Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: First Data 500

  • Opinion: Suspension of crew member involved in Hamlin/Logano scuffle correct move on NASCAR’s part

    Opinion: Suspension of crew member involved in Hamlin/Logano scuffle correct move on NASCAR’s part

    A week after several crew members jumped into the Kansas scuffle between Cole Custer and Tyler Reddick, another scuffle involving crew members has taken center stage again. As a result, NASCAR has suspended a Team Penske crew member for collaring Denny Hamlin and throwing him to the ground following his scuffle with Penske driver Joey Logano.

    Following Sunday’s First Data 500 at Martinsville, Logano and Hamlin first exchanged words, then shoves before crews stepped in to pull the drivers apart. But while other crew members appeared to be working to pull the drivers apart, Dave Nichols Jr., a tire technician for the No. 22 team, appeared to collar Hamlin and pull him to the ground before Hamlin’s crew converged on Nichols.

    That move is what led to NASCAR suspending Nichols for the next race, as he was found in violation of Section 12.8.1.C, which addresses member-to-member confrontations with physical violence.

    An argument can be made that the crews are doing nothing more than protecting their driver’s honor or respect. In some sense, that may be honorable. But unless the crews are working to break up a quarrel between drivers, their actions may only go to further escalate a situation into something it didn’t need to turn into.

    Last week I brought up how some of those in the NASCAR community were talking about how the sport needs to implement a third-man rule much like the NHL. Let those drivers who were involved settle their dispute, be it with words or fists, and unless a crew member is working to de-escalate the situation they stay out of it or they risk a fine and/or a suspension.

    There was no reason for Nichols to play the hero and collar Hamlin. His responsibility at that point was to help de-escalate the situation and make sure his driver didn’t get into too much trouble. His actions were over-the-top and unnecessary and made the No. 22 crew look bad.

    The issue is between the drivers, not the crew. The drivers are the ones in control of what happens on the track; they’re the ones that know what truly goes down when it goes down. They are also the ones the fans have come to see and if there’s an issue, the fans want to see them handle the issue one-on-one.

    Hopefully, the suspension of Nichols is actually seen as a deterrent to the other members on all the teams to not try anything unnecessary during a scuffle between drivers. Let them hash out their beef and be done with it.

    Meanwhile, the crew’s job is to act in the best interests of their driver, team, and organization. Collaring a driver and throwing him to the ground is non-conducive to that. The call to suspend Nichols was a good call on NASCAR’s part, so the only thing left to do is to hope it’s enough of a deterrent lest the sanctioning body moves to harsher reprimands.

  • Logano’s Move at Martinsville Was Par For The Course

    Logano’s Move at Martinsville Was Par For The Course

    A day after Joey Logano’s controversial bump-and-run on Martin Truex Jr. coming to the checkered for the win at the First Data 500 at Martinsville, social media still seems to be fired up. Granted, the race’s final 30 laps were some of the best racing we’ve seen all year and the run to the checkered was one of the best this season. But most of the energy from the drivers and peers seems to be centered on Logano and whether what he did was right or wrong.

    Arguments on whether it was wrong are rooted in the fact that Truex managed to race Logano cleanly up to that point. Meanwhile, the argument that it was right centers around the fact that since a championship is on the line, nothing is sacred coming to the checkered on a short track. Ultimately, that latter train of thought is the more logical approach to the race’s finish.

    Many argue that Logano raced dirty and that he owed Truex a clean run to the finish. The fact of the matter is that Logano owes nobody anything.  Given the circumstance – a win would place him in the championship round at Homestead – giving another driver a nudge in the final two corners of a playoff short track race was what was required to win.

    Playing nice is out the door at this point of the season. There are no teammates or friends among the playoff drivers, there are only peers. So why are people upset or angry that Logano acted in this manner? Why are people acting like this is unexpected of Logano? He’s bumped Mark Martin out of the way for a win. He’s dumped Matt Kenseth for a win. He’s not afraid to use his bumper. If anything, people are angry because of who made the move – Logano.

    To most, Logano dons the black hat. He’s not here to make friends; he’s here to win and be the best. That’s literally a requirement in what makes a good racer. He’s drawn the ire of many in the process, and on that note, he ranks up there with some elite company such as Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt. He’s been popped in the mouth because of this, but he doesn’t back down. Instead, he swings back in some cases, which draws even more ire from his detractors.

    So on Sunday at Martinsville, when Truex made his move too early and cleared Logano off of Turn Two, it should have been obvious Logano was going to bump Truex. It was an innocuous bump, the same Jeff Gordon used on Rusty Wallace at Bristol in 2002. It was a simple bump short track racers across the country use to win. There was nothing wrong with it. So, for the most part, this ire was unwarranted.

    Two drivers raced hard for the win on a short track which carried some serious championship ramifications. Given the current playoff system – “Win and you’re in” – the bump for the win was cultivated almost perfectly by the system. It’s a moment that has happened before and will happen again as long as this system sticks around. So with that said, it was typical, awesome short track racing.

     

  • Late-Race Dump Ends Elliott’s Dominant Drive

    Late-Race Dump Ends Elliott’s Dominant Drive

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Despite a strong performance, Chase Elliott’s day wound up in the wall after getting dumped by Denny Hamlin in the closing laps of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

    After Joey Logano’s spin in Turn 2 with seven laps to go setup a three-lap run to the finish, race leader Brad Keselowski elected to restart on the outside lane. After being given the bottom for free, Elliott forced Keselowski up the track in Turn 1 and took control of the race.

    In doing so, however, he too left the bottom open for pouncing, to which Hamlin took up.

    Rounding Turn 2 with two to go, when Hamlin backed off, Elliott tried to squeeze back into the bottom lane. While it was to no avail, he successfully cleared Hamlin exiting Turn 2.

    Entering Turn 3, Hamlin connected with Elliott’s rear bumper and sent him spinning into the outside wall.

    “I got punted from behind and wrecked in Turn 3 leading the race,” Elliott said. “I don’t know what (Hamlin’s) problem was. It was unnecessary I hadn’t raced him dirty all-day long. There was no reason for that and he comes over and talks to me a second ago and tells me he had somebody pushing him into Turn 3. I thought that was funny because there was nobody within two car lengths of him into Turn 3 behind myself. I don’t know what the deal was, but it is so disappointing. We had the best car I’ve ever had here at Martinsville. And had an opportunity to go straight to Homestead and because of him we don’t.”

    Elliott wound up finishing 27th.

    After the race, he used his car to side-swipe Hamlin down the backstretch to show his displeasure. A few moments later, both drivers got out to voice displeasure to one another.

    “Well, he just told me he had somebody pushing him into Turn 3 and I asked him if he knew he wrecked me and he said, ‘yes, but I had somebody pushing me,’” Elliott said. “And I said, ‘well okay, and then why was there two car lengths between you and the guy behind you?’ So, that is just … the guy has been doing this long enough where that shouldn’t happen and it was unnecessary.”

    While Hamlin refused to apologize immediately after the race, he sent out the following tweet an hour afterwards.

    https://twitter.com/dennyhamlin/status/924792019309998080

    Elliott leaves eighth in points, 90 behind Martin Truex Jr. for the points lead and 26 behind Kevin Harvick for the final Championship 4 spot.

  • Kyle Busch Wins in Overtime at Martinsville

    Kyle Busch Wins in Overtime at Martinsville

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Coming to the green to start overtime for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway, Denny Hamlin was the race leader. Coming to the white flag, he was still the race leader, but with Kyle Busch to his inside. Coming to the checkered flag, Busch took the checkered flag as the field wrecked behind him.

    Hamlin led the field to the green flag on the overtime restart with two laps to go. Rounding Turn 3, Busch tapped the rear-end of Hamlin and loosened him up, allowing him to get inside him going into Turn 1. He went up the track, allowing Martin Truex Jr. to get to his inside. While he had the preferred line through Turns 3 and 4, Busch powered ahead and drove onto his 43rd career victory in 459 career starts.

    As he scored the victory, Hamlin got turned in Turn 4 and triggered a multi-car wreck at the conclusion of the race.

    Truex finished second and Clint Bowyer rounded out the podium.

    Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top-five.

    Trevor Bayne, Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Matt Kenseth and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top-10.

    RACE SUMMARY

    Joey Logano led the field to the green flag at 3:17 p.m. Only ceding the lead to Keselowski on Lap 49. Logano beat on his teammate’s bumper for a good 10 laps, before retaking it on Lap 79. After AJ Allmendinger brought out the caution on Lap 87, Jimmie Johnson stayed out to take the lead. Keselowski got to his inside down the backstretch and took the lead going into Turn 3 on Lap 115 and drove on to win the first stage.

    Kyle Busch exited pit road with the lead under the stage break and led the field back to the green on Lap 139. It proceeded entirely caution-free and almost event-free, until Keselowski — who tailed him for much of the closing laps of the stage — passed him with three laps remaining in the second stage, on his way to winning it.

    Once more, Busch exited the pits with the lead and led the field to green on Lap 271. Chase Elliott took the lead for the first time when he dove underneath Busch going into Turn 1 on Lap 321. After Landon Cassill brought out the caution on Lap 362, Keselowski exited pit road with the race lead. Elliott took back the lead with 114 to go.

    Following Carl Long’s spin in Turn 1, setting up a restart with 30 laps to go, Keselowski got to the inside of Elliott and took over the race lead. He was pulling away and had the checkered flag in sight, until Logano — dealing with a rapidly un-chording left-rear tire — spun out in Turn 2.

    Restarting with three to go, Keselowski chose to restart on the outside lane. Elliott took advantage and took over the race lead with two to go. Heading down the backstretch, entering Turn 3, with two to go, Hamlin turned Elliott into the Turn 3 wall, setting up the overtime finish.

    CAUTION SUMMATION

    Caution flew for the first time on Lap 35 when Michael McDowell turned Ty Dillon. David Ragan’s spin in Turn 4 brought out the second caution. Allmendinger’s spin in Turn 2 brought out the third caution on Lap 87. The end of the first stage brought out the fourth caution on Lap 130. The fifth caution was brought out by the end of the second stage. Kyle Larson caused the sixth caution when he slammed the inside backstretch wall on Lap 303. Erik Jones’ spin in Turn 4 brought out the seventh caution on Lap 315. The eighth caution flew on Lap 362 when Landon Cassill spun out in Turn 2. Carl Long’s spin in Turn 2 brought out the ninth caution with 44 laps to go. The 10th caution flew when Logano spun out in Turn 2. The 11th and final caution flew when Elliott was turned into the Turn 3 wall with two to go.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted three hours, 32 minutes and 47 seconds, at an average speed of 74.902 mph. There were 16 lead changes among six different drivers and 11 cautions for 74 laps.

    Truex leaves with a 17-point lead over Busch. Johnson, Blaney, Hamlin and Elliott leave in the Round of 8 drop zone.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/C1733_UNOFFRES.pdf”]

  • Logano Fastest in Final Martinsville Practice

    Logano Fastest in Final Martinsville Practice

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Joey Logano topped the chart in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Martinsville Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford was the fastest with a time of 20.056 and a speed of 94.416 mph. Chase Elliott was second in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 20.075 and a speed of 94.326 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was third in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 20.083 and a speed of 94.289 mph. Clint Bowyer was fourth in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford with 20.166 and a speed of 93.901 mph. Kasey Kahne rounded out the top-five in his No. 5 Hendrick Chevrolet with a time of 20.167 and a speed of 93.896 mph.

    Jamie McMurray, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Aric Almirola and Austin Dillon rounded out the top-10.

    Jimmie Johnson was 13th, Denny Hamlin was 16th, Ryan Blaney was 22nd and Kevin Harvick rounded out the Playoff drivers in 25th.

    Busch posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 93.186 mph.

    First practice results

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/C1733_PRACFINAL.pdf”]

  • Hamlin Fastest in First Practice at Martinsville

    Hamlin Fastest in First Practice at Martinsville

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Denny Hamlin topped the chart in first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Martinsville Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time with a time of 19.846 and a speed of 95.415 mph. Kyle Larson was second in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 19.870 and a speed of 95.299 mph. Ryan Newman was third in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 19.900 and a speed of 95.156 mph. Ryan Blaney was fourth in his Wood Brothers Racing Ford with a time of 19.925 and a speed of 95.036 mph. Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five in his No. 18 Gibbs Toyota with a time of 19.932 and a speed of 95.003 mph.

    Brad Keselowski, Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, AJ Allmendinger and Ty Dillon rounded out the top-10.

    Busch posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 94.460 mph.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/C1733_PRAC1.pdf”]