Tag: Danica Patrick

Surprising and Not Surprising: Kansas Hollywood Casino 400

[media-credit name=”Credit: Wesley Hitt/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”236″][/media-credit]On a repaved track that even team owner Jack Roush pronounced surprisingly fast and treacherous and with a record number of cautions to boot, here is what else was surprising and not surprising in the 12^th annual Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.

Surprising: While many know his wicked sense of humor through social media, they now know just how much it means for him to stand in Victory Lane, not as a lame duck with a team he will leave at year end, but as the first time race winner on the newly repaved Kansas Speedway.

“It really means a lot,” Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Zest Ford for Roush Fenway Racing said in Victory Lane, his voice choked with emotion.” I really got to thank God for all the opportunities he’s put in front of me.”

Kenseth’s victory was not an easy one, having hit the outside wall hard and sustaining right side damage to the car. This was Kenseth’s first Kansas win, his third victory of the season, and his 24^th career victory, moving him into a tie for 26^th on the all-time Series win list.

“You never know when your next win is,” Kenseth said. “Especially as you get older, you appreciate it more.”

“I’m really thankful and humbled to be here honestly.”

Not Surprising: Whether the lucky horseshoe or shades of the ‘Six Million Dollar Man’, Chad Knaus and team 48 proved they could rebuild the battered back end of Jimmie Johnson’s wrecked race car, making it better, stronger and faster.

In fact, Johnson was so much better, stronger, and faster that after the on pit road rebuild, he rallied back to finish ninth in his Lowe’s Chevrolet. And with that comeback, Johnson, not surprisingly, also had a message to share with his fellow Chase competitors.

“I’m just now getting a chance to look at the damage on the car and it was pretty severe,” Johnson said after the race. “I’m definitely proud of this team and the fact that we never give up.”

“It’s more mature racing here in 2012,” Johnson continued. “We showed what our team is capable of.”

“I hope the other guys are paying attention.”

Surprising: The championship point’s leader surprisingly continued to have survival on his mind, a theme that carried over from Talladega right into the race in the Midwest heartland.

Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Blue Deuce, managed to finish eighth, one spot ahead of Chaser Jimmie Johnson, over whom he maintains a seven point lead in the standings.

“I said when we finished Talladega that somebody should make ‘I Survived Talladega’ t-shirts,” Keselowski said. “Well, I didn’t know coming to Kansas it was going to be the same.”

“Just wrecks and accidents and blown tires; everything you can imagine happened,” Keselowski continued. “It seemed like every wreck happened in front of me.”

“I felt really lucky to survive it.”

Not Surprising: While Kansas broke many hearts on race day this past weekend, there was no one more heart broken than the driver of the No. 43 Farmland Ford Fusion. Aric Almirola qualified fifth and led over 60 laps of the race before blowing a tire and slamming into the wall so hard that it took his breath away.

“I have never in my entire life had a race car that good,” Almirola said. “It was just so fast and so easy to drive.”

“I hate that it ended like this but I have always been told you have to give a few away before you can win one,” Almirola continued. “We certainly gave one away today.”

Surprising: It was indeed a tale of two Kansas races, yet with a surprisingly similar result. Martin Truex Jr., in the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota finished second for the second time at Kansas Speedway.

“Well, it’s a lot different mood after this one,” Truex said after the race. “After the first one I was disappointed. Today, I’m happy with my team and my race car.”

“We really had to battle for this one,” That’s a good run for us for sure.”

With his bridesmaid finish, Truex Jr. gained one position in the point standings to sixth, 43 points out of first.

Not Surprising: Unfortunately, Kansas was killing Clint Bowyer softly with its song, even though he finished sixth in his No. 15 5-Hour Energy Benefitting Avon Foundation Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing.

“I think I started on the outside one time early in the race and just every time it just killed me,” Bowyer said. “I don’t know what the hell was going on behind us.”

“They kept wrecking,” Bowyer continued. “Restarts kind of killed us all day long.”

Surprising: There were a surprising number of temper tantrums, more typical of a short track like Martinsville than the mile and a half at Kansas. Tempers flared between Danica Patrick and Landon Cassill, as they did between Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman.

Patrick, in her No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet actually took herself out on lap 155 as a result of her on-track tiff with the driver of the No. 83 Burger King Toyota.

“I have just been really frustrated with the No. 83,” Patrick said. “It’s been pretty consistent with him getting into me.”

“So, at some point in time, I have to stand up for myself,” Patrick continued. “The bummer is I’m out of the race and he’s not.”

Patrick finished 32^nd, while Cassill brought home his race car for a much better 18th place finish.

Kyle Busch, in the No. 18 M&M’s Halloween Toyota, finished 31^st after a scuffle with the driver of the No. 39 Code 3 Associates Chevrolet. And this one might result in some payback as the 2012 season winds down.

“Everything is just on edge,” Busch said. “Newman just ran up on the back of me and got me loose.”

“So, just impatience,” Busch continued. “I’m glad he’s wrecked along with me and he’ll get another one here before the year is out.”

Not Surprising: With his crew chief back after suspension, it was not surprising for this driver to pull off a top five finish. In fact, Paul Menard, in the No. 27 Certainteed Insulation/Menards Chevrolet, finished third at Kansas.

“We had Slugger (Labbe, crew chief) back this weekend,” Menard said. “He is well rested after six weeks off and had some good ideas to try this weekend.”

“We had a good car,” Menard continued. “It was just a matter of getting us up there.”

Surprising: The ‘uh oh’ uttered by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon surprisingly captured the moment late in the race for Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet.

Kahne, who started out on the pole after shattering the track qualifying record, had a chance to win before he shut off his engine during a caution in an attempt to save fuel.

As a result, he lost several spots on the race track before getting his car back up to minimum speed, managing a fourth place finish instead of that oh-so-close victory.

“It just wouldn’t re-fire,” Kahne said after the race. “Disappointing.”

“It was coming to me at the end,” Kahne continued. “We just weren’t close enough at that point in time.”

Not Surprising: From telling his team to get their heads out of their ‘expletive’ to praising them effusively after the race, Tony Stewart did, in his own words, have ‘an eventful day.’

The driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet started 33^rd, had to overcome a pit stop where his crew left a wrench in the car, battled an incident with Jeff Burton and a spin to finish fifth.

This was Smoke’s sixth top-five in Sprint Cup starts at Kansas, pre and post repaving, having to pass 74 cars during the race to do so.

“We had some stuff to deal with, but our guys never gave up,” Stewart said. “We probably had to pass more cars than anybody today, but that seems to be our MO.”

“That’s how we won a championship last year, by never giving up.”

Surprising: While there was a surprising bit of a confusion on the part of team owner Rick Hendrick about the status of Dale Earnhardt Junior’s return to the race car (and he will return at Martinsville), substitute driver Regan Smith was feeling surprisingly right at home in the No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet.

In fact, Smith felt so much at home that he finished top-ten, in the seventh position.

“It’s been nice to be able to step in and have them treat me like a normal driver,” Smith said. “I know Dale (Earnhardt, Jr.) is excited to get back so that is going to be good for him.”

“Looking forward to whatever comes next for me.”

Not Surprising: The other drivers in new seats struggled on the newly repaved Kansas track. Kurt Busch, in the No. 78 Furniture Row/Farm American Chevrolet, finished 25^th and A.J. Allmendinger, in the No. 51 Phoenix Construction Chevrolet, finished even further back in 35^th.

But not surprisingly, both drivers and teams looked on the bright side of life in spite of the wrecks and results.

“Kurt Busch showed all of us today what an impressive driver he is,” Todd Berrier, crew chief, said. “It was the performance that counted today, not the finishing result.”

“The car was fast and we were running well,” Allmendinger said. “Tried to save it and I feel bad.”

“I hope I’m in the car next week, but if not, it’s meant the world to get back to the sport,” Dinger continued. “I love the sport.”

October 24, 2012
A Champion of Change – Greg Zipadelli

[media-credit name=”Jerry Markland Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”102″][/media-credit]They say that life is about changing and that nothing ever stays the same. The key to being successful is being able to change and adapt and continue to grow and be successful. In the last several years no one is more adept at change than Greg Zipadelli. He has gone from working with an established champion to bringing up another rookie to making a huge change in jobs, in teams, in responsibilities. To now he is in his final race of perfecting communication and providing comfort zones for NASCAR’s newest super star Danica Patrick.

Greg Zipadelli doesn’t bounce around much. He never has. His loyalty to teams and drivers doesn’t allow for that. It’s always been that way, from the time he won his first championship with Mike “Magic Shoes” McLaughlin in 1988 all the way today. Zippy as he is known has always been around for the long haul.

Many think that Zipadelli’s major success was with Joe Gibbs Racing and a guy who would play a role in his career all the way through today, Tony Stewart. But the truth is Greg Zipadelli has been winning championships and races since he was 21 years old, having been the crew chief for McLaughlin, Mike Stefanik and of course Tony Stewart, and Joey Logano.

When Zipadelli and Stewart were paired up by Joe Gibbs Racing in 1999 to challenge for Rookie of the Year honors, it was not Zippy’s first foray into what was then Winston Cup. In fact he came to Joe Gibbs Racing from a position of Chassis specialist for Jeff Burton with Jack Roush Racing.

Zipadelli would help build the No.20 Home Depot team literally from the ground up. With a rookie driver, a rookie crew chief and in a lot of ways a rookie team, Zippy and Stewart would pull off a historical feat. They won three times in their rookie year to claim the Rookie of the Year honors. Something no one else had ever done.

The relationship would last until 2008. When Stewart would make the move into ownership with his newly formed Stewart-Haas Racing team, it was a difficult thing for Stewart to leave his friend and crew chief behind after 9 years and 33 wins and two championships. But contractual restrictions would prevent him from taking Greg Zipadelli with him, at least for right then.

The seat would then be filled by another young man who came to Zippy a rookie. Joey Logano had a big reputation in late model stocks, but he had even bigger shoes to fill. Shoes that were so big that there were times you could see him struggle not to trip. Always there with a calm and reassuring manner was Zipadelli. It would be that calm demeanor that would lead Logano to his first career win in his first season with JGR. When Zipadelli left Logano, he did so with 17 top-5’s, 36 top-10’s and one win over the three year period.

In 2011, the call came from old friend Tony Stewart. Negotiations had been completed allowing Zippy to leave JGR and join SHR as the competition director, a position that had been left open after the termination of Bobby Hutchens. But the separation was not as easy as you might think. J.D. Gibbs called the progression difficult. “It’s hard, it’s hard for him in a lot of ways – this has been his home for a long time. And it’s hard for us.”

“Joe Gibbs always says that you win with people, and Tony Stewart is a winner,” Zipadelli said in the Stewart-Haas statement. “We won a lot together at Joe Gibbs Racing, and it was a sad day when (Stewart) left.

“But Tony had an unbelievable opportunity with Stewart-Haas Racing, and he’s obviously made the most of it. To become a part of what he’s already built, but to do it in a new role with a new set of responsibilities, was a challenge I wanted.”

Tony Stewart and Greg Zipadelli were together longer than any other crew chief driver pairing in the garage having been together for 9 years and forming a relationship that those close to them referred to as more like brothers than co workers. Stewart said of the move, “Greg knows all that goes into the job, understands the importance of team work and communication across all levels of the organization and is ultimately someone I have a great deal of trust in.”

But how difficult was the transition from crew chief to competition director? “It’s not really difficult, it’s just different. The difficult part is that you’ve been a crew chief so long you just kind of do what you do. Now you have to look at things differently. I like to explain it as I use to be selfish, just worry about my car and my group. Now you’ve got to worry about everybody’s car you know. Luckily you don’t have the immediate highs and lows like you do calling the race. Now you’re affected by all of them. Instead of just the car you’re working on. In that aspect it’s different,” stated Zipadelli

The job of competition director is a big one. It’s a job that is crucial to the teams themselves. “I think for where the casual fan doesn’t understand is that not every car owner can be at the shop every day and can be down on the floor every day and handling financials all the way down to the people that sweep the floor at the end of the day. The competition director is very crucial in that connection between what is going on down on the floor and what is going on in the upper office. He is managing the crew chiefs, managing the teams, managing the different departments at the race shop. He is that connection between downstairs and upstairs. Especially on a race weekend, if we have any kind of a problem that is the guy, and in our case with Greg Zipadelli, he is the acting role as the car owner from my side. He is very crucial in that role and having the right person in that role if very important to each organization” stated Tony Stewart.

But the challenges of moving from crew chief to competition director according to Zipadelli were a little different for him, “The challenging part is just learning what you can do to help the others, and not be selfish. I think having this limited deal with the Sprint Cup car (short stint as Danica Patrick’s crew chief) kind of helped me put something’s off and allowed me to still do a little bit and then go back and forth from that part of it. It’s been a help to me personally because I enjoy this part of it. The other thing is that it changes so much. What you are working on and the people part of it. So much of our sport today is people. You’re always working on people moving them around and expansion what we need to be working on and those types of things.”

Greg Zipadelli has had both ends of the spectrum with drivers. He has had the ultra skilled highly successful Stewart whose wins and championships in multiple series on multiple surface types made him a given success. He has had a true rookie in the sport with Danica, whose limited stock car experience is a challenge for both her and her team. And he has had the youthful late model success story in Joey Logano. But Zipadelli is honest about what it took to bring them all up in the ranks. “Success wise, obviously Tony was (the easiest to guide into Cup racing), because he had so much racing experience in so many other series and had been so successful. He knew how to win and he knew how to win championships, we just had to figure out what he liked in a race car and give it to him and he could do the rest. I don’t know if it’s fair to compare the three of them. They are all so different in their experience level the success level they have had in different series. They are all drastically different.”

Every ship needs a captain to help ease the strain of change. Change requires a steady hand on the wheel. A leader must have the confidence to calm the jittery. He must have the strength to lead the hesitant. It takes a knowing ear to hear and ease the fear before it becomes a habit, to spot the anger and intervene. It takes a champion to lead a group to greatness through the storms of human nature and the intangible variables of racing. Greg Zipadelli has been down that road as a crew chief. Now he will blaze the path for three instead of one.

Now he will teach and guide an organization instead of a team. In the end, the job is the same the scope is just bigger. “We’re capable of taking bad days and making them into ok days or even great days,” said Zipadelli. With that kind of confidence and belief in his team, his drivers and himself, Greg Zipadelli has already proven he is the man to guide the ship at Stewart-Haas Racing.

October 24, 2012
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Kansas

[media-credit name=”Credit: Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”224″][/media-credit]Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 8^th at Kansas, better than all but Clint Bowyer among Chase contenders. Keselwoski leads Jimmie Johnson by seven, and has a 15-point edge over Denny Hamlin.

“It was a caution-filled race,” Keselowski said. “With Election Day approaching, it’s no surprise to see so many ‘spins.’ Even Danica Patrick got into the act. She’s just like a woman—can’t get upset without dragging a man down with her.”

2. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson salvaged a ninth-place finish after spinning and nailing the wall in the Hollywood Casino 400. Johnson remained second in the point standings, seven behind points leader Brad Keselwoski.

“I’ve got to hand it to Chad Knaus,” Johnson said. “He had to do a lot to get us in position for a respectable finish. It was some of Chad’s best work, but not his best. I’ve seen him do more to a car that still passed inspection.”

3. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished 13^th at Kansas and lost ground to both in the point standings to both Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson, who finished 8^th and 9^th, respectively. Hamlin is 20 out of the lead in the point standings.

“My weekend didn’t get off to a good start,” Hamlin said. “I crashed on Thursday in a test session at Kansas Motor Speedway. After that, I wasn’t sure if I was in Kansas anymore.

“With four races left, I need to make a move. The clock is ticking. Luckily, it’s the grandfather clock given to the winner at Martinsville, where I’m always a threat to win. Hopefully, it won’t strike midnight before I put my hands on it.”

4. Clint Bowyer: Kansas native Bowyer followed his win at Charlotte with a solid 6^th in the Hollywood Casino 400, posting his 19^th top-10 finish of the year. He is fourth is the Sprint Cup point standings, 28 behind Brad Keselowski.

“Just call me ‘Clint ‘Home’ Bowyer,’” Bowyer said. “I’m sorry I couldn’t give my fans what they wanted. But they weren’t the only natives who were restless—I’m desperate for a win. I’m even more desperate for a three-car pileup in Turn 1 of lap 1 at Martinsville that wipes out Keselowski, Johnson, and Hamlin. That ‘cream’ of the crop would put me in the cream of the crop.”

5. Kasey Kahne: Kahne scored his ninth top 5 of the year with a fourth at Kansas. He is now 35 points behind Brad Keselowski in the point standings.

“I still have a mathematical chance to win the Cup,” Kahne said. “Unfortunately, I’m not good at math, like some drivers. Denny Hamlin, for example, is good at ‘multiplication.’ Matt Kenseth is good at ‘subtraction.’ And Kurt Busch is good at ‘division.’”

6. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth took his second win of the Chase, and third of the year, with the victory at Kansas. Kenseth, in the No. 17 Zest car, led a race-high 78 laps and outgunned Martin Truex, Jr. at the end.

“That’s two wins in the Chase,” Kenseth said, “but despite that, I’m still out of the title picture. Does the Chase points format need to be tweaked to place more importance on wins in the Chase? I think so, and I’ll get on a soapbox to say so.”

7. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex scored the runner-up finish in the Hollywood Casino 400, as his No. 55 NAPA car was the top Toyota in the field. He is sixth in the point standings, 43 out of first.

“With no wins at all this year,” Truex said, “you could say I’m ‘55 out of first.’NAPA ‘knows how,’ except to win.”

8. Tony Stewart: Stewart finished fifth at Kansas, his first top-5 result since a fourth at Richmond in September. He is seventh in the point standings, 47 out of first.

“I should give Danica Patrick a lesson in offensive driving,” Stewart said. “If you want to spin someone, you can’t spin yourself. This may or may not be in the Bible, but Ice Cube once said, ‘Check yo’self before you wreck ‘yo’self.’”

9. Jeff Gordon: Gordon led two laps and finished 10^th at Kansas, joining Hendrick stablemates Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson in the top 10. Gordon is eighth in the point standings, 51 out of first.

“Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has been cleared to race this weekend at Martinsville,” Gordon said. “I wouldn’t be surprised in the people of Junior Nation commemorate the event with a new drinking game in which you drink for six hours prior to the checkered flag, then try to pass a concussion test.”

10. Kevin Harvick: Harvick, in the No. 29 Budweiser Chevy, rolled to an 11^th in the Hollywood Casino 400. He is tenth in the point standings, 59 behind Brad Keselowski.

“When I say ‘I’m out of it,’” Harvick said, “it has multiple meanings. I’m too far behind to care, matter, or believe. The only close race I’m involved in is what I give more of—a ‘damn’ or a ‘rat’s ass.’”

October 23, 2012

Kansas Shows A Halloween Face; Stenhouse Jr. wins the Kansas Lottery 300

[media-credit name=”Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]The Nationwide Series race at Kansas was a caution filled display of skills and patience. The freshly paved surface proved to be a wickedly fast, wickedly slick Halloween ghoul. The track management created a surface that after a couple of races and a winter of seasoning will be one of the best tracks in NASCAR. The trick was surviving to get there.

Brian Scott would be the first casualty with three spins, two of which were unassisted. The third he had contact with the wall removing him from the competition. Johanna Long would have an early day as would Dexter Stacey and Nur Ali.

The track provided us with visual example of aero effects. The faster the car the lighter the car is on its wheels. The air disruption as another car goes by lifts just enough to make the car literally wrecking loose.

The day would prove to be frustrating for Kyle Busch, after wrecking the primary car the back up proved to be an unpredictable monster that Busch struggled with all day. Coming back late to lead he ultimately run out of gas between 3 and 4 on the final lap.

Joey Logano would be involved with Ricky Stenhouse Jr making his day a very long one. He got both laps back, and ended up finishing third.

Stenhouse Jr. would get back on the lead lap late in the race after the contact and come back to hold on to win as Busch ran out of fuel.

Points leader Sadler played a fuel strategy card late in the race. Sadler finished fourth and holds on to the series points lead by 6 points.

Young Ryan Blaney, was again impressive behind the wheel of the Penske Dodge. Blaney who started in the 27^th position drove his way all the way up as high as second. But he also ran out of the gas.

The most improved performance in the series today came from Danica Patrick. Patrick climbed all the way up to the third place before having to pit for fuel and claiming a 10^th place finish. Patrick’s confidence was very evident. Obviously the extra time in a car and the extra laps on the track paid off for her in a big way. It was refreshing to see her actually live up to the expectations placed on her. Hopefully she will remember to thank Greg Zipadelli and the SHR team as well as Ryan Pemberton and her JRM.

What began as a long drawn out race made a drastic turn at about halfway. The unpredictable monster that is the new Kansas showed her fickle nature. Stenhouse Jr. wins and Busch came up a ½ mile short. But in the end the winner was the fans and it is a victory that will last for years to come.

“Our Sam’s Club Mustang was fast this weekend. I didn’t see the win coming like this but we will take it. It was in front of a great crowd. I can’t say enough about the fans coming out and supporting us. It is a lot of fun to run in this series and especially to come to Kansas.” Stenhouse Jr. said.

Unofficial Race Results
Kansas Lottery 300, Kansas Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=30
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	10	6	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	47
2	2	3	Austin Dillon *	Chevrolet	43
3	1	18	Joey Logano	Toyota	0
4	7	2	Elliott Sadler	Chevrolet	40
5	8	88	Cole Whitt *	Chevrolet	39
6	6	54	Kyle Busch	Toyota	0
7	21	31	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	38
8	14	43	Michael Annett	Ford	36
9	12	12	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	35
10	13	7	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	34
11	27	22	Ryan Blaney	Dodge	33
12	22	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	32
13	23	19	Mike Bliss	Toyota	31
14	37	4	Danny Efland	Chevrolet	30
15	15	14	Eric McClure	Toyota	29
16	5	33	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	0
17	39	40	Erik Darnell	Chevrolet	27
18	4	199	Kenny Wallace	Toyota	26
19	32	52	Joey Gase *	Chevrolet	25
20	24	81	Jason Bowles *	Toyota	24
21	29	1	Mike Wallace	Chevrolet	23
22	33	113	Jennifer Jo Cobb	Chevrolet	0
23	26	38	Brad Sweet *	Chevrolet	21
24	19	8	Scott Lagasse Jr.	Chevrolet	0
25	16	44	Hal Martin	Toyota	0
26	3	11	Brian Scott	Toyota	18
27	42	39	Dexter Stacey	Ford	17
28	17	30	James Buescher	Chevrolet	0
29	40	124	Derek White	Toyota	0
30	31	28	Tony Raines	Chevrolet	0
31	9	70	Johanna Long *	Chevrolet	13
32	43	89	Morgan Shepherd	Chevrolet	12
33	41	41	Nur Ali	Chevrolet	11
34	30	108	Scott Saunders	Ford	10
35	11	51	Jeremy Clements	Chevrolet	9
36	25	100	Blake Koch	Toyota	8
37	36	175	Carl Long	Chevrolet	7
38	34	171	Timmy Hill	Ford	0
39	35	23	Robert Richardson Jr.	Chevrolet	5
40	28	47	J.J. Yeley	Chevrolet	0
41	38	174	Mike Harmon	Chevrolet	3
42	18	10	Jeff Green	Toyota	2
43	20	46	Chase Miller	Chevrolet	1

October 20, 2012

Surprising and Not Surprising: Dover AAA 400

[media-credit id=26 align=”alignright” width=”233″][/media-credit]As all at the Monster Mile mourned the passing of Chris Economaki, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the third Chase race, the 43^rd annual AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway.

Surprising: While Chevrolet has been dominant at the Monster Mile in the past, particularly with Jimmie Johnson behind the wheel, and Toyota strong in qualifying this race with Denny Hamlin on the pole, it was surprising that neither manufacturer ended up in Victory Lane.

Instead the lone representative of the Dodge brand took the checkered flag, waved the American flag, and even did a stellar burnout in spite of being almost out of fuel.

“Dodge has really performed with us,” Roger Penske, the ‘captain’ of the victorious No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Penske team, said. “They committed to us three or four years ago as we became the only team.”

“The greatest thing we could do would be to bring a championship to Dodge this year,” Penske continued. “At the moment, we represent them.”

“They’re partners,” Penske said. “We’re going to do our best.”

Penske’s driver Brad Keselowski not only score the win for Dodge, but also got his first win at the Monster Mile. Even more important, Keselowski grabbed the points lead in the Chase standings and is now five points ahead of Jimmie Johnson.

Not Surprising: One driver that had to have a good run in order to even stay with spitting distance of the Chase contenders pulled it off and tamed the monster for a second place finish.

“I thought it was a solid effort,” Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet, said. “Our car was pretty good right from the start.”

“It was a great finish to come home second,” Gordon continued. “This is nice to follow up what we had last week.”

“We’re running good,” Gordon said. “We got seven more weeks to get it done.”

Surprising: For a track known as the ‘Monster Mile’, it was surprising that the monster was in the fuel tank and not on the race track itself.

There were just five cautions total in the race, most for debris, and the final laps were nail biters to see who would make it on fuel rather than who would wreck or have other on-track incidents.

Even five-time champ Jimmie Johnson, behind the wheel of the No. 48 Lowes/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, had to back it down because of his fear of running out of Sunoco, finishing fourth instead of first just to be sure about that pesky fuel mileage.

“Well, for starters, we’re not very good at fuel mileage races,” Johnson said. “So, when I heard that, I’m like, man, we’re in big trouble.”

“And Chad asked me to start saving fuel,” Johnson continued. “It’s tough; it really is.”

“I wished we could have raced for it,” Johnson said. “But it is what it is.”

“You’ve got to be good on all fronts and we did a decent job today.”

Not Surprising: They say that races can be won or lost in the pits and that proved true for many drivers trapped a lap down after a cycle of pit stops gone awry with a caution. But for one Chase contender, Kasey Kahne, his entire race was impacted by what happened on pit road.

“We don’t know why I had to pit the first time, but the car just started shaking really bad,” the driver of the No. 5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet, said. “Right before it did that, we were fast, we finally got our laps back that we lost early and we were coming.”

Then the No. 5 team made a critical mistake on the stop with a lug nut and Kahne again had to visit pit road, losing track position and precious time.

“We were sitting really good because we had just pitted and topped off on fuel,” Kahne said. “It’s too bad whatever it was.”

“We’ll figure it out and hopefully we don’t have it happen again.”

Kahne finished the race in 15^th and fell to sixth position in the point standings, 32 points behind the leader.

Surprising: Although the non-Chase Fords fared surprisingly well, with Carl Edwards finishing fifth in his No. 99 Fastenal Ford, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., in his new Ford Cup ride finishing 12^th, the Chase Fords of Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth had surprisingly bad days at the Monster Mile.

In fact, Biffle and Kenseth had such surprisingly bad days, finishing 16^th and 35^th respectively, that they both fell to the basement in the Chase point standings, facing an incredibly uphill battle to get back into the championship hunt.

“It’s tough,” Biffle, driver of the No. 16 Scotch-Brite Ford Fusion said, after contending with a loose wheel and having a meltdown of epic proportions on his scanner. “We were in great position, but that really kind of takes us out of the title hunt.”

“We really needed to finish in the top three here to be a factor, but now we’ll just work on being in the top 10.”

“In two of three Chase races, something either fell off or broke, so obviously that’s not good,” Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 EcoBoost Ford Fusion, said. “This is probably the worst we’ve run here for as long as I can remember.”

“From the first lap on the track to the last lap on the track, we were pretty much junk.”

Not Surprising: There is no doubt that Kyle Busch, who had yet another great race going, including leading the most laps until fuel mileage concerns forced him to pit road at the race end, has become the modern day racing equivalent of the biblical character Job.

The driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota just cannot seem to catch a break, whether it is fuel mileage, engine failure or other strange on-track incidents. And, just like Job, Busch has done his share of vociferously and vehemently questioning the racing gods, as well as his team and manufacturer.

“It’s frustrating,” Dave Rogers, Busch’s crew chief said. “I knew if it came down to a fuel mileage race that we were going to be in trouble.”

“There was no doubt that we had the fastest car,” Rogers continued. “We played our best cards and we came up short.”

Surprising: Denny Hamlin, a physical force behind the wheel at any track, stepped up his mental game for a surprisingly good finish at the Monster Mile. The driver of the No. 11 Fed Ex Office Toyota Camry and pole sitter, finished top-ten, one of his best results at a track that admittedly is not his favorite.

“Top-10 day on a race track like this and to battle for the win all day – I’m not going to complain,” Hamlin said. “We ran our ass off today.”

“Like I said, there’s nothing we can’t handle on the race track,” Hamlin continued. “I think our performance today is a testament to where we’re heading.”

Not Surprising: Veteran Mark Martin, the ‘Energizer Bunny’ of the Cup Series, just keeps getting it done on the race track whenever he is behind the wheel of the No. 55 Aaron’s 2000^th Store, Bronx, NY Toyota. Martin finished 3^rd, announcing that, although not part of the Chase, he is still a contender.

“I don’t know if everybody really noticed or not, but we had a rocket ship, super fast car,” Martin said in the media center after the race. “We were passing cars left and right.”

“I have a fantastic race team,” Martin continued. “We were just having a blast.”

Surprising: In contrast to veteran Martin, three-time and reigning Cup champion Tony Stewart and his race team had a surprisingly challenging day. Smoke finished 20^th in his No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet and teammate Ryan Newman, in the No. 39 US Army Chevrolet, finished right behind him in 21^st.

“We just got caught behind the eight-ball there,” Stewart said. “We got a lap down and the next run we pitted, came back out and the No. 36 crashes.”

“It was just a domino effect,” Smoke continued. “As soon as we’d pit, the caution would come out again.”

Not Surprising: In addition to the stellar run of Mark Martin, the other two Michael Waltrip Racing cars, both in Chase contention, had decent, top-10 finishes at the Monster Mile. Martin Truex Jr. finished sixth and teammate Clint Bowyer finished ninth.

“Well, it wasn’t pretty at the beginning,” Truex Jr., driving the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, said. “But it was pretty damn pretty at the end.”

“It’s great a great finish for where we started,” Truex continued. “What a crazy day.”

“When you have days like that, you just have to keep fighting and we kept fighting and came out with a good results.”

Both Truex and Bowyer advanced two positions a piece in the point standings. Martin Truex Jr. is now eighth in points, 42 behind the leader, and Clint Bowyer is now fourth in points, 25 behind leader Keselowski.

Surprising: One racer, making her first start at the Monster Mile, expressed surprising comfort with the concept of a fuel mileage racing, in spite of finishing 38^th in her No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet.

“I’m so used to the concept of fuel mileage racing that I don’t have any problem with it,” Patrick said. “Even at the start of the run I’m saving fuel already and they told me not to.”

“I was a little slow to start,” Patrick continued. “But we worked our way through it and made it better most every stop.”

“That is a good starting place for next year when we get here and that is the point of these races.”

Not Surprising: While pronouncing the finish ‘decent’, it was not surprising that the crew chief for NASCAR’s most popular driver was not particularly thrilled with the 11^th place finish of the No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mount Dew Chevrolet.

“We had a good car and we are fine with what we had,” Steve Letarte, crew chief for Dale Earnhardt, Jr., said. “To come here and not be good in practice and have a good car and feel like we could run in the top-five – that’s heading in the right direction.”

“We just need a little luck on our side.”

October 3, 2012
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Dover

[media-credit name=”Credit: Patrick McDermott/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”242″][/media-credit]Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Brad Keselowski: A bold fuel strategy boosted Keselowski to the driver’s seat at Dover, and he held off Jeff Gordon to win the AAA 400. It was Keselowki’s second win of the Chase, and put him in the lead of the Sprint Cup point standings, where he is five ahead of Jimmie Johnson.

“While many of my rivals needed fuel,” Keselwoski said, “the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge didn’t. I guess it’s true what they say: Miller Lite is less filling.’”

2. Denny Hamlin: Along with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch, Hamlin dominated for much of Sunday’s AAA 400, but was forced to pit with ten laps remaining. Hamlin finished ninth and is now 16 points down to points leader Brad Keselowski.

“I say this with my eyes staring squarely at my gas-guzzling Toyota engine,” Hamlin said. “’This sucks.’ Ironically, a lack of gas took the air out of my race.”

3. Jimmie Johnson: Forced into fuel conservation mode late in the race, Johnson held on and finished fourth after avoiding the late fuel stops that affected much of the field. He fell out of the points lead and now trails Brad Keselowski by five.

“As a five-time Sprint Cup champion,” Johnson said, “I feel qualified to say that I’m not the only driver that’s ‘five behind.’

4. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer came home ninth at Dover, scoring his third consecutive top-10 finish of the Chase. He moved up one spot to fourth in the point standings and trails Brad Keselowski by 25.

“As the driver holding the fourth spot in the point standings,” Bowyer said, “my task at hand is clear: to make sure this doesn’t become just a three-man battle for the Sprint Cup.”

5. Jeff Gordon: Gordon finished second in the AAA 400, his third runner-up finish in the last five races. He is now 10^th in the point standings, 48 out of first.

“I was hoping that Brad Keselowski would run out of gas,” Gordon said. “But once again, he proved that he’s got a ‘reserve’ that no one else does.”

6. Kasey Kahne: Kahne finished three laps down in 15^th at Dover. He is fifth in the point standings, 32 out of first.

“Danica Patrick’s coming to Sprint Cup full-time next year,” Kahne said. “That’s a reason to celebrate for womankind. I’d tell Danica to take a victory lap, but she’d likely end up a lap behind.”

7. Tony Stewart: Stewart fell a lap down early at Dover and never recovered, finishing three laps down in 20^th. He is now fifth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 32 out of first.

“It’s not looking good for a defense of my 2011 Cup title,” Stewart said. “It appears ‘Smoke will be passing the torch,’ words which are sure to raise the eyebrows of the enforcers of NASCAR’s drug policy.

8. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt finished two laps down and finished a disappointing 11^th, losing further ground to the points leaders. In three Chase races, Earnhardt has yet to post a top-5 result.

“Much like a bootleg screen print t-shirt of my likeness,” Earnhardt said, “my chances at the Sprint Cup title are ‘fading fast.’ It seems the only ‘miraculous comeback’ you’ll get from me is an incredibly clever retort to someone critical of my championship ability.”

9. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex remained solid in the Chase For The Cup, scoring his second top-10 finish with a sixth in the AAA 400. He improved two places in the point standings to eighth, 42 out of first.

“There are two ‘Junior’s’ in the Chase,” Truex said, “and it looks like neither has a chance to win the Cup. Junior should know better than anyone that it takes ‘Seniority’ to win a championship.”

10. Kyle Busch: Busch led 302 of 400 laps at Dover, but relinquished the lead for a costly fuel stop late in the race. The stop cost him a lap and he finished seventh.

“While fuel mileage issues left of lot of us in ‘neutral,’” Busch said, “Brad Keselowski must have been stuck in ‘reverse,’ because he surely ‘backed’ in to the win at Dover.”

October 2, 2012
Nicole Biffle Shares Passion for Work of Greg Biffle Foundation

[media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”183″][/media-credit]Nicole Biffle is one busy young woman, as wife to Chase contender Greg and mom to 15 month old Emma. And while obviously completely committed to both of those roles, she is also passionate about her work with the Greg Biffle Foundation.

Nicole started the Greg Biffle Foundation with her husband in 2005 with the mission of creating awareness and serving as advocates to improve the well-being of animals by engaging the power and passion of the motor sports industry.

One of her ‘pet’ projects is the NASCAR Pets Calendar and she has just wrapped up work on the 2013 calendar, featuring many drivers including Kyle Busch, Jeff Burton, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., and Joey Logano. It also features NASCAR media members Shannon Spake, Rutledge Wood, Jeff Hammond, John Roberts and Chris Myers.

“So we just finished our 2013 calendar and it’s really cool,” Biffle said. “This year we have Danica Patrick, the King and Kyle Petty, and media and drivers of course.”

“It’s fun because this year we have our daughter Emma in the calendar,” Biffle continued. “So, it’s completely different.”

“It’s funny because when it comes out after taking the picture so long ago, she looks so different since then.”

The NASCAR Pets Calendar has been the fundraising hallmark for the Greg Biffle Foundation. The response to the inaugural edition of the calendar made it the best selling item on NASCAR.com and in 2009, Greg’s sponsor 3M got on board to take it to the next level.

The 2013 edition of the calendar is already on sale in various outlets, including 30 Petco stores, Mooresville, NC vet clinics, animal welfare organizations nationally and again on NASCAR.com.

According to Nicole Biffle, the Foundation took another bold step to raise money recently by auctioning off a 2012 Ford Raptor truck designed by her husband. The truck sold for $80,000, with all of the proceeds benefitting the Foundation.

“With that Barrett Jackson auction we just did, we also raised money as well,” Nicole Biffle said. “The truck was really cool.”

“I was watching it on TV and I was so nervous,” Biffle continued. “I’m very thankful to the lady who bought it. That was very nice of her and that will help a lot of animals.”

“The great thing is that the dog they had there in that rescue, there were a lot of inquires about adopting him,” Biffle said. “So, having him there brought some attention to not only him but his shelter too.”

“People were really interested which was really cool.”

Nicole Biffle is also passionate about another upcoming event to benefit the Foundation, their annual mountain retreat fundraiser.

“We have our Foundation event, our mountain retreat event, after the Charlotte race,” Biffle said. “We do that at our mountain property.”

“It’s an exclusive event and we invite about nine drivers and we make of teams,” Biffle said. “We invite them and they go on the dirt track and shoot skeet.”

“We have an archery course set up and we do trail rides,” Biffle continued. “It’s really a lot of fun.”

“We raise money through sponsorships and the participants pay to attend,” Biffle said. “It is a competition so the drivers are always competitive, especially on the dirt track, but we also give awards for the best shooter and things like that.”

“We also added the night before a poker tournament and a casino night just for fun,” Biffle continued. “Of course, people are generous enough to donate their winnings back to us which is so nice.”

While Nicole Biffle is passionate about all of the Foundation fundraisers, she is most passionate about the real reason for the Foundation, making all of the grants. And this year, she has had a record amount of applications to consider, from 93 grants made last year to 380 applications this year.

“We go through them and it is so difficult because there is so many,” Biffle said. “We look at what we’ve got and we tend to give to those that have little so they can keep their doors open.”

“I had to hire an assistant to help me with the grant requests because my brain wasn’t working with what my heart was saying and I would have given to everybody,” Biffle continued. “It’s just hard but that’s obviously what the Foundation is for.”

Nicole Biffle is also passionate about another endeavor, serving on the Board of the Friends of the Animals organization, where she serves as President and Greg as Vice President.

“Greg and I are involved with the Friends of the Animals,” Biffle said. “That’s to build an adoption center in Mooresville.”

“That is really, really going well,” Biffle continued. “We are making progress and the community backing is astounding.”

“I’m pretty excited,” Biffle continued. “I think it’s going to be a big thing for us.”

As with every mom, however, Nicole Biffle’s passion must now be shared and spread around, from her Foundation work to her roles as wife and mother. And like every busy mom, she works hard at trying to balance it all.

“It’s different now that I’ve got Emma because I can’t focus as much time as I did in the past,” Biffle said. “I love being with her.”

“We just try to balance it out and I’m grateful for good help at the Foundation and good board members at the Friends of the Animals.”

Oh and by the way and on one final note, Nicole Biffle is also passionate about her husband Greg, who is currently competing for NASCAR’s highest honor the Sprint Cup. And she is very passionate in supporting him, along with Emma, in that endeavor.

“I would love for Greg to win the championship this year,” Nicole Biffle said.”Being the first to win in all three series would be amazing.”

“It would be awesome to have our little family to celebrate that.”

For more information about the Greg Biffle Foundation or to purchase a 2013 calendar, visit gregbifflefoundation.com.

October 1, 2012
NASCAR’s Confidence Factor

[media-credit name=”Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”235″][/media-credit]While some still debate it, anyone involved with NASCAR knows not only is it a sport, but one that involves a unique mixture of physicality, good mechanics and a great deal of mental focus, as well as confidence.

The mental aspect of the sport has been gaining increasing attention recently, especially as some of the drivers at the highest level acknowledge the use of sports psychologists and other confidence-building tools.

Probably the most vocal about the mental side of the sport, especially having confidence, has been Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. Hamlin employed the skills of a sports psychologist after narrowly missing the championship in 2010.

“I took for granted in 2010 that we were part of a championship battle,” Hamlin said. “We had an amazing season – a career season for myself – but you get so upset about not winning a championship.”

“When you lose a championship and you follow it up the next year and your cars don’t run as well, then it’s very frustrating.”

“From 2010 when we won eight, this year we won five and last year we won one – I didn’t forget how to drive for a year,” Hamlin said. “That part is tough to get over when you become irrelevant after a career year.”

“Our focus is ourselves and knowing that if I’ve got the balance that I’ve got and the car that I need, we can win,” Hamlin continued. “That’s the mental side of it.”

Fellow Chase competitor Martin Truex, Jr., who drives the No. 56 NAPA Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, agreed with Hamlin as to the importance of confidence, especially in motivating the race team.

“I obviously, definitely, think it’s a part of it,” Truex said. “But, there are times when you can love a race track and be as upbeat as you’ve ever been and still go in there and have a bad weekend.”

“You know, having a good mental attitude is a good thing to keep the team rallied around you,” Truex continued. “Those guys really feed off the driver and it seems that the driver’s attitude can play a part in how the team is feeling and how they do their job throughout the weekend.”

“I think everyone comes into the weekend, not matter where you go, optimistic,” Truex said. “But at the end of the day, if you can’t get your car to do what you want, it doesn’t matter how much you love the race track.”

“For us, it’s just all about working hard and having a good attitude going in, being optimistic, being positive and just working hard and trying to get the results you’re looking for.”

Four-time champion Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, affirms that confidence is key, especially for him since he is last in the Chase point standings.

“It’s important for us to be aggressive and put pressure on them by being up front and running good,” Gordon said. “Right now we are not really on anybody’s radar.”

“They know we run good and know we can win races and yet, they know we are really far back in points,” Gordon continued. “So right now it’s all on us to go do what we are capable of doing.”

Cup driver Joey Logano, who currently drives for Joe Gibbs Racing but will move to Penske Racing in 2013, has many reasons to focus on improving his confidence, especially with all of the changes in his life and career.

“I worked with a sports psychologist a few times, especially last year more than this year,” Logano said. “It’s a little bit easier with a lot more wins to keep your confidence up.”

“I’ve learned a lot from last year; kind of learning yourself and what makes yourself work and how to handle certain situations with people and how to stay positive,” Logano continued. “I’ve learned a lot from that for sure.”

“It’s the little things,” Logano said. “The people you surround yourself with and how you deal with conflict is so important to keep stress off yourself.”

“My big thing is I always used to avoid controversy and now I hit it head on and then I’m done with it,” Logano continued. “It’s better that way.”

The attention to the mental aspect of the sport, as well as the use of sports psychologist or other experts, transcends from the Cup garage to the Nationwide level as well.

“It’s a really mental sport, probably 40% mental and 60% car,” Michael Annett, driver of the No. 43 for Richard Petty Motorsports, said. “There are times you can get so frustrated and lose time on the race track and the next lap, you make up time.”

“The car didn’t change, but the mentality of the driver did,” Annett continued. “It’s how you bring it back so if you can maintain consistency, that’s your job.”

“I’ve done some things like sports psychologists and the biggest thing you learn is that if you do lose focus, there are things you can do to get you back on track and back where you need to be,” Annett said. “Confidence comes with success obviously.”

“Once you get it, it’s hard for other guys to take it away from you.”

Perhaps rookie driver Danica Patrick had the most unique approach to the mental aspect of racing and having confidence in herself. Patrick drives in the Nationwide Series for JR Motorsports and is trying her hand at some Cup events for Tommy Baldwin Racing in preparation for next year.

“Well I do believe in faking it until you believe it,” Patrick said. “That sort of mind frame or saying came about a few years ago.”

“It’s easy to get down, it’s easy to not be happy or excited in the monotony of the same thing every weekend, and if things don’t go well, being upset and letting that get to you,” Patrick continued. “We just came up with that idea of fake it until you believe it.”

“I encourage everyone to try it,” Patrick said. “If you just smile and are happy and joke, even if you are out of control and not even being honest about how excited you are about something, eventually at some point that day you will be happy.”

“Then you are just having a good weekend and you don’t have to fake it anymore,” Patrick continued. “It’s common sense that if you say you don’t like something it’s not going to go as well.”

“I’m just trying to apply that every weekend,” Patrick said. “I can’t say I’m completely successful.”

“I need to find the good in it and the positive attitude will translate into better results I think.”

September 29, 2012
Denny Hamlin Scores First Ever Pole At Monster Mile

[media-credit name=”Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”216″][/media-credit]At a track that has been admittedly been monstrous in the past to him, Denny Hamlin pulled off the fastest qualifying lap of his Monster Mile career, scoring his first ever pole at Dover International Speedway.

Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota grabbed the pole with a fast lap of 22.599 seconds at a speed of 159.299 mph. This is Hamlin’s third pole of the season but his first ever at Dover in 14 races at the Monster Mile.

“That was an amazing run,” Hamlin said. “Definitely wasn’t what I expected, but it sure feels good to get a pole here.”

“Our car was really strong in race trim and really wasn’t all that good in qualifying trim,” Hamlin continued. “Hopefully this is a good sign of things that will give us a strong run here on Sunday.”

“Starting from the pole will help us in tuning our car throughout the day,” Hamlin said. “Obviously track position is going to be very, very crucial and we’ve got to do everything we can to keep that.”

“We’ve got a car that’s very capable of staying in the front and hopefully we’ll have a shot to win.”

Hamlin humbly credited his crew chief Darian Grubb for his pole winning qualifying effort.

“I think there’s a lot of drivers out there that could be able to do what I do with the cars that Darian has been giving me the last few weeks,” Hamlin said. “I’m going to give him pretty much all the credit and ride his back as long as it will hold me.”

The second and third qualifying positions belonged to Michael Waltrip Racing teammates Clint Bowyer and Martin Truex, Jr.

“It was good,” Bowyer, driver of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota, said. “When you’re that close, it’s disappointing because you know just if you could have put the gas down that much more anywhere around the race track, you’d of had the pole.”

“I will save that for another day.”

Bowyer posted his 12^th top-10 start of 2012 and his fifth in 14 races at the Monster Mile.

“It’s a good day for us,” Martin Truex, Jr., driver of the No. 56 NAPA Toyota, said. “It’s been a good weekend so far.”

“The NAPA Toyota was about perfect,” Martin Truex Jr. continued. “Had to lift off turn four and gave it to him.”

“The car was awesome.”

This was Truex’s sixth top-10 start at Dover International Speedway and his 13^th in 29 races this season.

Sam Hornish, Jr. sat on the pole briefly but was relegated to a fourth place qualifying run in his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger.

“The lap was OK,” Hornish said. “From inside the car, I thought that we put together a pretty solid lap.”

“Our race runs yesterday didn’t have the speed that we needed, so I’m really happy that I qualified well.”

Kyle Busch, in the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, rounded out the top-five in qualifying at Dover. Busch had his hands full, with the car wiggling during the lap.

“I really don’t know what I did wrong,” Busch said. “It stepped out and I just had to catch it and wait and go after it the second lap.”

“Just glad we were able to have a strong second lap.”

While the qualifying lap may have been a bit squirrelly, Busch said he might just have the car to beat on race day.

“I think we’ve definitely got a top-three car right now,” Busch said. “I think we’re one of those in the top elite.”

Ten of the twelve Chase drivers qualified in the top-13 positions during the time trials, with Hamlin in first, Bowyer second, Truex Jr. third, Greg Biffle sixth, Jeff Gordon seventh, Kasey Kahne in ninth, Brad Keselowski in tenth, Jimmie Johnson in eleventh, Matt Kenseth in twelfth and Kevin Harvick in thirteenth.

Chase drivers Tony Stewart qualified 24^th and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. qualified 25^th.

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., making his first Cup start in the No. 6 Cargill Ford, qualified 17^th and Danica Patrick, in the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, qualified 38^th.

September 29, 2012
NASCAR Mourns Two Legends Chris Economaki and Bob Newton

In this undated photo provided by CBS Sports, journalist Chris Economaki is shown at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. Economaki, regarded as the authoritative voice in motorsports for decades, died Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. He was 91. (AP Photo/File)

NASCAR and the racing world in general lost two legends this week, Bob Newton and Chris Economaki. As news filtered through the NASCAR garage and media center at Dover International Speedway of Economaki’s passing and of the passing earlier in the week of Newton, many in leadership roles, as well as the drivers themselves, took time to remember.

Chris Economaki, who died at the age of 91, was so important to the world of motorsports. The ‘Dean of Motorsports’ worked for more than forty years for venues including CBS, ESPN and ABC’s Wide World of Sports.

“The passing of Chris Economaki is a tough loss for me on both a personal and professional level, having known Chris throughout my life,” Brian France, NASCAR Chairman and CEO, said. “Many people consider Chris the greatest motorsports journalist of all time.”

“He was, indeed, the ‘Dean’ and was a fixture for years at NASCAR events, playing a huge role in growing NASCAR’s popularity,” France continued. “I’ll miss seeing him and of course, I’ll miss hearing that voice.”

“Our thought and prayers are with his daughters Corinne and Tina and the rest of Chris’ family.”

In addition to NASCAR leadership, the leadership of Ford Motor Company and Ford Racing Communications also paid tribute to Economaki.

“All of us at Ford Motor Company are sorry to hear of Chris Economaki’s passing,” Edsel B. Ford II, said. “He was an icon of the sport of auto racing a familiar, knowledgeable face and voice to millions of race fans around the world.”

“Chris’ passing marks the end of a great era of auto racing and how it was covered in this country,” Kevin Kennedy, Ford Racing Communications Director, said. “He truly loved the sport, probably more than any journalist I knew, but he also loved the people who made up the sport and was quick to tell a great story, say a kind word to those new in the sport, and hold court on any subject the sport could dish out.”

“I’ll miss that great voice.”

In addition to NASCAR leadership, the drivers themselves also weighed in on Economaki’s passing, including Jeff Gordon, four-time champion; Tony Stewart, reigning champ; Danica Patrick, making her way in the Nationwide and Cup Series; and past champion Matt Kenseth.

“Speed Sport News was something that I read religiously,” Jeff Gordon said. “Chris did a lot for that newspaper and for motorsports and he was passionate about all of it.”

“The last time I saw him was earlier this year and still, that is all he thought about was racing,” Gordon continued. “And he cared so much about what was happening in this sport and wanted to make a difference and wanted to get those stories out there.”

“It’s just not very often that you come across somebody that puts their heart and soul and entire life mission into that.”

“Obviously, Chris has covered racing for so long, not only been a journalist but a great announcer at the same time and pit report,” Tony Stewart said. “I don’t think anybody here that has been involved in racing for very long didn’t get Speed Sport News every week.”

“Luckily, Speed Sport News is still going on and then it got turned over to some really good hands,” Smoke continued. “The guy that started it all unfortunately we lost.”

“I’ve met him a couple times and am aware of what he’s done and how much he means to journalism and motorsports,” Danica Patrick said. “I just know how instrumental he’s been and how long he’s been around.”

“It’s sad that any time someone who has been around forever and is a legend dies.”

“You would hear him when NASCAR racing first started being on TV, or at least being on TV in Wisconsin before I could see it in person, and you couldn’t help but notice Chris,” Matt Kenseth said. “He was one of the first and probably the most recognizable and famous voices there was with motorsports.”

“I’m sad about his passing.”

The racing world, including NASCAR, also lost another member of the family with the death of Bob Newton this week. Newton founded the company that produced tires for NASCAR cars in the 1980s and in other racing series as well.

“What an impact he made,” Jeff Gordon said. “Bob Newton with Hoosier Tire really changed what short track racing his today.”

“His efforts and that family certainly made a big impact on my life, and racing, and what I raced on for years before I ever got tot eh Cup Series.”

“So, two big losses this week.”

“Bob Newton, I don’t even know where to start,” Tony Stewart said. “There is so much I can say about him. He is just a great guy.”

“I’ve worked with Hoosier Racing Tire since I was probably 20 or 21 years old,” Smoke continued. “They have been a sponsor of mine ever since.”

“The thing about Bob is he always cared about the racers more than he cared about himself.”

“You hate it when you have a week where you lose two great people that meant so much to the sport like this.”

September 28, 2012