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  • Kyle Larson and Brian Scott make Sprint Cup debuts in Bank of America 500

    Kyle Larson and Brian Scott make Sprint Cup debuts in Bank of America 500

    As the green flag falls Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway there are only six races left in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship.  Not only will the Bank of America 500 be a vital race to the thirteen drivers in contention for the championship, but it will be a monumental race in the NASCAR careers of Kyle Larson and Brain Scott, who will be making their NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debuts.

    These drivers follow a long list of sixty-two other drivers that have made the Sprint Cup Series starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway, including current drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson.

    Larson, who currently sits ninth in points standings for his first NASCAR Nationwide Series season with Turner Scott Motorsports, will be driving the No. 51 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet this weekend at Charlotte and again in two weeks at Martinsville.

    Having already signed a deal with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing to be the full-time driver of their No. 42 Chevrolet next season, Larson is taking this opportunity to gain some Sprint Cup Series experience before his full-time transition in 2014.

    “I am very excited to get behind the wheel of a Cup car in Charlotte…especially getting to race with the Target bulls eye on the car,” Larson said. “I have a lot of work to do to prepare for the 2014 season and I cannot wait to get it started.”

    Racing open-wheel cars and World of Outlaws Sprint cars as a teenager, winning the 2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship, and earning his first NASCAR Camping and World Truck Series race this season at Rockingham Speedway, have given Larson the notoriety of being one of NASCAR’s most talented young drivers.

    Larson has spent some time in a Cup car, having tested at Rockingham Speedway and last week at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  He will be starting the race in 21st position.

    “My main goal is to try to finish the race,” Larson said. “I’d like maybe a top 17th or 18th-place finish.  We were really good at Charlotte in the Nationwide race this spring.  I’d say it’s in my top five favorite tracks.”

    Brian Scott starts the Bank of America 500 in a slightly different situation than Kyle Larson.  Although he does not have a full-time ride in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series next season, he is in a two-year deal with Richard Childress Racing with the plan of preparing for a future transition to the Cup series.

    “When I first started to talk to Richard, it was with the understanding my aspirations were to be able run in the Cup series,” Scott said. “We went into this season working on being able to do a handful of Cup races and looked at some races that could work and eventually we settled on Charlotte.”

    Scott said, “I think Charlotte is a great place to make my first start. Considering Richard Childress Racing won the Coca-Cola 600 in May, I think they have a good hold on the track and I should have a good starting point to try to get caught up on speed.”

    Scott’s only recent experience in a Cup car was last week when his RCR team tested at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    After his test run, Scott said, “The test went good. A lot of it trying to figure out the difference in cars between the series, how to get speed and then we actually started working on the car and eventually did some mock qualifying runs. We had some fun with it. We felt our speed was good. The guys seemed pretty excited and I am, too.”

    Scott will be starting the Bank of America 500 in 19th position, and will run another full Nationwide season with Richard Childress Racing in 2014.

  • NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver – 39 going on 500

    NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver – 39 going on 500

    With six races to go in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship, driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a lot to celebrate this weekend in Charlotte, NC.

    NASCAR’s ten time most popular driver celebrated his 39th birthday Thursday, and will be making his 500th Sprint Cup Series start under the lights Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    Making his 500th Cup Series start at Charlotte is poetic.  Charlotte Motor Speedway is where he made his Sprint Cup Series debut in 1999 and is also the home of his first career pole award in 2000.

    In twenty-seven Cup starts at Charlotte, Earnhardt has earned one pole position, five top-5’s and eleven top-10 finishes.

    “It doesn’t seem like I’ve been around that long to be honest with you.”  Earnhardt Jr. said regarding his 500th start. “It just doesn’t. We race a lot of races, though. We run a lot more races during the season than they did in year’s past. It’s been a pleasure being a part of the Series and seeing the changes and the growth. I hope to be around and witness a lot more. It’s just been a dream to be able to succeed and make a living in this sport so I’ve got a lot to be thankful for.”

    Should Earnhardt end up in victory lane this weekend, he would join only two other drivers who won their 500th career start. Richard Petty won his 500th career start in 1970 and Matt Kenseth earned the honor three weeks ago at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    In 499 Sprint Cup starts, Earnhardt Jr. is tied for 12th among full-time drivers with 19 victories, posting 111 top-5 finishes, 199 top-10’s, and 13 pole positions. He has led a total of 7,377 laps.

    Earnhardt, still looking for his first win this season, currently sits eighth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings, trailing leader Matt Kenseth by 54 points.

    Watch the green flag fall Saturday in the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway as Earnhardt, driving the Time Warner Cable Chevrolet SS, attempts to join the elite group of 500th start winners and close the gap on the Chase points leaders as he celebrates his 39th birthday going on 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts.

     

     

     

  • Jeff Gordon steals Pole at Charlotte

    Jeff Gordon steals Pole at Charlotte

    The last four qualifiers each held the pole position for a few minutes, but Jeff Gordon is the only one who gets to keep it. As the night’s final qualifier, Gordon knew the pole was up for grabs as speeds climbed higher as Bojangles’ Pole Night Qualifying Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway went on, and he answered with a blazing lap in 27.791 seconds (194.308 mph).

    “That was an exciting qualifying effort, regardless whether we were on the pole,” Gordon said. “All those cars that were going late and the times just dropping. To go out there and know that the pressure’s on you after the car ahead of you just sits on the pole and you’re battling those guys for the championship … to go out there and get the pole is really exciting. To do it here in Charlotte … I think it’s been a while since we’ve won it here, so man, it feels so good.”

    It was Gordon’s ninth pole at Charlotte, his first since 2010, and it was won by the slimmest of margins. In fact, less than a tenth of a second separated the top five qualifiers.

    Kasey Kahne turned a fast lap early in Thursday’s qualifying session and held the pole position until the final four drivers of the night: Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick and Gordon. Each of those drivers benefited from the late draw and the knowledge gleaned from watching the rest of the field qualify by turning quicker laps than the driver before.

    The three who had been edged out in succession each felt he had left something on the race track.

    “I felt like I didn’t get everything in (turns) three and four,” Harvick said. “I knew the way practice was going that I had to get everything I could out of one and two and not get tight coming off Turn 4, and I probably lost the pole right there. We would really like to have the pole tonight, but everybody knows how we’ve qualified in the past, and to be on the front row, that’s good for us.”

    Driver Quotes

    Jeff Gordon (Bojangles Pole Night Winner, 27.791 seconds, 194.308 mph): “Man, that was awesome. We got through (turns) three and four good in practice, but I thought I was a little bit tight; we actually freed the car up a little bit. When it went through one and two as good as it did … I just kept pushing the throttle down, and it stuck. I didn’t know if it was going to be good enough and when I found out how close it really was; it’s pretty amazing. That was an exciting qualifying effort, regardless whether we were on the pole. All those cars that were going late and the times just dropping. To go out there and know that the pressure’s on you after the car ahead of you just sits on the pole, and you’re battling those guys for the championship … to go out there and get the pole is really exciting. To do it here in Charlotte … I think it’s been a while since we’ve won it here, so man, it feels so good.”

    (Were you on edge?) “You’re always on the edge at Charlotte on a qualifying lap. My biggest fear was losing the front, not the back. I thought, ‘OK, that was pretty good, now don’t screw up three and four.’ I just really wanted to get the front end down to the white line.”

    Kevin Harvick (2nd place qualifier, 27.806 seconds, 194.203 mph): “I felt like I didn’t get everything in three and four. I knew the way practice was going that I had to get everything I could out of one and two and not get tight coming off Turn 4, and I probably lost the pole right there. I’ve got to thank the guys. We knew we needed to qualify better in the Chase, we knew we needed to run better on the mile-and-a-half race tracks, and they’re bringing cars to the race track to do that, and we’re capitalizing on it. We would really like to have the pole tonight, but everybody knows how we’ve qualified in the past, and to be on the front row, that’s good for us. The race is no problem. It’s the qualifying that stresses me out. For us, qualifying has never been a strong suit. But to have a better pit selection and not have to pass half the field to start the race is a good sign for us. We were able to get some race laps in before we put it in qualifying trim.”

    Greg Biffle (3rd-place qualifier, 27.841 seconds, 193.959 mph): “I wasn’t on the pole as long as I wanted to be, only about two cars. I’ll tell you what. I’m surprised, very surprised the track had the grip it did. I watched the others guys go, and I was using the Kevin Harvick mentality of don’t try for more than the track will give you. That was my mindset going in. And when I came across three and four the track had so much grip. I barely came out of the gas. I thought the track had a ton of grip. I got all I could in turns one and two. It had so much grip there, it kind of sucked me into three and four thinking it was going to be as good as one and two. I drove down in there and it went straight to the bottom, and I was like, oh I got this. I went to the gas and it started slipping up the race track. I actually got out of the gas pretty far. I would have run much faster if I would have backed up the corner. But Jeff (Gordon) had the best opportunity by watching what everybody else did and where he needed to be.”

  • Hot 20 over the past 10 – The junior circuit needs a rejig, while our Cup leaders hope to avoid a bad day in Charlotte

    Hot 20 over the past 10 – The junior circuit needs a rejig, while our Cup leaders hope to avoid a bad day in Charlotte

    As we head into Charlotte, there is a birthday to note and a milestone to recognize.  Dale Earnhardt Jr has celebrated his 39th birthday, and on Saturday night he will run in his 500th Cup start. It is a track he has yet to win on, a track that launched his Cup career back in 1999.

    Of course, by that time Junior had already won his first of two junior circuit titles. In doing so, in 1998 and 1999, he claimed 13 victories. Imagine that, the champion of what, for now at least, is known as the Nationwide series actually winning races.  Regan Smith has won two and sits in second place. Sam Hornish Jr and the eighth place Trevor Bayne each has one. Austin Dillon leads Smith by eight points, and he has not yet won a blessed thing. I wonder why?

    Four Nationwide drivers have won just four of 29 events.  Maybe it is a good thing that Kyle Busch missed seven of those races, for he has won 10 of those he has run. Brad Keselowski has five, Joey Logano has three, and two more claimed by Matt Kenseth. After fellow Cup drivers Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick get credit for their wins, that leaves only the one to youngster Ryan Blaney and the two for two run of A.J. Allmendinger when he found the time when not running Cup or IndyCar.  So, exactly what is the purpose of the Nationwide series?

    If it is to develop future Cup drivers, rather than providing Chasers or former Cup champions yet another opportunity to showcase their talents against lesser lights, then just maybe we have undermined the purpose of the series. Maybe we have turned the exercise into something of a joke. I do understand why they run there, why the track owners want to see them there, but as much as I would love to see such names as Cabrera, Ellsbury, and Scherzer on the field should I take in a game in Winnipeg, it would be wrong for them to be there in a regular American Association game. It is just as wrong for Kyle, Joey, Matt, et al to take the place of drivers who have hopes of climbing the ladder. There is nothing to be gained by having established  stars simply dropping down to the bushes,  as it were.

    A solution? Allow Cup drivers five, and no more than five, opportunities to compete in any lower series than the one they are competing for points in. If Kyle Busch wishes to race in five Nationwide races and five truck events, let him do so. The fans would love it…but no more than five in each. Up and coming drivers would love the opportunity to compete, and to do so against their peers. They deserve no less. You can discuss.

    While the others await a stumble from Kenseth as we head toward the fifth of the ten Chase events, our points leader remains the hottest driver over the past ten events. While Jimmie Johnson sits three points back in the standings, he is buried  in 17th place over the past ten starts. So, what if there is no stumble, what if these drivers average a tenth place finish the rest of the way?

    With the advent of the Chase, whomever is the best over the final ten races of the season should be the champion. Obviously, making the Chase is necessary as well as taking into consideration the bonus advantage the leader takes in. Three points is what Kenseth had over Johnson going in, and three points is what he has today.

    As we replace the results from Pocono, Watkins Glen, Michigan, Bristol, Atlanta and Richmond by those of Charlotte, Talladega, Martinsville, Fort Worth, Phoenix, and Homestead, let us assume both Kenseth and Johnson will average 34 points, a 10th place finish, from this point onward. If that were the case, Kenseth would end with a ten race total of 372 points, a dozen better than what he has today. If Jimmie Johnson replaces those results (13th, 8th, 40th, 36th, 28th, and 40th) in similar fashion, he also would wind up with 372 points, jumping his total by 103.

    While Five Time is not among our hottest today, he will be in six weeks if he hopes to make it six. As hot as the Busch boys, Logano, Gordon, and Harvick might be right now, they will need better than a series of 10th place finishes to get back into the picture. That said, a bad day for two could equate into a great one for a few others.

    TW Driver Win T5 T10 Points LW Rank
    1 Matt Kenseth 3 3 5 360 1 1
    2 Kurt Busch 0 6 7 352 5 7
    3 Joey Logano 1 5 7 348 4 10
    4 Jeff Gordon 0 3 7 342 6 4
    5 Kyle Busch 2 5 6 337 2 5
    6 Kevin Harvick 1 3 5 332 9 3
    7 Greg Biffle 0 1 5 330 7 6
    8 Ryan Newman 0 3 5 317 3 12
    9 Jamie McMurray 0 2 2 310 8 14
    10 Carl Edwards 1 3 5 304 10 11
    11 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 0 2 6 294 11 8
    12 Marcos Ambrose 0 0 3 288 15 20
    13 Paul Menard 0 2 4 285 14 17
    14 Juan Pablo Montoya 0 2 3 280 12 22
    15 Kasey Kahne 1 2 3 275 13 13
    16 Brad Keselowski 0 1 3 274 17 15
    17 Jimmie Johnson 1 3 5 269 16 2
    18 Jeff Burton 0 0 2 258 22 19
    19 Martin Truex, Jr. 0 2 4 252 18 16
    20 Aric Almirola 0 0 1 246 20 18
    21 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. 0 0 2 246 19 21
    22 Clint Bowyer 0 1 4 242 21 9
  • The Final Word – Kansas leaves us with just two contenders…or does it?

    The Final Word – Kansas leaves us with just two contenders…or does it?

    Sometimes I like surprises. You tune in a race hoping to be entertained, but not always expecting it. Kansas turned out to be that kind of race.

    Not everyone enjoys surprises. Danica Patrick, I am sure, did not expect to win last Sunday, but she probably had hopes of lasting more than a lap. Kyle Busch has rarely done well at Kansas, but he was hoping. He took some slings and arrows throughout, at least until he got spun to tear the front end off his car to put an end to his day early. He then slipped down to fifth in points behind race winner Kevin Harvick and the third place Jeff Gordon.

    Harvick’s third win of the season, and 22nd of his career, moved him to within 25 points of Matt Kenseth. Kenseth got a pit penalty early that dropped him from first to 30th at the time, only to recover to wrap the day up in 11th, just five spots behind Jimmie Johnson to retain a 3 point advantage.  Kurt Busch was second best on the day, but he sits 47 out, leaving Kenseth and Johnson in a two way fight, barring bad things going their way over the next six events.

    No surprise that Chasers Joey Logano, Carl Edwards, and Dale Earnhardt Jr finished in the top ten last weekend. It also should come as no surprise to see that matters little until the two leaders falter. Ryan Newman  got a surprise when he got clipped to pretty much skin his ride, leaving him 35th, a spot behind Rowdy. The junior Busch is 35 back, Newman is 38 behind even him. Say goodnight, Irene.

    Rating Kansas – 9/10 – Some races need the assistance of an announce team to keep us entertained. Some are entertaining on their own, and the ESPN trio were more than good enough to keep folks watching this time out. The track was slick and treacherous, providing more than a few  unexpected surprises.

    Traditionally, Charlotte and Talladega tend to be rather entertaining and those are our next two stops on the tour. Jimmie Johnson has six previous victories in North Carolina and is tied for second among active drivers with the best average finish.  If I were a betting man, I would not be surprised to see Five Time taking over the Chase standings when they are done this Saturday night, but I would also bet Mr. Kenseth to pick up a Top Ten to remain close.

    Jeff Gordon could win. He has five at Charlotte. Kasey Kahne has four, and could do well. Carl Edwards has yet to be victorious there, but he seems to have decent finishes. Still, until the top two slip, it all does not mean that much.  That is, unless Harvick repeats his spring performance and wins another this weekend.  That could cause us to rethink things when they venture to Alabama, a place where surprises are totally expected. In the meantime, enjoy the week.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Kansas Hollywood Casino 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Kansas Hollywood Casino 400

    From weather and tires to a fire off track that was smoky enough to cause a caution, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 13th annual Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.

    Surprising:  Two ‘lame duck’ drivers who just happen to be future teammates scored the one-two victory punch in the land of Oz, with Kevin Harvick scoring the win from the pole and Kurt Busch coming all the way from the rear of the field to finish runner up.

    “To sit on the pole and win the race is obviously a great weekend, and controlling our own destiny by doing that, we are putting ourselves closer to where we need to be with the championship race,” the driver of the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet said. “We’ll just keep having fun and keep doing what we’re doing.”

    This was Harvick’s first win at Kansas and his third victory of the season. And with the win, Harvick did indeed help himself in the point standings, climbing into the third position, 25 points behind the leader.

    Kurt Busch scored his fourth top-10 in 16 races at Kansas and his 15th top-10 finish in 2013. He moved up two positions to seventh in the Chase standings, 47 points behind the leader.

    “Wow, what an unbelievable drive,” the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet said. “We battled hard to come from 41st and we did this in a backup car.”

    “Today is a small little victory in my own mind.”

    Not Surprising:  With every driver on edge given the track conditions, it was no surprise that tempers flared just a little bit with some of the close racing. Four-time champ Jeff Gordon was one driver who had an issue after some hard racing with Kurt Busch resulted in his third place finish.

    “It’s not a NASCAR race if you don’t have a discussion with another driver out there about an incident on the track,” the driver of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet said. “Everybody is just trying to get every position they could.”

    “I got in the outside lane there one time and he (Kurt Busch) just came up and the next lap I got to his bumper and got him loose,” Gordon continued. “I guess that kind of led to him wanting to run into me on the right side on my door.”

    Gordon’s third place finish did, however, move him up one position in the Chase standings to the fourth spot, 32 points back from the leader.

    Surprising:  In spite of a speeding penalty, loose race car and an 11th place finish, Matt Kenseth was feeling incredibly lucky in the Hollywood Casino 400, particularly since he described his No. 20 Dollar General Toyota as the ‘evilest’ car he had ever driven.

    Yet even with that ‘evilest’ car, Kenseth not only was the highest Toyota finisher but he also managed to maintain his points lead in the Chase, out front by three after Kansas.

    “It was a struggle all day,” Kenseth said. “I was so loose I was ready to crash pretty much at all times of the race.”

    “We drove back to 11th, which definitely isn’t what we wanted or what we need to contend for this thing, but it was a good save for as bad as we were.”

    Not Surprising:  While some drivers circle dates on the calendar for tracks where they cannot wait to race, others have tracks from which they cannot wait to leave.

    Such was the experience at Kansas for Kyle Busch, who yet again was bitten by the Kansas demons that led to his Chase race demise, from third to fifth place, after his 34th place finish. This was his third straight DNF at Kansas Speedway.

    “I have no idea what happened,” Busch said after his race ended in carnage. “All I know is we’re in Kansas, right?”

    “Every other track except Kansas seems to be able to bode well for us,” the driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota said. “It wasn’t meant to be.”

    Surprising:  Five-time champ Jimmie Johnson had a self-proclaimed surprisingly crazy, weird and wacky day that still had him passing cars, finishing sixth in his No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, and gaining points, now just three points back from leader Matt Kenseth.

    “All in all it was just a crazy day,” Johnson said. “Weird restarts. Wacky restarts. A lot of chaos there.”

    “These cautions kept coming out and they hurt us each time,” Johnson continued, “So we rebounded from all that and passed a ton of race cars, and then on the last lap with I guess two to go, coming down the back, the car started shaking real bad and I thought it was over.”

    “We had so many things happen to us and still salvaged a very strong sixth place finish.”

    Not Surprising:   Richard Petty Motorsports, a team that has seemed to be steadily gaining and moving forward had another good run at Kansas with both drivers finishing top ten.

    “It felt like a win because I thought our day was done,” Marcos Ambrose, driver of the No. 9 MAC Tools Ford said after finishing ninth. “It was a bizarre kind of a race.”

    “The tire was super edgy and unpredictable and you didn’t know if it was the wind or the tire or the car that was making the difference.”

    “I am just pleased that we finished and I fought hard all day.”

    “We got a top-10 and I would have never told you that was possible,” Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 43 Farmland Ford said after finishing tenth. “We got off in the middle part of the race but salvaged a good finish.”

    “I am proud of my guys.”

    Surprising:  Another team, however, that of Stewart Haas Racing, had a surprisingly ugly day at the race track.

    Danica Patrick, SHR driver, wrecked hard on the first lap and finished 43rd, while Ryan Newman, SHR teammate, got tangled up in a wreck, finishing 35th and dropping to 12th in the point standings.

    “I knew that going into the race that losing grip was going to be not that hard to do,” Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet said. “I said that before the race started.”

    “Things just go wrong,” Patrick continued. “If I did something wrong, I apologize to everyone on my team but it’s just a shame.”

    “There’s not much to say other than we were in the wrong place at the wrong time and got caught up in an accident not of our making,” Newman said. “It’s definitely a disappointing day for all of us on the Code 3 Associates team.”

    Not Surprising:  With the challenging track conditions, it was not surprising that restarts were especially challenging for each and every driver, whether a Chaser or not, in the field. In fact, one Chase contender defined the restarts at Kansas as simply ‘insane.’

    “The restarts were insane,” Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford said. “Look up insane and that is the definition right there.”

    “It is tough to be racing for points when you have those kind of restarts.”

    “It was pretty crazy out there,” Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, said. “Every restart you had to be so aggressive to pass people because that was your best shot to pass them and everyone realized it.”

    Logano finished the race in fourth while Edwards salvaged a fifth place finish. The two drivers are now in the tenth and eleventh spots in the point standings respectively.

    Surprising:  The end of the race was most surprising, at least for Aric Almirola and Clint Bowyer, who got into each other coming to the checkered flag.

    Bowyer, driver of the No. 15 Raspberry 5-Hour Energy/Living Beyond Breast Cancer Toyota, described his day in a tweet after the race, “What a frustrating day! Started out sh**ty, got a little better, got WAY better, put on 2 tires and s**t the bed…Then lost my mind.”

    Almirola described the run-in with Bowyer in a slightly different way, “I beat him on that restart and I guess he was mad about it.”

    “That is fine, I am not worried about it,” Almirola continued. “I beat him.”

    Not Surprising:  With the confluence of weather, tires, track conditions and the Chase pressure, it was not surprising that the record for the number of cautions was broken at Kansas Speedway with a total of fifteen. In fact, there were 71 laps run under caution, a new record for the season.

    “We had a lot of gremlins this weekend,” Brad Keselowski, reigning champ and driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford said. “There were so many wrecks and so many yellows that we could never really get going.”

    “Oh yeah, we couldn’t get in a rhythm out there.”

    The Cup Series next travels to Charlotte for the Bank of America 500 under the Saturday night lights.

     

  • Matty’s Picks 2013 Race 30 – Kansas Speedway – October 6, 2013

    Matty’s Picks 2013 Race 30 – Kansas Speedway – October 6, 2013

    Disclaimer: My column this week will be as exciting to read as I anticipate the race being on Sunday afternoon…scroll down for picks.

    Kansas Speedway is certainly one of the cookie-cutter races that the Chase schedule has to offer. The variable 17 to 20 degrees of banking in the corners plus the 10 degrees on the frontstretch leaves much to be desired for those looking for an exciting Sunday afternoon of racing. Even though the last two races at Kansas (since the mid-season repave in 2012) produced more cautions than the previous four races combined, they also produced the least amount of lead changes at Kansas speedway since the second ever race at the track back in 2002.

    One interesting statistic I was able to uncover this week has to do with Chase races being won by non-Chase drivers. There have been 14 Chase races won by non-Chase drivers in the history of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, that is now 93 total races. Three of those 14 races have been won at Kansas Speedway as Joe Nemechek became the first ever spoiler in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winning the fall race of 2004 as a non-Chase driver. The other two races by non-Chase drivers were won by Tony Stewart in 2006 and Greg Biffle in 2007, so it has been a while, but with the parody we saw in the regular season, certainly anything can happen on Sunday. With 7 of the top 15 qualifiers for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 being non-Chase drivers, the possibility of a spoiler this week is certainly valid.

    Winner Pick

    It’s onto my picks already this week and no surprises here, I will be going with Matt Kenseth this week. I couldn’t find a single reason to not pick Kenseth this week, he’s won the last two races at Kansas, he also won at Chicagoland, Kentucky Speedway, and Las Vegas Motor Speedway this season, all which happen to be the tracks most similar to Kansas Speedway.
    On top of all the wins at similar tracks this season, Kenseth is second, third, or fourth in 4 of the loop stats, the most important – Driver Rating- he’s third on the list at 110.0. Kenseth also qualified very well on Friday, important because 9 of the 15 Kansas races have been won from starting spots inside the top-10. Kenseth will start seventh on Sunday, and was second in the second practice session on Friday, fourth in Happy Hour earlier today, too much to like here about Kenseth, he’s my Winner Pick for Sunday.

    Dark Horse Pick

    It’s not every day you can take a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion as a Dark Horse, but because Brad Keselowski is not a part of this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup, I’m going with him as a Dark Horse this weekend. This team has been fairly non-existent since that solid stretch of runs to start the 2013 season, since the series visited Kansas Speedway in particular. Brad was 7th at Chicagoland, the most recent cookie-cutter of the season, his 5th top 10 finish in that 19 race stretch since the April Kansas race, so I’m going on a bit of a hunch here, but I like Brad’s chances this week.

    You can not look past the fact that he’s got an average finish of 9.2 in his 7 career races at Kansas Speedway. He’s qualified his Miller Lite Ford Fusion in the 4th starting position and has shown speed in all of the practice sessions at Kansas this week. He was a longer play to start the week, the odds have not shortened a bit, Brad is a solid longer play this week.

    That’s all for this week, so until we turn the lights on in Charlotte…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

  • Matty’s Picks 2013 – Race 25 Advocare 500 – Atlanta Motor Speedway – September 1, 2013

    Matty’s Picks 2013 – Race 25 Advocare 500 – Atlanta Motor Speedway – September 1, 2013

    This week the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to a fast, wide track this week at Atlanta Motor Speedway, with the two twins in the series to Atlanta being Charlotte and Texas with the familiar 24 degrees of banking in the corners and 5 degrees on the straightaway’s.

    It is fast, but it’s really known for producing some of the closest finishes in NASCAR History, including that first career win for Kevin Harvick over Jeff Gordon just a couple weeks after Dale Earnhardt’s death in 2001. That famous finish, 0.006 of a second margin of victory between the two Chevy’s.

    The Advocare 500 is a long race, 325 laps totaling 501 miles and there have been 105 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Atlanta since the first race there in 1960 so a ton of data to pull from this week to make my picks.

    As far as qualifying goes this week, for once we’re not looking at the pole as being the most proficient starting position like most other circuits we visit each year. Believe it or not the 5th starting position has produced more Atlanta winners than any other starting position spot at 15 race-winners all-time starting from that 5th spot.

    26 of the 105 races all-time have been won from the front row, 60 of the 105 have been won from the top 5 starting spots, and 83 of the 105 races ever at Atlanta Motor Speedway have been won from a top-10 starting position. Making a good lap yesterday in qualifying is very important, even more so recently with 19 of the last 20 races, the last 16 in a row, have been won from the top 11 starting spots.

     

    Atlanta Picks

    On Thursday when I previewed Sunday’s Advocare 500 with Greg on the Prime Sports Network, my picks were spread among 6 drivers, but have now been pared down to a winner pick and a dark horse based on the results of qualifying. A few guys I had picked to take home the crown on Sunday night could not put it all together Friday evening to start in those coveted top 10 starting spots, so I’ve scratched them off the list.
    Two-time Atlanta winner and seven-time winner on the three twins (Atlanta, Charlotte, and Texas), Kasey Kahne split my number two spot on Thursday with the 2001 Spring Atlanta winner mentioned previously, Kevin Harvick. Well, both of which have qualified outside the top-10 spots, Kahne in 18th and Harvick in 30th so I’ve scratched those guys off my list this week.

    As for my 4th pick, Brian Vickers, he came out and qualified 22nd so again, can’t go with him this week.

    That leaves 3 guys from my preview Thursday with Greg that I still like for wins this week at Atlanta.

     

    Winner Pick

    This is a pick which I felt confident in on Thursday and solidified my confidence in him by qualifying 10th on Friday. Jimmie Johnson was the last guy to sweep the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Atlanta in 2007 which notched his second and third wins at the Hampton, Ga racetrack. It is really tough to not like Jimmie’s numbers at Atlanta because he leads the series in Average finish at 11.0, Average Running Position, Driver Rating at 108.3, Average Green Flag Speed, and Laps inside the top 15, so that’s 4 of the 6 loop categories, the other two, Fastest Laps and Quality Passes, Johnson second in both.

    Here are my thoughts on Jimmie Johnson’s mentality going into this weekend’s Advocare 500. Matt Kenseth won last week at Bristol, so now Jimmie Johnson is not the top dog in the Chase anymore, so he’s got something to shoot for. I can’t go against the outstanding numbers this week, I have to go with Jimmie as my Winner and Top pick this week.

     

    Dark Horse Pick

    I had a few guys on Thursday who would have qualified as Dark Horses to win on Sunday. We’ve thrown Vickers out, so that still leaves two more picks which I consider solid sleeper picks this week.

    The first is the guy sitting on the pole this weekend, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. He won the Nationwide series race here last season and finished 3rd in his rookie Nationwide season in 2011. He has never raced at Atlanta in the Cup series so not much to go off except what he’s done at Texas and Charlotte so far this season. He finished 40th at Texas so we’ll throw that out, but in Speedweeks in Charlotte, he finished 2nd in the NASCAR Sprint Showdown, qualifying for the All-Star race and hung around the big boys for a 16th place finish. In the longest race of the year, Stenhouse managed to stay out of trouble and finish 14th after starting 30th, so I like that he’s put his Ford on the front row for tomorrow night’s race.

    The other guy I had penciled in for a Dark Horse win was Martin Truex Jr., broken wrist and all. Truex has managed to qualify his Toyota in 7th, a solid spot considering last year’s race-winner started from the 7th position.

    Truex has gotten progressively better since his first 2 starts at Atlanta where he finished 40th and 37th and the last 3 races have shown a bit of hope for Truex at Atlanta as he was 4th last season after starting 28th.

    What I like about Truex this week is that he’s finished 9th or better in all the Intermediate Tri-Ovals this season, (including Kansas and Las Vegas) most notably his runner up finish he had at Texas back in April when he led 142 laps. Truex is showing a bit more promise not only at Atlanta recently but this year on the tri-ovals, he is going to split my Dark Horse pick this week with Rick Stenhouse Jr.

    That’s all for this week, and be sure to stay tuned the next couple weeks as we roll on to the 2013 Chase for the Sprint Cup, so until we head to the last regular-season race of the year…..You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Coca Cola 600

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Coca Cola 600

    With the focus on America’s military, past, present and those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for freedom, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Memorial Day running of the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    Surprising:  NASCAR’S elite Cup drivers had to face surprising battles of their own, as unfortunately did some fans in the stands, when an overhead camera cable, utilized by Fox Sports to cover the race, broke.

    Several drivers and race cars were impacted, as well as ten fans sustaining injuries, with three taken to the hospital for evaluation and further treatment.

    The race was red flagged to allow fans to be helped, as well as to surprisingly allow the drivers and teams an opportunity to evaluate and then work on their wounded race cars.

    “At this time, we do not have a cause for the failure of the camera drive line that interrupted the Coca Cola 600 and our concern is with the injured fans,” Fox Television said in a statement issued shortly after the incident.

    “We apologize to the racers whose cars were damaged and offer a sincere ‘thank you’ to the staff at Charlotte Motor Speedway for attending to the injuries and keeping us informed,” the statement continued. “A full investigation is planned and use of the camera is suspended indefinitely.”

    Not Surprising:  In a race that was fraught with several ‘weird’ incidents in addition to the camera failure, it was not surprising that race winner Kevin Harvick focused on not just celebrating in Victory Lane.

    “Well, first off I want to say I hope everybody is okay from that cable,” the driver of the No. 29 Budweiser Folds of Honor Chevrolet said. “That was quite a weird incident there.”

    “Second, I just want to say thank you to all these guys at RCR (Richard Childress Racing),” Harvick continued. “To win at Charlotte is something that we had to overcome for a long time.”

    “Just got to thank everybody from Budweiser, Sprint, all the fans and this great promotion with the Folds of Honor special beer cans,” Harvick said. “Five cents from every can goes to Folds of Honor.”

    This was Harvick’s 21st victory in 442 Cup starts, his second victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway, as well as his second victory of the 2013 season.

    Surprising:  While Chevrolets tend to be dominant at Charlotte Motor Speedway, there was one five-time champion Chevy driver noticeably absent from the front of the pack this weekend.

    In fact, Jimmie Johnson, the driver with the best rating at Charlotte, with a 111.7 average out of a possible 150, finished 22nd.  The driver of the No. 48 Lowes Patriotic Chevrolet fought loose conditions all evening and finally spinning out of contention.

    “Yeah, we were like a fifth place car,” Johnson said. “And then we got pulled around in Turns 3 and 4 and spun.”

    “That really affected our finish from that point,” Johnson continued. “It was a long night with a lot of issues.”

    Not Surprising:  As so often happens in big-time motorsports, the dominant car did not finish first, especially since there was some strategy involved. That is exactly what happened to Kasey Kahne, who had by far the strongest car in the field, and ended up not pitting when everyone else in the field did so.

    “Well, there was a couple of guys that had just got tires so we thought they would stay out,” Kahne said. “Instead the whole field pitted.”

    “We had a great Time Warner Cable Chevy all night,” Kahne continued. “We were just in a tough spot there.”

    Kahne finished in the runner up position, his 11th top-ten finish in nineteen races at Charlotte and his sixth top-10 finish of the season.

    Surprising:  Kurt Busch, who has struggled to close out strong at the end of the race, surprisingly overcame great adversity to finish third in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing/Sealy Chevrolet.

    “Still shell shocked,” Busch said. “We picked up the lead and the battery went dead.”

    “We battled back, Busch continued. “The guys changed it as fast as they could and we got third.”

    “It was a great night to run up front and showcase what this team is made of.”

    This was Busch’s seventh top-ten finish in 26 races at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    Not Surprising:   Denny Hamlin, behind the wheel after his back injury, not only qualified well but also ran well in the top five, capitalizing on every situation possible to get himself and his team back into contention.

    Hamlin, behind the wheel of the No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, started from the pole and was the highest finishing Toyota Camry driver in the race. Hamlin scored the fourth spot when the checkered flag flew and moved up three positions in the point standings to 24th.

    “Proud of our effort,” Hamlin said. “We need solid runs like this.”

    Surprising:  In an incident that looked like Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Danica Patrick wrecked each other, Brad Keselowski, who was also involved, surprisingly threw himself under that bus.

    “Yeah, I cut Danica off,” Keselowski said. “I didn’t know we were still three-wide and I caused a big wreck.”

    “I feel bad for her and I send my apologies to her,” Keselowski continued. “It was a long night for the Miller Lite Ford.”

    Keselowski finished 36th and fell three spots to 10th in the point standings.

    Not Surprising:  In a battle for the lucky dog after being trapped in the pits when a caution came out, Jeff Gordon became the unlucky dog yet again.

    “We were a victim of the caution coming out while we were on pit road,” Gordon said. “We were going for the Lucky Dog and had to be real aggressive.”

    “We were racing three-wide and that’s what’s going to happen,” Gordon continued. “I hate we were back there.”

    “We had an awesome Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet.”

    Gordon finished 35th and fell three spots to 15th in the point standings.

    Surprising:  Stewart Haas not only had a surprisingly good finish for at least two of their drivers, with Ryan Newman finishing sixth and Tony Stewart finishing seventh, but they also gained some hope for the remainder of the season.

    “It was a solid night for Stewart-Haas Racing,” Newman said.

    “We finally got some stability in the car,” Stewart said.

    “All three of our cars made big improvements this week in terms of performance,” Greg Zipadelli, Competition Director, said. “Danica had a bad day, but overall we ended up with a couple of good finishes, which was certainly an improvement.”

    Not Surprising:  Given the length of the race, it was not surprising to see some engines fail under the pressure.

    One such failure happened to Kyle Busch, who had again been dominant, until his car was injured by the camera cable. He was able to get repaired and was still performing at the front of the field when the engine let go, ending his day in the 38th position.

    “We had been running first, second or third most of the evening, but just catastrophic engine failure,” Busch said. “It seems to be that time of the year again.”

    “I hate it for all my guys,” Busch continued. “It’s just so frustrating to see it end on a short note like that and not getting the finish that we needed.”

    Dale Earnhardt, Jr. also suffered an engine issue in his No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet, relegating him to a 39th place finish. NASCAR’s most popular driver, however, put it all in perspective.

    “We had smoke in the cockpit for three laps and we started losing power before it broke,” Junior said. “We didn’t have a really good car.”

    “But I want to wish everyone a happy Memorial Day weekend,” Earnhardt Jr. continued. “I take a lot of pride in the National Guard and hope everyone shakes a soldier’s hand and thanks them for what they do.”

  • Previewing the Coca Cola 600

    Previewing the Coca Cola 600

    When you talk about the most prestigious races in NASCAR, the Coca Cola 600 is easily in the top two or three. Charlotte is the home for most of the teams which already gives this race importance but it is also the longest race on the NASCAR schedule. It’s also very special considering that it’s Memorial Day weekend; the track does a lot for veterans and also puts on a wild pre-race show for the fans. 600 grueling miles at the 1.5 mile quad-oval will test each driver mentally and physically while also pushing their machines too the absolute limit and beyond. It takes patience and experience to win this race but we have seen some surprises in the past. Casey Mears won his only NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race in the Coke 600 back in 2007 and David Reutimann captured his first victory in the 600 two years later.

    The first Coke 600 took place back in 1960 and it was actually called the World 600. 36 of the 60 entries failed to finish the race and another six were disqualified. Joe Lee Johnson won the inaugural event and maybe that was an omen for the Johnson that would dominate this track half a century later. 5-time NSCS champion Jimmie Johnson (no relation to Joe Lee) is without a doubt the best driver to ever take on Charlotte Motor Speedway. He won his record 4th All-Star Race less than one week ago surpassing fellow legends Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt. Joey Logano finished 2nd in the All-Star Race after the Busch brothers dominated most of the event. Here’s a look at who I think will be contenders this weekend and why…

    Kurt and Kyle Busch were fast last weekend and will definitely be fast again in the 600. Kurt Busch is the 2010 winner of the Coke 600 while his little brother Kyle has never visited victory lane at Charlotte.  I doubt that they will win the 600 though; this a race where patience is a necessity and these highly aggressive racers go all-out every lap which just doesn’t work here. They will be fast and I can see them leading some laps but they won’t be in contention for the victory late in the race. Matt Kenseth is the definition of patience; he always keeps the car in contention but waits to unleash his true potential until it’s time to pounce. Matt is a 2-time Charlotte winner including the 2000 Coca Cola 600 which happened to be his first Cup victory. He will be up front and could pull it and I see him finishing well but not winning much like the Busch’s.

    That leads me to Jimmie Johnson, the master of Charlotte. Four All-Star wins, six point race wins including three consecutive wins in the Coke 600 make up his impressive resume. He hasn’t won a points race at Charlotte since 2009 and has finished outside the top 10 in four of his last six races here but look no further than last Saturday night if you have doubts when it comes to his chances. He will lead laps, he will be a contender but he will not win his 4th Coca Cola 600 this weekend. So, I’ve shut down Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, and even Jimmie Johnson so who is left that might take the checkered flag Sunday night?

    Defending Coca Cola 600 winner Kasey Kahne is my pick to win this weekend. He is coming off a great run in the All-Star Race and he has been very fast at every 1.5 mile track this year. He finished a very close 2nd at Las Vegas and Kansas and nearly won the All-Star Race. Kasey is a 4-time Charlotte winner and a 3-time winner of the Coca Cola 600 in 2006, 2008 and 2012. With Hendrick power and some great talent behind the wheel, I see the Farmers Insurance Chevrolet going to victory lane this weekend. Not to mention he wants to run well for his newly acquired Yellow Lab named Billy. (Check Kahne’s Twitter if you have no clue what I’m talking about)

    So Kahne, Johnson, Kenseth and the Busch brothers are the obvious favorites to win this weekend. Who then are the drivers that will most likely struggle? Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Martin Truex Jr. and Marcos Ambrose are drivers I think will have problems at Charlotte. Stewart-Haas Racing as a whole has had an awful season with the exception of the few great runs Ryan Newman has put up and Patrick’s Daytona 500 pole. Tony was never a contender in the All-Star Race quietly finishing 14th and never running up front. I’m afraid we will see more of the same from him in the 600 but Newman on the other hand showed a lot of strength last week before making heavy contact with Kyle Busch when he was charging through the field on a restart. Biffle also struggled in the All-Star Race and has very up and down results at Charlotte never winning. Truex was disappointing in the Sprint Showdown bouncing off the wall multiple times during the event. Ambrose’s car from last week was hopefully burned because it was so terrible. He was out of control in All-Star Race practice before he crashed into the wall when the rear axle flew out. His backup wasn’t much better and he ran towards the back of the pack finishing 17th.

    This 600 mile event Sunday will have some good racing but don’t be surprised to see it get very calm with some long green flag runs throughout it. There will be lots of comers and goers as teams struggle to adapt to abruptly changing track conditions. Charlotte is considered the most weather sensitive track next to Indianapolis and the transition from day to night is going to give the crew chief’s problems as they try to keep up. Watch out for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing by the way. Both McMurray and Montoya were very fast in the Showdown and Jamie won it going on to finish a solid 8th in the All-Star Race. Juan would have most likely been right there with him had he not been handed a pit road speeding penalty halfway through the race which forced him to restart last. He drove all the way back up to the top five but ran out of time to race his way into the big show. It will be a race that will keep you guessing when it comes to who’s going to win and maybe we’ll see another first time winner like this race is so famous for producing.