Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: Dale Earnhardt Jr

Capital City 400 Review: Virginia is for Drama

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]For the first half of the race, it looked like Carl Edwards would be the man in victory lane at the end of the Capitol City 400. However, after a late race penalty Edwards was put to the rear of the field, giving the lead up for grabs.

After leading for 206 laps, Edwards was black flagged for jumping the restart on Lap 320. He was forced to make a pass through penalty on pit road, which dropped him back to 15th place. The No. 99 team was very irate about the situation, but NASCAR wasn’t hearing it. Edwards’ team was confused about the situation and wanted to know if they received the penalty for jumping the restart, or for beating Stewart to the line.

Edwards may have jumped the restart however, the situation looked worse when Stewart spun his tires on the start – this bunched up the rest of the field and caused Edwards’ to jump out about three car lengths over the rest of the field.

Either way you look at it, this penalty gave Stewart the lead of the race. Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne, and AJ Allmendinger rounded out the Top 5. Stewart and Busch led the field with seven seconds over Earnhardt. It looked as if Stewart would drive to his third victory lane of the season until caution for debris flew once again with 14 laps to go. Edwards received the lucky dog during this caution and was back on the lead lap.

After problems on pit road for Stewart, Busch won the race off of pit road. Stewart spun his tires once again on the restart, allowing Earnhardt to take over second position and give the fans something to yell about. Earnhardt trailed Busch by half a second but wasn’t able to catch him when the checkered flag waved. Finishing second has moved Earnhardt to second position in point’s standings, just five points from the leader.

Busch took Richmond by storm, winning the Nationwide race as the car owner of Kyle Busch Motorsports, and winning as a driver for Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch has been flying under the radar this season and is lower in points than we normally see him. Winning at Richmond gained him two positions in points, moving him to 11th position.

What’s On the Horizon for Talladega?

The good thing about Talladega is: it’s anybody’s race! It doesn’t matter where you start, because it only takes one lap for a driver to move from last to first position, or vice versa. Talladega is the biggest and wildest track on the circuit and it never fails to put on a good show. Jimmie Johnson won the Aaron’s 499 last year, and he could very well do it again. However, I’m looking at Michael Waltrip Racing in Talladega.

I believe that MWR will be a force to reckon with at the Superspeedway. Owner Michael Waltrip will get behind the wheel of the No. 55 to race at a track that he has won before. Everyone knows that Waltrip is a master at superspeedways and his drivers, Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer, aren’t too shabby either.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”319″][/media-credit]Bowyer has two career wins at Talladega, along with six top 10 finishes. Although Truex hasn’t won at Talladega in the Cup series, he has won the Aaron’s 312 Nationwide race three years in a row. Truex has been oh so close to reaching victory lane this season and I think Talladega will be where he gets his first win of 2012.

May 1, 2012
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Richmond

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: With a 137-race winless streak still dogging him, Earnhardt nearly broke through at Richmond, finishing second to Kyle Busch in the Capital City 400. Earnhardt now trails points leader Greg Biffle by five points in the Sprint Cup point standings.

“What does Busch have that I don’t, besides a win at Richmond?” Earnhardt said. “A ‘checkered’ past.

“Anyway, I’ve got two second-place finishes and two thirds so far this year. They may not be wins, but in the eyes of Junior Nation, I lead NASCAR in ‘Little’ victories.”

2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin followed last week’s win at Kansas with a fourth at Richmond, as Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch won for the first time this season. Hamlin improved two spots in the point standings to third, nine points out of first.

“Kyle ran an unbelievable of a race,” Hamlin said. “He was patient, methodical, and in control. And that makes it unbelievable, because he was totally out of character.”

3. Greg Biffle: Biffle finished 18^th in the Capital City 400 at Richmond, handicapped by handling issues that proved unresponsive to adjustments. He maintained the top spot in the points, but now leads Dale Earnhardt, Jr. by only five points.

“Five points isn’t much of a lead,” Biffle said, “but it’s a lead nonetheless. And let’s face it, any lead over Earnhardt is a safe lead.”

4. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson posted his third-straight top-6 finish, and seventh top-10 result of the year, with a sixth in the Capital City 400. He is now sixth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 24 out of first.

“I finished sixth,” Johnson said, “to move into sixth in the Sprint Cup point standings, on the way to what will surely be my sixth championship. That’s three sixth’s, which is a hell of a lot, and certainly an omen of good things for me.

“As you may have heard, I was named Forbe’s most influential athlete. That means I can win, and ‘win over.’ That’s two more wins than Dale Junior.”

5. Tony Stewart: Stewart was sailing towards a win at Richmond, with a comfortable lead over Kyle Busch, when NASCAR flew a debris caution with 12 laps to go. A slow pit stop allowed Busch to exit with the lead, and Stewart settled for third, and later questioned NASCAR’s decision.

“I understand the ‘debris’ in question was a water bottle,” Stewart said. “That’s garbage. I’m not sure what was in that bottle, but whatever it was, it was ‘full of it.’ And, I guess I’ll have to ‘swallow’ it.

“Anyway, it’s clear NASCAR doesn’t want to see me run away with the championship. And, as my typical subpar runs that follow strong runs would suggest, neither do I.”

6. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex finished 25^th at Richmond, his worst finish of the year, after an untimely caution on lap 311 cost him two laps. He tumbled three places in the point standings to fifth, and now trails Greg Biffle by 22.

“After five-straight top-10 finishes,” Truex said, “I was due for a mediocre finish. And I didn’t disappoint. But I hesitate to say I’ll ‘rebound’ at Talladega, because there may be a wall involved.”

7. Carl Edwards: Edwards led 206 of 400 laps, but lost any chance for his initial 2012 victory when he was penalized for jumping a restart on lap 89. Edwards battled back from the penalty and eventually finished 10^th, but was left doubting the veracity of NASCAR’s decision. He is ninth in the point standings, 51 out of first.

“I was told I was the leader,” Edwards said, “while NASCAR insists that Tony Stewart was the leader. Apparently, they were just blowing ‘Smoke’ up my behind.”

8. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished 11^th at Richmond, just missing his sixth top-10 finish of the year. He holds the fourth spot in the point standings, 10 behind Roush Fenway teammate Greg Biffle.

“NASCAR said Carl Edwards jumped a restart with 89 laps to go,” Kenseth said. “I know exactly how that feels. ‘That’ being the restart, because I’ve been ‘jumped’ by Edwards myself.”

9. Kyle Busch: Busch took advantage of a late caution and beat Tony Stewart out of the pits, then pulled away to win at Richmond. It was Busch’s fourth-straight Richmond spring win, and first of the year, as he followed Joe Gibbs teammate Denny Hamlin’s win at Kansas last year.

“Thanks to NASCAR for a timely caution,” Busch said. “Usually, when NASCAR gives me a ‘gift,’ it’s probation instead of a suspension.”

10. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 19^th in the Capital City 400, the last car on the lead lap, after starting third. The No. 29 Jimmie John’s Chevy was solid early in the race, but faded late on a tough day for Richard Childress Racing.

“Right now,” Harvick said, “we don’t look like a true championship contender. We’re struggling, with an average finish of 11^th. It seems the last positive I experienced was on a pregnancy test.”

May 1, 2012
Surprising and Not Surprising: Richmond Capital City 400

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”236″][/media-credit]Virginia may be for lovers but that was not the only emotion running high at Richmond International Raceway. Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 58^th Annual Capital City 400 Presented by Virginia is for Lovers.

Surprising: While Kyle Busch is no stranger to Victory Lane in the spring race at Richmond, it was still surprising to see the pure joy and raw emotion he exhibited after the checkered flag flew.

The win, Busch’s first of the 2012 season, along with the victory of his team and brother Kurt in the Nationwide race the night before, just seemed to send Kyle Busch over the moon.

“It means so much that we’re able to come to this place every time and know that we can have a decent car again and again,” the driver of Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 M&Ms Toyota Camry said. “It wasn’t the best car but it was really good.”

“It was a gift,” Busch continued. “We just kept fighting, kept ourselves up there in track position, kept the fenders clean, the right side clean and kept us in the game all race long.”

This was Busch’s 24^th victory in 266 Cup races. The win, his fourth consecutive at Richmond, broke a tie with Richard Petty, who held that record from 1971 to 1973.

Not Surprising: While it is never surprising that tempers flare at this Virginia short track, this time drivers were not as mad at each other as they were at NASCAR.

Both Tony Stewart, who was bitten by a late race caution for debris and problems on pit road, and Carl Edwards, who was penalized by NASCAR for jumping the restart after leading the most laps, were very unhappy campers at race end.

“When the caution is for a plastic bottle on the backstretch, it’s hard to feel good about losing that one,” Stewart said. “And we gave it away on pit road.”

“So we did everything we could to throw it away and it got taken away from us,” Stewart continued. “We lost it for a caution for a plastic bottle, so you tell me how you’d feel.”

Edwards was equally frustrated after being black flagged for jumping the restart. He and his crew chief Bob Osborne argued their case with NASCAR in the hauler after the race.

“We had to just agree to disagree and that’s the way it is,” Edwards said. “They run the sport and they do the best job they can.”

“I drive a race car and do the very best job I can,” Edwards continued. “This whole thing is very frustrating. I don’t feel like we did the wrong thing.”

The driver of the No. 99 Ford EcoBoost finished tenth, while the driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet finished third. Both drivers held serve in the point standings, with Stewart remaining in eighth and Edwards in ninth.

Surprising: Fans of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet witnessed another surprisingly bad run by Jeff Gordon and company. While the team managed to qualify decently, in sixth, they fell back immediately after the green flag flew, then ending up cutting a tire to finish a miserable 23^rd.

This was Gordon’s sixth finish of 21^st or worse in the last 11 races. The four-time champ is currently mired in the 17^th position in the point standings, out of Chase contention at present.

Not Surprising: While none of the Hendrick drivers scored the elusive 200^th win for Mr. H, that most popular one, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., had another solid run at the short track.

In spite of brake issues, Junior scored the runner up spot. This was his 11^th top-10 finish at Richmond and his seventh top-10 finish in 2012.

“We had some brake problems all night long,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mount Dew said. “Kind of tried to overcome them best we could.”

“We were maybe a fifth place car,” Dale Earnhardt, Jr. continued. “I’m really happy to gain a couple of spots there at the end with that caution and get some more points.”

Speaking of those precious points, Junior currently sits in the same points position as where he finished the race, second. He is now just five points back from points leader Greg Biffle.

Surprising: Rolling tires, not tire wear, was one of the most surprising factors influencing the race at Richmond, especially for five-time champ Jimmie Johnson.

The driver of the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet was penalized to the tail end of the lead lap due to his pit crew losing contact with a rolling tire. Yet, in spite of the mistake, Johnson finished sixth and remained philosophical about it all at race end.

“Stuff happens,” Johnson said. “It’s racing.”

“Unfortunately we had a tire get away from us and had to serve that penalty and go to the back,” Johnson continued. “But the good news is we had a very fast race car.”

“I certainly wish we didn’t have that mistake, but when you’re in this deal long enough mistakes happen,” Johnson said. “I don’t want to beat anybody up.”

Not Surprising: It was not surprising to see the majority of Michael Waltrip’s team continue their good runs. The best of the bunch this race was Clint Bowyer, who brought his No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota home in the seventh spot.

Nipping at Bowyer’s heels was veteran and pole sitter Mark Martin, who scored an eighth place finish in his No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota.

“I’ve never seen a guy (Rodney Childers, crew chief) improve one of my cars that much in one race,” Martin said. “You’ve got to be able to do that.”

“I’m really impressed,” Martin continued. “They did a great job.”

Surprising: Although Greg Biffle was sporting the ‘Give Kids A Smile’ promotion on the outside of his No. 16 EM Ford, it was surprising that there were no smiles from inside that race car. Biffle struggled most of the night and finished a disappointing 18^th.

“It was a tough night,” Biff said. “We never recovered from our poor qualifying run and struggled with the turn and forward drive.”

“We just didn’t have the turn and the drive that we needed,” Biffle continued. “It is frustrating.”

Not Surprising: It was not surprising to hear the disappointment in Denny Hamlin’s voice after not winning at his home track. The driver of the No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota finished fourth.

“Yeah, I’m a little disappointed,” Hamlin said. “We just never really hit it today.”

“We had times where we were competitive and we just got behind on one run,” Hamlin continued. “So, we just couldn’t recover from that.”

Surprising: It was surprising to see Trevor Bayne in his fire suit on the pit box throughout the race, waiting in the wings to see if Marcos Ambrose would be in need of his services.

But the young Daytona 500 winner never got to climb aboard as the driver of the No. 9 Stanley Ford drove through his back pain to finish 22^nd.

Not Surprising: To no one’s surprise, Brad Keselowski, behind the wheel of the Blue Deuce, was the highest finishing Dodge in the Capital City 400, scoring ninth place.

Also, not surprisingly, Kes and his crew are all about clawing their way into Chase contention with top-10 finishes.

“We just keep knocking top 10s out,” Paul Wolfe, crew chief of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, said. “That’s what we need to do to continue to gain points right now and put ourselves in position to get into the Chase.”

April 29, 2012
From domination to frustration for Edwards and Stewart in Richmond

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Saturday night in Richmond wasn’t the first time that the fastest car didn’t win the race.

But neither Tony Stewart nor Carl Edwards were happy or accepting about the ways in which they lost the Capital City 400. Stewart felt he had the win taken away from him, first from NASCAR then his pit crew.

Edwards wasn’t too pleased with NASCAR either after he received the black flag with less than 90 laps to go. NASCAR officials ruled he had jumped the restart, ordering him to serve a penalty, which took him out of contention.

It all started during a caution on lap 311 during green flag pit stops when Jeff Burton hit the turn three wall. Everyone except for Edwards had already pitted and returned to the track.

Jimmie Johnson was on pit road when the caution came out, he was listed as the leader. Except he’d have to serve a penalty for a tire violation putting which in turn put Stewart back into the lead.

Heading for the restart Stewart and Edwards lined back up with Stewart on the inside and Edwards on the outside.

However, the scoring tower had Edwards listed as the leader, how? From images provided by viewers after the race it shows that Edwards was cleaning his tires when he crossed the start/finish line ahead of Stewart. In doing so says NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton, the transponder on his car scored him crossing the line ahead of Stewart, even though he technically wasn’t the leader.

The team and Edwards had no idea what had occurred and genuinely believed they were the leader. When the green flag flew Edwards took off and left Stewart in the dust. That’s when NASCAR deemed he jumped the start, having gone before the designated restart area.

Stewart took back the lead; Edwards served his penalty in confusion and frustration. From the car Edwards called for NASCAR to correct themselves but to no avail, saying they had taken the win away from him.

He went on to get lapped by Stewart, then to get the lucky dog before eventually finishing 10th. Afterwards he still wasn’t happy and went to NASCAR looking for answers.

“I am trying to not be too frustrated and say something stupid,” said Edwards before talking with NASCAR. “So right before that [restart] my spotter Jason Hedleskey was told by NASCAR officials that the 99 was the leader, the 99 is the leader. Jason told me and I had a split second to decide what I was going to do.

“I thought, ‘okay, NASCAR made a mistake and they lined us up wrong.’ I was at a disadvantage being on the outside so I thought I was getting the best start I could get. It looked like Tony waited or spun his tires so they black-flagged me. I still don’t understand why they black-flagged me. They said we were the leader and I restarted the best I could given the disadvantaged position I was in.

“The problem is I don’t know if NASCAR is going to take the stance that I jumped the start. If they are saying that I jumped the start then that would be real frustrating.”

After his meeting with NASCAR and hearing their explanation, Edwards didn’t have as much to say. And still didn’t believe that he had done anything wrong.

“We had to just agree to disagree and that’s the way it is,” he said. “They run the sport and they do the best job they can and I drive a racecar and do the very best job I can.”

Meanwhile Stewart looked like he was in control and headed toward his third win of the season. But just as they always do, a caution changed everything.

NASCAR officials called debris in turn two but some, such as Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Stewart, didn’t think it was anything more than a bottle. No matter though, the leaders came down pit road for their final stops.

Stewart lost the battle on pit road to Kyle Busch and it ended up being the battle for the win. On the restart with eight laps to go Earnhardt Jr. took another spot from Stewart who ended up finishing third.

While pleased with what he called the best car he’s had at Richmond, he wasn’t pleased about anything else.

“When the caution is for a plastic bottle on the backstretch, it’s hard to feel good about losing that one,” said Stewart. “And we gave it away on pit road. So we did everything we could to throw it away; it got taken away from us.”

Even more frustrating for Stewart about the debris caution was that he felt “it was out of the groove. It had been sitting there for eight laps.”

Through all the chaos Stewart holds onto his two wins, Edwards remains winless, dating back to March of last season while Busch went on to score his fourth straight Richmond win, first of the 2012 season. He led twice for just 32 laps

Edwards and Stewart on the other hand had led for a combined 324 of 400 laps.

April 29, 2012
Matty’s Picks 2012 – Vol. 10 Richmond International Raceway – Capital City 400 presented by Virginia is for Lovers – April 27, 2012

[media-credit id=42 align=”alignright” width=”234″][/media-credit]Virginia is for Lovers, except when you are talking about the four weekends the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series goes short-track racing Old Dominion. The beating and banging of Martinsville Speedway and Richmond International Raceway mirror the short-track action Friday and Saturday nights that we all grew up on, and really take me back to some of my best times as a race fanatic. The race Saturday Night will surely be filled with fireworks and the Virginia beating and banging we’re all so fond of.

Before I get into last week’s recap, I’d like to extend a thank you to Mr. Bruton Smith and all of Speedway Motorsports Inc. for listening to the fans regarding the modifications of Bristol Motor Speedway. Since the reconfiguration and addition of progressive banking in 2007, attendance at Bristol has steadily on the decline. I was in complete awe this March when The Last Great Coliseum was half-full at best for the spring race. I can remember a few of my first trips to Bristol when there were 10,000 race fans standing in front of the gates looking for extra tickets. It was a miracle to scalp the hardest ticket in NASCAR back then, and was a miracle if you could find a seat at face-value.

Ultimately, it’s the fans that keep our sport alive, not the drivers, not the sponsors, not the owners… The fans are the ones spending the money to travel to the track week-in and week-out to watch 43 of the most talented drivers in the world, and when they speak, those with decision-making abilities must listen. Its not the drivers (unless they feel changes would render the track unsafe or un-drivable) that should be the tell-all in these types of decisions. If they’re not happy with the decision to tighten up the corners at Bristol, too bad, SMI must act in the best interests of NASCAR and what will put fans in the grandstands. The drivers may have liked the wide-open racing grooves over the past 5 years at Bristol Motor Speedway, but 300-something laps without a caution flag is not Bristol.

I am excited to get back to the way racing used to be in Eastern Tennessee, and I think the track change will boost attendance back to the days when the night race at Bristol was the toughest ticket in all of NASCAR.

Kansas Recap

I can’t say too much about the race last week because I didn’t catch a single lap of the STP 400. My race recap will be as exciting as the race itself last week (so I hear)…

My winner pick was points-leader Greg Biffle last week, and all I really know is he finished 4th last week, giving me my second top-5 in as many weeks.

I picked my Dark Horse last week before the STP 400 qualifying session, and after I found out my Dark Horse eventually turned into last week’s pole-sitter, I was even more excited about my pick. But like many of my picks this season, he let me down. I now see that AJ Allmendinger finished 10-laps down in 32nd, adding to my less than impressive string of finishes this season.

Richmond Picks

Some people say you must hit rock bottom before you can start your climb to the top. I’m hoping that I’ve hit rock bottom just 1/4th of the way through this 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, and can still salvage a respectable average finish with the remainder of my picks.

Winner Pick

It shouldn’t be much of a surprise as to who I pick this week to win the Capital City 400 as his stats at the ¾-mile short track. He is the defending winner of this spring race, and has two other victories at RIR under his belt. In total, Kyle Busch has finished first or second in 7 of the last 11 races at Richmond, an absolutely phenomenal statistic. He has won the race at Richmond from as far back as 20th, and came from 34th in the spring of 2007 to finish second.

Overall, Kyle Busch has an average finish of 5.0 in 14 races in Virginia’s capital city, and is desperate to boost his points resume as he currently sits 13th, out of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. In the other two short-track races at Bristol and Martinsville this season, Rowdy finished 32nd and 36th respectively, a stat unfitting for a guy who has won nearly 20% of the races he’s started on a short-track.

He’s struggling to find speed as I look at the current charts (23rd fastest after 69 laps in this first practice session), but when the green flag flies, Rowdy will kick into high gear and wind up in Victory Lane.

Dark Horse Pick

This pick is what those of us involved with fantasy drafts often like to call “a reach”. I’m going way out on a whim to say that the JR Nation winless streak has a better chance than any race thus far to come to a close this weekend. It has been 1,412 days, 137 races, and a lifetime supply of Kleenex since JR Nation was graced with a win, and quite frankly I am ready for the streak to end.

Besides Chicago Cubs Fans, JR Nation may be the second-most cursed fan base in the country. 137 races is unthinkable for the sport’s most popular driver, and Richmond is a fine place for the streak to end. Earnhardt Jr knows his way to victory lane at the short-track with three wins, eight top-5’s, and five top-10’s in 25 starts. Each of the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers is gunning for Hendrick Motorsports’ 200th Sprint Cup Series victory.

It may be coincidence that JR’s last win before his victory at Michigan in June 2008 was at Richmond International Raceway, or it may just be time for the streak to come to a close.

Either way, JR is 4th in points and 15th on the speed charts following the first practice session of the day in Old Dominion.

That’s all for this week so until we head to Talladega…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

April 27, 2012
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Kansas

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Greg Biffle: Biffle posted his sixth top-10 finish of the year with a fifth in the STP 400 at Kansas Motor Speedway. He maintained the lead in the Sprint Cup point standings, and now leads Martin Truex, Jr. by 15.

“Whereas I got a cowboy hat and a pair of six-shooters for winning at Texas,” Biffle said, “Denny Hamlin received a pair of ruby red slippers, which I’m sure he tapped together and said ‘There’s no place like Homestead…to blow a points lead and hence the 2010 Sprint Cup title.’”

2. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex led 173 of 267 laps at Kansas, but lost the lead to Denny Hamlin with 31 to go and held on for second, earning his fifth consecutive top-10 finish. He jumped two places in the point standings to second, and trails Greg Biffle by 15.

“I made a few desperation moves to pass Hamlin at the end,” Truex said. “But what better time to say ‘banzai’ than while driving a Toyota and attempting to pass another?

“I’m in negotiations to renew my contract with Michael Waltrip Racing. That means I get to sit at a table and talk numbers with Michael. Therein lies the secret to being around Michael—someone has to pay me to do it.”

3. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson followed up his runner-up finish at Texas with a third in the STP 400 at Kansas, scoring his fourth top 5 of the year. He improved one spot in the point standings to seventh, and now trails Greg Biffle by 37.

“In the Hendrick Motorsports garage,” Johnson said, “there’s a lot of talk about streaks. Hendrick has been sitting on 199 wins for awhile now. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has a 137-race winless streak. The way things are going, it’s a toss-up as to who gets to 200 first.”

“As you probably couldn’t help but notice, the Lowe’s No. 48 Chevy sported the ‘Mountain Green’ color. That was a color made popular by two 1960’s iconic products, muscle cars and ugly toilets.”

4. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished fourth in the STP 400, taking his fifth top-5 result of the year. He is now third in the point standings, 17 behind Roush Fenway teammate Greg Biffle.

“After two cautions at Texas,” Kenseth said, “there were only three at Kansas. That means, in both cases, that the winner’s speed was above average, while the racing itself was below average. As such, electronic fuel injection is no longer the hot topic of discussion—instead, it’s cruise control.”

5. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Still seeking his first win in 136 races, Earnhardt came up short but finished with a solid seventh at Kansas. In eight races this year, he hasn’t finished lower than 15^th, and is now fourth in the point standings, 21 out of first.

“You probably heard me profess that I think I’m the best driver in NASCAR,” Earnhardt said. “It remains to be seen who’s more motivated by that statement—me, or the ten drivers that actually are better than me.

6. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin slipped by Martin Truex, Jr. with 31 laps to go and sailed to his second win of the year, taking the STP 400 at Kansas Motor Speedway. Hamlin improved one place to fifth in the point standings, 23 behind Greg Biffle.

“This No. 11 Fed Ex team has a ton of momentum,” Hamlin said. “You could say we’re like a ‘freight’ train. Let’s just hope our 2011 troubles don’t rear it heads, because we were much like a train then as well, in that it often took more than one engine to get anywhere.”

7. Kevin Harvick: Harvick started second at Kansas and powered to a sixth-place finish, leading the charge for Richard Childress Racing. He is now sixth in the point standings, 25 out of first.

“The No. 29 Rheem Chevrolet was good,” Harvick said, “but not good enough. We were anything but ‘Rheem-arkable.’ As wordplay goes, that one should be ‘pun-ishable by death.

“But my disappointment with a sixth-place finish is a clear indication that I expect better from myself. I’m the ultimate ‘expectant’ father.”

8. Carl Edwards: Edwards, in the No. 99 Aflac Ford, joined Roush Fenway teammates Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle in the top 10, with a ninth at Kansas, his fifth top-10 result of the year. Edwards is now ninth in the point standings, 61 out of first.

“Sunday was a strong day for the Roush Fenway collective,” Edwards said. “All three of us in the top 10? That’s the first time we’ve done anything together in a long time.

“I must say, it’s tough for me to see myself behind Biffle and Kenseth in the point standings. Kenseth is sponsored by EcoBoost; what I need is an ego boost.”

9. Tony Stewart: Stewart came home 13^th at Kansas, the last car on the lead lap after a long day of handling issues. He is now eighth in the point standings, 47 out of first.

“That’s two straight finishes outside the top 10,” Stewart said. “Despite our troubles, it’s no time to make any rash decisions, which should come as a relief to my crew chief, Steve Addington.

10. Kyle Busch: Busch finished 10^th at Kansas as Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin won the STP 400. It was only Busch’s third top-10 result of the year, but it season turnaround could be in order at Richmond, where Busch has three wins.

“Hamlin’s making headlines,” Busch said, “and, in what’s is a complete mystery to me, for all the right reasons. I just haven’t been the same this year. Joe Gibbs said he wouldn’t mind seeing the ‘old’ Kyle Busch or the ‘new’ Kyle Busch, or, for that matter, ‘any’ Kyle Busch.”

April 24, 2012
STP 400 Review: Close, But No Cigar

Martin Truex Jr. has been on his game this season, with six Top 10 and three Top 5 finishes, including winning the pole award at Texas Motor Speedway. He has been oh so close to victory lane, but just hasn’t been able to get his second Sprint Cup career win.

[media-credit name=”Jamie Squire/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”308″][/media-credit]It looked as if Sunday would be the day Truex would drive his No. 55 Napa Chevrolet to victory lane, after leading 173 laps and dominating the field all day. However, late in the race, his car got loose as the sun began to shine on the cold track. This caused Truex to lose speed, allowing fellow Toyota driver Denny Hamlin to steal the top position from him. Truex gave it all he had in the closing laps, pushing his car to the edge, but he couldn’t catch Hamlin’s fast FedEx Toyota.

Truex’s runner-up finish has gained him two positions in points, moving him to second place, just 15 points out of the lead. Heading to Richmond International Speedway, Truex has one Top 5 and two Top 10 finishes.

I think Truex’s next best chance of winning his first race of the season will be at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Coca Cola 600. He has good statistics on intermediate tracks, with 12 Top 5 finishes. He has also won two non-points races at Charlotte Motor Speedway – the All-star showdown race in 2007 and 2010.

Kahne’s Season Continues to Look Up

Kasey Kahne started the STP 400 in ninth position and remained in the Top 10 for most of the race. His eighth place finish at Kansas is only his second Top 10 of the season. Kahne’s back-to-back Top 10 finishes, at Texas Motor Speedway and Kansas, have moved him from 31st to 26th in the standings.

Kasey Kahne used a new spotter on Sunday – Kevin Hamlin, who is a former driver and a Richard Childress Racing employee. Kahne will use Hamlin for the upcoming races at Richmond International Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway while he searches for a solution to his spotter woes. Jeff Gordon’s former spotter, Shannon McGlammery, replaced Kole Kahne at Martinsville Speedway after confusion that led to a wreck at Bristol Motor Speedway. Kahne has been weighing out his options since, trying to decide which spotter he feels most comfortable with.

This week Kahne heads to the track where he won his first Sprint Cup Series race in 2005. He has three Top 5 and six Top 10 finishes at Richmond International Raceway. Although the season is still young, Kahne will need to get the ball rolling if he wants to make the Chase this year. With the wild-card Chase format, Kahne could also make the Chase simply by winning a race.

Earnhardt Currently Leads Hendrick Motorsports

If you would have asked me at the beginning of the season which driver of Hendrick Motorsports would be the most competitive this season, I wouldn’t have chosen Dale Earnhardt Jr. However, Earnhardt has regained his competitive nature that he seemed to have lost the past few seasons and his consistency is impeccable. So far in 2012, Earnhardt has six Top 10 finishes, including a second place finish in the Daytona 500. It seems as if his No. 88 team has finally found that chemistry they have been looking for and are ready to be competitive every week.

What’s most shocking about this season for HMS is not the fact that Earnhardt is running so well, but that the rest of HMS has had a less than mediocre year. As previously stated, Kahne is just starting to get his season rolling after struggling for the first part of the season – while Kahne’s teammates, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, have been flying under the radar.

Gordon has an average finish this season of 20th position and is 18th in points standings. His dissapointment after Kansas was evident after suffering engine issues and finishing in 21st position. Johnson has yet to win a race this season, but seems to be okay with just consistent finishes. So far Johnson has six Top 10 finishes this season. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the season plays out among the HMS team.

April 23, 2012
Surprising and Not Surprising: Kansas STP 400

[media-credit name=”Credit: Tyler Barrick/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]From the command to start engine from Victory Junction Gang campers to Brad Keselowski manning the tank to rip up the Kansas track after the race ended, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 2^nd Annual STP 400.

Surprising: While Kansas may be known as the Land of Oz, it was more like the land of highs and lows for this race day, with an extremely high number of engine failures and pit errors to a record low number of cautions.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., driver of the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard, was one of the first to struggle on pit road, missing it completely as he attempted to pit early in the race. Other drivers, such as Kasey Kahne and Kevin Harvick barely made it to the pits after running short on fuel. And even five-time champion Jimmie Johnson had his own set of pit woes with his team struggling with a loose lug nut.

There were also an extremely high number of engine problems, affecting drivers from Bobby Labonte and Mark Martin to four-time champion Jeff Gordon, all of whose engines either sputtered or just plain blew up completely.

And as for cautions, there were only three, the lowest ever for a Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway. Although there was the lowest number of cautions, on the flip side, the average speed was surprisingly the highest at Kansas, 144.126 mph, a new track record.

Not Surprising: On the rough surface of the Kansas Speedway, it was not surprising that tires made all the difference in the outcome of the race. Just ask Martin Truex, Jr. whose tires fell off after leading 173 laps, costing him the race win and handing it to Denny Hamlin with just 31 laps to go.

“We put that last set of tires on and it wasn’t anything like it had been all day long – just bad, bad loose,” the driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry said. “We had them. I don’t know what happened with that last set of tires but they were terrible.”

With Truex’s tire troubles, Denny Hamlin capitalized, scoring his 19^th victory in 231 Cup Series races. This was the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota driver’s second victory and fourth top-10 finish in the 2012 season. It was also the first time his manufacturer, Toyota, was in victory lane at Kansas.

“I knew that he was driving his heart out as well as I was driving mine,” Hamlin said. “What got me the lead was driving hard and that’s kind of where we were able to stretch it out.”

Surprising: After scoring the pole position, it was surprisingly heartbreaking that the troubles that have been omnipresent for A.J. Allmendinger continued. The driver of the No. 22 AAA Dodge for Penske Racing went from race leader to a 32^nd place finish because of engine troubles.

“Man, it’s just starting to feel like ‘Ground Hog’s Day’,” Allmendinger said. “We were off to such a great start and then the gremlins hit us.”

“Not sure how to explain it other than you’re on the pole one minute riding around leading laps and then the next thing you know your car isn’t right,” Dinger continued. “I just couldn’t believe it. Like I said, ‘Ground Hog Day.’

Not Surprising: With his confidence growing, it was not surprising to see fellow Penske racer Sam Hornish Jr. have a respectable run in his one off deal for the team. The driver of the No. 12 SKF Penske Dodge scored a 19^th place finish.

“We had a decent day,” Hornish Jr. said. “We led some laps and made a very respectable effort.”

“It was good to get back in a Cup car again.”

Surprising: Since everyone wants to win in front of their friends and family, it was surprising that no home town heroes were in victory lane at Kansas Speedway. Carl Edwards, who was able to drive to the track from his home, finished ninth and Clint Bowyer, fellow Kansas native, had engine troubles, finishing in the 36^th spot.

“It was just a major bummer,” Clint Bowyer, the driver of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota, said. “I just wish it wouldn’t have happened here.”

“It wasn’t a great result but a really good effort,” Edwards said of his run in the No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion. “I wanted to win here more than anything but we get to come back.”

“It’s humbling and I can’t wait to come back,” Edwards continued. “We’ll do it.”

Not Surprising: The quest for the 200^th win for Hendrick Motorsports is not surprisingly beginning to resemble the streak that Susan Lucci experienced with her Daytime Emmy awards. While Hendrick Motorsports had a fairly good day, with the exception of Jeff Gordon, the 200^th victory still remains elusive.

“It just didn’t happen,” the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger said. “As a group, we know it’s coming.”

“It’s just when you have a target, it always makes it more challenging,” Gordon continued. “We’re trying not to put too much pressure on us with that and just trying to go out and do our thing and do our job.”

Surprising: While Hendrick Motorsports struggled to reach their 200^th win marker at Kansas, it was surprising to note that there is another quest for a 200^th victory. The race winning No. 11 car in fact now has 199 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories, breaking a tie for most wins all-time with the No. 43.

Other drivers who have won in the No. 11 car include Cale Yarborough with 55 wins, Ned Jarrett with 49, Darrell Waltrip with 43, Denny Hamlin with 19, Junior Johnson with 11, Bill Elliott with 6, Geoff Bodine with 4, Terry Labonte with 4, Bobby Allison with 3, Buddy Baker with 2, A.J. Foyt with 1, Mario Andretti with 1 and Parnelli Jones with 1.

Not Surprising: Greg Biffle, to no one’s surprise, has continued his consistently good runs. The driver of the No. 16 3M Ford finished fifth and more important maintained his points lead.

“It’s not a disappointing day for a fifth-place finish,” Biffle said. “But it’s probably a disappointing day for how the car ran.”

“It feels good to be disappointed with a fifth-place finish,” Biff continued. “Fifth is OK but we wanted to compete better on the race track.”

April 22, 2012
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Texas

[media-credit name=”Chris Graythen/Getty Images” align=”alignnone” width=”250″][/media-credit]Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Greg Biffle: Biffle passed Jimmie Johnson with 30 laps to go at Texas, and pulled away to win the Samsung Mobile 500, his first win in 49 races. Biffle extended his lead in the Sprint Cup point standings, and now leads Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Matt Kenseth by 19.

“That’s one winless streak over,” Biffle said. “Pity poor Jimmie Johnson. He’s got his own winless streak to contend with—he hasn’t won a championship in 43 races.

“Winning in Texas is always a thrill. It’s not often I get to put on a cowboy hat and wave guns around, while still clothed.”

2. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished fifth at Texas on a strong day for Roush Fenway Racing, as Greg Biffle took the victory and Carl Edwards finished eighth. Kenseth now sits in a tie for second in the point standings, 19 behind Biffle.

“That was the shortest race in Texas history,” Kenseth said, “and most boring. They say everything is bigger in Texas, and apparently, that includes fan disappointment.

“But I’m glad to see Biffle finally win one. He’s always solid at Texas, and the same goes for Kansas, where he’s won twice in his career. So it looks like we could see much of the same at Kansas Speedway—-a Biffle win, and monotony.”

3. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt posted his fifth top-10 finish of the year, scoring a 10^th in the Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. He is second in the Sprint Cup point standings, still looking for his first win in 136 races.

“I’m still searching for that elusive next win,” Earnhardt said. “Luckily, I have legions of Junior Nation fans supporting me. So, every week, the Nation hosts the world’s greatest ‘search’ party. Of course, they’re lucky if they can find their keys come race’s end.”

4. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson led a race-high 156 laps at Texas, but was outclassed by the Ford of Greg Biffle, who slipped by Johnson with 30 laps to go and never looked back. Johnson is now eighth in the point standings, 40 out of first.

“It was quite a windy day at Texas Motor Speedway,” Johnson said. “You could say there was more ‘drafting’ on Saturday in Texas that any day at Talladega or Daytona. Finishing second to Biffle? That blows, too. I felt good after hearing the pre-race weather forecast, which called for ‘just wind, baby.’

But when I needed a caution, NASCAR wouldn’t give me one. Normally in NASCAR races, it doesn’t take wind to make the yellow flag wave. Two cautions in a race that boring was simply not enough. It’s time for NASCAR to institute a companion rule to the ‘competition caution’ and call it the ‘repetition caution.’”

5. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex came home sixth in the Samsung Mobile 500, posting his fifth top 10 of the year to continue his strong start to the season. He is now fourth in the point standings, 20 behind Greg Biffle.

“’Martin Truex, Jr.’ and ‘championship contender’ are not two words one would normally associate,” Truex said. “Much like ‘Michael Waltrip’ and ‘masculinity.’

“But the Truex fan base is growing in droves. My fan club, appropriately known as the ‘Soul Patch,’ is probably the 20^th most-influential in NASCAR.”

6. Tony Stewart: Stewart finished a disappointing 24^th at Texas, finishing two laps down for his worst result of the year. He tumbled four places in the point standings to seventh, and trails Greg Biffle by 39.

“One race I’m invincible,” Stewart said, “and the next, I’m anything but invincible. Some say there are two Tony’s. Those who claim I’m overweight say there’s enough there for two Tony’s.”

7. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished ninth at Texas, piloting his No. 29 Budweiser Chevy to his fourth top-10 result of the year. He is now fifth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 24 out of first.

“It was a windy day at Texas Motor Speedway,” Harvick said. “You may have seen a $100 bill stuck to my car’s grill during the race. That’s a sure sign of one of two things: either one of NASCAR’s rinky-dink race teams ‘blew’ their entire budget, or Delana and I should name our son ‘Benjamin Franklin.’”

8. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin came home 12^th in the Samsung Mobile 500, one spot behind Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch. Hamlin moved up one spot to sixth in the point standings, 31 out of first.

“We needed to make adjustments,” Hamlin said, “but the long green flag runs wouldn’t allow it. There were only two cautions the entire race, making it a ‘Texas two stop.’

“I spent my off-week caddying for Bubba Watson in the Masters par 3 contest. He was the only player to use a ‘driver’ on a par 3.”

9. Jeff Gordon: After a dismal qualifying effort of 34^th, Gordon quickly zoomed towards the front and finished fourth, leading two laps and posting his first top-5 finish of the year. Gordon has led a lap in all seven races this year.

“All four Hendrick Motorsports cars placed in the top 10,” Gordon said, “even Kasey Kahne. That was by far Kasey’s best finish of the year. Mostly, he’s struggled. It seems Kasey’s taken the switch from a Camry to an Impala a little too seriously, because he’s been driving that Chevy ‘like a rock’ so far.

“And speaking of ‘Rock,’ Kasey won the Craftsman Truck series race at Rockingham on Sunday. Apparently, a Hendrick driver can win on a Sunday.”

10. Carl Edwards: Edwards joined Roush Fenway teammates Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth in the top 10, posting an eighth in the Samsung Mobile 500. Edwards is now 11^th in the point standings, 58 out of first.

“My former girlfriend, Amanda Beard, just released a tell-all biography,” Edwards said, “and had few good things to say about me. Apparently, she just wasn’t into the NASCAR lifestyle. I think the final straw was when I plugged a sponsor while sweet-talking her.

“Otherwise, I have no comment. I’ve been told that if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. That explains the silent treatment Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle have been giving me all these years.”

April 17, 2012
Surprising and Not Surprising: Texas Samsung Mobile 500

[media-credit name=”Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”254″][/media-credit]Deep in the heart of Texas Motor Speedway, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 16^th running of the Samsung Mobile 500.

Surprising: In spite of Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tool Chevrolet, leading over 150 laps, it was surprising that his team owner will have to wait yet another race to secure the 200^th win for Hendrick Motorsports.

Johnson, who finished second, was the highest ranking HMS driver for the night. This was Johnson’s 13^th top-10 finish in 18 races at Texas and his fifth top-10 finish for the year.

“I’m definitely disappointed, but we had a great race car and there’s a lot to be proud of here today,” Johnson said. “Certainly wish we were there in Victory Lane but everybody knows we’re here.”

“We’re awfully close to it with this KOBALT Tools Chevrolet.”

Although still at the 199 win mark, all of the Hendrick drivers had surprisingly good nights, even Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne, who finished fourth and seventh respectively. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the final HMS pilot, finished tenth.

This was the first time since the 2011 spring race at Talladega that Hendrick Motorsports had all four of its cars in the top-10 at the finish.

Not Surprising: At a track where Roush Fenway Racing traditionally dominates, it was not surprising to see one Roushketeer, Greg Biffle, in the winner’s circle with his cowboy hat and guns. This was Biff’s first win of the 2012 season and ended a 49 race winless streak.

The win was the company’s ninth win at Texas, the most of any other racing entity.

“I just dug deep,” Biffle said about his hard fought win. “I knew I had to do it and I kept trying and trying and trying.”

“I knew the team would forgive me if I wrecked it trying to beat him,” Biffle continued. “So, I just gave it all I had.”

Surprising: It was surprising that the fire was extinguished and there was no smoke at Texas this weekend. Tony Stewart, reigning past champion, finished 24^th, two laps down.

“We just couldn’t get the handle on this thing tonight,” Stewart said. “We chased it all night.”

“We’ll go back to the shop, tear it apart, and see what the deal is.”

Surprisingly, his teammate Ryan Newman was right there with him, finishing a bit better at 21^st, yet also two laps down.

“Things didn’t go our way today,” the driver of the No. 39 US Army Chevrolet said. “But we’ll be back stronger next week to complete the mission, which is winning the race.”

Not Surprising: Martin Truex, Jr., to no one’s surprise, continued tearing up the track for Michael Waltrip Racing. The driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota started from the pole position and finished top ten, in sixth place to be exact.

Truex, Jr. has finished top-10 in nine of the last twelve races.

“It was a lot of fun out there running up front with the NAPA Toyota,” Truex, Jr. said. “I can’t say enough about everybody on this NAPA team and everybody at MWR.”

“Hopefully we can keep this thing going.”

His MWR teammate Mark Martin also had a great run at Texas, a track where he was rated 12^th in the driver rankings. Martin, behind the wheel of the No. 55 Aaron’s 2000 Best of the Best Toyota, finished third.

This was Martin’s 13^th top-10 finish in 23 races at Texas Motor Speedway.

“Mark Martin is so enthusiastic,” team owner Michael Waltrip said. “He has pumped all of the drivers up.”

“We are very happy with our team’s performance.”

Surprising: It was most surprising that at a race where there are on average eight to nine restarts, there were only two caution flags thrown, one for debris and one for Trevor Bayne’s encounter with the wall.

The yellow flag flew just twice within the first 100 laps of the race, leaving the rest of the race to be run under green flag conditions. This was the first time in history that a superspeedway race had that many green flag laps without a caution.

Not Surprising: Unfortunately but not surprisingly, there was no Bubba Watson moment for Denny Hamlin at Texas, a track at which he traditionally runs well. The driver of the No. 11 FedEx Office/March of Dimes Toyota had a decent day, finishing 12^th,but was the last car on the lead lap at race end.

Surprising: At a track where he sat out last year’s fall race because of the Truck race incident with Ron Hornaday and where this year he had an issue in the pits with his air hose getting stuck under the car, Kyle Busch had a surprising good day after all.

The driver brought his No. 18 Toyota Interstate Batteries Toyota to the checkered flag in the 11^th spot.

Not Surprising: Since Chassis No. 665 scored a good finish for Landon Cassill at Michigan last year, it was not surprising that new driver Kurt Busch gave it a whirl for a good run at Texas. The driver of the No. 51 Phoenix Construction Chevrolet finished 13^th.

“It was a good night and finish for us,” Busch said. “We had little struggles but were able to overcome those.”

“This was a good night and a nice top-15 finish for us.”

Surprising: The struggles of the Penske Dodge teams surprisingly continued and both drivers ended up just plain frustrated.

AJ Allmendinger, in the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge, finished 15^th but his teammate Brad Keselowski, behind the wheel of the Blue Deuce, had all kinds of problems that sent him off to the garage, finishing in the frustratingly low position of 36^th spot.

“The race tonight was frustrating,” Dinger said. “We had a fast Shell/Pennzoil Dodge and we just didn’t make it happen tonight.”

“This has been a very frustrating weekend to say the least,” Keselowski said. “We just need to clean some things up so that the potential of this team can shine.”

“Right now, we aren’t doing that.”

Not Surprising: As predicted, especially given the wicked weather in the area, the wind most certainly did wreak havoc throughout the race. And while it affected most drivers equally, there were still some drivers that felt the high wind added to the frustrations of their day.

“Between the wind, the changing race track and the handling, it was a long night for the Target team,” Juan Pablo Montoya said. “We didn’t have much of a chance to work on the car like we had hoped to.”

JPM finished 16^th in his No. 42 Target Chevrolet, one lap down at race end.

April 15, 2012