as we transition to the No. 22 car and it’s awesome to have Coca-Cola on board for the ride.”
Busch finished 11th in last year’s Sprint Cup Series driver standings. He posted two wins last season.

The Las Vegas, Nevada native switched rides within the Penske Racing organization and will race the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Dodge Charger.

Alliance Truck Parts to sponsor Hornish in Nationwide Series

Alliance Truck Parts will be Sam Hornish Jr.’s primary sponsor for his NASCAR Nationwide Series efforts this season, Penske Racing confirmed today. Hornish’s ride in last year’s Nationwide Series finale was also sponsored by Alliance Truck Parts.

According to the press release, the sponsorship will be for at least eight races. Hornish is expected to race in at least ten events this season in the Nationwide Series. Specific events to be announced at a later date.

“It’s exciting to be able to return to the car and get a chance to represent the Alliance Truck Parts brand again this season. I know everyone at Penske Racing will be working hard to get the best results possible this year in the Nationwide Series.”

Hornish is moving from a full-time Sprint Cup Series ride to a full-time Nationwide Series ride in the Nationwide Series.

Ruby Tuesday to move to Brad Keselowski’s Cup ride

After sponsoring Brad Keselowski’s run to a Nationwide Series driver championship last season, Ruby Tuesday has expanded it’s sponsorship to the Cup Series for this season.

In addition to sponsoring Keselowski in nine Nationwide Series races, Ruby Tuesday will also have their logo on the rear deck lid of Keselowski’s No. 2 Dodge in the Sprint Cup Series.

“I am very excited to represent Ruby Tuesday again in 2011,” said Keselowski. “They were an integral part of our championship season in 2010, and I look forward to winning more races with them in the future. The fact that they have grown their relationship to include the ‘Blue Deuce’ is something in which we take great pride at Penske Racing.”

Keselowski posted two top-ten finishes last season, earning an average finish of 22.4. The 2011 season will be his second full-time season after making his debut in 2008.

January 24, 2011
Brad Keselowski Joins Darrell Waltrip and Denny Hamlin, As The Latest to Get Ensnared by Twitter

In today’s modern high tech era, the internet has made it easy for any fan to get up to date information which at one time was hard to come by.

Facebook and MySpace were two avenues the drivers and teams utilized to communicate with their fans, along with the many NASCAR websites such as Jayski, Scenedaily, and the independent websites which make up NASCAR’s Journalist Media Corps.

This past season, NASCAR took on a whole different look when Twitter joined the already sprawling social networking community.

Twitter became the backbone for many different reasons, and one of the biggest was to give the fans a glimpse of what goes on during a typical day in the life of their favorite driver.

The fans that flocked to Twitter were also given some good inside information on how each driver responds to different situations, which included members of the media who probably never realized just how many fans were actually tuned in.

The Twitter craze also gave members of the media and the fans a chance to interact with one another, because it was set-up as an instant messaging system allowing the participants the opportunity to chat with one another.

With any form of open messaging that is broadcast over the internet, there will always the downfalls which can quickly turn an average conversation into a costly mistake if the wrong information is broadcast.

Darrell Waltrip was one of those media members who learned the hard way, that social networking was a lot bigger than what he probably anticipated, when he leaked a story on his twitter page that drew National attention.

Waltrip posted on his twitter page, the details of Foxsports.com writer Lee Spencer’s article about Dale Earnhardt Jr. driving a No. 3 Wrangler Nationwide Series car at Daytona in July.

[media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Denny Hamlin was another who made the same mistake, when he criticized NASCAR for throwing late caution flags to help make the June 13 race at Michigan more competitive on his twitter page.

Hamlin took it a step further when he tweeted about some late caution flags, which were thrown during the Nationwide Series race at Chicagoland Speedway July 9.

“Truthfully, I don’t think it matters to the fans who win the race as long as it’s a good ‘show,’ even if it comes as the expense of competition.”

Unlike Waltrip whose tweets came under attack from Earnhardt, “It’s unfortunate DW uncovered, and blew the lid off of it on Twitter no less. That kind of ruined our announcement that we had planned,” said an upset Earnhardt after Waltrip broke the story on Twitter.

Hamlin faced NASCAR who hit the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry, with a reported $50,000 fine.

“Other people before me, not to name names – Tony Stewart – have said way worse than what I have, way worse direct hits at somebody and got away with it.”

“I’ve always been raised to speak my mind and be, maybe, too over-opinionated at times,” said Hamlin after hearing about the penalty.

After these two unpleasant incidents, and these words of advice from Waltrip, “Lesson learned be careful what you tweet, because you never know who is reading. Oh by the way, I did learn one thing, Twitter is a great way to get the word out, even people that don’t have it know what’s on it.”

Brad Keselowski, became the next driver to inadvertently use Twitter as an avenue to talk about one of NASCAR’s rule changes for the 2011 Nationwide Series, and beyond.

Even though NASCAR hasn’t made any formal announcement, thanks to Keselowski displeasure at not being eligible for the Bud shootout, we now know that cup drivers will not be allowed to race for the NNS championship, which was one of the rule changes a lot of the fans were hoping for.

Keselowski said on his Twitter account Friday that, “Needed a good laugh tonight after being ruled ineligible for both shootout and NW championship in one loooong week. Thanks for the support.”

If there was one question that was answered through Keselowski’s blunder and that is the teams, and drivers know beforehand of any rule changes to the series before the fans and media are informed.

Whether or not Keselowski is telling the truth with this tweet on Saturday, remains to be known until NASCAR makes an official announcement.

“To clarify last nights remarks about NW championship No I have not been notified by anyone at NASCAR about the 2011 rules for eligibility.”

The only question remaining is, will Keselowski be willing to post on his twitter page if NASCAR decides to fine him for leaking the rule change?

January 10, 2011