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Surprising and Not Surprising: Texas AAA 500

After remembering the passing of racer Jim Sauter with a moment of silence, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 10th annual AAA Texas 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway.

Surprising: Brad Keselowski gave a whole new meaning to minding the gap after his on and off track real estate dispute with Jeff Gordon.

“Today something happened,” Keselowski said after finishing third. “There was a gap. It closed up. By the time it closed up, I was committed, and I stayed in it. That almost won me the race.”

“It hurt somebody else’s day. That’s a shame,” the driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford said. “But the reality is there was a gap.”

“You know, I’m not Dale Earnhardt or Senna. I read how they raced, how great they were for this sport. They would sit here and tell you they would go for that same gap. I’m not them, but I’m inspired by that, and I’m going to race that way.”

Not Surprising: Team Hendrick continued flawlessly executing their strategy in the Eliminator Round of the Chase, sending their Chase busting team members into Victory Lane as a sort of protection for their Chaser brethren Jeff Gordon, who did not quite make it there after his Keselowski encounter.

Hendrick driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. became the Chase buster in Martinsville last weekend and this weekend it was another HMS Chase buster Jimmie Johnson who took his turn, honoring all Lowe’s employees who wear the red vest in his red No. 48.

“We are back on track,” Johnson said after winning his fourth of the year and his fourth at Texas Motor Speedway. “Unfortunately we didn’t find this stuff a month or two ago, but that is the way racing goes.”

With both HMS Chase busters in Victory Lane for the first two races in the Eliminator Round, the lone HMS Chaser Gordon has maintained his position in the top-4, a team feat especially impressive given Gordon’s 29^th place run at Texas.

Surprising: While tire troubles may be a common driver mantra, it is not often that there are complaints about the sheer lack of number of tires available, so much so that NASCAR actually permitted teams to get an extra set of tires during this particular race.

“It’s kind of a sad situation when you run out of tires like that,” Newman, driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet said after finishing 15th. “I wish NASCAR had given us more tires. They gave us one set, but when they keep throwing cautions like that that were totally unnecessary, and there’s not debris on the race track and no reason to throw it. We need to keep racing. And it’s sad to see but that’s the way they’ve been playing it.”

Not Surprising: If you think that Alexander had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, just ask the Toyota drivers how they were feeling after Texas.

“We were a bag of everything today. Man we were so bad,” Kyle Busch said after his fourth place run. “I don’t know what happened to us from yesterday. We fought all day long.”

“We had a bad car,” Denny Hamlin, who finished tenth, said, echoing the theme. “We made the best of it. Other guys made mistakes. We weren’t really that good. Luckily other guys had problems. That’s what happened.”

“We went the wrong direction on adjustments during the middle part of the race,” Brian Vickers said after his 16th place run. “Billy Scott (crew chief) was able to get the car pretty good for the end of the race but with all those cautions we just got too tight.”

“We were okay when we were up front and had track position, but we had a problem in the pits and lost our track position,” Matt Kenseth said after finishing 25th. “The way my car drove — I was kind of afraid of how it would be in traffic. We got most of our track position back, stayed out on tires and just couldn’t get by Kurt (Busch) there — and got to the back again having to get tires. Then we got caught up in a restart deal that was three-four wide which did some damage, and we could just never overcome it.”

Surprising: Joey Logano was on a surprisingly odd salvage mission of his own, trying to make good after, of all things, a glue issue on pit road.

“We were able to salvage something decent out of tonight,” the driver of the No. 22 AAA Insurance Ford said. “We were a top five car and possibly a winning car if scenarios played out right.”

“I don’t know what happened with the glue on the pit stop and I haven’t gotten the full story yet but we had a hell of a time trying to put rear tires on the car,” Logano continued. “We lost all our track position with 30 to go and I came off the corner and the 9 hit me and popped my right rear and then we spun out. We put tires back on it and then just held on until the end and got something decent out of something that could have been way worse.”

In spite of his sticky situation, Logano did emerge the point’s leader by virtue of his five wins for the season, which broke the points tie with Denny Hamlin, who has but one win to date.

Not Surprising: After the two past races where Austin Dillon scored Rookie of the Race honors, Kyle Larson emerged victorious in that regard, finishing seventh to Dillon’s 21st place run.

“I thought we practiced really well,” the driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet said. “When the race fired off, we weren’t very good. I thought we’d get better, but we didn’t. We got worse and worse and worse. We had a lot of late-race restarts to get up there to get a better finish.”

“Disappointing day, but okay to finish seventh where we did. Hopefully we can get some better runs in the last races.”

Surprising: In a somewhat surprisingly ironic twist, Kevin Harvick, who nudged along the Keselowski vs. Gordon post-race match up, did not want anything to do with retaliation, even after some harsh words for Matt Kenseth as a result of last weekend’s short track racing.

“I just raced,” Harvick said after Texas was completed. “I thought my car was fast enough to win the race and be in contention. Doing something crazy at that point in the race, then I never saw him (Matt Kenseth) towards the end of the race, so it wasn’t really our game plan to get into that situation any further than we needed to.”

“It’s like I said before the race, I know he didn’t do it on purpose, but in the end we still lost 33 points to the leader. We got to race as hard as we can to try to get that back.”

Not Surprising: Even with a swapped out crew chief, Kurt Busch was able to pull off a top-10 finish in his No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet.

“It was great to have a shot at the win,” Busch said after taking the checkered flag in the eighth position. “Tony Gibson (new Crew Chief), the engineers did a great job reading my balance, and I was trying to pick up on their changes. So, it was nice to go out there and execute.”

“We used the last yellow to our advantage,” Busch continued. “The last two yellows for fresh tires, and worked our way from, I don’t know, 25th to eighth. All-in-all, a great first day. I love the team; I love the guys. We are going to be good. We just have to work out the details.”

Surprising: Jamie McMurray could not wait for the sun to go down on him, as when the darkness descended he ascended to the fifth finishing spot.

“We had an up and down day,” the driver of the No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet said. “Fortunately for us we were better when the sun went down. It was really slick at the beginning. We really struggled with the car, but when the sun went down the car started coming to us.”

Not Surprising: There is no quit in the No. 99 Aflac Ford team, who finished the race ninth after battling from the rear.

“We got super lucky there at the end and my guys never quit,” Carl Edwards said. “I am so proud of my guys. I have no idea where we are at in points but we certainly finished better than we should have tonight.”

“It was a great night when for awhile it didn’t look like it was going to be,” Edwards continued. “We get to move on to Phoenix now and we will know what we have to do there. We will take it.”

“My guys didn’t quit and I know they won’t quit and we are going to go next week and go for this thing.”

November 3, 2014
The Final Word – In Texas, the Racing is Just an Appetizer for the Excitement yet to Come

Jimmie Johnson was a factor from beginning to end in Texas, claiming his fourth victory of the season. Okay, enough about the damn race. All the real excitement took place after they waved the checkered flag.

On a first attempt at a green-white-checkered restart, Johnson and Jeff Gordon started up front. A gap opened between the two and Brad Keselowski tried to punch his way through. There was some separation between the leaders, but not a hole big enough to fit a car, at least to begin with. As Gordon came down, Keselowski was there, but there still was not quite enough of a hole to fit a car through. The two hit, Brad slipped and scraped his way by, while Gordon wound up with a flat tire. Johnson won while Kevin Harvick managed to take the runner-up spot away from the third place Keselowski. As for Gordon, he went from second to finishing a lap down in 29th. Again, enough about the damn race.

As the boys and girl lined up on pit road to head toward the garage, Gordon pulled up beside Keselowski. As the teams already seemed to be in a scrum, Gordon calmly walked around it all in order to chat with his rival. I say calmly, but appearances can be deceiving. Okay, there was some steam pouring out of Jeff’s helmet as he came around.

As Keselowski emerged from his car, Gordon began jawing at him while Brad jawed right back, separated by some big boys from his crew. Just when it appeared that One Time might escape from the ruckus, Harvick came in from behind him, apparently said something about fighting his own fight, and pushed Brad back toward the maelstrom. It was enough to allow Gordon to grab Keselowski’s uniform, and the melee ensued. Brad had an escape strategy going for him, but that is when a Gordon crew man came from behind to commit him entirely before collaring the boy. Brad bent backwards and sunk beneath the waves. Both drivers got a little bloodied, but it all proved about as damaging as a pair of toddlers squaring off.
There were punches thrown, but few if any, really connected. The boys got rough, the boys got loud, and the only person you could really feel sorry for was ESPN’s Jamie Little, who was caught on the fringes of it all. Mind you, a big lug with Paul Menard’s team placed a mitt over the wall to keep her stabilized and upright. Chivalry is alive in NASCAR, as she went on with her job and interviewed Bad Brad post-ruckus. She is a good one, and it is good to see she will be heading over to FOX for next season.

So, is anyone at fault here? Gordon had every right to be upset as a great finish went into the tank big time. Keselowski tried a maneuver Dale Earnhardt would have attempted in a moment, only the Intimidator would have been in the middle of the expected activities that came afterward. All Harvick did was give Brad a little advice and a gentle push in a direction the boy did not seem eager to face on his own. It was rowdy, not terribly genteel, and totally inappropriate for the conclusion of a chess match, but with these type of personalities in this kind of situation, not overly unexpected. As for violence, it barely matched that of a rugby scrum.

Yes, there are reports about the supposed mass brawl. No doubt, these folks have never seen a real one, never mind taking in a rough hockey game. Both men were cut up, though scraped up might be a more truthful observation. Brad might have been spitting blood, though it was hard to tell as he was rinsing his mouth out with a red liquid. Harvick’s shove was less aggressive than what I’ve seen DeLana “suffer” at the hands of a teasing Tony Stewart. One writer has stated that throwing a punch, connecting, and giving someone a bloody lip has no place in society. In a conference room, yes, but throw a beanball, spear a hockey player, or drive your car recklessly and you just might face a good, ole fashioned whopping. Even that did not happen in Texas. We saw some boys get rough, some got scraped up a bit, but nobody got whopped. Then again, some scribes obviously chose not to subscribe to the notion of actual facts getting in the way of a good story.

We have a good storyline heading into Phoenix, where everybody is still in the running, either via a win or on points, and nobody is yet a sure thing. Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, and Ryan Newman have an edge, but early misfortune can still bite them. While Johnson’s previous four wins and an average finish of 6.3 finish in Arizona makes him the favorite going in, Hamlin, Gordon, Harvick, and Carl Edwards are the best amongst the Chasers.

It should be one hell of an event, both on and off the track.
1 – Joey Logano – 4072 Points – 13 Pts to the good
2 – Denny Hamlin – 4072 – 13 Pts to the good
3 – Ryan Newman – 4070 – 11 Pts to the good
4 – Jeff Gordon – 4060 – 1 Pt to the good

5 – Matt Kenseth – 4059 – 1 Pt out
6 – Carl Edwards – 4059 – 1 Pt out
7 – Brad Keselowski – 4055 – 5 Pts out
8 – Kevin Harvick – 4054 – 6 Pts out

November 3, 2014
Pemberton Says It Right: NASCAR’s a Contact Sport

NASCAR’s Senior Vice President of Competition and Race Development Robin Pemberton made some interesting comments following the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday evening. Pemberton was talking about Brad Keselowski’s contact with Jeff Gordon and stated, “I think it was hard racing and this is a contact sport.”

Contact, that’s what NASCAR was built on. Since the beginning of the sport drivers have always had discussions about who was right and who was wrong in certain situations and have argued over real estate. What happened Sunday night is nothing different than what happens on most Saturday night’s at a short track race. Race fans have seen it plenty of times.

But what has changed in NASCAR is the mentality and the kind of contact it takes to send someone into a fit of rage. Since NASCAR began in 1949 there have been plenty of stories about accidents that involved contact. Most of them have come at short tracks but not all of them. One of the prime examples came in the 1979 Daytona 500 when two hardnosed drivers crashed while racing for the lead on the final lap. Both Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison were beating each other’s doors in, down the entire long back straightaway at Daytona International Speedway. When it came to winning the Daytona 500, there was no limit on what a driver would do. Everything was fair game. Both drivers proved that and while both of them crashed on the back straightaway eventually leading to Richard Petty winning his sixth Daytona 500, neither driver complained about racing each other too hard. While a fight did break out, it was between Cale Yarborough and Donnie’s brother Bobby from an earlier altercation.

The same can be said for a classic moment that came at Darlington Raceway in the 2003 season. That’s when young driver Kurt Busch and veteran Ricky Craven battled it out in the closing stages of the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400. Busch had a strong car all day long and led in the closing stages until Craven’s Pontiac Grand Prix closed in quickly.

Craven, who only had one career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory prior to the race, was going to give it his all and win at all costs. Craven was once considered as one of NASCAR’s best young drivers and many thought he would be NASCAR’s next big star. However, a slew of injuries put Craven’s career on hold. After losing his ride at Hendrick Motorsports following another injury plagued 1998 season, Craven bounced around between low level Winston Cup Series teams before the Newburgh, Maine native caught on with Cal Wells’ PPI Motorsports team with sponsor Tide to start the 2001 season. Craven won his first career race at Martinsville in 2001 and had some success driving for the single car operation. He had his best season in 2002 where he finished 15th in points for the team and had seven top-ten finishes. While 2002 was a great year, another win just seemed out of his grasp. Craven was now at the toughest track on the circuit chasing down one of NASCAR’s best race teams and one of its hottest young stars.

As Craven closed in Busch could do nothing but drive the way he knew how; hard. Craven, for reasons mentioned earlier, needed no incentive to race hard. The two did just that. Craven caught Busch with just three laps to go and from there one of the greatest battles in NASCAR history ensued. They slammed each other as Craven got on the inside of Busch and made contact, knocking Busch into the wall with just two laps to go. Busch continued and went chasing after Craven. Busch then bumped Craven and slowed him down enough to get around him. Craven then again went after Busch. Craven would get to the inside of Busch coming to the checkered flag and the two would slam each other really hard and ride each other all the way to the start-finish line. They did everything but wreck each other and in the end Craven had won his second career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in dramatic fashion.

Both cars were mangled like they had been in a demolition derby, not a NASCAR race. One would think that a driver would be upset at this display of racing. Instead, both Busch and Craven got out of their cars smiling because they knew they did all they could to prevent each other from winning the race. Busch told Fox’s Steve Byrnes that was racing, “the way it should be, hard fought racing.” Craven did the same and the two still talk about the ending of the race with respect and dignity.

Fast forward 11 years to the 2014 season, and my how things have changed. Keselowski’s contact with Gordon wasn’t nearly as significant as the contact that Busch and Craven had or the contact that Yarborough and Allison had at Daytona years earlier. Yet the outcome was extremely different.

In other forms of racing contact hasn’t been widely accepted as normal like it has been in NASCAR. NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt made a living off of making contact with someone and speeding ahead to victory. Sure, some fans and drivers didn’t like it, but it was still an accepted style of racing. Earnhardt ran hard and raced to win at all costs and it paid off for him immensely, as the Intimidator won 76 career NASCAR Cup races and seven championships.

Contact has always been a part of stock car racing. Pemberton is right. However lately, fans and drivers have had issue with the slightest contact. Whether it’s a different era of the sport where cars and parts cost more than they ever have or whether the style has racing has changed over the last 10 years, one thing is for sure. Something has changed.

Back in August Sprint Cup Series drivers Ryan Newman and Jimmie Johnson got into an altercation after the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Johnson and Newman were running each other hard for the seventh position in the closing stages of the event and Johnson made slight contact with Newman coming off of turn two. Newman was not happy with the contact and wanted to tell Johnson about it. Johnson made a tire rub on Newman’s left side of his racecar, leaving many fans wondering if “rubbing” actually still is racing like the old saying goes.

Fast forward to Sunday’s incident between Keselowski and Gordon and while the contact between the two eventually left Gordon with a blown left rear tire, the contact itself wasn’t anything to be mad about. It was good, hard racing in the closing stages of a race where Keselowski had to win to continue his quest for a second championship. Keselowski didn’t wreck Gordon, like we’ve seen drivers do in the past.

The Senior Vice President of Competition of NASCAR was right. NASCAR is a contact sport, let’s not forget that.

November 3, 2014
Johnson Claims the Six Shooters in Texas

November 2, 2014
Hot 20 – If Sweetness and Loveliness is What you are After, Texas Might not be the Place to Find It

So, Danica Patrick is not all sweetness and loveliness. Okay, she is the latter, but the fact she is a little ticked or not going along with the company line, has some folks talking. She is upset with Joey Logano, she had a bit of a run in with Martin Truex Jr. at Martinsville and she thinks qualifying at Talladega stinks after her boyfriend got left in the cold. She even is not a fan of NASCAR’s diversity program.

To start with, if we were talking about Kurt Busch here, nobody would care less. Okay, his having a boyfriend might come as a surprise, but that is about it. As for the diversity program, it either works or it does not. To be honest, graduates such as Darrell “Bubba” Wallace and Kyle Larson might have gotten there based on their talent, looks, character and some marketing in the same fashion Patrick emerged. Did the program remove any barriers that would have prevented them from otherwise rising to the top? I know many would say so, whether that be true or not. My reaction to her questioning its validity would be the same whether Danica said it, or Richard Petty, or Dale Earnhardt Jr. Then again, I am one of those guys who sees nothing wrong in questioning even sacred cows. It causes conversation and that is never a bad thing.

As Danica and the boys head to Texas, the only thing critical I have in regards to her is that she is the 28th best driver in Cup. She is the dividing line between those who matter and those who continue to strive for respectability each week. What she says or does should carry about as much weight as, say, Aric Almirola or Casey Mears. However, that is not the reality of things.

What is real is that Jeff Gordon remains the best driver so far this season, though Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski are right there, according to these standings. However, after the issues last week Keselowski’s Chase dreams are about to go the way of the dodo, or the Earnhardt and the Johnson, unless fortune smiles down in Texas. It won’t. Matt Kenseth goes in as the race favorite and Matt loves everybody.

Except Keselowski, but everybody loves Matt. Except Kevin Harvick. Something tells me these boys are not exactly all sweetness and loveliness either.

*Drivers awarded a 25 (rather than a 3) point winner’s bonus
BOLD = Currently in the Chase

Hot 20

1 – Jeff Gordon – 4 Wins – 1247 POINTS
2 – Joey Logano – 5 – 1227
3 – Brad Keselowski – 5 – 1188
4 – Dale Earnhardt Jr – 4 – 1158
5 – Kevin Harvick – 3 – 1088
6 – Jimmie Johnson – 3 – 1045
7 – Matt Kenseth – 0 – 1032
8 – Ryan Newman – 0 – 1031
9 – Carl Edwards – 2 – 1029
10 – Kyle Larson – 0 – 981
11 – Kyle Busch – 1 – 969
12 – Greg Biffle – 0 – 931
13 – Kasey Kahne – 1 – 927
14 – Clint Bowyer – 0 – 923
15 – Austin Dillon – 0 – 910
16 – Jamie McMurray – 0 – 906
17 – Denny Hamlin – 1 – 896
18 – Paul Menard – 0 – 856
19 – Brian Vickers – 0 – 847
20 – A.J. Allmendinger – 1 – 828

October 30, 2014
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Martinsville

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Jeff Gordon: Gordon, an eight-time winner at Martinsville, finished second in the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500, the best finish among Chase-eligible drivers. He leads the points standings by three over Ryan Newman.

“I just couldn’t catch Dale Earnhardt, Jr.,” Gordon said. “Would I have moved him out of the way had I got close enough? You bet. I took no teammates to the Chase, and I take no prisoners in the Chase.”

2. Joey Logano: Logano finished fifth at Martinsville as Penske teammate Brad Keselowski struggled and finished 31st.

“How many times to I have to apologize to Danica Patrick for wrecking her at Charlotte?” Logano said. “My goodness, I can’t imagine what it’s like to be her boyfriend, although I can’t say I haven’t fantasized about it.”

3. Ryan Newman: Newman finished third at Martinsville, posting his fifth straight top-10 result.

“I may be the forgotten man in the final eight of the Chase,” Newman said. “But I could surprise some people. Brad Keselowski calls me the ‘Matt Kenseth Of The Chase,’ because I can sneak up on you.”

4. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished sixth at Martinsville but raised the ire of Kevin Harvick, who was spun by Kenseth just past the halfway point. Harvick all but promised retaliation.

“I guess the question isn’t ‘Oh no,’” Kenseth said. “It’s ‘Owe? Yes.’

5. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin posted a solid eighth in the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville.

“Martinsville was a ‘Headache’ for Kevin Harvick,” Hamlin said. “Finishing eighth was a ‘Relief’ for me. And Brad Keselowski’s championship hopes are nearly ‘Shot.’ ‘Goody!’”

6. Carl Edwards: Edwards struggled at Martinsville, spending much of the race a lap down and finishing 20th.

“I may have just driven myself out of Cup contention,” Edwards said. “I sense a pattern developing here—me saying my goodbyes early.”

7. Brad Keselowski: After staying alive with a dramatic win at Talladega last week, Keselowski lost his transmission with 64 laps left. He finished 31st.

“Something just snapped,” Keselowski said. “This time, it wasn’t me.

“Once again, I’ve placed myself behind the eight ball. But digging myself a hole seems to be the ‘queue’ for me to pull off a big win.”

8. Kevin Harvick: Harvick qualified a disappointing 33rd and worked his way to the front before contact with Matt Kenseth damaged the No. 4 Outback Chevrolet. Harvick finished 33rd and will likely need a win at Texas or Phoenix to advance to the final round.

“Speaking of ‘Outback,’” Harvick said, “I’d like to take Kenseth ‘out back,’ to the woodshed.

9. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt led 79 laps and held off teammate Jeff Gordon to win the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville. It was Earnhardt’s fourth win of the season, and his first ever in a Sprint Cup race at Martinsville..

“Winning that Martinsville grandfather clock has always been on my bucket list,” Earnhardt said. “It must be a very small bucket, because a ‘Cup’ won’t even fit in it.”

10. Kyle Busch: Busch responded from his disastrous finish at Talladega with an 11th at Martinsville. Excluding his Talladega result, Busch has finished 11th or better in every Chase races.

“I’ve put Talladega behind me,” Busch said. “Now, it’s on to Texas. Unfortunately, I’m not in the hunt, but Ill be interested to see how things play out. The line between fourth place and fifth place in the points standings will be hotly contested. And Texas is just the place for such a ‘border’ war.”

October 28, 2014
The Final Word – Martinsville, A Day of Sunshine for Some, Storm Clouds for Others

As I peer out my window, I see cloudy skies and snow upon the ground. Even for us in the Great White North, this sucks. Yet, for many NASCAR fans, the skies are blue, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and even that fat little mouse is eager to help Cinderelli build her dress. Life is perfect. Well, almost perfect. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his fourth of the season at Martinsville, but just one race too late to keep his title hopes alive. Still, it took him just nine months to match what he had done over the course of the previous nine years, and that is to win four races.

Jeff Gordon had the car to beat. A speedy run through the pits put him back of the pack for some time, to allow others some face time up front. Denny Hamlin had the spotlight for awhile, as did Joey Logano. It was Gordon’s misfortune to return amongst the leaders about the time Junior’s car came alive. However, Four Time has the point as the Chasers advance to Texas. Ryan Newman, who led not a lap, was third and is within three points of Gordon.

Martinsville, in large part due to the quality of the broadcasters, was a chore to watch. At least it was until the action superseded their attempts at commentary. Gordon went from first to beyond 30th after his pit road violation and things seemed to perk up after that.

Kevin Harvick’s temper certainly spiked after fellow Chaser Matt Kenseth wheel-hopped and popped Harvick into the fence. Both had been riding around in the top 10, while in the end Kenseth finished sixth, Harvick 33rd and not very happy. In fact, he predicted Kenseth would not win the title. No need for a crystal ball when one has a fender that has the ability to alter history at Homestead.

Then we had Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers. Kahne shoved Vickers out of the way early, Vickers spun Kahne later. When Kahne added his own version of the spin-o-rama NASCAR forced a peace and a halt to the shenanigans.

Danica Patrick and Martin Truex Jr. had their own tete-a-tete going on, but they and Kahne both got roughed up when Brad Keselowski got hit with drive line problems. Brad soon got hit by Casey Mears when he slowed to a crawl, and Patrick got a piece of Mears, while Kahne got all of Truex. Even Carl Edwards got a small piece of that and came home 20th on the day.

For a while there, I had visions of a 1-2-3 finish involving that trio of Chasers that warm the cockles of our hearts. Thankfully, reality stepped in and spared us. With apologies to that iconic trio of Chicago Cubs from a century ago…

These are the saddest of possible words:
“Joey and Denny and Brad”
Trio of racers who are fleeter than birds,
Joey and Denny and Brad.
Leaving fan favorites to sit on the bubble,
It is enough to make one order up doubles
Three bloody drivers who are nothing but trouble:
“Joey and Denny and Brad”

Joey was fifth, Hamlin eighth, Brad back in 31st.

As one can not be sure of others’ misfortune, both Keselowski and Harvick need to be hunting for wins at Texas and Phoenix in order to advance to the final round as Chasers. However, based on past history, a win for either this weekend, or even Edwards for that matter, is a bit of a long shot. The one with the best shot is Kenseth, with a pair of wins and an average finish of 8.2, though Hamlin has a couple claimed there, as well.

If there was a time for one of those on the outside looking in to order up a bit of sunshine of their own, this would be it.

1 – Jeff Gordon – 4044 POINTS – 7 to the good
2 – Ryan Newman – 4041 – 4 to the good
3 – Joey Logano – 4040 – 3 to the good
4 – Matt Kenseth – 4039 – 2 to the good
5 – Denny Hamlin – 4037 – 2 away
6 – Carl Edwards – 4024 – 15 away
7 – Brad Keselowski – 4013 – 26 away
8 – Kevin Harvick – 4011 – 28 away

October 27, 2014
Martinsville – The “Other” Wildcard

Stats are often used to determine which driver is a favorite heading into race weekend. Entering the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500, eight drivers remain in contention for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. Among those eight drivers, no one has a record as impressive as Jeff Gordon at the half-mile paperclip shaped track nestled in the southern Virginia. At Martinsville, however, stats are only one factor.

Gordon’s record at Martinsville is stellar. In 43 starts, Gordon has eight wins, 27 top-fives and 34 top-10s. He has an average finish of seventh and has led a whopping 3593 laps. Stats like these would be envied by any driver.

In addition to the great stats, Gordon seems to have the all of the elements he needs to win a championship; a great crew chief, solid and consistent crew, an obvious desire to prove he can win number five, and most importantly, confidence in his ability. These factors coupled with his impressive record, definitely make him a favorite this weekend.

The only driver who has a comparable record at Martinsville is Gordon’s teammate, Jimmie Johnson. Johnson, however, who also has eight wins in just 25 starts, was eliminated from Chase contention last week at Talladega.

Based on stats, Virginia native, Denny Hamlin, is Gordon’s closest competitor among Chase contenders. In 17 starts, Hamlin has four wins, 13 top-10s, and an average finish of 8.7. Hamlin, however, has been somewhat inconsistent this season. He has an average finish position of 15.1 and has only led 218 laps compared to Gordon’s 743.

Even with the fact that his season has been weaker than Gordon’s, he is still the most dangerous threat to Gordon this weekend. Hamlin loves Martinsville and the love of a track, often times, means more than stats. Additionally, this weekend is probably Hamlin’s best opportunity to win and advance, so expect him to be tough.

Keselowski and Logano may not have stats as strong as Gordon, but they have had the strongest overall season among the Chase drivers. Keselowski has the most wins with six, followed by Logano with five. Logano leads the top-10 category with 20, tied with Gordon. Logano also led in top-fives with 15, one better than Keselowski.

Keselowski seems to have a fire in his eye this season and his team seem to share that desire to win. The cohesiveness of the No. 2 team is evident every week.

Logano is in the midst of his best career season. He has something to prove after a lackluster series debut with Joe Gibbs Racing. The Penske racing duos are definitely threats to win this weekend.

Of course anything can happen at Martinsville. Stats and recent history only go so far. It is a rough and tumble track where drivers can beat and bang, suffer severe damage, and still compete for the win. It is also a track where paybacks often happens. We are only two weeks away from the Keselowski, Kenseth, Hamlin feud. Could this be the weekend when they take their revenge?

At a track like Martinsville, factors that are hard to quantify, determination, anger, desire and confidence, can play a very important part in deciding the winner.

Talladega is often referred to as the “wildcard” track in the Sprint Cup Series. Martinsville, however, is just as volatile. Tight, flat corners and the ease at which tempers can flare, are ingredients for a fantastic race day. Martinsville is the perfect place to kickoff the eliminator round.

The green will fall on the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at 1:30 local time.

October 26, 2014
Hot 20 – Martinsville Could Showcase a Wildcard Cup Contender and a Dying Minor League

Will it bother anyone if, conceivably, one not so deserving wins the Cup title this year? I mean, if it is Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano, or Brad Keselowski, I doubt few would argue the outcome. One could even argue that the likes of Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, or Ryan Newman would be a worthy champion.

However, what about Denny Hamlin? Even if he had taken part in the two events he missed in order to mend, Hamlin would not even be in our Top Ten. Okay, maybe if he had won them both, but what were the chances? Still, would he be deemed as a worthy holder of the title?

In a word, yes. Few, if any, are pointing out the fact that the World Series participants, the Giants and the Royals, are just a pair of wildcard teams. They were not the best in their division, and in fact each was just the fourth best in their respective leagues. Yet, as time goes on, fewer will remember that the Orioles, Tigers, Angels, Dodgers, Nationals and the Cardinals all had better runs in 2014. They did, but when it counted, they did not. Hamlin is among those who has, thus far, been there when it counted.

When you watch a truck race, you can count on 36 entries. Usually. Well, sometimes. Not next year, when they scale the field down to 32. My guess is that it has been an embarrassment for NASCAR to realize a full slate just five out of 18 events. Three times they could not even get 30. Of the 37 entered to compete at Martinsville, only 13 have run the entire series. Only 16 have run 15 or more. Two others in that number, Ron Hornaday and T.J. Bell, are not even entered for this weekend.

I wonder what the problem is. Eight races have been won by Cup regulars, six of them by Kyle Busch. He, along with Keselowski and Austin Dillon are not entered at Martinsville. Two time winner Erik Jones is not, along with Cole Custer. What has gone wrong?

We are told the economy is still suffering, that sponsorship is hard to come by. So, is the involvement of the Cup guys keeping at least some level of interest alive, or is it helping to kill it? Maybe an answer can be found in the Nationwide series, where only 17 drivers have run all 30 of those races to date. They have won just eight between them. Nineteen have been won by Cup regulars, led by the half dozen claimed by (guess who?) Kyle Busch. At least they will retain the 40 car field for next season, but for how much longer?

Me thinks NASCAR needs to rethink its model for the supposed minor leagues, where 27 of the 48 events have been claimed by “major leaguers” this season. If the trend of attrition in the number of teams and full-time drivers at its lower levels does not turn around soon, Cup might be all NASCAR has to offer.

*Winning bonus increased from 3 to 25 points.
BOLD = Current Chase contenders

1 – Jeff Gordon – 4 Wins – 1203 Points*
2 – Joey Logano – 5 – 1187
3 – Brad Keselowski – 5 – 1175
4 – Dale Earnhardt Jr – 3 – 1089
5 – Kevin Harvick – 3 – 1088
6 – Jimmie Johnson – 3 – 1033
7 – Carl Edwards – 2 – 1005
8 – Matt Kenseth – 0 – 993
9 – Ryan Newman – 0 – 990
10 – Kyle Larson – 0 – 967
11 – Kasey Kahne – 1 – 923
12 – Kyle Busch – 1 – 903
13 – Greg Biffle – 0 – 900
14 – Clint Bowyer – 0 – 885
15 – Austin Dillon – 0 – 878
16 – Jamie McMurray – 0 – 877
17 – Denny Hamlin – 1 – 859
18 – Brian Vickers – 0 – 830
19 – Paul Menard – 0 – 826
20 – Kurt Busch – 1 – 816

October 23, 2014
‘You got to learn how to be a good loser and it will make you a better winner.’ – Rex White

Recently, I was honored to hear NASCAR Hall of Famers, 1960 Grand National champion Rex White and 1988 Winston Cup champion Bill Elliott, speak in the media center before the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. After the tumultuous events at the end of the race that resulted in behavioral penalties for Brad Keselowski and Tony Stewart, I couldn’t help but remember some timely words of advice from these two legends.

“Any driver is going to lose more races than he wins, White said. “You got to learn how to be a good loser and it will make you a better winner.”

While today’s corporate sponsored NASCAR often bears little resemblance to its blue collar beginnings, the essence of racing remains unchanged. There is only one goal; to win. It’s that competitive passion that grabs you and doesn’t let go until the checkered flag waves. But therein lies the rub; there can be only one winner each race.

Bill Elliott put it another way, saying, “Some days you just got to take your licks and go on to the next race.”

But what does being a good loser mean?

It’s a concept that most athletes and particularly racers, simply don’t understand. They are taught that winning is everything and in their minds, losing equals failure. Accepting a loss gracefully means acknowledging defeat. Or does it?

Dale Earnhardt is famously quoted as saying that “second place is just the first loser.”

The seven-time NASCAR champion, however, was no stranger to losing. Over the course of his Cup career he competed in 676 races, winning 76 times but losing 600. It took 20 attempts before he finally won the coveted Daytona 500 in 1998.

Earnhardt earned the title of The Intimidator on the track and was arguably one of the most aggressive drivers in the history of the sport. No one hated losing more than him but he learned to accept the losses as a necessary evil and move forward once the checkered flag flew. A perfect example is his 19th heartbreaking loss of the Daytona 500.

In 1997, Earnhardt was running second in the final laps of the Daytona 500 when he wrecked. Jeff Gordon, in third place, was trying to pass and Earnhardt made contact with the wall, got sideways and flipped his car in the chain reaction that ensued. After repairs, including taping the back deck onto the No. 3, Earnhardt was back in the car.

“I got in the ambulance and I looked back at the car,” Earnhardt said, “and I said ‘man, the wheels are still on that thing.’ I got out of the ambulance and asked the guy inside the car that was hooking it up and said, ‘see if it will crank’ and he cranked it up and I said, ‘get out, give me the car back.’ So I drove it back around here and we taped it up.”

“I don’t know that we could have won the Daytona 500,” Earnhardt continued, “but we was sitting there, ready for a shot. I think Gordon was a little impatient at that point but still he went on and won the race, he was running his race. That’s the way it goes.”

The most passionate and successful champions in any sport refuse to be defined by their losses. Instead of placing blame on others they look inward, dig deeper and refuse to give up. No one expects these fierce competitors to accept losing gracefully but when a bad finish causes a driver to lose control of his emotions and engage in potentially dangerous behavior, it only compounds the significance of the loss.

Michael Jordon, six-time NBA champion once said, “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

Six-time Sprint Cup champ Jimmie Johnson, who has been eliminated from this year’s championship battle, echoed those sentiments, saying “I truly believe that those moments make you stronger.”

“It’s great medicine for the 48,” he elaborated. “I don’t want to be in this position. But it’s great medicine to sit and watch this championship unfold. It’s going to motivate me, Chad (Knaus, crew chief) and the team, all of us on the 48 team. We’ll come back next year and be ready to roll.”

Perhaps it’s all about perception. Loss is inevitable but it is also transitory. It can be viewed as failure or as an impetus to future success and that mindset is what truly separates the winners from the losers.

October 22, 2014