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Tag: Brad Keselowski

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Sonoma

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Sonoma

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson, winner of three of the last four races, posted a seventh at Sonoma, his 11th top 10 of the year. He is second in the points standings, 20 behind Jeff Gordon.

    “I didn’t win,” Johnson said, “but my rivals are nervous nonetheless. Anytime you say ‘Jimmie Johnson’ and ‘seventh’ in the same sentence, people are intimidated, or should I say ‘inJimmiedated.”

    2. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Two weeks after winning at Michigan, Earnhardt posted a third-place finish in the Toyota/SaveMart 350, as Hendrick Motorsports placed all four drivers in the top seven.

    “I have to apologize for wrecking Matt Kenseth,” Earnhardt said. “I’m pretty sure Matt will accept an apology. Why? Because he’s used to ‘taking’ it.”

    3. Jeff Gordon: Gordon finished second to Carl Edwards at Sonoma, as Hendrick Motorsports five-race winning streak ended. Gordon leads the Sprint Cup points standings with a 20-point cushion on Jimmie Johnson.

    “’I let Edwards get away,’” Gordon said. “That’s my Jack Roush impression, not my take on the final lap at Sonoma.

    “You may have noticed our new sponsor, Panasonic, on the No. 24 car. For once, a driver can say he’s got an ‘electronic issue’ and it’s not a bad thing. Joe Gibbs may put Japanese in the car; Hendrick puts it on it.”

    4. Carl Edwards: Edwards took the lead with 25 laps to go at Sonoma and held off Jeff Gordon to claim his first road course victory.

    “Roush Fenway was shut out at Michigan,” Edwards said. “Who would have thought we’d turn things around on a road course? But you can always count on Jack Roush to have something up his sleeve, except new contracts.”

    5. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski struggled in the Toyota SavMart 350, fighting handling issues all day on his way to a 22nd. He is fifth in the points standings, 68 out of first.

    “It was a tough day for the No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford,” Keselowski said. “Sadly, though, we needed car parts, not truck parts.

    “The car’s handling was a nightmare. Nothing we tried worked. One of my pit crewmen made so many wedge adjustments, he developed a wrist injury. Aerodynamically, he’s fine, but he will need some carpal tunnel testing.”

    6. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth was wrecked on lap 74 when Dale Earnhardt, Jr. jumped a curb and rammed the back of Kenseth’s No. 20 Home Depot Toyota. Kenseth is currently fourth in the Sprint Cup points standings, 65 out of first.

    “When you’re surrounded by a pile of useless tires,” Kenseth said, “you know you’re in trouble, or Hoosier is your tire manufacturer.

    “We’re losing Home Depot as a sponsor at season’s end. I guess that makes them the ‘Away Depot.’”

    7. Joey Logano: Logano finished 16th at Sonoma on a tough day for Penske Motorsports, as teammate Brad Keselowski managed only a 22nd. Logano is now seventh in the points standings, 97 behind Jeff Gordon.

    “Our boss won’t be happy,” Logano said. “Ask him his opinion of our performance, and he certainly won’t ‘Roger’ that.

    “They say Sonoma is wine country, but they also drink beer in this road course haven. I think they make it from ‘wheel hops.’”

    8. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 20th at Sonoma after the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Chevy was collected when Clint Bowyer suffered a flat tire and stopped in the middle of the track.

    “I’m not surprised,” Harvick said. “From what I hear, ’parking’ is an issue at all NASCAR races.”

    9. Paul Menard: Menard finished fifth at Sonoma, posting his third top-five result of the year.

    “In the absence of Kevin Harvick,” Menard said, “I’ve taken over as a leader for Richard Childress Racing. And we haven’t missed a beat. That’s because we get ‘beat’ every week.”

    10. Ryan Newman: Newman finished 11th at Sonoma as Richard Childress Racing teammate Paul Menard took fifth. Newman is eighth in the points standings, 107 out of first.

    “Our highest finish this year is a seventh,” Newman said, “which we’ve accomplished three times. I’m not sure if we can win with this car. We lack the speed of the Hendrick engines. It says ‘Caterpillar’ on my car; it also says ‘Caterpillar’ on the speedometer.”

  • The Final Word – Why Can’t NASCAR on TV Always be Like Sonoma?

    The Final Word – Why Can’t NASCAR on TV Always be Like Sonoma?

    It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Interesting race, a few surprises, great topography and scenery, and top notch announcing. What was not to like?

    If you were Carl Edwards, not much. He came on strong over the final quarter of the race at Sonoma to march off with his 23rd career victory, and his second of the season. It marked his first win on a road course, and it ended a string of five straight wins by Team Hendrick. Well, barely, considering that Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr were contenders all day to conclude things in the Top Three. Jamie McMurray and Paul Menard put some spark into their seasons with Top Fives. Jimmie Johnson had a Top Ten, for those who do not things to change too much from week to week.

    Matt Kenseth got the biggest surprise, when Junior bounced off a curb to clip him into the tire barrier. That tore the front end, radiator included, off his beast to leave him steaming. The driver, Kenseth, not the car. Didn’t I mention the radiator was no longer attached? 42nd was his fate.

    Junior also managed to lay a late touch on A.J. Allmendinger, who then spun to get hit by Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers to tear up his front end. A.J. went from a contender to finish 37th, and probably burned his Junior Nation t-shirt afterwards.

    Kevin Harvick had a car to beat, and beat it he did when he got squeezed into Clint Bowyer’s spun car. Happy wasn’t, as his hopes faded to leave him 20th on the day. Notice that Earnhardt had nothing to do with that one.

    Danica Patrick finished 18th, just ahead of Tony Stewart, ahead of Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Larson. That should give you some indication as to how lousy the day was for those boys.

    Now, I would truly love to be a big Danica supporter, but despite her experience, her quality equipment, her lucrative sponsorship, and a loyal fan base, she just does not matter most weeks. To find her on the charts, you usually start at about 25th and look a few spots either way. Sunday was a good day, for her. Even great open wheelers have had trouble making the transition, and while she was popular, she was not great. Still, at 32, I guess there is still time.

    Time to turn our attention to this Saturday night, where Kentucky hosts just its fourth Cup event. Kyle, Keselowski, and Kenseth have won the first trio and I would expect them somewhere near the front again this year. Also, do not be surprised to see a Mr. Gordon or a Mr. Johnson up there close, as they have been the past three years. They have not yet won there, but Saturday has not yet arrived, so that could change.

    Change, like Home Depot leaving Joe Gibbs Racing and that same owner possibly about to welcome Edwards to the fold. Yet, not all things change. Check out the top of our leader board.

    SWEET SIXTEEN
    1 – Jimmie Johnson – 3 WINS (560 Pts)
    2 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 2 (555)
    3 – Carl Edwards – 2 (509)
    4 – Joey Logano – 2 (483)
    5 – Kevin Harvick – 2 (472)
    6 – Jeff Gordon – 1 (580)
    7 – Brad Keselowski – 1 (512)
    8 – Kyle Busch – 1 (465)
    9 – Denny Hamlin – 1 (453)
    10 – Kurt Busch – 1 (347)
    11 – Matt Kenseth – 515 POINTS
    12 – Ryan Newman – 473
    13 – Kyle Larson – 470
    14 – Paul Menard – 459
    15 – Clint Bowyer – 452
    16 – Greg Biffle – 444

    CONTENDERS & PRETENDERS
    17 – Kasey Kahne – 429
    18 – Tony Stewart – 427
    19 – Austin Dillon – 427
    20 – Jamie McMurray – 425
    21 – Brian Vickers – 424
    22 – Marcos Ambrose – 407
    23 – Aric Almirola – 400
    24 – A.J. Allmendinger – 391
    25 – Casey Mears – 373
    26 – Martin Truex, Jr. – 360
    27 – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – 320
    28 – Danica Patrick – 299
    29 – Justin Allgaier – 280
    30 – Michael Annett – 249
    31 – David Gilliland – 232
    32 – Cole Whitt – 228

     

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Michigan

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Michigan

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson took the win at Michigan, snatching his third win in the last four races. It was his first win at Michigan, and he is now second in the points standings.

    “That’s right,” Johnson said. “My first win at Michigan. And that just goes to show that you can’t underestimate my greatness—in one race, I scored two ‘firsts.’

    “It was a Happy Father’s Day, at least for me. And what a great way to celebrate, with a win. The congratulations have been overwhelming. It’s been ‘mad props’ for the ‘glad pops.’”

    2. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Earnhardt finished seventh in the Quicken Loans 400, posting his tenth top-10 result of the year. He is third in the Sprint Cup points standings, 23 behind Jeff Gordon.

    “You probably heard I left Ryan Newman at the airport,” Earnhardt said. “I call that ‘left behind,’ and so did Newman, when he told me to kiss a certain butt cheek.

    “By the way, Ryan’s phone has a new ring tone—Simple Minds’ ‘Don’t You Forget About Me.’”

    3. Jeff Gordon: Gordon started second at Michigan and led 36 laps on his way to a sixth at Michigan.

    “That’s five wins in a row for Hendrick Motorsports,” Gordon said, “and sixth on the year. NASCAR hasn’t seen a run of dominance like this since Tim Richmond’s S&M phase. Here are some interesting ratios: Three of four Hendrick drivers have won six of 15 races. And one of four Hendrick drivers is Kasey Kahne.”

    4. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished third at Michigan following two straight runner-up finishes, at Dover and Pocono. He is fifth in the points standings, 47 out of first.

    “I won in Las Vegas,” Keselowski said, “and haven’t won since. I guess it’s true what they say: ‘What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.’”

    5. Matt Kenseth: Still seeking his first win of the season, Kenseth finished 14th in the Quicken Loans 400.

    “I had seven wins last year,” Kenseth said, “and didn’t win the championship. By that rationale, I’m well on pace to win the Cup this year. At least that’s what I keep telling myself. As for now, my ‘Victory Circle’ is a zero.”

    6. Joey Logano: Logano started ninth and finished ninth at Michigan, recording his eighth top-10 finish of the year. He moved up two spots in the points standings to seventh, 83 out of first.

    “I’d like to wish my dad a Happy Fathers’ Day,” Logano said. “I’m sure most people at the track feel the same about him as they do about Fathers’ Day—-they’re glad it only shows up only once a year.”

    7. Kevin Harvick: Harvick started on the pole at Michigan and finished second to Jimmie Johnson. It was Harvick’s fourth runner-up this season, and left him quite irritable.

    “Some people say my frustration from four runner-up finishes this year is boiling over,” Harvick said. “Well, I would ‘second’ their opinion.”

    8. Carl Edwards: Edwards struggled at Michigan, finishing 23rd, one lap down, as Roush Fenway cars failed to crack the top 15. Edwards is now sixth in the points standings, 75 out of first.

    “We Roush Fenway drivers consider Michigan our home track,” Edwards said. “Ironically, our performance there leaves us home sick.”

    9. Kyle Larson: Larson finished eight at Michigan, posting his seventh top 10 of the year. He is eighth in the Sprint Cup points standings, 83 out of first.

    “My girlfriend and I are expecting a child in December,” Larson said. “I’ll likely be NASCAR’s Rookie Of The Year and a father soon. So, as you’d expect for a young, up-and-coming superstar driver, things are happening ‘fast.’”

    10. Ryan Newman: Newman finished 15th in the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan, as Richard Childress Racing teammate Paul Menard took fourth.

    “I missed a flight to Michigan because Dale Earnhardt Jr. just forgot about me,” Newman said. “I called Junior and told him I was standing on the runway, waiting for my ride. That joker replied, ‘What are you doing? ‘Taxi-ing?’”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Michigan Quicken Loans 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Michigan Quicken Loans 400

    While the luck of the Irish hills was bestowed on the driver who made his way to Victory Lane for the first time ever in Michigan, here is what was surprising and not so surprising in the 46th annual Quicken Loans 400.

    Surprising: While Kevin Harvick was certainly fast, coming in second in the race after a blistering pole run, he was even more than freakishly fast in the media center after the event.

    Harvick, who was clearly unhappy with his race finish, had just one comment and was asked just one question during his media availability, which went like this:

    “I mean, the car was fast, just wound up on the wrong side of all the strategy,” Harvick said. “We finished second, and that’s it.”

    QUESTION. “Kevin, six of the top eight were Hendrick engines. This is a pretty big track in terms of horsepower. How well positioned are the Hendricks right now?”

    “I think it’s pretty obvious. Self-explanatory. Good question,” Harvick answered and then exited the media center.

    Not Surprising: Race winner Jimmie Johnson scored a first, second, third, fifth and eighth all at once with his trip to Victory Lane at Michigan International Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Kobalt Tools Chevrolet checked MIS off his win list for the first time, moved up to second in the point standings thanks to his victory, scored his third win of the season solidifying his run for his seventh championship, and handed the fifth win in a row to boss Mr. Hendrick.

    Johnson is also now eighth on the all-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins list.

    “Well, this is a great win for a lot of reasons,” Rick Hendrick, team owner, said. “One for here in Michigan for Chevrolet, and being a Chevrolet dealer and racing Chevrolets, this means a lot to win this race. It’s good to see Jimmie win after leading so many laps here and close the deal because we’ve run out of gas, broke motors, blown tires. I think I remember a couple times coming off of 4 and losing it. For him to be able to finish it off today, it was really good.”

    “And again, to keep the streak going, get five, that’s great,” Hendrick continued. “This was a good race, and it just played out the way we needed it to play out. Everybody is really putting out a lot of effort right now, and it’s paying off.”

    Surprising: Although Kyle Larson, behind the wheel of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, spun early in the race, damaging the back end of his car, he was the envy of the field as that very damage gave him a bit of down force advantage that propelled him into an eighth place finish.

    “You know, the rear bumper, yeah, I’ve never had that happen before, and it happened so early in the race that I don’t know how it would have handled had I had a rear bumper,” Larson said. “Either way I think we would have had a really good car because we were good in practice, but it probably did help a little bit.”

    Larson was the highest finishing Rookie of the Year candidate yet again.

    Not Surprising: Paul Menard proved that Michigan was a track on which he could run well, winning the Nationwide race on Saturday and finishing fourth in the Cup race on Sunday.

    “Yeah, we had a really solid Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Chevy all weekend, from the time we unloaded,” Menard said. “I actually got to go to Victory Lane yesterday with my daughter and my dad was here today, so it was a good Father’s Day weekend for sure.”

    “The car, like I said, was fast all weekend. We needed some clean air at the end and the guys got me out front with some pit strategy and good pit stops and we came home with a top 5,” Menard continued. “So it was pretty good.”

    Surprising: There was more spinning in the Quicken Loans 400 than at the Olympic men’s figure skating championship. Spinners in the event included Brian Vickers, Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, David Ragan, Alex Bowman, Brett Moffit, Aric Almirola, and Denny Hamlin just to name a few.

    “It’s frustrating. I wish I knew — the car just came around going into (turn) three,” Brian Vickers said after spinning early in his No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota. “I was trying to back the corner up and was taking it easy and just got loose and it just came around from me.”

    “I saved it all the way up to the wall and I thought I had it saved and ultimately it just came around and I lost it,” Vickers continued. “I didn’t have that experience all weekend. The car was just really loose getting into (turn) three and that was it.”

    Not Surprising: Well, it was Michigan after all, so not surprisingly at least one driver deemed his day a ‘blue collar’ kind of day.

    “Yeah, we just didn’t have the speed really all weekend to be a front runner in the sense of contending to win based on speed,” Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford for Team Penske, said after finishing third. “But the guys did a great job with execution. I thought we executed really well.”

    “We had a lot of good restarts, pretty decent on pit road today,” Keselowski continued. “Solid strategy, just — I told somebody before, Joey Logano told us, we were talking before the race started, we needed a good blue collar day today, and that’s of what today was for us.”

    “We kind of trudged through it and came away with another top three effort, which is good but not great.”

    Surprising: Unlike most of his races recently, Kasey Kahne was actually able to battle back from adversity to finish top-five in his No. 5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet.

    ‘Yeah, it was tough,” Kahne said. “I was struggling for a while and then we got it and then we were on a good strategy there at the end. We were pretty competitive with the guys in front of us.”

    “Yes, we really needed that, especially where we started getting in Larson’s wreck there at the start of the race,” Kahne continued. “We kind of got going from there. We made a lot of adjustments. It took about an hour and a half to get our car right with different adjustments and things.”

    “It was a battle, it wasn’t easy today.”

    Not Surprising:   Two former Indy Car racers were just feeling ‘lucky’ in this week’s NASCAR race. Juan Pablo Montoya, making his NASCAR return, and Danica Patrick both partook in the ‘lucky dog’ experience, leading to a 17th place finish for Patrick and an 18th place finish for JPM.

    “We started the race really, really loose and we were not really expecting that based on practice,” Montoya, behind the wheel of the No. 12 SKF Ford for Team Penske, said. “It’s hard because we went from practice to the race without really changing that much and it was awful. We were kind of catching up and we did a good job.”

    “I got the lucky dog and we were getting better and then I think we went a little too far with the car at the end, but we’re learning and understanding a little more.”

    “We were pretty good,” Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet, said. “The guys did a good job on the adjustments, and it was fun to drive. The race seemed to go by quick.”

    “We needed a little bit of track position, but it was a good day for us,” Patrick continued. “Thanks to GoDaddy and everyone on my team, we continue to get better.”

    Surprising: At a track that they have owned in the past, Roush Fenway Racing had an incredibly bad day. RFR drivers Greg Biffle finished 20th, Carl Edwards 23rd and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. 27th.

    “That was a big struggle,” Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford, said. “It was pretty tough but we worked hard and didn’t quit.”

    “Fortunately we have a win to get us into the Chase, but we’ve just got to get better as a group,” Edwards continued. “That’s the way it is.”

    Not Surprising: After another run of bad luck, suffering damage from a Lap 8 accident that led to a 37th place finish, there is no other driver that is looking forward to Sonoma more than Martin Truex Jr.

    “When luck is not on your side, there’s not much you can do,” Truex, driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet, said. “I don’t know what to say right now.”

    “We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s disheartening because we felt that we had a potential top-10 car but didn’t get a chance to show it. When you have an accident that early it sure makes for a long day.”

    “I mean a very long day.”

    Truex is, however, the defending champ of the California road course where the Sprint Cup Series will battle next. The Toyota – Save Mart 350 race will be run on Sunday, June 22nd at 3:00 PM ET.

     

     

  • Hometown Success Eludes Brad Keselowski Again

    Hometown Success Eludes Brad Keselowski Again

    Brad Keselowski’s schedule always has a circle around his home track, Michigan International Raceway, a venue where victory has continually eluded him, making this weekend’s Quicken Loans 400 a distinctive race, as he yearned for his first win at the track where he grew up as a spectator.

    Though, after 400 grueling miles, Keselowski was unable to seize the trophy and finished a respectable third position behind runner-up Kevin Harvick and the victor, Jimmie Johnson.

    “We just didn’t have the speed really all weekend to be a front runner in the sense of contending to win based on speed,” Keselowski explained in the media center. “We kind of trudged through it and came away with another top three effort, which is good but not great. We want the wins, especially here at Michigan. That would mean a lot.”

    Keselowski, 30, isn’t willing to settle with the podium effort, however, he’s still content with the consistency his organization has possessed through the season.

    “We didn’t run as well as we wanted to, but we certainly didn’t run poorly,” Keselowski expressed. “Like I said, it was a good day, not a great day. Third is nothing to hang your hat on. We have consistency, which is good.

    “Unfortunately it doesn’t mean much right now at this time of the year in the sense of points,” he continued. “But it does mean a lot to us in the sense of overall morale and our ability to really make a push as the fall comes for the Chase. That’s important to us, even if it might not show a tangible result in the short-term.”

    Keselowski, though, is beginning to fret over the dominance that Hendrick Motorsports has shown the past month. Still, despite being behind at this juncture, he is confident his Penske Racing Team will be able to contend.

    “We’ve got work to do to get there,” Keselowski admitted. “Thankfully we’ve got — I can’t remember, 12, 13 weeks until the Chase starts, and I know we’ve got some stuff coming up for that, but I think we’ve got at Penske, I think we’re right there, kind of just maybe a half a nose behind the Hendrick cars or Hendrick-powered cars, whatever you want to call them. But we need just a little bit more, and if we can do that, I really feel like we can kind of have a strong march over the fall and have a shot at running for the championship.”

    Keselowski now prepares for lefts and rights at the challenging Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, a circuit where he’s had his ups and downs.

  • Hot 20 heading into Michigan are led by the hot trio from Hendrick

    Hot 20 heading into Michigan are led by the hot trio from Hendrick

    Free enterprise is a great concept, though in the presence of a monopoly it does not work worth crap. If one outfit gains near total dominance over any industry, there is no competition. Standard Oil, AT&T, Microsoft, U.S. Steel, and even Western Union have been accused of holding monopolies at some point in their history. Maybe you could add Hendrick Motorsports to that list.

    Actually, such an accusation would be ridiculous. The company has just four entries in any 43 car field each week. However, the results they manage to compile certainly illustrates their dominance in the Cup series. The top three drivers to this point in the season, using our system of determining excellence, are all from Hendrick. Two of those drivers have ten season championships already to their credit. Jimmie Johnson has led higher than 21% of the laps run over the first 14 events, with the trio combining to take more than a third of those races.

    Very dominant, but not a monopoly. SHR’s Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski of Penske Racing have both had their time in front, and combined with Johnson the trio has led more than half of the laps run to date. When you include Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth, and Kyle Busch in the mix, you have eight drivers with four organizations who have led more than 83% of the laps this season. Now, that is dominance. It kind of makes you wonder what the other 35 folks are doing. My guess is that they are busy looking at the back bumpers of those other fellows.

    Sunday might bring more of the same, as Earnhardt, Gordon, Kenseth, Ky. Busch, and Logano have all won there before. Interestingly, while Jimmie Johnson has not in 24 attempts, Greg Biffle has four on that track, including the race last spring. Maybe it is time for the Biff to join in the fun, running closer to the headlights than their tail lights.

    (No chase, and wins are worth 25 points instead of 3)

    Driver – Points – Wins
    1 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 520  – 2
    2 – Jeff Gordon – 520  – 1
    3 – Jimmie Johnson – 519 – 2
    4 – Matt Kenseth – 482
    5 – Brad Keselowski – 470 – 1
    6 – Kyle Busch – 465 – 1
    7 – Carl Edwards – 463 – 1
    8 – Joey Logano – 462 – 2
    9 – Kevin Harvick – 447 – 2
    10 – Denny Hamlin – 444 – 1
    11 – Kyle Larson – 417
    12 – Ryan Newman – 411
    13 – Brian Vickers – 392
    14 – Greg Biffle – 385
    15 – Austin Dillon – 385
    16 – Clint Bowyer – 383
    17 – Paul Menard – 380
    18 – Tony Stewart – 368
    19 – Aric Almirola – 366
    20 – A.J. Allmendinger – 360

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Pocono

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Pocono

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Jimmie Johnson: In search of his third straight win, Johnson finished sixth at Pocono despite an accident on pit road with Marcos Ambrose that left the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet with right-side damage. Johnson now sits fourth in the points standings, 23 behind Jeff Gordon.

    “We failed at pulling off the ‘triple,’” Johnson said, “as did a certain horse. For this native of El Cajon, ‘California Chrome’ is what I call my trophy room. I’m a six-time Sprint Cup champion, so, in a sense, I’ve got two ‘triple crowns.’ That’s what is known as the ‘Jimmie Hat.’”

    2. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt passed Brad Keselowski with five laps to go and won the Pocono 400. It was Earnhardt’s second win this season and first at Pocono’s 2.5 mile tri-oval. He is now third in the points standings, 22 behind Jeff Gordon.

    “What was that on Keselowski’s grill?” Earnhardt said. “I’ll tell you. The same thing that’s littering the infield of any NASCAR track—white trash.

    “Now, that’s a tough fate to befall a former Sprint Cup title winner. I guess that’s what you call a ‘paper’ champion.”

    3. Jeff Gordon: Gordon finished eighth at Pocono and regained the Sprint Cup points lead as Matt Kenseth struggled to a 25th-place result. Gordon now leads Kenseth by 16 points.

    “That’s three straight wins for Hendrick Motorsports,” Gordon said, “and five total on the season. Some say Rick Hendrick’s deep pockets are the reason we’re so dominant. There may be some truth to that. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won because of a white piece of paper. But in most cases, a Hendrick win can be attributed to paper that is green.’”

    4. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished a disappointing 25th in the Pocono 400 and remained winless on the year. He dropped out of the top spot in the points standings and is now in second, 16 behind Jeff Gordon.

    “Pocono is just not one of my favorite tracks,” Kenseth said. “This ‘square’ doesn’t like triangles, and has a hard time finding ‘circles,’ namely ‘Victory.’”

    5. Joey Logano: Logano suffered his worst finish of the year, a 40th at Pocono, the result of engine failure with ten laps to go.

    “A hot dog wrapper? A grill?” Logano said. “Sounded like a perfect occasion for some Miller Lite. But it was not to be.

    “I’ll say it again. NASCAR is safer than the NFL. Why, you ask? Because men of color are just trying to break barriers, not other players.”

    6. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski led with five laps to go at Pocono, but lost the lead to Dale Earnhardt as Keselowski tried to clear a piece of debris from his grill. It was Keselowski’s second runner-up finish in a row, and left him fifth in the points standings, 50 out of first.

    “Done in by a piece of paper that surrounds a hot dog,” Keselowski said. “In the business, that’s called getting ‘Vanilla Iced,’ because we got served by a ‘white wrapper.’

    “I was trying to use Danica Patrick as a pick. Just call me ‘GoDaddy.com,’ because I was trying to exploit her.”

    7. Carl Edwards: Edwards was collected in a late crash initiated when Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch made contact. Edward’s day was done on lap 143, and he finished 41st. He is seventh in the points standings, 57 out of first.

    “Greg Biffle is set to sign an extension with Roush Fenway,” Edwards said. “Biffle’s never won a championship in his long tenure here. So, it’s no surprise he’s not ‘going places.’

    “Of course, my future here is a lot like a good back flip—up in the air. And speaking of ‘hang time,’ I don’t have any, because none of my teammates want to ‘hang’ with me.

    8. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 14th at Pocono, as Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won, joining Harvick, Joey Logano, and Jimmie Johnson in the two-win club.

    “I can certainly empathize with Brad Keselowski,” Harvick said. “I too know what a worthless white piece of paper is. In my case, it was several—when I ripped up my Richard Childress Racing contract.”

    9. Kyle Busch: Busch came home 12th at Pocono, posting a solid finish despite making contact with Kasey Kahne on lap 142 and losing considerable track position. Busch is sixth in the Sprint Cup points standings, 55 out of first.

    “Tough break there for Brad Keselowski,” Busch said. “If you’ve got trash all up in your grill, try some dental floss.”

    10. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin started on the pole at Pocono and brought home a fourth-place finish, leading the Joe Gibbs Racing charge. He is eighth in the Sprint Cup points standings, 78 out of first.

    “Is Carl Edwards headed to Joe Gibbs Racing?” Hamlin said. “On the surface, it seems ‘Cousin Carl’ would be a great addition to the team. But, let’s face it, I’m not the only with who feels no amount of ‘kinship’ with Edwards.”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Pocono 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Pocono 400

    Under surprisingly blue skies with no rain in sight, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 33rd annual Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway in the mountains of Pennsylvania.

    Surprising: It may have been his first ever win at Pocono Raceway and his second win of the season guaranteeing him an opportunity to run for the championship, but surprisingly Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was focused more after the race on how he was going to share the victory with Junior nation.

    In fact, the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet advised the media that he planned to head over to his Twitter account because he “took a picture of myself over at the pylon and I’ll tweet that out later once I get to my phone.”

    “I joined Twitter in February at Daytona and I underestimated just how enjoyable that could be,” the race winner continued. “The interaction is unlike any other, and I get as much out of it, I think, as the fans that are following me.”

    “It definitely has some sort of a small effect on your personality, to have that kind of support directly right at your fingertips, knowing everybody is behind you 100 percent every day.”

    “I’ve enjoyed it a lot and it’s wins like this that certainly make it a whole lot more fun for everybody.”

    Not Surprising: There is no doubt that Brad Keselowski must be hoping that NASCAR forget Air Titan and develop Trash Titan after having to choose between trying to get some trash off his grille and finishing the race or trying to win and blowing up in the process.

    To make matter worse, the driver of the No. 2 Redd’s Apple Ale Ford had not only been leading the race at the time of the trash, but had also dominated the race, leading 95 laps.

    “You know, we were just running really hot and the motor was going to blow up so I had to do something,” Keselowski said. “So, I tried to follow the 10 down in the corner to get the debris off and I just checked up too much. I thought I had more room than I did.”

    “I’m not sure I did enough to make a difference,” Keselowski continued. “But I made enough of a difference to lose the lead in the process. I thought I had enough of a cushion. When I got down in the corner, the car got sideways and I realized I had made a mistake. It was too little, too late.”

    “It was really a flawless day except for my mess up.”

    Surprising: At the conclusion of the Pocono 400, Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch shared something surprisingly snake-like in common. Kahne continued to be snake bit after crashing hard on lap 142 to finish 42nd, while third-place finisher Busch commented that he felt like he and his team were “shedding that new-team skin today and running up front.”

    In contrast to Busch’s shedding off of bad runs, the snake bit runs of Kasey Kahne continued. And the driver of the No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet was not happy about any of it as he emerged from the infield care center after his hard crash.

    “Well, I had just passed Kyle (Busch) and I caught (Ryan) Newman and I was passing him off Turn 3,” Kahne said. “We were side-by-side so Kyle was able to get a good draft down the straightaway. We got to Turn 1 and I was on the outside and then he knew if he didn’t clear me there, then I would pass him back because I just had.”

    “He just floored it and didn’t care there was someone out there and ran me right in the wall,” Kahne continued. “We both ended up wrecking. I think he wrecked a little bit, but I hit a good bit harder.”

    “Once we hit, my car just went hard right.”

    Not Surprising: Kyle Larson continued to prove himself to be a quick learner by winning the ARCA race at Pocono and also by mastering the art of shifting.

    “To be honest with you, I did miss a couple shifts,” the driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet said. “Yeah, just twice, which is a lot better than probably it would have been if I didn’t practice shifting a whole lot.”

    “But yeah, I mean, surprisingly there was only two times, when I was battling people and when I was pretty excited,” Larson continued. “I don’t know, I thought it was a good day.”

    It was indeed a good day as the rookie driver finished fifth, again scoring Sunoco Rookie of the Race honors, at a track where he had never been before.

    Surprising: ‘Home’ tracks were surprisingly good for Martin Truex Jr., who scored his second top-ten finish in two races, taking the checkered flag in ninth at Pocono this weekend and sixth at Dover last weekend. Since Truex is from southern New Jersey, he considers both tracks his ‘home’ turf.

    “We had top-10 cars all year but we were not able to finish races,” the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet said. “The last two weeks we finished the races and got some decent results. We’re gaining but still have a ways to get to where we want to be with our Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet.”

    “I made a mistake on one of the restarts and lost a bunch of track position,” Truex, a native of nearby Mayetta, N.J, continued. “But on the last restart I was in the right line and got a little lucky. Earlier in the race we were unlucky on the restarts.”

    “I guess what goes around comes around.”

    Not Surprising: Even champs make mistakes, but their true measure is demonstrated as to how they handle those errors. Both Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart made pit road mistakes, Johnson with a spin on pit road and Smoke with a speeding penalty, but both were able to rebound, finishing sixth and thirteenth respectively.

    “My car somehow pivoted around that right-front tire changer and carrier,” Johnson said. “From there, we just went to work and did what the No. 48 does best and grind it out.”

    “100 percent driver error,” Stewart said of his pit road speeding issue. “I got to where I blew through all the lights.”

    “Had an awesome Mobil 1 Chevy all day, so great race, just the driver screwed it up this week.”

    Surprising: David Ragan had a surprisingly good Tricky Triangle run, finishing 18th in his No. 34 Taco Bell Ford.

    “That was fun to be racing up there with those guys,” Ragan said. “Obviously it’s been a tough year for us so hopefully this can be a turning point for our Front Row Motorsports team.”

    “It was nice to have things go in our favor today and do what we know we’re capable of doing.”

    Not Surprising:   Denny Hamlin, after scoring the pole, went on to prepare for the upcoming charity poker event for the next race at Pocono.

    “It was a challenge,” Hamlin said of his fourth place run in the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota. “Those are the cards you are dealt and you have to deal with it.”

    “I think in today’s world, strategy plays more into it than wheeling the car,” Hamlin continued. “The driver was at the mercy with the air that he’s dealt and the car that’s under him.”

    “Those were the cards we had today.”

    Surprising: One of NASCAR’s intrepid beat reporters Dustin Long became the story this past weekend, after breaking his ankle during an interview with eventual race winner Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

    Junior bantered with Long in the media center after the race, telling Long to use the ramp and asking why he was so far away sitting at the furthest end of the media center from the dais.

    “I’m keeping my distance now,” Long replied.

    “I won’t push you again,” Junior bantered back.

    While Earnhardt Jr. did no such thing as Long tripped over one of the scales during the interview, the story took on a life of its own and will no doubt be one of the stories to remember in the 2014 season.

    Not Surprising: It was Jeff Gordon’s turn to snatch the points lead back from Matt Kenseth, after Kenseth stumbled early in the race to finish 25th in his Dollar General Toyota while Gordon brought his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet home in the 8th position.

    “It was a great effort, great race car again,” Gordon said. “I thought that was consistent all day long and the pit stops were fantastic.”

    Gordon now leads the winless Kenseth in the point standings by just 16 points.

  • The Final Word – Junior wins on the Pocono Merry-Go-Round

    The Final Word – Junior wins on the Pocono Merry-Go-Round

    Pocono has a great name, a long tri-cornered track, but visually the action there is not exactly stimulating. To paraphrase Stacy Musgraves, round and round they go, but trash on the grill really blows.

    Leading late in the race, Brad Keselowski had trash on his nose, sending the water temperature soaring. He attempted to use Danica Patrick’s car to help fling it off, but all he managed to do was break his momentum to allow Dale Earnhardt Jr. to sail by with five laps remaining. On a track where passing was something most did in the pits, it was all over.

    Junior won his second of the season, and 21st of his career, in his best showing since his high water mark of six wins a decade ago. Keselowski did not blow up, finished second, and was left wondering what could have been if he chanced it.

    Jimmie Johnson recovered from a pit road collision to finish sixth, one spot behind rookie Kyle Larson. A pit row penalty put Tony Stewart (13th) out of contention, while a flat did in Kevin Harvick (14th). Kasey Kahne (42nd) suffered a tremendous hit on the outside wall to leave him shaken and a bit stirred in regards to Kyle Busch (12th). These, along with Junior’s late race pass, pretty much completed the highlights of this one.

    The rest of the day was spent on a merry-go-round, as they went round and round and the only other action either took place coming off pit row or on re-starts. What you saw one lap you probably wound up seeing on the next one. Thank goodness the commentary of the TNT crew was interesting enough, as expected, to keep us listening even when there was not much to see. Even so, the trigger finger remained poised above the button on the PVR. At least it was when I wasn’t dozing off to take a quick nap here and there.

    Still, Junior won and isn’t that possibility the very reason why a bunch of us watch every week? Since May 6, 2006 that has been realized just four times, once in 2008, once in 2012, and now the duo this campaign. Not a lot, but enough for some to wonder if the 88 is the new 48. Yah, sure. Over that same span, while Junior has picked up his four, Johnson has claimed 47 triumphs. I might be wrong, but maybe it might be a wee bit early for that kind of wondering.

    I do wonder why races refuse to brand themselves, like the Daytona 500, the Southern 500, the Brickyard 400, and the like. Next up, the Motor City 400 in Michigan, at least that was the brand before they totally sold out to the sponsors 40 years ago. It is a shame it is a no-name, especially when you consider that 20 of the first 22 drivers who won the spring race there are Hall of Famers. A race with such a legacy should be known as something more than just a dozen sponsor names since 1976.

    Dale Earnhardt won the race twice in his career, as has his son. The legacy tops the leader board as they swing back into action this Sunday.

    SWEET SIXTEEN
    1 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 2 WINS – 476 POINTS
    2 – Jimmie Johnson – 2 WINS – 475
    3 – Joey Logano – 2 WINS – 418
    4 – Kevin Harvick – 2 WINS – 403
    5 – Jeff Gordon – 1 WIN – 498
    6 – Brad Keselowski – 1 WIN – 448
    7 – Kyle Busch – 1 WIN – 443
    8 – Carl Edwards – 1 WIN – 441
    9 – Denny Hamlin – 1 WIN – 420
    10 – Kurt Busch – 1 WIN – 283
    11 – Matt Kenseth – 482 POINTS
    12 – Kyle Larson – 417
    13 – Ryan Newman – 411
    14 – Brian Vickers – 392
    15 – Greg Biffle – 385
    16 – Austin Dillon – 385

    CONTENDERS & PRETENDERS
    17 – Clint Bowyer – 383
    18 – Paul Menard – 380
    19 – Tony Stewart – 368
    20 – Aric Almirola – 366
    21 – A.J. Allmendinger – 360
    22 – Jamie McMurray – 351
    23 – Kasey Kahne – 351
    24 – Marcos Ambrose – 351
    25 – Martin Truex, Jr. – 324
    26 – Casey Mears – 322
    27 – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – 290
    28 – Danica Patrick – 246
    29 – Justin Allgaier – 241
    30 – Michael Annett – 212

    PARTICIPANTS
    31 – Cole Whitt – 195
    32 – David Gilliland – 191
    33 – David Ragan – 184
    34 – Reed Sorenson – 175
    35 – Alex Bowman – 169

     

     

     

     

     

  • Dale Earnhardt Jr. Scores First Ever Pocono Win and Chase Berth to Boot

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. Scores First Ever Pocono Win and Chase Berth to Boot

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. may not have dominated the Pocono 400 race, but he was the one who took his No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet to Victory Lane after Brad Keselowski succumbed to trash on his grille and overheating issues.

    This was Junior’s first win at Pocono Raceway and the first time that he has scored multiple wins in one season since 2004, when he won six times. Now that he has two wins, Earnhardt Jr. is guaranteed a spot in the Chase for the Championship for 2014.

    “I’ve lost some in some strange ways, so it feels good to win one,” Dale Jr. said from Victory Lane. “We won the race and it goes in the books and helps us toward the Chase.”

    “I’ve never won here,” Junior continued. “I can mark this one off.”

    Steve Letarte, crew chief, shared his driver’s sentiments in the media center after the race.

    “It means the world to win races,” Letarte said. “We talk a lot about the Chase and points and they are important but when you’re little you just want to win.”

    “You appreciate the wins when they come,” Letarte continued. “I don’t think we had the best car, but Dale drove a great race and we had a little luck on our side at the end.”

    “This one fell our way and we’ll take it.”

    After running so well and leading 95 laps, Brad Keselowski was visibly disappointed with his runner up finish, for the most part blaming himself for the decision to try to get the trash off his grille.

    “First off, I’m really proud of the speed we had today,” Keselowski said. “But this one’s kind of on me and the circumstances.”

    “I was trying to do something for me and to help the car out, the driver of the No. 2 Redd’s Ford continued. “I knew it was going to break and I was going to get passed. So, I was trying to make whatever move I could do to help clean it off.”

    “I’m not sure I did enough to make a difference,” Keselowski said. “But I made enough of a difference to lose the lead in the process. I thought I had enough of a cushion. When I got down in the corner, the car got sideways and I realized I had made a mistake. It was too little too late.”

    “The team did a heck of a job; I just messed up a little bit there. We had a really, really good car. It was really a flawless day other than my mess-up there.”

    Kurt Busch, who started the race on the outside pole, finished third in his No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet. He was the highest finishing Stewart-Haas Racing driver as Tony Stewart finished 13th; Kevin Harvick finished 14th; and Danica Patrick finished 37th.

    “Nice solid day. Top five car and we cashed in on a top five finish,” Busch said. “We were able to hold the track position and it was a solid execution. It was a nice turning of the page so to speak and a congratulations for shedding that new team skin.”

    Kyle Larson, winner of the ARCA race the day before, finished fifth and was once again the top finishing rookie.

    “It was a lot better finish than I thought that we were going to get,” the driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet said. “I knew from the drop of the green that we were going to be pretty good. Today I had a lot of grip and I knew that was a good sign.”

    “We tried to put ourselves into position to get a better finish on that last restart and it all worked out,” Larson continued. “I’ll take a top five here at Pocono.”

    Denny Hamlin, who started from the pole position, ended up taking the checkered flag in fourth in his No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota.

    “We had great strategy, great pit stops,” Hamlin said. “Darian (Grubb, crew chief) and the guys really put a great FedEx Ground Toyota underneath me this evening. It’s a good run for us — two top-fives in a row for us this year all year and that’s not bad.”

    “We had great strategy and I’m proud of the Camry our FedEx Ground crew put under me this week.”

    While several of the cautions were due to debris on the track, as well as one bizarre caution for a grass fire in the infield in Turn 3, there was one very vicious wreck that occurred, involving the No. 5 of Kasey Kahne, the No. 18 of Kyle Busch and the No. 99 of Carl Edwards.

    “Well I had just passed Kyle (Busch) and I caught (Ryan) Newman I was passing him off Turn 3,” Kahne advised. “We were side-by-side so Kyle was able to get a good draft down the straightaway. We got to Turn 1 and I was on the outside and then he knew if he didn’t clear me there then I would pass him back because I just had.”

    “He just floored it and didn’t care there was someone out there and ran me right in the wall,” Kahne continued. “We both ended up wrecking. I think he wrecked a little bit, but I hit a good bit harder once we hit my car just went hard right.”

    “I’m not sure what happened,” Edwards said. “Somehow Kasey hit the wall.”

    “It’s just tough to run the whole race and miss the best part.”

    Thanks to Jeff Gordon’s eighth place finish and the trouble of Matt Kenseth, who ran into Jamie McMurray early, damaging his nose and finishing 25th, Gordon re-assumed the points lead which he had lost after the Dover race.

    The driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet is now sixteen points to the good of the driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota.

    “It was just kind of chaos,” Gordon said of his race. “I thought that we were consistent all day long and the pits tops were fantastic.”

    “It was a great effort, great race car again.”

    The full race results for the 33rd annual Pocono 400 are as follows:

    Fin Str Car Driver Team Lap Pts BPts Status TLd LLd
    1 8 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Chevrolet 160 47 4 Running 3 11
    2 3 2 Brad Keselowski Redd’s Ford 160 44 2 Running 4 95
    3 2 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 160 42 1 Running 1 5
    4 1 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 160 41 1 Running 2 4
    5 14 42 Kyle Larson # Target Chevrolet 160 40 1 Running 1 7
    6 20 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet 160 39 1 Running 2 5
    7 15 31 Ryan Newman Wix Filters Chevrolet 160 37 Running
    8 5 24 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet 160 37 1 Running 2 2
    9 17 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Chevrolet 160 35 Running
    10 18 1 Jamie McMurray Cushman/Cessna Chevrolet 160 34 Running
    11 19 15 Clint Bowyer RK Motors Charlotte Toyota 160 33 Running
    12 6 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Peanut Butter Toyota 160 32 Running
    13 12 14 Tony Stewart Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 160 32 1 Running 4 24
    14 4 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevrolet 160 30 Runnng
    15 28 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Zest Ford 160 29 Running
    16 13 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 160 28 Running
    17 11 3 Austin Dillon # Dow Chevrolet 160 27 Running
    18 32 34 David Ragan Taco Bell Ford 160 26 Running
    19 9 55 Brian Vickers Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 160 26 1 Running 1 1
    20 30 7 Michael Annett # Pilot Flying J Chevrolet 160 24 Running
    21 21 47 AJ Allmendinger Clorox Chevrolet 160 23 Running
    22 22 43 Aric Almirola Nathan’s Famous Ford 160 22 Running
    23 25 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 160 21 Running
    24 29 9 Marcos Ambrose Stanley Ford 160 20 Running
    25 26 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota 160 19 Running
    26 23 27 Paul Menard Moen/Menards Chevrolet 160 18 Running
    27 24 51 Justin Allgaier # BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet 160 18 1 Running 1 6
    28 35 38 David Gilliland Long John Silver’s Ford 160 16 Running
    29 33 32 Travis Kvapil Corvetteparts.net Ford 160 15 Running
    30 40 26 Cole Whitt # Burger King Toyota 159 14 Running
    31 34 23 Alex Bowman # Dr.Pepper Toyota 159 13 Running
    32 41 83 Ryan Truex # Burger King Toyota 159 12 Running
    33 31 40 Landon Cassill(i) Newtown Building Supplies Inc. Chevrolet 158 0 Running
    34 36 36 Reed Sorenson Theme Park Connection Chevrolet 158 10 Running
    35 37 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford 158 9 Running
    36 39 66 Timmy Hill Land Castle Title Toyota 158 8 Running
    37 16 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet 158 7 Running
    38 38 44 JJ Yeley(i) All City Leasing & Warehousing Chevrolet 157 0 Running
    39 42 33 Alex Kennedy Dream Factory Chevrolet 156 5 Running
    40 7 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 150 4 Engine
    41 10 99 Carl Edwards Kelloggs/Cheez-It Ford 143 3 Accident
    42 27 5 Kasey Kahne Great Clips Chevrolet 142 2 Accident
    43 43 77 Dave Blaney AmyRFochlerVtrnsLawAttrnyLLC/valor4vets.com Ford 142 1 Running

    # = Rookie, Fin = Finish, Str = Start, Pts = Total Points, BPs = Lap Leader Bns Pts, TLd = Times Led, LLd = Laps Led. (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series