Tag: Daytona 500

Elliott’s Daytona Debut Ends Abruptly

Chase Elliott’s hopes of bringing the Harley J. Earl Trophy back with him to Dawsonville, Georgia came to a halt not 50 miles into the race.

After becoming the youngest driver to win the Daytona 500 pole and capturing the checkered flag in Saturday’s XFINITY event, anticipation was high as the race began.

Elliott led the first three laps but as he was exiting Turn 4 on Lap 19, the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet got loose, came down across the nose of Carl Edwards and slid down into the tri-oval grass. His car came to a halt after the nose dug into the ground and hit the drainage hole and destroyed the front of the car.

Elliott described what happened saying he “just got in (the) middle there a couple of laps before and got loose off of (Turn) 4 and just lost it. I hate it. It had been such a fun week and you hate to end the race before it even got started. Just disappointed for everybody. We will just have to look past it and get on for Atlanta.”

“That is the most important thing now,” he continued. “Can’t get caught up in what happened today, it is irrelevant now. We’ll try and get it fixed and make some laps. Then it’s on to Atlanta and if we can make some laps we will, and move forward from here.”

He returned to the race and finished in 37th 40 laps down.

February 21, 2016
Denny Hamlin Wins the Daytona 500

Denny Hamlin edged out his competition to win the Daytona 500.

The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota edged out the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota of Martin Truex Jr. by 11 one-thousandths of a second to win the 58th running of the Great American Race.

“I just remember pulling up in front of the 4 (Kevin Harvick) and him giving me a push and not letting off when he was pushing and ultimately that was the push to the victory for us,” Hamlin said. “This is the best. I mean, it’s just the best. It’s the biggest race of my life. The Daytona 500 is – as a kid what you – this is the pinnacle of our sport and I’m just proud to be here.”

After leading 95 laps, he had to jump to the outside line in front of Kevin Harvick on the final lap to get a run on teammate Matt Kenseth. He went up the track to pass him in Turn 3, but Kenseth tried to block him. Hamlin then dove under him, Kenseth got loose trying to block him and fell backward to finish 14th.

Truex summed up the disappointing loss saying, “I did all I thought I could do. I had the lead ‘til like the start of the Daytona over there on the wall and it could have been 20 feet from the line, so just really proud of that effort, really proud of that for Bass Pro Shops and our first race with Toyota. He (Denny Hamlin) just side-drafted and I just should have – I probably should have run him up a little bit more, but I thought we were close enough that I could keep that foot or so, but I couldn’t so I lost it the last second.”

Kyle Busch rounded out the podium in his No. 18 JGR Toyota.

Harvick came home fourth in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet and Carl Edwards rounded out the top-five in his No. 19 JGR Toyota.

Defending race winner Joey Logano was unable to get his No. 22 Team Penske Ford near the front in the end to make a run at a second win in the Daytona 500 and settled for sixth.

“The 4 (Harvick) got in front of me and we started moving and then the 11 (Hamlin) saw that and jumped up there and got the push from both of us and then it was a heck of a finish. I don’t like being behind watching it. I want to be involved with it. Overall it is a great start for our Shell Pennzoil team and we kicked off the season with a bunch of great finishes down here in Daytona and we are looking forward to getting to Atlanta,” Logano said.

Kyle Larson came home seventh in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet followed by Regan Smith in eighth in his No. 7 Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet. Austin Dillon finished ninth in his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet while Kurt Busch rounded out the top-10 in his No. 41 SHR Chevrolet.

Pre-race betting favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. crashed out with 29 laps remaining and finished 36th.

“It caught me by surprise,” Earnhardt explained. “I was trying to side-draft a guy beside me and boy, it pinned the right front. All the downforce there. We have been working on the balance all day. That was our problem. We really underestimated how important handling was going to be today.”

Pole-sitter Chase Elliott spun out exiting Turn 4 and came to a crashing halt in the grass.

“(I) just got in middle there a couple of laps before and got loose off of (turn) four and just lost. I hate it-it had been such a fun week and you hate to end the race before it even got started. Just disappointed for everybody,” Elliott said.

The race lasted three hours, 10 minutes and 25 seconds at an average speed of 157.549 mph. There were six cautions for 31 laps and 20 lead changes among 15 different drivers. The final margin of victory was 11 one-thousanths of a second.

February 21, 2016

Earnhardt Tops the Chart in Final Practice

Dale Earnhardt Jr. topped the chart for the final practice session before the big race tomorrow.

The driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was the fastest in the final Daytona 500 practice session with a time of 45.655 and a speed of 197.131 mph.

Joey Logano was second in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford with a time of 45.832 and a speed of 196.369 mph. Ryan Blaney was third in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford with a time of 45.851 and a speed of 196.288 mph followed by Brad Keselowski in fourth in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford with a time of 45.857 and a speed of 196.262 mph. Kurt Busch rounded out the top-five in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet with a time of 45.904 and a speed of 196.061 mph.

Kevin Harvick was sixth in his No. 4 SHR Chevrolet, Greg Biffle was seventh in his No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford and Chase Elliott was eighth in his No. 24 HMS Chevrolet. Brian Vickers was ninth in his No. 14 SHR Chevrolet as Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-10 in his No. 15 HScott Motorsports Chevrolet.

Twenty-five cars took part in the session. Elliott had the fastest 10-lap average.

Full Practice Results:

Pos	Car	Driver	Speed
1	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	197.131
2	22	Joey Logano	196.369
3	*21	Ryan Blaney #	196.288
4	2	Brad Keselowski	196.262
5	41	Kurt Busch	196.061
6	4	Kevin Harvick	196.014
7	16	Greg Biffle	195.959
8	24	Chase Elliott #	195.839
9	14	Brian Vickers	195.814
10	15	Clint Bowyer	195.763
11	38	Landon Cassill	195.236
12	7	Regan Smith	195.135
13	5	Kasey Kahne	194.397
14	23	David Ragan	194.384
15	*26	Robert Richardson Jr.	194.342
16	6	Trevor Bayne	194.280
17	46	Michael Annett	194.221
18	48	Jimmie Johnson	193.719
19	1	Jamie McMurray	193.075
20	95	Ty Dillon(i)	192.951
21	20	Matt Kenseth	192.806
22	43	Aric Almirola	192.201
23	44	Brian Scott #	192.160
24	31	Ryan Newman	191.111
25	34	Chris Buescher #	190.392

February 20, 2016

Rowdy Wins the Duel, Richardson Moves on Through

Kyle Busch won the second Can-Am Duel race at Daytona International Speedway Thursday night and the field is now set for the Great American Race.

The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led 35 of the 60 laps on his way to taking the checkered flag. Busch will start fourth in the Daytona 500 provided teammate Matt Kenseth doesn’t go to a backup car.

Busch spoke about the win and its implications for the Daytona 500.

“Definitely a unique opportunity for us and our team,” he said. “Joe Gibbs Racing has come down with more speed this time around. In the Can-Am Duels tonight we also showed we had good speed. Denny had a fast car. Myself, Matt and Carl, we ran up in the top three much of the race.”

“Daytona obviously lends itself with this restrictor plate package to pack racing,” Busch continued. “We see that quite a bit down here in Daytona. It’s always a good, exciting race, tends to be towards the end. I wouldn’t expect anything less out of the Daytona 500 here on Sunday.”

The race ended under caution after what had been a tame race when Jimmie Johnson get loose in Turn 1 and collected Martin Truex Jr. and Kenseth on the final lap. Kurt Busch also sustained damage from being hit by Johnson.

After finishing ninth, Matt DiBenedetto will advance to and start 18th in his first career start in the Daytona 500. Because he didn’t have to fall back on his qualifying speed, this allowed teammate Robert Richardson Jr. to grab the final transfer spot into the Daytona 500.

“Being able to race in my first Daytona 500 this weekend is going to be a heck of an honor, DiBenedetto said. “I’ve dreamed of it since I was five, so I’m excited.”

Richardson also expressed his appreciation for the opportunity to participate in the Daytona 500.

“I’m very, very honored to be a part of BK Racing, having another opportunity to run here at the Daytona 500. I’ve been in it once before, but this one is very, very special to me. My wife and I welcomed our brand-new baby boy who was born in early December. Every bit of earnings we get from this race is going to go into a college fund for him. It’s just the good Lord looking down on us and blessing us. Got to give all the glory to Him.”

David Gilliland, Reed Sorenson, Cole Whitt and Josh Wise all failed to make the Daytona 500.

February 18, 2016
June Bug Takes the Win, McDowell Gets In

The pied piper of Daytona scored the win in duel race No. 1 and Michael McDowell will have his chance to race for immortality on Sunday.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. led all but 17 of the 60 laps to take home his fifth career Cam-Am Duel victory at Daytona International Speedway in his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. His performance was a clinic that showed he’ll be the car to beat this Sunday in the Daytona 500. He’ll start the Daytona 500 in third. Joey Logano finished second in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford and will start fifth in Sunday’s Daytona 500.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. led all but 17 of the 60 laps to take home his fifth career Cam-Am Duel victory at Daytona International Speedway in his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. His performance was a clinic that showed he’ll be the car to beat this Sunday in the Daytona 500. Earnhardt will start the Daytona 500 in third place.

He gave credit for the win to his car, affectionately named Amelia.

“The car is awesome. I don’t really get too confident, I don’t want to get overly confident in what I’m doing. But the car really does everything I ask it to do. When you have a car that you know can do the things that this car can do, you’re willing to take those gambles and risks to pull out and pass and not worry about getting shuffled to the back because you feel like the car is really capable of doing what you’re going to ask it to do every time you make a move.

“It’s just a fun car to drive, really special car. Rick leaned into the window, I told him, whatever happens to this thing from here on out, he needs to keep track of it. Might be one he wants to put in a museum one day because it’s done a lot of good things.”

Joey Logano finished second in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford and will start fifth in Sunday’s Daytona 500.

Ryan Blaney didn’t need to fall back on his qualifying speed to make the Daytona 500 as his third-place finish was enough to transfer him into the race. He’ll start the Daytona 500 in seventh.

Michael McDowell and his No. 59 Circle Sport Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet will transfer into the Daytona 500 based on his qualifying speed. He’ll start the Daytona 500 in 37th.

Immortality wasn’t meant to be for Cole Whitt and Josh Wise. Whitt suffered damage in a spin with less than 20 laps remaining and retired his car from the race. Wise lost the draft with two laps to go and finished in 17th behind McDowell.

February 18, 2016
The Magic of Daytona

The morning is bright and the day you’ve anticipated for so long is upon you. As you walk through the gates you get a chill; the atmosphere so electric. You step onto the asphalt; you drop to your knees and close your eyes. You touch it and you feel the shiver of history rush through you.

You can smell the ocean and feel the sand that is packed down from tires roaring over it as they race to the finish. A soft breeze tickles your face and the whine of the engines in the distance comes closer. You open your eyes and suddenly the past is all around you.

You see Marshall Teague in his fabulous Hudson Hornet coming toward you as you step off into the grass. Drivers like Fireball Roberts, Fred Lorenzen and the Flying Flocks follow close behind. Scenes from long-ago flash by you; you can feel the drivers’ triumph and defeat.

Then you see it coming off of Turn four; a black car with a white number three and a driver with a grin like no other. Fans and crews all stand as he finally gets the checkered flag that has eluded him so many times before. You feel his joy and happiness so strongly it brings tears to your eyes and for a moment, the sense of tragedy is gone.

Suddenly the past fades away as today’s drivers get ready to run the biggest race of their lives. An image captures your attention and faintly you see him watching his son intently as he climbs into his car.

Engines roar to life and the grandstands shake with energy and anticipation. You’re captivated and holding your breath as laps go by, one by one. You can feel the frustration arise for those who won’t be taking the trophy home this time, the ever elusive win slipping through their hands. Cheers erupt for the winner as the checkered flag falls! The happiness is infectious as the champagne showers the crew members and fans. For one, this victory is special, it’s like no other.

Its history, its present, its future, its magic! It’s Daytona.

February 17, 2016
Hot 20 – The cream of the crop for the Daytona 500

There will be no Daytona 500 victory listed on Tony Stewart’s resume. His recent off-season back injury ensured that. Well, maybe. I cannot help but notice that Michael Waltrip already has a lock on his 29th place in the Great American Race. There is always the chance that, given an opportunity and still with the ability to squeeze into a firesuit, Smoke could be back, at some time.

The hottest 20 drivers heading into Sunday are all locked in. Thanks to some large wallets, even Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch are good to go for the rest of the season, buying up those Charters from Waltrip’s defunct operation.

As far as the debate over the Wood Brothers not getting a Charter, I agree that as they have been running part-time, they should not have received one. I do disagree that B.K. Racing got two, or that Go Fas Racing or Premium Motorsports received any. Instead of the only criteria to receive one being reduced to only those who attempted to quality for the past 108 straight races, maybe they should have taken performance into consideration. I mean, between them, those four operations failed to qualify for 29 events last season. Maybe those Charters should have been held for those who attempted the past 36, AND who were among the Top 36 in owner’s points. Good enough to earn a one-year Charter, something they could regain through a Top 36 finish in 2016.

Thirty-six entries, just like the 36 provisional spots once awarded in past years; awarded based on performance. Qualifying spots should have remained at 43, giving teams seven openings to make it and still be able to challenge for one of those 36 Charter positions. A Charter gives peace of mind, but seven open spots still allow those without a parachute an opportunity to challenge, to compete, to succeed. Just what in hell NASCAR and the members of the Race Team Alliance were thinking when they guaranteed places for at least the next three years while all but closing the door on challengers is beyond me.

At least, we still have the race, albeit minus three entries and the entire backstretch grandstands. I am sure nobody will notice, or ponder the reasons why. Here are our hot 20, based on their 2015 season long performance.

1. Joey Logano – 6 Wins – 1299 Points
Logano arrived in 2014, confirmed that in 2015, and as for 2016….

2. Jimmie Johnson – 5 Wins – 1155 Points
The official standings have him finishing 10th; a rather misleading statistic.

3. Matt Kenseth – 5 Wins – 1046 Points
When Matt says he is going to run a driver down, he just might mean it.

4. Kyle Busch – 5 Wins – 867 Points
His greatest year featured a championship, a busted leg, and a late May start to the season.

5. Kevin Harvick – 3 Wins – 1321 Points
Recorded an average of nearly 36.7 points per race in 2015.

6. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 3 Wins – 1198 Points
After just two wins in seven seasons, he has seven wins in his last two.

7. Denny Hamlin – 2 Wins – 1117 Points
Finishing in the season’s Top Ten eight times in 10 tries, is this the year he takes all the marbles?

8. Carl Edwards – 2 Wins – 1108 Points
Wins two and still has to pay for a Charter spot, while BK Racing gets two, after four DNQ’s.

9. Kurt Busch – 2 Wins – 1108 Points
Kurt wins twice and gets nothing while the No. 62 DNQ’s 19 times last season and “earns” one.

10. Brad Keselowski – 1 Win – 1217 Points
Just a single win but a personal high of 25 Top Tens kept him close.

11. Martin Truex, Jr. – 1 Win – 1165 Points
A team that made it all the way to top tier status without the benefit of a Charter.

12. Ryan Newman – 1052 Points
I still think Tony let go the wrong driver.

13. Jamie McMurray – 1052 Points
He might not be great, but you might have to be in order to out-point him.

14. Paul Menard – 972 Points
You hear more about his driving ability and less about his daddy’s cash these days.

15. Aric Almirola – 940 Points
Last year, Petty trumped Roush.

16. Kasey Kahne – 939 Points
In fact, Hendrick’s weak sister would have led the way for Jack’s crew.

17. Clint Bowyer – 891 Points
Teammates once were Waltrip and Truex. Today, he is Michael Annett.

18. Kyle Larson – 872 Points
Maybe the best of the kiddie corps…but Chase probably will contest that thought.

19. Greg Biffle – 869 Points
Damn good driver with what has become a damn poor team.

20. Austin Dillon – 832 Points
Grandpa expects more this time out.

February 17, 2016
Three Cars to the Rear for the Duels

Three cars fell afoul of the rules in qualifying.

The two Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet’s of the No. 4 driven by Kevin Harvick and No. 14 driven by Brian Vickers failed post-qualifying tech inspection after the track bars were found to be out of compliance with the Sprint Cup Series rule book.

Their times were disallowed and both teams will start from the rear in their respective Can-Am Duel race on Thursday night.

According to Rodney Childers, crew chief of the No. 4 car, the track bar “ended up with 1/4″ too much rake.”

He also took to Twitter “to apologize to @NASCAR @jimmyjohns and our fans. It was a simple mistake on our part and look fwd to racing Thursday night. Thx.”

Martin Truex Jr.’s car was also taken off the qualifying line after officials took issue with the roof flap. He was unable to post a lap in qualifying, had his car impounded and will start from the rear of the field in his Duel race.

“Thought we had a really good car with good speed in it,” Cole Pearn said. “Either way, we’ll move on and hopefully have a good rest of Speedweeks.”

February 14, 2016
Chase Elliott on the Pole for the Daytona 500

It didn’t take long for Chase Elliott to find success in the top level of NASCAR. The 2014 XFINITY Series champion and son of 1988 Sprint Cup Series champion Bill Elliott scored his first career pole today with a time of 45.845 and a speed of 196.314 mph. He will lead the field to the green flag for next Sunday’s 58th running of the Great American Race, the Daytona 500. At 20 years, two months and 17 days, Elliott is the youngest Daytona 500 pole-sitter in NASCAR history.

“This is a very very cool day…it’s nothing special I did,” Elliott said. “The Daytona 500 is about the team and the work they did in the off-season to make this happen.”

He’ll be joined on the front row by Matt Kenseth who posted a time of 45.910 and a speed of 196.036 mph. The age difference between the two drivers on the front row is 23 years.

Both drivers will lead the field to the green flag in their respective Duel races on Thursday night. Every driver outside the first two starters will have to race for their starting spot on Thursday.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top-five.

Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Blaney, Austin Dillon, Carl Edwards and Sprint Unlimited winner Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-10.

Because Blaney and Matt DiBenedetto were the highest open teams, they can fall back on their speed should they not finish among the top-15 in their respective Duel races. That means, barring they fail tech inspection, they are locked into the Daytona 500. The other six open teams will have to race their way in via the Duel races.

“It is nice to be locked into the race,” said Blaney. “The biggest relief for us is to know you are locked in and are good to be able to race in the 500. That kind of lets us go race on Thursday a little bit more than we would have instead of playing it conservative if we weren’t locked in. It is nice to have such a fast car and be locked into the race. It is a load off our shoulders for sure.”

Martin Truex Jr. didn’t post a time in qualifying because series officials pulled his car off the grid for an issue with his roof flap. As a result, his car was impounded and he’ll start from the rear of the field in the second Duel race.

February 14, 2016
Logano Drafts to the Top of the Charts in Second Daytona 500 Practice

Joey Logano found his way to the top of the charts. The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 45.934 and a speed of 195.933 mph. Brad Keselowski was second in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford with a time of 45.954 and a speed of 195.848 mph.

Brad Keselowski was second in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford with a time of 45.954 and a speed of 195.848 mph followed by Ryan Blaney who was third in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford with a time of 45.966 and a speed of 195.797 mph. Kurt Busch was fourth in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet with a time of 46.183 and a speed of 194.877 mph and Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 46.226 and a speed of 194.696 mph.

Matt Kenseth finished sixth in his No. 20 JGR Toyota and Kevin Harvick finished seventh in his No. 4 SHR Chevrolet. Chase Elliott finished eighth in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Carl Edwards finished ninth in his No. 19 JGR Toyota while Greg Biffle rounded out the top-10 in his No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

Blaney, Keselowski and Logano took to the track to form a three-car draft with less than 10 minutes remaining in the session.

Forty-two of the 44 cars took to the track to post a lap in this session.

The cars will be back on track tonight for the Sprint Unlimited.

February 13, 2016