Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: Earnhardt Ganassi Racing

  • Truex primed for 600th Cup career start at Gateway

    Truex primed for 600th Cup career start at Gateway

    With the NASCAR Cup Series set to compete for the first time at Gateway’s World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois, Martin Truex Jr. is also set to achieve a major milestone start of his own. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s event at Gateway, the driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota TRD Camry will make his 600th career start in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A native of Mayetta, New Jersey, Truex made his inaugural presence in the Cup Series at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July 2004. By then, he was contending for the 2004 Xfinity Series championship for Chance 2 Motorsports and was serving as a standby competitor for Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was recovering from injuries and burns sustained following a fiery wreck at Sonoma Raceway while practicing for the American Le Mans Series Grand Prix at Sonoma. Taking over Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 8 Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet Monte Carlo under the first caution period, Truex settled in 31st place in his unofficial Cup debut.

    Three months later, Truex made his official Cup Series debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway in October, where he drove and retired the No. 1 DEI Chevrolet to a 37th-place result due to an engine issue. He returned for the 2004 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November, where he ended up 32nd place after his right-rear tire shredded his rear quarter panel late in the event.

    Entering the 2005 NASCAR season as the reigning Xfinity Series champion with an opportunity to defend his series title, Truex also made a total of seven starts in the Cup circuit for Dale Earnhardt Inc. His first start of the season occurred in the 47th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in February, which he finished in fourth place during the second of two Gatorade Duels a few days prior and earning a transfer spot for the main event. During the 500, however, he finished 34th due to a late engine issue. Returning at Talladega Superspeedway in May, Truex was running towards the lead pack when he was involved in a late multi-car wreck and fell back to 21st place. His best on-track result during the remaining six events to his limited Cup schedule was seventh place at Charlotte Motor Speedway during the Coca-Cola 600 in May. This marked Truex’s first top-10 career result in the Cup circuit.

    After achieving his second consecutive Xfinity title in 2005, Truex took over the No. 1 DEI Chevrolet Monte Carlo as a full-time Cup Series competitor for the 2006 season. Commencing his rookie Cup season with a 16th-place result in the 48th running of the Daytona 500, he earned a total of two top-five results, five top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 20.8. His best on-track result was second place in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway behind Greg Biffle as he finished in 19th place in the final standings.

    Truex commenced the first 11 scheduled events of the 2007 Cup Series season with three top-10 results. Then at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, he earned his first non-points Cup victory in the All-Star Open after fending off Johnny Sauter to earn a transfer spot to the All-Star Race, where he went on to finish 10th. Two weeks later, the New Jersey native earned his first points-sanctioned NASCAR Cup Series career victory at Dover International Speedway after leading 216 of 400 laps and beating pole-sitter Ryan Newman. The victory occurred in his 58th start in NASCAR’s premier series and on a day where former NASCAR CEO Bill France Jr. died at age 74. Truex backed up his first victory at Dover with four top-three results and six top-10 results for the remaining 13 regular season events, including two runner-up results during both Michigan International Speedway events, as he earned a spot in the 2007 Cup Playoffs. Despite finishing in the top 10 four times during the final 10 events, however, he never contended for the 2007 title and settled in 11th place in the final standings. Nonetheless, Truex’s sophomore Cup season was a success as he earned his first win, his first pole at Texas Motor Speedway in November, seven top-five results, 14 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 16.4.

    In comparison to the 2007 season, the following two seasons (2008 and 2009) for Truex were disappointing seasons as he did not make the Playoffs. In 2008, his best on-track result was fourth at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in June as he racked up three top-five results and 11 top-10 results before finishing 15th in the final standings. By then, he surpassed 100 career starts in NASCAR’s premiers series. In 2009, where DEI merged with Chip Ganassi Racing, Truex won three poles, including one for the 51st running of the Daytona 500, but his best on-track result was fifth at Phoenix Raceway in November. Earning a total of six top-10 results throughout the season, he slipped back to 23rd place in the final standings.

    Following a four-year run with Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, Truex joined Michael Waltrip Racing to pilot the No. 56 Toyota Camry. Despite commencing the season with a sixth-place result in the 52nd running of the Daytona 500, he struggled with maintaining consistency as he finished no higher than fifth place, which occurred at Martinsville Speedway in March, and achieved a total of seven top-10 results and a single pole (Dover in May) throughout the 36-race schedule. When the final checkered flag of the 2010 season flew, Truex, who did not make the Playoffs, wrapped up his first campaign with MWR in 22nd place in the final standings. 

    The 2011 Cup season saw Truex and the No. 56 MWR Toyota Camry team achieve a second pole at Dover in October, a season-best second-place result at the Bristol Night Race in August, three top-five results and 12 top-10 results, with the driver finishing in 18th place in the final standings, four spots better than in 2010. By then, he surpassed 200 Cup career starts.

    Truex, who remained at MWR for a third consecutive season, commenced the 2012 season by finishing 12th in the 54th running of the Daytona 500 despite earning a $200,000 bonus for leading the halfway lap. Not long after, he earned a pole and five top-10 results during the following six events. Then at Kansas Speedway in April, he led a race-high 173 of 267 before settling in second behind Denny Hamlin. After recording seven additional top-10 results during the following 16 events, Truex was placed in another opportunity to win, this time at Atlanta Motor Speedy in September as he was leading in the closing laps when a late caution due to Jamie McMurray blowing a right-front tire spoiled his run. After being beaten off of pit road by Hamlin and spinning his tires on the final restart, Truex settled in a disappointing fourth place. The result, nonetheless, was enough for him to make his second appearance in the Playoffs and return to the postseason for the first time since 2007. Ultimately, Truex and the No. 56 team achieved another second-place result at Kansas in October along with four additional top-10 results during the final 10 Playoff events, but finished in 11th place in the final standings. Nonetheless, his average-finishing result of 12.1 was his personal best along with 19 top-10 results throughout the 2012 season.

    Fresh off a multi-year contract extension with MWR, Truex finished in the top five three times as he also earned a total of six top-10 results during the first 15 events of the 2013 season. At Texas in April, he led 55 laps before settling behind Kyle Busch in second place. Then at Sonoma Raceway in June, Truex snapped a 218-race winless drought after claiming a dominant victory and achieving his second Cup career victory, the first since winning his first race at Dover in 2007. He went on to post three top-10 results, including two third-place results, during the following nine scheduled events as he was vying for a spot for the 2013 Cup Playoffs.

    At Richmond Raceway in September, Truex nursed his No. 56 Toyota Camry to a seventh-place result following a three-lap dash to the finish and he claimed a Wild Card spot to the Playoffs in a tie-breaker over Newman, who was leading late in the event before slipping back to third place. Controversy, however, ensued two days later when NASCAR assessed major penalties to Michael Waltrip Racing for the team’s involvement in manipulating the outcome of the event that involved teammates Clint Bowyer and Brian Vickers to ensure that Truex would make the Playoffs. Among the penalties included a $300,000 fine and a 50-point dock for each of MWR’s three-car operation. The penalties eliminated Truex from Playoff contention while Newman and Jeff Gordon, both of whom were affected by MWR’s manipulation, were added to the Playoffs. With his title hopes for 2013 diminished, Truex recorded four top-10 results for the remaining 10 scheduled events before finishing in 16th place in the final standings.

    Two weeks prior to the 2013 Cup season’s conclusion, Truex inked a deal with Furniture Row Racing to drive the No. 78 Chevrolet SS for 2014 season, replacing Kurt Busch as Busch transitioned to Stewart-Haas Racing while Truex’s former ride at MWR became a research and development team and with his primary sponsor NAPA Auto Parts opting to depart the team entering 2014. Despite qualifying on the front row for the 56th running of the Daytona 500, the New Jersey native was forced to start at the rear of the field for the main event after wrecking his primary car during his Budweiser Duel event. During the main event, he suffered an early retirement in 43rd place, dead last, due to an engine failure. Two races later, Truex made his 300th Cup career start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March. His first season with Furniture Row Racing, however, was a difficult season as he claimed a season-best fourth place at Kansas in October, five top-10 results and just a single lap led throughout the entire season before finishing 24th in the final standings.

    Following a difficult 2014 season, Truex roared out of the gate with seven consecutive top-10 results during the first seven scheduled events in 2015, which marked his 10th full-time season as a NASCAR Cup Series competitor. This stretch included a runner-up result behind Kevin Harvick at Las Vegas in March. Despite finishing 29th at Bristol Motor Speedway in April, Truex reignited his top-10 streak, beginning at Richmond Raceway in April through Dover International Speedway in June. Then at Pocono Raceway in June, Truex, who had potential race-winning opportunities slip from his grasp early in the season, made a triumphant return to Victory Lane after fending off Harvick to record the first victory for Furniture Row Racing since 2011, the first for Canadian crew chief Cole Pearn and the third for the driver of the No. 78 Chevrolet SS.

    Coming off the Pocono victory, Truex recorded four additional top-10 results during the final 12 regular season events before making his third appearance in the Playoffs. Throughout the Playoffs, Truex was consistent as he earned five top-10 results in nine weeks to transfer from the Round of 16 all the way to the Championship 4 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November and with an opportunity to claim his first title in NASCAR’s premier series over Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon. During the finale, however, Truex finished 12th on the track and settled in fourth place in the final standings. Nonetheless, the fourth-place result was the best result in the standings for both Truex and Furniture Row Racing, with the driver notching eight top-five results, 22 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 12.2.

    Entering the 2016 Cup season with momentum and a new manufacturer as Furniture Row Racing swapped from Chevrolet to Toyota, Truex settled in second place in the 58th running of the Daytona 500 after being edged by Denny Hamlin by 0.010 seconds, which marks the closest margin of victory in the Daytona 500. Truex backed up his run in the 500 by recording four additional top-10 results despite being eluded several opportunities of winning an event. Notable moments of him nearly winning occurred at Texas in April, where he led a race-high 141 of 334 laps only to fall back to sixth following a late pit stop; Kansas in May, where he led a race-high 172 of 267 only to be plagued by a loose wheel and finish 14th; and at Dover in May, where he led 47 laps and fell back to ninth after being involved in a late multi-car wreck. Nonetheless, the on-track frustrations ended at Charlotte Motor Speedway during the Coca-Cola 600 in May, where he started on pole, led 392 of 400 laps and grabbed his first victory of the season and his fourth Cup career victory. Truex’s total laps led of 392 are the most by a Cup Series winner and having led 588 miles during the 600 event, he established the all-time record for the most miles led in a NASCAR event.

    Twelve races later, Truex earned his second victory of the season in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in September after fending off Kevin Harvick through the final 16 laps. Coming off a third-place result during the regular season finale at Richmond, Truex then capitalized on a late caution and a stellar four-tire service from his pit crew to win at Chicagoland Speedway during a two-lap shootout. The Chicagoland victory along with Truex’s fourth overall victory of 2016 at Dover in October were more than enough for the New Jersey native to transfer from the Round of 16 to the Round of 12. During the Round of 12, however, his championship hopes evaporated following two consecutive results outside of the top 10 along with an engine failure and a 40th-place result at Talladega in October. Posting two top-10 results during the remaining four scheduled events, Truex capped his third full-time season with Furniture Row Racing in 11th place in the final standings. Despite finishing one spot shy of the top-10 mark in the final standings for a third time, he capped off the season with four victories, five poles, eight top-five results, 17 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 13.9. In addition, he surpassed 400 Cup career starts.

    The recent on-track momentum for Truex and Furniture Row Racing continued in the early stages of 2017 as Truex claimed his first victory of the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March. He would go on to win at Kansas Speedway in May, Kentucky Speedway in July and Watkins Glen International in August throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch. To go along with 17 top-10 results, Truex claimed the 2017 Cup Series regular season title. He then commenced the 2017 Playoffs by winning at Chicagoland Speedway for a second consecutive season and transferring from the Round of 16 to the Round of 12. Three races later, Truex secured a spot in the Round of 8 after winning at Charlotte and Kansas in October. After posting three consecutive top-three results in the Round of 8, he earned a spot in the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November. At the finale, Truex led 78 laps and held off title rival Kyle Busch to claim his eighth victory of the season and his first NASCAR Cup Series championship. By becoming the 31st different competitor to win a title in NASCAR’s premier series, he recorded the first championship for Furniture Row Racing and became the second Toyota competitor to emerge as a Cup champion. Truex’s championship season was a dominant one, where he notched a career-high eight victories, three poles, 19 top-five results, 26 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 9.4.

    Truex’s quest to defend his title started off with an 18th-place result in the 60th running of the Daytona 500 after he was involved in a late multi-car wreck. Despite this, he earned his first victory of the season at Auto Club Speedway in March. Four months later, Truex earned victories at Pocono and Sonoma before adding a fourth victory of 2018 at Kentucky in July. Those victories along with a total of 15 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular season stretch enabled the driver of the No. 78 FRR Toyota to qualify to make the Playoffs for the sixth time in his career. Five top-10 results throughout the Playoffs were enough for Truex to return to the Championship Round at Homestead for a second consecutive season. However, he was unable to defend his championship after being overtaken late by title rival Joey Logano, which relegated Truex to a runner-up result in the final standings. Overall, Truex achieved four victories, four poles, 20 top-five results, 21 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 10.7.

    Two months prior to the 2018 Cup season’s conclusion, Furniture Row Racing announced plans to cease operations at season’s end. With FRR closed, Truex and his championship-winning crew chief Cole Pearn moved over to Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2019 season and took over the No. 19 Toyota Camry team in place of Daniel Suarez. Despite finishing 35th in the 61st running of the Daytona 500, the 2017 Cup champion rallied by posting five consecutive top-10 results during the following seven events. Then at Richmond in April, Truex claimed his first elusive short track victory and his first with JGR after fending off Logano and Clint Bowyer in the closing laps. For the remainder of the 2019 Cup Series regular season stretch, Truex notched victories at Dover in May, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in May and Sonoma in June along with six top-10 results before making the Playoffs for the seventh time in his career. By then, he surpassed 500 Cup career starts. For the third time in four seasons, Truex then commenced the Playoffs by winning the Playoff opener at Las Vegas in September. The following weekend at Richmond, he rallied from a late spin while trying to lap Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to claim his sixth victory of 2019 at Richmond and transfer past the opening Playoff round. After posting two top-10 results and transferring to the Round of 8, Truex secured a one-way ticket into the Championship Round for a third consecutive season after winning at Martinsville Speedway for the first time in his career in October. During the finale at Homestead in November, however, he settled in second place on the track and in the final standings behind teammate Kyle Busch. Nonetheless, Truex’s seven victories in 2019 were the most he achieved in a season since winning eight times in 2017. He also recorded 15 top-five results and 24 top-10 results along with an average-finishing result of 9.8.

    The 2020 Cup Series season, which marked Truex’s 15th full-time season in NASCAR’s premier series, also marked the first time since 2015 where Truex achieved only a single victory throughout the season, where he won at Martinsville in June. Despite this, he earned a total of 14 top-five results and 23 top-10 results. Qualifying for the Playoffs for the eighth time in his career, Truex was eliminated from title contention following the Round of 8 and settled in seventh place in the final standings.

    This past season, Truex achieved three victories throughout the 26-race regular season stretch: Phoenix Raceway in March, Martinsville in April and Darlington in May. As he made the Playoffs for the ninth time in his career, he then won at Richmond in September to transfer to the Round of 12. Three top-10 results during the following six Playoff events were enough for Truex to transfer all the way to the Championship Round and campaign for his second Cup title. During the finale at Phoenix in November, he had the championship lead late until a late caution and pit stop, where he lost the lead, relegated him back to a runner-up result behind Kyle Larson. Despite finishing in second place in the final standings for the third time in four seasons, Truex capped off his 16th full-time Cup season with four victories, 13 top-five results and 20 top-10 results.

    Through 599 previous Cup starts, Truex has achieved one championship, 31 career victories, 19 poles, 131 top-five results, 254 top-10 results, 10,851 laps led and an average-finishing result of 13.8. He is currently ranked in fifth place in the 2022 driver’s standings on the strength of two top-five results and six top-10 results through the first 14 events of the 2022 regular season stretch.

    Truex is primed to make his 600th Cup Series career start at the World Wide Technology Raceway on Sunday, June 5, with coverage to start at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Almirola to make 400th Cup career start at Darlington

    Almirola to make 400th Cup career start at Darlington

    Embarking in his 11th and final full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Aric Almirola is primed to achieve a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, the driver of the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang will achieve career start No. 400 in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A native of Tampa, Florida, Almirola made his inaugural presence in the Cup Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March 2007. By then, he had made 10 career starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and 29 starts in the Truck Series as he was competing on a part-time schedule with Joe Gibbs Racing. Driving the No. 80 Chevrolet Monte Carlo for JGR, Almirola started 31st and finished 41st in his Cup debut after being involved in an early accident.

    Later in the 2007 season, Almirola transitioned from Joe Gibbs Racing to Dale Earnhardt Inc. as he piloted the No. 01 Chevrolet in five of the remaining 13 Cup races to the schedule. His best result during his span was a 30th-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway in October.

    In 2008, Almirola served as a co-primary driver of the No. 8 Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet Impala alongside NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin. His first start of the season occurred at Bristol Motor Speedway in March, where he achieved his first top-10 career finish in eighth place. He then made 11 additional starts throughout the 2008 Cup season, where he collected two 13th-place results (Bristol Motor Speedway in August and Talladega Superspeedway in October). He also led 53 laps at Martinsville Speedway in October before falling back to 20th place. When the final checkered flag of the 2008 season flew, Almirola capped off his part-time Cup campaign by finishing in 35th place in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November following an early spin.

    Almirola commenced the 2009 Cup Series season as a full-time competitor in DEI’s No. 8 Chevrolet Impala. He finished 30th in the 51st running of the Daytona 500 after being involved in two separate incidents, but rallied three races later by finishing 21st at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March. Following the first seven races of the season, however, Almirola’s full-time Cup ride with DEI was cut short due to sponsorship issues. Returning to compete in four Xfinity and 16 Truck Series races for the remainder of the 2009 season, he also made an additional Cup start at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September, where he drove the No. 09 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet Impala to a 29th-place result.

    Almirola entered the 2010 season with plans of competing with Phoenix Racing on a full-time basis in the Cup Series while also racing in the Camping World Truck Series for Billy Ballew Motorsports. His Cup plans with Phoenix Raceway, however, came to an early end after he failed to qualify in three of the first seven scheduled events and finished no higher than 39th, which was sat Bristol in March. He then set his main focus towards vying for the 2010 Truck title with Billy Ballew Motorsports, where he went on to win his first two Truck career races and finish in second place in the final standings. He also competed in eight Xfinity races with JR Motorsports. A month prior to the 2010 Cup season’s conclusion, however, Almirola drove the No. 9 Ford Fusion for Richard Petty Motorsports at Martinsville as an interim competitor in place of veteran Kasey Kahne, who left RPM for Red Bull Racing. Finishing 21st at Martinsville, Almirola ended up competing in the final four Cup races of the season with RPM. During this short span, he notched his first career top-five result in the Cup Series after finishing fourth in the season finale at Homestead in November.

    After spending the 2011 season in the Xfinity Series with JR Motorsports, where he earned 18 top-10 results and finished in fourth place in the final standings, Almirola was signed by Richard Petty Motorsports to drive the iconic No. 43 Ford Fusion for the 2012 Cup season. Almirola started the season by finishing in 33rd place in the 54th running of the Daytona 500 after being involved in a late multi-car accident. He managed to finish 12th at Phoenix Raceway, but fell back to 24th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March. During the first nine events of the season, he had one top-10 result logged in, which was an eighth-place result at Martinsville in April. After finishing 12th at Talladega and 19th at Darlington Raceway in May, Almirola captured his first Cup career pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600. Despite finishing in 16th place in the Coke 600, Almirola rebounded the following week at Dover International Speedway by finishing in sixth place. From Pocono Raceway in June through Richmond Raceway in September, Almirola finished no higher than 17th place on the track, which were enough to prevent him from qualifying for the 2012 Cup Playoffs. At Kansas Speedway in October, he led 69 laps but was involved in three separate incidents that dropped him to 29th place in the final running order. He rallied during the following event at Martinsville by finishing fourth. He then capped off the season with a seventh-place result at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November and a 20th-place result in the final standings. 

    Remaining at Richard Petty Motorsports for the 2013 Cup season, Almirola finished 13th in the 55th running of the Daytona 500 and 15th during the following race at Phoenix. Following the first 10 Cup races of the season, he was coming off four consecutive top-10 results and was in eighth place in the regular-season standings. The early consistency for Almirola and the No. 43 team, however, did not last for the remainder of the 26-race regular-season stretch as he achieved only one top-five result, which was a season-best fifth place at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July, and failed to make the Playoffs. He went on to conclude the 2013 season in 18th place in the final standings along with six top-10 results and a career-best average result of 18.8. Following the 2013 season, Almirola surpassed 100 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series. 

    After inking a three-year extension to remain at Richard Petty Motorsports, Almirola commenced the 2014 season with a 39th-place result in the Daytona 500 after being involved in a late multi-car accident. Three races later, he captured his first top-three result in the Cup circuit after finishing in third place at Bristol Motor Speedway behind Roush Fenway Racing’s Carl Edwards and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 

    When NASCAR returned to Daytona in July, which marked the halfway point of the season, Almirola had achieved one top-five result and three top-10 results, but came into Daytona with an opportunity to grab a victory and race his way into the 2014 Cup Playoffs. During the race, Almirola dodged two multi-car accidents and outlasted the field, including late challenges from Brian Vickers, Kurt Busch and Casey Mears, to retain the lead when the race was red-flagged and deemed official on Lap 112 of 160 due to heavy precipitation. The call handed Almirola his first Cup career victory in his 125th series start as he snapped five-year winless drought for Richard Petty Motorsports. Almirola’s first Cup victory marked the first win for the No. 43 since 1999, which was last made by the late John Andretti at Martinsville Speedway. It also occurred 30 years to the day where Richard Petty recorded his unprecedented 200th and final NASCAR win at Daytona. With his victory, Almirola clinched a spot for the 2014 Cup Playoffs.

    Following the breakthrough victory at Daytona, Almirola recorded two top-10 results for the remaining eight regular-season races before entering the Playoffs as one of 16 competitors vying for the 2014 Cup championship. He, however, was one of four competitors who was eliminated from title contention following the Round of 16 despite finishing as high as sixth place at New Hampshire in September. Despite his early exit from title contention, Almirola went on to finish the season in a career-best 16th place in the final standings and with a career-high seven top-10 results.

    Following a breakthrough 2014 season, Almirola started the 2015 season with a 15th-place result in the 57th running of the Daytona 500 followed by an 11th-place run at Atlanta. Throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, he achieved two top-five results and 14 top-15 results. During the regular-season finale at Richmond in September, Almirola, who was within striking distance of the lead, recorded a strong fourth-place result, which would mark his season-best result, but he missed the Playoffs by 17 points. He went on to notch one additional top-five run and four top-10 results for the remaining 10 Playoff races before finishing in 17th place, best of the non-Playoff competitors, in the final standings. In light of missing the Playoffs, he achieved a career-best average-finishing result of 17.9, compared to his average result of 21.4 in 2014 when he won a race and made the Playoffs.

    Remaining at Richard Petty Motorsports for a fifth consecutive season, Almirola’s 2016 season started with a 12th-place result in the 58th running of the Daytona 500. He then finished in 15th place during the following race at Atlanta despite being involved in a four-car wreck during an overtime shootout to the finish. Compared to his previous two seasons, the 2016 season was a disappointing season for Almirola, who achieved only one top-10 result, which was a season-best eighth-place result at Talladega in October, and an average result of 23.3 before falling back to 26th place in the final standings. Following the 2016 season, Almirola surpassed 200 career starts in the Cup Series.

    Returning for a sixth full-time Cup season with RPM in 2017, Almirola commenced the season on a high note by finishing in fourth place in the 59th running of the Daytona 500. During the first 10 scheduled races, he achieved three top-10 results, including another fourth-place result at Talladega despite being penalized 35 points for a post-race infraction. 

    Then during the following race at Kansas Speedway in May, Almirola was involved in a late horrific accident, where he collided into Joey Logano and Danica Patrick’s cars at full speed in Turn 1 as both competitors wrecked in front of Almirola seconds prior to his involvement. The impact launched the back of Almirola’s car off the ground amid a shower of flames and sparks before his No. 43 Ford came to rest against the outside wall. Following the incident, Almirola had to be extricated from his car and placed on a stretcher, where he was airlifted to the University of Kansas Hospital. It was later determined that he had suffered a compression fracture of his T5 vertebrae. While Almirola spent time recovering from his injuries, he was absent for eight races, including the All-Star Open/Race weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. During his absence, Regan Smith, Bubba Wallace and Billy Johnson each took turns piloting the No. 43 Ford Fusion.

    In July at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Almirola, who received medical clearance to return to race, finished in 24th place. Given seven races to try to win and position himself into the top-30 in the standings to make the Playoffs through an injury waiver, he finished no higher than 12th place and was unable to compete for the 2017 title. Nonetheless, he collected three top-10 results, including a fifth-place result at Talladega in October, as he finished in 29th place in the final standings. He also recorded an average-finishing result of 18.8, which matched his result from 2013.

    A week and a half prior to the 2017 Cup season’s conclusion in November, Almirola announced a new partnership with Stewart-Haas Racing to drive the No. 10 Ford team for the 2018 Cup Series season, where he replaced Danica Patrick. Three months later, Almirola made his first Cup start with SHR in the 60th running of the Daytona 500. During the event, he was leading on the final lap when Austin Dillon made contact and turned Almirola into the outside wall in Turn 3, which spoiled Almirola’s opportunity in winning the Daytona 500 for the first time as he ended up in 11th place and with a wrecked race car. 

    During the first 16 Cup races of the new season, Almirola recorded seven top-10 results and 14 top-15 results. By then, he was ranked in 10th place in the regular-season standings. He went on to record three additional top-10 results and secure a spot in the 2018 Playoffs based on points and following a strong consistent regular-season stretch despite having no victories under his belt. 

    Returning to the Playoffs for a second time and following a three-year absence, Almirola commenced his title run in September by finishing sixth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and fifth at Richmond Raceway. Despite finishing in 19th place at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in September, he transferred to the Playoff’s Round of 12 in a three-way tie-breaker that included Kyle Larson and saw seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson eliminated from title contention.

    After leading 64 laps and finishing 13th at Dover in October due to being involved in a late multi-car incident, Almirola, who was still within reach of transferring from the Round of 12 to 8, came into the following race at Talladega Superspeedway with an opportunity to fulfill his first victory as a Stewart-Haas Racing competitor. After spending the majority of the race running towards the front with his Stewart-Haas Racing teammates, he capitalized on a late two-lap restart and with teammate Kurt Busch running out of fuel on the final lap to hold off teammate Clint Bowyer entering the tri-oval and capture his first elusive victory of the season along with his second Cup career victory. The victory earned Almirola and his No. 10 SHR Ford team a one-way ticket into the Playoff’s Round of 8.

    After finishing 10th the following week at Kansas, Almirola finished 11th, eighth and fourth respectively in the Round of 8. Despite the results, he failed to advance to the Championship 4 round at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he capped off the season in ninth place on the track. While he did not emerge as a Cup champion, the 2018 season stands as Almirola’s productive season to date that includes a win, a career-high four top-five result, a career-high 17 top-10 results, a career-high 181 laps led, a career-best average-finishing result of 12.8 and a career-best points result of fifth place.

    With the 2018 season in the record books, Almirola entered the 2019 Cup season with high aspirations of repeating his on-track success from the previous season, beginning with the 61st running of the Daytona 500. His season, however, started off on a low note when he was involved in a late multi-car accident and was scored in 29th place. He rebounded the following six weeks by finishing in the top 10 in all of them. Throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, Almirola and his No. 10 SHR team achieved 10 top-10 results, as Almirola qualified for his third Cup Playoffs. After finishing 13th, 16th and 14th respectively during the Round of 16, however, he was eliminated from title contention. With his 2019 title hopes coming to an early end, he went on to capture two top-five results, including a season-best second place behind teammate Kevin Harvick at Texas Motor Speedway in November, and conclude the season in 14th place in the final standings. Overall, he recorded a pole, three top-five results and 12 top-10 results despite logging in zero victories. In addition, Almirola surpassed 300 Cup career starts.

    The 2020 Cup Series season, which marked Almirola’s third full-time campaign with Stewart-Haas Racing, started off with the Floridian wrecking out of the season-opening Daytona 500. Two weeks later, he finished eighth at Auto Club Speedway, which he backed up with another eighth-place result at Phoenix in March. When NASCAR returned to on-track competition for a Darlington Raceway doubleheader feature in May amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Almirola finished 12th and seventh respectively. From a pair of Charlotte Motor Speedway events in May to Martinsville Speedway in June, he finished no higher than 15th. Then, beginning at Homestead in June through New Hampshire in July, he recorded nine consecutive finishes inside the top five or top 10. During this streak, he also started on pole position three times through a random draw. To go along with two additional top-10 results during the final six regular-season events, Almirola clinched a spot to the 2020 Playoffs for the fourth time in his career and third in a row in recent years. Three consecutive top-10 results during the Round of 16 transferred the driver of the No. 10 SHR Ford into the Round of 12, but his title hopes came to an end following finishes of 17th, 37th and 16th respectively. Despite settling in 15th place in the final standings, he achieved a career-high six top-five results and 18 top-10 results. His total laps led of 305 throughout the season was also his personal best. 

    The 2021 Cup season marked a difficult start for Almirola, who won the first Bluegreen Vacations Duel at Daytona in February but ended up in 34th place in the 63rd running of the Daytona 500 after being involved in an early multi-car wreck. Through the first 16 scheduled events, his best result was sixth at Richmond in April while he finished outside of the top 20 10 times. He then rallied at Nashville Superspeedway in June, where he started on pole and finished fourth, but finished no higher than 14th place during the following four events.

    Then at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Almirola persevered through his difficult start to 2021 by leading twice for 25 laps, including the final 20, to win over Christopher Bell and claim his third NASCAR Cup career victory. The victory, which was Almirola’s first since winning at Talladega in 2018, sent the driver and his No. 10 SHR team into the 2021 Cup Playoffs. During the Playoff’s Round of 16, however, he missed the cutline to the Round of 12 by two points despite logging in three consecutive top-20 results. Capping off the season with back-to-back sixth-place results on the track, Almirola capped off his 10th full-time season in the Cup Series in 15th place in the final standings.

    In January 2022, Almirola announced his intentions to retire from full-time NASCAR competition at the conclusion of the season. He commenced his final full-time season with a fifth-place run during the 64th running of the Daytona 500 in February followed by back-to-back top-10 results before finishing no higher than eighth place during the next eight events. He is currently ranked in 11th place in the drivers’ standings.

    Through 399 previous Cup starts, Almirola has achieved three victories, three poles, 27 top-five results, 88 top-10 results, 899 laps led and an average-finishing result of 19.0.

    Almirola is set to make his 400th Cup Series career start in the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, May 8, with the event’s coverage to occur at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • He’s Back….Juan Pablo Montoya is Back in NASCAR

    He’s Back….Juan Pablo Montoya is Back in NASCAR

    Juan Pablo Montoya, whose contract was not renewed by Earnhardt Ganassi Racing last year in favor of rookie Kyle Larson, will make his return back to NASCAR with Team Penske for two races this year.

    Montoya will add the NASCAR Cup starts at Michigan and the Brickyard at Indy to his Verizon IndyCar Series full-time schedule. The 38 year old Columbian will pilot the No. 12 SKF Ford at Michigan International Speedway on June 15th and the sponsor-to-be-named No. 12 car for the Brickyard 400 on July 27th.

    Greg Erwin, a veteran NASCAR crew chief, will be atop the pit box of Montoya for both races.

    “Juan is a proven winner in multiple racing disciplines and he is one of the most versatile racecar drivers competing today,” Roger Penske, team owner, said. “Michigan and Indianapolis are two important races for Team Penske. We know Juan has the ability to race for wins in both of those events while still focusing on his full-time program in the Verizon IndyCar Series.”

    Juan Pablo Montoya is also back on the NASCAR circuit with one of the most successful teams to date. Team Penske, whose two drivers Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano have both visited Victory Lane this year, will no doubt welcome their newest teammate to the fold.

    “This opportunity is pretty unique,” Montoya said. “This year, it will be nice to be in a Penske car because they are so competitive week in and week out. Both Keselowski and Logano are running up front.”

    One place that Montoya really wants to go back to is the Brickyard, where he has come so close to winning in a stock car. JPM has mastered the Indianapolis Motor Speedway having won the Indy 500 in 2000.

    “It’s one of those places where I feel like I got robbed a few times,” Montoya said. “To be able to come here and be able to close that deal will be really, really nice.”

    Montoya is also back as he is on a mission to get take team owner Roger Penske to Victory Lane for the first time ever at the Brickyard.

    “It’s hard to believe, but Roger Penske has never won the Brickyard 400,” JPM said. “I think that Brad, Joey and I will give Roger and Team Penske a great opportunity to check that off the list and we should be strong at Michigan as well.”

    Montoya is also back with a vengeance to attempt something that no one else has done, winning three feature races at Indy in the same season. He is scheduled for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis on May 10th, the Indy 500 a week later, and then the Brickyard 40 in July. So, if JPM qualifies for each one, he would be the first to do so.

    “Three chances gives me a better chance of winning one of them now,” Montoya said.

    So, just how will Montoya get back in shape to get back on the NASCAR Cup tracks?

    “I had a chance to test a car last week at Nashville and I felt like it was a good test,” Montoya said. “I was very happy that I got up to speed very easy. Within five laps I was comfortable in the car.”

    “I think running Michigan and Indy are two tracks where running open wheel helps you, especially Michigan, which is a lot like an open-wheel car because you don’t slow down much but use momentum and a lot of high speed.”

    “To just run the Brickyard would be a pretty big ask of our team and of Juan, without having spent much time in our cars or with having been out of a Cup car for a while,” Tim Cindric, Team Penske President said. “So, we felt like we needed to give him another shot at Michigan prior to the Brickyard so he could get ready for Indy.”

    While Montoya has been enjoying being back in the IndyCar Series, where he is 11th in the point standings currently, he is equally thrilled about this new opportunity back in his old stomping ground of NASCAR where he spent six year.

    “It will be fun to get back behind the wheel of that Cup car,” Montoya said simply.

     

  • Jamie McMurray Celebrating a Pretty Good Year

    Jamie McMurray Celebrating a Pretty Good Year

    Last year at season end in Las Vegas, as he helped during championship week to unveil the new Chevrolet, Jamie McMurray pronounced his year miserable.

    But this season, the driver of the No. 1 LiftMaster Chevrolet, is celebrating a pretty good year so far, especially after a top-five run at New Hampshire and an honor for his crew chief to boot.

    “Other than getting tangled up on Lap 40, it really was a good race,” McMurray said. “We just really had a good car, had good pit strategy, and had good pit stops.”

    “It was truly hard to pass there, but we were able to pass a few cars and then had good track position at the end.”

    McMurray’s crew chief Kevin Manion also received the MOOG Problem Solver award, recognizing the team’s comeback after a spin out early in the race. In fact, McMurray and Manion’s No. 1 Chevrolet improved by a race-high 0.331 seconds in earning its second top-five finish in three races.

    “Jamie and Kevin were running as strong as they have all year in the second half,” Tim Nelson, Federal-Mogul Motorsports Director, said. “You could tell that Jamie loved the setup of their MOOG-equipped chassis, and Kevin and the Earnhardt-Ganassi crew were nearly flawless on pit road.”

    With this success, McMurray has indeed expressed satisfaction in his pretty good year to date. And he even thinks this year has been better than when he won several of the major races on the circuit, including the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard race.

    “Yeah, it’s been good,” McMurray said. “I think our cars have been even better than what they were in 2010 when we won some big races.”

    “We haven’t been able to execute as well as we need to,” McMurray continued. “But the speed of our cars has been good so yeah, they’ve done a really nice job obviously with this Generation 6 car.”

    “We were able to hit on a few things that really worked well for us at a variety of different tracks.”

    McMurray is hoping to continue his pretty good year at Dover International Speedway this race weekend. While he has had some success at the Monster Mile, he also knows that the ‘monster’ is always lurking and ready to pounce.

    “So Dover, I really enjoy coming here but at the same time, this is a track that if your car is not right, it’s miserable,” McMurray said. “You can’t get out of the way and for a mile track, the lap times are really fast.”

    “So, it’s easy to go a lap down if you get off,” McMurray continued. “But at the same time if your car is good, it’s a really fun track to race on.”

    As he celebrates a pretty good year in 2013, he is also looking forward to some of the changes to come for Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing, including the young up-and-comer Kyle Larson joining the team in the seat vacated by Juan Pablo Montoya.

    “It will be new with Kyle (Larson) but Kyle’s been racing for a long time, even though he’s young,” McMurray said. “I already know Kyle so I’m looking forward to that.”

    “It will be interesting to look at how Kyle approaches things, which will be different than what someone who has been around a long time has,” McMurray continued. “Sometimes you get fresh ideas and see another perspective on things.”

    “Kyle’s actually getting to come to our organization at a really good time,” McMurray said. “It would have been a challenge for him a couple years ago because our cars were not really good.”

    “But I think our cars are really good right now so he is fortunate to be coming on at a really good time for the company.”

    As with most drivers not in the Chase, McMurray has just one thing on his mind as he ends up his self-proclaimed pretty good year.

    “Just trying to win a race before the year is over,” McMurray said. “We’ve had really good cars and we have a couple of really good tracks like Charlotte coming up.”

    “I also feel good about Dover,” McMurray said. “I thought we had the best car here in the spring and then a part fell off someone’s car and went through our radiator.”

    “So, we had a really crummy spring race.”

    “I think Charlotte will be a good track for us too,” McMurray said. “We ran really well there the last few times.”

    “And Martinsville has always been a really good track for me too,” McMurray continued. “So, I feel like we have a few really good tracks coming up for us.”

    So, will McMurray feel differently than he did in Vegas last year about this season when the checkered flag flies in Homestead?

    “Last year, we were just terrible,” McMurray said. “We ran the last ten races just trying all kinds of off-the-wall stuff.”

    “We never really hit on anything,” McMurray continued. “So, Vegas last year was just a bad season and when you end not running well, it makes for a long off-season.”

    “But this year, our cars have been a lot better,” McMurray said. “I feel good about the last few races that we have left.”

    “Certainly, this year has been a lot better than the last.”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Kentucky Quaker State 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Kentucky Quaker State 400

    With a surprising Sunday afternoon race thanks to Mother Nature on Saturday night, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 3rd Annual Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts at Kentucky Speedway.

    Surprising:  Although five-time champion Jimmie Johnson ended up with a top-ten finish, the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Dover White Chevrolet made two surprisingly uncharacteristic mistakes.

    First, Johnson, in a pit road fake out, pulled back on track well in front of the pace car. Although no penalty was issued, this mistake garnered a warning from Race Director David Hoots, who advised Johnson to cease the shenanigans.

    The second mistake came on what has become Johnson’s Achilles heel, a late race restart. After jumping the start and being penalized at the Dover race, Johnson has seemingly been spooked by restarts, this time blaming none other than the race winner for the Kentucky restart miscue.

    “The No. 20 broke the pace car speed, which you aren’t supposed to do,” Johnson said. “I don’t know, we were kind of in an awkward situation in that restart.”

    “And then we were like three and four-wide going in the corner, something happened with the air and it just kind of turned me around,” Johnson continued. “Unfortunate, but at least we rallied back for a good finish.”

    Not Surprising:  With the combination of the race delay to Sunday under the sun and the bumpiness of the track, it was not surprising that a gutsy call from the pit box to stay out on old tires would be the one to win the race. And although it turned out to be a brilliant call, victorious driver Matt Kenseth had his doubts at the time.

    “I didn’t roll the dice, Jason (Ratcliff) did,” Kenseth said. “I thought he was slightly crazy when that happened.”

    “It’s just been an unbelievable season and year of my life honestly,” the driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, said. “I didn’t think there was any way that we were going to hold on for that win.”

    “Jason made the right call at the right time and those guys got it done.”

    This was Kenseth’s fourth victory in 2013 and his highest win total since 2006. It was his first victory in three races at Kentucky Speedway.

    Surprising:  Although under sunshine instead of a full moon, there were still some surprisingly strange incidents in the race which unfortunately impacted other drivers who were innocent victims not of their own doing.

    One of the most impacted was Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who after turning in a pole winning qualifying lap, was hit by an errant tire carcass from the Denny Hamlin machine. He did, however, manage to salvage a decent finish in the twelfth spot.

    “Can’t do anything about what happened out on the race track with that casing,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Youth Foundation Chevrolet said. “You just fix it and keep going.”

    “They guys did a good job on pit road all day long working on it and trying to fix everything,” Junior continued. “We did well enough to get a decent finish out of it.”

    The other two drivers impacted through no fault of their own were Brad Keselowski and Greg Biffle. Both drivers were collected in a hard crash caused by Kurt Busch, who admitted that he  ill-advisedly used the apron to try to pass.

    “Wrecks happen,” Keselowski, the driver of the Blue Deuce, said. “There is no reason to drive like an animal but apparently I am the only one that got that memo.”

    “I don’t know what happened,” Biffle said. “I’m sure someone got aggressive or made a mistake or did something to cause that.”

    The issues were costly to both drivers, with Keselowski losing four positions in the point standings, falling to 13th, and Biffle losing three positions to the ninth spot.

    Not Surprising:  With the resurgence of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing continuing, it was not surprising that Jamie McMurray had a pretty good run at Kentucky. In fact, the driver of the No. 1 Hellmann’s Chevrolet scored the runner up position when the checkered flag flew.

    “Yes, it was a really good day for us,” McMurray said. “We’ve had really quick cars for the last two months but had really unfortunate luck.”

    “So, it’s cool to have a really good run.”

    This was McMurray’s first top-ten finish in three races at Kentucky and his fourth top-ten finish in 2013.

    Surprising:  Denny Hamlin had a surprisingly bad day at Kentucky, hitting the wall after his tire blew. While Hamlin has been struggling with back issues, this time he surprisingly had his bell rung instead and was held in the infield care center to evaluate if he had had a concussion.

    Hamlin’s heavy hit was also costly, with a 35th place finish, leaving him in the 25th position in the point standings, well out of current Chase contention.

    “Definitely have to proceed on,” Hamlin said. “Hopefully, at least something to build off of even though we didn’t have a good finish.”

    Not Surprising:   Clint Bowyer continued to impress, scoring his sixth top-five finish for the season. The driver of the No. 15 Camry 30th Anniversary Toyota took the checkered flag in third at Kentucky, getting ever so close to that first win of the season.

    “Good day for us,” Bowyer said. “Obviously when you get that close at the end you can smell a chance at the win – just not our day yet.”

    Surprising:  In spite of getting trapped on pit road when a caution flew yet again, four-time champion Jeff Gordon managed to overcome and salvage a top-ten finish at the end of the day.

    “We had an awesome fast Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, that is for sure,” Gordon said. “I think we passed more cars than anybody.”

    “These pit stops just aren’t going our way,” Gordon continued. “You just have to keep working hard at it and hope they fall your way eventually.”

    Not Surprising:  Just as Dale Earnhardt Jr. got lucky in qualifying by catching a cloud, Kyle Busch was searching all race day for the same. Busch rebounded from an early race spin to finish in the fifth position in his No. 18 Doublemint Toyota Camry.

    “Anytime I got cloud cover, I could pick up three-tenths of a second,” Busch said. “It was a stupid amount of time I could pick up and then I go down into the next corner and the sun is back and then you’re wrecking loose.”

    “We persevered and came home fifth,” Busch continued. “We can take that effort and go into next week.”

    Surprising:  The end of one driver’s record was the beginning of another driver’s redemption. Bobby Labonte’s streak of 704 consecutive starts came to an end at Kentucky Speedway and the Quaker State 400 marked the first race since 1978 in which there was no driver named Labonte.

    While Bobby Labonte sat on the sidelines, the replacement driver in the No. 47 Scott Products Toyota, AJ Allmendinger, had his own comeback moment at Kentucky. The ‘Dinger, who had tested positive for substance abuse one year ago at Kentucky came back and finished 22nd for JTG-Daugherty Racing.

    Not Surprising:  At a track where he has won three straight Nationwide Series races, all coming from the pole, it was not surprising to see Joey Logano have a top-five finish at Kentucky Speedway. And this young driver, behind the wheel of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford was wishing for just one more caution in which he was convinced he could have gotten to Victory Lane.

    “I felt like we were good enough to win for a little bit,” Logano said. “We were sitting pretty in fourth when the caution came out and that usually puts you second or third.”

    “I was hoping for one more caution because I thought I would be in the cat-bird seat if that happened.”

    Surprising:  After winning at Sonoma and predicting his winning ways would continue, Martin Truex Jr. took an ill-handling car and managed a surprisingly good top ten finish.

    “We dodged a lot of bullets,” the driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota said. “We didn’t have a very good car.”

    “We just never could get the car in the race track and I feel lucky to finish where we did,” Truex Jr. continued. “These are the kind of days that we need when we don’t have a good car – to persevere, fight through it and get a top-ten.”

    Not Surprising:  After running so well this season and being second in the point standings to none other than five-time champ Jimmie Johnson, it was no wonder that Carl Edwards was confused after finishing 21st in the race at Kentucky.

    “Man, I don’t understand what happened,” the driver of the No. 99 UPS Ford Fusion said. “We were terrible at the end.”

    “I just couldn’t make anything happen,” Edwards continued. “We’re going to have to try to figure that out.”

    “We were feeling really good and having a good time out there for a while but it turned out terribly,” Edwards continued. “I guess that is the way it goes.”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Party in the Poconos 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Party in the Poconos 400

    With a picture-perfect race day after a qualifying rainout, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 32nd annual Party in the Poconos 400.

    Surprising:  With good practice times and a decent starting position set on owner’s points, it was most surprising to see the No. 5 Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet  head to pit road and then to the garage on the first lap of the race.

    “We have no idea what happened with the car yet,” Kasey Kahne said. “The crew and engineers have been looking at things but they’re still unsure.”

    “II know that when I took off, in second gear, I had no power and it was just vibrating like crazy,” Kahne continued. “The faster I went, the worse the vibration was.”

    With the garage time, Kahne finished nineteen laps down in the 36th position. He also lost two positions in the point standings, falling from the fifth to seventh spot.

    Not Surprising:  With the controversy of the Dover restart still ringing in his ears, Jimmie Johnson put it all behind him, leading a record setting 128 laps out of the total 160 at Pocono Raceway.

    And with a lap leading percentage of 80%, there was no surprise that the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet found Victory Lane for the third time of the season and the third time at Pocono.

    “I’m sure we’ve had some other really strong races like that, but not in recent memory,” Johnson said. “What a race car.”

    “There are only so many tricks you have if you play by the rules with those restarts,” Johnson continued. “Fortunately, I was able to get the lead and have clean air again at the end.”

    Surprising:  With all the struggles of team Ford, it was most surprising to see Greg Biffle, in the No. 16 3M Ford, surge at the end to score the runner up position.

    “We had some good restarts and we were lucky with the lane choices and my car ran pretty good on restarts,” Biffle said. “Clearly we’re not celebrating that we finished second quite yet and have our cars figured out, but this is definitely a step in the right direction.”

    “We certainly ran better here than we have been all season and certainly that’s a positive for us going to next week, so hopefully we’ll continue to build on that.”

    Not Surprising:  With a third place finish in the books, NASCAR’s most popular driver pronounced it all good, as well as predicting that the momentum might just carry the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet into Victory Lane soon.

    “We are all right,” Dale Earnhardt, Jr. said. “We know what we need to do.”

    “Confidence is there so all the fans can rest assured we feel like we are on the right track,” Junior continued. “We want to get a win, man.”

    “If we keep getting close, we are going to get one.”

    Surprising:  The announcement of Toyota Racing Development backing down the horsepower to improve reliability surprisingly came at the worst time for Denny Hamlin, who has been battling intently to recover from his injury and make the Chase.

    “We weren’t competitive,” the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota said after finishing eighth. “We’re just trying to do everything we can and grind and finish good when we don’t have a winning car.”

    “And by no means did we have a winning car this weekend.”

    Not Surprising:   Fellow Toyota teammate Kyle Busch was the top Toyota finisher, bringing his No. 18 M&Ms Toyota Camry home in the sixth position.

    “The car was loose in turn three all day, but we got the car feeling pretty good towards the end,” Busch said. “We probably had a seventh place car all day long.”

    “I just couldn’t get going on that last restart,” Busch continued. “I just didn’t do a good job there and we found ourselves in sixth.”

    “We’ll take that and go on to Michigan.”

    Surprising:  Stewart-Haas Racing had a surprisingly good time at the Party in the Poconos, with Tony Stewart finishing in fourth, Ryan Newman finishing fifth, and Danica Patrick finishing on the lead lap at her first ever try on that tricky track.

    “It’s one thing if one car runs good, but to have two or all three of us running good shows that we are gaining momentum,” Tony Stewart, team owner and driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, said . “Really proud of our group at SHR.”

    Not Surprising:  Kurt Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet, once again faced adversity, this time with a problem on pit road. And not surprisingly, he and his team rallied yet again to finish top-10.

    “We had a fast car again, ran up front but a mistake on my part on pit road stalled our momentum,” Busch said. “But we battled back with a solid finish.”

    “The good news is that we know how to overcome adversity and the more we perform the way we have been, the better we’ll get.”

    Surprising:  Matt Kenseth had an uncharacteristically and surprisingly tough day, doing some synchronized spinning with Juan Pablo Montoya and then wheel-hopping on pit road and having some contact with Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

    “I mean, disappointing,” the driver of the No. 20 Home Depot/Husky Tools Toyota said. “I thought we had a top-five at the very worst or seventh or eighth-place car.”

    “Whenever you don’t finish where you are running, it’s always disappointing.”

    Not Surprising:  Earnhardt Ganassi Racing just keeps gaining ground, this week with Jamie McMurray finishing thirteenth and Juan Pablo Montoya finishing fourteenth.

    “We just have to execute,” Montoya said. “Each person has got to do its own little thing.”

    “We just have to keep our heads down and keep doing our work and we will be fine.”

    Surprising:  AJ Allmendinger had a surprisingly difficult day in the No. 51 Phoenix Construction Services Chevrolet, finishing a disappointing 33rd. The ‘Dinger was responsible for the next to the last race caution after experiencing significant tire troubles.

    In spite of this, Allmendinger was surprisingly chosen to replace Bobby Labonte when the Cup crowd heads to Michigan next weekend. JTG Daugherty Racing’s leadership apparently selected ‘Dinger to shake down the car to see if and how the performance can be enhanced.

    “I have raced for Phoenix Racing some this year and feel confident I’ll be able to provide JTG Daugherty Racing with a good comparison,” Allmendinger said. “I’m thankful for this opportunity to work with the team and Bobby.”

    Not Surprising:  For Chad Knaus, crew chief, and team Jimmie Johnson, the focus still remains on the point standings. And this team not surprisingly knows exactly how important their points lead is, now 51 points ahead of Carl Edwards.

    “As far as points go, it’s always important,” Knaus said. “We’ve got some very tricky race tracks coming up and we want to make sure that we get as many points accumulated as possible.”

    “That’s just the way we roll.”

     

  • Tony Stewart Outsmoked Juan Pablo Montoya for Monster Mile Win

    Tony Stewart Outsmoked Juan Pablo Montoya for Monster Mile Win

    Tony Stewart defied all odds, coming from a 22nd starting position at the Monster Mile, to battle Juan Pablo Montoya to win the 44th Annual FedEx benefiting Autism Speaks race. This was Smoke’s first victory of the season and only his third top-10 finish in 2013.

    “This was not a car that could have won the race,” Stewart said. “Just great pit strategy at the end.”

    “Steve Addington (crew chief) made a great call there that last caution and gave us the opportunity to race for it up there.”

    “Just really proud of the Code 3 Associates Chevy,” Stewart continued. “Code 3 has done such an awesome job of getting everybody in Oklahoma back on their feet.”

    “I couldn’t think of a better wayto celebrate their work.”

    Stewart acknowledged that this has been a tough season, however, the win will certainly prove that the team is headed in the right direction, thanks to their perseverance.

    “Our guys at our shop have been digging,” Smoke said. “None of these guys get down.”

    “That is what carries you to days like today at the end of the day.”

    Juan Pablo Montoya, finishing second in the No. 42 Energizer Chevrolet for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, benefitted from a black flag of the strongest car in the race when NASCAR ruled on lap 381 that Jimmie Johnson jumped the restart. The penalty sent Johnson through the pits for a pass through penalty and Montoya to the race lead.

    Montoya, however, could not hold off Tony Stewart and had to settle for the runner up race finish instead. And he admitted that it was a struggle in spite of testing earlier at the Monster Mile.

    “Our car was OK,” Juan Pablo said in the media center after the race. “We came here and did a test before the race.”

    “It was a lot cooler, so when we unloaded we had to do quite a bit of work on the car,” Montoya continued. “We struggled with loose all day.”

    “We were really, really loose and the longer we would run, the looser we would get,” Montoya said. “It was a bit of a hit and miss.”

    “On one of the runs under green, we decided to make a couple changes on the car and it just came to life,” Montoya continued. “It came to life at the right time.”

    “It was a shame to lose but I just couldn’t hold Tony off.”

    While Juan Pablo Montoya thought that Johnson was trying to time the restart just right, he admitted that he would have done the exact same thing given the circumstances.

    “Jimmie was letting off and I knew he was trying to jump the start,” Montoya said. “And I backed up a little bit for him and when we got to the line, he wanted to time it and he timed it too well.”

    “He wanted to get the jump on me and he just jumped it too much,” JPM continued. “I would have tried to do the same thing.”

    Runner up Montoya also traded paint with Kurt Busch, in the No. 78 Furniture Row/Sealy Chevrolet, who finished 12th.

    “It’s weird, I got to his bumper – I don’t think I touched him, got him loose, got into turn three and he gave me a tap and I’m like, I don’t think I hit you,” Montoya said. “But it’s OK.”

    “It’s racing hard.”

    Montoya also credited his good finish to the growing chemistry with his crew chief Chris Heroy. But that relationship has been a struggle as they found ways to work together to get the car to Montoya’s liking.

    “When we started, we sucked and it was hard,” Montoya said. “He had a certain mentality as to how the car should be set up.”

    “He didn’t get that if he set it up that way, I couldn’t drive it,” Montoya continued. “You have to give me something that I can drive and be comfortable.”

    “It took a little time but now we’re clicking real well,” Montoya said. “And we’ve been getting good results every week.”

    Although the car was a handful, Montoya was pleased with the race finish and acknowledged that it bodes well for their continuing success.

    “It was a hell of a finish,” Montoya said. “It’s been awhile since we finished this good.”

    “We’ve had near misses but I think the wins are coming.”Montoya continued. “I’ve said this before, you’ve got to get top-5s and top-10s to be able to add wins.”

    “Today we gave ourselves a good chance but the car was a little too much of a handful there at the end,” Montoya said. “We tried.”

    This was Montoya’s third top-10 finish in 13 races at Dover and his third top-10 finish of the season.

    Jeff Gordon, driving the No. 24 AARP Credit Cards from Chase Chevrolet, finished a strong third, ahead of all of his other Hendrick Motorsports teammates. This was Gordon’s 23rd top-10 finish at Dover.

    “Yeah it was a fantastic finish for us,” Gordon said. “We battled hard all day long, hovering 13th, 14th, I think we got to maybe 10th at one time.”

    “I knew that clean air was making a huge difference,” Gordon continued. “So, we were fortunate there where we only had a few laps on the tires and we decided to stay out.”

    Gordon acknowledged that this run was exactly what he was hoping for to turn his season around.

    “It’s certainly a great feeling,” Gordon said. “We just have to fight.”

    “We fought hard today, very hard and this is a tough place,” Gordon continued. “It was not an easy race but this team never gave up.”

    Gordon jumped  four spots in the point standings, from 15th to 11th, now within  striking distance of Chase contention.

    Kyle Busch, driving the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, finished in the fourth position, in spite of yet again some sort of parts failure.

    “We must have broken a right front bump stop or something,” Busch said. “Just another parts failure for us.”

    “It’s unfortunate we weren’t able to capitalize on getting a win today,” Busch continued. “I felt like we had something for the 48 but it didn’t come down to having to race the 48.”

    “Just seems to be our two years continuing today.”

    Brad Keselowski in the Blue Deuce, with his crew chief Paul Wolfe back at his side, finished in the fifth position. But the reigning champ was most complimentary of past champ Stewart after the race.

    “We drove hard all day but didn’t have the speed to win the race,” Keselowski said. “It’s good to see Tony win.”

    “That was a good race,” Keselowski said. “I was having fun watching him.”

    After the race, however, NASCAR reported that Keselowski’s No. 2 was found to be too low in the front in post-race inspection, with potential penalties to be announced later in the week.

    Certainly, one of the most dramatic moments of the race was the black flag of Jimmie Johnson, who had worked his way through the pack and looked to be the car to beat. Understandably, Johnson  saw the restart just a bit differently fromJuan Pablo Montoya.

    “No, I was half throttle,” Johnson said of the restart. “At some point you have to go.”

    “I’m waiting for him and he never comes,” Johnson said of Montoya. “Chad (Knaus, crew chief) told me to take off and not worry about it.”

    “Not a good way to lose the race,” Johnson lamented. “We had the strongest car.”

    There were also several engine issues in the race as well, including Matt Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr., both with Toyota engines.

    “Something let go in the motor,” Truex said. “Just dropped a cylinder and started smoking all at once.”

    “Same thing happened to the 20 it looked like,” Truex continued. “Pretty disappointing.”

    Truex Jr. finished 38th while Kenseth finished 40th.

    “Something broke in the engine,” Kenseth said, sounding eerily similar to Truex’s report. “You have to finish these things.”

    “Man, it’s disappointing.”

    The other dramatic moment in the race occurred between Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet, and David Gilliland, driver of the No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford, who traded paint and then wrecked each other.

    “We just got wrecked,” Gilliland said. “It is a shame.”

    “We had a fast race car and a great run going and unfortunately someone lost their patience a little bit and we got wrecked.”

    “It is too bad but that is just the way it goes I guess.”

    Ryan Newman declined to comment after the incident.

    Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top ten finishers in the FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway.

  • Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Is Back

    Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Is Back

    After two years of miserable races, Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing (EGR) has finally returned back to its old form. Although they haven’t quite gotten rid of all the bad luck that seems to haunt the two car organization, the cars seem fast again and have made monumental progress in their overall performance. McMurray sits a solid 12th in the standings with three top 10’s in 2013 which already equals his total from 2012. Juan Pablo Montoya has been snake bit by wrecks and mechanical failures that have kept him deep in the points but he proved at Richmond what is possible for that No.42 should he stay out of trouble.

    Montoya ran up front all night and not many people could say after an event that saw more comers and goers than any race in recent memory. He led 67 laps and finished 4th after a late race caution thwarted his chances of a victory. His last top five was way back in March of 2011 when he finished 4th at Martinsville and he hasn’t led that many laps since his win at Watkins Glen nearly three years ago. It would be ignorant to say that Montoya doesn’t have the talent but it would be acceptable to say that the poor man has no luck at all. Even though he came home with a 4th place finish Saturday and seemed pretty happy about it, the Colombian was all but guaranteed a win as he pulled away from Kevin Harvick until a caution with four laps remaining jumbled up the running order. He restarted 6th while eventual race winner Kevin Harvick restarted 7th and starting on the inside is what won him the race. Had the roles been reversed, Montoya would have most likely been the one passing Jeff Burton with one lap to go.

    Photo Credit: David Yeazell
    Photo Credit: David Yeazell

    McMurray restarted the race 2nd but the field basically ran him over with how old his tires were finishing a disappointing 26th. Even with the unsatisfactory result, the 2010 Daytona 500 winner finds himself just 26pts out of the top 10 and ahead of champions such as Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart. In 2009 and 2010, EGR asserted themselves as one of the better teams winning four races including the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400. They also put Montoya in the 2009 chase and had the Wild-Card existed in 2010, McMurray would have been in it with his three wins. It looks like they are steadily turning things around and I wouldn’t be surprised to see both of their drivers make the chase this year. At the very least, I see both McMurray and Montoya winning a race before the year is over.

    Is it the switch Hendrick engines that has helped this team or is it something else? People were shocked when team owner Chip Ganassi didn’t make any major personal changes following their dismal 2012 which saw Jamie finish 21st in points and Juan 22nd. I have to give major props to Chip for not overreacting to what seemed to be a hopeless situation in the eyes of most. Kevin Manion and Chris Heroy are still the crew chiefs and the combinations seem to be working well. All this team lacked was speed and I believe Hendrick power has given them that missing piece they needed to run up front again. Chip felt it would be imprudent to turn the team inside out after all their struggles saying this during the off season; “We’re not afraid to make changes, but we’re not going to make change for the sake of making change.”

    That risky ideology looks like it was the right call after all. Between McMurray and Montoya there are 8 NASCAR Sprint Cup wins, 9 Nationwide wins, 3 in Grand-Am, 10 in open-wheel and 7 F1 victories that include races such as the 24 Hours of Daytona, the Indy 500, the Daytona 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix. There is certainly no lack of talent there and now they have the cars to back their fully capable drivers up. The travails of the past two years has finally ended and EGR has 27 more races to parlay these great results into race wins and they can do it. Watch out for these two because they could easily become two of the biggest upsets in 2013 and if the bad luck ceases, they will become threats to win almost every single week.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Martinsville STP Gas Booster 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Martinsville STP Gas Booster 500

    Refreshed from an off-weekend and ready to go short track racing, here is what was surprising and not surprising when the Cup drivers returned to racing in the STP Gas Booster 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

    Surprising:  With all the talk of paybacks from feuding drivers, it was surprising just how uneventful the last restart and final laps of the race were, especially since the trio competing at the end included Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer, all of whom have history together.

    In fact, at last year’s Martinsville race, the three drivers tangled in the final laps, with Bowyer on new tires and the Hendrick teammates on old tires, sending them all spinning and handing the race win to Ryan Newman.

    Gordon and Bowyer also have history and unsettled scores from last season that even carried over through the end-of-year banquet in Las Vegas. Yet, in spite of a few nudges here and there, they raced each other cleanly and respectfully, which was more than surprising given the rhetoric and hostility between the two.

    “Well, we just didn’t need those cautions there at the end,” Gordon, who finished third in the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, said. “We just needed more laps there at the end.”

    “Well, last year I had the upper hand with tires and it just didn’t work out,” Bowyer, driver of the No. 15 RK Motors Toyota and race runner up, said. “It’s just disappointing.”

    “Just wish I’d had that clock.”

    Not Surprising:  With Jimmie Johnson’s stats at Martinsville, including multiple wins and the best driver rating of 122.3, it was not surprising at all to see him in Victory Lane, collecting his eighth grandfather’s clock.

    And while Johnson winning at Martinsville was not surprising in the least, the depth of bittersweet emotion in victory lane was also not surprising, given the history of loss for team owner Rick Hendrick and his family at that rack.

    With caps turned backwards in memory of Ricky Hendrick and the other members of the HMS team lost in the plane crash at Martinsville nine years ago, Rick Hendrick shared that the track holds so many mixed emotions for him, including the joy of winning and the agony of loss.

    Yet in spite of the bittersweet memories, Hendrick was also incredibly proud of the accomplishment of winning 20 races at that track, the most of any organization in the sport.

    “I was looking at that scoreboard over there, the first time I ever came to a Cup race was here with my dad,” Hendrick said. “We’ve been fortunate to have some great drivers and this track has been awful good to us.

    Surprising:  While it was surprising enough that Danica Patrick, behind the wheel of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, finished 12th, it was even more surprising that she beat out her Stewart Haas Racing teammates Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman, who finished 17th and 31st respectively.

    This was Patrick’s first time at Martinsville Speedway in a Cup car and, in spite of an early spin, she rallied back to the checkered flag as the highest finishing rookie in the race.

    “Yeah, well never being at Martinsville, I didn’t know what to expect,” Patrick said. “I felt like I made a lot of passes.”

    “I’m most proud about coming back from two laps down and being on the lead lap,” Patrick continued. “Then grabbing a 12th place finish in the end was good.”

    Not Surprising:  One of the biggest complaints after Martinsville was, not surprisingly, the lack of a second groove in the track and how much track position was lost because of it.

    Although finishing top-ten, Marcos Ambrose, driver of the No. 9 Stanley Ford, had quite a bit to say about the battle for the preferred inside line.

    “You had to fight like a dog to try to get to the inside,” Ambrose said. “If you got hung out there, there’s just nothing you could do – you’re just along for the ride.”

    Surprising:  With all the attention on and rhetoric about Joey Logano, it was a bit surprising that he was pretty much a non-factor at Martinsville.

    In fact, going into the short track race weekend, Logano said that he would not seek conflict but he also vowed not to lay down for anyone.

    “There’s a fine line of how you’re going to earn that respect,” Logano said. “I’m not a guy that’s going to look for trouble, but I’m also the guy that’s not going to get walked on.”

    Logano experience neither being in trouble or getting walked on at Martinsville, finishing 23rd in his No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford. And with that non-stellar finish, he fell two spots in the point standings to 11th.

    Not Surprising:   Any racer out of the car would find it difficult being at the track. So, it was not surprising just how tough Denny Hamlin took sitting out and watching another driver behind the wheel of his race machine.

    “The start of the race was nothing like I thought it was,” Hamlin said. “The start of the race absolutely killed me.”

    “That was very, very tough to watch,” Hamlin continued. “I didn’t’ realize the physical toll that coming out here was going to take on me.”

    Surprising:  With Roush Fenway Racing traditionally struggling at Martinsville, it was surprising to see one of their drivers finish top ten. Greg Biffle, behind the wheel of the No. 16 3M Ford, brought his car to the checkered flag in the ninth position.

    “It was a hard fought day,” Biffle said. “Our car was way too tight and I had to keep working on it.”

    “There was no outside groove whatsoever and everyone really wanted the bottom,” Biffle continued. “But we still finished in the top-10 so I’m pretty happy about that.”

    Not Surprising:  There were several bounce back finishes amongst drivers who struggled and then came back strong at the finish of the race. One of the most notable was Brad Keselowski, who overcame a questionable pit road penalty to finish sixth in his Blue Deuce.

    “That was a hard-fought finish,” Keselowski said. “We wanted to be able to win here and just haven’t been strong enough to do it.”

    “But I’m proud of where we are right here today.”

    Another amazing performance was given by Iron Man Mark Martin, who was involved in a multi-car crash on lap 180 and then rallied to finish tenth. To boot, this stellar finish was in an unfamiliar car in which he was subbing for the injured Denny Hamlin.

    Yet not surprisingly, Martin once again downplayed his accomplishment.

    “It wasn’t that great of a result; we were capable of a little bit better,” Martin said in his usual humble style. “I did not fill Denny Hamlin’s shoes, I can tell you that much.”

    “He is the master.”

    Surprising:  Another pleasant surprise for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing was the good finish for once of one of its drivers. Jamie McMurray, behind the wheel of the No. 1 Novo Nordisk Chevrolet for EGR, finished seventh.

    “We had a really good car,” McMurray said. “Made a good pit call at the end and got a couple of extra spots.”

    “That was a really good day for us.”

    Not Surprising:  Although working with a relatively new team in Furniture Row Racing, it was not surprising that veteran driver Kurt Busch had the presence of mind to not only angle the car before hitting the wall after his brakes failed, but also had the wherewithal to utilize his fire suppression system when his car went up in flames.

    “Something let go in the brakes,” Busch said. “I had to turn the car to the right otherwise I was going to hit harder than what we did.”

    “It was a bummer day.”

    Unfortunately, that bummer day resulted in Busch falling from 13th to 19th in the driver point standings. The driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Serta Chevrolet, along with all of his Cup competitors, will have a chance at redemption as the elite series heads into Texas Motor Speedway.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Vegas Kobalt Tools 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Vegas Kobalt Tools 400

    With rain in the desert setting the field and the Denny Hamlin fine all the talk, here is what else was surprising and not so surprising from the Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    Surprising:  The transformation surprisingly continued for Matt Kenseth, who moved from lame duck last year at Roush Fenway Racing to winner this year in just the third race of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing.

    “Thank you Lord for putting me here,” Kenseth said simply as he took the checkered flag.

    This was the driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota’s 25th career victory and the 101st victory for his new owner Joe Gibbs. And it was Kenseth’s 41st birthday to boot.

    Not Surprising:  It was a strong day for the Hendrick bunch, with one notable exception, Jeff Gordon, who brought up the rear with a disappointing 25th finish in his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet.

    Kasey Kahne, who had a strong No. 5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet, gave Kenseth a run for his money but could not close the deal, finishing second.

    “I had the car to beat today,” Kahne said. “We lost, but it was still a great run for all of our guys.”


    Jimmie Johnson, behind the wheel of the No. 48 Lowes/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, finished sixth and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., driver of the No. 88 AMP Energy Orange Chevrolet, finished 7th.

    “I lost a couple of spots in that last restart, but it was fun to race that fast,” Johnson said. “We were flying.”

    “We had a real good race,” Junior said. “I enjoyed the race track and the raceability of the track was a lot of fun. I had a blast really.”

    Not surprisingly, Hendrick Motorsports is also strong in the point standings, with Johnson in the lead, Junior in third, Gordon dropping five spots to 13th and Kahne moving up 17 spots to 14th after the Vegas race.

    Surprising:  While every other driver complained of being loose, Rookie of the Year contender Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. surprisingly complained about being tight.

    “I kept telling them to free it up and we would get tighter and tighter,” the driver of the No. 17 Zest Ford said. “That is why we gave up all our track position.”

    “Every pit stop we made we got tighter and tighter,” Stenhouse, Jr. continued. “I couldn’t go on a restart.”

    Stenhouse Jr. finished 18th and is still in the lead in what he refers to as the ‘Ricky of the Year’ standings. He also led his first ever Cup lap after staying out while others headed to pit road.

    Not Surprising:  Stenhouse Jr.’s other half, Danica Patrick had ‘one of those days’ at the track. Not only did she struggle and finish 33rd in her GoDaddy.com Chevrolet but her team also had a tire outside the box violation on Lap 123, necessitating a pass through penalty.

    “That’s alright, guys,” Patrick said. “If we’re going to have these days, might as well have them all together.”

    “It was a real tough day, no doubt.”

    Surprising:  While both Earnhardt Ganassi Racing cars had to start from the rear of the field due to engine changes, both rebounded surprisingly well.

    Jamie McMurray, behind the wheel of the No. 1 McDonalds Chevrolet, finished 13th and EGR teammate Juan Pablo Montoya in the No. 42 AXE Apollo Chevrolet finished 19th.

    Not Surprising:   While Denny Hamlin paid the price for sharing his concerns publicly about the new Gen 6 car, many other drivers admitted to still trying to figure out their own race cars.

    Top among that group, however, was Kyle Busch, who overcame a Lap 48 pit road speeding penalty to finish fourth in his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota.

    “Man it was really unique,” Busch said. “When I was out front, I was fast as heck.”

    “But behind others, then I was wrecking loose,” Busch continued. “All in all it was fun and today was the first part of figuring out the nuances of this race car.”

    Surprising:  In his 150th career start, Joey Logano, behind the wheel of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion, made an uncharacteristic mistake. Just like his former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch, Logano sped down pit road on his first pit stop.

    Logano rebounded, just like Busch, to finish in the 12th spot.

    “I screwed up,” Logano said. “I went down a lap but never caught our break to go.”

    “I felt like we had a top-five car but I made a dumb mistake.”

    Not Surprising:  Although not running a full-time season, NASCAR’s Iron Man Mark Martin continued to show his mettle, finishing 14th in his No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine and moving one spot up to sixth place in the point standings.

    “It was fun,” Martin said. “I didn’t get a good restart on the last one but other than that, it was a good solid day by this team and car.”

    Surprising:  There is a bit of surprising name up there in the top ten in points and he just so happens to drive for the King. Aric Almirola, driver of the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Farmland Ford Fusion, may have finished 16th at Vegas but he remains right there in the tenth spot in the point standings.

    “We probably had an 8th – 12th place car so I’m disappointed we finished 16th,” Almirola said. “We didn’t have any major mistakes and I think points-wise we are still decent.”

    Almirola tweeted this after the race, “Headed to one of my favorite tracks next week in top 10 in points. Proud of my team!”

    Not Surprising:  Finally, the determination and grit of the reigning champ Brad Keselowski came through yet again. Keselowski posted his first top-ten finish at Las Vegas and brought the Blue Deuce home in the third spot.

    “Never give up,” Keselowski said. “Never give up. This team doesn’t and we didn’t today.”

    The champ is taking that attitude right into Bristol next weekend. And he admitted he has no idea how the new Gen 6 car will react on the first short track of the season.

    “That’s why you’ve got to watch,” Keselowski said simply.