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Tag: Brickyard 400

  • Kyle Busch fastest in final practice

    Kyle Busch fastest in final practice

    Kyle Busch topped the chart in final Sprint Cup Series practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 48.749 and a speed of 184.619 mph. Kevin Harvick was second in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet with a time of 48.842 and a speed of 184.268 mph. Kyle Larson was third in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 48.975 and a speed of 183.767 mph. Ryan Newman was fourth in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 49.000 and a speed of 183.673 mph. Carl Edwards rounded out the top-five in his No. 19 JGR Toyota with a time of 49.032 and a speed of 183.554 mph.

    Austin Dillon was sixth in his No. 3 RCR Chevrolet. Jimmie Johnson was seventh in his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Martin Truex Jr. was eighth in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota. Danica Patrick was ninth in his No. 10 SHR Chevrolet. AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top-10 in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet.

    Denny Hamlin, who fastest lap was 17th fastest overall, posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 177.938 mph.

    The Sprint Cup Series will be back on track tomorrow afternoon at 1:45 for qualifying.

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  • Kyle Busch says he’d give the Indy 500 a shot

    Kyle Busch says he’d give the Indy 500 a shot

    During his media availability earlier today, Kyle Busch mentioned he’d like a try at the Indianapolis 500.

    “Sure, I’d give it a shot and see what it’s all about, but obviously you’ve got to have funding to go run that race,” he said. “It’s a big race for all those teams that come here to run that race and putting on a good effort for myself means that you want to get with a top-tier team that has success here and that you know can run well and you can have good stops on pit road because it seems as though pit road is a big deal in those car here at Indy and just being able to learn as much as you can, so trying to get a little bit of track time in the times that we’re not busy doing what we’re doing is awfully hard to do.”

    He started off by saying, however, that plans would have to be made long in advance.

    “Yeah, you definitely can’t do it a month before for sure,” he added. “There’s got to be planning involved and you’ve got to be ahead of the curve and probably this is about the start time in which you need to get some things started planning and definitely have all those plans solidified probably by the end of the NASCAR season in November.”

    NASCAR drivers running the Indianapolis 500 isn’t new. Bobby and Donnie Allison, and Cale and Lee Roy Yarbrough all ran the Indy 500 in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Since 1994, four NASCAR drivers have run both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. John Andretti 10th in the Indianapolis 500 and 36th in the Coca-Cola 600 in 1993. Tony Stewart ran both races in 1999 finishing ninth in the 500 and finishing fourth in the 600 after starting from the rear of the field. He’s the only driver to run both races to completion when he did so in 2001 finishing sixth in the 500 and third in the 600. From 2002 to 2004, Robby Gordon ran both races. Kurt Busch attempted both races in 2014 finishing sixth in the 500, but losing an engine and finishing 40th in the 600.

  • Johnson fastest in first practice

    Johnson fastest in first practice

    Jimmie Johnson topped the chart in first Sprint Cup Series practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 48.864 and a speed of 184.185 mph. Denny Hamlin was second in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 49.298 and a speed of 182.563 mph. Casey Mears was third in his No. 13 Germain Racing Chevrolet with a time of 49.904 and a speed of 180.346 mph. Kevin Harvick was fourth in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet with a time of 50.043 and a speed of 179.845 mph. Ryan Newman rounded out the top-five in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 50.060 and a speed of 179.784 mph.

    Carl Edwards was sixth in his No. 19 JGR Toyota. Chase Elliott was seventh in his No. 24 HMS Chevrolet. Tony Stewart was eighth in his No. 14 SHR Chevrolet. Jeff Gordon, subbing for Dale Earnhardt Jr., was ninth in his No. 88 HMS Chevrolet. Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top-10 in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota.

    No driver posted a 10 consecutive lap average during the session.

    The Sprint Cup Series cars are back on track later today at 4:00 for final practice.

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  • Jeff Gordon: ‘I was asked to drive Tony Stewart’s car in Daytona’

    Jeff Gordon: ‘I was asked to drive Tony Stewart’s car in Daytona’

    Jeff Gordon revealed today that he was asked to drive in place of Tony Stewart at Daytona.

    During his media availability at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the substitute driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was asked if he would’ve been available to drive in a substitute role had this been during the FOX portion of the season.

    “Well the crazy thing about all this I was asked to drive Tony Stewart’s car in Daytona to start the season out with his injuries and the incident that happened there,” Gordon said. “No, I wasn’t able to do it because of my commitments to FOX. Now, Rick has some amazing ways to convince people into things that the average person might not be able to. So, I don’t know maybe he could have called Eric Shanks (president, COO and executive producer of FOX Sports) or something, but no I don’t think so.”

    Following the conclusion of the 2015 season, Gordon moved to the broadcast booth to work the first 16 Sprint Cup Series races of the 2016 season for FOX Sports.

    He was on vacation with his family in France while the Sprint Cup Series was in New Hampshire when he was contacted by Rick Hendrick about driving the No. 88 car.

    “I was in the South of France at that time,” he said. “I get that text (from Hendrick), and I looked at her (Ingrid) and said ‘Oh boy, here we go.’ I had no idea. When Rick said to me ‘Are you coming to Indianapolis?’ I said ‘Yes I am. I am coming on Saturday.’ He said ‘Well, you better bring your uniform.’ I asked what he was talking about and he started to tell me about what was going on.”

    It was announced last week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway that if Dale Earnhardt Jr. was unable to compete at Indianapolis, Gordon would drive in his place.

    “Honestly I didn’t have to think twice about it,” Gordon said. “When Rick calls, he has that confidence in me, and asked me to step-up and do something for the organization – whether it was driver, or other responsibilities. The way he has been there for me. The way this team and organization has been there for me over the years, I didn’t anticipate this. This is certainly the last thing that was going to happen. But I knew it was Indianapolis. I didn’t think about it. I felt like if there was one place that I was capable of doing it, it would be here.”

  • The Final Word – Post-race Kyle kissed the Bricks at Indianapolis, the rest could just kiss his…

    The Final Word – Post-race Kyle kissed the Bricks at Indianapolis, the rest could just kiss his…

    All we have heard all summer long is how great Kyle is at winning, how wonderful Kyle has been in making a comeback. Kyle, Kyle, Kyle. It is enough to make one channel their inner Jan Brady.

    What a wonderful race Kevin Harvick had. He led all those laps, yet the best he gets in the end was third. Joey Logano, he had a wonderful day going for him, but with about 10 to go, Kyle decided the race was his and won his first Brickyard 400.

    Okay, three wins in a row. Four of the past five, all in just the past nine events; 33rd of his career. Over those last five events, Busch has managed to pick up an average of 30 points per race on the driver sitting in 30th place in the standings, and today sits just 23 behind Justin Allgaier as he moves closer to being Chase eligible and making those wins count toward the standings. My bold prediction is that he will rocket from 32nd to at least second in the season standings come next Sunday at Pocono.

    Busch is having a season just as unbelievable as that of Tony Stewart. I mean, who can believe the crap Smoke has been putting up with this season? He starts fourth at Indianapolis, was up front the first half of the day, yet the heaping helping he was left with was not exactly a steaming pile of hospitality. Strategy gone bad, they said. Stewart pits when some thought he should have maintained track position. Shortly after, he pits again, giving up even more. He finished 28th, a spot behind Danica Patrick, who had a Top 15 day, was eighth when they re-started with eight to go.

    Jeff Gordon was in his final Brickyard, but he lost control trying to avoid a spinning Clint Bowyer. Contact with the outside wall left him limping to 42nd. Still, he is in no danger of dropping out of the Top 16 just yet. Bowyer has that final transfer spot, sitting 30 points ahead of Aric Almirola. He appeared to be driving a metallic pinata as Bowyer gained 32 positions on him.

    Mind you, after Pocono, when the four Busch wins trump whatever points he might have, as long as he sits amongst the Top 30, Bowyer will slip back to 17th. In reality, he goes into next weekend down by 20 to Kasey Kahne and Paul Menard, and 25 behind Ryan Newman, for the spot that will matter at the end of the day.

    As for Kyle, he has never won at Pocono. Of course, he had never won a Cup event at Indianapolis before, either. Busch is a husband, a new dad and appears to have returned a more mature version of his former self. Maybe even a more talented version, if that can be possible. Some might not like it, but the way things are going, they might have to be content with kissing his…championship ring at the end of the season.

  • Hot 20 – Indianapolis, It is no Wetaskiwin, but it will do

    Hot 20 – Indianapolis, It is no Wetaskiwin, but it will do

    I am just another foreigner. Sure, I’ve been to Daytona. I spent Christmas a couple of years ago on a beach near Malibu. I have been in the Empire State Building, walked the boardwalk in Atlantic City, toured Gettysburg, been to Independence Hall in Philadelphia, and drove the strip in Las Vegas. I have walked the Little Bighorn Battlefield more than once, seen Devil’s Tower and visited Mount Rushmore. I have watched the Red Sox play in Seattle, and I believe the scenery in Wyoming is second to none. I’ve been there, but I do not live there.

    I am reminded of that fact as I write this. You see, the big dirt race at Eldora Speedway was slated for this week. Sadly, as a Canadian, that American-based program was not be broadcast on this side of the border, or any truck race for that matter. All was not lost. TSN, our version of ESPN, was slated to run a NASCAR event the same night. It was the Canadian Tire series, from Wetaskiwin, Alberta. A race run nearly two weeks ago and won by 43-year old Scott Steckly from Milverton, Ontario. It was his second win in the six races run to date and he leads the season standings. You might not care. You might not even be Canadian. You might have been stuck having to watch that dirt race broadcast on live television from Iowa. Oh, well, such are the trials and tribulations of being American, I guess.

    This Sunday, NASCAR is back on my television, but not from Wetaskiwin, a place where I understand cars cost less than in, say, Edmonton. No, this Sunday the event is something called the Brickyard 400, from a place called Indianapolis. You might have heard of it.

    In the meantime, as a Canadian, please allow me to politely submit this week’s Hot 20…

    1. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 4 WINS (646 Points)
    He and Chad are free agents at the end of the season. Could anyone tempt them?

    2. KEVIN HARVICK – 2 WINS (734 Points)
    Disaster struck in the pits…so the best he could do was third. Third. Oh, the humanity!

    3. DALE EARNHARDT JR. – 2 WINS (655 Points)
    Junior was hot last week. Okay, more like p.o.’d, to use the vernacular.

    4. KURT BUSCH – 2 WINS (576 Points)
    The forgotten Busch? Little brothers can be so attention getting.

    5. JOEY LOGANO – 1 WIN (665 Points)
    It is so good to be a Penske guy right now.

    6. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 1 WIN (628 Points)
    Some guys got the breaks in New Hampshire, other guys were named Truex.

    7. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 1 WIN (603 Points)
    Best damn driver in recent weeks not named Kyle Busch.

    8. MATT KENSETH – 1 WIN (578 Points)
    It is a good thing they do not hand out demerits for speeding…on pit road.

    9. DENNY HAMLIN – 1 WIN (552 Points)
    Hamlin wins Saturday, upsets Austin, but why in hell were either racing in the minor league?

    10. CARL EDWARDS – 1 WIN (487 Points)
    The big difference between Clint and Carl is a single checkered flag.

    11. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 574 POINTS
    Jamie had a lousy day. Still, Bowyer’s was even worse.

    12. JEFF GORDON – 573 POINTS
    Five Indianapolis wins, including just one year ago. Why not six?

    13. KASEY KAHNE – 538 POINTS
    Presently a Chase contender, but best title comes in October…a new dad.

    14. RYAN NEWMAN – 530 POINTS
    Eleventh at New Hampshire means some breathing room heading to Indianapolis.

    15. PAUL MENARD – 528 POINTS
    Fail inspection once, you get a letter. If it happens again this week, they get penalized.

    16. ARIC ALMIROLA – 502 POINTS
    Thanks, Clint!

    17. CLINT BOWYER – 500 POINTS
    Failed inspection, runs into Gordon outside the garage, then car fades to irrelevance in the race.

    18. GREG BIFFLE – 437 POINTS
    If NASCAR had the same rules as MLB, Biffle should demand to be traded by the deadline.

    19. AUSTIN DILLON – 434 POINTS
    Has an idea as to where he would love to shove the XFINITY checkered flag after last Saturday.

    20. CASEY MEARS – 427 POINTS
    #13 proves to be a good number as Casey signs up for another season with Germain Racing.

  • NASCAR BTS: Hendrick Engineer Tom Gray

    NASCAR BTS: Hendrick Engineer Tom Gray

    Ever wonder about those engineers atop the pit box next to the crew chiefs working away on their computers during the race?  This week’s NASCAR Behind the Scenes focuses on one such engineer, Tom Gray, who works with Jeff Gordon’s Hendrick Motorsports Team 24.

    “I’m the race engineer for the No. 24 car and my primary duties are looking at the simulation and working on race setups,” Gray said. “In layman’s terms, it’s kind of like finance. We look at graphs and try to boil what is happening on the track down to numbers.

    It’s very much number crunching, turning Jeff’s feelings and the reactions of the cars into numbers and graphs. We compare those back and forth in order to optimize the setup. It’s an iterative process to optimize the car’s set up.

    Basically, it’s a combination of speed and handling and Jeff’s feel and combining that all together.”

    Much of Gray’s work, as with the other race engineers, does revolve around not only watching action on the track but also analyzing it all through technology.

    “There are different kinds of programs we use for analysis,” Gray said. “Each team kind of has its own proprietary simulation package. It really does look like a stock graph, like when you think in terms of market trends. That’s how we digest amounts of data quickly.

    My wife likes to call it ‘looking at colored, squiggly lines.’ That’s pretty much what we do on a daily basis.”

    So, just how did Gray get into the business of race engineering?

    “It’s a funny story,” Gray said. “My grandfather owned Mario Andretti’s sprint car. And my dad also drove sprint cars. I drove stock cars. So, we kind of have had a long family legacy I guess in racing. I’ve always been around it from a young age. So, I grew up racing go-karts and progressed to stock cars.

    I went to school at Purdue University and graduated from there. I worked in the ASA Series and crew chiefed an ARCA car. And then I got my start through the ARCA Series when we bought old Evernham cars. I met a few people from Evernham Motorsports and then later got a job there. I worked with them until 2008 and then made the move to Hendrick.

    I started out as a shop-based engineer at Hendrick, not really traveling. I had had some race engineer experience at Evernham, so it was a quick progression. Once they find out you’ve traveled, it’s a quick progression because it takes a certain personality and a certain type of person to want to do this because of the rigorous schedule. When they find us, they are quick to put us on the road.

    And the rest is history.”

    As with every race team, Gray has experienced the highs and, unfortunately, the lows that professional auto sports brings.

    “My biggest accomplishment, growing up in Indianapolis, was winning the Brickyard,” Gray said. “Winning at Indy was amazing. It’s funny because I have pictures of my grandfather back when he was a chief mechanic at the track. They used to line up in front of the cars and take pictures, which was really neat and a cool tradition. So, to have a similar on the bricks and on pit road was really neat. We were all lined up kissing the bricks. That’s my biggest accomplishment.”

    Gray’s biggest challenge is one that he will be facing this week at Kentucky, a track where his driver has not yet won.

    “The biggest challenge for me comes with NASCAR rule changes and tires,” Gray said. “That’s very challenging. Every year it seems like you have to figure things out all over again. It’s good and I like the challenge. It keeps things interesting, but it is a challenge.

    These are very complicated things in general when you figure all the mechanical moving parts on the car, Jeff’s feel for the car, the tires and then the rule changes with the aero packages. And then you have to figure in how good it is not only in clean air but in traffic.

    And not only that, but you also have track conditions, temperatures, sunny, clouds. You have to take a step back every time and reorganize. And the quicker you can do that, the better you will perform.”

    While Gray acknowledged that he has one of the best drivers and one that will likely be in the Hall of Fame shortly, he also spoke to the importance of the race team and of the team itself, under the leadership of Rick Hendrick.

    “The driver has a lot to do with performance but having a good team is critical,” Gray said. “The product you bring to the track and how to balance that with your driver speaks volumes about how important each team is.

    You can have a great driver and an ill-prepared car and you won’t win the race. So, the team is definitely important so we strive to execute on a weekly basis. That’s a huge task for us and a challenge to balance it all out.”

    “The one thing I love about Rick Hendrick and working at Hendrick Motorsports is that it is a big family,” Gray continued. “Ethically to me, I thrive in an environment where people do care about the people they are working with and it is that type of an environment.

    Mr. H. always makes a point to treat his people very well. I think that’s important. This is a rigorous schedule. We work a lot together and it’s easy to get a bit catty with each other. So, letting people know they are doing a good job and are appreciated is important. So, ethically we are on the same page there.

    My dad owned a machine shop and he was very much a blue collar, hard worker. I believe that hard work is the key like my dad. You don’t get anywhere without hard work so I spend a lot of hours working at the shop and at the track and that is what Hendrick Motorsports is all about.”

    While Gray admitted to thoroughly enjoying his current role as race engineer, he also might like to try his hand at another job in the future.

    “I would say this job is close to my dream job,” Gray said. “But I would like to crew chief someday. But this job is pretty close to being my perfect role.

    It’s funny, when you are having a bad day, I remember that I get to race for a living. The fans are great so being at the track is a lot of fun.”

    For Gray, the role of race engineer is not only a dream job but has been a dream come true for him personally.

    “For me, growing up in Indianapolis, I got to see Jeff win his first Brickyard 400, the inaugural one,” Gray said. “I actually had a hat that I got signed by him.

    So, almost twenty years later, I wore that same hat and sat on his pit box,” Gray continued. “That was pretty awesome.

    Jeff laughed and told me that I made him feel old. I don’t know, it’s pretty awesome.

    To be able to work with guys like the caliber of Jeff Gordon, one of the all-time greats, I feel like is a privilege. I try to make the most of it every day.

    So, yes, I’ve been fortunate and this is awesome.”

     

  • Hot 20 – 500 miles at Talladega, as it always has been and always should be

    Hot 20 – 500 miles at Talladega, as it always has been and always should be

    “It’s no secret that attention spans, especially with the millennial fans, are changing,” or so says NASCAR boss Brian France. Hard to argue with that, but it basically states that today’s fans are idiots who need the keys jangled before their faces much like one does with a bored infant. Be it as it may, if NASCAR desires to shorten a few events to keep the droolers engaged, go right ahead. However, there are some events it would be ill-advised to mess with.

    You do not touch the legacy races. The Daytona 500, the Southern 500, the World 600, the Firecracker 400 and the Brickyard 400 are etched in stone. All races at Bristol’s half-mile run 500 laps. If you race at Talladega, you race for 500 miles. These are the events even non-fans take in, the races new fans discover before they even know NASCAR has something called a series championship. The road courses seem about right to me, along with the 500 mile night race at Charlotte. Do what you will with all the rest, as truth be known some of the remaining 24 events are boring as hell to watch unless you know the storylines going in, and even then it might be something of a chore. It is not a case of keeping our attention, but rather ending the monotony sooner than later.

    So, change away in your bid to snare those who have the attention span of a gnat, but beware screwing over your true fans. Those folks have memories that last forever, and forgiveness is not something you can expect to get readily.

    What you can expect is one hell of a race to watch this Sunday, with its Saturday appetizer.

    Hot 20 heading to Talladega…

    1. KEVIN HARVICK – 2 WINS (357 Points)
    Eighth at Martinsville, 38th at Bristol, first or second everywhere else.

    2. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 2 WINS (299 Points)
    That woman always telling people what to do on television has turned him into Jimmie Goldberg.

    3. JOEY LOGANO – 1 WIN ( 324 Points)
    Bristol was a hiccup.

    4. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 1 WIN (283 Points)
    Was firing on all cylinders…but one.

    5. MATT KENSETH – 1 WIN (273 Points)
    Richmond was disappointing for Joe Gibbs Racing, though Matt had few complaints.

    6. DENNY HAMLIN – 1 WIN (245 Points)
    There was no Petty Man, there is no Junior Man, but there is a Hamlin Man…cape and all.

    7. KURT BUSCH – 1 WIN (222 Points)
    Got that monkey off his back.

    8. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 315 POINTS
    The most pleasant surprise of 2015.

    9. KASEY KAHNE – 275 POINTS
    All-State. Nextel. Sunoco. Gillette. Remember when NASCAR sponsors tried?

    10. DALE EARNHARDT JR. – 271 POINTS
    How we wish Dale Sr., John, and George could have felt the love when they turned 64.

    11. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 264 POINTS
    Ranked 11th best in 2004, 12th best in 2005, ranked here as of today.

    12. JEFF GORDON – 263 POINTS
    Just as he once raced against Petty, teenagers Elliott and Jones will remember racing this guy.

    13. ARIC ALMIROLA – 250 POINTS
    I would like to buy a vowel. Could I have an “A”, Pat?

    14. PAUL MENARD – 239 POINTS
    Hanging out with Gordon testing at Indianapolis. How cool is that?

    15. CLINT BOWYER – 235 POINTS
    No, this is not a single car operation. Why do you ask?

    16. RYAN NEWMAN – 234 POINTS
    Next week comes his final appeal…then he loses his crew chief?

    17. DANICA PATRICK – 230 POINTS
    Go Daddy soon to be Gone Daddy.

    18. CARL EDWARDS – 228 POINTS
    It is not all bad. He could still be driving for Roush-Fenway.

    19. DAVID RAGAN – 218 POINTS
    Driving for Mikey after this, filling in for Vickers after sitting in for Kyle.

    20. KYLE LARSON – 205 POINTS
    Always competitive at Talladega…both times.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Brickyard 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Brickyard 400

    With the announcement by Roush Fenway Racing that Carl Edwards would not be returning in 2015 still reverberating throughout the garage, here is what else was surprising and not surprising in the 21st Annual Crown Royal presents The John Wayne Walding 400 at The Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

    Surprising: In spite of securing his second win of the season, as well as having the points lead well in hand, it surprisingly took securing his fifth win at the Brickyard and his 90th career victory to make a championship believer out of Jeff Gordon.

    “It’s so hard to gain confidence in this series,” the driver of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet said. “I think we saw we were points leaders, we saw we won at Kansas, but I don’t know if we believed we were capable of winning this championship this year, truly believe it.”

    “We do now,” Gordon continued. “But a Brickyard 400 win, it just doesn’t get any better. I mean, to share that with that team that worked so hard, to see the look on their face, you can just see it in them now, you know, they believe.”

    Not Surprising: The Kyle and Kyle tandem were at it again, with Kyle Busch finishing in the runner up spot and Kyle Larson scoring highest finishing rookie honors yet again with his seventh place run. This was Busch’s third runner-up result in the last four races, scoring bridesmaid honors at Kentucky, Loudon and Indy.

    “I finished second at Kentucky, Loudon and here,” the driver of the No. 18 Snickers Toyota said. “We had some good races going. It would be certainly more beneficial to pick up some trophies, take some trophies home, get some of those benefits for the Chase.”

    “Three second places, that’s 11 extra points that you miss out on,” Busch continued. “That sucks pretty big for the Chase and for those bonus points. But, you know, if we keep going that way, then things will pay off sooner or later. We’ll start winning some.”

    With his top-10 finish, the other Kyle continued his domination of the Sunoco Rookie of the Year battle, now leading the standings by 37 points over Austin Dillon. Larson also sits 13th in the points as he tries to make his way into the championship Chase.

    “It was a good day for us,” Larson said. “The Target car was really good. We were a top-10 car the whole race.

    “Cool to finish in the top 10 at the Brickyard,” the driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet said. “To see Jeff Gordon win is pretty special. It’s kind of like Junior winning the 500 this year. It was a really good day for everybody and all the fans, too. So happy about it.”

    Surprising: Just when Denny Hamlin thought he and his Joe Gibbs race team had turned the corner after finishing third in his No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, some surprising post-race inspection issues reared their ugly heads.

    NASCAR took several rear firewall block-off plates off the car for further examination back at the R and D Center. These particular plates could have improved the aerodynamics of the car so Tuesday will be an interesting day for Hamlin and company as far as any potential penalties.

    “It was a little something; it wasn’t that big of a deal,” Jimmy Makar, Senior Vice President for Joe Gibbs Racing, said. “I don’t think it’s going to be a big deal (penalty-wise). It is just a questionable thing.”

    As a result of his good Brickyard finish, Hamlin advanced one spot in the point standings to 11th and is poised for a run at the championship with his win at Talladega earlier in the season.

    Not Surprising: With Indy known as a track where passing is difficult, it was no surprise that restarts were key and where much of the action took place. And again, not surprisingly, the final restart was critical for so many drivers, from Matt Kenseth, who gained a few spots to finish fourth, to Kasey Kahne who lost the lead to finish sixth.

    “It was interesting because I was — I was kind of picking on Jeff’s (Gordon) restarts all day because he just couldn’t get going on the outside,” Kenseth said. “He was getting on the outside of the front row. I was behind and was like, ‘Man, this is going to be bad.’ He got into (turn) one and kind of carried the 5 (Kasey Kahne) and the 5 must have got loose.”

    “And, then Denny (Hamlin) gave me a break,” the driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota continued. “I got out in front of him and we were both able to pass Kasey (Kahne). Then Denny (Hamlin) got us three-wide. Once it singled out we were able to get away a little bit.”

    For Kahne, behind the wheel of the No. 5 Time Warner Cable Chevrolet, the final restart result was not as favorable.

    “Jeff (Gordon) just beat me,” Kahne said. “We got into Turn 1 he held me down and he was able to momentum off of Turn 1 which he did a better job.”

    “I should have choose the outside, looking back, but I thought there was more grip on the inside down the front stretch,” Kahne continued. “Then he controlled the start. I just gave it up at that point. Either way that was the best we were going to finish.”

    “That was alright though.”

    Surprising: It was a surprisingly good weekend for the Dillon brothers, with Ty winning the Nationwide race and brother Austin finishing top-10 at the Brickyard.

    “It’s great for us,” the driver of the No. 3 Dow/MyCogen Seeds Chevrolet said. “As a team we just want to build momentum and that was a solid day. Our car had some speed in it, but it was tough to pass because when you got in traffic you couldn’t do much.”

    “I am very proud of my guys, solid day, and hard to back up that win that Ty got yesterday but I will definitely take a top ten in this series.”

    Not Surprising: Paul Menard was NASCAR’s biggest loser after contact with Juan Pablo Montoya, back in a part-time ride for Team Penske, forced him to a 34th place finish, dropping him five spots in the points to 16th and teetering on the brink of Chase contention.

    “It’s stupid,” Slugger Labbe, Menard’s crew chief, said. “People have no respect…. I just don’t get Juan Pablo, what he’s doing. It doesn’t make sense. You’d think the guy would come over and apologize or something.”

    “We’re running for a spot in the Chase, and some part-time racer left-rears us and puts us in the fence,” Labbe continued. “Then you’re done.”

    “It probably knocked us out of the Chase (for the Sprint Cup), but…we’ve just got to fight back in six more races.”

    Surprising: In spite of a grueling day and a 42nd place finish due to a broken axle, Danica Patrick still managed to find her happy place.

    “It’s just one of those things,” the driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet said. “We were having a good day. It’s disappointing and the GoDaddy guys built me a really good car. Hendrick gave me great horsepower.”

    “We were the fastest car out there at times,” Patrick continued. “We qualified better and had a good car for the race, it just didn’t end the way we wanted it to.”

    “The good thing is, I get to come back to Indy and that makes me happy.”

    Not Surprising: After a 16th place run, Clint Bowyer in his No. 15 RK Motors Charlotte Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, was wishing his ride would turn magically into an IndyCar race car, complete with all its bells and whistles.

    “No wonder them Indy car things have a push to pass button,” Bowyer tweeted after the race with the hashtag of #indyproblems.

    “Our RK Motors Toyota was much better than our 16th-place finish,” Bowyer continued. “We had a little trouble in the pits and we got back in some traffic. We had to pit under that last caution because we got some debris on the grill from another car when we were leaving pit road.”

    “It was a frustrating day but Brian Pattie and the guys gave me a good car just wish we finished better than we did.”

    Surprising: Greg Biffle had a surprisingly lucky weekend, first hearing from his team owner that he would be the anchor driver for Roush Fenway Racing for 2015 and then gambling on pit strategy to finish lucky 13.

    “Certainly the focus of our leadership is going to be with Greg Biffle and the things that he does with the racecar and the leadership he provides for the engineering initiatives we take,” Jack Roush said. “We had that split with Carl and Greg together this year, so that will be a little different next year.

    “I had other options but I felt like I spent a lot of time there and we’ve always won races and I feel like we can win races again,” Biffle said. “The first half of the season has not been what we wanted. It’s no mystery.”

    “I don’t think that’s a reason to jump ship and say I’m leaving because we haven’t won a race and we’re not performing the way we should.”

    Not Surprising: With one win under his belt, it is not surprising that team Almirola is headed to test at Watkins Glen on their way to next week’s race at Pocono. Almirola passed many cars at Indy after starting in the rear in a backup car to finish 21st.

    “That’s a decent finish, but I’m frustrated because we’ve got to figure out how to get more speed,” Almirola said. “We’ve got six more weeks to get our cars better before the Chase, so we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us to try to figure it out and try to be more competitive.”

    “But it is what it is,” the driver of the No. 43 Eckrich Ford said. “We dug ourselves a hole this weekend and finished 21st.”

    “We had one run where we drove up to like 15th, and I thought we were going to be pretty good, and I don’t know if we got a bad set of tires or what, but we could never recover after that.”

     

     

     

  • The Final Word – After Indianapolis, I am guessing Jeff Gordon still runs with a full tank

    The Final Word – After Indianapolis, I am guessing Jeff Gordon still runs with a full tank

    Crown Royal attaches a hero’s name to the Brickyard 400 as part of their sponsorship, and this year that honor went to 12 year military veteran John Wayne Walding. Yet, to be honest and if the length of the title could go on to infinity, this should have been called “Crown Royal Presents The John Wayne Walding 400 at the Brickyard to be Dominated Once Again by Jeff Gordon.” That sounds about right.

    The California boy who became an Indiana racer as a teen had the car, the speed and this race in the bag from start to unchallenged finish. He might have led only 40 laps, but he was the guy early, the guy late and the guy we were watching for in between. Sure, Kasey Kahne might have had a good run, made some think this might be his day, but Gordon was the only driver who could come and go almost at will. When Kahne drifted back to sixth after the final re-start, there was no more guess work left. Twenty years ago Gordon won his first at the famed Indianapolis Speedway, and last Sunday he claimed his fifth. If the man who celebrates his 43rd birthday next Monday is growing old, he sure is going about it mighty gracefully.

    We have come to expect good things from Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and even the winless Matt Kenseth this season and we were not disappointed. We expect Top Tens from Dale Earnhardt Jr. and he got it. Even the kids, Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon, showed why they remain in Chase positions as the pair claimed Top Tens as well.

    You know you are having a good season if a bad day means coming in between 11th and 15th. Boo-hoo for Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson, and Carl Edwards. Even Ryan Newman, winless but, like Kenseth, sitting pretty in points, was 11th.

    Okay, so it was not all roses and kittens for everyone. For Trevor Bayne, the new guy with Roush next season, it was a chicken or the egg sort of deal. He brushed the wall and he had a tire go soft, but I’m not certain in what order. The end result was him losing control in the corner and coming to a stop after finding the inside wall. Dead last.

    Danica Patrick, it could have been a premature end to a promising day, or just one we hoped held promise. When something busted in the rear-end of her car, she was destined for 42nd. Due to her open wheel experience, some hoped she might have done better here than she traditionally does elsewhere. Then again, some hoped for the same from Juan Pablo Montoya and he finished 23rd.

    Yes, ABC/ESPN is back, but let us think positive here. Other than Rusty and Brad, they are not all that bad and the pit reporters are top notch. As a poor Canadian boy without FOX1, I discovered last week that even a less than stellar Cup experience beats not having an Eldora experience at all.

    A quick word about the Nationwide race. If only our broadcasters quit hero worshiping, coverage of the junior circuit would be so much better. Young Ty Dillon won a career first to move to within 15 points of the top in the standings, so his story mattered. Brian Scott was seventh and the fifth ranked Nationwide driver mattered. The top three in the rankings, Chase Elliott (12th), Regan Smith (10th), and Elliott Sadler (15th), are all in a tight race, so all mattered, but like Scott none were deemed worthy of a post-race interview. Top five finishers Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, and Joey Logano are all Cup guys, none of whom won thus none of them mattered. Still, who was interviewed? You know.

    When we had 20 races to go to the start of the Chase, it was pure bovine excrement to read stories of how this driver or that needed to win to get into the Chase. With six to go, not so much. Eleven are in via wins, leaving five spots open. Kenseth and Newman could take a week off and still hold a Chase place, so far so good for them. Clint Bower and the kids feel the heat from Kahne, Paul Menard, and Greg Biffle for the final three spots. Thirteen others remain in contention by being in or near the Top 30 in points, though their pass is probably limited to a win to be in. Tony Stewart remains among them, 30 points behind the 16th ranked Dillon.

    This Sunday it is the GoBowling.com Pennsylvania 400 from Pocono, where Earnhardt won in the spring. Another win would be nice, but not crucial. In fact, going over the winners from the past ten years, we have Johnson (3 times), Edwards (2), Kurt Busch (2), Denny Hamlin (4), Gordon (2), Keselowski, and Joey Logano, all of whom already have a 2014 victory.

    Kahne has not, though he has two wins at Pocono, including last summer. Stewart (June 2009) and Greg Biffle (July 2010) are also former winners at the track, and a return to Victory Lane is even more crucial for them. With six to go, the sword of Damocles has started to appear hanging over their heads, which is one hell of a place to find an old Greek razor.

    SWEET SIXTEEN
    1 – Brad Keselowski – 3 WINS – 666 POINTS
    2 – Jimmie Johnson – 3 – 628
    3 – Jeff Gordon – 2 – 717
    4 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 2 – 693
    5 – Carl Edwards – 2 – 603
    6 – Joey Logano – 2 – 591
    7 – Kevin Harvick – 2 – 565
    8 – Kyle Busch – 1 – 609
    9 – Denny Hamlin – 1 – 572
    10 – Aric Almirola – 1 – 496
    11 – Kurt Busch – 1 – 456
    12 – Matt Kenseth – 0 – 661
    13 – Ryan Newman – 0 – 606
    14 – Clint Bowyer – 0 – 577
    15 – Kyle Larson – 0 – 562
    16 – Austin Dillon – 0 – 559

    CONTENDERS & PRETENDERS
    17 – Kasey Kahne – 0 WINS – 555 POINTS
    18 – Paul Menard – 0 – 551
    19 – Greg Biffle – 0 – 550
    20 – Brian Vickers – 0 – 532
    21 – Tony Stewart – 0 – 529
    22 – Marcos Ambrose – 0 – 511
    23 – Jamie McMurray – 0 – 499
    24 – A.J. Allmendinger – 0 – 466
    25 – Martin Truex, Jr. – 0 – 465
    26 – Casey Mears – 0 – 455
    27 – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – 0 – 397
    28 – Danica Patrick – 0 – 382
    29 – Justin Allgaier – 0 – 343
    30 – Michael Annett – 0 – 325
    31 – David Gilliland – 0 – 284
    32 – Cole Whitt – 0 – 282