Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: Derrike Cope

  • The Final Word – Pocono provided a soothing, pleasant environment…and some race cars

    The Final Word – Pocono provided a soothing, pleasant environment…and some race cars

    Man, Pocono is pretty. It is so green. Watching a race from there is like watching a video on kittens or puppies. You might not be riveted to all you see, but you could calmly drift away to your happy place as you find yourself in the midst of peaceful meditation. Not exactly what you were bargaining for when you tuned in a race, but in these wacky times there are worse things to experience than some ambient video.

    It was 160 laps within a soothing, pleasant environment. After the first 100, it was suggested that the outcome might result in one of a handful of drivers claiming the top prize. Kevin Harvick was again very good. Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, and Martin Truex Jr. were among the best. Even Chase Elliott was among our leaders as he continued his quest for his first Cup win. It was pretty. It was nice. It was relaxing. All that was missing was the back rub, a nice fruity drink and a gentle warm breeze. Maybe a certain Beach Boy song playing in the background.

    I love kittens and puppies, and I really like Bubba Wallace. He is a lot like Danica Patrick. Popular and charismatic, a total package that is just missing the race results just yet at this point in his career. He also missed fourth gear early in that final stage. You shift about six times per lap at Pocono, and a single gear grinding miss and your day is over. Wallace was the first one out, and in doing so damn near increased my level of awareness during my afternoon of peaceful contemplation.

    While everything was just groovy with me, Matt DiBenedetto’s brakes were catching fire. Kyle Larson was on fire, but Derrike Cope was not, as the younger driver pushed the 59-year old into a skid to bring out a late caution. Coming out of the pits, Rowdy got by Harvick to take the lead for the first time on the day. That almost got me to open one eye just a bit.

    With just over 40 miles left out of the 400 scheduled, trash on the track. Another caution, another round of pit stops, another leader. This time, Truex in front, followed by Harvick, and Larson shoved himself into third when they took the green. I was relaxing, sure, but I was still noticing stuff.

    Three laps later, and the boys ruined everything. Denny Hamlin got loose, and while he caused Alex Bowman to scrape the outside wall, Hamlin went for a skid and punched his nose on the inside barrier. Yellow waved, and it was going to come down to a 10-lap shoot-out. Now I was awake. As for that shoot-out, on the re-start, Joey Logano got into Erik Jones to spin him and the autumn colored flag was back out. Meanwhile, the cars that really mattered still belonged to Truex, Larson, Kyle Busch, and Harvick.

    That is how they finished. Truex, who had won the opening stage only to fall back due to a pit miscue, won his second of the season and the 17th of his Cup career. The only change amongst the Chase contenders has Bowman dropping, to be replaced by the 14th place finisher Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    Pocono was not boring. It was very, very relaxing, with a few moments to vie for your attention in the late going. Now that I am fully awake, I need some excitement. Time to fire up the lawn mower for a few laps in the yard before supper.

  • David Ragan – Another Freak Winner at Daytona?

    David Ragan – Another Freak Winner at Daytona?

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”226″][/media-credit]At Daytona in February, Trevor Bayne, barely out of his teens won NASCAR’s biggest race, the Daytona 500. As the circuit moved back there just last night, it was another surprise winner, David Ragan. Or was it such a big surprise?

    The big money was on Dale, Jr. this weekend. We’ve been told by every media outlet and anyone who follows this series that Junior was going to win soon. His record at Daytona and Talladega bear this out. Nowhere is Junior better than at the restrictor plate races. Call it inherited from the family. Yet, I didn’t feel that way. Somehow, it always seems to be a surprise. Oh, I could go into details of all the surprises at those two tracks, but you all know that . Many of us saw David Ragan’s rise from bumbling kid to someone who could drive a racecar. I’ll still remember that debut at Martinsville when he hit everything but the pace car. Jack Roush had faith in him, though, and gave his a primo ride in the fabled No. 6. That was Jack’s first car he seriously ran in the Cup series and the former ride of Mark Martin, Roush’s most successful driver.

    Many thought Roush was crazy. The skinny kid from Georgia and the son of Ken Ragan, just didn’t have it. The statistics proved it out. He had only won one Nationwide Series race and had never won a Cup race. He nearly won the Daytona 500 this year, but jumping the start proved to be his downfall and the guy who was pushing him in that weird two-car tandem nonsense went on to win.

    UPS is a big sponsor in this series and the talk was Ragan was in trouble. He just hadn’t done the job and UPS was going to demand another driver for 2012 if they were to stay with Roush-Fenway. The pressure was on and Ragan knew it. After the debacle that was the Daytona 500, he looked forward to this race more than any other. He had to win.

    There is an opinion that what happens at Daytona and Talladega has little to do with the worth of a driver. Many consider restrictor plate racing a freak of nature in NASCAR terms. Drivers have won here that have won nowhere else in cars that can’t compete in “normal” races. Since the 1987 regulation that required restrictor plates, we’ve seen drivers like Derrike Cope, john Andretti, Michael Waltrip, and Jamie McMurray win. Not that this is a bad list, but they were all surprises. In fact, may drivers have lived on wins at Daytona and Talladega. All four of his victories have been at those two race tracks. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has won 18 times, but 7 of those have come at Daytona and Talladega. Some drivers and teams are just better at those races, but the record shows that a large number of long-time stars have won, not only at the restrictor plates tracks, but lots of other places, too.

    So, what does this all mean? Should David Ragan now be considered as a driver who has “made it’ and continue a staple of the Roush-Fenway stable? I do not know. I do know that RFR is in frantic negotiations with Carlo Edwards and Matt Kenseth’s sponsor just announced they were not coming back. Couple that with rising drivers like Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Trevor Bayne and Ragan’s mid=pack finishes most everywhere else, and his job security is less than optimistic. Time will tell, but they can’t take the thrill of a Daytona win away from him. Just like Trevor Bayne, he is king for a day, but will it last?