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Surprising and Not Surprising: Auto Club 400

From the moment Sugar Ray Leonard dropped the green flag for the pole and outside pole sitters, Juan Pablo Montoya in his fiery red No. 42 Target Chevrolet and Denny Hamlin in his No. 11 FedEx Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, expectations were high at the fourteen degree banked, wide open track in Fontana, California.

[media-credit name=”Credit: Victor Decolongon/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”273″][/media-credit]Here is what was surprising and not surprising in the purposely shorter Auto Club 400, down in length by 20% and 100 miles from last year:

Surprising: After an absolutely dominant performance by Kyle Busch, who led the most laps at 151 and ascended to 29^th on the all-time laps led leader list surpassing Fireball Roberts, and a late race charge by Fontana favorite Jimmie Johnson, one driver led less than a lap and took the checkered flag.

Bakersfield, California native Kevin Harvick finally got that coveted first win at his home state track, Auto Club Speedway. Reminiscent of his racing idol the late, great Dale Earnhardt, Harvick sported his own brand of intimidation, bumping Jimmie Johnson just enough to rattle him so Harvick could slip by for the win on the last lap.

“Well we had them all beat last year and I gave it away,” Harvick said in a Budweiser-soaked Victory Lane. “What a great day.”

“All these guys did a great job on pit road,” Harvick continued. “Gil (Martin) made the right call. We held those guys off and our car just kept going.”

“Today we had a fast car and the circumstances played in our favor.”

This was Harvick’s 15^th victory, putting him in a tie with Ernie Irvan for 48^th on NASCAR’s all-time Cup Series win list. This was team owner Richard Childress’ 95^th Cup Series win, but the team’s first ever win at Auto Club Speedway as well.

Not Surprising: It was not surprising to see five-time champ Jimmie Johnson, piloting the very familiar No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, finish in the runner up position. This was Johnson’s 10^th top-two finish in 17 races at Auto Club Speedway.

“It reminded me of last year in the spring race,” Johnson said. “We just couldn’t hold him off.”

“I knew he was coming,” Johnson said of Harvick. “If I could have got by the 18 a lot sooner, it might have been enough, but I was way loose and driving my butt off.”

“Just glad it turned out to be a decent day.”

Surprising: In spite of losing the race after being so dominant, it was surprising to see this ‘new’ Kyle Busch take it all in stride. Busch stood calmly by his No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, waiting to share his thoughts on his third place finish and his first top ten finish in the past four races at Auto Club Speedway.

“We gave the race away today unfortunately,” Busch said. “We seemed to be losing the handle on that last set of tires and couldn’t get the right speed I needed.”

“I can’t say enough about the guys on pit road and the guys back at the shop,” Busch continued. “They got us in position but unfortunately I couldn’t get the job done today.”

“I just didn’t have what it took there at the end.”

Not Surprising: After having a chance at the race win and falling back, it was not surprising to see Tony Stewart pitch his gloves off after the race and stalk out of his car to his hauler, waving off any media who dared approach him. Stewart, who had run in the top five most of the day, making daring pit calls with his crew chief to stay out when others pitted for tires, faded back to finish 13^th.

With that finish, Stewart ended a four race streak of top-10 finishes at Auto Club Speedway. The driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet for the team that bears his name also fell three spots in the point standings to the sixth spot.

Surprising: Unfortunately, the engine woes that have been plaguing Joe Gibbs Racing continued this weekend. Young Joey Logano had to start at the back of the pack due to an engine change, clawing his way back up to a 25^th place finish.

Even more devastating was the engine failure of Denny Hamlin, who had been the outside pole sitter and who looked to be a contender early in the race. After nursing his wounded car along and then going a lap down, Hamlin finally gave it up and headed to the garage.

“We’ve got to go to work and figure out how to get the reliability back,” Hamlin said. “Our engine department has got to go to work.”

“It was a slow death for our car today.”

Not Surprising: Sadly the curse of the first lap leader continued at Auto Club Speedway. In 21 races at the track, the first lap leader has never gone on to win the race.

This was the case for Juan Pablo Montoya, who started off in the pole position and led that first deadly lap. Montoya had his struggles but did manage to rally back for a top ten finish, keeping him solidly in eighth position in the point standings.

Surprising: Both Red Bull teams had amazingly good runs in Fontana this weekend. Brian Vickers, in the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, finished eighth while teammate Kasey Kahne, in his No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, followed right behind in the ninth position.

“Well, we wanted to win,” Vickers said. “But this is just what the Red Bull 83 team needed.”

Not Surprising: Carl Edwards, who has been so dominant this season, finished sixth. With his good run, Edwards was able to assume his place on top of the points leader board, now officially the first repeat points leader in five races this season.

March 28, 2011
Surprising and Not Surprising: Jeff Byrd 500 at Bristol

From remembering one of race fans’ best friends to the beating and banging on the track, racing at Bristol Motor Speedway is always one of the favorite destinations on the NASCAR circuit. Here is what is surprising and not surprising for this weekend’s Jeff Byrd 500.Barry Albert

Surprising: One of the biggest surprises happened before Billy Ray Cyrus sang the National Anthem and Jeff Byrd’s family gave the command to start the engines in his memory. NASCAR and Goodyear had to make a command decision, replacing the tires for the race.

Unfortunately, the original tires did not rubber up the track and in fact disintegrated instead. So, new tires were quickly ordered up from North Carolina and delivered just in time for practice and the race, necessitating a competition caution at Lap 50.

Not Surprising: In spite of the booing from the crowd when his signature song “Rowdy Busch” was played during driver introductions, it was not surprising at all to see the broom in the hand of winner Kyle Busch at race end. This was Busch’s fifth win in a row at Bristol and he swept both the Nationwide and Cup races for the weekend.

Busch dedicated his 20^th victory in NASCAR Sprint Cup competition to Toyota and all affected by the recent earthquake in Japan. The driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota also made history, tying driver Speedy Thompson for 33^rd on the career victories list.

“This M&Ms Camry was awesome today,” Busch said. “Also, our thoughts and prayers go to the Toyota folks and all those in Japan.”

“You’ve got to be patient and sometimes you’ve got to go for it,” Busch continued. “Our guys won this race in the pits coming out first on that last stop.”

Surprising: Paul Menard continues to lead the charge for Richard Childress Racing, in spite of being the ‘new kid on the block.’ The driver of the bright yellow No. 27 CertainTeed/Menards Chevrolet even took the lead at Bristol at lap 20, positioning himself at the front for the first time in his career at Bristol.

Menard finished fifth in the race, also advancing his position in the point standings to fifth.

“I had a fast race car all weekend,” Menard said. “What’s cool is we’ve been to four different race tracks and we’ve had strong runs at all four. We’re just having a lot of fun right now.”

Not Surprising: It was not surprising that if Carl Edwards was not celebrating a win with a back flip, he was sitting right there yet again in the runner up position. Behind the wheel of his No. 99 Scotts EZSeed Ford, Edwards admitted that he simply could not catch his Phoenix rival Kyle Busch.

“It was exciting,” Edwards said. “I thought I could get to him at the end and rough him up a little bit and maybe get by him, but his car took off.”

“It was a good race at Bristol,” Edwards continued. “Kyle did a good job. Our team did a good job. We’ve got to thank all the fans and we appreciate them coming out and supporting us.”

Surprising: Matt Kenseth actually had a great run at Bristol and was even somewhat effusive, particularly for the usually dry driver of the No. 17 Crown Royal Black Ford. Kenseth finished fourth in the race and jumped to 13^th in the point standings.

“We had a lot of fun out there racing today and got lucky and got the right lane on the restarts a few times,” Kenseth said. “It took all day but we finally were able to make some adjustments that had the Crown Royal Black Fusion pretty decent.”

Not Surprising: To no one’s amazement, it does indeed seem that five time champ Jimmie Johnson has figured out Bristol Motor Speedway. And it was certainly not surprising to see the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet lead laps and get a great finish out of ‘Thunder Valley’.

While Johnson first had to overcome the driver introduction song picked out for him by Brian Vickers, the “Thong Song” of all things, the reigning champion recovered his dignity with a third place finish. Johnson also jumped five spots in the points, currently sitting in the seventh spot.

“Oddly enough, clean air is important here and that was kind of it,” Johnson said. “It came down to that last pit stop and we didn’t get out of the pits first. So, it was the rest of us racing for second, third and fourth.”

Surprising: It was a bit surprising to see two drivers, Trevor Bayne and Jeff Gordon, both winners in the young 2011 season, struggle so mightily at Bristol Motor Speedway. After starting in the seventh spot, Gordon just could not get comfortable in his No. 24 Pepsi Max Chevrolet, finally bringing it home in the 14^th spot.

Trevor Bayne, one of Gordon’s biggest fans and the Daytona 500 winner, had a miserable day at his home track. Bayne was involved in the wreck that brought out the first caution flag of the day and never recovered, finishing 34^th in his Wood Brothers Chevrolet.

Not Surprising: NASCAR’s favorite driver, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. just keeps rolling along. In spite of a speeding penalty and with the encouragement of his ever optimistic crew chief Steve Letarte, Junior bounced back to finish 11^th, just missing out on his third top-10 finish in a row.

The NASCAR circuit will now trek back across the country to Fontana, California. Drivers will compete in the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday, March 27^th, with the broadcasts set for 3:00 PM ET on FOX and MRN.

March 21, 2011
Viva Las Vegas!

Viva Las Vegas! Sunday was a strong showing by the Sprint Cup boys. It wasn’t spectacular. It wasn’t boring. It was steady and strong racing. There were surprises. There were finishes that were expected. But the biggest surprise was probably the strong and dominating performance by two time series champion, Tony Stewart.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Going into the day, the odds on favorite was Matt Kenseth whose record setting qualifying lap was followed up by blistering fast practice speeds. Virtually all of the odds makers chose drivers of blue ovals to dominate and win the race.

When the green flag dropped nothing could have been further from the truth. A Chevy bowtie lead the way for 163 laps with Tony Stewart showing the prowess he is known for in the cockpit of about anything with wheels. But a pit stop mistake, when an air hose curled, causing him to remove equipment from the pit box and then a late race 4 tire change would relegate the champ to a 2^nd place finish.

Carl Edwards was lurking. All day long he was lurking. He showed strength and speed at times but never quite showed his hand. He stayed just close enough to stay in touch with the leader. He could see him. He could watch him. He was at times faster than him. But he was bidding his time. When the final stop came, it was a two tire change and one can of fuel that would put Carl out in the lead by almost 2 seconds over the then 3^rd place Stewart.

Stewart would close but ultimately finish 1.24 seconds behind Edwards and his Scotts Ford Fusion. “The key to winning today was my team,” Edwards said. “These guys are unbelievable. It means a lot coming off Phoenix. I went home last week and didn’t know how things were going to go. You don’t get a good race car like that often. We had another one today.”

A very disappointed Tony Stewart said, “We just gave it away,” he said. “We shot ourselves in the foot two weeks in a row.”

Other surprises included a fiery explosion of an engine by Kyle Busch taking him out of contention on lap 108. A blown right front tire that ended last weeks winner Jeff Gordon’s day at lap 193. Neither driver was injured.

Notable performances belonged to Marcos Ambrose who finished 4^th in his Richard Petty Motorsports Stanley Tools Ford; a strong finish and the first top 5 for the Australian born driver on an oval race track.

In 10^th was possibly the feel good story of the day, Brian Vickers. After having to lay off most of last year with blood clots and heart surgery, Vickers finished a strong 10^th.

Once again, the National Guard Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt Jr. turned in a very strong and promising performance. After starting the race in the 30^th position, Earnhardt Jr. rallied to an 8^th place finish and showed signs of breaking out of the slump that has claimed him since June of 2008. Earnhardt Jr., who hadn’t posted back to back top 10 finishes since July of 2010, stated his run was the first time in a long time in which he felt he could “beat the guys I was around.” It boosted his confidence – an often discussed subject for Earnhardt Jr. – and he admitted thinking that his relationship with Letarte was somewhat of a last chance.

“Failure at this point is completely unacceptable,” he said. “I’ve got to put it all out on the line to make this work, because if it don’t work with him, I’ve got nowhere else to go. I’ve got no other options, really – other than to race myself into oblivion with my own team and Tony Jr and them guys.”

“I want this to work. I want to race Cup. I want to be in the COT the rest of my career, and I want to be successful.”

The glitz and glamor of Vegas gives way to a week off for the Sprint Cup teams. And maybe it’s a good thing for some to get their tempers under control before they enter the grand coliseum of racing at Bristol. I am of course referring to the altercation between Robby Gordon and Kevin Conway. The altercation it is believed came about as a result of tensions caused by financial lawsuits on both coasts involving Gordon, Conway and Conway’s sponsor Extenze. Witness’ say the tension came to ahead Friday afternoon in the garage when Robby and Kevin came to blows physically. Although the stories vary in what actually occurred, the one thing for certain is that Conway filed a criminal complaint following the altercation and went to NASCAR. NASCAR immediately took action putting Robby Gordon on probation. It has still to be announced how long that probation will be for.

This week was not the most exciting racing we have seen. It was however steady old school racing. There were adjustments and strategies playing out all over the track. The fastest and best car didn’t win the race. But the car that did win the race wasn’t a fluke win. He was there all day. He earned it. He raced for it. And for those that worship in the tabernacle of the blue oval, it was too long coming.

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

Congratulations to Carl Edwards and the Scotts Fusion team of Roush Fenway Racing. Congratulations also to Mark Martin and his Turner Racing team on their NNS victory on Saturday. Also Congratulations to Danica Patrick, and her Go Daddy Chevrolet JR. Motorsports team for making history as the highest placing woman ever in a NASCAR race.

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

March 7, 2011
Surprising and Not Surprising: PIR Subway Fresh Fit 500

After one of the most exciting Daytona 500 finishes, the Cup Series promptly headed west to Phoenix International Raceway. Although it actually rained a bit in the Valley of the Sun, the second race of the NASCAR season, the Subway Fresh Fit 500, was filled with its own share of surprises.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”292″][/media-credit]Surprising: In contrast to the youngest winner, 20 year old Trevor Bayne, celebrating in Victory Lane after his Daytona 500 win last week, a 39 year old veteran driver was finally able to celebrate a victory, ending a 66 race winless streak. After receiving a big bear hug from team owner Rick Hendrick, the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, Jeff Gordon, stood relieved and overwhelmed with emotion in Victory Lane.

What seemed to mean the most to Gordon, in addition to beating Kyle Busch of course, was how the fans embraced his win.

“Man, we just beat Kyle Busch!” Gordon said after getting out of his race car. “Are you kidding me? Pinch me, pinch me.”

“I don’t really care how we do it because we just wanted to get to Victory Lane,” Gordon said. “But to do it that way, leading the most laps, and to see the fans’ reaction. What an awesome feeling it is.”

“God, it feels so amazing,” Gordon said. “I’ve got to say thanks to the fans.”

With the win at PIR, his 83rd, Gordon officially tied Cale Yarborough for fifth in NASCAR’s all-time win list. Gordon also catapulted up 21 spots in the points, now in the fifth position.

Not Surprising: It was not surprising that Kyle Busch, who had won both the Truck and Nationwide Series races at PIR, was right there nipping at Gordon’s heels in the final laps. Busch battled back from an early incident to give Gordon a run for his money, just coming short of the sweep by finishing as the runner up.

After paying homage to Gordon, Busch then apologized for getting into Carl Edwards, whose pole sitting race car was totally wrecked as a result of the contact.

“It was unintentional,” Busch said. “All that aside, we came through a lot of adversity and kept battling through everything that was thrown at us. There at the end, Jeff just had a better car than us and flat out passed me.”

Surprising: In a flashback moment to Daytona, there was actually a ‘big one’ at Phoenix International Raceway. Thirteen cars were involved, including the likes of Brian Vickers, Jamie McMurray, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, David Ragan, Regan Smith and David Reutimann to name a few. The race actually had to be red-flagged in order to allow for the extensive clean up needed.

Clint Bowyer summed up his take on the ‘big one’ up best. “I’m pretty disgusted with the whole thing,” Bowyer said. “Our day is done.”

Not Surprising: Whether as a result of the big one or smaller skirmishes on the track, there were several drivers who were unhappy with one another, sparking the first rivalries of the season. One of the biggest differences of opinion occurred between Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch, who clashed in an early incident.

“In my opinion, this was the car to win,” Edwards said after his tussle with Busch. “That’s too bold a move to make early in the race. We had been in the running for the race win.”

Other cross words were exchanged between Brian Vickers and Matt Kenseth after getting into one another.

“Matt wrecked us,” Vickers said simply. “It’s coming back to him.”

Surprising: One of the most surprising finishes was for NASCAR’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. After receiving a penalty for entering too fast into his pit, sliding through his pit stall, and breaking a wheel off the jack, Junior rallied back for a top ten finish.

Not Surprising: Rick Hendrick’s wisdom in making his giant crew chief swap amongst the Hendrick drivers, sans Jimmie Johnson, certainly became evident at this race. Thanks to his pairing of Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the new duo was able to rally back from adversity, with Letarte serving as head cheerleader. And of course, the driver in Victory Lane, Jeff Gordon, credited his new crew chief pairing with Alan Gustafson, with getting him back to winning ways.

Surprising and Not Surprising: It was surprising, yet not surprising, that last week’s winner Trevor Bayne had such a difficult time at Phoenix. He wrecked his primary car in practice and had the same experience in his back up car in the race. Bayne hit the wall hard, bringing out the third caution in the race and totally destroying the rear end of his No. 21 Wood Brothers race car.

“I don’t know what happened,” Bayne said after the wreck. “That’s tough coming off of our high at Daytona to come to this, but we’ve got a great race team behind us.”

“We’ll be back at Vegas,” Bayne continued. “I hate it ended this way this weekend, but we’ll be back.”

Indeed all of the Sprint Cup drivers will be back and this time they will try their luck on the track in Sin City. The Kobalt Tools 400 will run at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 6^th at 3:00 PM and will be broadcast on FOX and PRN.

February 27, 2011
Surprising and Not Surprising: Daytona 500

The kickoff race for NASCAR, the Daytona 500, is always one of the biggest and most prestigious races of the season. Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 53^rd running of the Great American Race, the Daytona 500:

[media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”250″][/media-credit]Surprising: In a race that set the record for lead changes, different leaders, and cautions, the biggest surprise to all, including himself, was Trevor Bayne, channeling his inner David Pearson in the famed Wood Brothers No. 21 car, to take the checkered flag. Bayne is the second youngest race winner, accomplishing the feat on the second green, white, checkered, even while running low on gas.

Bayne is the tenth different Ford driver to win the Daytona 500. This was the youngster’s first win in only his second Cup Series start.

Not Surprising: Carl Edwards, exhibiting great patience, came in the second spot. Edwards, however, took solace in “how nice a guy Trevor is” as he savored his runner up status.

“I don’t know if you guys noticed, but it was pretty wild out there today,” Edwards said. “But I was there at the end and that’s what I had to do.”

Surprising: It was indeed surprising that there were no Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, or Richard Childress Racing representatives in the top five finishing order. The story instead was one of the underdog teams, with the Wood Brothers, Front Row Motorsports and JTG Daugherty instead in the top five.

Not Surprising: Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had a great day, leading laps and staying competitive. Unfortunately, as has happened to Junior all too often, he was caught up in a tussle on the final laps, pushing him back to a 24^th place finish.

Surprising: Incredibly surprising was the amount of deal making prior to the race, as well as throughout the race itself. Crew chiefs and spotters were exchanging frequency numbers, and probably cell phone numbers, in the garage area so that they could communicate and work together during the race. Even on the spotter’s stand, it was “like the New York Stock Exchange,” according to Darrell Waltrip, with deals aplenty being made.

Not Surprising: All of this deal-making seemed to wreak some degree of havoc on the track, including some tandem drivers causing each other to wreck. Some of the drivers, crew chiefs, and spotters seemed almost lax on their primary responsibilities as they focused instead on coordinating with other drivers and teams.

The best example of this confusion was a radio exchange between Kyle Busch and defending Daytona 500 champion Jamie McMurray, who thought they would be working together until McMurray remembered that he had a deal with his teammate Juan Pablo Montoya.

Surprising: One of the biggest surprises was the expiration of Team Childress engines. Kevin Harvick was the first to lose his engine, early in the race on lap 22. At about lap 96, teammate Jeff Burton lost his engine.

“We had just a 10 to 15 more degree oil temp that what we have been running,” Harvick said. “We never blow motors. Everybody at ECR does a great job.”

“We are asking a lot out of the engines here for sure,” Burton said. “I am disappointed. Exceptionally disappointed. But I am really proud of everybody.”

Not Surprising: Daytona, infamous for the big one, had one of course. Early in the race on lap 29, Michael Waltrip, former Daytona 500 winner, got into the back of his teammate David Reutimann and the big one was on. Fourteen cars were involved in the crash, including the three Hendrick cars of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Mark Martin. Other drivers involved were Joe Nemechek, Andy Lally, Brian Vickers, Marcos Ambrose, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, A J Allmendinger, and David Gilliland.

“Our chances to win the Daytona 500 are over,” Jeff Gordon said after the wreck. “It is such a bummer. We had such a fast race car, such a great race team.”

Surprising: While it is the Daytona 500 and this is the first race of the season, the crowd on hand was healthy and the excitement in the air was palpable. Hopefully the start is a harbinger for what is in store for NASCAR for the rest of the season.

Not Surprising: Probably the most moving moment of the race occurred on lap 3, when the track went silent, except for the roar of the engines. The crowd stood as one, holding up three fingers in memory of the Intimidator. There is no doubt Dale Earnhardt would have like that.

February 20, 2011
Kasey Kahne: New Number, New Teammate, New Knees for the New Year

There is no doubt that Kasey Kahne is ready to put this past season behind him, from the turmoil at Richard Petty Motorsports to his abrupt departure and early arrival to his new team, Red Bull Racing. Kahne will herald his New Year with plenty of newness, including a new number on his race car, a new teammate with Brian Vickers’ return, and some new knees to boot.

[media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]Kahne’s most recent news is about the new number on his Red Bull race car in the 2011 season. Kahne and Red Bull Racing have been granted approval by NASCAR to use the No. 4, Kahne’s favorite number, which he often uses on his sprint car.

Red Bull Racing requested the number for Kahne from Morgan-McClure Motorsports, who is currently not using the number on their race cars.

“We worked with NASCAR and, out of respect of Morgan-McClure, we also talked to them so they are aware,” Jay Frye, Red Bull Racing General Manager, said. “It’s for one year only, and NASCAR could give the number back to Morgan-McClure in 2012.”

Kahne will use the number for his interim year with Red Bull prior to his move to Hendrick Motorsports in 2012. Red Bull will then revert back to using their familiar No. 82, formerly driven by Scott Speed, who was recently released from the team.

In addition to his new number, Kahne is also looking forward to his new teammate Brian Vickers. Vickers has rejoined his Red Bull team after recovering from his battle with blood clots.

“I’ve talked to Brian recently and he is back, so that’s good,” Kahne said. “I’ve always respected Brian on the track. He does a nice job and I think we can work well together. As far as teammates, I think we can do things together and help the company.”

Kasey Kahne will also ring in the New Year with a set of new knees. The 30 year old one-upped Denny Hamlin by having surgery on both knees at one time. Kahne, who had surgery right before Thanksgiving, is already walking, albeit slowly, without his crutches.

“I’m just taking it easy,” Kahne said. “I’m just trying to get ready for next season and be prepared when we start at Daytona.”

There is no doubt that Kasey Kahne is absolutely ready to put the tumultuous 2010 season in his rear view mirror.

“It was just really up and down,” Kahne said about his past year. “The higher ups at RPM caused a lot of confusion and there was a lot of bad luck and things happening throughout the year. It ended up being a pretty unsuccessful season.”

“But I was glad I got to go with Red Bull the last five races and just try to look at doing something new and something fresh,” Kahne continued. “I got to get a little bit of a head start for 2011 and I think we accomplished that.”

Kahne admitted that his transition this season has been a bit challenging, having to adjust to “a whole different car, engine, and how everything runs.” But he acknowledged that the worst was behind him and is especially looking forward to having Kenny Francis, his long-time crew chief, back atop his pit box.

“Now that Kenny Francis has come over and about five or six other guys that I’ve worked with in the past, I think it’s going to be really good,” Kahne said. “I think we are going to be able to run strong each and every weekend.”

“I’m really looking forward to this season,” Kahne said, predicting all good things for his New Year. “Red Bull has some really nice race cars, good parts and pieces, and good people. We’ll just put it all together and it should be pretty awesome.”

December 16, 2010
Travis Pastrana Makes his Stock Car Debut in Test at New Smyrna Speedway

Pastrana experienced stock car racing for the first time at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida earlier this week.

How did he like it?

“It was absolutely awesome. I had a lot of fun,” said an energized Pastrana.

[media-credit name=”Pastrana_Waltrip” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]One thing was obvious in a teleconference with Pastrana on Tuesday afternoon. While he has high expectations, those high hopes are tempered with the reality of how tough a transition this will be.

He’s already received advice from some NASCAR regulars and seems to comprehend that his entry into the Nationwide Series will be an uphill battle.

Pastrana realizes that “It’s going to take a lot of time and effort.” He went on to say, ”I have gotten to know a lot of guys through Red Bull like Brian Vickers and guys that have come from California like Rick Johnson and Jimmie Johnson. They are all convinced that I am going to hit a lot of walls and it’s going to be a rough learning curve. However, everyone is really behind me in trying to help out as much as they can. I am optimistic that I can do this and we are going to give it everything we got to give a legitimate effort.”

He’s no beginner when it comes to new challenges. From Motocross to Rally Racing, Pastrana has proven that he’s not afraid to tackle new obstacles in his quest for competition.

“For me it’s all about waking up every morning with a passion. I have always been one to switch maybe before I needed to or maybe before other people thought it was wise. I think if you are passionate about something you can find a way to make it happen. In my 27 years I have been able to chase a lot of different dreams and I feel like I have done as much as I can do in that sport or been as successful as I want to. I need to wake up every morning thinking about nothing else other than what it’s going to take to get to the top of whatever sport I am in. I think this is the biggest challenge that I have ever had and it’s going to take a lot of time, but I am willing to put the time in.”

Pastrana’s next test is scheduled for early January. The team hopes to get in even more testing before his first scheduled race at the Toyota All-Star Showdown in Irwindale, California on January 28^th and 29^th.

The remainder of his schedule is to be determined as sponsorship details are worked out but Pastrana-Waltrip Racing hopes to have an announcement next month.

For now, Pastrana is focused on driving and learning how to compete in NASCAR.

“NASCAR is the top form of racing maybe in the world – definitely in the United States. It’s the highest level of competition, everyone is so close and I think as a competitor there is no greater thrill then to put yourself against the best.”

Pastrana doesn’t expect it to be easy. He doesn’t expect to be an overnight success.

“There will be a time, probably very shortly after the first race where everyone is going to say that I am not going to make it. But I really believe in myself and my team.”

But Travis Pastrana doesn’t walk away from a challenge; he walks towards it.

I think this is the biggest challenge that I have ever had and it’s going to take a lot of time, but I am willing to put the time in.”

December 16, 2010