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  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Sonoma Toyota Save Mart 350

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Sonoma Toyota Save Mart 350

    [media-credit name=”Credit: By Ezra Shaw, Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”213″][/media-credit]From the land of wine, as well as left and right turns, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma.

    Surprising:  The most surprising thing about the first road course race of the season was just how surprised the winner of the race was in Victory Lane. In fact, he was so surprised that he forgot his car, which was out of gas, and walked to Victory Lane.

    “What the hell am I doing here,” Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, said. “I’m not a road racer!”

    “Never in a million years did I think I could come here and be the best of the best,” Bowyer continued. “This is a dream come true. It was meant to be.”

    This was Bowyer’s first victory for the 2012 season and his first victory at Sonoma.

    Not Surprising:  The second and third place finishers definitely had a mutual admiration society going on for each other after racing each other cleanly, particularly during the final green, white, checkered laps.

    Tony Stewart, in his No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, finished second while Kurt Busch, in the No. 51 Phoenix Construction Chevrolet, finished third.

    “I’m a little choked up,” Kurt Busch said after battling for the lead in spite of an injured race car. “I’m just glad we brought it home third.”

    “If I was smarter, I would have let Tony Stewart go a lap, a half-a-lap ahead,” Busch continued. “Maybe he could have got to Bowyer for a big finale.”

    “What everyone probably didn’t see was that something was wrong with his car,” Smoke said of Kurt Busch in the No. 51. “Something in the rear-end was breaking and he was driving the wheel s off that thing.”

    “I don’t know how he kept it on the race track,” Stewart continued. “He did a really good job of keeping that thing going.”

    Stewart scored his ninth top-10 finish at Sonoma and his third straight top-3 finish. Kurt Busch posted his fifth top-10 finish in 12 races at Sonoma.

    Surprising:  The seemingly strongest two cars on the road course had surprising struggles to contend with before finishing in the top-10.

    The fastest qualifier, Marcos Ambrose, struggled in race trim, yet finished eighth, while outside pole sitter Jeff Gordon ran out of gas, losing track time and position to finish sixth.

    “We really missed it,” the driver of the No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion said. “We missed it bad and we did good to recover and get a top-10 out of it.”

    “We had no speed in the car and we paid the price, “Ambrose continued. “I just feel bad for my Stanley team. It was just terrible.”

    “We went about a half-of a lap too far,” Jeff Gordon said. “It never fails, you run out just as you pass pit entrance.”

    “We were lucky to get back to pit road and get it fueled up,” the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet continued. “Luckily, we had enough laps to slowly work our way up into the top-10.”

    Not Surprising:  Since Dale Earnhardt, Jr., by his own admission, is not the biggest lover of road course racing, it was not surprising that last week’s Michigan race winner struggled at Sonoma. The driver of the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard Chevrolet finished 23rd after a late race accident.

    “I’m just mad because we didn’t run better,” Junior said. “We weren’t good all weekend.”

    “I mean I ain’t the best road course racer out there, but I can damn sure do better than that,” Dale Jr. continued. “We’ve just got to do a better job.”

    Surprising:  Joe Gibbs Racing teammates were surprisingly playing a different sport with one another. Late in the race, young Joey Logano, behind the wheel of his No. 20 Home Depot Toyota, tangled with not only Kyle Busch but also Denny Hamlin.

    “He really overshot the corner and got into us,” Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota, said of his teammate Logano. “Once you drive that extra 50 feet in, there’s nothing you can do to take it back.”

    “We were the bowling pins and he was the bowling ball.”

    Hamlin got the worst of the bowling tournament, finishing 35th, while teammate Kyle Busch, in the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, finished 17th. ‘Bowling ball’ Logano managed to finish in the tenth spot.

    Not Surprising:  While he has not been regularly driving a stock car, it was not surprising that Brian Vickers was able to parlay some of his Le Mans racing experience to his NASCAR performance at Sonoma.

    Piloting the No. 55 RKMotorsCharlotte.com Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, Vickers kept both his nose and his car clean to finish fourth.

    “It was great to run LeMans and then come here,” Vickers said. “I learned a lot about road racing.”

    “Everyone at MWR is putting great cars on the track,” Vickers continued. “They’ve all made it possible for me to take the RKMotors car and put it in the top-five.”

    Surprising:  Casey Mears, behind the wheel of the NO. 13 GEICO Ford Fusion had a surprisingly good go of it at Sonoma, finishing top-15.

    “We had a good car all weekend,” Mears said. “”It was a solid day for us. I am proud of what everybody did here and we will just keep improving.”

    Not Surprising:  To no one’s surprise, two Roushketeers ended up atop the leader board in the point standings.

    Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Ford EcoBoost Ford and NASCAR’s newest free agent, finished 13th at Sonoma but still leads his teammate Greg Biffle, who finished 7th in his 3M/US Stationary Ford, by 11 points in the standings.

    “We had a decent day,” Biffle said. “But we were just too loose all day.”

    “We need to work on our road course program a little bit.”

  • Toyota/Save Mart 350 Review: Surprises at Sonoma

    Toyota/Save Mart 350 Review: Surprises at Sonoma

    Clint Bowyer surprised fans when he qualified in sixth position for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma. With the overall strength that Michael Waltrip Racing has shown in 2012, it wasn’t much of a surprise to the world when the No. 15 5 Hour Energy Toyota crossed the finish line first on Sunday. Like most races at Sonoma, fuel mileage was an issue in the closing laps when the race finished under green-white-checkered. Bowyer did run out of fuel – on his victory lap.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”317″][/media-credit]“It’s all about surrounding yourself with good people and we certainly have that. We have great partners, 5-hour ENERGY, Napa and Aaron’s, my teammates, Martin Truex and Mark Martin, I’m telling you, everybody is working very, very good together with this group.

    That’s something I’ve never been able to do before. I’ve had good teammates and I’ve had good stuff, but never like this at this magnitude. This is a young group. Michael stuck it out and I’m telling you, he’s fixing to reap the benefits. He’s worked hard. Our marketing department does a great job and this is I think the first of many to come. To have this dirt boy from Kansas in victory lane at this road course is big, trust me. “

    This is Bowyer’s first win for MWR and his first win of the season. With this victory, he has rocketed two spots in the standings to 7th position, 67 points behind the leader. If the 15 team were to drop out of the Top 10 in points standings, they now have the opportunity to take the wild-card position to be in the chase for the Sprint Cup.

     

    Smoke Rebounds at Sonoma

    Tony Stewart started Sonoma off on a rocky note with practice session speeds of 24th, 17th, and 21st position. The two time winner of this track qualified in 24th position and rebounded to finish in second position. With this finish Smoke shot up three spots in points, to fifth position, just 63 points behind the leader.

    “I was really pleased with it to be honest. The last two days we have not been real happy with our balance and just couldn’t seem to get the speed that a lot of the guys that were putting up big numbers at the top of the board were able to run. We couldn’t even run within a second of them the last two days.

    To end up running second like this is just a really good effort for all of our guys. Really proud of Steve Addington, never gave up this weekend. Nobody ever gave up on trying to find something that was going to be a little bit better. So him and Jeff Meendering and Greg Zipadelli and all of these guys on the team, just really proud of the effort they put forward this weekend.”

     

    Underdogs Fill the Top-10

    Brian Vickers, who is running a partial schedule with MWR, qualified his No. 55 Toyota in 21st position. His team fought hard to get to the front of the field, and came home with a fourth place finish. Vickers has two other starts this season, with finishes of 5th and 18th position. The former Red Bull driver is using this part-time gig to try and show other teams what he is capable of; so far, Vickers impresses the field with his finishes.

    Marcos Ambrose pleasantly surprised the NASCAR world once again we he qualified his Stanley Ford on the pole for the second week in a row. Although the “thunder from down under” couldn’t contend for the win, he was able to hold on to a strong eighth place finish. Ambrose has four top-10 finishes this season and is sitting 16th in points standings. If he were to grab a win before the Chase for the Sprint Cup, he could hold a coveted wild card, allowing him to contend for the championship.

    AJ Allmendinger is another driver who didn’t qualify well at Sonoma, starting in the 17th position. However, by the end of the race, he was racing the front runners and finished in 9th position. Moving to Penske this season, expectations have been high for the No. 22 Pennzoil driver. This season Allmendinger has scored two top-10 finishes and one top-5.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Bristol Food City 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Bristol Food City 500

    [media-credit name=”Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”252″][/media-credit]After the morning downpour stopped and the track quickly dried, the green flag flew at Bristol Motor Speedway. Here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 52nd running of the Food City 500.

    Surprising:  With Brian Vickers ride-less as of last season, it was most surprising to see the ‘Sheriff’ back in town, leading 125 laps and finishing fifth in his first race back in the 2012 season.

    Vickers was back, this year behind the wheel of the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing. Vickers will share the No. 55 ride for a select number of races with veteran Mark Martin for the remainder of the season.

    “It felt really good when we were out there leading,” Vickers said. “It would have been awesome to hold onto that, but it’s the first time back so I can’t complain.”

    “When it’s your only one, you have to make it count,” Vickers continued. “What an exciting day.”

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising to see the Blue Deuce, with 28 year old Brad Keselowski behind the wheel, again “close the deal” at Bristol Motor Speedway. This was team owner Roger Penske’s tenth win with the Blue Deuce at BMS.

    This was also Keselowski’s first win of the 2012 season and his fifth victory in 93 Cup Series races. He led a race and career high 232 laps.

    “I’m thrilled to death to be in Victory Lane,” Keselowski said. “I knew this Blue Deuce was fast enough to win.”

    “This car here, a brand new car that Penske built, everybody back in the shop did a phenomenal job,” Keselowski continued. “I knew we had a shot at winning and we closed the deal.”

    Surprising:  It was surprising to see so many good cars collected in a wreck so early in the race, in fact on lap 24. That early melee involved Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Marcos Ambrose, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch on the front stretch going into Turn One.

    The driver of the No. 5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet, Kasey Kahne, was the most upset by the incident.

    “My Famer’s Insurance Chevrolet was the fastest car here,” Kahne said. “It’s disappointing to have that good of a car and be out that early. I had an awesome and I have nothing to show for it.”

    While Kyle Busch, the driver of the No. 18 Doublemint Toyota, shared Kahne’s frustration, pounding his fist on the car in the garage, his crew chief Dave Rogers was a bit more philosophical.

    “It’s short track racing,” Rogers said simply. “I think the No. 5 (Kasey Kahne) got messing with the No. 78 (Regan Smith). Or maybe the No. 78 got messing with the No. 5.”

    “However you want to look at it, we got caught up in it,” Rogers continued. “It was just racing.”

    Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Kellogg’s Ford Fusion, was also surprisingly philosophical about the early wreck, taking full advantage of the situation to also put in a plug for his sponsor.

    “I was feeling good this morning and had my Frosted Flakes,” Edwards said. “We all saw it and were on the brakes but Kasey’s (Kahne) car came up across the race track and ruined our day.”

    “I can’t tell you how disappointed I am.”

    Not Surprising:  No one is ever surprised when the calm, mild-mannered Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Ford, has a good run at Bristol. So, not surprisingly, Kenseth, with his methodical approach, scored a runner up finish in the Food City 500.

    This was Kenseth’s 17th top-10 finish in 25 races at Bristol Motor Speedway. It was his second top-10 finish in 2012, putting him third in the point standings.

    “Overall, I was pretty happy with my car,” Kenseth said. “The last 15 laps of the run, we were better than Brad (Keselowski) was.”

    “Then we started that last run and got out in the lead and got air in the nose, plus we picked up something, and I just got too loose,” Kenseth continued. “I knew that I wasn’t going to have enough traction to hold him off.”

    Surprising:  In addition to Brian Vickers having a triumphant return, it was surprising how well the rest of the Michael Waltrip Racing team fared at Bristol. In fact, all three MWR drivers, Martin Truex, Jr., Clint Bowyer and Brian Vickers, scored top-five finishes, the first time the team has ever placed so well overall.

    “I’m so proud of the team,” Martin Truex, Jr., driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, said. “We were all up front all day long and this just says a lot about everything that everybody at MWR has done over the off season.”

    “Heck of a day for MWR.”

    Not Surprising:   While it seemed that A.J. Allmendinger was just about to find his groove, starting on the outside pole in his No. 22 Pennzoil Dodge, and leading laps early in the race, it was not surprising that his luck ran out yet again.

    The ‘Dinger and his team struggled to keep up with the ever-changing Bristol track, finally finishing the race in the 17th position.

    “The car was very good early,” Allmendinger said. “But then it got real loose.”

    “We lost track position,” Allmendinger continued. “We never got it tightened up for the rest of the race. Not the finish we wanted to have after starting out so strong.”

    Surprising:  While the young season has borne witness to teammates tangling on the track, it was surprising to see Hendrick Motrosports teammates Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. get into it in Bristol.

    After a fierce back and forth battle for position, the driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet nicked the left rear tire of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet with his tail pipe.

    Gordon tire went down and he went for a spin, ending up in the wall. After spending time in the garage for repairs, Gordon finished a miserable 35th, relegating him to 23rd in the point standings.

    “Just hard racing here at Bristol,” Gordon said. “Junior got underneath me and when he got into me, it looked like the tail pipe just caught the left rear tire and cut it down.”

    “I knew it immediately and I tried to keep it off the wall but there was no chance,” Gordon continued. “Hate it for this team.”

    Earnhardt, Jr., on the other hand, salvaged a 15th place finish, even with a pit road speeding penalty toward the race end. Junior dropped two spots in the point standings, currently sitting in sixth.

    “I’m sorry about that,” Junior said after the incident. “Well, at least they won’t have to talk about me and Mark Martin anymore.”

    Not Surprising:  After the craziness of the start of the 2012 season, including the infamous Daytona jet dryer experience for one of the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing pilots Juan Pablo Montoya, it was not surprising to see both EGR teammates finally pull off good finishes.

    Jamie McMurray, driving the No. 1 EGR McDonald’s Chevrolet, scored a seventh place finish, while teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, behind the wheel of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, came in eighth.

    Both Earnhardt Ganassi Racing drivers had their best runs of the 2012 season to date.

     

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Homestead Ford 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Homestead Ford 400

    In a championship battle between two drivers separated by a mere three points going into the race, it was no surprise that Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Aflac Ford and Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, participated in a battle of epic proportions that did not end until the checkered flag flew.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the final race of the 2011 season, the 13th annual running of the Ford 400 from Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    Surprising:  While NASCAR Chairman Brian France wanted a ‘Game 7’ moment, it was most surprising that this race was not only that, but also an amazing story of comeback, guts and determination.

    From a hole in the grille to a fuel mileage gamble, several rain delays, and pit problems causing him to have to pass over 116 cars, Tony Stewart seemingly battled every element known to man to win the race, his 44th in 464 Cup races, as well as the championship.

    Stewart actually tied in championship points with Edwards, 2403 to be exact, but won the tie-breaker due to his five wins. Doing just what he needed to do, Stewart, principal of Stewart-Haas Racing, became just the second owner/driver since Alan Kulwicki in 1992 to score the coveted championship.

    Stewart is the seventh champ to win the season finale in his championship run. This was Smoke’s third championship, the others coming in 2002 and 2005.

    Stewart also becomes the ninth driver to win three or more championships, joining drivers Darrell Waltrip, Lee Petty and Cale Yarborough, all of whom are Hall of Famers or nominees for the Hall.

    “I felt like when we took the white flag, that I could do what I needed to do,” Stewart said. “To be able to fight our way up there, what a dream come true.”

    “As far as the owner’s side, it was more important to me to get Gene (Haas) that championship,” Stewart continued. “That’s a big deal in this sport. I’m so proud that we were able to get him up on that stage.”

    “I’m in awe,” team owner Gene Haas said of his driver. “I think Tony proved he’s the greatest driver in the world today.”

    Not Surprising:  Although exuding total class, as well as being the first person to congratulate the race winner and champion, it was not surprising that there was no one at Homestead more disappointed than Carl Edwards in coming up short for the Cup.

    Yet even in defeat, Edwards was able to at least be a bit philosophical through his disappointment.

    “It’s difficult but to put it in perspective, I plan to be here next year and the next year,” Edwards said. “I just appreciate having this opportunity. I feel like I became a better racer through this.”

    “This was a very mentally tough thing, from Tony’s win at Martinsville until now,” Edwards continued. “I’ll be tougher next time too.  I learned a lot.”

    This second place finish was Edwards’ seventh top-10 in eight races at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It was also his 26th top-10 finish in 2011, proving that he earned the title of ‘Mr. Consistency’ throughout the season.

    Surprising:  At a track far from his hometown of Mayetta, New Jersey, it was surprising to see just how well Martin Truex, Jr. ran at Homestead, Florida.

    The driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota not only scored the outside pole to begin the race, but finished a strong third in the Ford 400. This was Truex’s fifth top-10 finish in seven races at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    “It’s a lot of fun when you can run like that,” Truex, Jr. said. “Just proud of everybody for sticking together.”

    “I’m looking forward to next year,” Truex Jr. continued. “It’s going to be fun.”

    “Everyone here has put such effort into making our cars better,” Truex, Jr. said. “We’ve had a pretty good season and have had fast race cars.”

    “If we can take care of a lot of little things this winter, hopefully we will have three cars capable of winning races week in and week out.”

    Not Surprising:  Matt Kenseth, who has been ultra-steady all season long, did not disappoint and not surprisingly scored a fourth place finish in his No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion in this year’s race finale.

    “It was a good run for us in spite of hitting the wall early,” Kenseth said. “We did all that stuff, we just didn’t have the grip and speed they had.”

    “I thought it was Carl’s, to be honest with you,” Kenseth said of his teammate’s championship battle. “He had tires and Tony didn’t, but he just couldn’t quite catch him.”

    Surprising:  Jeff Burton, admittedly running some experimental set ups in his No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, scored a surprising top-10 finish. Even more surprising, Burton achieved his goal of claiming 20th in the point standings.

    “Everyone is working on next year and everybody’s experimenting a little bit,” Burton said. “We’ve done a lot of testing the second half of the year with the 31 car. Really feel like we’ve moved the ball forward.”

    “We had a tight battle for 20th in points,” Burton continued. “I know that doesn’t sound like much but it means something to us. We had a tight battle for bragging rights.”

    Not Surprising:  While Brad Keselowski’s Cinderella story did not result in a championship, to no one’s surprise, last year’s Nationwide champ finished fifth in points, in spite of his 20th place finish at Homestead.

    “I don’t think anyone really expected that out of us, but I never stopped believing that we could be, you know, a contender and have a lot of fun and do well as a team,” the driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger said. “I think we’ve got a lot to build off of.”

    “We’ll work on it, build off it too,” Keselowski continued. “I’m real proud of the effort for the whole team.”

    Surprising:  Since Jeff Gordon, behind the wheel of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger, seemed to be on a down-hill slide at Chase-end, it was surprising that he was able to bounce back for a top-five run. His finish also propelled him three positions up in the point standings to the eighth spot.

    “It was a great day, a top-five, a great year,” Gordon said. “We had three wins, got number 85, and came up short in the Chase, but we look forward to next year and battling it out for the Sprint Cup.”

    As a champion himself, Gordon also had nothing but praise for NASCAR’s newest king.

    “Congratulations to Tony Stewart, my gosh, what an amazing run he had in these final ten races,” Gordon said. “He has done some incredible things in his career but I’m guessing that this one is going to top them all.”

    “He did it in a fashion that everybody dreams of doing.”

    Not Surprising:  Kasey Kahne, winner of last weekend’s race at Phoenix, continued his good run, finishing seventh for the last time in the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota Camry. Kahne will now take all his marbles and head to Hendrick Motorsports for the 2012 season, replacing Mark Martin.

    “I think we had the best car there those couple runs before the final run,” Kahne said. “We were flying. It felt really good and then we just got tight in that final run.”

    “It was crazy,” Kahne said of the race and the championship battle. “That’s as close as a championship can be, will ever be. Those two guys both deserve to be champions if you ask me.”

    Surprising:  While both Busch brothers, Kurt and Kyle, have experienced some troubles both on and off the track this season, it was surprising to see just how far they fell, finishing eleventh and twelfth in the points standings respectively.

    Kyle Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, not the M&Ms Toyota due to his bad behavior with Ron Hornaday in the Truck race two weeks ago, showed moments of brilliance in the race finale. Busch, however, then faded to finish well back in the back in pack in the 23rd spot.

    Big brother Kurt Busch, driving the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger, had troubles early in the Homestead race when on Lap 4, something broke in the engine. He officially finished 34th.

    “I’ve never been so disappointed in my life,” Kurt Busch said. “I think I missed a race once my rookie year and this almost tops that.”

    Not Surprising:  As exciting as the 2011 season has been, including the race finale and championship, it is not surprising that all good things must come to an end. In addition to the close of Jimmie Johnson’s reign as champion, other goodbyes, including David Reutimann leaving Michael Waltrip Racing, as well as Red Bull Racing pulling out of the sport, need to be said.

    “It’s been a good five years,” Brian Vickers, driver of the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, said of his run with the team. “We had some ups and downs. The only goal we didn’t accomplish was the championship.”

    “I want to thank everyone at Red Bull, Toyota and all the guys for their hard work through the years,” Vickers continued. “This is it.”

    “It’s disappointing,” David Reutimann, driver for the final time of the No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota, said. “I love my guys. A lot of these guys have been with me since the Truck Series and have come up with me.”

    “I’m going to miss them,” Rooty continued. “It’s certainly a lot more bitter than it is sweet for sure.”

    “We think we had a motor problem,” Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet, said. “I started getting some warning signs in the way to the pits.”

    “We had a fast car but I worked my way up and was having some fun,” Johnson, who finished 32nd, continued. “Sad way to end the season but it’s racing and we’ll come back next year.”

    Speaking of next year, it is most surprising just how quickly this 2011 season has flown. Yet it is not surprising that testing at Daytona and Speedweeks is literally just around the corner.

    So, until 2012 brings us all back together at the track, happy holidays and God bless!

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Kobalt Tools 500

    With NASCAR traveling to the ‘Valley of the Sun’ for the next to the last race of the season, it was no surprise that the reconfigured race track was soaked instead with liquid sunshine. Yet, the track dried, veteran racer Adrian Fernandez uttered the four most famous words in racing, and the green flag waved as scheduled.

    [media-credit id=40 align=”alignright” width=”221″][/media-credit]Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 24th running of the Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

    Surprising:  While it was no surprise that PIR was new and improved, with brand new pavement as well as a new track layout, it was surprising to see the new faces that showed up in Victory Lane this weekend.

    From the Nationwide race with Sam Hornish Jr. scoring his first ever NASCAR win to young Ryan Blaney, son of Dave Blaney, notching the ‘W’ in the K&N Pro Series West finale, PIR definitely had some fresh-faced winners.

    But most surprising was Cup winner Kasey Kahne, scoring his first win since 2009, his first victory of the 2011 season, and his first victory ever at Phoenix International Raceway. Kahne’s victory came in his next to the last ride in his No. 4 Red Bull Toyota.

    “It feels great to get a win for Red Bull and get a win in the 4 car,” Kahne said. “To win a race at this level, as competitive as everything is right now, for myself, to see how happy all the pit crew guys were, the guys preparing the race cars at Red Bull, it was pretty cool.”

    “Makes you feel pretty good to be a part of that.”

    Not Surprising:  To no one’s surprise, Carl Edwards, behind the wheel of the No. 99 Aflac Ford, and his championship Chase nemesis Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, stalked each other all race long, finishing second and third respectively.

    And not surprisingly, thanks to that close finish, the championship will be decided at the final race of the season in Homestead, Florida. Edwards is currently just three points ahead of Smoke going into Ford Championship weekend, one of the closest margins between first and second in the Chase in NASCAR Sprint Cup history.

    “As far as I’m concerned, it’s a dead heat going in there,” Stewart said of the upcoming Homestead weekend. “We just got to do our job like we’ve been doing.”

    “I’m still pumped up,” Smoke continued. “I want to go to Homestead tomorrow and start. I want tomorrow to be Friday. I’m excited about it and ready to go.”

    “Yeah, Homestead is going to be a lot of fun,” Edwards said. “I really enjoy racing there.”

    “The cool thing about Homestead, you’re going to be able to move around, pass, and not get hung up as badly in traffic as you can at other racetracks,” Edwards continued. “I don’t think there’s a better place to go than Homestead to fight for this championship.”

    Surprising:  After Phoenix, with only those two drivers remaining in contention for the championship, it is indeed surprising that five-time champion Jimmie Johnson will not be six-time champ.

    Johnson, behind the wheel this weekend of a black No. 48 Lowe’s Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, finished 14th in the race and sits currently in the fifth position in points, 68 points out of first and officially out of contention.

    “Yeah, I’m definitely disappointed that we won’t be able to go to Homestead and race for our sixth, but that’s motorsports,” Johnson said. “It’s a very tough business.”

    “What we did over the last five years was absolutely spectacular,” Johnson continued. “What we did over the last five years is abnormal. Now we’ll get a taste of normalcy.”

    Also surprisingly, Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammates, especially Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. also had difficulty in the ‘Valley of the Sun.’ The driver of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet fared especially poorly, struggling with brake problems to finish 32nd.

    “We weren’t good when we got here,” Gordon said. “We were fighting and battling but then the brake problem happened and that pretty much ruined our day.”

    Dale Earnhardt, Jr., in the No. 88 Retro Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard, also struggled and finished 24th.

    “We pitted and got caught with the caution and lost a couple of laps and just never got a chance to get it back,” Junior said. “We missed it. We didn’t hit it.”

    Not Surprising:  As bad as Hendrick Motorsports team members fared, it was no surprise that the other half of the Stewart Haas Racing duo fared well. Ryan Newman, with his No. 39 US Army Veteran’s Day Tribute car covered with pictures of vets, finished top-five yet again.

    “The guys on the US Army Chevrolet, with the Veteran’s Day special paint scheme, that was an amazing comeback for us to come from 30th to fifth,” Newman said. “I’m really proud of that.”

    Surprising:  Although the two tangled at Martinsville, it was surprising to see the feud continue between Brian Vickers, soon to be out of work with his No. 83 Red Bull Toyota team exiting the sport next week, and Matt Kenseth, race pole sitter, who was looking for a good run in his No. 17 Crown Royal Ford.

    “My two year old could watch that and know it was intentional,” Kenseth said of his wreck with Vickers. “It was real pre-meditated.”

    “I don’t understand what happened,” Vickers said of his Kenseth encounter. “He just stopped on the straight-away.”

    “He wrecked me at Martinsville,” Vickers continued. “He got wrecked here. He just lifted halfway down the back stretch. I’ll count that one.”

    Kenseth finished a miserable34th, dropping two positions to sixth in the point standings. Vickers soldiered on for a 23rd place finish, languishing in the 25th position in the points.

    Not Surprising:  Having had the most miserable week leading up to the race, from being parked to losing his sponsor for the last two races, it was not surprising that Kyle Busch’s most miserable weekend continued.

    Busch had to start the race from the back of the field due to engine troubles caused by human error. He managed to work his way up through the pack, only to have the engine of his No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota expire on Lap 214.

    “It’s just devastating,” Busch said. “To go through turmoil like this, all you can do is group together and pull through it and try to persevere and move on.”

    “Catastrophic engine failure,” Busch continued. “It’s terrible to have one in a weekend, let alone two in a weekend.”

    “It’s certainly a tough few weeks and all we can do is look forward to next week at Homestead.”

    Surprising:  It was surprising to see another crew swap during the race, this time for AJ Allmendinger, whose pit crew let him down during a stop, most likely costing the driver of the No. 43 Wix Filters Ford, a race win.

    Allmendinger’s crew was swapped out for the crew of David Ragan, another Ford driver who was not in the hunt, helping the Dinger to a top-five finish.

    “We were losing four or five spots on a stop,” Allmendinger said. “You can’t do that and win a race and those guys are pretty good.”

    “Thanks to the 6 guys, our Ford teammates coming over and pitting the last two stops,” Dinger said. “They did a good job.”

    Not Surprising:  To no one’s surprise, Allmendinger’s Richard Petty Motorsports teammate Marcos Ambrose also had a good run at PIR. The driver of the No. 9 DeWalt Ford finished a respectable eighth.

    “We had a good car today,” the Aussie said. “We were solid all day long. It bodes even better for the first half of next season.”

    Surprising:  Since Jeff Burton has had a fairly difficult 2011 season, it was a bit surprising to see the driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Global Mining Chevrolet end up with a fourth place finish. The top-five finishing driver hopes that the turnaround will continue right into the 2012 season.

    “The Caterpillar Chevrolet was good, really, all day,” Burton said. “When things are tough, you find out what people are made of. My group has just kept digging and kept their heads up.”

    “Nobody has quit on this team, not once,” Burton continued. “I’m real proud of that.”

    “We’ve run really well the last month and hopefully we will build some momentum going into next year.”

    Not Surprising:  With no ride secured for next year, it was not surprising to see David Reutimann, ousted driver of the No. 00 TUMS Toyota Camry for Michael Waltrip Racing, drive his guts out for a seventh place finish in the next to the last race of the season.

    “We qualified in the top-10 and we were able to stay up there all day long,” Rooty said. “I’m proud of the crew guys for the job they did today. They really stuck with me.”

    “This is a great group of guys, probably one of the best in the garage and they’ve been with me a long time,” Reutimann continued. “We have one more week together and I want to go out on a high note at Homestead.”

     

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: AAA Texas 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: AAA Texas 500

    When the green flag flew on the seventh annual running of the AAA Texas 500, it seemed almost as an afterthought to a difficult week, with the passing of patriarch Russ Wallace, the plane crash injuring Rick and Linda Hendrick, and of course the parking of Kyle Busch after his detrimental on-track actions during the Truck race.

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”272″][/media-credit]Yet, when the checkered flag finally flew at Texas Motor Speedway, there were some surprising, as well as not so surprising, moments from the third to the last race of the 2011 season.

    Surprising:  After back to back wins, it was surprising to see that even Smoke was a bit overcome, albeit by the intensity of the race, emotion and the heat of Victory Lane.

    “This is for the Wallace family,” Stewart said after getting out of his car. “And for Mr. Hendrick and his wife. And I had a buddy that passed away when we were at Charlotte and I didn’t want to forget him.”

    Yet even with splashing some water on his face, Smoke still had to take a seat in Victory Lane, while those around him fanned him with their Stetson hats to allow him to catch his breath.

    Tony Stewart, however, bounced back quickly. He then donned the traditional black hat and took some shots with the guns in celebration of scoring his 43rd career victory, his fourth win of the season, and his second victory at Texas.

    Stewart also re-affirmed that his sights are firmly set on winning that coveted Cup championship. With his race win, Smoke is now just three points behind leader Carl Edwards.

    “I don’t think we have to say anything,” Stewart said, unlike last week where he talked some smack in Victory Lane. “Our performance speaks for itself.”

    “Do not count us out of this thing,” Stewart said. “We did everything we needed to do today.”

    Not Surprising:  Roush Fenway Racing did not disappoint or surprise at the mile-and-a-half track where they have been so dominant all season. RFR had three of their drivers in the top five, with Carl Edwards in second, Matt Kenseth in fourth, and pole sitter Greg Biffle in fifth.

    The team combined to lead 124 laps at Texas Motor Speedway, with Edwards leading 14, Kenseth leading 87 and Biffle leading 23. Even David Ragan, whose future remains uncertain, finished in the 12th position.

    “I’m proud of our guys today,” Edwards, behind the wheel of the No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion said. “We wanted to beat Tony and pad the lead, but we are still the point’s leader.”

    This was Edwards’ sixth top-10 finish in 14 races at Texas Motor Speedway. It is his 24th top-10 finish to date in the 2011 season.

    Greg Biffle, behind the wheel of the No. 16 Ford Fusion, started from the pole to bring his car home for a top-five finish.

    “We had a pretty good car,” Biffle said. “The last pit stop, I slid through the box and that probably cost me a third-place finish or a couple of spots anyway. We fought hard and came back.”

    “It’s hard to be disappointed when you run in the top five,” teammate Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion, said. “I wish we could have performed a little better, but that’s all we had.”

    “This has always been a pretty good track for our organization.”

    Surprising:  It was a bit surprising to see how current Michael Waltrip Racing driver Martin Truex, Jr. did, finishing eighth in his No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, in spite of the big changes announced for the MWR organization prior to the race.

    “I am really proud of my entire NAPA team today,” Truex Jr. said. “The NAPA Know How pit crew was on it.”

    “We are moving in the right direction and I appreciate all the work MWR is doing to get us in contention.”

    Not Surprising:  After learning that he was no longer a member of the MWR team after the 2011 season, it was no surprise that the woes on the track continued for driver David Reutimann.  The driver of the No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine finished 22nd.

    “It was very difficult,” team owner Michael Waltrip said of his decision to let Reutimann go. “I love David. He’s a great man and he’s always been there to do anything I needed him to do.”

    “I know it was hard for David to get the news,” Waltrip continued. “I’m thankful that he drove for me for so long.”

    Surprising:  After such a Cinderella run, Brad Keselowski’s championship hopes have all but gone up in smoke. The driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge had a very difficult day at Texas, finishing 24th.

    “Just a tough night,” Keselowski said. “We couldn’t get the speed out of our car that we needed and fought all day for track position.”

    “We lost the handling on the car right in the middle part of the race and adjustments were made to make it better and it just made it worse,” Keselowski continued. “It was unfortunate.”

    Not Surprising:   One driver who continues to make noise, however, was AJ Allmendinger, who scored another top-10 in his No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion for Richard Petty Motorsports.

    “That was probably the most comfortable I’ve ever felt on a mile-and-a-half, especially one like this,” Dinger said. “It was fun.”

    “From the start we were just passing cars and making good adjustments,” Allmendinger continued. “It was a good fight to 10th but overall, and more importantly, that’s something to build on.”

    Surprising:  It was a bit surprising to see that Brian Vickers’ intense driving style carried over from Martinsville to Texas. On lap 201, the driver of the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota assisted with bringing out the second caution by tussling with Juan Pablo Montoya and Geoffrey Bodine.

    “Stupid Vickers ran over a lapped car,” came over JPM’s radio, summing up yet another tough day at the office for ‘The Sheriff’, who finished 21st.

    Not Surprising:  Kasey Kahne continued his string of top-10 finishes, scoring the third spot in his No. 4 Red Bull Toyota. This was Kahne’s fourth top-10 in 15 races at Texas Motor Speedway.

    “We were really close,” Kahne said of his almost-winning run. “I wanted to win really bad today.”

    “It was a great race for us,” Kahne continued. “This has been our best time the whole season.”

    Surprising:  Taking the wheel of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry from sidelined Kyle Busch, Michael McDowell surprisingly was not able to capitalize on his prime opportunity. Even with Busch looking on atop the pit box, McDowell could not get his car dialed in and finished 33rd.

    “We obviously were hoping for more and were hoping for a big day,” McDowell said. “But that wasn’t meant to be.”

    “Gave it all I had and we just struggled pretty much all day long.”

    Not Surprising:  McDowell was not the only JGR driver to struggle at Texas Motor Speedway. Joey Logano, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota, blew an engine on Lap 262, and Denny Hamlin, behind the wheel of the No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, struggled all day, finishing 20th.

    “We just fought an ill-handling car all day,” Hamlin said. “It’s probably one of the worst that we’ve had in a long time.”

    “We’ll have to go back to the shop and look at it,” Dave Rogers, crew chief for the No. 18, said of the entire team’s performance. “This tire at this track is pretty tricky. You have to dare to lean on it and it’s not comfortable getting in the corner.”

    “We have to look at it for sure.”

    Surprising:  Although not mathematically eliminated, it still seems surprising to think that, without some sort of miracle, Jimmie Johnson will not be on the championship banquet stage this year. With his struggling performance at Texas, including a spin through the grass on Lap 240, the driver of the No. 48 MyLowes Chevrolet, managed to finish fourteenth and is now back 55 points to the Chase leader.

    “I fought a loose race car all night long and I lost it,” Johnson said. “And I think sliding through the grass did some damage.”

    “It didn’t really drive good after that.”

    Not Surprising:  With a sixth place run in his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, it was not surprising that it felt like a win to driver Jeff Gordon.

    “We moved up right away,” Gordon said. “I thought we had a car that could compete for the win but when the sun went down, it changed for us and we lost a little bit there at the end.”

    “Compared to the way we ran here earlier in the year, it is almost like a win for us.”

     

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Martinsville Tums Fast Relief 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Martinsville Tums Fast Relief 500

    Even before the race, the infamous short-track tempers were flaring with Kevin Harvick and Greg Biffle getting into it on and off the track during practice. Here is what was surprising and not surprising when the green flag flew for the 63rd annual Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

    [media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”236″][/media-credit]Surprising:  It was most surprising that at race end, Victory Lane was more like a Food Network ‘Throwdown with Bobby Flay’ show, with victor Tony Stewart challenging current point’s leader Carl Edwards regarding the Chase.

    With his win, Stewart felt free to throw down the Chase gauntlet, climbing two positions to the second spot in the Chase standings. Smoke is now just eight points out of first place, where Carl Edwards currently resides.

    “He’d better be worried,” Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, said of Edwards in Victory Lane. “That’s all I can say. He’s not going to have an easy three weeks.”

    “This is the best Chase field we’ve ever had,” Stewart continued. “To be in the position that we’re in right now, sitting here knowing that we’re right in the middle of this thing with three weeks to go, it’s obviously a great feeling and a great position to be in.”

    “We’ve just got to go out and keep doing what we’re doing here.”

    This was Stewart’s third victory of the season, as well as his third win in 26 races at Martinsville Speedway. The forty-year old has now won 42 times in 461 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

    Not Surprising:  In spite of some Martinsville mayhem, the momentum that has been Carl Edwards throughout the Chase, was maintained, although greatly challenged.  The driver of the No. 99 Scotts Winterguard Fertilizer Ford, who was lapped twice during the race and almost penalized for jumping a restart, finished respectably, albeit his worst Chase finish to date, in the ninth position.

    “This track has just been really, really tough for me,” Edwards said after the race. “So I think this is one of those days where everything went wrong and everything went right as well.”

    Also not surprisingly, Edwards seemed in no way fazed by Stewart’s ‘throw down’ challenges regarding the championship Chase. And he laid down his own challenge as well.

    “I told you I thought he was one of the guys that could win this race and be a guy that you’d have to beat for the championship,” Edwards said of Smoke. “I think he’s proving that right now.”

    “We’ll go race hard,” Edwards continued. “They’re gonna have to race us too, so I’m excited about the next three races.”

    Surprising:  It was most surprising to see just how aggressively Dale Earnhardt, Jr. ran his Martinsville race. In fact at one point he quipped that he might become known as a ‘dirty driver’ if there were more short tracks like Martinsville on the Cup schedule.

    Junior, who finished seventh in his No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew Paint the 88/National Guard Chevrolet, seemed absolutely pleased that the race was as chaotic as it was.

    “Well, it’s time man,” Junior said. “That right there was basically, hey the season is running down and we are not going to be racing much longer and I am going to miss it so I came to the buffet and got everything I could eat.”

    “I drank a couple of AMPs before the race started and probably was a little bit too excited,” Junior also confessed.

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising that the so-called ‘Masters of Martinsville’, teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, came ever so close to getting Hendrick Motorsports that coveted 200th win.

    Johnson, who finished second in his No. 48 MyLowe’s Chevrolet, posted his 18th top-10 finish in 20 races at Martinsville. Gordon, piloting the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, finished third, his 31st top-10 finish in 38 races at Martinsville Speedway.

    In spite of not achieving the 200th HMS win milestone, Gordon in particular still made history. Gordon made his 650th start, as well as becoming the fourth driver to lead more than 3,000 laps at Martinsville Speedway.

    “Gosh we came so close to getting win 200 for Rick Hendrick,” Gordon said. “I ran it as hard as I possibly could to get our Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet back to the front.”

    “It was pretty fun coming up through there and getting up to the front and leading,” Gordon continued. “It just seemed like the last couple of runs just didn’t quite go our way.”

    “So, we came home third and it was a nice top five for us.”

    For his part, five-time champ Jimmie Johnson was just trying to mind his ‘P’s and Q’s’, especially when it came time to race with Stewart for the win.

    “I just wanted to do the right thing and unfortunately got beat in the process,” Johnson said of his battle with Smoke. “Thought about going in there and leaning on him but that was just not the right thing to do.”

    Surprising:  It was surprising to see the moniker of good guy  ‘Sheriff’ usually worn by Brian Vickers change to the villain of the short track. Vickers was at the heart of many of the race cautions, finally succumbing to the damage and taking his ailing No. 83 Red Bull Toyota off the track.

    Chaser Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Crown Royal Ford, was one of Vicker’s victims. He finished the race 31st thanks to his on-track incident, falling three spots to fifth in the championship standings.

    “The 83 car hit me about twice a lap every lap for about ten laps,” Kenseth said. “So, it made me mad.”

    “By the looks of his car, I wasn’t the first one he hit.”

    Jamie McMurray, in the No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet was also involved in an incident with the No. 83 car. The crash with Vickers early in the race effectively ended McMurray’s day, relegating him to a 35th place finish.

    “When you don’t feel like you have the corner good, you block,” Vickers said. “I pulled down and blocked and I saw he (Brian Vickers) was going to get in there, so I moved back up the track.”

    “I feel like he let off the brake and went ahead and sent me for a ride,” Vickers continued. “I just felt like he kind of took a cheap shot on me and I just didn’t appreciate it.”

    Not Surprising:   After winning his first ever Truck Series race at the short track, Denny Hamlin went on to have a great run in the Cup race. The driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry finished fifth, his first top-five in the 2011 Chase.

    “We had a great race car today,” Hamlin said. “I felt like the best car most of the day.”

    “We thought it was a blessing that last stop when we beat the 24 (Jeff Gordon) out – the pit crew did an amazing job,” Hamlin continued. “It was the dagger for us because it put us on the outside line with those guys that stayed out.”

    “We just needed to start on the bottom one or two of those restarts – then we would have been fine.”

    Surprising:  It was almost spooky to watch the tricks played on Kyle Busch in his No. 18 M&M’s Halloween Toyota Camry late in the race. He and driver Matt Kenseth got into each other during a restart and then Busch lost a tire after leaving the pits for the repair as he was trying to stay on the lead lap.

    “The M&M’s Toyota Camry was really fast,” crew chief Dave Rogers said. “We led the most laps again, the second time this year that we’ve led the most laps at Martinsville.”

    “That’s just hard racing out there,” Rogers continued. “We were a victim of circumstance at a short track.”

    Not Surprising:  After an admittedly miserable season, it was not surprising that Jeff Burton, driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, continued to turn it around with another good run. Burton followed his second place finish last weekend at Talladega with a sixth place finish at Martinsville, his third top-10 finish for the season.

    “I can’t be too unhappy with finishing sixth because the Cat team worked their tails off to get us in position at the end to win this thing,” Burton said. “That last caution probably didn’t help us, but it was another solid finish.”

    Surprising:  Surprising kudos to Casey Mears, driver of the No. 13 Geico Toyota Camry , who scored his best finish of the season to date.  The Germain Racing driver, cheered on by crew chief Bootie Barker, finished 12th at the Martinsville short track.

    “I’m so proud of all the guys on this Geico racing team,” Mears said. “We’ve known all year that we could run this well and it’s a nice feeling to have two weeks in a row where we have run up front.”

    Not Surprising:  A.J. Allmendinger continued his strong run, finishing 11th, just shy of another top-10 finish. In fact, the Dinger’s No. 43 AdvoCare Ford Fusion looked to be the car to beat until a late race altercation, as well as some slower pit stops, relegated him further back in the pack.

    “That’s Martinsville,” Allmendinger said simply. “It was a really good car.”

    “I was proud of all the guys,” Allmendinger continued. “We’ve got to work on our pit stops a little bit because we kept losing a couple of spots, but what really hurt us was I got put three-wide on the outside and got into one and that shoved the fender over the tire and from there, we were at the back of the pack and everybody was just gauging back there.”

    Surprising:  Brad Keselowski’s Cinderella carriage turned into a bit of a pumpkin at Martinsville. The driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger had a good run going, but ended up finishing 17th.

    “That’s racing on these short tracks,” Keselowski said. “We got some good racing in the middle section of the race, but at the end we just didn’t catch a break.”

    “It will come back around for the Miller Lite Dodge team,” Keselowski continued. “We came up a few laps short.”

    Not Surprising:  Kevin Harvick continued his reign as the ‘Closer’, finishing fourth in his No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet. Happy has now finished in the top five for three consecutive races at Martinsville.

    “It was definitely a battle,” Harvick said. “Everybody was driving hard.”

    “That is what you are supposed to do here at Martinsville.”

     

  • Underdogs of the Good Sam Club 500

    Underdogs of the Good Sam Club 500

    The Red Bull Racing team of Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne need to be recognized for their effort on Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway. Kahne started 26th, Vickers 30th, and used the two-car tandem to push their way into the top-five within 10 laps. They had troubles with the two-car tandem on Lap 159, when Kahne spun across the nose of Vickers race car to bring out the caution.

    [media-credit name=”Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]However, with 50 laps to go, the pair had already hooked back up and was heading to the front. Unfortunately they just couldn’t catch the RCR duo of Clint Bowyer and RCR, but still came home with fifth (Vickers) and sixth (Kahne) place finishes.

    Red Bull will be leaving the team at season’s end, with no word yet on if the team will continue on. Kahne will be taking his business over to Hendrick Motorsports where he will drive the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet. Vickers has yet to announce what his plans are for the 2012 season.

    Dave Blaney’s third place finish at Talladega became Tommy Baldwin’s Racing’s best finish yet at the Cup level. This isn’t the first time Blaney has run well at restrictor plate tracks. He also was a front-runner in the Daytona 500 and the spring race at Talladega this year, but didn’t get the finishes he deserved. This is a big step for a small organization, with a short history in the sport. Team owner Tommy Baldwin hopes this is just the beginning for improvement in preparation of the 2012 season.

    Underdogs Landon Cassill and Casey Mears had strong race cars at Talladega and were front-runners all race long. Before the first lap of the race was even complete, Mear’s No. 13 GEICO Camry had moved from its 42nd starting position into 26th. On Lap 3, Mears paired up with Cassill, who qualified 38th, to race to the front. They spent most of the race in the Top 10 and eyed the lead on multiple occasions.  This continued until Lap 174 when Cassill was collected in a turn two crash involving Bobby Labonte and Kurt Busch. This separated the pair and forced Mears to find another dancing partner.  They eventually found each other at the end of the race to finish in 16th (Cassill) and 17th (Mears)position.

  • Ryan Newman’s Loudon Love Affair Continues with Pole Run

    Ryan Newman’s Loudon Love Affair Continues with Pole Run

    In spite of the rain drops that yet again delayed action on the track, Ryan Newman continued his love affair with the ‘Magic Mile’, scoring a record-setting sixth pole.

    [media-credit name=”Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Newman, behind the wheel of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet, turned a lap of 28.213 seconds and a speed of 135.002 mph.

    This was Newman’s third pole in 2011 and his 59th career pole, tying him for ninth all-time with Bobby Isaac, Hall of Fame Nominee. In spite of it being a personal career pole best, it was the drama of it all that most impressed Newman.

    “In general, I don’t think I’ve seen that kind of drama going into the last five cars qualifying in my ten or eleven years of experience,” Newman said. “It’s kind of a tough situation, one hand you’re thinking other guys had to qualify in the sprinkles.”

    “My track was dry,” Newman continued. “I don’t know if it was any faster. I think we picked up the same speed as the other guys did earlier in qualifying.”

    The drama particularly played out with five-time champion Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet, who started his qualifying run but then pulled off the track, only to be resoundly booed and heckled by the crowd, who were desperate for the completion of qualifying.

    “Some of them did and some of them didn’t go out, but in the end we’re supposed to have dry track conditions or at least not be raining when we go out on the race track,” Newman said. “So, I understand where Jimmie (Johnson) came from when he pulled in.”

    “I’m just really proud of my team,” Newman said. “We backed up what we did here at least on Friday from the spring race and give the Haas Automation a good starting spot.”

    The Red Bull teammates of Kasey Kahne, behind the wheel of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, and Brian Vickers, driving the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, were also part of the drama that played out in Loudon qualifying.

    Vickers went out prior to the rain drops falling, where Kahne had to cool his heels with the five remaining cars awaiting the drying of the track. In the end, Kahne still scored the outside pole, while Vickers lost the provisional pole, falling to the third spot.

    “Obviously the conditions were tough,” Vickers said. “I would have liked to have seen it play out just running straight through.”

    “It is what it is,” Vickers continued. “Either way we started out better than we would have.”

    “We ended up with a top-three start,” Vickers said. “So, that’s great and both Red Bull cars are up front.”

    “But again, I would have liked to have seen our laps hold if we were heads up in the same position.”

    Outside pole sitter Kasey Kahne was second quickest when he finally got to qualify, with a lap of 28.263 seconds and a speed of 134.763 mph.

    “It was a good effort,” Kahne said. “We ended up right where we would have been if it would have ended up if it hadn’t rained.”

    “The track was definitely slicker,” Kahne continued. “The way my car handled, we were definitely quicker in practice. But I’m glad we got qualifying in.”

    Greg Biffle, driving the No. 16 Ford40MPG.com Ford, and Kurt Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Dodge, rounded out the top five for the 15th annual Sylvania 300.  The remainder of the top ten qualifiers were Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex, Jr. and Jimmie Johnson.

    Starting Lineup
    Sylvania 300, New Hampshire Motor Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=28
    ===========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time
    ===========================================
    1 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 135.002 28.213
    2 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota 134.763 28.263
    3 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 134.648 28.287
    4 16 Greg Biffle Ford 134.587 28.3
    5 22 Kurt Busch Dodge 134.382 28.343
    6 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 134.354 28.349
    7 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 134.16 28.39
    8 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 134.146 28.393
    9 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 134.146 28.393
    10 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 134.075 28.408
    11 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 134.056 28.412
    12 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 133.981 28.428
    13 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 133.82 28.462
    14 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 133.816 28.463
    15 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 133.792 28.468
    16 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 133.769 28.473
    17 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 133.755 28.476
    18 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 133.595 28.51
    19 0 David Reutimann Toyota 133.572 28.515
    20 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 133.445 28.542
    21 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 133.357 28.561
    22 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 133.245 28.585
    23 99 Carl Edwards Ford 133.203 28.594
    24 20 Joey Logano Toyota 133.114 28.613
    25 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 132.905 28.658
    26 6 David Ragan Ford 132.896 28.66
    27 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 132.665 28.71
    28 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 132.591 28.726
    29 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 132.572 28.73
    30 51 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 132.429 28.761
    31 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 132.232 28.804
    32 38 J.J. Yeley Ford 132.213 28.808
    33 34 David Gilliland Ford 132.048 28.844
    34 30 David Stremme Chevrolet 131.856 28.886
    35 66 Michael McDowell Toyota 131.797 28.899
    36 7 Robby Gordon Dodge 131.352 28.997
    37 13 Casey Mears Toyota 131.293 29.01
    38 55 Travis Kvapil Ford 131.058 29.062
    39 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 130.833 29.112
    40 32 Mike Bliss Ford 130.613 29.161
    41 37 Josh Wise Ford 130.55 29.175
    42 71 Andy Lally+* Ford 128.784 29.575
    43 46 Scott Speed Ford 130.305 29.23
  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Chicagoland Geico 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Chicagoland Geico 400

    After a valiant attempt to battle the rain drops and start the race as advertised on Sunday, NASCAR finally gave in and postponed the race until Monday. This is what was surprising and not surprising from the 11th running of the GEICO 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.

    [media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”229″][/media-credit]Surprising:  Although without fuel for a burnout, smoke still surprisingly rose from Victory Lane as the driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, Tony Stewart, celebrated his first win of the season with crew chief Darian Grub and his team.

    This was Stewart’s 40th victory in 455 Cup races, tying him with Mark Martin for 16th on the all-time victory list. This also ended 32-race winless streak, but extended Smoke’s streak of having one win every season for the past 13 years.

    “You couldn’t pick a better weekend to get that first win of the year than here at Chicago,” Stewart said. “We’ve had a miserable year, by our standards. But the last three weeks we’ve really started coming into it.”

    “At the end you hate to have to play the fuel mileage game,” Stewart continued. “We didn’t do any wild burnouts or anything like that and ran out before we ever got on pit road.”

    “So, we were closer than I wanted to be,” Smoke said. “But I had a good enough car to get us there and Darian and his calls gave us the opportunity to get the lead. I was glad I saved as much as I did.”

    Stewart’s win catapulted him up seven spots in the Chase point standings, moving from the ninth position to second, only seven points out of first.

    Not Surprising:  While driver and team owner celebrated in victory lane, it was not surprising to see the other half of Stewart-Hass Racing dynamic duo also have a good day at the office.

    Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 US Army Medicine Chevrolet, finished eighth. Newman led twice during the race, for a total of 18 laps.

    Highlighting on his hood the medical men and women of the US Army, Newman also scored his 14th top-10 finish of the season and his sixth top-10 finish in his 10 career Cup starts at Chicagoland Speedway.

    Newman’s finish garnered him one step up in the Chase, moving from eighth to seventh. He is in a tie, however, with sixth place Keselowski, who has three wins to Newman’s one on the season.

    Surprising:  Granted that the race was delayed due to rain and decided by fuel mileage, it was still surprising the lack of impact qualifying had on the race finish. At one extreme was Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Crown Royal Ford, who not only qualified on the pole but also led off and on throughout the race only to be done in by fuel mileage but also by a penalty for being pushed by J J Yeley on the last lap.  Kenseth finished 21st and fell six positions in the Chase standings to tenth.

    “It is really frustrating to be a race car driver and they drop the green on the last run of the day when you are supposed to put on a show for the fans and you have to run full throttle and can’t floor it or you will run out of gas,” Kenseth said. “It is pretty aggravating to do all the work and qualifying and pit stops and adjustments but none of it makes a difference.”

    On the flip side of the coin was Kevin Harvick, behind the wheel of the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet, who qualified 30th only to live up to his ‘Closer’ reputation to finish second in the race. This was Harvick’s seventh top-10 finish in 11 races at Chicagoland Speedway and his 14th top-10 finish in 2011.

    Harvick’s finish catapulted him into first place in the Chase standings.

    “I knew that we had saved a little bit under caution and a little bit at the beginning of that run,” Harvick said of his fuel status at the end of the race. “Everybody on our Budweiser Chevrolet did a great job knowing exactly how far we could go, so good first race for us.”

    Not Surprising:  When it comes to fuel mileage racing, it is never surprising to see Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and his crew chief Steve Letarte go for broke and roll the dice.  The race at Chicagoland was no different with the driver taking his No. 88 Amp Energy/National Guard Chevrolet to a 3rd place finish.

    “We worked real hard all weekend trying to be smart,” Junior said. “The car was a bit of a struggle in the middle part of the race but in that last run, we were one of the best cars on the track.”

    “We started trying to save a little gas and we made it further than most,” Junior continued. “It was a good weekend for us.”

    Surprising:  The driver of the No. 18 Wrigley’s Doublemint Toyota and the driver of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet had a surprising statistic in common. Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon both lost eight positions in the Chase standings due to their Chicagoland race struggles, thanks to their 22nd and 24th finishing positions respectively.

    “We had a good car and kept fighting back all day long,” Busch said. “I saved as much fuel as I could but I guess it just wasn’t enough and we ran out with two to go. Just a really disappointing day.”

    Gordon echoed those sentiments, although he acknowledged that not only did he qualify poorly but his car was a handful all race long.

    “It was just one of those days,” Gordon said. “We were just off.”

    “We actually got the car halfway decent there at the end,” Gordon continued. “Then it came down to saving fuel and we obviously didn’t save enough fuel.”

    Not Surprising:  In spite of burying the hatchet with his nemesis Jimmie Johnson and having a decent finish, it was not surprising that controversy continued to dog the driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger. After skirmishing with the media at last weekend’s race, Kurt Busch skirmished instead with his crew chief and team, sharing a few choice words over the radio during the race.

    “We had speed in the car early, but just didn’t keep up with the track,” Busch said after the race. “We just struggled with making adjustments as the race went on.”

    Not surprisingly, Busch’s crew chief Steve Addington seemed to especially take the criticism to heart, falling on the sword for the team.

    “It seems like we can get our cars tightened up, but can’t free them up at all and we struggled with that,” Addington said. “I’m disappointed that we led a lot of laps and should have had a better showing with the Shell/Pennzoil Dodge.”

    “We just couldn’t stay on top of the race track like we needed to once the track got rubbered-in,” Addington continued. “I’m disappointed in myself.”

    Surprising:  It was surprising to watch the metamorphosis that took place for Brad Keselowski as he moved from the ‘Iron Man’ performance that got him into Chase contention to NASCAR’s version of Cinderella.

    Keselowski, behind the wheel of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge finished the race in the fifth position. With that top-five finish, he also moved up five positions to sixth in the current Chase standings.

    “Whew, an amazing day to get this Miller Lite Dodge Charger a top-five finish,” Keselowski said. “It wasn’t easy.”

    “It really was a matter of trying to be patient,” Keselowski continued. “Our fuel mileage was awesome.”

    “It was a good first step for us in the Chase.”

    Not Surprising:  With the futures of several drivers uncertain, it was not surprising to see them achieve some hopefully eye-catching finishes.  Tops among those drivers who finished alongside the elite Chase contenders were Clint Bowyer, who took seventh, as well as Mark Martin with a top-10 finish and Brian Vickers with a top-15.