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  • The 2016 Chase For The Sprint Cup, Seeds 16-13

    The 2016 Chase For The Sprint Cup, Seeds 16-13

    16. Jamie McMurray

    A few years ago, one of the biggest problems with Chip Ganassi Racing was reliability. In 2012 for example, Juan Pablo Montoya and McMurray combined for only 30 lead lap finishes. In 2010 the duo won four races including the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 but both combined for 11 DNFs. In both years, neither driver made it to the Chase.

    Fast forward a few years and a driver change. Both cars are making the Chase field even though McMurray hasn’t won since 2013 and Kyle Larson has only won one race. For McMurray, consistency was key and he was the final driver who made the Chase on that strength.

    Pros

    McMurray hasn’t had a lot of raw firepower- just one top five and nine top 10s are the worst in the Chase save for Chris Buescher. What he has had, however, has been consistency. Only five times has McMurray finished outside of the top 20, he has 19 lead lap finishes out of 26 starts, and his lone DNF was in a multi-car wreck at Daytona. He has also gained a lot of momentum recently, getting four top 10s in the past five races. A quiet ride to Homestead like Ryan Newman in 2014 or Jeff Gordon (before his win at Martinsville) last year could very well be in the cards.

    Cons

    But the Chase favors that raw firepower the No. 1 team just doesn’t have right now. Sure, Newman came one spot away from winning the championship without winning a race before Homestead, but he was flat-out more consistent than McMurray before the Chase. The Chase also has five 1.5 milers, a track type where McMurray has had one top 10 this season, at a track that isn’t in the Chase (Kentucky). Finally, he’s the only driver in the Chase that hasn’t led a single lap all season.

    Overall

    McMurray has momentum coming in and could very easily ride that to round two, then maybe get a surprise win at Talladega (Historically strong track for him and the site of his lone top five this year) to make it to round three. After that? I’m just not seeing him making it to Homestead. He was unimpressive at both Phoenix and Texas earlier this season while finishing outside of the top 20 at Martinsville.

    15. Austin Dillon

    Austin Dillon entered this season needing to improve. He had looked rather unimpressive in his rookie season in 2014 outside of winning the Daytona 500 pole and had regressed in 2015 with a much worse average finish. Then this year rolled around.

    Dillon had four top 10s in the first six races of the season and finished that stretch seventh in points, compare that to 21st in the final 2015 point standings. By comparison, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. also started the season off strong and was 11th in points after the third race of the season. But unlike Stenhouse, Dillon rode the wave of momentum well enough to make his first Chase.

    Pros

    As Richard Childress Racing’s lone hope in the Chase, no doubt Dillon will have even more of the team’s resources at his disposal. Dillon has also shown variation, having good runs on 1.5 milers, superspeedways, and short tracks. Finally, Dillon has a certain swagger about him not a lot of other young drivers carry. He’s used to having it his way, and sometimes that’s a good thing…

    Cons

    … And sometimes that’s a bad thing. Although he hasn’t had problems recently with his team, he has been known at times to get heated with crew chief “Slugger” Labbe over the radio this season. Dillon has also had consistency problems at times, never stringing together more than two top tens in a row this season. Like McMurray, the No. 3 Chevrolet also just hasn’t had the firepower other teams have had this season. That’s expected, however- the top RCR teams the last few years lack in wins but made up for it by being reliable.

    Overall

    Dillon is a noted Carolina Panthers fan. So using that, I’m going to say that his season so far has been like the 2014 Carolina Panthers; a losing team that ended up making the playoffs. His team is loaded with potential and has the chance to be as great as the 2015 Carolina Panthers someday, but they just aren’t there yet. Sure, he could make it past a round in the playoffs like the Panthers did that year but the moment he’s going up against a legitimate championship contender for a spot, he’s probably not winning. It’s more important instead that he builds on this season regardless of the result and has a good five years instead of an okay one.

    14. Chase Elliott

    No driver has entered their maiden season in the Sprint Cup Series with more pressure to perform than Chase Elliott. Sure, Kyle Petty and Dale Earnhardt Jr. had Hall of Fame dads to live up to. But they didn’t have to replace another Hall of Famer and a top-five driver in just about everybody’s all-time list. On the flip side, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick started their Sprint Cup careers off taking the wheel from a legendary driver. But neither had Bill Elliott as a father as well.

    So far, Chase has done a pretty decent job. No wins but tenth in the regular season points before the Chase seeding and arguably has been the most consistent Hendrick driver this season. He also has a better average finish and more top tens than Jeff Gordon had in his own rookie season, which had to be a goal set forward by the team before this season.

    Pros

    Chase has come close to winning a couple of times this season and has shown he can compete for wins. That already makes him a better choice to make the final four than the other three drivers profiled in this article. Elliott also had strong top ten runs at six Chase tracks earlier this season- Kansas, Phoenix, Texas, Dover, Talladega, and Charlotte.

    Cons

    Elliott just hasn’t broken out yet and gotten that first Sprint Cup win. Dillon hasn’t either, but Dillon has confidence in his abilities. Elliott doesn’t, as seen in his now infamously somber post-race interviews of blaming himself for not winning. A win would offset a lot of that- a successful, championship contending driver is also a confident driver. Hendrick Motorsports as a whole has been down this year, and although Chase has some momentum heading into the Chase, his team is largely still behind the Larsons and Toyotas of the world. Finally, to be honest, I’m not that sold on Alan Gustafson being Elliott’s crew chief of the future. He’s had two seasons where he was a top five crew chief- 2009 with Mark Martin and 2014 with Jeff Gordon- and he also had some good seasons with Kyle Busch early on, but his teams have been pretty mediocre otherwise. He also isn’t getting younger in crew chief years- most retire around year ten and he’s in his 12th season.

    Overall

    It’s remarkable just how much a natural Elliott is at driving a Sprint Cup car. He jumped into this car after just a handful of starts last year and after Richmond is higher in points than Gordon was after Richmond last season. But I don’t think he has the poise and the seasoning just yet to make it to Homestead like Gordon did last year.

    13. Chris Buescher

    Two months ago, nobody in a million years would have picked Chris Buescher to make the Chase, but here we are. Buesche and Elliott are the only two rookies in the Chase and are the first to be so since Denny Hamlin in 2006.

    When the current Chase rules were announced in 2014, some feared that a driver would get a fluke victory and make the Chase that way. Not to throw shade at Buescher, but honestly, he is kind of the first driver to make it in like that.

    Pros

    Honestly, the only real pro that Buescher has right now is he’s playing with house money. Nobody, probably not even himself, thought he’d be in the Chase before this season. He’s going to be the ultimate gambler in the Chase because that’s probably the only way his underpowered and understaffed team is going to advance.

    Cons

    Outside of laps led, laps completed, and total starts, Chris Buescher has the lowest totals in all relevant stat categories heading into the Chase.

    Overall

    There’s always a possibility that Buescher can win a surprise race again and make it to round two, win a wildcard plate race at Talladega to make it to round three, then five cars get hit by lightning three weeks in a row and Buescher makes the final four at Homestead. There’s also always a possibility somebody could win the lottery after buying one ticket. Let’s be honest- barring anything I mentioned above actually happening, there’s very little chance Buescher will make it out of Dover still in the Chase. But just making the Chase, to begin with, might as well be a championship for his small Front Row Motorsports team.

  • Hot 20 – As Newman’s job just got tougher, could we give Ken Squier his old job back?

    Hot 20 – As Newman’s job just got tougher, could we give Ken Squier his old job back?

    A funny thing happened on the way to Richmond. Ryan Newman finished eighth at Darlington, got to within seven points of Jamie McMurray in the battle for the final Chase place, and then it hit the fan. Actually, it was not very amusing at all as his car failed post-race inspection, and that came with a 15 point penalty. Newman has to make up a 22 point deficit on McMurray, hope nobody below him in the standings wins this weekend, or just win the thing himself to make it. With a contract coming due and the owner’s other grandson ready to move up, this is the time for the Rocket to light the fuse.

    Kyle Larson‘s third place finish at Darlington was nice, but he also got tagged 15 points for failing the post-race checkup. However, he loses not a step in the standings and his win leaves him somewhat immune. As for the cash donations, Newman’s crew chief Luke Lambert was fined $25,000, while Chad Johnston, Larson’s bench boss, was fined $22,500. Would it not be lovely if you could fine your mechanic’s ass if he failed to fix your car the first time? Your doctor? How about politicians? We may be on to something here.

    There is one other scenario we have not mentioned. If Chris Buescher has a bad day and falls out of the Top 30, it is “hello Newman,” welcome to the Chase.

    Eleven races to go, and with Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the shelf until the Daytona 500, 23-year-old Alex Bowman will have a dream ride for eight of the remaining contests this season. It will be a good test for the driver who spent the past two seasons behind the wheel for BK Racing and Tommy Baldwin. Neither outfit has yet to win a race, boast just two Top Fives and six Top Tens in a combined 781 attempts. Bowman will end the season driving the good stuff. Jeff Gordon, meanwhile, finally retires again, after he completes Richmond, Dover, and Martinsville. Sixteen of his 93 career victories came at those venues, including nine coming at the paper-clip.

    What driver has the most identifiable car in NASCAR, even to the non-fan? Paul Menard. His name is all over it.

    Danny Gallivan, Vin Scully, Ken Squier. If you want to become a legendary hockey, baseball, or racing announcer, they are the prototypes to build upon After just a couple of minutes to get into the swing of things at Darlington, the 81-year-old Squier allowed us to once again hear how it should be done. These gentlemen were poets who were able to describe, inform, entertain, and allow us to witness the action simply through the sound of their voice. To actually see it on television was a bonus, almost an unnecessary one. Squier ended his term providing the lap-by-lap commentary in 1997, though we have been blessed by special appearances, as we were last Sunday. Gallivan retired in 1984 after 32 years calling the action for the Montreal Canadiens, passing away in 1993. The 88-year old Scully is presently bringing his 67-year career behind the Dodger microphone to a close. They remain incomparable and irreplaceable.

    Richmond has been part of the NASCAR scene since 1950, and Saturday the race will feature eight present and former Cup champions. Twenty-six of those 40 drivers have combined for 530 Cup victories, and while 12 have locked in their invite to the Chase, another 20 entered have a mathematical shot at one of the four remaining positions.

    That includes all of our Hot 20 heading into Richmond.

    1. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 4 WINS (797 Pts)
    Loose wheel, loose wheel, he thought he had Harvick’s crew pitting him for real.

    2. KYLE BUSCH – 4 WINS (727 Pts)
    Six drivers under the age of 25 have driven for him in the truck series this season.

    3. KEVIN HARVICK – 2 WINS (840 Pts)
    Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, and let them try to pit my car.

    4. CARL EDWARDS – 2 WINS (746 Pts)
    First last lap pass for the win at Richmond in the spring, why not the fall?

    5. DENNY HAMLIN – 2 WINS (729 Pts)
    If he ran NASCAR, would shorten the season and the World 600. Good thing he doesn’t.

    6. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 2 WINS (696 Pts)
    Interested in just winning the Memorial and Labor Day weekend classics this season.

    7. MATT KENSETH – 2 WINS (669 Pts)
    Without Matt, Jim might have never worked at Dunder Mifflin or met Pam or Michael Scott.

    8. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 2 WINS (656 Pts)
    Jimmie won twice, had Top 10s in five of the seven events to open the season. It’s been a while.

    9. JOEY LOGANO – 1 WIN (752 Pts)
    With Junior out, does this give Joey a shot at being NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver?

    10. KURT BUSCH – 1 WIN (728 Pts)
    Felt kind of flat at Darlington. Menard’s flat, to be specific.

    11. KYLE LARSON – 1 WIN (606 Pts)
    Finally, he has two Top Fives in a row.

    12. TONY STEWART – 1 WIN (426 Pts)
    What happened to Brian Scott at Darlington? Why, he wrecked, of course.

    13. CHRIS BUESCHER – 1 WIN (358 Pts)
    Staying within 10 of Ragan next week would be good, keeping him in the rearview, even better.

    14. CHASE ELLIOTT – 659 POINTS
    Finish 17th or better and he is off to the ball.

    15. AUSTIN DILLON – 651 POINTS
    Menard has a sponsor, Dillon has a grandfather, and Newman needs the Chase.

    16. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 642 POINTS
    Could have been 30 points up if not for that late Darlington penalty.

    17. RYAN NEWMAN – 620 POINTS
    Penalty cripples his Chase bid, while the other Dillon has designs on his ride.

    18. KASEY KAHNE – 598 POINTS
    At least Junior has an excuse for not making the Chase.

    19. RYAN BLANEY – 573 POINTS
    No gloves, no problem, but less money in your pocket.

    20. A.J. ALLMENDINGER – 562 POINTS
    Mr. Tickles? Maybe it was girlfriend Tara who named the cat.

  • The Final Word – I would absolutely suck as a pit crew member, so why won’t Harvick hire me?

    The Final Word – I would absolutely suck as a pit crew member, so why won’t Harvick hire me?

    A classic. That is what the Southern 500 is. Born in 1950, it predates NASCAR’s jewel events in Indianapolis, Bristol, Talladega, Charlotte, and Daytona. It is the Southern 500, the Labor Day classic at Darlington. It is not a November race, not a race to be branded by Dodge, not run on Mother’s Day or in April. After a dozen years of stupidity, it returned in 2015 to be what it has always been meant to be, the great southern Labor Day NASCAR tradition.

    Kevin Harvick lost Sunday’s race in classic style. If a pit crew can screw things up, it can find work on this car. Two pit stops, two disasters. One dropped him from first to fourth. The next, from first to 12th. It has reached the point where even the most understandable reason is rejected as yet another damned excuse. “Someone slashed our spare tires” or “It is hard to change a tire with no arms” or “The dog ate the air wrench” no longer cuts it. Harvick finished second. He should have been first.

    That was left for Martin Truex Jr. to accomplish. Sometimes, it is just more fun to win a classic event over the holidays. After previous career victories at Dover, Sonoma, and Pocono, this season it has been Labor Day at Darlington and the Memorial Day World 600 in Charlotte. Those are the kind of wins that get a driver remembered.

    Winning a title also does that. With Richmond the last stop before the Chase, a dozen drivers are locked in having won a race or more. Chris Buescher claims a spot if he manages to be within ten positions of David Ragan next weekend, thus staying within the season’s Top 30. Chase Elliott and Austin Dillon are a lock should they come home within 23 and 15 spots, respectfully, of Ryan Newman this Sunday. Jamie McMurray lays claim to the final spot should he be no more than six places behind Newman at Richmond, and a first-time winner does not emerge to steal that final Chase place from him. The question is, do Newman, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Blaney, A.J. Allmendinger, Trevor Bayne, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Greg Biffle, or Paul Menard have the horses to do what needs to be done? The odds are long, but remember that they were for Buescher once, too.

    It was a true classic at Darlington, but it was something of a classic finish in the truck race at MoSport Park in Ontario on Sunday. Well, the finish between John Hunter Nemechek and Cole Custer would have gone down as a classic if it had taken place at almost any other track. Two racers rubbing and racing and scraping against the wall to the finish. Instead, on the outside, they had enough prairie to give me a home where the buffalo roam, along with a couple of elk, before they came across any barrier. Rather than taking Custer to the outside wall, Nemechek wound up taking him into the car pool lane. What could have been a classic finish had all the appearances of a demo derby. Does that make Nemechek a wild man or a guy who did what he had to do on a surface that extended much farther out than what we would have normally seen? He won, so does it matter? I bet to Custer, it does. He seemed downright excited as he tackled Nemechek after the race, sending the pair tumbling to the grass. Vengeance is a bitch, and she just might have some bite before their version of the Chase concludes in the truck series. Just ask Joey Logano.

    Classic. They have been racing at Richmond since 1953, and the list of the winners there is a smorgasbord of NASCAR history, with all the fixings. It is where three generations of Petty boys have a victory, including 13 by the King himself. Both Earnhardts have won there, with Senior having a 5-3 advantage over Junior. Kyle has a 4-2 lead over Kurt in the battle of the Busch boys. Richmond is where Bobby Allison won seven times, with six wins apiece awarded to David Pearson, Darrell Waltrip, and Rusty Wallace.

    Sadly, the one-time Capital City 400 sold its soul to Wrangler more than 35 years ago. Since then, the trail has winded through a brewery, a battery outfit, a car manufacturer, to even include a brand of pistachios for a season. A classic event it is not. A classic venue it most certainly is.

    Here is hoping for a classic finish. This spring Carl Edwards bumped Kyle Busch out of the way to record the first last-lap pass for the win in Richmond history. Why not another?

  • NASCAR 2016 – Recap Of The Most Memorable Moments

    NASCAR 2016 – Recap Of The Most Memorable Moments

    One of the most appealing things about NASCAR is that it seems to produce memorable moments every weekend and 2016 is no exception. Whether it be close finishes, lug-nut controversies, or rookies taking poles, the first half of this year has not failed in producing much excitement. So, let’s take a look at some of the most iconic and memorable moments that this sport has already produced this year.

    1. Denny Hamlin Wins in Photo Finish at Daytona 500

    On February 21, Denny Hamlin won the Daytona 500, but, just barely. Hamlin crossed the finish line at about 0.01 seconds faster than the next nearest car, which was Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., a fellow Toyota driver. It was the closest Daytona 500 race finish that Daytona International Speedway has ever experienced and the first Daytona 500 victory for Toyota.

    Hamlin, who led for a little over half of the race, claimed that it was a team victory, as for much of the race his teammates, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards, along with Truex (Furniture Row Racing has a technical alliance with JGR) led the top four positions. Otherwise, Hamlin was able to make a run on the outside lane in the closing seconds of the race to win one of the greatest Daytona 500 finishes of all time.

    2. Kevin Harvick Beats Carl Edwards to the Finish Line at Phoenix 

    Another exciting photo finish occurred in mid-march of this year, at the Phoenix International Raceway. In fact, Kevin Harvick beat out Carl Edwards at PIR by the exact same time that Denny Hamlin won the Daytona 500, 0.01 seconds, and this was the closest ever race in Phoenix.

    The final two laps at PIR in 2016 were rather bumpy, as Harvick and Edwards exchanged nudges up to the last few seconds. In fact, the two cars collided twice during the final quarter-mile. In the third and fourth turn Harvick just barely missed the bottom and Edwards took the opportunity to tear into Harvick, which proved to be essentially ineffective. In the end, Edwards just barely pulled out one of the greatest races that PIR has seen in a long time.

    3. Chase Elliott Wins the Pole at Talladega

    Widely known is the fact that Jeff Gordon retired after the 2015 season and chose Chase Elliott as his replacement. Less widely known, however, is just how great of a driver Elliot really is. That is until he won the pole at Talladega this year. Thirty years ago, Elliott’s father, Bill Elliott, earned the top starting spot at Talladega, with a qualifying speed of 212.229 mph, setting the track’s speed record and coincidentally won the 1986 Daytona 500. Three decades later, Chase is living up to the family name. He not only won the pole for the 2016 Daytona 500, becoming the youngest pole-sitter in Daytona’s history at twenty years of age but also won this year’s Geico 500 pole at Talladega Superspeedway, endangering the position of many NASCAR veterans.

    Otherwise, in 2016, Chase has seven top-fives, finishing fifth at Texas Motor Speedway, fourth at Bristol Motor Speedway, fifth at Talladega Superspeedway, third at Dover International Speedway, fourth at Pocono Raceway and second in both races at Michigan International Speedway. He could have finished much better at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, as he was in the top five with 40 laps to go. However, he crashed and finished 38th. For such a young man, Chase is really racking up the stats and will likely be the real deal for years to come.

    4. The Lug Nut Controversy

    At the beginning of the 2015 season, NASCAR ceased monitoring how many lug nuts were placed on car wheels during pit stops. NASCAR informed drivers that there would no longer be officials in every pit box and that it would be up to each team to make sure that a car’s lug nuts were put properly in place. Many drivers and their crews have taken advantage of this to reduce pit stop times, by only securing as few as three lug nuts.

    This, of course, had some drivers genuinely upset. In mid-April, USA Today reported that Tony Stewart was “beyond mad,” largely because of the newly developed “epidemic” of loose wheels on the track. Stewart warned the NASCAR world that it is only a matter of time before something terrible happened. For the most part, Stewart claims NASCAR has done a fine job in ensuring the safety of drivers, such as requiring safety changes to superspeedway cars in technical bulletins. However, on the “lug nut issue,” Stewart felt like NASCAR officials were dropping the ball.

    NASCAR fined Stewart $35,000 for his remarks but soon after revised their policy. On April 25 they sent a memo to all the teams stating that each wheel must have five lug nuts installed in a proper manner. Failure to do so will result in the driver being called back to the pits during the race. If  the infraction is found after the race, the crew chief will be fined a minimum of $20,000 and receive a one-race suspension.

    Some have suggested changes to car specifications that would speed up pit stop times and general safety, such as changing wheel requirements to use a single hub for the wheels of NASCAR cars. However, going from one lug nut to a single hub nut and bolt assembly similar to the open wheel series requires a shift in car specifications, namely, the front and rear suspension. So far, NASCAR has been unwilling to do this.

    5. Tony Stewart Wins at Sonoma

    The NASCAR fan favorite and much-respected veteran Tony Stewart hadn’t won a race in over three years. This was largely due to the fact that Stewart had suffered personal tragedies and various injuries. But, in April of this year, Stewart came back after recovering from injuries sustained on an all-terrain vehicle in February and went on to win at Sonoma Raceway in June. It was an especially sweet victory for Stewart because Sonoma has been one of Stewart’s career best tracks and he beat out this year’s Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin to gain the victory. Stewart, in dramatic fashion, pushed Hamlin into the outside wall in Turn 11 for a last lap pass for the Sonoma victory at the Toyota Save Mart 350.

    More to Come in 2016

    Of course, I could have discussed many other exciting events and NASCAR drama that has already unfolded this year, such as the long-awaited first race victory of 2016 for Matt Kenseth, the drama filled “bump-and-run” episode between Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards at Richmond International Raceway, or Jeff Gordon calling out the Brad Keselowski team for an illegal body modification on a pit stop. But these were my top five picks for the most exciting NASCAR events in 2016. With all the excitement that 2016 has already brought us, the rest of the season is sure to bring us more memorable moments.

  • Hot 20 – Who will be left singing the blues at Darlington, where some memories just won’t die?

    Hot 20 – Who will be left singing the blues at Darlington, where some memories just won’t die?

    Who is the greatest country singer ever associated with NASCAR? There has been Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow, Brad Paisley, Brooks and Dunn, Hank Williams Jr., Toby Keith, Cledus T. Judd, and lately Blake Shelton. That is a pretty impressive list of talent and it is far from complete. However, there is no question that the King of NASCAR Country was Marty Robbins.

    While he is best known for singing White Sport Coat, El Paso, and My Woman, My Woman, My Wife, among his 17 Number One hits and 82 Top 40 entries, Robbins raced. Between 1966 and 1982, he managed to get into 35 Cup events, claiming six Top Tens along the way. He drove them, Hall of Famer Cotton Owens prepared them.

    As the boys and girl head to Darlington for the Southern 500, we should remember that the singer once finished seventh in the iconic race back in 1971. A year later, he was ninth again behind the wheel of the No. 42 at the Lady in Black. When you race, you wreck, and he did. A pileup in Talladega in 1974 left him with some 37 stitches in his face. The same year at Charlotte, he deliberately wrecked to avoid a t-bone collision with Richard Childress, some saying the action may well have saved the future Hall of Famer’s life.

    He was a legitimate driver. His results were legitimate. Well, all but one. His Talladega result in the spring of 1972 was not. Robbins was disqualified. When they tried to give him rookie honors, he declined, then had the officials check out his carburetor. It was as illegal as it gets. He just wanted to know what it felt like to drive up front with the big boys. I do not believe NASCAR was terribly impressed as they dropped him to 50th. Finishing up front that day was David Pearson, and it marked the debut of one Darrell Waltrip.

    This weekend, Darlington features throwback paint schemes for both the XFINITY event as well as the Southern 500. Michigan winner Kyle Larson will be one of a half dozen Cup guys in that Saturday contest. His paint scheme in that race will honor Marty Robbins.

    As Chris Buescher attempts to stay in the Chase by keeping ahead of David Ragan in the standings, and while Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon, and Jamie McMurray try to protect their own championship hopes, here is a look at whom or what our Hot 20 honor with their paint schemes heading into Sunday’s Southern 500.

    1. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 4 WINS (774 Pts)
    Original Miller Lite can design of 1972

    2. KYLE BUSCH – 4 WINS (696 Pts)
    Dale Jarrett’s No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet

    3. KEVIN HARVICK – 2 WINS (799 Pts)
    Cale Yarborough and the 1979 Daytona 500

    4. CARL EDWARDS – 2 WINS (724 Pts)
    Tony Stewart, who made his debut in 1999

    5. DENNY HAMLIN – 2 WINS (691 Pts)
    Darrell Waltrip, behind the wheel of the No. 11 from 1981-86

    6. JIMMIE JOHNSTON – 2 WINS (648 Pts)
    David Pearson and Dale Earnhardt of the late 1970s and early 1980s

    7. MATT KENSETH – 2 WINS (633 Pts)
    Ricky Rudd’s 1995 Tide ride

    8. KURT BUSCH – 1 WIN (721 Pts)
    The Haas VF-1 vertical machining center, introduced in 1988.

    9. JOEY LOGANO – 1 WIN (716 Pts)
    Bobby Labonte’s Busch series, Shell-sponsored car of 1996-98

    10. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 1 WIN (652 Pts)
    Sponsor Auto-Owners Insurance’s 100th anniversary

    11. KYLE LARSON – 1 WIN (582 Pts)
    Chip Ganassi Racing’s IndyCar history, going back to 1990, with seven championships, 90 wins

    12. TONY STEWART – 1 WIN (420 Pts)
    Bobby Allison and his five Southern 500 victories

    13. CHRIS BUESCHER – 1 WIN (334 Pts)
    Tribute to sponsor Love’s Travel Stops, in its original 1981 colors

    14. CHASE ELLIOTT – 628 POINTS
    NAPA’s delivery trucks of the 1960s

    15. AUSTIN DILLON – 622 POINTS
    Saluting first Childress win, with Ricky Rudd, in 1983

    16. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 616 POINTS
    Bill Elliott in his 1997 colors

    17. RYAN NEWMAN – 601 POINTS
    Ricky Rudd’s first Childress win of 1983 at Riverside, California

    18. KASEY KAHNE – 564 POINTS
    Tribute to Terry Labonte and his 1982 J.D. Stacy-sponsored Buick

    19. TREVOR BAYNE – 558 POINTS
    Mark Martin, 619 Starts, 35 wins in the No. 6 from 1988 to 2006

    20. RYAN BLANEY – 545 POINTS
    David Pearson’s 43 wins during the 1970s piloting the No. 21 for the Wood Brothers

  • The Final Word – If Buescher was using the good stuff at Michigan, Ford owes him an apology

    The Final Word – If Buescher was using the good stuff at Michigan, Ford owes him an apology

    It is not complicated. Win and you are in the Chase. Do not, and you better be one of the better three of the rest, and even then only one might slip through. At Michigan on Sunday, Kyle Larson punched his ticket with the first Cup win of the 24-year old driver’s career. To say he was pumped would have been an understatement as he jumped into the arms of his crew with checkered flag in hand.

    Two races to go, 16 advance, and 13 of the spots have been spoken for. Or is it 12? Maybe 13. That brings us to the curious case for the Chase of Chris Buescher. With just the Penske pairing of Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano locked in, Ford would sure like Buescher to join them. We hear Roush had taken the boy to their bosom, put him in a top notch chassis and gave him the best engines they got. Then the damn thing started sputtering on the fourth lap. The fourth. Maybe the agency should have held out for a Penske adoption.

    As mentioned, the other dozen drivers with wins under their belt this season are locked in. After Buescher sputtered his way around to finish seven laps down in 35th position, he used up some of his cushion over David Ragan. Over the season, Ragan is ranked 31st. He is seven points behind the 30th rated Buescher, and if he catches up at Darlington then Buescher’s pass to the Chase due to his Pocono win would get torn up.

    Ryan Newman just became a big fan of Ragan. He sits 17th on the season. While he is 27 points behind Michigan runner-up Chase Elliott, 21 off of Austin Dillon’s pace, he does sit just 15 behind bubble boy Jamie McMurray. However, if Buescher loses his ticket, Newman pops up a position to claim it as his own. Of course, he could go to Darlington and win that damn thing and take all the guess work out of it.

    Come to think of it, 12 are locked in, four more currently hold a spot, while up to 18 others have at least a mathematical shot at winning and advancing heading into this weekend. They really do. Sure, Newman has better odds than Kasey Kahne, but both are ahead of the likes of Danica Patrick and Clint Bowyer. Yet, all are still in it, if you go by math and ignore reality. I mean, even Brian Scott, with a win and a charge into the Top 30 himself, can still do it.

    All it takes is a win. Maybe some rain at the right time. Just ask Chris Buescher. Now, if he could just get his hands on some of the Ford good stuff for Darlington.

  • Chase Elliott says he just needed a better restart at the end

    Chase Elliott says he just needed a better restart at the end

    Asked what he needed on the last few laps to have gotten the win, Chase Elliott said he just needed “a better restart.”

    The driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet will be able to say he finished runner-up in both races in the backyard of Chevrolet. He led 31 laps and was in prime position to score his first career victory in the Sprint Cup Series after he exited pit road ahead of eventual race winner Kyle Larson on the final round of green flag stops with 54 laps to go.

    He assumed the lead with 31 laps to go and was pulling away from Larson until a tire carcass from the No. 46 of Michael Annett brought out the caution with 13 laps to go.

    On the restart with nine laps to go, he spun the tires, Larson got a shove by Brad Keselowski and took the lead. Elliott made quick work of Keselowski, but couldn’t run down the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet in the closing laps.

    After the race, he was asked what he needed to get the win.

    “Just a better restart again,” he said. “That was what it was all about for sure. Once that guy (Larson) got out front it was really hard to pass.”

    As is usually the case with Elliott, he put most of the blame on himself.

    “My guys did such a good job today of making the most of pit road,” he added. “That was the only place you could make a large sum of ground in a short period of time. They did exactly what I asked them to do. I said ‘you guys are going to have to bail me out here I messed up.’ They did they got us the lead just like I asked and I gave it away again.  It’s one of those things where you do or you don’t and I didn’t. You just got to recognize your mistakes, look at the positives I guess and move on down the road.”

    When asked if he was frustrated and/or disappointed during his post-race media availability, Elliott said he’d “be lying if I said I wasn’t. If I wasn’t, that would mean I didn’t care. So, you know, for me, just have to try to take the positives out of it, recognize an issue when you see one. There’s only one way to fix it, and that’s to hit it head on. No need of hiding from it. Just try to fix it. Hope you have more opportunities to improve and to show that you can do it down the road…there’s no guarantees in life. There’s certainly no guarantees in racing. Have to recognize that, and like I said, hit it head on.”

    The same mishap befell him back in June on a late restart at Michigan where he spun the tires leading the race and lost the victory to Joey Logano.

    Elliott leaves Michigan 11th in points and 14th on the Chase grid if the Chase started today.

  • Hot 20 – Michigan is a track for legends, but no Junior to be seen as Buescher gets Ford support

    Hot 20 – Michigan is a track for legends, but no Junior to be seen as Buescher gets Ford support

    Michigan. A big track, a fast track. Sadly, not exactly a legacy event, like winning at Daytona or Bristol or Talladega or Indianapolis or Darlington or either road course.

    What it is, is a track where legends have celebrated since 1969. In fact, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Bill Elliott, Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin, Richard Petty, Dale Jarrett, and Bobby Allison have combined for 46 victories there. That is a lot of suds for a lot of Hall of Famers.

    Greg Biffle is the only four-time winner not in yet. In fact, he needs to make it five just to make the Chase this year. Same goes for teammates Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. The only driver at the big boy table sitting in a Chase place at present is Chris Buescher. He and crew chief Bob Osborne now attend the Jack Roush organizational meetings as Ford desires to have one of their boys succeed. Instead of leasing older engines and used bodies, the manufacturer wants to see Bob Jenkins compete in the best Roush has to offer. He might be a step-son, but right now he is Ford’s favorite son.

    Being a France has meant running the show, not being the show. At least, until last week at Bristol when Ben Kennedy won the Wednesday night truck event. The 24-year old is the son of Lesa France Kennedy, the daughter of Bill France Jr.

    Being Dale Earnhardt Jr. has delivered some terrific highs and tragic lows. His 2016 Chase hopes are down to winning at Richmond, but maybe his best health hopes are to take it easy until he is truly good to go. Alex Bowman returns to the seat of the “88″ this weekend, with Jeff Gordon expected to be back for Darlington.

    Kurt Busch ran the opening 6273 laps of the 2016 season, a streak that came to an end 372 laps into Sunday’s Bristol affair. While vying for the lead he came into contact with Brad Keselowski, to ruin the day for them both. If one has to go out, might as well do it with all guns blazing. It beats fading away with a whimper.

    Anyone remember the XFINITY or the Camping World Truck Series? If you do, and if you are 12 and younger, you get to go to all those races for free next season. What a wonderful way to introduce young fans to the sport. What a wonderful way of trying to get somebody to attend those races. Nobody else is. They do not really have much to lose. An empty seat buys nothing and appreciates nothing. This move is better than nothing.

    This is the final year of the Sprint Cup. Soon, it will be parked in the garage alongside the Nextel Cup, the Winston Cup, and the Grand National and Strictly Stock monikers. I joked that the GoBowling.com 400 race in Kansas could have had a worse name, then one wag commented “Don’t diss SpongeBob. That might be next year’s Cup sponsor.” Good Lord, he might be right!

    Heading into Michigan, here is a look at our QuikTrip, Auto Club, Food City, Bass Pro Shops, Coca-Cola, Bank of America, MyAFibStory.com, AAA, Ford EcoBoost, GoBowling.com, Hollywood Casino, Quaker State, Kobalt, STP, Goody’s, FireKeepers Casino, Pure Michigan, Camping World, Good Sam, Xalta, Toyota Owners, Federated Auto Parts, Save Mart, GEICO, Duck Commander, Cheez-It Hot 20.

    Sadly, despite these name mentions, I get not a dime. I obviously need a foundation.
    1. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 4 WINS (735 Pts)
    So ends Kurt’s streak. Mission accomplished.

    2. KYLE BUSCH – 4 WINS (674 Pts)
    Last week Kyle’s car was dying. All Allgaier did was put it out of its misery.

    3. KEVIN HARVICK – 2 WINS (762 Pts)
    Not the most wins, but probably the best damn car week in and week out.

    4. CARL EDWARDS – 2 WINS (689 Pts)
    Having fun and thinking a third beer bath at Michigan is in order.

    5. DENNY HAMLIN – 2 WINS (659 Pts)
    Good finish last week and with the boss talking an extension, things are good for the Pied Piper.

    6. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 2 WINS (612 Pts)
    If the sticky stuff worked at Bristol, why not pine tar the rest of the tracks?

    7. MATT KENSETH – 2 WINS (604 Pts)
    Drive well, make the Chase, but be considered an old fart and one’s job could be in jeopardy.

    8. KURT BUSCH – 1 WIN (692 Pts)
    So, that is what a garage looks like.

    9. JOEY LOGANO – 1 WIN (684 Pts)
    Since with Penske, has never finished here outside the Top Ten…and won in the spring.

    10. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 1 WIN (630 Pts)
    His crew chief is Canadian, eh?

    11. TONY STEWART – 1 WIN (400 Pts)
    Tony is a big fan of virtual reality. Nothing gets broken.

    12. CHRIS BUESCHER – 1 WIN (328 Pts)
    All of a sudden, he is feeling the love from Ford.

    13. AUSTIN DILLON – 596 POINTS
    A Top Five last Sunday was more than welcome.

    14. CHASE ELLIOTT – 588 POINTS
    If you are surprised he is where he is, say his name slowly. That was our first hint.

    15. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 583 POINTS
    At Darlington, he is wearing the former colors of an older Elliott.

    16. RYAN NEWMAN – 576 POINTS
    He does not need to make the Chase to keep his job. Who am I kidding? Damn right he does.

    17. TREVOR BAYNE – 541 POINTS
    Crew chief Matt Puccia has won twice before in Ford country…with Greg Biffle.

    18. KYLE LARSON – 537 POINTS
    Sunday sure sucked. Maybe it is time for that first career win.

    19. KASEY KAHNE – 537 POINTS
    With Danica buried deep, it appears NASCAR’s two prettiest will both miss the Chase.

    20. A.J. ALLMENDINGER – 518 POINTS
    Top Ten last Sunday, but needs a Top One this time out.

  • The Final Word – Bristol, where good news mixed with bad, and it rained on everyone’s parade

    The Final Word – Bristol, where good news mixed with bad, and it rained on everyone’s parade

    Good tidings we bring to you and your kin.

    Sounds like a song. Sounds like a song we can wait four months to hear. However, Bristol did bring good tidings to some. It was great for Kevin Harvick, as he won his second of the season in a dominant performance to once again vault ahead of them all in points. While wins determine who is ahead of whom, as it should, accumulated points is an indicator as to who has been in contention all season long. Harvick has been one of those guys.

    Good tidings for Chris Buescher. It is amazing how good a guy can get with a little incentive, like a win at Pocono and a shot at the Chase. The 23-year-old might just be 30th in points, but by moving 13 points ahead of David Ragan in the standings his win is activated and he now finds himself ranked 12th among those with post-season aspirations. A bad day at Michigan could change all that, but as for now, all is good after his fifth place result at Bristol.

    Good tidings for Austin Dillon, trying to keep within the Chase despite having no victories. Fourth at Bristol really helped the cause. Same with Jamie McMurray’s Top Ten, while 15th did not hurt Chase Elliott’s cause much, either. Ryan Newman was 28th, which was not good, but he remains 35 points up on Trevor Bayne, which certainly is.

    Not so good for Bayne, of course. Twelfth on Sunday was fine, it helped him close up on Newman by 15 points. Unfortunately, he has only Michigan, Darlington, and Richmond remaining to move up via points at a time when a win might be the way to go. I guess he can always hope Buescher has some bad tidings, drops below 30th, which would pop Bayne back into a Chase place. Such bad thoughts, and so close to Christmas.

    Imagine getting your way paid to the Bristol Saturday night event as a gift, only to have the rain wash all those good tidings away. Rain Saturday night. Rain Sunday morning. With so much rain, it is ironic that the stands looked like a seat desert, with an oasis of real live fans visible here and there. It would appear that a lot of fans had their weekend plans totally screwed.

    Both Kurt and Kyle Busch crashed out, as did Matt Kenseth. Newman, Kyle Larson, Tony Stewart, Brad Keselowski, and Ryan Blaney might have been moving at the end, but all were sitting 24th and worse running five or more laps off the pace by that time. Bad tidings indeed.

    Next up is Michigan, where Jeff Gordon returns to retirement for at least one event. Still, we have to wait until later in the week to see if Dale Earnhardt Jr. is ready to return from his medical leave. Do you know Junior still has more points than Greg Biffle, Danica Patrick, and Clint Bowyer? Yet, any one of them would be Chase bound with a win on Sunday.

    Christmas could still arrive early for somebody.

  • Hot 20 – If you think racing at Bristol will be tough, you should have been on Moose Mountain

    Hot 20 – If you think racing at Bristol will be tough, you should have been on Moose Mountain

    It was an off-week for NASCAR, but racing continued where I sit. At least, sitting would have been nice. Last weekend, my son John ran a 54-mile mountain terrain ultra-marathon. In following the action, I found myself walking up a half-mile dusty road with an uninterrupted 20-plus degree angle climb with a chest cold and a hacking cough. I do not believe a single bear remains on that mountain after the commotion I was making. By the way, the boy came through in far better shape than his father did. This weekend, my other son Ronald is running a marathon. I plan to sit.

    Sitting before the big screen watching the action from Bristol Saturday night is definitely in the cards. Dale Earnhardt Jr. continues to sit as he waits for his concussion symptoms to run their course. Jeff Gordon gets to continue his second farewell tour, while we await Chris Buescher passing David Ragan in the standings to make his Pocono win count in the standings. Should that happen, and there is no guarantee that it will, Kyle Larson would fall from a place in the Chase to 30 points out. Then it would come down to everyone outside pretty much requiring a win to make the post-season derby.

    Bristol is one of those tracks where you do not need much background info in order to simply enjoy the action. However, there are three storylines to follow. We will watch the duel between Buescher and Ragan. We will see if Ryan Newman, Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon, and Jamie McMurray can avoid disaster. Finally, we will be watching for who wins.

    Usually, the fans are the big winners at Bristol. While on Sunday, I plan to stand on flat ground to watch my son race in the morning, the night before, my goal is to sit on my fat ass to watch the boys and girl perform in Tennessee. Now, that is a plan of inaction to stick to.

    Here are our Hot 20 heading to Bristol.

    1. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 4 WINS (727 Pts)
    In NASCAR, “Sorry” is just another way of saying “Don’t kick my ass.”

    2. KYLE BUSCH – 4 WINS (670 Pts)
    This is a race that is destined to be won by a Busch brother, a Gibbs driver, or both.

    3. CARL EDWARDS – 2 WINS (653 Pts)
    Edwards could be that Gibbs driver. Would need to change name to Karl to be a Busch.

    4. DENNY HAMLIN – 2 WINS (620 Pts)
    Burnouts are fine. Tear ups are not. Just a reminder.

    5. MATT KENSETH – 2 WINS (600 Pts)
    Four of the top five belong to the Coach. Two years before room has to be made for Erik Jones.

    6. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 2 WINS (578 Pts)
    Crew Chief Chad Knaus says things will be just fine, and Knaus knows stuff.

    7. KEVIN HARVICK – 1 WIN (718 Pts)
    Jimmy Buffett was not wasting away at Margaritaville, he was hanging with Harv.

    8. KURT BUSCH – 1 WIN (689 Pts)
    Set rookie truck record with four wins in 2000. William Byron has beat that driving for Kyle.

    9. JOEY LOGANO – 1 WIN (652 Pts)
    Winner of last two Saturday night Bristol races looked a whole lot like this guy.

    10. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 1 WIN (612 Pts)
    Will be driving for the Mile High outfit for an additional two years.

    11. TONY STEWART – 1 WIN (389 Pts)
    One final helmet toss at Kenseth for old time’s sake?

    12. RYAN NEWMAN – 562 POINTS
    With a contract running out and the owner’s grandson ready to go, this Rocket needs to liftoff.

    13. CHASE ELLIOTT – 561 POINTS
    The only excuse you’ll get from Chase is if you ask him “why don’t you make excuses?”

    14. AUSTIN DILLON – 559 POINTS
    Took the free time to fulfill an engagement.

    15. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 550 POINTS
    Fishing for a Chase place, fishing in British Columbia with Dierks, Martin, and Clint.

    16. KYLE LARSON – 520 POINTS
    Was it the incident or was it A.J. that Kyle was calling “flat out stupid?”

    17. TREVOR BAYNE – 512 POINTS
    Bayne was in Ireland for a 70.3-mile Ironman race. Running I don’t get. Potato salad, I get.

    18. KASEY KAHNE – 509 POINTS
    It is good to have a couple of years left on a contract.

    19. RYAN BLANEY – 502 POINTS
    Iconic Wood Brothers ride will sport Virginia Tech colors on Saturday night.

    20. A.J. ALLMENDINGER – 486 POINTS
    Thought he was Ben Hur at Watkins Glen, and the drummer called for ramming speed.

    30. DAVID RAGAN – 295 POINTS
    Not surprising a NASCAR driver supports Trump. Hey, both believe walls are important.

    31. CHRIS BUESCHER – 292 POINTS (1 W)
    Sometimes the story of a race does not unfold near the front.