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Surprising and Not Surprising: Phoenix Subway Fresh Fit 500

In the Valley of the Sun, surprisingly dotted by a few sprinkles at race start, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 9^th Annual Subway Fresh Fit 500 from Phoenix International Raceway.

Surprising: There was a surprising amount of frustration from many of the drivers finishing in the top five in the second race of the young NASCAR season.

Second place finisher Jimmie Johnson was frustrated because of what he perceived as a not so kosher restart on the green-white-checker finish.

“The leader’s not supposed to slow down before you take off,” the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet said. “If you get away with it, it works great.”

“But if it had been me, my Twitter inbox would have been full.”

The third place race finisher, Denny Hamlin, was also frustrated but for a different reason, lack of passing. This frustration was, however, a bit surprising since he came from the back of the field due to an engine change and also achieved a bonsai pass on the apron to secure his top-five finish.

“It was so hard to pass,” the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota said. “Aero tight is a huge, huge deal.”

“I hate to be Denny Downer, but I just didn’t pass that many cars today.”

The final surprisingly frustrated driver was none other than Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who finished in the fifth position at a track where he has been known to struggle. Junior was frustrated because of a pit stop where he was boxed in and lost positions, in his mind costing him the race win.

“Well I hate to be frustrated at Phoenix, but I think we are,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet said. “We feel like we could have finished better than fifth, maybe won the race.”

“Just didn’t get the breaks on pit road.”

Not Surprising: Just as Denny Hamlin had done before, it was not surprising to see another driver follow suit, calling his own race win after an excruciating Speedweeks in Daytona.

Ending a 70 winless drought, Carl Edwards back flipped his way right into Victory Lane, achieving his 20^th Cup career win. Edwards was especially proud to do the honors with his sponsor Subway on the car and sponsoring the race.

“I feel good,” the driver of the No. 99 Subway Ford said. “It’s tough to go that long without winning.”

“I’ll be eating Subway all week.”

Surprising: After struggling mightily last year, the driver of the No. 31 Cheerios Chevrolet had a surprisingly good day. Jeff Burton finally put it all together for an entire race to score a top-10 finish, even with some crew chief adversity.

“Over the last 60 or so laps, we consistently had the fastest car in the field,” Burton said. “It was great to top it off with a top-10 finish, especially after all the adversity the team faced early in the day when Luke (Lambert, crew chief) flew home to be with his wife who is pregnant.”

“I appreciate the entire Cheerios team pulling together.”

Not Surprising: In spite of all the pre-race hype and race promotion, there was no retaliation whatsoever between arch rivals from last year’s Phoenix race, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer. In fact, both not only shared a few pre-race chuckles but also raced each other cleanly to top-10 finishes, with Bowyer finishing 6^th and Gordon 9^th.

The duo, who were not even speaking at the end of last season, had similar pronouncements about their 2013 Phoenix race finish.

“All in all it was a decent day for our 5-Hour Energy Toyota,” Bowyer said.

“It was a solid top-10,” Gordon said. “All-in-all that was pretty solid.”

Surprising: Perhaps more heartbreaking than surprising is the incredibly poor start that Martin Truex Jr. has gotten off to in the 2013 season.

Truex Jr. finished 24^th in the Daytona 500 and barely got started in the Phoenix race, stalling on pit road with a gear and axle problem, relegating him to a 36^th place finish.

“I don’t even know what to say,” Truex Jr. tweeted after the race. “Never seen that happen in all my days. Had a fast @napafilters car too.”

Not Surprising: On his return to the NASCAR scene, A.J. Allmendinger had a great day in the Valley of the Sun. The ‘Dinger finished 11^th behind the wheel of the No. 51 Guy Roofing Chevrolet for Phoenix Racing.

“Everyone on the team kept fighting hard and worked their asses off,” Allmendinger shared via Twitter on his way out of the track.

Surprising: There was a surprising car, one with a big red Target on the hood, that just so happened to be at the front of the pack for much of the race. Juan Pablo Montoya drove his No. 42 Target Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet to a 12^th place finish and was most proud.

“It was a good points day,” JPM declared.

Not Surprising: Although she had an historic outing at Daytona as the first woman to sit on the pole and lead a green flag lap, it was not surprising that Phoenix was a major dose of reality for Rookie of the Year candidate Danica Patrick. The driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet blew a tire, hit the wall hard and then was hit on the driver’s side by David Ragan’s car.

“I blew a right front with no real warning,” Patrick said. “It was a little unexpected.”

“Thank God for SAFER barriers.”

Surprising: The Busch mother and brothers had a surprisingly trying weekend. Mama Busch was involved in a golf car accident and brothers Busch both started from the back of the field, Kyle for an engine change and Kurt for a wreck in qualifying.

Both brothers were involved in on-track spins, in fact spinning in tandem at one point during the race.

Although Kyle Busch finished a disappointing 23^rd and brother Kurt finished even worse in the 27^th position, Mrs. Busch was reportedly a little banged up but back at the track and “in good spirits.”

Not Surprising: Reigning champ Brad Keselowski had a blast at Phoenix, especially during the green-white-checkered finish. The driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion energetically shoved the winner into the first turn, hoping to get a run for the win, but had to settle for a fourth place finish.

“Those guys fought hard and we fought hard and there was a lot of desire,” Keselowski said. “It’s early in the season, but I feel like there’s a lot of passion and that’s a good thing.”

“That’s how it’s supposed to be, right?” Keselowski continued. “That was cool.”

March 6, 2013
Surprising and Not Surprising: Daytona 500

In the double nickel running of the Great American Race, with the first female ever to start from the pole, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 2013 Daytona 500.

Surprising: While drivers, crew chiefs, and teams scrambled through Speedweeks into the Daytona 500, surprisingly, the busiest people in Daytona were once again the track workers.

Just as in previous years, from the infamous pot hole in 2010 to the jet dryer flame out last year, the track crew was again called upon to work their miracles.

This time, however, their skills were put to the test the day before the big race after a horrific crash at the finish of the Nationwide race, shearing young driver Kyle Larson’s car in thirds and sending his engine, tire and other car parts into the crowd.

The track workers not only had to tend to the injured fans but also had to make major repairs to the catch fence itself, working tirelessly into the early morning to ensure that the Great American Race would go on without a hitch the next day.

“You try to prepare for as much as you can,” Kerry Tharp, NASCAR spokesperson, said. “You also take away and learn from every incident.”

Not Surprising: With the ‘one team, one shop’ philosophy prevalent throughout the Hendrick Motorsports organization, it was not surprising to see the 48/88 team finish 1/2 at the Daytona 500.

“I was waiting for the run,” two-time Daytona 500 winner and five-time champ Jimmie Johnson said. “The 88 got a big shove and was coming up the inside.”

“I moved down to defend that and we were able to get a one-two for Hendrick Motorsports,” Johnson continued. “For the 48/88 shop so very happy. There are a lot of people put a lot of effort into these cars and I want to thank them all.”

Surprising: While she may have been forging a new path as the first woman on the pole and the first to lead a green flag lap at Daytona, rookie Danica Patrick surprisingly seemed to have more in common with veteran four-time champion Jeff Gordon.

Both the rookie and the veteran had no friends in the final laps of the race, both getting freight-trained to finish 8^th and 20^th respectively.

“I kept asking what was working,” Patrick said. “You needed a hole and you needed people to help you out.”

“I had a little bit of help here today here and there,” Patrick continued. “I had a feeling I was going to get freight-trained.”

“It’s a really tough race,” Jeff Gordon said. “We lost track position and it didn’t seem like we were ever going to get it back.”

“Then we finally did and those last two restarts just didn’t go very well.”

Not Surprising: With a driver rating of 96.5, second best at Daytona, and a good Speedweeks, finishing fourth in the Sprint Unlimited and fifth-fastest in time trials, the driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet had high expectations for the big race.

So it was no surprise that Tony Stewart was absolutely smoked after being taken out early in the race, finishing 41^st.

“The hell with the season, I wanted to win the Daytona 500,” Stewart said. “I was happy with our car, just waiting for it to all get sorted out again.”

“I don’t know what started it, but we just got caught up in another wreck.”

Surprising: At a track known for white knuckle racing and passes galore on every lap, it was surprising just how difficult the drivers found it to pass, especially on the bottom of the track. In fact, a portion of the race was surprisingly run in the single file formation.

Veteran driver Mark Martin summed it up best.

“One of the things that made it hard to pass was nobody would get organized on the bottom,” Martin said. “The top groove was the preferred groove.”

“The problem was that the car on the inside of the frontline wasn’t the fastest car,” Martin continued. “If you would have had the fastest car in the field on the inside, you would have had a whale of a race there at the end.”

Not Surprising: For two years in a row, team owner Chip Ganassi has been lamenting the performance of his race team. Unfortunately, the bad run continued at the 2013 Daytona 500 with drivers Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya, finishing 32^nd and 39^th respectively.

Both were in a significant wreck early in the running of the Great American Race.

“You could see it coming,” Montoya said. “They were all checked up and I thought, ‘Somebody isn’t going to check and screw up.”

“And then they did.”

Surprising: Things also went surprisingly awry for two out of the three Joe Gibbs racers. The defending Daytona 500 winner and newest member of the JGR team Matt Kenseth looking incredibly strong, leading many laps during the race until mechanical problems did him in.

And then almost immediately afterwards, teammate Kyle Busch also had mechanical failure, leaving teammate Denny Hamlin to be the lone top 15 finisher.

“It’s really unfortunate,” Busch said. “We were running 1-2-3 and it felt like we were dropping like flies.”

“Something inside the motor broke that’s not supposed to break,” Busch continued. “It’s a little devastating.”

Not Surprising: Since the Daytona 500 can make dreams come true (just ask Trevor Bayne), it was not surprising that there was a Cinderella story and his name was Michael McDowell.

With an underfunded team but a sponsor filled with faith, the driver of the No. 98 K-LOVE Ford finished ninth in the Great American Race.

“We had a fast car,” McDowell said. “This was a great run and a great effort. For us, an under-funded team to come here to Daytona and get a top-10 finish is pretty cool.”

Surprising:

While it may have been no surprise that blooming onions would be on tap for Monday at Outback due to Ryan Newman’s top five finish, it was surprising that kids got to eat at Golden Corral thanks to J.J. Yeley’s top-ten finish in the Daytona 500.

“After a long, hard-fought day at day at Daytona, we were able to log a top-ten finish for our first outing with our new team and Golden Corral on board,” Yeley said. “The best part of it all is making lots of kids happy when they eat for free as part of J.J.’s Monday.”

Not Surprising: Brad Keselowski, champion and NASCAR Ironman, proved he was both yet again, muscling his damaged No. 2 Miller Lite Ford around the track to finish fourth.

“You want to make excuses for not being successful you could do that or you can go out there and put it all on the line and try to win,” Keselowski said. “You just drive it.”

February 27, 2013
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Daytona

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson won his second Daytona 500, leading the final ten laps and holding off a late charge from Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

“It was a historic day at Daytona,” Johnson said, “especially for women. Danica Patrick pocketed $357,464 in prize money, while Erin Andrews lost 50 Cents.

“It’s great to win my second Daytona 500, and first for Chad Knaus. As you may recall, Chad was suspended for my first 500 in 2006, but he was with me there in spirit, and in my rear window.”

2. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt’s last-lap charge gave him his second consecutive Daytona 500 runner-up finish, and third in four years, as Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson took the win.

“I was a day late and a dollar short,” Earnhardt said, “as opposed to a certain rapper, who was a half-dollar short.

“Finishing second at Daytona, followed by a disappointing result in the Chase, has been the story of my career. It’s a case of ‘so close, yet so far away.’”

3. Brad Keselowski: NASCAR’s defending champion overcame early damage after being collected in an early crash and battle back to finish fourth in the Daytona 500. Keselowski led 13 laps on the day, and trails Jimmie Johnson by six points.

“As you may have heard,” Keselowski said, “I was called to speak to NASCAR brass about some comments I made critical of NASCAR. I was politely told to keep my foot on the pedal and out of my mouth.”

4. Greg Biffle: Biffle qualified fifth and finished sixth at Daytona, the top finisher among the Roush Fenway Racing trio, as Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. finished 12^th and Carl Edwards finished 33^rd.

“Stenhouse is dating the hottest driver in NASCAR,” Biffle said, “while Edwards is the coldest driver in NASCAR.”

5. Regan Smith: Smith, in the No. 51 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet, finished a strong seventh in the Daytona 500, leading one lap.

“50 Cent says ‘He doesn’t see black people,’” Smith said. “If memory serves me, there once was a wrapper named ‘6 Cents’ who also didn’t see black people, but did see dead people.

“As the driver of the car once piloted by Kurt Busch, I’m proud to say that Phoenix Racing no longer sees crazy people.”

6. Mark Martin: Martin finished third in the Daytona 500, moving up with a late charge while pushing Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to a second-place finish.

“I’m now 0-29 at Daytona,” Martin said, “so finishing third is nothing special. It’s like ‘kissing a sister,’ and I want to do that about as much as Erin Andrews wants to kiss a ‘brother.’

“My man 50 Cent said he didn’t see any black people at Daytona. I say, Look, Fitty, it’s Sunday at Daytona. There’s only one ‘race.’”

7. Danica Patrick: Patrick started on the pole at Daytona and became the first female driver to lead a lap in the iconic NASCAR event. She eventually finished eighth, by far her best Sprint Cup finish.

“The No. 10 GoDaddy.Com Chevrolet not only had horsepower,” Patrick said, “it had girl power.

“Kudos to Erin Andrews for rejecting the advances of 50 Cent. What kind of man complains about the lack of black people, then goes in for a kiss on the girl in the white ‘wrapper?’

“I guess I silenced most of my critics with my performance, but not all of them. There are some creeps still monitoring the GoDaddy.com website who wish I’d show more of myself.”

8. Ryan Newman: With Tony Stewart knocked out early, Newman led the charge for Stewart-Haas Racing, leading three laps and finishing fifth at Daytona.

“I hate it for Tony,” Newman said. “His run of bad luck continued in the 500. Tony can’t catch a break, unlike the Daytona catchfence, which catches brakes, tires, and engines. You’ve got to hand it to NASCAR fans for coming to the race on Sunday despite what happened on Saturday. Those fans have a commendable ‘debris de corps.’”

9. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer finished 11^th in the Daytona 500, one of only two Toyotas in the top 11.

“Judging by what happened early in the race,” Bowyer said, “Jimmie Johnson was not the Hendrick driver I expected to win the race. After the race, I felt like I was back at Phoenix when I kept asking, ‘Where’s Jeff Gordon?’

“I’m just pleased my Toyota engine didn’t blow up like those of the Joe Gibbs Racing cars. Those JGR engines are like milk—that expiration date will sneak up on you.”

10. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.: Stenhouse, in the No. 17 Roush Fenway Ford, finished 12^th at Daytona after starting 28th, joining teammate Greg Biffle in the top 12.

“It looks like Danica Patrick and I have taken our driving to another level,” Stenhouse said. “It remains to be seen whether our relationship will follow. I sure hope so. Until then, though, Danica and I will collectively be known as ‘Hot And Bothered.’

“I hold a unique position among NASCAR drivers. I’m the only driver who can say he’s dating a ‘fellow’ driver and still retain his manhood.”

February 26, 2013
A Tribute to the NASCAR Fans

NASCAR fans come from every walk of life, trucker to CEO, and yet converge on Sundays to watch the sport they love as one.

They share travel stories about how far they came, who their favorite drivers are, and who they are picking to win that particular race. NASCAR race fan discussion sometimes even gets a bit heated, but that is all usually put aside over an adult beverage and some good race track eats.

NASCAR fans are passionate like none other. They demonstrate that passion with the gear that they wear, from T-shirts to jackets to pajama bottoms sporting their favorite team number or race car, to the bags of merchandise they purchase from the many haulers at the race track.

Many have even poked some fun at NASCAR fans, citing the occasional missing tooth or the perhaps a little more predominant beer belly. And there is a definite fascination of the variety of racing tattoos or the interesting hair dos sported by fans at every event.

But at the Nationwide race in Daytona, the first one of the season, where everyone in the stands was so excited to start the 2013 year off with a bang, NASCAR fans instead became helpers and first responders.

As the pieces and parts of young race Kyle Larson’s car flew into the stands, after the last lap crash, fans were helping fellow fans, taking off those race-themed T-shirts to help staunch the bleeding of those who were injured.

And they used those loud NASCAR fan voices, ones that had just been cheering for their beloved racers, to instead summon help from the nearby emergency responders.

“It was surreal,” Ron Diehl, Jr., a fan who was at the track just a few sections away from where Larson’s car hit the fence, said. “The debris was raining down.”

“You saw the smoke and then we saw the impact and then parts started flying up in the air,” Diehl continued. “I kind of froze and ducked my head.”

“I was kind of in shock.”

Another fan, Larry Spencer, said, “As soon as he hit the catch fence, it looked like the car exploded. There were pieces of debris flying everywhere.”

In spite of trying to protect his brother, Spencer said that he did suffer a cut to his cheek, requiring stitches.

“As soon as I saw the pieces of debris go flying, I grabbed him and put my arms around him to shield him.”

Those NASCAR fans not at the track at Daytona took to social media, Twitter and Facebook, to post their concerns, sharing their prayers as they tried to gather information about how many were hurt and how critically.

In that one moment, they forgot about their rivalries and instead came together as a community to worry about any fan, adult or child, injured in the last lap melee.

Even the drivers joined in sharing their concerns about the fans, acknowledging that those are the people that make their racing possible.

Tony Stewart, who actually won the Nationwide Drive4COPD 300, was somber in Victory Lane, deciding to waive off the festivities in light of his care and concern for what was happening in the stands.

“We always know that this is a dangerous sport,” Stewart said. “We assume that risk but it’s hard when fans get caught up in it.”

“My concern is for the fans right now.”

NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski, who was also participating in the Nationwide race and was involved in the crash, echoed Stewart’s concerns.

“There was obviously a big wreck with a lot of debris,” Keselowski said. “I really hope everyone in the grandstands is OK.”

“That is the most important thing right now.”

Both the track president Joie Chitwood and NASCAR’s president Mike Helton made formal statements about their joint concerns for the fans in the media center after visiting the hospital where many of the injured were taken.

But, as with any tragedy at any race, from the death of Dale Earnhardt at Daytona in 2001 to the death of a fan from a lightning strike at Pocono Raceway last year, NASCAR fans know that the show must go on and the racing must continue.

And that is again is how the heartiness and resiliency of the NASCAR fans is demonstrated. The stands will fill this weekend and every weekend going forward, the National Anthem will be sung, the engines will be fired and the fans will cheer mightily for it all.

Perhaps Dave Moody, radio host and announcer for MRN, summed it up best by starting a trend in using the Twitter hash tag #NASCARSTRONG in communicating via social media about the fans and the last lap crash. After all, that is exactly what race fans are – strong, feisty, determined and resilient.

Indeed, NASCAR fans are a family. And every race fan is in fact #NASCARSTRONG.

February 24, 2013
2013 NASCAR Season Predictions

Photo Credit: David Yeazell

As we head into the 2013 NASCAR season, here are some predictions of what could take place this year…….

*At the Country Music Awards in Las Vegas on April 7^th, Jeff Gordon challenges mortal enemy Clint Bowyer not to a duel, but a duet, and the two take the stage for a rendition of Garth Brooks’ 1991 dud “We Bury The Hatchet.”

The following week at Texas, Bowyer and Gordon tangle, and Bowyer, true to his sponsor obligations, first opens up a 2-ounce 5-Hour Energy bottle, then opens a comparable-sized can of whoop ass. True to post-1979 NASCAR fist fights form, no punches are thrown, as Gordon is taken down by four Bowyer crewmen, two of which ask for Gordon’s autograph.

*Juan Montoya’s run of bad luck at Daytona continues, as he trips over his wife’s hair dryer in the couple’s RV parked in the Daytona infield, sparking an electrical fire that wipes out power and delays the start of the Daytona 500.

After a two-hour delay, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. emerges with the win after blowing by Kevin Harvick on the final turn. In a post-race media session, Earnhardt calls his win the “start of something big,” a characterization that turns out to be correct, as Junior then embarks on the longest winless streak of his career.

*After Zac Brown and his band rock the Daytona infield prior to the February 24^th race, NASCAR chief executive officer Brian France, reinforcing his reputation as a clueless leader, tells Brown that “I loved you in The Hangover.” Brown, in turn, tells France, that his “language is offensive.”

Later that year, Brown suggests to France that Zach Galifianakis serve as Grand Marshall at Indianapolis. France takes Browns’ advice, and while at Indy, compliments Galifianakis on his concert at Daytona.

France taps Alabama native Evander Holyfield to serve as Grand Marshall at Talladega in October, where tells the former champ that he loved him in The Hangover, as well.

*Brad Keselowski wins at Bristol in March after leading 298 of 500 laps at the Bullring, passing Jimmie Johnson late for the win. Afterwards in Victory Lane, Keselowski knocks back a six-pack of Miller Lite, and sends Johnson a six-pack of his own with the message “This is the only ‘six’ you’ll see this year.”

Upon leaving the track, the defending champ is stopped by a police officer for erratic driving. Keselowski passes a battery of field sobriety tests, and immediately takes to Twitter, where he tweets 140 dashes, proving that he can Tweet and walk a straight line.

*After two years without a Sprint Cup championship, Jimmie Johnson rededicates himself to capturing the 2013 title. Not one to miss an endorsement opportunity, Lowe’s, in conjunction with Kobalt Tools, introduces a new multi-task implement which hammers, screws, and strikes fear into opponents. The “Attitude Adjustment” retails for $19.95.

Crew chief Chad Knaus is the first to buy the tool, and finds it just as useful in doctoring chassis and rear wings, as well as grooming the head of a middle-aged balding man.

*Kyle Busch wins three of the season’s first ten races, including a win at Talladega on May 5^th, and establishes himself as an early favorite for the 2013 Sprint Cup. The following week at Darlington, the bottom falls out, as the engine in Busch’s No. 18 Toyota blows.

Busch finishes 20^th or worse in his next ten races, and his frustration culminates when he takes a swing at crew chief Dave Rogers at Pocono in August. Busch is suspended by the team, and M&M’s yanks sponsorship. Brad Keselowski taunts Busch on Twitter, tweeting “That’s like taking candy from a baby.”

Busch starts the Chase For The Cup in tenth and finishes in sixth, 46 out of first.

*After blowing a fuse following a poor finish at Darlington, Kurt Busch hires a sports psychologist to help improve his attitude and demeanor. After several weeks in therapy, Busch notices a difference in his state of mind, while Furniture Row sees a spike in sales after introducing the “Kurt Busch Psychiatrist’s Couch” product line.

Busch wins the Toyota/Save Mart 300 at Sonoma on June 23 and credits his psychiatrist, noting that “It’s the first time someone’s encouraged me to tell them how I really feel.”

*Matt Kenseth wins at California on March 24, capturing his first win as a member of Joe Gibbs Racing. Kenseth thanks Deny Hamlin and Kyle Busch for being great teammates, and gives props to Carl Edwards as well, calling him the best former teammate he could ask for.

Kenseth nabs three wins on the season, and finishes fourth in the Chase.

*In the Fox booth at Dover on a sweltering June 2^nd Sunday, Larry McReynolds is overcome by heat exhaustion and vomits, forcing Darrell Waltrip into quick action to sidestep the mess. Later in the broadcast, Waltrip notes that it was the first time he’s done the “Ickey Shuffle” since winning at Daytona in 1989.

*Jeremy Mayfield’s rotten luck takes a turn for the better when, after a positive screen test, he lands a recurring role on AMC’s “Breaking Bad” as a meth-running courier. Mayfield’s character, “Jeremy Mayfield,” is written out of the show after he is arrested, ironically, for “speeding” on the way to the set in June.

*In July, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un announces plans to field a NASCAR team in 2014. The team, bizarrely title “Yin And Pyong Yang Racing,” never makes it past the planning stages, as Un loses interest and instead turns his attention to developing jet fuel with Michael Waltrip.

*In an interview on national television prior to the Texas 500 on April 13^th, Danica Patrick identifies Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. as her “stiffest competition” for NASCAR’s Rookie Of The Year.

Later in the year, NASCAR’s glamour couple deal with a pregnancy scare, and NASCAR rumor-mongers erroneously report that Patrick’s pregnancy test can be viewed on the website “NoDaddy.com.”

Patrick edges Stenhouse for the ROY award, posting six top-10 finishes to Stenhouse’s four.

*Carl Edwards snaps an 81-race winless streak with a victory in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. Edwards customary post-win back flip goes awry when he under-rotates and lands on his head, knocking himself unconscious.

NASCAR’s new concussion testing procedures are put to the test, and Edwards fails, as, for the second straight year, quips, “I forgot what it’s like to win.”

Edwards recovers after sitting out a race, and wins again at Homestead in the season finale, but eschews a celebratory back flip for a simpler fist pump, which, unfortunately and accidentally, connects win the chin of Miss Sprint Cup, knocking her out cold.

Edwards finishes seventh in the Chase For The Cup.

*In an attempt to get into Brad Keselowski’s head, Jimmie Johnson tries on the reigning champ and current points leader’s helmet at a Keselowski promotional appearance at a Ford dealership in Lansing, Michigan in August. The ploy works, as an irate Keselowski later tries unsuccessfully to wreck Johnson at Michigan on August 18^th, taking himself out of the race in the process.

Keselowski loses the points lead two weeks later at Atlanta, and Johnson heads to the Chase as the leader. Johnson clinches the Cup at Phoenix, wining his sixth championship.

February 19, 2013
2013 Sprint Cup Team Preview: Penske Racing

Photo Credit: Streeter Lecka, Getty Images

We’re down to our final 2013 Sprint Cup team preview today and we’ll be previewing the efforts of the 2012 championship team of Penske Racing, which will be fielding Ford Fusions for 2012 Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano. Penske made the announcement to move over to Ford in 2012 after failing to come to an agreement with Dodge, which left the sport after the 2012 season.

Brad Keselowski

After a 2012 season that included five wins and a championship battle that saw Keselowski and crew chief Paul Wolfe go head to head against five time champion Jimmie Johnson and win the championship, the #2 Miller Lite team heads into the 2013 season looking to repeat as champions. However, for Keselowski to accomplish that, his team will have to adjust to running in the Ford camp and the new Gen6 car. With the team now getting engines from Roush-Yates engines instead of producing their own in house, that is another hurdle Keselowski will have to clear if he hopes to repeat. Considering the depth and knowledge at Penske Racing, clearing those hurdles to win races and make the Chase, as well as contending for the championship once again should be no problem for this team.

Joey Logano

After winning one race at Joe Gibbs Racing in 2012, Logano moves over to Penske Racing in 2013 to take over the #22 that was driven by AJ Allmendinger and Sam Hornish Jr in 2012. The young Logano is sure to thrive at Penske Racing under the leadership of team owner Roger Penske and being able to learn from 2012 champion, Keselowski. Logano will be sponsored by Pennzoil for the majority of the season and by new sponsor Hertz Rent-a Car, which will be featured on Logano’s car for the fall Charlotte race. Logano will be teamed up with crew chief Todd Gordon and barring any extended growing pains in establishing chemistry between the two, should be able to get this #22 car to Victory Lane and will be among the favorites to make the Chase.

January 25, 2013
As championship sets in, Keselowski prepares for new year

Brad Keselowski’s defense of his 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship doesn’t begin until the green flag falls on the Daytona 500 in a little over a month. But during winter testing at Daytona he was already warming up.

Photo Credit: David Yeazell

Keselowski was quick to call out his competitors in a ploy to get them to draft. He continued to speak in a champion’s manner about the future of the sport and the potential of NASCAR’s new car. And there was the fact that Keselowski wasn’t hiding the continual glow of his greatest accomplishment.

“I am slowly soaking it in so I don’t have a great answer for you but to me it has been a lot of fun just seeing some of the doors that open up,” he said Thursday in Daytona on how life has been the last few months. “It is really a vague way of putting it but some of the doors that open up, whether it is people showing you more respect or opportunities to do different events you may never have had before.

“To me that is the most fun and more honoring moments of being a champion. I am really looking forward to seeing how those open up. The great thing that separates winning a championship from winning a race is that you are a champion for a whole year. I feel like I won a race but you get to celebrate it for a whole year. That is a really good feeling.”

The upcoming season will be just his fourth full year. It comes with Paul Wolfe still atop the pit box, the man who has led him to both a Nationwide and Cup title. However, the flagship Dodge banner is gone from the iconic organization as Penske begins their coalition with Ford.

But Keselowski’s young career has taught him the importance of adaption and perseverance. The new make and model of his car will be another one of those lessons, one Keselowski confident his team will be able to do. Recently visiting the Ford team in Detroit, Keselowski said showed him that there are the necessary tools and resources to get the job done.

In addition, we know about new teammate Joey Logano. And the story of how he came to join Penske and Keselowski’s involvement. The goal is for Logano and Keselowski to make each other better, which in turn will make the company better. There’s a lot of potential, attitude and youth of Logano believes Keselowski and he’s ready to see how it all plays out.

“It is just a matter of putting the other pieces together with him. I feel like what I look for out of him is to do just that, make that car a contender week in and week out and if he is able to do that then I think it will make everyone at Penske stronger,” noted Keselowski.

“That is in all categories whether it is increasing the level of funding because of sponsorship or the other side of it of pushing me to be a batter driver and be more engaged. I am hoping for all those things across the board and it might be something as simple as attracting more talent throughout the pit crews or what not.”

Always with the company on mind and becoming better, Keselowski expects the same for his own team. Winning the championship last year doesn’t mean they’ll be content with however their 2013 campaign plays out.

“If you win a championship you are going to come in the next year with extremely high expectations. I don’t think that will surprise anyone,” said Keselowski. “You have to look at our history, and we have been a second half team the last two or three seasons and I would expect nothing different this year.

“If you look at the past and know that we are stronger the second half of the year and that is what we have done to be successful the last two seasons then that will carry you through any short comings at the start of the year. I am nervous that if we start strong we won’t be as good the second half.”

They won five races last year – three of which came after late June – and went toe-to-toe with five-time champion Jimmie Johnson during the Chase. The Miller Lite team did things their own way. Planned and never shied away from their own strategy, notably through fuel mileage races.

When they didn’t build the fastest cars they ran the perfect race and took what it gave them. More of the same is what Keselowski expects and should there be anything less, don’t expect Keselowski to defend it.

“I feel like I don’t want to build in an excuse for our team so I am not going to say that if we don’t run well at the start of the year we have nothing to worry about,” Keselowski stated.

“I am not going to build in that excuse. But I think you can apply things logistically and know we are the type of team that gets stronger throughout the year. That is probably the best way to be.”

January 13, 2013
Clint Bowyer ‘Happy to be Second’

[media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”227″][/media-credit]While it may have been Clint Bowyer’s first season ever with Michael Waltrip Racing, it was the best season of his career.

And the driver of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota couldn’t be happier, finishing second in the Chase standings, just 39 points behind champion Brad Keselowski and a mere one point ahead of third place finisher and five time champ Jimmie Johnson.

“Can you believe I beat Jimmie Johnson?” Bowyer said in the media session following his runner up speech at the banquet. “It was a whopping one point.”

“That’s like winning.”

Bowyer most likely never dreamed that he would finish the year so strongly, especially after leaving Richard Childress Racing at the end of 2011 and signing with new team Michael Waltrip Racing.

“Those were nerve-racking times in the winter last year,” Bower said. “I had lost my ride at RCR and walked into a new program with a lot of unknowns.”

“But I had a lot of confidence in what was going on,” Bowyer continued. “They paired me with Brian Pattie (crew chief) and a lot of good people and that’s what it takes to be successful.”

Bowyer made the Chase with three victories in the year, including wins at Sonoma, Richmond and Charlotte. He also scored ten top-5 and 23 top-10 finishes for the 2012 season.

Bowyer’s first win was one of his sweetest, coming at the road course of Sonoma, where he had never won before. He dominated that race, leading 71 or the 112 laps.

“It was awesome,” Bowyer said of that first victory for MWR.”I run well at Sonoma.”

“It’s one of those tracks where I’m comfortable from the very first laps I run,” Bowyer continued. “It just came effortless.”

“You’re at the top of the board in practice and, if you’re not, you knew just what kind of adjustment you needed to put you at the top of the board,” Bowyer continued. “I’ve just always been able to find good speed there.”

“I’ve learned to enjoy those road courses.”

Bowyer has also learned to enjoy fuel mileage racing, winning his next two races at Richmond and Charlotte by saving gas and playing that strategy.

At Richmond, Bowyer recovered from a spin midway through the race due to a cut tire in a close encounter with Juan Pablo Montoya, saved fuel at the end, and went on to Victory Lane. This win put Bowyer in the sixth position to start the run for the championship.

“Thank you, Juan Pablo, for wrecking me and then winning me the race,” Bowyer said exuberantly. “It’s a good way to bounce back headed into the Chase after the bad race last weekend in Atlanta.”

Bowyer’s third win, also in fuel conservation mode, came at Charlotte in October. The driver actually ran out of gas during his burnout celebration and walked with team owner Michael Waltrip to Victory Lane.

For Bowyer, these three wins, as well as finishing second in the Chase were the capstones for his successful season.

“My season highlights were all about winning,” Bowyer said. “Winning on my worst race tracks, a mile and a half and a road course.”

“That says a lot about what we’ve got going on as a race team.”

Unfortunately for Bowyer, however, there were also some lowlights of the season that have, according to the driver, almost overshadowed all of the accomplishments. And those lowlights involve fellow competitor and four-time champion Jeff Gordon.

Interestingly, Gordon and Bowyer have had an interesting relationship throughout the season, clashing on the track but yet also having good runs together at the same time.

When Bowyer won at Sonoma, he spied a picture of Jeff Gordon, five-time Sonoma winner, in the media center after the race, and noted how much bigger that made his win there.

“I looked up and Jeff Gordon was there on the wall, won this race many times, he’s a champion of this sport and I just beat him,” Bowyer said. “You have no idea…I’m a young racer from Kansas.”

“You don’t forget stuff like that.”

Bowyer’s Richmond race was also intertwined with Gordon’s in that, while Bowyer stood in Victory Circle, Gordon scored his own brand of victory with Bowyer, beating out Kyle Busch for the final spot in the Chase.

But it was the altercation with Jeff Gordon at Phoenix, the next to the last race of the season and in the Chase, that has consumed all of the attention, much to Bowyer’s chagrin.

At that race, with Gordon intentionally crashing Bowyer late in the race, leading to a melee in the pits, and Bowyer’s now infamous run to catch Gordon, the spotlight shifted from accomplishment and finishing second place to the newest rivalry in the sport.

“It’s a bad thing,” Bowyer said. “I want to get this behind me because I’ve had such a great year.”

“And I hated that happened at the end of the year because that’s all you guys in the media wanted to talk about,” Bowyer continued. “That’s the story, but that’s what sucked for me, knowing how good of a year we had, how much pride we had, and because of a stupid thing there, that’s what we’re talking about, not how we ran in the Chase and in the season.”

Does Bowyer think that the Phoenix altercation with Gordon cost him the championship? Although still smarting from it all, Bowyer definitely acknowledged that there were other factors that led to his second place Chase standing finish.

“No, we got behind at Talladega and never really bounced back,” Bowyer said. “I knew that was going to be a hard one to overcome, especially as hard as Jimmie and Brad were running.”

“But, look at the way we ran in the Chase,” Bowyer continued. “A bad race was sixth, you know.”

“When you’re running like that, it’s pretty rare,” Bowyer said. “And if we can continue to build on that like I think we can, it gives me a lot of confidence and a lot of pride.”

And that pride and sense of accomplishment is what Bowyer fully intends to focus on for the remainder of 2012, the offseason, and into the New Year.

“When we made the Chase, my realistic goal was to be in the top five,” Bowyer said. “To exceed that…you can’t ask for more.”

“I’m with a group that I can really enjoy,” Bowyer continued. “Anytime you’ve had success the way we’ve had success, you’re bound to have fun and build confidence within yourself.”

“I feel like this year I ran the way I was capable of running and it was super-cool to be a part of it.”

December 5, 2012
Kasey Kahne Celebrates Season but ‘Wants to Win More’

[media-credit name=”Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”217″][/media-credit]As Kasey Kahne completed his first full season with Hendrick Motorsports, finishing fourth in the Chase standings, the 32 year old driver had just one thing on his mind.

“I want to win more,” Kahne said simply after giving his speech at the NASCAR championship banquet in Las Vegas.

This was Kahne’s third time qualifying for the Chase, doing so after a two year hiatus. Although rough at first, Kahne rallied later in the 2012 season to finish with two wins, one at Charlotte and the other in the other at Loudon, and four poles.

“It’s been great to be back in Vegas this year,” Kahne said. “I took two years off so it felt really good to be back from where we started the season.”

“The way we put it together as a team and made the Chase was awesome,” Kahne continued. “It would have been terrible to miss the Chase and have the other three in it.”

Kahne has enjoyed every minute of his time with Hendrick Motorsports this year. He especially treasured the 200^th win for HMS, as well as his own win shortly after at the Coke 600, which was team Hendrick’s 201^st.

“Being part of the 200^th win was awesome and Jimmie (Johnson) deserved to win that one,” Kahne said. “Then 201 a few weeks later felt really good and made me feel a part of HMS now that we have a win.”

“I’ve shown Mr. H. that I can win and I want to win more.”

By his own admission, a big part of Kahne’s success has come about thanks to his partnership with long-time crew chief Kenny Francis, who has followed the driver through various team moves over the years. Kahne paid tribute to Francis in his banquet speech and in his remarks afterwards.

“We’ve been a lot of places and ended up at HMS,” Kahne said to Francis. “Thanks for sticking with me.”

Kahne also paid tribute to the skills that Francis has brought to Hendrick Motorsports, particularly his expertise at the mile and a half tracks. But he and his team have also benefitted immensely from the HMS approach and integration of all four race teams.

“I think Kenny (Francis) brought some things front-end wise that all the teams ran and really liked throughout the season,” Kahne said. “That was a big gain.”

“Everything that HMS, from the drivers to crew chiefs to those building the cars, added so much to what myself and Kenny had in the past,” Kahne continued. “It’s been great to be a part of all that and be given so many great tools.”

One of Kahne’s biggest pleasures this past year has been participating, twice, in the HMS time-honored tradition of ringing the bell back at the shop after a race win.

“It was great,” Kahne said. “There were a lot of people that I didn’t even know existed.”

“We went into some shops that I hadn’t been to before,” Kahne continued. “Every employee gets excited when we ring the bell.”

“Everyone gets a shirt or sticker,” Kahne said. “It’s nice to be a part of that.”

“I’m proud to be a part of the company where everyone is working towards the same goal, getting all four teams the chance to win.”

As with most of the top-ten drivers, Kahne admitted that making his fourth-place finishing speech at the banquet was one of his least favorite things to do. In fact, he admitted that he would much rather be working out and maintaining his intense fitness regime than speaking in front of his racing peers.

“It’s definitely not what I enjoy doing,” Kahne said after making his speech.” I’d much rather be involved in working out, training.”

“That doesn’t make me near as nervous as talking to those people at the banquet,” Kahne continued. “I feel good about myself when we train.”

Kahne did, however, enjoy his time in Vegas, especially getting to know the new champion, hanging out with some of some of his fellow competitors, and celebrating with the fans.

“I don’t know Brad (Keselowski) real well, but I’ve talked to him a little bit all year long,” Kahne said. “He’s a good guy and I like what he’s done.”

“I’m impressed with how he has driven the car and how he’s involved in a lot of things,” Kahne continued. “I have a lot of respect for the guy.”

“I have a lot of favorite moments from Vegas,” Kahne said. “I think driving the cars on the Strip was a high point.”

“There were a lot of fans watching and so that was exciting,” Kahne continued. “Enjoying it with these guys and getting to spend time with them has also been great.”

“At the track, we don’t get a lot of time together so away from the track, we’ve all had some fun,” Kahne said. “I’ve had a blast with (Kevin) Harvick and (Clint) Bowyer.”

But most of all, Kahne is looking forward to putting all of the bad luck from the beginning of the 2012 season far behind him and capitalizing on the latter part of the season as he looks to 2013.

“There were a few of those bad luck moments this past season,” Kahne said. “We had speed and would run upfront but then something would happen.”

“As soon as the luck changed, we put together a pretty decent season,” Kahne continued. “It was a good season and we came from a ways back.”

“To build on that next year at a stable organization will be great.”

December 4, 2012
Greg Biffle ‘Very Proud of the Year’

Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford for Roush Fenway Racing, was not just relieved when his NASCAR year-end banquet speech as the fifth place finishing driver was over. He was also “very proud of what we did this year.”

Biffle and his team scored two wins in the season, with 12 top-five finishes and 21 top-ten finishes. He led the point standings, made the Chase, and had an average finish for the year of 10.2.

“I was nervous at the beginning of this year because this was really a brand new team,” Biffle said. “It takes a while to get your legs under you.”

“Out of seventeen guys, only three of them were same from the year previous,” Biffle continued. “And they were all hand-picked by Matt Puccia (crew chief).”

“I figured we were going to have our challenges ahead of us,” Biffle said. “So to come out of the gate like we did and lead the points all the way through when the Chase started was amazing for me.”

“I was really excited about that.”

After a bit of a victory drought, Biffle scored his first win of the 2012 season at Texas Motor Speedway in the spring race, the Samsung Mobile 500. He went on to visit Victory Lane a second time in the Michigan 400 in late summer.

“It was such a relief,” Biffle said of his Texas win. “And I was so excited.”

“When you win there is so much emotion,” Biffle continued. “So much goes through you.”

“I was more excited for the team and Matt Puccia for his first Cup win,” Biffle said. “And it was the first Cup win for more than half the guys on my team.”

“I’ve won 17 or 18 times or however many,” Biffle continued. “It’s special to me each time you get there, but it’s neat every time to take people to Victory lane.”

“And it was kind of a dry spell for me,” Biffle said. “So, it was nice to get back in there to Victory Lane.”

Biffle, like most of the top-ten drivers, was honored to have finished fifth in the final point standings. But he was dreading his banquet speech, stating he just had to rely on the teleprompter to get through it.

“I’ve got too much ADD so I had to use a teleprompter,” Biffle said. “I’ll talk about one thing and forget about what’s next.”

“I’ve thought about trying to do bullet points on the teleprompter like ‘team’, ‘Jack Roush’, ‘thank the sponsors’, and ‘NASCAR’,” Biffle continued. “It just doesn’t work for me because I get rambling on and can’t transition to the next thing very well.”

“I’m better off just to write a short and simple speech,” Biffle said. “I have to write the speech because I have to put it in my words, the way I say it, instead of trying to read something that’s unnatural.”

“Then I do better with it.”

In addition to the NASCAR festivities, Biffle also enjoyed his time in Vegas by bonding with some of his team over drinks and a little gambling.

“I’ve had a lot of fun gambling and playing craps with some of the guys,” Biffle said. “Just enjoying the city, going out and enjoying a few drinks has been fun.”

“Normally, when I’m racing, Monday I might have a beer or two sometimes,” Biffle continued. “But it’s nice to come here and enjoy the city and not have to get into the race car the next day.”

While many of the drivers who have been trying their hands at the Vegas tables have lost some significant dollars, Biffle stated that he has been holding his own in the casino.

“I’m about even, which means I won because I’m having a lot of fun and I’m doing it for free right now,” Biffle said. “I don’t have a lot of money to lose and I work very hard but I’m going to have a little fun.”

“It’s like going to the amusement park and you’ve got to pay for it, but with this, you have the opportunity to win a little.”

Of the new champion, Biffle admitted that he really did not know Brad Keselowski all that well. But he also admitted to feeling a certain kinship with the new young champion.

“Brad’s been pretty busy,” Biffle said. “I’m looking forward to getting to know him a little bit better.”

“We’ve done a few things or talked about doing a few things away from the track.”

“I see a lot of myself in Brad,” Biffle said. “Brad wasn’t given anything.”

“He didn’t have anyone paying the bills all the way for him,” Biffle continued. “He worked hard.”

“I remember him at the race track when he was 14 or 15 years old helping his dad when his dad was running the Truck Series,” Biffle said. “So then Brad raced the Truck Series and Nationwide and got an opportunity to step into the 2 car.”

“They weren’t fast right away but with time and hard work, they’ve gotten up on the stage,” Biffle continued. “That’s a credit to how hard he’s worked.’

Just like the new champion, Biffle also intends to work hard in the 2013 season. And next year, he hopes to have an even more consistent season, especially with the new race car.

“I want to be in the new Fusion every day,” Biffle said. “But there again, testing is limited.”

“NASCAR is going to do a few tests at Charlotte,” Biffle continued. “But I don’t think we’ll get a lot of tests before we get going.”

“Last year, we just weren’t as prepared and weren’t as ready,” Biffle said. “We went from a good group of tracks for us to something a little different and that’s what really caught us off guard.”

“What I think we learned is that we won’t make that mistake in 2013, especially if we’re lucky enough to make the Chase next year.”

December 3, 2012