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  • Hot 20 – After the Week We’ve Had, We Could Use a Little Good News From Michigan

    Hot 20 – After the Week We’ve Had, We Could Use a Little Good News From Michigan

    The news of late has been enough to make a clown cry. In fact, we just lost one of our most treasured entertainers, by his own hand. We have the tragedy involving Kevin Ward Jr. and Tony Stewart still on our minds. We have Martin Truex Jr.’s girlfriend facing health challenges.

    This has not been the best of weeks. You turn on your televison or check out Youtube and it does not get much better. Police lobbing tear gas at news crews in Missouri. One nation protecting its people with missiles while the other side protects its missiles with people. A tyrant threatening a neighboring country because he can. People streaming into another like it is “no pay and stay day” at Disneyland because some think that allowing them to do so is the right thing to do.

    I even sought escape in reality shows, with no luck. “America” just tossed out the best dancer on “So You Think You Can Dance” and I cannot begin to describe the talent tossed aside for crap on “America’s Got Talent.” It is enough to make Lewis Black go nuclear. Good Lord, we sure could use some positive diversions from all this damn reality.

    Just maybe Michigan will provide it for us. Might four time winner Greg Biffle lay claim to another and a Chase berth? Jack Roush’s organization could use a little good news today, an organization that will see a major sponsor and its best driver both fly away next season. Maybe Matt Kenseth could lock his way in with a third Michigan victory, even though a berth by points alone seems likely. Then again, one of those Hendrick boys might claim this thing again. Even Kasey Kahne has won there before. At least it would make some folks happier.

    Good news is that there will not be a single Cup driver in the Nationwide race. The bad news is that only 37 cars are entered to compete in the Ohio event. Only 28 trucks will run in the Camping World race at Michigan on Saturday. Kyle Busch will be competing, for you can never have enough races involving Kyle Busch.

    Maybe he just loves to race. Like Tony. Tony has won at Michigan before, but he will not be racing there on Sunday. With that, we’ve come full circle.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. has returned to where he was, a decade ago. In these standings, where we bump up the victor’s bonus from 3 to 25 points, he leads. In the official standings, he leads. Twice before at Michigan, at the end, he has led. Maybe a win by Junior, or Jeff, or Brad, or Jimmie, Joey, Matt, Carl or Kevin might help put a big ole smile back on this face. I sure hope so. It has been one hell of a week.

    1 –   Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 839 Points – 3 Wins
    2 –   Jeff Gordon – 812 – 2
    3 –   Brad Keselowski – 762 – 3
    4 –   Jimmie Johnson – 716 – 3
    5 –   Joey Logano – 715 – 2
    6 –   Matt Kenseth – 703 – 0
    7 –   Carl Edwards – 702 – 2
    8 –   Kevin Harvick – 689 – 2
    9 –   Ryan Newman – 645 – 0
    10 –   Kyle Busch – 637 – 1
    11 –   Kyle Larson – 635 – 0
    12 –   Clint Bowyer – 634 – 0
    13 –   Greg Biffle – 626 – 0
    14 –   Kasey Kahne – 622 – 0
    15 –   Austin Dillon – 616 – 0
    16 –   Marcos Ambrose – 584 – 0
    17 –   Denny Hamlin – 574 – 1
    18 –   Paul Menard – 574 – 0
    19 –   Brian Vickers – 573 – 0
    20 –   Jamie McMurray – 566 – 0

     

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Watkins Glen

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Watkins Glen

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Earnhardt finished 11th at Watkins Glen after an untimely late caution cost him any chance of winning. He passed Jeff Gordon to take over the lead in the Sprint Cup points standings, and now leads Gordon by four.

    “Let me point out,” Earnhardt said, “that at this point, points don’t mean much. Have I made my point?

    “It was a crazy day at Watkins Glen. A.J. Allmendinger proved that a one-car team can compete with the multi-car teams. Chances are that the ‘Dinger’ will be with a big-time team in the future. Instead of losing a ride, he’ll be pimping one.”

    2. Jeff Gordon: Gordon won the pole at Watkins Glen but faltered late after electrical issues sabotaged his chances. He eventually finished 34th and now trails Dale Earnhardt, Jr. by four in the Sprint Cup points standings.

    “There’s only one word to describe how you feel sitting in a car suffering from electrical issues,” Gordon said. “Powerless.

    “The weekend started on a high note. I won the pole on my son Leo’s birthday, and he couldn’t be happier. And can you blame him? What other adolecent has a Coors Lite Pole Award in his bedroom? Besides Kurt Busch?”

    3. Brad Keselowski: A promising start at Watkins Glen soured for Keselowski after brake issues relegated him to a 23rd-place finish, five laps down.

    “I’d rather have trouble stopping,” Keselowski said, “than trouble ‘going,’ which is a problem 72-year-old Morgan Shepherd deals with on a daily basis. At least that’s what Joey Logano tells me.”

    4. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson had a solid finish in sight before a spin on a lap 80 restart sent him hurtling back in the field. He finished a disappointing 28th.

    “Sunday’s race was stopped twice so repairs could be made after accidents,” Johnson said. “Chad Knaus radioed me during the delays and asked, ‘How’s the track look?’ I replied, ‘It’s fixed.’ And I fully expect that statement to be taken out of context.”

    5. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished ninth in the Cheez-It 355 At The Glen and remains winless on the year. He is third in the points standings, 70 behind Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    “Unless I can find a win in the next four races,” Kenseth said, “I’ll be starting at the bottom when the Chase For The Cup starts. Where my wins total is concerned, ‘V’ is for ‘void.’

    6. Joey Logano: Logano finished sixth at Watkins Glen, recording his 12th top 10 of the year.

    “Allmendinger ran a heck of a race,” Logano said. “I guess the competition was a lot like drug problems—he put it behind him.”

    7. Carl Edwards: Edwards finished fifth at Watkins Glen, posting his fifth top-five result of the year. He is sixth in the points standings, 115 out of first.

    “I had a good view of the A.J. Allmendinger-Marcos Ambrose battle,” Edwards said. “Allmendinger obviously knew the track well. He’s certainly done his homework. There’s probably only one circuit he knows better than Watkins Glen, and that’s the road to recovery.

    “It was a great day for the Cheez-It brand. They sponsored the race, as well as my No. 99 car. If the race in Sonoma is attended by the ‘wine and cheese’ crowd, then fans at the Glen should be called the ‘wino and Cheez-It’ crowd.”

    8. Ryan Newman: Newman crashed heavily with 34 laps to go at Watkins Glen, smashing a fence and causing the race to be stopped for over an hour while repairs were made. Newman finished 41st, 35 laps off the pace.

    “Race officials raised more red flags than the Mayfield family,” Newman said. “And I’m not happy with safety at the Watkins Glen track. It seems track officials need a crash course in safety.”

    “My former teammate Rusty Wallace was recently inducted into the Motorsports Hall Of Fame. I don’t know who told Rusty to ‘Go to Hall,’ but it sure as Hell wasn’t me.”

    9. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished seventh at Watkins Glen, posting his 11th top-10 result of the year.

    “Was God on AJ Allmendinger’s side at Watkins Glen?” Harvick said. “It certainly looked that way. If He was, AJ should change his name to ‘Amendinger.’”

    10. AJ Allmendinger: Allmendinger repelled the challenges of Marcos Ambrose on two late restarts to win the Cheez-It 355 At The Glen. The win guaranteed Allmendinger a spot in the Chase For The Cup.

    “Kimberly-Clarke Corporation renewed their sponsorship of my car,” Allmendinger said, “making the weekend even more satisfying for car owner Brad Daugherty and myself. Kimberly-Clarke produces the Kleenex, Scott, Viva, and Cottonelle brands, and that means Sunday was a great day for white paper and black hillbillies.

    “Of course, this doesn’t mean I’m a ‘paper’ champion. It does mean I’m well equipped to wipe up the competition.”

  • Hot 20 – Chase Races Should be Reserved for Only Championship Contenders

    Hot 20 – Chase Races Should be Reserved for Only Championship Contenders

    On the track, everything is just hunky dory for Dale Earnhardt Jr. For our money, he sits as the best on the season to this point, but there are a couple of storm clouds just over the horizon. Steve Letarte moves from crew chief to a pretty face on television next season, and the National Guard might be heading into the sunset with him. To be honest, we have long known about one, and have had suspicions about the other. Still, for you and I, these questions marks do not need to bother us until next year. We got a championship run to cheer on.

    The championship. Once, the best at the end of the year was given the crown. Then we got the Chase, and it was a race between ten to a dozen contenders as it evolved, with more than 30 without a ghost of a shot still out there over the final ten weeks. Now, we go with 16 drivers, whittle them down by four every three weeks, until only four of the 43 who will take to the track at Homestead are still in contention, with winner (or the best of the four that day) take all.

    We have not quite reached perfection just yet, though the change in the points system itself is about as close as it gets. Start, you get a point, and win you get 43 plus one for leading the last lap, one for leading the most laps and three as an extra bonus for winning. Not bad, but as I suggest in these rankings I would bump that bonus from three to 25.

    As we have seen, a win and you are in gives teams an immunity for bad behavior as long as they retain credit for the victory and stay amongst the Top 30 in the standings. This season, that means compiling an average of just 16.5 points per race, or being somewhere between 26th and 27th each week. Teams that can not do that simply do not matter. A win has put Denny Hamlin, Aric Almirola, and Kurt Busch into a shot at contention, even though all sit outside the Top 20 in points. They would slip in, forcing the likes of Kasey Kahne, Austin Dillon, and Paul Menard out into the cold. Personally, I would rather give a larger points bonus, and not a free pass to single race winners, so I might see real contenders vie for the title rather than pretenders who had good fortune just for one day.

    Why quit there? The Cup series has run 36 points races per season only since 2001. It was between 28 and 33 events between 1972 and 1998. So, let us cut it off at 31, then let the top 20 vie for the championship in a five race playoff. A real post-season, just like all those other big boy leagues, with just twenty contenders on the track and the rest stay home. So, what happens if one driver runs away with it over the final five? Give him or her the damn title and celebrate. Sometimes those other kids see their championships decided in four game sweeps. They seem to survive it.

    *Win bonus expanded from 3 to 25

    1 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 806  Points – 3 Wins
    2 – Jeff Gordon – 801 – 2
    3 – Brad Keselowski – 753 – 3
    4 – Jimmie Johnson – 699 – 3
    5 – Joey Logano – 677 – 2
    6 – Matt Kenseth – 668 – 0
    7 – Carl Edwards – 662 – 2
    8 – Kevin Harvick – 652 – 2
    9 – Ryan Newman – 642 – 0
    10 – Kyle Busch – 633 – 1
    11 – Clint Bowyer – 617 – 0
    12 – Kyle Larson – 595 – 0
    13 – Greg Biffle – 590 – 0
    14 – Kasey Kahne – 589 – 0
    15 – Austin Dillon – 588 – 0
    16 – Paul Menard – 562 – 0
    17 – Denny Hamlin – 554 – 1
    18 – Marcos Ambrose – 541 – 0
    19 – Brian Vickers – 539 – 0
    20 – Tony Stewart – 537 – 0

     

     

  • Army National Guard to End NASCAR and IndyCar Sponsorship After Current Season

    Army National Guard to End NASCAR and IndyCar Sponsorship After Current Season

    The Army National Guard announced Wednesday night via a press release posted on their website, that they will make considerable changes to their motorsports sponsorship programs. These changes will include “an end to its sponsorship of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Graham Rahal in the Indy Racing League (IRL).”

    The release further stated that the sponsorship contracts are due to expire “at the end of the current season.” A statement issued by Hendrick Motorsports Wednesday indicates a different contract expiration date.

    “Our team has a contract in place to continue the National Guard program at its current level in 2015. We have not been approached by the Guard about potential changes and plan to honor our current agreement.”

    Bobby Rahal, co-owner of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing with David Letterman and Mike Manigan released the following statement.

    “We were informed this afternoon that the National Guard will end all sponsorship of motorsports, including both IndyCar and NASCAR at the conclusion of the 2014 seasons. This is obviously very disappointing news to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing given the significant incremental brand exposure we have worked to produce for the National Guard in our first season together, including various off-track marketing and advertising programs focused on supporting the mission set forth.

    “We will continue to work hard to uphold the honor and integrity of the National Guard throughout the remainder of the season. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing would like to thank the National Guard for allowing us the privilege of representing some of the finest men and women, those ‘citizen soldiers’ that protect our freedoms and safety each and every day… as we Focus Forward!”

    Major General Judd H. Lyons, acting Director of the Army National Guard cited budgetary reductions as the reason behind this decision, explaining, “Significantly constrained resources and the likelihood of further reductions in the future call for more innovative and cost-effective ways of doing business.”

    The Army National Guard currently spends $32 million on its NASCAR sponsorship and $12 million on its IndyCar sponsorship. Their fiscal budget for 2015 is expected to be approximately half of what it was in 2012. As a result of reduced resources, they are now looking for more efficient methods to aid in recruitment.

    The Guard has come under intense political scrutiny in recent years over its motorsports sponsorship programs. In May, the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee on financial and contract oversight again questioned the effectiveness of these programs.

    Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Mo) was one of the most vocal, saying, “The facts speak for themselves. The data is very clear. You are not getting recruits off NASCAR. This is data that you gave us.”

    However, Lt. Colonel Christian Johnson, head of Army Guard marketing, believes the sponsorship has netted positive results.

    “As part of a broad recruitment marketing strategy, motorsports partnerships, including NASCAR, played an important role in helping the National Guard build strong brand awareness and in turn helped us achieve extraordinary recruiting and end-strength objectives over the past decade.”

    “Our NASCAR sponsorship was principally a marketing program, intended primarily to build awareness of the National Guard as a career option,” added Johnson. “The NASCAR sponsorship allowed the National Guard to leverage a 77 million fan base and the sport’s most popular driver.”

     

  • The Final Word – Daytona and Talladega I get, but Junior is the King of Pocono?

    The Final Word – Daytona and Talladega I get, but Junior is the King of Pocono?

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. is having a rather pleasant season thus far. On Sunday, he swept the season series at Pocono, upped his count to three wins this term, tops the standings, and is second only to Jeff Gordon in accumulated points. No bad at all.

    Gordon actually had the car to beat on the day, leading the most laps, but with 39 to go he stayed out while Junior hit the pits. That allowed his teammate to gas and go with 10 remaining, while Gordon required full service, and that was that. Gordon finished sixth, leaving Kevin Harvick to fill up Junior’s rear view as they ticked down to the end, with Harvick claiming the runner-up spot.

    Three years ago at Sonoma, Brian Vickers had enough of Tony Stewart and wound up parking Smoke atop a stack of tires. On Sunday, Vickers again caused Stewart to end up jacked up, though not intentionally. Denny Hamlin lost traction, almost spun, causing Vickers to ponder evasive action. That was enough to send his car into Matt Kenseth, which caused one heck of a mess behind them, including Stewart parked atop Paul Menard’s ride.

    That meant Stewart failed to get his much needed win. Kenseth remains the points leader amongst the winless. Menard needs a win, not another car. Jimmie Johnson has his three wins, but tire woes meant wall woes as he was done in 39th. Kyle Busch does not smoke, but his car did after 20-odd laps to leave him 42nd. As for Ms. Patrick, she failed to make it over the Danica-line as she came home 30th. She was a solid Top-10 early but smacked the wall, which caused her tire to blow a lap later, which pretty much shot the handling after that. Just another day in paradise.

    This Sunday, Watkins Glen provides the test, where Patrick finished 20th in her first attempt. Marcos Ambrose won there in 2011, and he sure could another one this weekend. Same goes for Stewart, who has claimed it five times. Both usually do quite well turning left and right, while a win would turn one of them right into a place in the Chase.

    THE SWEET SIXTEEN

    1 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 3 Wins – 740 Points
    2 – Brad Keselowski – 3 – 687
    3 – Jimmie Johnson – 3 – 633
    4 – Jeff Gordon – 2 – 757
    5 – Joey Logano – 2 – 633
    6 – Carl Edwards – 2 – 618
    7 – Kevin Harvick – 2 – 608
    8 – Kyle Busch – 1 – 611
    9 – Denny Hamlin – 1 – 532
    10 – Aric Almirola – 1 – 506
    11 – Kurt Busch – 1 – 488
    12 – Matt Kenseth – 0 – 668
    13 – Ryan Newman – 0 – 642
    14 – Clint Bowyer – 0 – 617
    15 – Kyle Larson – 0 – 595
    16 – Greg Biffle – 0 – 590

    CONTENDERS & PRETENDERS
    17 – Kasey Kahne – 0  Wins – 589 Points
    18 – Austin Dillon – 0 – 588
    19 – Paul Menard – 0 – 562
    20 – Marcos Ambrose – 0 – 541
    21 – Brian Vickers – 0 – 539
    22 – Tony Stewart – 0 – 537
    23 – Jamie McMurray – 0 – 536
    24 – Casey Mears – 0 – 487
    25 – A.J. Allmendinger – 0 – 477
    26 – Martin Truex, Jr. – 0 – 477
    27 – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – 0 – 423
    28 – Danica Patrick – 0 – 396
    29 – Justin Allgaier – 0 – 371
    30 – Michael Annett – 0 – 347
    31 – David Gilliland – 0 – 312
    32 – Cole Whitt – 0 – 305

     

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Pocono

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Pocono

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Earnhardt used a no-tire pit stop to take the lead and subdued the challenge of Kevin Harvick down the stretch to win the GoBowling.Com 400 at Pocono. The victory completed Earnhardt’s season sweep at the “Tricky Triangle” and was his third win of the year.

    “That’s the first season sweep at Pocono since Denny Hamlin’s in 2006,” Earnhardt said. “Normally, I would celebrate with a broom, but I can’t. I developed an aversion to brooms when I discovered that Teresa Earnhardt rode them.

    “The fans of Junior Nation will certainly party. I’m not sure they’re that into bowling, though. They couldn’t tell you anything about PBA, but they sure know a lot about PBR.”

    2. Jeff Gordon: Gordon led a race-high 63 laps at Pocono but fell victim to lack of track position and some untimely cautions, finishing sixth. He remains atop the Sprint Cup points standings with a 17-point lead over Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    “Junior’s No. 88 car had the name ‘Michael Baker’ all over it,” Gordon said. “That had to be a new experience for Earnhardt. It’s not often people see the No. 88 car and have to ask, ‘Who is that?’”

    3. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski survived an unlucky day at Pocono, salvaging a 23rd-place finish, one lap down to the leaders. Keselowski damaged the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford with after contact with Kurt Busch on lap two, then was an unwilling participant in the lap 117 “Big One.”

    “Thanks, Kurt Busch,” Keselowski said. “Just like the last race at Pocono, I had a run-in with a ‘piece of trash.’”

    4. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson suffered two blown tires, the last of which sent him into the wall, ending his day at Pocono on lap 111. He finished 39th, 49 laps down.

    “We’ve had our share of tires issues this season,” Johnson said. “It’s not a big deal to us. That’s called ‘underinflating’ the severity of an issue, just the opposite of what Goodyear thinks.

    “We’ve finished 39th or worse in three of the last five races. But don’t count us out once the Chase starts. Chad Knaus has a lot of things up his sleeve, including a sandbag of tricks.”

    5. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth was collected in a lap 117 pileup triggered when Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin got loose, causing Brian Vickers to check up and create mayhem behind him. Thirteen cars were involved in the accident and Kenseth finished 38th.

    “It was the GoBowling.Com 400,” Kenseth said, “and I’d like to pin the blame on Hamlin. But congratulations go to Dale Earnhardt Jr. He deserves to celebrate, not in Victory Lane, but in Victory Alley.”

    6. Joey Logano: Logano led 30 laps and posted a strong third-place finish at Pocono, earning his eighth top-five of the year. He is seventh in the points standings, 124 behind Jeff Gordon.

    “Richard Petty was the grand marshal for the GoBowling.Com 400,” Logano said. “In the Poconos, they call that being the ‘King Of The Mountain.’

    “I’ve always had a ton of respect for Petty. Now I’ve got even more after realizing he raced against Morgan Shepherd for over 20 years and lived to tell about it.”

    7. Carl Edwards: Edwards finished a disappointing 29th at Pocono as Dale Earnhardt Jr. raced to the win. He is eighth in the points standings, 139 out of first.

    “I’m going to blame this on a preoccupation with thoughts of where I’ll be driving next year,” Edwards said. “As was evident at Pocono, my mind was racing, but I wasn’t.”

    8. Ryan Newman: Once again, Newman was solid for Richard Childress Racing, taking eighth in the GoBowling.Com 400.

    “It was an otherwise tough day for RCR,” Newman said. “Austin Dillon finished 15th while Paul Menard finished 33rd, under Tony Stewart’s No. 14 after that big wreck on lap 117. I hear it’s no fun looking up and seeing Stewart on top of you. But at least Tony was awake.”

    9. Kevin Harvick: Harvick chased Dale Earnhardt Jr. for three laps after the final restart at Pocono, but couldn’t get around the No. 88 car. Harvick settled for second, his fourth runner-up finish of the year.

    “After a pit road speeding penalty and damage from the lap 117 wreck,” Harvick said, “I was ‘Happy’ to be in that position.”

    10. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer finished fourth in the GoBowling.Com 400, boosting his Chase For The Cup chances with five races left until the playoffs. He stands ninth in the Sprint Cup points standings, 140 out of first.

    “No team needs a win more than Michael Waltrip Racing,” Bowyer said. “I think all we need is a lively pep talk from Michael. And I think that should work. Everybody knows Michael makes a great cheerleader.”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Pocono GoBowling.com 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Pocono GoBowling.com 400

    From the impact of crew chief suspensions inspired by the No. 11 Denny Hamlin penalty to the forecasted rain that never reared its ugly head, here is what else was surprising and not surprising in the 41st Annual GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway.

    Surprising: They may have swept Pocono for the first time since Denny Hamlin did it in 2006 and also scored their third victory of the season, but what Dale Earnhardt Jr. and crew chief Steve Letarte were most eloquent about after the race was their praise for the positive impact of team owner Rick Hendrick on their lives.

    “I just told him thanks for believing in me and making my life better,” Dale Jr. said of the call he made to Mr. H. in Victory Lane. “He has that effect on all the people that work for him. He makes everybody’s life better.”

    “He put me with Steve and I think that Steve was in a place where he was looking for something new and I was definitely needing something new, and it worked out,” Earnhardt Jr. continued. “I was, it was a touch and go there for a while, but we have worked, we have done some good things together and we have continued to get better and we finally are realizing that potential and doing the things on the racetrack that we dreamed about doing when we first started working together.”

    “Mr. Hendrick has helped me become a better person, put me around people that influence me to be a better person, so just want him to know that I appreciate it.”

    “He’s the kind of guy that through the low times in your life you can lean on and you don’t worry about talking to him about it,” crew chief Steve Letarte said of Mr. H, in support of his driver’s opinion. “He’s given me a tremendous amount of advice without probably ever even knowing it. He’s just that kind of guy.”

    “People don’t work at Hendrick Motorsports because we win races, people work at Hendrick Motorsports because they want to work for Rick Hendrick and that’s a big difference.”

    Not Surprising: Jeff Gordon may not have won the race in spite of leading 63 laps, but he did achieve two career milestones as a result of his sixth place run in the GoBowling.com 400. The driver of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet broke the 24,000 career laps led mark and also achieved the milestone of leading 1,000 laps at Pocono Raceway.

    “I’m really happy with the way our car performed,” Gordon said. “It’s just so awesome and encouraging and has got my confidence sky high. And I just can’t wait to get to the next race.”

    Surprising: Tony Stewart and Paul Menard had a close encounter of the on-top-of-each-other-yet-again kind after a multi-car pileup on Lap 118.

    “I told Tony the last time we did that was about two years ago at Talladega,” Menard, driver of the No. 27 Certainteed/Menards Chevrolet, said. “So, we have got to stop doing that.”

    “Yeah, I tend to end up on Paul (Menard) a lot,” Stewart said, followed by a quick clarifying statement. “Car wise, our cars tend to end up on top of each other for some reason.”

    “I think that is the second time I’ve landed on top of him,” Smoke continued. “This time at least we weren’t’ looking windshield in at each other.”

    Not Surprising: For at least one driver, who officially locked himself into the Chase with his second place Pocono finish, there were lessons to be learned at the Tricky Triangle.

    Kevin Harvick described his team’s biggest lesson learned as the ability to scramble after suffering damage in the multi-car wreck that sent their car into a drain and then the wall.

    “Well, I think today was very important,” the driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Chevrolet said. “We didn’t have the car that we wanted, I felt like we had a top three car today, we were going to need track position and things were not really going well.”

    “They were able to fix the car after we wrecked it,” Harvick continued. “So that’s what we talked about as we came back from the break was just scrambling, being able to scramble and get a finish of some sort to get something out of a day.”

    “That’s what you’re going to have to do the last 10 weeks and today we were able to accomplish that and hopefully this is a good sign of things to come.”

    Surprising: Danica Patrick and Jimmie Johnson had one surprising thing in common at Pocono. Both of their races were pretty much ruined by tire issues, which coincided with hitting the wall issues as well.

    Six-time champ Johnson had his tires go down twice, once early in the race and the second time on lap 113, sending him into the wall.

    Patrick actually hit the outside wall first on lap 14, which resulted in a severe tire rub. Just one lap later, her right-rear tire failed as she was trying to make her way to pit road.

    Johnson finished 39th and Patrick ended her day in the 30th spot.

    “Unfortunately, we had some trouble early and were able to really rally back and get ourselves in the top-five,” the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet said. “So disappointed for sure, but really unclear as to what happened going into Turn 2. The car went straight down into the Tunnel Turn.”

    “I feel so badly that I started the problems when I hit the fence there in Turn 2,” the driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet said. “I just wish I would have been smart enough to bring our GoDaddy Chevy to pit lane as soon as it happened, but sometimes tire rubs seem worse than what they are, so I stayed out there and we lost the tire.”

    “I’m really disappointed, and I know all the guys are, too.”

    Not Surprising: After scoring the pole with a new Pocono track record of 183.438 mph and 49.063 seconds, it was not surprising for rookie Kyle Larson to yet again score Rookie of the Race honors with his 12th place race run.

    NASCAR Camping World Truck race winner and Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Austin Dillon finished in the 15th position as the next highest rookie runner.

    Surprising: While Kyle Busch is quite often the dominant Toyota, the driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing, exited early with some sort of engine issue and Clint Bowyer instead led the charge in his No. 15 RK Motors Charlotte Toyota Camry, finishing 4th.

    “We had a good car all weekend and we unloaded good,” Bowyer said. “I’m proud of (Brian) Pattie (crew chief) and all these guys that work so hard.”

    “It’s the work during the week, day in and day out, that makes the difference when you come to these weekends and it’s good to be getting a good finish.”

    Not Surprising: Denny Hamlin, sans his regular crew chief Darian Grubb, deemed his substitute crew chief Mike Wheeler good after a top-10 finish at the Tricky Triangle.

    “You know, he (Mike Wheeler) did a really good job,” the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota said. “He called the race nice. Good communication and we were on the same strategy as far as what I was thinking and what he was thinking so that was good.”

    “So really pretty seamless for the most part.”

    Surprising: Matt Kenseth’s predictions of Pocono not being the best track for him came true when he finished a disappointing 38th after having his car destroyed in the Pocono version of the ‘Big One.’

    “It’s never been a wonderful track for me,” Kenseth said prophetically prior to the race. And after the race, he simply said. “We just got all collected.”

    Not Surprising: There was at least one driver that was ready to accept his 15th place finish and head on to the road course at Watkins Glen for next weekend’s race.

    “If you had asked me at the start of the day would I take a top-15 finish, I would have said yes but it was just a little frustrating there at the end,” Marcos Ambrose, driver of the No. 9 DeWalt Ford Said. “We had some issues and I probably let a few spots go, but we’ll keep digging and keep working on it.”

    “It’s frustrating for all of us to not be as competitive at these downforce tracks as we want, but we’ve got a good one next week coming up and hopefully we can get rolling there.”

  • Dale Earnhardt Jr. Wins and Sweeps at Pocono Raceway

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. Wins and Sweeps at Pocono Raceway

    In 2006 it was Denny Hamlin. This time around, it was Dale Earnhardt Jr. who won for the second time this year at Pocono Raceway, effectively sweeping the season. Earnhardt picked up his third win of the season and his 22nd career victory in NASCAR’s most elite series. The last time he swept a race was in 2002 at Talladega Superspeedway.

    Earnhardt credited the win to a team effort led by crew chief Steve Letarte saying, “Steve did a great job, really, with his strategy to get in that position. We’re not in that position just on car alone. We had a fast car and I drove a good race, but Steve’s strategy gave us a chance to win.”

    Letarte cited the work the team has done since their first visit to the track earlier this season.

    “I feel we unloaded a better car for the second Pocono than we did the first Pocono,” he said. “You cannot ever assume a winning car is going to be good enough the next week. While we were excited to win (in June) and we’ll take it, there was room for improvement, so we worked very hard between that race and this race.”

    Coming in second in the GoBowling.com 400 was Kevin Harvick who definitely had his fair share of battles today, and third was Joey Logano.

    The dominant car of the race was Jeff Gordon. After leading a race-high 63 laps, the No. 88 team strategy bested Gordon, and ultimately left the five-time Brickyard winner to finish a disheartening sixth place. Fortunately for Gordon and his fans, he was able to maintain the regular season points lead.

    The race started when there was nearly a caution on lap one when Brad Keselowski almost lost his car after Kurt Busch attempted a pass of the No. 2 car. Fortunately, the race continued on smoothly until Jimmie Johnson encountered his first problem of the day.

    The first caution of the day came when debris was reported on the track after Johnson brushed the wall and as soon as he went down, a tire blew. The 48 team went a lap down but almost immediately regained it when yet another caution came out.

    Danica Patrick brought out the second caution while running in 10th as she clipped the wall which resulted in a blown tire.

    Another two cautions were brought out and Kyle Busch’s day ended early when he encountered engine issues. After that, the race remained relatively quiet, despite the fact that there were three different pit strategies going on by the time that Johnson hit the wall and ruined his day.

    On the restart, Denny Hamlin got a little loose which caused a 13 car accident that was reminiscent of what you would expect to see on a superspeedway like Talladega or Daytona. Cars that ran so well earlier in the day suddenly found themselves behind the wall. Drivers like Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, and Carl Edwards found themselves out of the running.

    Another driver involved in the accident was race runner-up Kevin Harvick.

    Under this caution, eventual race winner Earnhardt chose to pit, making it so he would only have to pit once more and only for a splash of gas when the time arose.

    When the race restarted on lap 126 drivers were wary of gas, and it turns out that that wouldn’t be an issue, as the race went on to have two more cautions. On the first one, Earnhardt was able to take the lead for the first time and after the second caution, he was able to hold off a hard charging Harvick with three laps to go, and take the win.

    The fourth place finisher was Clint Bowyer who ran strongly throughout the entirety of the race and fifth place went to Greg Biffle.

    Jeff Gordon retains the points lead by 17 over second place Dale Earnhardt Jr. Brad Keselowski (-70) is third followed by Matt Kenseth (-89) and Ryan Newman (-115).

    Complete Results for the GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway:

     

    Position Car No. Driver
    1 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
    2 4 Kevin Harvick
    3 22 Joey Logano
    4 15 Clint Bowyer
    5 16 Greg Biffle
    6 24 Jeff Gordon
    7 1 Jamie McMurray
    8 31 Ryan Newman
    9 11 Denny Hamlin
    10 5 Kasey Kahne
    11 42 Kyle Larson
    12 13 Casey Mears
    13 41 Kurt Busch
    14 9 Marcos Ambrose
    15 3 Austin Dillon
    16 51 Justin Allgaier
    17 38 David Gilliland
    18 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    19 34 David Ragan
    20 83 Ryan Truex
    21 26 Cole Whitt
    22 7 Michael Annett
    23 2 Brad Keselowski
    24 98 Josh Wise
    25 32 Travis Kvapil
    26 37 Dave Blaney
    27 36 Reed Sorenson
    28 33 Alex Kennedy
    29 99 Carl Edwards
    30 10 Danica Patrick
    31 23 Alex Bowman
    32 78 Martin Truex Jr.
    33 27 Paul Menard
    34 47 AJ Allmendinger
    35 43 Aric Almirola
    36 14 Tony Stewart
    37 55 Brain Vickers
    38 20 Matt Kenseth
    39 48 Jimmie Johnson
    40 66 Joe Nemechek
    41 40 Landon Cassill
    42 18 Kyle Busch
    43 93 Johnny Sauter
  • Earnhardt Jr. Holds off Harvick to Complete Sprint Cup Season Sweep at Pocono

    Earnhardt Jr. Holds off Harvick to Complete Sprint Cup Season Sweep at Pocono

    News – NSCS Recap
    August 3, 2014

    LONG POND, Pa. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. realized that it took a bit of luck for him to win at Pocono Raceway in June. But he knew his team was firing on all cylinders Sunday when he completed the season sweep.

    Benefitting from impeccable pit strategy, Earnhardt led the final 14 laps and a car with the performance to hold off Kevin Harvick on a restart with three laps to go to ring up his third victory of the 2014 season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series GoBowling.com 400.

    “It wasn’t about luck this time,” said Earnhardt, who roared past Brad Keselowski in the June race after Keselowski caught a piece of trash in his grill and began to overheat.

    Earnhardt credited crew chief Steve Letarte and his team for not resting on their laurels at Pocono.

    “We were determined to go home from the last win and improve the car,” Earnhardt said. “Steve and the guys studied and improved the setup. We had a little luck on the win the last time with Keselowski having the debris and we wanted to be in the driver’s seat this go-round with a faster car.”

    Letarte said the homework paid off in a faster Chevrolet.

    “I feel we unloaded a better car for the second Pocono than we did the first Pocono,” he said. “You cannot ever assume a winning car is going to be good enough the next week. While we were excited to win (in June) and we’ll take it, there was room for improvement, so we worked very hard between that race and this race.”

    The result was Earnhardt’s second season sweep of his career (Talladega 2002). He also became the first driver to sweep at Pocono since Denny Hamlin in 2006.

    Almost from the outset, Sunday’s 400-miler was a battle of pit strategies regarding fuel strategy and tires. Throw in a 13-car wreck that took much of the field out of contention for the final 34 laps and crew chiefs had their hands full.

    Letarte made the ultimate decision to take four fresh tires with 39 laps to go, then bring Earnhardt back for a splash of gas 10 laps later.

    “All we needed to get there was a gallon or two while the rest of the guys in front of us needed four tires and a full tank,” Earnhardt said “We were on pit road for two seconds in the box and they were in their pit stalls for 12-14 seconds. We were able to leapfrog those guys. We weren’t technically leading the race when the (next) caution came out, but we were ahead of those guys on where we needed to be.

    “It takes a really, really smart guy to understand what to do and take those gambles. Sometimes they pay off and sometimes they don’t. I’ve got a lot of faith in Steve and the strategy he used today gave us the opportunity to get by some guys that we probably weren’t going to pass on the race track.”

    It was the fifth consecutive Sprint Cup victory at Pocono for Hendrick Motorsports, which also had Jeff Gordon in contention for much of the race.

    Gordon, a six-time winner at Pocono, led a race-high 63 laps. He also became the first driver to lead 1,000 laps at Pocono and passed the 24,000 mark in career laps led in Sprint Cup competition.

    Joey Logano, who led the first 30 laps, finished third ahead of Clint Bowyer and Greg Biffle.

    Saving fuel, Biffle found himself with the lead after AJ Allmendinger’s crash brought out a caution with 21 laps left. But Biffle couldn’t hold off Earnhardt, who took command with 14 laps to go.

    “I was heartbroken when that caution came out,” said Biffle, who thought strategy had given him a fighting chance. “That just killed our day. We had a 20th-place car but got track position and drove our butt off. (If the race stayed green) it was going to be ‘Mickey Mouse’ –- who would run out of fuel — unless those guys could catch us.”

    Earnhardt had opened a 2.7-second lead on Harvick when Kurt Busch hit the wall, bringing out another caution that created the final restart.

    “With Kevin, I’m racing one of the best,” Earnhardt said. “That guy is going to get everything he can out of his car. I was anticipating him being right there on the inside going into (Turn) 1. I knew I was just going to have to really get brave, drive it down in there and pray for it to stick.”

    Harvick, who overcame a pit road speed penalty on Lap 96 and found himself 14th after driving over a storm drain in avoiding major damage during the 13-car melee, gave it all he could.

    “I timed that last (restart) pretty good,” Harvick said.. “But I couldn’t turn into the corner like I needed to to stay beside him. I thought if I could get beside him going into (Turn) 1 I’d have a chance, but he was a little better than I was in Turn 3.”

    On his way to his Victory Lane celebration, Earnhardt took a phone call from team owner Rick Hendrick.

    “I just thanked him for how much he changed my life and how he has supported me,” Earnhardt said. “I wanted to thank him and make sure he understood how much I appreciated him. I wanted him to know how much it meant to me that I got the chance to drive this car and get a win today.”

  • Rookie Kyle Larson Wins First Career Pole at Tricky Triangle

    Rookie Kyle Larson Wins First Career Pole at Tricky Triangle

    Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender and Drive4Diversity grad Kyle Larson scored his first career pole behind the wheel of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet at one of the most demanding tracks on the circuit, Pocono Raceway.

    Larson took the pole in knock out qualifying with a track record speed of 183.438 mph and 49.063 seconds, qualifying him for the Sprint Unlimited. He joins rival Austin Dillon, who scored his first pole at the Daytona 500 to open the season, in rookie pole runs.

    “It’s great to get my first real pole,” Larson said. “I got the pole at Richmond but that was due to qualifying rain and we were quickest in practice. This time we got to beat the rain and actually earn the pole.”

    “It was an exciting third round and I had some butterflies actually going into it,” Larson continued. “I was definitely nervous. I felt like I hit all three corners as good as I could. I barely edged out Joey and he has been fast in qualifying.”

    “It feels really good and allows me the confidence for Sunday.”

    Right behind the rookie were the Penske duo of Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski, with speeds of 183.408 mph and 182.700 mph respectively. Logano has 17 top-ten starts and Keselowski is right behind him with 16 top-ten starts for the season.

    “My Shell Pennzoil Ford is really fast,” the driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford said after qualifying. “We unload today and we were loose but the car had a lot of speed in it. We definitely made some good adjustments and in qualifying trim we were decent.”

    “The first lap was really good and we tried to keep up with the cycle of tires and fuel,” Logano continued. “We ran the third session really hard and I felt like we nailed the balance and all three corners.”

    “I was pretty confident that that was going to be the pole and then we got beat,” Logano said. “This is our sixth front row start of the season, which is good but second sucks. It’s still something to be proud of so we have two fast race cars. I thought my lap was damn near perfect but we got beat.”

    Penske teammate Brad Keselowski echoed many of Logano’s sentiments in his shortened media availability due to his travel to Iowa for the Nationwide race.

    “Third is a respectable effort,” the driver of the No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford said. “I always want the pole but we had to make an extra run there in the second session and that took us away from having a legitimate run with Kyle.”

    “Strong effort. You can win from third and we’re happy with that and we’ll move on.”

    As to his heading off to the Midwest after his qualifying at Pocono, Keselowski said that someone had to do that race and so he elected to make the trip.

    “I enjoy Iowa,” Keselowski said. “The track has been good to me. Someone had to run it, either Joey or me. So, when we sat down at the start of the year to figure out who was going to start where, this was one that I thought would be good.”

    Kurt Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet, and most recent race winner at the Brickyard Jeff Gordon, in the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet, rounded out the top-five in qualifying.

    “I had a good turns one and two,” Busch said. “Just got in there and got a little bit too low and got the car out of the track and then had to peddle it all the way from the center out.”

    “Still a good lap. The guys have done a good job and just have to get it right for race trim now.”

    Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Danica Patrick qualified in the sixth through tenth positions for the 41st Annual GoBowling.com 400. The rest of the starting grid is as follows:

    Pos Driver Sponsor Make
    1 42 Kyle Larson Target Chevrolet
    2 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford
    3 2 Brad Keselowski Alliance Truck Parts Ford
    4 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet
    5 24 Jeff Gordon Axalta Chevrolet
    6 4 Kevin Harvick Mobil 1 Chevrolet
    7 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota
    8 1 Jamie McMurray Bad Boy Buggies Chevrolet
    9 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Michael Baker International Chevrolet
    10 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet
    11 3 Austin Dillon American Ethanol Chevrolet
    12 5 Kasey Kahne Farmers Insurance Chevrolet
    13 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota
    14 15 Clint Bowyer RK Motors Charlotte Toyota
    15 55 Brian Vickers Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota
    16 14 Tony Stewart Code 3 Associates/Mobil 1 Chevrolet
    17 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet
    18 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota
    19 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Chevrolet
    20 47 AJ Allmendinger Scott Products Chevrolet
    21 31 Ryan Newman Quicken Loans Chevrolet
    22 51 Justin Allgaier AccuDoc Solutions Chevrolet
    23 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford EcoBoost Ford
    24 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet
    25 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford
    26 99 Carl Edwards Fastenal Ford
    27 9 Marcos Ambrose DeWalt Ford
    28 43 Aric Almirola GoBowling.com Ford
    29 27 Paul Menard CertainTeed/Menards Chevrolet
    30 38 David Gilliland Long John Silver’s Ford
    31 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet
    32 40 Landon Cassill Newton Building Supplies Chevrolet
    33 26 Cole Whitt Toyota of Scranton Toyota
    34 32 Travis Kvapil FAS Lane Racing Ford
    35 36 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet
    36 23 Alex Bowman Dr. Pepper Toyota
    37 83 Ryan Truex Burger King Toyota
    38 7 Michael Annett Pilot Flying J Chevrolet
    39 34 David Ragan A&W Root Beer Float Ford
    40 37 Dave Blaney Accell Construction Chevrolet
    41 66 Joe Nemechek Land Castle Title Toyota
    42 33 Alex Kennedy Little Joe’s Autos Chevrolet
    43 93 Johnny Sauter Dr. Pepper Toyota