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Tag: Dale Earnhardt Jr

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Phoenix

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Phoenix

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Jeff Gordon: Gordon finished sixth at Phoenix in the rain-shortened Quicken Loans Race For Heroes 500.

    “Having already clinched my spot,” Gordon said, “I didn’t have to sweat the finish. I’m not the only driver who can say this, but ‘I handled my business at Martinsville.’”

    2. Kyle Busch: Busch finished fourth at Phoenix and claimed his spot in the Chase finale at Homestead. Busch will vie with Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. for the Sprint Cup title.

    “I signed an extension to keep M&M’s and Mars products on my car for the next several seasons,” Busch said. “You’ll see their names on the front of my car, the top of my car, and yes, the back of my car, so I’ll continue to be called a ‘candy ass’ by fellow drivers and fans alike.”

    3. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished second at Phoenix to lock up his spot in the finale at Homestead.

    “Thanks to the rain,” Harvick said, “my reign continues.

    “I will do anything to win my second Sprint Cup championship. And I mean that in the most literal sense. Whatever it takes, I will do it. That includes wrecking myself and wrecking others. I’m such a talented driver, I can do those things separately.”

    4. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex punched his ticket to Homestead with a 14th-place finish at Phoenix.

    “I made it,” Truex said, “and I didn’t even have to win or wreck Trevor Bayne intentionally to do so.”

    5. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished eighth at Phoenix, posting his 19th top 10 of the year.

    “Matt Kenseth met with Brian France after returning from a two-race suspension,” Hamlin said. “I’m sure what France told Matt was ‘quintessential B.F.,’ which is essentially the same as ‘quintessential B.S.’”

    6. Dale Earnhardt Jr: Earnhardt won the rain-shortened Quicken Loans Race For Heroes 500.

    “The skies opened,” Earnhardt said, “and for some drivers, the door closed. That’s the nature of Mother Nature when it comes to stock car racing.”

    7. Joey Logano: Logano finished third in the rain-shortened Quicken Loans Race For Heroes 500 at Phoenix. Needing a win to advance, Logano will have to wait until next year to seek his first Sprint Cup championship.

    “This was supposed to be my year,” Logano said, “but things got turned around when I ‘turned around’ Matt Kenseth.”

    8. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished ninth at Phoenix and finished eighth in the point standings.

    “We didn’t put a single Penske Racing driver in the finale at Homestead,” Keselowski said. “But we might put a single Joe Gibbs Racing driver into the wall at Homestead.”

    9. Kurt Busch: Busch finished seventh despite suffering a drive-through penalty for jumping the start of the Quicken Loans Race For Heroes 500.

    “You can’t beat the pole sitter to the starting line,” Busch said. “Much like I did when I accused Patricia Driscoll of being an assassin, I ‘jumped the gun.’”

    10. Carl Edwards: Edwards came home 12th at Phoenix and finished fifth in the points standings, just missing out on eligibility for the championship at Homestead.

    “Who’s wrecked more Chase hopes?” Edwards said. “The rain, or Matt Kenseth?”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Phoenix Quicken Loans 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Phoenix Quicken Loans 500

    From a rain delayed and a rain-shortened race in the Valley of the Sun, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 28th annual Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

    Surprising:  Two rookie crew chiefs had to make the tough calls that saw one of their drivers win the race and the other make the Chase.

    “We kind of knew that once past halfway we’d see a couple more cautions,” Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s rookie crew chief Greg Ives said after scoring the victory. “So that rain started to pop up again and we’re on two long green-flag runs there, and we just saw it coming.  We didn’t know if it was going to happen before we pitted or after, but we knew at some point it was going to happen, and we elected to kind of pit, be one of the first few to pit.”

    “I think somebody got us one lap early, and our pit selection at pit stall 33 there allowed us to, when the caution came out, finish our pit stop and cross the start-finish line and allowed us to be scored the leader.”

    Cole Pearn, Martin Truex Jr.’s rookie crew chief, called his driver to pit road when an unfortunate caution came out shortly thereafter. Truex was able to finish 14th, which was just good enough to secure his spot in the Championship four.

    “I was real concerned until I looked at the scoreboard, and I was like, okay, we’re going to be fine.  We’re going to be back on the lead lap if we get going here, and really the only guy we were racing was one car ahead of us, so we felt okay about it,” Truex said. “It’s definitely obviously an exciting day for everybody at Furniture Row Racing and me and just super proud of my team for the season we’ve been able to put together.”

    Not Surprising:  It was lucky 13 for Chevrolet as they secured their 13th consecutive Manufacturer’s Championship thanks to Dale Junior’s win.

    “Winning the Manufacturers’ Championship is one of the goals we set at the beginning of every season,” Jim Campbell, U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports said. “This award is the result of great teamwork by the owners, drivers, crew chiefs, crews and technical partners. Special thanks to the Chevrolet powertrain team, along with the engine shops at Hendrick Motorsports and Earnhardt-Childress Racing for delivering the right combination of power, fuel economy, and reliability throughout the entire season.”

    “Congratulations to everyone who has made this special achievement possible for Chevrolet.”

    Surprising:  The Sunoco Rookie of the Year race is surprisingly close with just one race remaining.   Brett Moffitt currently has 196 points while Matt DiBenedetto sits at 192 points in the rookie battle.

    DiBenedetto was the highest finishing rookie at Phoenix, finishing 28th while Moffitt finished 36th.

    Not Surprising:  Joey Logano was not the only driver who was hoping to see a restart before the rains came to end the race.

    “I think it would have been pretty interesting to see what Joey did on that restart, I will say that,” four-time champion and 2015 championship contender Jeff Gordon said. “But I didn’t want to get caught up in whatever was going to happen.”

    “I was going to do whatever I had to do try to win the race if I had a chance to restart,” Logano said after being bumped out of the battle for the Sprint Cup. “I guess it just wasn’t in the cards.”

    Surprising: Even after finishing runner-up at a track where he has so often dominated, Kevin Harvick was still trying to figure out whether he was on the right side or the wrong side.

    “We made great adjustments overnight and got that little bit of balance that we were looking for from practice. “Just the way that the caution fell, I didn’t get all my distance back on the racetrack under green and Dale (Earnhardt Jr.) was able to beat us out,” Harvick said. “But hey, you lose some and you win some like that.”

    “Sometimes you’re on the right side of it, and sometimes you’re on the wrong side of it. Today we were on the wrong side of it, but in the big picture we’re on the right side because we’re racing for a championship next week.”

    “So, I’m just really proud of everybody on our team.”

    Not Surprising:  Roush Fenway Racing had another bad day at the track in Phoenix. Greg Biffle was the highest RFR driver, finishing 25th.  Both Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. struggled as well, with Bayne suffering a pit road speeding penalty to finish 34th and Stenhouse involved in an incident with Joey Gase, limping home to a 41st place run.

    “That was disappointing,” Stenhouse said after the race.  “We had a decent run here earlier in the spring and I think we could have had a decent finish.  We will put this behind us and head to Homestead for the final race of the year. We’ve struggled this year, but my guys have never given up.”

    Surprising:  The Busch brothers were prime examples of making little mistakes, however, the end result was far from similar.

    Kurt Busch made a little mistake, jumping the initial start, for which he was penalized and had to serve a pass-through penalty. Busch recovered to finish seventh, but it was not enough to advance him to the final four.

    “I don’t even think it was a penalty,” Kurt Busch said after the race. “It’s not even a call in my mind.”

    “We had a great season. We won two races, sat on three poles,” Busch continued. “We did everything possible to put polish on a season like that and get out there with elbow grease and work hard at it. There is some tarnish that is sitting there, polish and polish and that is all I kept doing this whole year.”

    Brother Kyle Busch also made a little mistake, but his ended up being not so costly. Busch pitted too close to the wall and lost several positions, however, bounced back to finish fourth and advance to the final four.

    “I had a little mishap on pit road, just overshot my marks a little bit, being a little bit slick and got my guys too close to the wall, but past that we had a really good race car,” Kyle Busch said. “The M&Ms Camry was fast.  I felt like we had a good top-three, top-four race car and long runs seemed to be our friends and we got some of those tonight, so couldn’t be more pleased to finish where we did and be more pleased to go to Homestead.

    Not Surprising:  With his Chase hopes dashed, Brad Keselowski now has his hopes set on a high five.

    “It was a long day for everybody and to have it end like that wasn’t surprising.  We kept adjusting on it, but it’s a short race and who knows?  Maybe that last run we would have had something, but that’s not the way it played out,” the driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford said. “The highest we can get is fifth in points now, so I’d like to pull that off and take advantage of that opportunity when we get to Homestead next week.”

    The NASCAR season will now finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway with four surprisingly distinct storylines. Two of the contenders have already been champions, one Kevin Harvick looking to go back to back and one Jeff Gordon looking to close out his career with his fifth championship.

    The other two drivers in the Sprint Cup hunt could write the surprising storylines of being first-time champs, with Kyle Busch hoping to play the role of comeback kid and Martin Truex Jr. as the little engine that could.

    The 17th Annual Ford EcoBoost 400 will run on Sunday, November 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, in Homestead, Florida. And in less than a week, the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion will be crowned.

  • The Final Word – Earnhardt takes Phoenix unchallenged…in the end

    The Final Word – Earnhardt takes Phoenix unchallenged…in the end

    Once Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead at Phoenix, no one was going to catch him. Not a single driver even challenged him. Yet, there was still one vehicle that even the race winner could not pass. The pace car.

    While Junior was in the pits for a green flag stop, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Joey Gase collided on the track. Earnhardt rolled out first among those who had pitted, and when the rest of the field came in for servicing, Junior eventually circulated around to the front. More than twenty laps went by under caution, and before they could return to racing, the rains that had plagued the day returned. They went to a red flag, and soon the event was in the books, shortened by 90 laps. It marked Earnhardt’s third win of the season, albeit one segment too late to keep him in contention for the title.

    That title will go to one of four drivers. Kevin Harvick dominated the event, leading 143 laps, but lost it that final pit stop to finish second, yet he advances. Jeff Gordon, who was sixth on the day, already had a free pass after his Martinsville win. Kyle Busch was fourth, sending him through to Homestead a contender. Martin Truex Jr. was back in 14th but had enough in the bank to cash in for a title run.

    Joey Logano needed to win, and he was behind Harvick much of the way. However, third place would not cut it on Sunday. Kurt Busch jumped the start, got penalized, and though he was seventh in the end, it proved to be too little. Ninth was not good enough to advance Brad Keselowski while Carl Edwards was close, but he needed to finish seven spots up on Truex and wound up just a couple ahead.

    So, we know who the main characters in next weekend’s play shall be. In the end, we will be blessed with either a five-time champion as he ends his career, a two-time defending champion, a very talented driver ending a very trying campaign with his first, or a single-car team concluding a Cinderella season. I will be satisfied no matter the outcome.

    Meanwhile, Matt Kenseth returns after his two race exile. I wonder if Logano will again think it a smart move to bump him out of the way? I guess that all depends on how smart that driver is.

    The 2015 season concludes on Sunday at the track near Miami.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Texas

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Texas

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Jeff Gordon: Gordon finished ninth in the AAA Texas 500, earning his 19th top-10 result of the year.

    “I was given two ponies by Texas Motor Speedway as a retirement gift,” Gordon said. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do with them. As a soon to be retiree, I reckon I will just put them out to pasture.”

    2. Joey Logano: Logano blew a left-rear tire on lap 4, and the resulting damage sent the No.22 to the garage for major repairs. He finished 40th, 60 laps down, and will need a win at Phoenix to be among the final four eligible to win the Cup at Homestead.

    “Matt Kenseth was not on the track,” Logano said. “I never thought this statement would ever be uttered, but ‘You take away Matt Kenseth, you take away all the excitement.’”

    3. Kevin Harvick: Harvick recovered from two blown tires to finish third in the AAA Texas 500. He is third in the Sprint Cup points standings.

    “I also had to keep my hand on the shifter,” Harvick said. “That was to keep the car from popping out of gear. That goes to show that when Kevin Harvick faces adversity, he overcomes it. That was the case at Dover—I was backed into a corner, so I backed into a wall.”

    4. Kyle Busch: Busch finished fourth at Texas and holds the second spot in the points standings.

    “Sammy Hagar gave a pre-race concert in the Texas Motor Speedway infield,” Busch said. “I believe he was staring straight at me when he sang ‘I Can’t Drive 55.’”

    5. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski started on the pole and dominated, leading 312 of 334 laps, but lost the victory when Jimmie Johnson passed him for the lead late. Keselowski is sixth in the points standings.

    “I’ll likely need a win to advance,” Keselowski said. “My Penske teammate Joey Logano faces the same situation. We could finish 1-2. If that happens, one of us could be taking it home, while the other would be going home.”

    6. Carl Edwards: Edwards finished fifth in the AAA Texas 500, posting his seventh top 5 of the year.

    “NASCAR suspended Matt Kenseth for two races,” Edwards said. “Matt seemed to be enjoying himself, sitting at home, watching the race, and sending sarcastic tweets. I don’t think NASCAR can suspend him for wrecking Twitter.”

    7. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex lost his power steering while battling for the lead late in the race, and managed to hold on for an eighth-place finish.

    “I’m fourth in the points standings,” Truex said. “If I hold that position, I’ll likely have a spot in the finale at Homestead. That would mean a lot for our team because the Furniture Row Racing team certainly deserves a seat at the table.”

    8. Kurt Busch: Busch finished seventh in the AAA Texas 500, and is seventh in the points standings.

    “I’m on the brink of elimination,” Busch said. “That’s what Joey Logano said when he saw Matt Kenseth behind him at Martinsville. It’s also what a soon-to-be-assassinated mark says when my ex-girlfriend Patricia Driscoll puts the crosshairs on the target.”

    9. Dale Earnhardt Jr: Earnhardt finished sixth at Texas, posting his 21st top 10 of the year.

    “I’ve got top-10 finishes in the last three races,” Earnhardt said. “And that reminds me, you should try Diet Mountain Dew’s new flavor, ‘2 Little, 2 Late.’ It’s bittersweet.”

    10. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson passed Brad Keselowski on lap 331 and won his third straight race at Texas.

    “I may not be eligible for the Cup,” Johnson said, “but a win is a win is a win.”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: AAA Texas 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: AAA Texas 500

    From deep in the heart of the Lone Star State, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 11th annual AAA Texas 500.

    Surprising: There apparently is a new super power in NASCAR called ‘Mega Turn’. At least that was the power bestowed on race winner Jimmie Johnson by runner-up Brad Keselowski.

    “The 48 car had mega turn that last run and I couldn’t keep the turn and it kept pushing real bad,” the driver of the No. 2 Wurth Ford Fusion said. “I did everything I could to hold him off, but he was way faster that last run.”

    “Their team did a hell of a job and found speed and my team did a hell of a job too. We led 300-some laps and these debris yellows always favor someone and it wasn’t our day for them to favor us.”

    “It was a hell of a race.”

    This was Keselowski’s sixth top-10 finish at Texas and his 23rd top-10 finish of the season.

    Not Surprising: Given the fact that rain washed out both Cup practices, the saying ‘When it rains, it pours’ was definitely applicable at Texas, especially for Chase driver Joey Logano. Not only did his tire blow early in the race but one of his crew members had hot oil pour out of the car onto his face, causing him to take a quick trip to the infield care center.

    While the crew member was treated and released, Logano finished 40th and is now solidly in the basement of the Chase race, 69 points behind leader Jeff Gordon.

    “Sometimes you just have to roll with the punches,” the driver of the No. 22 AAA Insurance Ford said. “This team is strong. We didn’t take any wind out of our sails today and we showed how fast this thing was even after we crashed. I am very proud of our team.”

    “It is unfortunate that we finished how we did.”

    Surprising: After a weekend that was not so classy, this week’s race was filled with at least a few moments of class, from Jimmie Johnson racing Brad Keselowski fair and square without incident for the race win to Martin Truex Jr. acknowledging some hard racing with Keselowski with a handshake after the race.

    “I just like to race guys clean anyway, the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet said of Keselowski. “I kept working on him and working on him. He got real loose off (Turn) 2 and I had a big run off the top and I went for a big slide job down in (Turns) 3 and 4 and got the win.”

    And of the other classy act of the race, here is what eighth place finisher Martin Truex Jr. had to say of his close racing with Brad Keselowski.

    “We just rubbed a little bit there in the tri-oval,” the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet said. “No big deal at all. We were both racing hard. Good hard racing-rubbing a little. Rubbing is racing.”

    “It was fun.”

    Not Surprising: Although he is one of the younger drivers on the track, Erik Jones was spent and ready for some respite after running the third race of the weekend in substitution for Matt Kenseth in the No. 20 DeWalt Toyota.

    “I’m ready to take a day off, I don’t think I’ve ever run more than two races – the Truck and XFINITY race – in more than one weekend,” Jones said. “At this point, I’m feeling fine, but I can definitely feel it coming on. I’ll be worn out tonight.”

    “It was a fun weekend and I’ll do it again for sure next weekend. I’m looking forward to it, but it’s definitely busy and definitely hard on you. I’ll take a nice day off tomorrow.”

    Surprising: One would think that having two tires go down, as well as another shifter problem, would definitely have resulted in a near the bottom of the pack finish. Not so for one Kevin Harvick, who rallied back from all that to finish third in his No. 4 Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet.

    “I’ve never had to drive with one arm that long,” Harvick said. “I had to pay a lot more attention. The hardest part was my arm started to go to sleep and I had to let off on it to get the blood flowing again.”

    This was Harvick’s 14th top-10 finish in 26 races at Texas Motor Speedway.

    Not Surprising: Even veteran drivers, including one in his last season, can continue to be a student of the sport. Of course, that continuing education is greatly enhanced when that driver is also already guaranteed a spot in the final four of the Championship Chase.

    “I thought we learned a lot this weekend,” Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet said. “I think we certainly know that our cars are fast because our teammate won. At the same time, I think that we were here to execute and push hard, try to win, but also to just learn what we could. I thought we learned some stuff.”

    “Something good to build on and work on.”

    Surprising: While teammate Jeff Gordon was going to hug his teammate after the win, the two top finishing Toyotas were also actually cheering on competitor Jimmie Johnson for the race win.

    “For our situation, we wanted to see a guy that was not in the Chase win or a guy that we were racing right around us like the 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) and win the race,” Kyle Busch said after finishing fourth. “This M&M’s Crispy Camry was really, really fast today – just not fast enough. We fought hard, we did what we needed to do, we finished in the top-five and we got ourselves in a pretty good spot hopefully.

    “My guys never cheered so hard for Jimmie (Johnson), we needed that for the points going to Homestead,” Carl Edwards said after finishing fifth. “Our Sport Clips Camry – it was fast. It was really fast in the middle of the race. We were up to second and I thought we had something then it fell off at the end.”

    “This was a fun race to drive.”

    Not Surprising: Two drivers had some close encounters with the wall, with both manning up that it was due to driver error.

    “We had a good car and we were driving forward early and I got into the wall off four trying to pass somebody and cut a right front tire down,” Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 21 SNAP-ON Tools Ford said. “Hit the wall pretty hard in one and two and ruined our day. It is all my fault. I hit the wall all by myself and ruined a very fast race car.”

    “I was having too much fun out there and got loose, three-wide after a restart and tagged the wall real good and bent the car up pretty bad and knocked the rear deck lid off of it,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said after the race. “We got the chance to fix it and we just had a real fast car. I think we had the best car here. Just can’t hit the wall, but man we were just having fun, running hard. Got to do that every once in a while.”

    Surprising: Brian Scott continues to strut his stuff in the Cup Series. He had another top-15 finish, his second in his limited run in the series, finishing 14th in his No. 33 Shore Lodge Chevrolet. This was the first time in his Cup career that he has scored back to back top-15’s.

    Not Surprising: Demonstrating his dry wit and his own brand of humor yet again, Matt Kenseth won his own race, at least for one of the most re-tweeted Twitter postings after the race.

    “Good work @JimmieJohnson! Textbook pass for the win at the end of the race when someone is trying to take your lane. #quintessential”

  • Hot 20 – Kenseth to miss Texas and Phoenix after facing NASCAR justice (pending appeals)

    Hot 20 – Kenseth to miss Texas and Phoenix after facing NASCAR justice (pending appeals)

    Bad boy and bad girl. It would seem NASCAR is an equal opportunity disciplinarian, as both Matt Kenseth and Danica Patrick got slapped for aggressive driving at Martinsville. In short, they purposely ran into people with bad intentions.

    Gone for two, including the races in Texas and Phoenix, is Kenseth for taking out Joey Logano in mobster style last week. Nine laps down he plucked the front running Logano out of the mix and bulldozed him into the wall. As I write this, Kenseth is appealing his penalty, though I would be surprised if any change in his sentence is forthcoming.

    There are those hand ringers who figure this was an awful thing. I do not agree. In fact, I think I just became a Kenseth fan for life. The way I see it, all he did was tune in a mouthy little twerp who danced all over his accomplishment of knocking the former champ out of the way back in Kansas, robbing Kenseth of his best shot at continuing in the Chase. You do not celebrate causing another’s misfortune unless you want karma to come back and bite you in the ass.

    Now, you might suspect that I am no fan of Logano. That would be correct, but my feelings toward the man are based only on perception. If I knew him and ran into him on a weekly basis and could not stand him, that is one thing. The truth is, we have never met, and if I had the chance to sit down with Logano for a couple of hours over some adult pops, I might end up a fan of his for life, too. Instead, my feelings toward him, along with those of most of you, are based only on a perception, and that perception just leaves me ice cold.

    As for Patrick, her temper was anything but cold. It warranted her picking up a behavioral penalty for using her car to rearrange parts of that driven by David Gilliland at Martinsville. That cost her $50,000 and 25 points.

    Both penalties, by the way, are justified, though I do not condemn their actions. They felt they needed to do something, they did what they did, and now have to pay the piper. End of story.

    This column takes a break next week but returns to set the table as the boys and girl venture into Homestead to wrap things up for the season. Just in time to see the return of a certain bad boy to the track. My hero, at least for the moment.

    Our Hot 20 during the Chase, and only the Chase, to date include…

    1. JOEY LOGANO – 3 Wins, 265 Points
    Joey might be the best in the Chase, but Kenseth seemed more than able to chase him down.

    2. JEFF GORDON – 1 Win, 260
    Do you believe in fairy tales with happy endings?

    3. CARL EDWARDS – 257
    It has been seven years since he won his third at Texas.

    4. DENNY HAMLIN – 1 Win, 248
    Could have still been in the hunt himself except for Harvick’s actions at Talladega.

    5. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 247
    If NASCAR is going all “wild west,” shouldn’t that well suit a team from Denver?

    6. RYAN NEWMAN – 231
    Being outside the Chase, he shouldn’t feel the need to repeat last year’s move at Phoenix.

    7. KYLE BUSCH – 224
    Four Top Fives, including a win, in last five attempts at Texas, bodes well for Sunday.

    8. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 221
    How things change. Just a year ago the Feud of the Week involved Brad and Jeff.

    9. KURT BUSCH – 217
    Can pick either Kenseth or Keselowski to blame for his tribulations last week.

    10. DALE EARNHARDT JR. – 215
    Jeff cheered for winning, Matt cheered for creaming Logano, Junior cheered for being Junior.

    11. KEVIN HARVICK – 1 Win, 214
    After Matt’s little adventure, we did not hear much from Harvick. Trevor Bayne wonders why?

    12. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 201
    Not a contender but he has become relevant.

    13. RICKY STENHOUSE, JR. – 196
    Not among the Top Twenty heading into the Chase, but some groundwork is being laid for 2016.

    14. KASEY KAHNE – 195
    Four Top Tens during the Chase, but 19th at Talladega, 24th in Chicago, dead last at Charlotte.

    15. MATT KENSETH – 1 Win, 185
    I once thought Matt was as boring as white bread…but not anymore!

    16. GREG BIFFLE – 185
    The worst season of his career still the best Roush-Fenway has this year.

    17. ARIC ALMIROLA – 184
    Ranked 17th on the season, 17th during the Chase events. Not great, but he is consistent.

    18. KYLE LARSON – 184
    Newman’s berth to Homestead last year went through Larson…literally.

    19. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 181
    Are we there yet?

    20. PAUL MENARD – 177
    He always wanted to have the same success as Jimmie, but this is not quite what he envisioned.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Martinsville

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Martinsville

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Jeff Gordon: Gordon seized his opportunity at Martinsville, taking the lead late and holding on for his ninth win at the Virginia half-mile track. With the win, Gordon will be one of four drivers vying for the Sprint Cup at Homestead.

    “I can certainly identify with Joey Logano,” Gordon said. “Because we both ‘owe’ Matt Kenseth.”

    2. Joey Logano: Logano was dominating at Martinsville and seemed headed for his fourth straight victory, till Matt Kenseth intentionally wrecked Logano with 47 laps left. Logano finished 37th, 42 laps down.

    “It was a total coward move by Kenseth,” Logano said. “And I should know—I’m all yellow.

    “I’m furious, and so is my father Tom. He was redder than a Martinsville hot dog. He was so irate, he had to be restrained. And speaking of ‘restraint,’ that reminds me of my first memory of my father, when he duct-taped to the seat of a go-cart and said ‘Drive.’”

    3. Kevin Harvick: Harvick led 38 laps and finished eighth in the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500.

    “Once again,” Harvick said, “I made a move that kept my championship hopes alive. This time, however, instead of driving into the fray, I steered clear of controversy.”

    4. Kyle Busch: Busch finished fifth at Martinsville, and is second in the points standings with two races to go before the finale at Homestead.

    “I can’t wait to hear NASCAR’s response to the Matt Kenseth-Joey Logano incident,” Busch said. “In the ‘Boys, have at it’ age, and just weeks after Brian France used the term ‘quintessential NASCAR,’ it seems that NASCAR, just like Logano, was ‘asking for it.’”

    5. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished third at Martinsville, posting his 14th top-5 finish of the year.

    “I think we may need to look into updating the definition of the word ‘accident’ in this sport,” Hamlin said.

    6. Carl Edwards: Despite front-end damage suffered in an early accident, Edwards finished a solid 14th at Martinsville.

    “The crew did a good job of repairing the No. 19 Toyota,” Edwards said. “So good, in fact, that NASCAR wants some pointers on ‘damage control.’”

    7. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex led 27 laps at Martinsville and finished sixth at Martinsville.

    “NASCAR won’t stand for this type of vigilante justice,” Truex said. “NASCAR fans, on the other hand, well, they’ll not only stand, they’ll give it an ovation, as well.”

    8. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski was collected in an accident that sent him crashing into Matt Kenseth’s No. 20 Toyota. Keselowski’s No. 22 suffered major damage to the suspension, and he limped home with a 32nd-place finish.

    “I did not wreck Kenseth on purpose,” Keselowski said. “No, that’s not me quoting Joey Logano from Kansas. That’s me being honest, and, let’s face it, apparently NASCAR drivers can only be honest when they haven’t wrecked someone on purpose.”

    9. Kurt Busch: Busch was collected in a wreck after Brad Keselowski made contact with Matt Kenseth, sending Kenseth’s No. 20 into Busch’s No. 41. Busch finished 34th, 14 laps off the pace.

    “This means I’ll probably have to win one of the next two races,” Busch said. “That puts me in the same boat with three or four other drivers. And speaking of boats, if Matt Kenseth would have done what he did in a boat, he would be ‘docked.’”

    10. Dale Earnhardt, Jr: Earnhardt finished fourth at Martinsville as all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers finished in the top 12, with Jeff Gordon taking the win.

    “Am I surprised that Matt Kenseth took out Joey Logano?” Earnhardt said. “Of course not. This is NASCAR, in which most of the races take place on oval tracks. Just take a look at the cars turning laps on those tracks, and you’ll realize it’s easy to see ‘what goes around comes around.’”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500

    In race number 33 of the 2015 NASCAR season, here is what was surprising and not surprising after the completion of the 67th Annual Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

    Surprising:  It was a surprisingly rough day for the Ford Racing teams, with Aric Almirola as their highest finisher in the 16th position. And it was also a surprisingly difficult race for Ford’s Team Penske, with Brad Keselowski finishing 32nd and Logano finishing 37th after a controversial move into the wall by Matt Kenseth.

    “I got wrecked.  I don’t know. What am I supposed to say about it?” Logano said after he was wrecked while leading the race by rival Matt Kenseth.  “His race was over and he tried so hard to catch us the first time and he took out half the field, and he was successful the second time so I give that to him. It’s kind of a coward move.  Actually, a really coward move for a race car driver to do that, essentially someone as mature and an experienced race car driver that knows what this is all about.”

    Logano’s Ford and Team Penske teammate also had his own encounter with Matt Kenseth, which resulted in a less than satisfactory finish for the driver of the No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford.

    “I got hit from behind and pushed me into the 20 and my right-front wheel hit Kenseth’s left-rear and it just broke the right-front suspension off the car,” Keselowski said. “The car wouldn’t turn and just kept going straight until I couldn’t do anything and I started wrecking everybody.  I just didn’t have any steering wheel left.”

    Logano fell to the eight spot in the Eliminator Eight round and Keselowski fell to the sixth spot.

    Not Surprising:  At a track that has seen many highs and a major low with the loss of so many loved ones in that tragic plane crash, Hendrick Motorsports and their driver Jeff Gordon celebrated one of the highest of highs with a trip to Victory Lane.

    This was Gordon’s 93rd career victory and his ninth win at Martinsville Speedway. And the driver, running his last few races of the season, guaranteed that he will be one of the participants in the Chase for NASCAR’s Sprint Cup championship.

    “This is the sweetest, most amazing feeling,” the driver of the No. 24 AARP Member Advantages Chevrolet said. “I am so proud of this team. You want to talk about holding back emotions; right now man, wow, we’re going to Homestead!  I can’t believe it. What an incredible battle that was.”

    Surprising:  There were quite a few drivers craving illumination as the race at the track shaped like a paperclip came to a close.

    “It was dark!” Martin Truex Jr. said after finishing sixth in his No. 78 Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet.  “It was getting borderline where we had to quit, but I’m glad the fans got to see a good ending.”

    “I love Martinsville,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said after he took the checkered flag in the fourth spot. “But if we are going to run at night we need to put some damn lights up here.”

    Not Surprising:  The highest finishing Toyota drivers, Denny Hamlin in third and Kyle Busch in fifth, both had to overcome obstacles before taking the checkered flag in the top-5. Hamlin had not just one, but two speeding penalties and Busch hit a wet spot that had him spinning.

    “My race was eventful to say the least – two pit road penalties, my car wasn’t very good at all up until the very, very end and we just took a long time to get going,” Hamlin said. “It’s just part of it. This racing now is different now than what it used to be when I first came in the sport and its just survival of the fittest.”

    “I screwed us up early in the race and touched that water down there in turn one and spun out with the 3 (Austin Dillon) car so that was my bad,” Kyle Busch said. “I bent up the front end of the car and it was just never right from there on out, but we persevered and we just made the changes that we needed to make for this car for our conditions that we had. The M&M’s Crispy Camry there at the end was good enough for a top-five so I’m glad we finished there.”

    Although Hamlin was eliminated from the Chase after Talladega, Busch goes into the next Chase race in Texas in the second spot in the standings, just eight points behind leader Jeff Gordon.

    Surprising:  There was a great deal of apparent comradery at the back of the field, which resulted in at least two drivers working their way back up for top-ten finishes.  Both Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart had to start from the rear in backup cars and both finished well, in fact in ninth and tenth respectively.

    “Kasey (Kahne) and I both finished top-ten in backup cars,” Smoke said. “That was what was really cool; seeing two Team Chevy drivers come from the back like that. He and I both worked pretty good going through the pack there.”

    “I’m happy with it.”

    Not Surprising:  There was definitely ‘more to the story’ of Kurt Busch, who finished 34th after being involved in a wreck that was not of his doing. The driver of the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet debuted his new sponsor Monster Energy for the first time at Martinsville.

    “For us there is so much more to our story,” Busch said. “It’s been a fantastic season.  I’m really proud to debut a new sponsor in the Sprint Cup series with Monster Energy.  They were here today.  We led laps today we were up front.  Restarting third with a set of fresh tires and 70 laps to go I mean we were in perfect position.  We did our job we just didn’t have luck on our side.”

    Surprising:  Carl Edwards found himself in a foreign land at the end of the race, finishing 14th in his No. 19 XFINITY Toyota.

    “I thought it was going to be a top-10 there at the end,” Edwards said. “We struggled for a lot of the day, but really proud of all these guys. Our XFINITY Camry was fast at the end, maybe if we got tires – we were just in no man’s land, we didn’t know whether to get tires or not at the end.”

    “That was a crazy day.”

    Not Surprising:  While it might not have been the outcome he desired, the runner-up at Martinsville admitted that he would be leaving with the best of memories of the competition on the track.

    “For me, Jeff Gordon is the only die cast or T-shirt that I ever bought growing up before I made it to NASCAR,” Jamie McMurray, driver of the No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet, said. “So it was really a cool moment for me to get to battle with him on a green-white-checkered at Martinsville.”

    “I certainly wish it would have turned out a little bit differently.  But that’s a really good memory for me and a very good moment that I will not forget.”

    Surprising:  While many drivers were relieved after surviving Talladega, Kevin Harvick was thankful to end his time in Martinsville with an eighth place finish, especially after getting run into and suffering significant damage to his race vehicle.

    “Well, we didn’t score many points here last year,” Harvick said. “We were in a big hole leaving Martinsville. It’s very easy to get in a hole leaving here. I feel like Texas has been a very good race track for us as we’ve gone through the past couple of years at Stewart-Haas, and we all know how Phoenix has gone.”

    “So, we just need to have two more solid weeks and hopefully position ourselves well to have a chance to get to Homestead.”

    Not Surprising:  Who says NASCAR cannot be compared to stick and ball sports, especially given that the World Series is currently underway?  Well, driver Matt Kenseth did just that in his post-race comments after finishing 38th.

    “It’s a tough sport, some days you’re the bat and some days you’re the ball,” the driver of the very wrecked No. 20 Dollar General Toyota. “I was the ball a few weeks ago and I was the ball again today so that part is never fun.”

    The Sprint Cup Series will head deep into the heart of Texas for next weekend’s race, the AAA TEXAS 500, the second in the Eliminator Round.

  • Hot 20 – Gordon is a favorite to win at Martinsville, Truex and Kurt not so much

    Hot 20 – Gordon is a favorite to win at Martinsville, Truex and Kurt not so much

    The truth, sometimes it is a tough thing to nail down. Sometimes not. Truth is, Jeff Gordon should do well at Martinsville. In the past five events there, the retiring four-time NASCAR champ has a win and four Top Tens. Over the past dozen years, a span of 25 races, Gordon has failed to claim a Top Ten only three times. He finished 20th in the fall of 2010, 14th in the spring of 2012, and finished 12th in the fall of 2014. That leaves 22 Top Tens, 18 Top Fives, and five victories. You just cannot do better than that. The stats do not lie, and after taking ninth this spring, Gordon still has it. That is the truth.

    Sometimes, the truth is a little tougher to ascertain. A couple of years ago, a mysterious spin combined with a baffling call to the pits that briefly allowed a teammate to make the Chase caused controversy. Did Clint Bowyer intentionally spin his car? Bowyer denied it and Sprint Cup Series director John Darby is quoted as saying after the race that “I don’t think anybody realistically believes that was the case with the 15 car.” That tune changed quickly, as the truth appeared to be much more conspiratorial than NASCAR first thought. It cost Martin Truex Jr. a Chase position and his job, and he did nothing wrong. It cost Bowyer some credibility, it cost the team a major sponsor, $300,000 in fines and it possibly caused the eventual demise of Michael Waltrip Racing.

    Last weekend, did Kevin Harvick, with a car that was barely running, that was barely in the Chase, deliberately spin out Trevor Bayne to save his season at the cost of Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr.? No, says NASCAR. So, we have to accept that Harvick was telling the truth. I mean, not everyone lies to us in order to get out of a sticky situation.

    “I got out of the way, and I never even saw (Bayne) until he was by me.”
    Kevin Harvick 2015

    “I did not use performance enhancing substances as alleged in the notice of discipline…”
    Alex Rodriguez 2014

    “I had so much wheel, by the time I got to the gas, he was underneath me. I spun out.”
    Clint Bowyer 2013

    “I take these charges very seriously, and look forward to clearing my good name,”
    Michael Vick 2007

    “I’m not going to be the Alabama coach.”
    Nick Saban 2006

    “I have never had a single positive doping test, and I do not take performance-enhancing drugs.”
    Lance Armstrong 2004 (among others)

    “I did not have sexual relations with that woman”
    Bill Clinton 1998

    Sure, some may have misled us in the past, but would Kevin Harvick? Nah.

    Here are our Hot 20 over the past five events at Martinsville.

    1. JEFF GORDON – 5.4 AvFin – (1 WIN, 3 T5, 4 T10)
    Has averaged a Top Seven finish going back 45 races and 23 seasons. Expect good things.

    2. MATT KENSETH – 6.4 – (0-2-4)
    No pot of gold at the end of this rainbow, but should he come across Logano along the way…

    3. CLINT BOWYER – 6.8 – (0-2-4)
    Author of “The Secrets of My Success.” Harvick has a copy.

    4. DENNY HAMLIN – 8.8 – (1-1-3)
    You can take that damn roof hatch and…

    5. JOEY LOGANO – 9.8 – (0-3-3)
    Mr. Three-in-a-Row has never won at Martinsville, but his last three have been Top Fives.

    6. KYLE BUSCH – 11.2 – (0-1-1)
    Does not believe Gordon can win it all. Next we will hear how he does not like kittens.

    7. KEVIN HARVICK – 13.4 – (0-0-3)
    If Karma is on duty this weekend…

    8. GREG BIFFLE – 13.6 – (0-0-2)
    MWR refugee Brian Pattie to be his crew chief next season.

    9. DALE EARNHARDT JR. – 14.4 – (1-2-3)
    Best 21 finishes at Martinsville boasts a 6.3 average; his worst 10 finishes…27.7

    10. TONY STEWART – 14.5 – (0-1-1)
    What is probably no longer equates into what was.

    11. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 15.0 – (1-3-3)
    Used to own this place, but outside the Top 30 his last two attempts.

    12. CARL EDWARDS – 15.4
    Expected Harvick to get penalized after Talladega. He probably even expects a Top Ten Sunday.

    13. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 16.2 – (0-2-3)
    While his 2014 visits were a write-off, he was the runner-up last spring.

    14. ARIC ALMIROLA – 16.2 – (0-0-1)
    Raised in Daytona. I wonder where he got the racing bug?

    15. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 17.0 – (0-0-3)
    Looked decent last week, at least until he turned all smoky.

    16. PAUL MENARD – 17.6 – (0-0-1)
    Best non-Chaser last week, but Martinsville is really not his kind of place.

    17. DANICA PATRICK – 20.4 – (0-0-1)
    Never thought you would see her name on this list again this season, did you?

    18. KASEY KAHNE – 20.8 – (0-1-1)
    Best thing about Martinsville will be the trip home.

    19. KURT BUSCH – 21.2 – (1-1-1)
    Won in the spring last year, but has been outside the top dozen 16 of his past 17 starts here.

    20. CASEY MEARS – 22.6
    Had a pair of Top Tens at Martinsville in 2008. None since.

    22. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 24.2 – (0-0-1)
    Was sixth in the spring. That ought to count for something.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Talladega

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Talladega

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Joey Logano: Logano won the CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega, taking the checkered flag under caution for his third straight win.

    “Having already clinched my spot in the next round,” Logano said, “I knew it didn’t really matter what happened behind me. Of course, no one was saying ‘What happened?’ because everybody knew what happened.”

    2. Kevin Harvick: Running with an engine on the verge of blowing, Harvick’s slow No. 4 initiated a crash that forced the race to end under caution, and secured his advance to the next round.

    “I think it would be appropriate to quote Steve Urkel,” Harvick said, “and say, ‘Did I do that?

    “Don’t ask me if I meant to do it. For all intents and purposes, I’m still alive to win the Cup.”

    3. Kurt Busch: Busch finished 10th in the Campingworld.com 500, posting his 18th top-10 of the year. He advances to the Eliminator Round of the Chase.

    “That had to be the most unsatisfactory ending to a Talladega race ever,” Busch said. “And take it from me and any of my girlfriends—we know unsatisfactory endings.

    “I think, eventually, Kevin Harvick will admit he was wrong and do what’s right. As it is now, the only thing ‘right’ was his turn into Trevor Bayne.”

    4. Jeff Gordon: Gordon started on the pole at Talladega and finished third, easily advancing to the next round of the Chase.

    “Kevin Harvick’s actions were fishy,” Gordon said. “So fishy, in fact, they’re complaining about the smell in Denmark.”

    5. Carl Edwards: Edwards finished fifth at Talladega and joins Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch in the Eliminator Round of the Chase.

    “Things could get very interesting at Martinsville,” Edwards said. “The race is called the ‘Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500.’ There are some drivers that want revenge, which will bring them relief, and will cause headaches for their victims. Will there be punches thrown? As they say in the South, ‘I reckon.’ And Sunday will be a day of reckoning, and wreck-oning.”

    6. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex finished seventh at Talladega and secured his place in the Eliminator Round of the Chase.

    “For all the talk of speed at Talladega,” Truex said, “it took forever to run the final two laps.”

    7. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished fourth to safely advance to the next round of the Chase.

    “Kevin Harvick will have a blinking eye on the front of his car next week at Martinsville,” Keselowski said. “He should have had it last week because he ‘hoodwinked’ everybody.”

    8. Kyle Busch: Busch finished 11th and slipped into the Chase, taking the eighth and final spot in the Eliminator Round.

    “I did what I had to do,” Busch said. “That’s a statement, not an excuse.”

    9. Denny Hamlin: A malfunction with the roof flap on the No. 11 Fed Ex Toyota forced Hamlin to pit four times. He was caught up in the final restart crash, the result of which set his car ablaze. He finished 37th, four laps down, and tumbled out of the top eight in points.

    “That roof flap is there for me to exit the car quickly in case of emergency,” Hamlin said. “Ironically, I couldn’t get out of the car fast enough after the race.

    “Harvick wrecked his own car at Dover to stay in the Chase,” Hamlin said. “He wrecked the field at Talladega to stay in the Chase. He’ll have to answer to all the accusations saying he did it intentionally. I guess that’s why he’s ‘defending’ champion.”

    10. Dale Earnhardt Jr: Earnhardt finished second at Talladega after the final restart carnage caused when Kevin Harvick clipped Trevor Bayne. The caution came out just seconds before Earnhardt overtook Joey Logano for the lead. Earnhardt needed a win to advance to the next round of the Chase For The Cup.

    “Joey Logano took the checkered flag from race command and did some victory burnouts,” Earnhardt said. “I’m surprised Kevin Harvick didn’t do the same, with the yellow flag.”