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Kyle Larson, Chad Hackenbracht and Matt Tifft Get Chance at NASCAR Dream

Photo Credit: Streeter Lecka, Getty Images

The future young guns of NASCAR, Kyle Larson, Chad Hackenbracht and Matt Tifft, all have one thing in common. The trio is getting their chance to achieve their NASCAR dreams.

Just a short time ago, about a year in fact, Kyle Larson stepped into a stock car to race for the first time. Now, the 20 year old up and comer has scored a full-time Nationwide Series ride through a partnership between Earnhardt Ganassi Racing and Turner Scott Motorsports.

Larson’s quick rise in the NASCAR ranks came after winning the K&N Pro Series East title. Then, in just four races in the Camping World Truck Series, the youngster finished top-ten three times and was runner up at the Phoenix race.

Larson will be paired with crew chief Trent Owens, who posted the following message on Facebook, “Very excited about the announcement that I’ll be the crew chief for Kyle Larson in Nationwide at Turner Scott Motorsports this year!! Also back to the number 32 that has a special place with me. Hoping this season will be a great one. So pumped!!”

Although quite not so effusive, Chip Ganassi, a champion owner in his own right, is looking forward to the continuing development of his newest young talent.

“We feel that he’s certainly capable of it,” Ganassi said. “I don’t think we’re rushing him along or anything like that.”

“Like I said, he’s shown great ability in anything he’s driven so far.”

Larson, on the other hand, knows that with the spotlight and the opportunity comes quite a bit of pressure.

“I know I have a lot of pressure on me,” Larson said. “I try not to pay attention to it at all.”

“Every week, I just try to go out and do the best I can,” Larson continued. “I try to finish in the top 10 in each race an log as many laps as I can.”

“Each lap is just going to help me develop as a driver,” Larson said. “I’m going to need that since I’m really young and hopefully will be in a sport a long time.”

“I will just try to develop as much as I can this year and do better in the future.”

Joining Kyle Larson in the Nationwide Series will be another young gun with a very interesting last name. TriStar Motorsports announced that Chad Hackenbracht will join the team for at least five Nationwide races.

Hackenbracht has raced most recently in the ARCA Series for his family’s team, scoring one trip to victory lane, two poles, five top-five finishes and 12 top-ten finishes. He completed the ARCA season top five in the championship point standings.

“I’m excited for the opportunity,” Hackenbracht said. “I have not run any NASCAR events and I’m excited to make my debut in the Nationwide Series with an established team.”

“My expectations are to finish every race I run this year, qualify in the top-20 and pull off top-15 finishes,” Hackenbracht continued. “The Nationwide Series is going to be very competitive this year but I’m ready for the challenge.”

Hackenbracht’s team owner is also excited with his new addition and with being a part of the youngster’s development in the sport.

“We are really looking forward to having Chad join our team,” Mark Smith said. “He has already shown that he has a lot of talent behind the wheel of a stock car.”

“We are excited to help him develop his skills and give him his first opportunity to race in NASCAR,” Smith continued. “He will have some veteran guidance, which should help him as he takes the next step in his racing career.”

The youngest up and comer of the bunch is Matt Tifft, who at just sixteen years of age will be moving up this season from the ARCA Midwest Tour to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. Tifft will be racing full-time in that Series, which has catapulted other drivers such as Martin Truex Jr. to the highest level of the sport.

Tifft will partner with Shane Tesch, a NASCAR veteran, to compete for the Rookie of the Year honors behind the wheel of the No. 89 Chevrolet Impala.

“In the last couple months we have been working on this deal,” Tifft said. “The K&N Series is the next thing we wanted to do so when it came together with Win-Tron, it was a really good fit.”

Tifft started racing young as his father owned a dirt late model and raced in Michigan. In 2007, when he was eleven years old, Tifft jumped into a go kart and fell in love with racing in his own right.

“I always watched NASCAR, but I was hooked at that point,” Tifft said.

Since then, Tifft has run in several karting series, as well as late model racing, before racing on the ARCA Midwest Tour. The teen scored Rookie of the Year honors in that series in his first ever points series season and finished fifth in points.

“It’s the right time to move up to the K&N Series,” Tifft said. “It’s better to get more experience in the bigger, heavier cars in a NASCAR series.”

And just who might some of Tifft’s heroes be in the racing world? One of them is a driver that is joining him in the move up in his NASCAR career.

“I’ve watched drivers like Kyle Larson and watching him go through and get the experience in the K&N Series is what helped attract me,” Tifft said.

“It’s a really cool deal to build up that experience.”

Tifft, like Larson and Hackenbracht, is all about learning, growing and just fine-tuning skills behind the wheel. He summed it up best for himself and his fellow racing compatriots who will be racing at the next level this season.

“I know I have a lot of learning to do,” Tifft said simply. “But I’m up to the challenge.”

February 7, 2013
2013 Sprint Cup Team Preview: Earnhardt Ganassi Racing

PHOTO CREDIT: Chris Graythen/Getty Images

A new week means a new round of 2013 Sprint Cup team previews and today we will be previewing the 2013 efforts of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, which will be fielding the No.1 Chevrolet SS, driven by Jamie McMurray and the No.42 Chevrolet SS, driven by Juan Pablo Montoya.

After a tumultuous 2012 season in which neither Jamie McMurray nor Juan Pablo Montoya won a race or made it into the Chase for the Sprint Cup and finished a dismal 21st and 22nd in points, respectively, the team will undergo two big changes heading into the 2013 season, but will remain virtually intact otherwise.

The first change will be under the hood of the Chevrolet SS cars that Earnhardt Ganassi Racing will field. The team will switch from Earnhardt Childress Racing engines, which was a joint venture between Earnhardt Ganassi Racing and Richard Childress Racing, to engines provided by Hendrick Motorsports.

The second change will be on the sponsorship side. Bass Pro Shops, which sponsored Jamie McMurray from 2010 through 2012, will be moving over to Stewart Haas Racing to become primary sponsor for Tony Stewart. Reports indicate that McDonalds will step up and become full time primary sponsor for McMurray in 2013. Target will return as primary sponsor for Juan Pablo Montoya in 2013.

Both McMurray and Montoya have the skills to win races, but only time will tell if these changes will help these drivers get back into their winning form that we saw back in 2010.

January 15, 2013
Surprising and Not Surprising: Talladega Good Sam 500

[media-credit name=”Credit: Sean Gardner/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”230″][/media-credit]With Chase race four at Talladega delivering on its reputation as the ‘wild card’ and ‘game changer’ in the championship battle, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 44^th running of the Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500.

Surprising: Manhandling a very free race car and making a miracle save or two did not prevent this driver from being the loneliest, but no doubt happiest, man at Talladega Super Speedway. Matt Kenseth survived the last lap ‘big one’ to score his first ever win at the track.

Kenseth, in a very pink No. 17 Ford EcoBoost/National Breast Cancer Foundation Ford, notched his 23^rd victory in 466 Cup races. This was his second win and 17^th top-10 finish for the 2012 season.

Kenseth’s spotter Mike Calinoff described his driver’s lonely but lucky status best with his radio call on the final lap of the race.

“They’re wrecking behind you,” Calinoff said. “The whole field is wrecking.”

“There isn’t anyone who isn’t wrecked.”

“I looked behind me and saw nothing,” Kenseth said, echoing his spotter’s words. “Being in front of it all was the best place to be.”

Not Surprising: Although making the Chase, albeit barely, and admittedly not having the best of racing luck with him for much of the season, this driver was thrilled that things finally went his way at unpredictable ‘Dega.

“For a change, I finally came out on the good side of it,” Jeff Gordon, who finished second in his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, said. “I really have no idea how we all made it to the white flag because it was three, four wide.”

“I got hit by the No. 18 and somehow that turned me down on the apron and I just put it back to the floor and drove by every car.”

“I came out of that second behind the No. 17,” Gordon said. “That is like a win.”

This was Gordon’s 19^th top-10 finish in 40 races at Talladega and his 15^th top-10 finish for the season.

Surprising: It was a surprisingly humble and contrite Tony Stewart that greeted the media after causing the twenty-four car pileup and flipping end over end in his own No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet amidst the melee.

“I just screwed up,” Smoke said. “I turned down across, I think it was Michael (Waltrip) and crashed the whole field.”

“It was my fault blocking to try to stay where I was at,” Stewart continued. “So, I take 100% of the blame.”

Not Surprising: Not surprisingly, the theme for the day for the point’s leader Brad Keselowski was simple. He just wanted to survive Talladega and come out intact on the other end.

Keselowski, in his now familiar Blue Deuce, did indeed survive, finishing seventh in spite of being caught in the pile up. He now has a 14 points advantage over second place Chase contender Jimmie Johnson.

“We were four-wide for about two and a half straight laps and it was just a matter of time before you are wrecked,” Keselowski said. “It happens but that’s just Talladega.”

“That’s pretty big,’ Keselowski said of his points lead. “I just feel lucky to survive Talladega.”

Keselowski was so happy to have survived that he tweeted the following entrepreneurial thought after the race.

“Someone needs to make a t-shirt that says, “I survived Talladega,” @keselowski said. “Guaranteed at least 43 customers.”

Surprising: NASCAR’s biggest loser at Talladega was surprisingly one of Dega’s darlings, as well as fan favorite Dale Earnhardt, Jr. The driver of the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew Paint 88/National Guard Chevrolet finished a disappointing 20^th, dropping four positions in the Chase standings to 11^th, all as a result of the ‘big one.’

And even more surprising, NASCAR’s most popular driver had some pretty harsh words to share after the race, particularly for the style of racing at Talladega and the longevity of the sport in light of it.

“Yeah, I took a lot of hard shots,” Junior said. “If this is what we did every week, I wouldn’t be doing it.”

“I would find another job.”

“The way we are going ain’t the right direction,” Dale Earnhardt, Jr. said. “I don’t care what anybody says for the good of the sport; I mean it’s good for the here and now and it will get people talking today, but for the long run that is not going to help the sport the way that race ended and the way the racing is.”

“It’s not going to be productive for years to come.”

Not Surprising: With over half the field involved in the last lap crash, it was not surprising that several drivers, including some of the Chase contenders, were a bit confused as to where exactly they finished. There was so much confusion that crew chiefs gathered around the NASCAR hauler to see indeed where their driver ended up officially.

“Everybody just merged together and we were all in a big wad at that point,” Jimmie Johnson, piloting the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, said. “Fortunately my car I could still drive to the finish so I passed a couple of guys that were sitting there on the bottom trying to get going themselves.”

“I guess I finished 17^th,” Johnson said. “I don’t know.”

Teammate Kasey Kahne, in the No. 5 Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet, also was a bit confused as to his finishing spot.

“You are kind of along for the ride once it starts,” Kahne said. “We ended up making it back to the line; a few cars passed us so we might be a little better than 13^th.

Finally, Richard Petty Motorsports driver Marcos Ambrose, piloting the No. 9 DeWalt Ford, was confused but willing to forget about it in the end.

“We had a strong day,” Ambrose said. “I thought I missed the wreck but at least I didn’t cause it.”

“I have no idea where I finished, but we’ll just go on to the next one and forget about this.”

Johnson did indeed finish 17^thas he predicted, Kahne finished 12^th,a bit better than he thought, and Ambrose ended up in 27^th, a finish he most likely will want to forget.

Surprising: Kyle Busch became a surprisingly ‘lucky dog’ at Talladega. The driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota was not only the official ‘lucky dog’, getting his lap back after a speeding penalty, but was also a ‘lucky dog’ in navigating his way through the major 24 car pile up to finish third.

“Our day was pretty good,” Busch said. “I got busted for speeding, so that was my fault and we had to battle through that.”

“That was probably one of the most tense parts of the race for me was having to race for the ‘lucky dog’ to get back on the lead lap.”

“But all in all, our guys had some good pit stops and we gained some spots,” Busch continued. “I’m just glad and thankful that I was able to get through with no damage and make it through unscathed.”

Not Surprising: The two drivers who will apparently swap their rides for the next race, with Kurt Busch going to the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team and Regan Smith taking over the No. 51 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet, had polar opposite finishes to their last race in their former rides.

Regan Smith ended his tenure at Furniture Row with a 5^th place finish, his best ever at a restrictor plate track, while Kurt Busch finished 39^th after being parked by NASCAR for not heeding their command to stop his race car after his wreck.

“This is the way my life works,” Kurt Busch said. “I am leading, I wreck, I run out of gas and now I’m in trouble.”

“This year has been a great year to test me in every way.”

“What a wild ending,” Smith said. “We restarted the green-white checkered in 28^th, picked up a bunch of spots on the first lap and then came the wreck.”

“Somehow I was able to drive it to the checkered flag with a fifth-place finish.”

Surprising: Rather than having a ‘Talladega Nights’ flashback, Greg Biffle was having another movie moment instead.

“It was like Days of Thunder, coming through the smoke and the grass,” the driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion said. “A car flew over the top of my car as I turned to the bottom and missed guys by three inches.”

“It was the craziest thing I’ve ever been involved in in my life.”

Biffle had his own crazy moment in the race, making an amazing save after being turned sideways in the draft. He finished the race in sixth, gaining two positions in the point standings to ninth.

Not Surprising: The difficult season for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing continued in agonizing style at Talladega for both of their drivers. Jamie McMurray, former Daytona 500 winner and driver of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Allstate Chevrolet, finished 34^th after leading 38 laps of the race.

Teammate Juan Pablo Montoya finished 38^th in his No. 42 Target/Gillette Chevrolet after an engine failure on lap 156.

“We were running right up there in the lead pack the majority of the day and then something happened to the motor,” JPM said. “The car started smoking and I felt like it was going to let go at any minute.”

“We just can’t catch a break.”

“The Bass Pro Shops Chevy ran great all day,” McMurray said. “It was great to get back up there and lead some laps.”

“I wish the outcome had turned out differently,” McMurray continued. “The guys did a great job and I felt like we had the car to beat.”

October 9, 2012
Surprising and Not Surprising: Lenox Industrial Tools 301

[media-credit name=”Kirk Schroll” align=”alignright” width=”242″][/media-credit]While not surprising that conversation still swirled around A.J. Allmendinger and his failed drug test, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 20^th running of the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Surprising: Race winning crew chiefs do not usually look at getting a manicure as part of their post-race celebratory plans. But Kenny Francis, crew chief for the winning No. 5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet driven by Kasey Kahne, may have to do just that.

“I bit off all my fingernails,” Francis said, after watching the battle between his driver and a hard-charging Denny Hamlin. “At least I have two weeks for them to grow back.”

“Yeah, from the pit box, we had a pretty good car all day,” Francis continued. “Fortunately we were able to finish it off and outrun him to the finish.”

This was the No. 5 team’s second victory for car owner Linda Hendrick and the first ever trip to Victory Lane for driver Kasey Kahne at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Not Surprising: As in all relationships, one of the biggest issues causing trouble is the failure to communicate. Not surprisingly, a failure to communicate, in this case between driver and crew chief, actually cost the No. 11 team a chance to win at the ‘Magic Mile’.

“We made our bed by taking those four tires,” Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota, said. “Darian (Grubb, crew chief) wanted to take two (tires) – I told him I just needed tires and that was it.”

“He took it that I needed four tires,” Hamlin continued. “It was just a little miscommunication that turned into a second-place finish.”

Hamlin, who started from the third spot, was the highest finishing Toyota driver and led five times for a race-high 150 laps of the 301 mile race.

Surprising: It was a matter of surprising seconds that both helped and hurt one race team at New Hampshire this weekend. Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, scored the pole position for the race by just 0.003 seconds.

Timing, however, came back to bite him when he sped by seconds on pit road and never really recovered. Busch, after leading 65 laps, finished the race in the 16^th position.

“It was a tough day for the Interstate Batteries Toyota,” Dave Rogers, crew chief, said. “We got caught speeding the first run there – that wasn’t Kyle’s fault.”

“We calculate the RPM we’re supposed to run,” Rogers continued. “Gave Kyle the wrong number and he sped and that got us behind from the beginning.”

“Then we were trying to play catch-up all day long.”

Not Surprising: When it comes to flat, shorter tracks, it is not surprising that talk turns to tire wear. And some drivers, particularly four-time champion Jeff Gordon, had some thoughts to share on this issue after the race.

“Yeah, I’m really disappointed in today,” Gordon, who finished sixth in the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet, said. “This tire, I tell you, Goodyear has got to go back to the drawing board.”

“They came here with a new tire and it is not a very good tire,” Gordon continued. “I think they know it and I’m hoping that they can come up with something a little bit better than this.”

Surprising: At a track where he once was dominant, and in fact led every lap for one race, it was surprising to see Jeff Burton run so poorly. The driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet had problems on pit road, went down a lap and finished 21^st.

“We had a pit road incident early in the race that really set us back,” Burton said. “We had a top-12 car throughout the day, but couldn’t get a caution when we needed it.”

“The speed was there but those long green-flag runs hurt us trying to get that lap back.”

Not Surprising: Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who should definitely be known as ‘Mr. Consistent’, kept up his stretch of consecutive laps finished and pulled off another good run at New Hampshire.

The driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet finished fourth in the race and is now just 16 points behind Chase standing leader Matt Kenseth.

“We’re running strong,” Dale Junior said. “I’m really happy with how many points we’re gaining every week and what we’re doing consistently.”

“We’ve found speed and improved.”

Surprising: One driver who desperately needed a good run to stay in championship contention had a surprisingly difficult day. Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford Fusion, finished 18^th and remained stuck in the 11 position in points, with no wins to his credit.

Edwards finished so poorly that another surprise occurred after the race. Crew chief Bob Osborne was replaced by Chad Norris, who has been with Roush Fenway Racing since 2005 and has led the team’s research and development efforts since 2011.

“Our commitment to winning a championship with the No. 99 in 2012 has not waivered,” Jack Roush, team owner said. “I’m committed to providing the resources to Carl and to his team to do that.”

“This restructuring of Bob’s role and the introduction of Chad Norris as the crew chief for the No. 99 will put us in the best possible position for these final seven races before the Chase begins.”

Not Surprising: No one could blame new father Kevin Harvick for not only focusing on the race but also having baby Keelan on his mind. The driver of the No. 29 Rheem Chevrolet finished eighth after battling handling issues throughout the race.

“I’m really proud of the entire Rheem crew and the effort they put in today, but we couldn’t figure out the right set up to get out front,” Harvick said. “We finished about where we should have.”

“I’m looking forward to the off weekend,” Harvick continued. “It couldn’t have come at a better time and it will be great to spend time at home with my wife and newborn son.”

Surprising: It is not often when you hear a driver admit to struggling mightily with a particular issue on his race car. But Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M/Post-It Ford Fusion did just that, in spite of finishing ninth and being the highest Ford finisher of the New Hampshire race.

“I’m a terrible driver when it comes to taking care of the brakes,” Biff said. “It’s got to be me because we’ve done everything under the sun, but about halfway through I lost my brakes and that’s about all I could do.”

“Off the green, it would come back and haul like crazy, but then I just had to keep giving it up,” Biffle continued. “It was just a case of brakes.”

Not Surprising: Michael Waltrip Racing continues to be synonymous with good runs, with all three of the team cars in the top-15 in the running order.

Clint Bowyer, driving the No. 15 5-hour Energy Toyota, was up on the wheel and finished third, while Martin Truex Jr. finished 11^th and Brian Vickers finished 15^th.

“All in all, it was a good weekend for our 5-hour Energy Toyota,” Bowyer said. “It was a good way to get things turned around.”

“After the last two weeks of getting wrecked, it felt good to get a good finish.”

Surprising: Although it was hot at the track where the driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet has won before, Tony Stewart surprisingly struggled, finishing 12^th in contrast to his second place finish last year.

“We just had no grip out there,” Stewart said. “Steve (Addington, crew chief) made one last change there at the end, and it definitely helped.”

“We were finally able to make up some ground.”

Not Surprising: There was no magic for the Earnhardt Ganassi Race team at the ‘Magic Mile’. Jamie McMurray, behind the wheel of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Allstate Chevrolet, finished 20^th and his teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, driving the N. 42 Degree Chevrolet, finished 25^th.

“To tell you the truth, today was rough,” Montoya said. “We struggled all weekend.”

“Today was a tough day for our Bass Pro Shops team,” McMurray reiterated. “We battled some handling issues early on in the race but we never gave up and brought home a lead lap finish.”

The Sprint Cup Series has its last off weekend next week before the dash to the end of the season. The next race on the schedule will be on July 29^th at the Brickyard.

July 18, 2012
Surprising and Not Surprising: Bristol Food City 500

[media-credit name=”Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”252″][/media-credit]After the morning downpour stopped and the track quickly dried, the green flag flew at Bristol Motor Speedway. Here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 52^nd running of the Food City 500.

Surprising: With Brian Vickers ride-less as of last season, it was most surprising to see the ‘Sheriff’ back in town, leading 125 laps and finishing fifth in his first race back in the 2012 season.

Vickers was back, this year behind the wheel of the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing. Vickers will share the No. 55 ride for a select number of races with veteran Mark Martin for the remainder of the season.

“It felt really good when we were out there leading,” Vickers said. “It would have been awesome to hold onto that, but it’s the first time back so I can’t complain.”

“When it’s your only one, you have to make it count,” Vickers continued. “What an exciting day.”

Not Surprising: It was not surprising to see the Blue Deuce, with 28 year old Brad Keselowski behind the wheel, again “close the deal” at Bristol Motor Speedway. This was team owner Roger Penske’s tenth win with the Blue Deuce at BMS.

This was also Keselowski’s first win of the 2012 season and his fifth victory in 93 Cup Series races. He led a race and career high 232 laps.

“I’m thrilled to death to be in Victory Lane,” Keselowski said. “I knew this Blue Deuce was fast enough to win.”

“This car here, a brand new car that Penske built, everybody back in the shop did a phenomenal job,” Keselowski continued. “I knew we had a shot at winning and we closed the deal.”

Surprising: It was surprising to see so many good cars collected in a wreck so early in the race, in fact on lap 24. That early melee involved Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Marcos Ambrose, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch on the front stretch going into Turn One.

The driver of the No. 5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet, Kasey Kahne, was the most upset by the incident.

“My Famer’s Insurance Chevrolet was the fastest car here,” Kahne said. “It’s disappointing to have that good of a car and be out that early. I had an awesome and I have nothing to show for it.”

While Kyle Busch, the driver of the No. 18 Doublemint Toyota, shared Kahne’s frustration, pounding his fist on the car in the garage, his crew chief Dave Rogers was a bit more philosophical.

“It’s short track racing,” Rogers said simply. “I think the No. 5 (Kasey Kahne) got messing with the No. 78 (Regan Smith). Or maybe the No. 78 got messing with the No. 5.”

“However you want to look at it, we got caught up in it,” Rogers continued. “It was just racing.”

Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Kellogg’s Ford Fusion, was also surprisingly philosophical about the early wreck, taking full advantage of the situation to also put in a plug for his sponsor.

“I was feeling good this morning and had my Frosted Flakes,” Edwards said. “We all saw it and were on the brakes but Kasey’s (Kahne) car came up across the race track and ruined our day.”

“I can’t tell you how disappointed I am.”

Not Surprising: No one is ever surprised when the calm, mild-mannered Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Ford, has a good run at Bristol. So, not surprisingly, Kenseth, with his methodical approach, scored a runner up finish in the Food City 500.

This was Kenseth’s 17^th top-10 finish in 25 races at Bristol Motor Speedway. It was his second top-10 finish in 2012, putting him third in the point standings.

“Overall, I was pretty happy with my car,” Kenseth said. “The last 15 laps of the run, we were better than Brad (Keselowski) was.”

“Then we started that last run and got out in the lead and got air in the nose, plus we picked up something, and I just got too loose,” Kenseth continued. “I knew that I wasn’t going to have enough traction to hold him off.”

Surprising: In addition to Brian Vickers having a triumphant return, it was surprising how well the rest of the Michael Waltrip Racing team fared at Bristol. In fact, all three MWR drivers, Martin Truex, Jr., Clint Bowyer and Brian Vickers, scored top-five finishes, the first time the team has ever placed so well overall.

“I’m so proud of the team,” Martin Truex, Jr., driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, said. “We were all up front all day long and this just says a lot about everything that everybody at MWR has done over the off season.”

“Heck of a day for MWR.”

Not Surprising: While it seemed that A.J. Allmendinger was just about to find his groove, starting on the outside pole in his No. 22 Pennzoil Dodge, and leading laps early in the race, it was not surprising that his luck ran out yet again.

The ‘Dinger and his team struggled to keep up with the ever-changing Bristol track, finally finishing the race in the 17^th position.

“The car was very good early,” Allmendinger said. “But then it got real loose.”

“We lost track position,” Allmendinger continued. “We never got it tightened up for the rest of the race. Not the finish we wanted to have after starting out so strong.”

Surprising: While the young season has borne witness to teammates tangling on the track, it was surprising to see Hendrick Motrosports teammates Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. get into it in Bristol.

After a fierce back and forth battle for position, the driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet nicked the left rear tire of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet with his tail pipe.

Gordon tire went down and he went for a spin, ending up in the wall. After spending time in the garage for repairs, Gordon finished a miserable 35^th, relegating him to 23^rd in the point standings.

“Just hard racing here at Bristol,” Gordon said. “Junior got underneath me and when he got into me, it looked like the tail pipe just caught the left rear tire and cut it down.”

“I knew it immediately and I tried to keep it off the wall but there was no chance,” Gordon continued. “Hate it for this team.”

Earnhardt, Jr., on the other hand, salvaged a 15^th place finish, even with a pit road speeding penalty toward the race end. Junior dropped two spots in the point standings, currently sitting in sixth.

“I’m sorry about that,” Junior said after the incident. “Well, at least they won’t have to talk about me and Mark Martin anymore.”

Not Surprising: After the craziness of the start of the 2012 season, including the infamous Daytona jet dryer experience for one of the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing pilots Juan Pablo Montoya, it was not surprising to see both EGR teammates finally pull off good finishes.

Jamie McMurray, driving the No. 1 EGR McDonald’s Chevrolet, scored a seventh place finish, while teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, behind the wheel of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, came in eighth.

Both Earnhardt Ganassi Racing drivers had their best runs of the 2012 season to date.

March 18, 2012
Poor Season Causes Personnel Shake Up At Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing

[media-credit id=22 align=”alignright” width=”195″][/media-credit]Immediately after he was introduced, Chip Ganassi, owner and president of Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, took the podium and politely welcomed attending members of the media.

EGR was the first of several race teams to be visited by the media on day two of the Sprint Cup Media Tour presented by Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Once Ganassi issued his welcome, he went straight to business.

“Hopefully this is the last time I have to say we finished 21st and 27th in the points, and talk about such a performance.”

Going into 2011, neither Jamie McMurray nor Juan Pablo Montoya could continue the momentum and success they had in 2010.

“Last season was frustrating,” said McMurray. “It made us appreciate what we had in 2010.”

McMurray continued that it was difficult pinpointing exactly what was hindering their performance.

“Nothing changed from 2010 to 2011. We just didn’t have the success. If we knew what the problems were, we would have fixed them.”

Ganassi must have felt the elusive problems were insurmountable and couldn’t be corrected with the current personnel at EGR. During the off season a decision was made to change the majority of those personnel.

“People around the car were a problem,” said Sabates. “We made personnel changes over the off season to help this. We have made mistakes in the past by keeping people too long.”

Ganassi said the organization needed a shake up because recent performance was pathetic for a team of their abilities and resources.

“We live in an information age”, said Ganassi. “I don’t need just information, I need CORRECT information.”

Given the years of economic woes and the continued attrition of competing race teams and employees, the quality of available talent should have been abundant for EGR’s personnel transitions.

January 24, 2012
Juan Pablo Montoya: One Driver, Many Facets

[media-credit id=18 align=”alignright” width=”200″][/media-credit]Given his history with Formula One, his status as an Indy 500 winner, and now his five year tenure with NASCAR, Juan Pablo Montoya is most certainly one of racing’s most recognized figures.

[media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”138″][/media-credit]But this one driver, now securely behind the wheel of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing for this season as well as next year, most certainly has many facets.

One of Montoya’s most visible facets is his passion for racing, of all sorts and types, as well as winning in whatever series. But for this talented driver, NASCAR is one of the most challenging forms of racing in which he has ever participated.

“For me it’s not just stock car racing, it’s racing in general,” Montoya said. “I have been in all kinds of racing and it’s just a passion for winning.”

“This sport is the hardest,” Montoya said. “There’s so many, many more drivers than any other series I’ve been in that winning is that much harder. You have that many more competitive cars, so it’s always tough.”

How does Juan Pablo maintain his passion even when he is not winning and in spite of sitting 20^th in the point standings for the NASCAR championship Chase?

“It’s just one of those deals,” Montoya said. “You look at people that win races and sometimes you outrun them all year and they get a lucky break. Probably at first it’s nice to get a lucky break.”

“But for me, I want to try to win a race without the lucky break,” Montoya continued. “You know, I’ll take a lucky break any day, but you really want to win the races spinning everybody out there.”

With this passion and extreme desire to win, another facet of Juan Pablo Montoya, at least one that is highly perceived, is that he is not only assertive but a bit aggressive. And with that, has come some hard racing in return.

“It depends on the moment,” Montoya said of his aggressiveness. “If you’ve got to run smart, you run smart. If you’ve got to be aggressive, you’ve got to be aggressive, you know. It’s whatever comes.”

“I think everybody races everybody differently,” Montoya continued. “For me, it’s always different.”

“Some guys are good to you and you’re good to them,” Montoya said. “And when people are bad to you, you’re bad to them.”

One facet that Montoya thinks most fans do not know about him is that his racing is not only calculating but very precise.

“I think you’re the first person to say that and I think that’s pretty accurate,” Montoya said. “That’s something that I do.”

“I always try to be consistent,” Montoya said. “Just the way you run in open wheels, you try to adhere as well.”

Montoya plans to continue his calculating facet of racing even with his new crew chief, Jim Pohlman. Prior to the Brickyard 400 last weekend, Pohlman was named to replace Brian Pattie, Montoya’s crew chief since 2008.

“We’re just starting a relationship,” Montoya said. “It’s very early.”

“I think the start of the relationship is really good so far,” JPM continued. “Of course, we’re going to have good moments and bad moments but Jim is doing a really good job and he’s very open to anything, which is pretty cool.”

One of the most important facets to Juan Pablo Montoya is one that he is quite proud of, bringing more of an international flavor to the traditionally all-American sport of stock car racing.

“I think it’s pretty cool,” Montoya said. “A lot of people international pay attention now, I think more than people in America understand and believe.”

“I think NASCAR knows how many people watch international but they don’t make a big deal of it,” JPM continued. “They try to keep it an all-America sport but it’s cool that people international are paying attention.”

Another facet of Montoya that many fans are well aware of is his penchant for utilizing social media, especially Twitter.

“I think it’s cool for the fans,” Montoya said. “Somebody that follows me wants to know what I do in a regular day.”

“I don’t think I’m that exciting,” Montoya said. At that moment, his teammate Jamie McMurray walked by, muttering that he definitely did not think Montoya was exciting either, to which Montoya shouted after him, “I agree!”

“I don’t do it to promote this or promote that,” JPM continued re his Twitter usage. “I just do it for fun, you know what I mean?”

“I fly my remote control planes and wind surf, although I haven’t done a lot of wind surf this year, and I play a little golf,” Montoya continued. “It’s fun for people to see what I do. I don’t do it for anything else.”

“There’s days when I don’t feel like tweeting, so I don’t tweet.”

A critical facet of the racing personality of Juan Pablo Montoya is his dedication to trying to maintain balance with his career and his family. Yet, he openly acknowledges that he is challenged in that area by his own ‘child-like’ behavior, which often creates just a wee bit of strain between he and his lovely wife Connie.

“It’s really hard because I’m a kid,” JPM said with a chuckle. “So, you’ve got to balance the family, the toys and the work. So, that’s always really hard.”

“I want to be with the kids and the wife and kids want to do things and I want to do things,” JPM said. “So, it’s always really hard. So, you don’t balance, you fight, like a regular marriage.”

The last facet of Juan Pablo Montoya is his dedication not only to his own family, but to other families in need. He and his family have been supporting the charity Formula Smiles for quite some time, raising funds and helping Columbian children who are burdened by poverty and violence.

“We keep doing a lot of different things for the Foundation,” Montoya said. “We try to keep growing it.”

“It’s never easy to get the support from the people,” Montoya said. “But it’s fun to be there.”

August 6, 2011
Matty’s Picks Vol. 12 – Pocono – August 7, 2011

Back to Long Pond, PA we go for the second time this year in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

[media-credit name=”poconoraceway.com” align=”alignright” width=”271″][/media-credit]I’m going to learn from my mistakes this week, and pick two drivers that I have not picked in my column before. Back in just my 6th edition of Matty’s Picks, I chose two drivers, both with storied histories at the Tricky Triangle. Denny Hamlin, my winner pick had finished in the Top 10 in 8 out of his 10 races at Pocono (after the race in June it was 9 out of 11 races – 19th place finish).

My Dark Horse pick faired a bit better in the 5-Hour Energy 500 this season, netting me one of my 4 Top 10 finishes. Juan Montoya has been my Dark Horse pick twice this year, once coming last week at the Brickyard, and the other at Pocono in June. In the race in June, Montoya gambled on two-tire stops a total of three times throughout the afternoon, a strategy that would net him a 7th place finish and me a Top 10 Dark Horse pick.

Brickyard Recap

As stated earlier Juan Montoya was my Dark Horse last week for the Brickyard 400. He was never really in contention to win the race last week, but lingered around the Top 5 for a good portion of the 200 laps last Sunday. It was tough for anyone to predict how the fuel-mileage frenzy would unfold last Sunday, and when the checkered flag flew over the #27 of Paul Menard, Montoya was nowhere to be found.

Montoya said after the race “It was good. We had the fastest car but when we could see the front it seemed like I could get a little more out of the car and I was pushing really hard.” The #42 team would lose out on the almost road-course-like pit strategy and would come home 28th.

As for my winner pick last week, after starting 3rd on the grid Jimmie Johnson also hovered around the Top 5 for the majority of the laps around Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

About his qualifying lap last Friday at IMS, “It was a good lap for us and I certainly hope that it hopes up and keeps us in the top five. If we can have a good spot on pit road, it makes for such a different race. And there are some very generous areas to work on pit road here, so I’m hoping to get one of those spots.”

And it was one of those “generous” spots he would end up with for the race, but just like everyone else, Johnson was not able to stay out of trouble. The 48’s contact with Brian Vickers squashed all my hopes for a win out of the Lowe’s Chevrolet last weekend bringing home a 19th place finish.

Yes, last week at the Brickyard was the first time I did not have a driver finish in the Top 10 or better since Michigan back in Mid-June.

Pocono Picks

Winner Pick

I’ve decided to spread the wealth this week and pick a driver that has not been mentioned this year in Matty’s Picks. He is very deserving of a Winner Pick this week for his efforts at PIR in June. He started on the pole for the 5-Hour Energy 500, and currently sits second on the speed charts after the first practice session of the day.

Kurt Busch is no stranger to Victory Lane at the Tricky Triangle, earning his first win at the track in July 2005 and then winning again in August 2007. Kurt Busch also has and astounding 5 – second place finishes at Pocono as well, his most recent coming in June. Kurt Busch has been running well this season, with one win, 4 Top 5’s, and 11 Top 10’s. He will look to rebound after dropping 3 spots in the points following the Brickyard 400 with a strong finish on Sunday in the Good Sam RV Insurance 500.

Dark Horse Pick

My Dark Horse this week currently sits in 13 place in points. He is extremely hungry to make a statement with a win and solidify his spot in the 2011 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. He also, is no stranger to Victory Lane at Pocono, a track where he has less than impressive finishing statistics.

Greg Biffle averages a finish of 16.4 at Pocono International Raceway, but will use the momentum he has from his 7th place finish last week at Indy to lay down a qualifying lap good enough to start towards the front and remain there throughout the race. He has managed to finish in the Top 5 at Pocono only 6 times in 17 starts, and will look to gain upon his 27th place finish in June.

Stay tuned next week as I preview my 19th trip to Watkins Glen International. I am extremely excited to head to my home track next week, tremendously eager to get camp set up with friends and family and enjoy another fantastic weekend of road racing at WGI!

Until Next Week…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

August 5, 2011