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  • Greg Erwin to make 350th Cup start as crew chief at Richmond

    Greg Erwin to make 350th Cup start as crew chief at Richmond

    A significant milestone is the making for Greg Erwin, a veteran crew chief who is atop the pit box of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang team driven by 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff contender Matt DiBenedetto. When the green flag waves this upcoming race weekend at Richmond Raceway, Erwin will reach 350 Cup races as a crew chief.

    A native of Hatboro, Pennsylvania, Erwin graduated from Clemson University in 1992 with an engineering degree and he attained a motorsports engineering scholarship the following year in graduate school while volunteering to work with teams that included TriStar Motorsports. In 1995, his career in NASCAR started with Diamond Ridge Motorsports as an engineer while he worked with names like Jeff Green, Steve Grissom and Elliott Sadler. Following the 1995 season, Erwin transitioned to Team SABCO Racing as an engineer, where the team was eventually purchased and expanded by Chip Ganassi in 2001. In 2003, Erwin joined forces with Richard Childress Racing and worked as the team’s seven-post research and development program.

    Entering the 2005 NASCAR Cup Series season, Erwin was promoted to crew chief for Robby Gordon and the No. 7 Robby Gordon Motorsports Chevrolet team. Erwin and Gordon failed to qualify for the 2005 Daytona 500, but they made their first start of the season the following race at Fontana’s California Speedway in February, where Gordon finished 35th due to an engine failure. Erwin and Gordon competed in 23 races throughout the 2005 season, where Gordon achieved one top-five result and two top-10 results before he concluded the season in 37th place in the final standings. The following season, Erwin completed his first full-time season in the Cup Series with Gordon, where he achieved one top-five result and three top-10 results before he finished in 30th place in the final standings.

    For the first 12 races of the 2007 Cup season, Erwin remained with Robby Gordon and Gordon’s No. 7 team. Through the one-third segment of the season, Gordon finished no higher than 15th place. Afterwards, Erwin was named crew chief for the No. 16 Ford team owned by car owner Jack Roush and driven by Greg Biffle for the following race at Dover International Speedway in June. From Dover in June through Dover in September, Erwin and Biffle achieved two top-five results and six top-10 results, though Biffle failed to make the 2007 Playoffs. The following race at Kansas Speedway, Biffle was able to survive on fuel and coast across the finish line to achieve his first victory of the season as Erwin achieved his first Cup win as a crew chief. They went on to achieve two additional top-10 results and conclude the season in 14th place in the final standings.

    In 2008, Erwin served as Biffle’s crew chief in all but one of the entire 36-race schedule (Auto Club Speedway in February). Following a consistent 26-race regular-season stretch, they achieved their first victory of the season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the first Playoff race of the season. They backed it up the following week by winning at Dover. Overall, Erwin achieved two victories, two poles, 12 top-five results and 17 top-10 results with Biffle, who concluded the season in third place in the final standings. Prior to the conclusion of the 2008 Cup season, Erwin surpassed 100 Cup races as a crew chief.

    In 2009, Biffle and Erwin went winless, but they achieved 10 top-five results and 16 top-10 results as Biffle made the Playoffs and concluded the season in seventh place in the final standings. They rebounded the following season by recording two wins, nine top-five results and 19 top-10 results, with Biffle finishing the season in sixth place in the final standings. Following the 2010 season, Erwin surpassed 200 Cup races as a crew chief.

    For the first half of the 2011 Cup season, Erwin remained as Biffle’s crew chief in the Cup circuit, but they only achieved one top-five result and five top-10 results. Following Kentucky Speedway in July, Erwin was replaced by Matt Puccia as Biffle’s crew chief for the remainder of the season. Fortunately, Erwin was then named crew chief for the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford team driven by A.J. Allmendinger for the remainder of the season. In Erwin’s first race with the team at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Allmendinger finished 22nd. Erwin and Allmendinger went on to record six top-10 results for the remainder of the season as Allmendinger finished in 15th place in the final standings.

    Erwin remained as crew chief for the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford team piloted by Aric Almirola. Following the first nine Cup races with Almirola, where he only achieved one top-10 result, Erwin, however, was replaced by veteran Mike Ford.

    For the 2013 season, Erwin was named a full-time crew chief for Penske’s No. 12 Ford Mustang team driven by Sam Hornish Jr. in the NASCAR Xfinity Series as Hornish competed for the series title. Erwin and Hornish made a one-race appearance in the Cup Series at Kansas in April, where Hornish finished 37th due to being involved in a late multi-car accident. Erwin and Hornish went on to finish in second place in the final Xfinity Series standings as they missed the title by three points to Austin Dillon, crew chief Danny Stockton and Richard Childress Racing.

    In 2014, Erwin was named competition director for Team Penske’s Xfinity Series program. Throughout the season, he served as a Cup interim crew chief for Brad Keselowski at Phoenix in March and he worked with Juan Pablo Montoya and the No. 12 Ford team in two Cup races. He spent the 2015 season as an Xfinity crew chief for Penske’s No. 22 Ford Mustang team, where he notched seven victories and recorded Penske’s third consecutive owner’s title with Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Alex Tagliani piloting the No. 22 car throughout the season. The following season, he was named Penske’s Xfinity Series team manager while Brian Wilson served as the No. 22 team’s crew chief. He returned as crew chief for Penske’s No. 22 Ford team in the 2017 Xfinity season.

    In August 2017, Erwin was named crew chief for the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford team and Paul Menard for the 2018 Cup season. In Erwin’s first race with Menard, the combo finished in sixth place in the 2018 Daytona 500 in February. Ultimately, they achieved one pole, one top-five result and seven top-10 results throughout the 36-race schedule as Menard finished in 19th place in the final standings.

    The following season, Erwin and Menard achieved only four top-10 results as Menard concluded his second season with the Wood Brothers Racing in 19th place in the final standings. Earlier in the season, Menard dominated and was in race-winning position in the Clash at Daytona International Speedway in February until contact from eventual winner Jimmie Johnson knocked Menard out of contention as he was involved in a multi-car accident. Following the 2019 season, Erwin surpassed 300 starts as a Cup crew chief.

    This season, Erwin remained as a crew chief for the Wood Brothers Racing team and driver Matt DiBenedetto, who joined the team following Menard’s departure from full-time racing. In Erwin’s first race with DiBenedetto, the combo finished 19th in the 2020 Daytona 500. The following race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, DiBenedetto made a late rally to finish in second place behind Joey Logano. Throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, DiBenedetto achieved two top-five results and seven top-10 results. After finishing in 12th place at Daytona International Speedway in August, DiBenedetto claimed the 16th and final transfer spot to the 2020 Cup Playoffs. DiBenedetto’s accomplishment marked his first Cup postseason appearance as a title contender, Erwin’s third as a title contender and the Wood Brothers Racing’s second as a Playoff team.

    Erwin and DiBenedetto are coming off a 21st-place result in the first Playoff race of this season at Darlington Raceway. They are ranked in 15th place in the Playoff standings and are 17 points below the top-12 cutline to advance to the second round of the 2020 Cup Playoffs.

    Catch crew chief Greg Erwin’s milestone start at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, September 12, at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Kurt Busch, Blaney post strong results at Kentucky

    Kurt Busch, Blaney post strong results at Kentucky

    While rookie Cole Custer emerged on top in a four-wide sprint for the win in Sunday’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway, Kurt Busch and Ryan Blaney concluded their strong performances throughout the race with finishes inside the top 10 as Busch took fifth while Blaney ended up sixth after contending for the victory in two laps.

    For Busch, who started seventh based on a random draw, the race at Kentucky provided the former Cup champion an opportunity for him and his No. 1 Monster Energy/Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team to snap a 36-race winless drought that spans back to July 2019 at, ironically, Kentucky. Through the first 25 laps, at the time the competition caution flew, Busch had fallen back to 11th while reporting loose conditions to his car. Following his first pit stop of the race, he restarted 12th and was able to work his way back into the top 10, running eighth on Lap 45. When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Busch would retain eighth place on track.

    Throughout the second stage, Busch raced just outside the top 10 and concluded the stage in 12th while his teammate Matt Kenseth, who had cut a tire and spun in the closing laps of the stage, was mired back in 26th, one lap behind the leaders. Throughout the final stage, Busch worked his way back into the top 10 and was lined up in fourth with 30 laps remaining. Through a series of late cautions and restarts, one of which involving teammate Kenseth spinning a second time, Busch was lined up in fifth with two laps remaining and was in contention of making a late charge and repeating his magic at Kentucky from last season. When the checkered flag waved, Busch crossed the line in fifth and fell four spots short of claiming his first Cup win of the season. Nonetheless, the fifth-place result marked Busch’s fourth top-five finish of the 2020 campaign and the result kept him in 10th in the regular-season standings, 104 points above the top-16 cutline to the Playoffs.

    “It was a good battle,” Busch said on PRN Radio. “I thought we were better on the long run. All those restarts, at the end, made it tough, but all in all, we battled really well with our Monster Energy Chevy. Just ended up fifth. Just didn’t rekindle that magic that we had last year on a Saturday night, but we’ll take it.”

    Unlike Busch, Blaney’s race was eventful. Starting 11th based on a random draw, Blaney worked his way from a slow start on the inside lane to 10th when the competition caution flew on Lap 25. When the race resumed under green, Blaney was able to muscle his No. 12 Advance Auto Parts/Team Penske Ford Mustang up to fourth. Then, an early scare occurred for Blaney when his car popped out of gear, which cost him two spots back to sixth. Despite the issue, Blaney was able to navigate the remainder of the first stage with one hand on the steering wheel with the other holding the gear as high as possible to keep the car running, ultimately finishing fifth.

    Throughout the second stage, Blaney remained in contention for the lead and on Lap 138, he was able to lead for the first time after passing Aric Almirola. Following a caution that occurred when most of the leaders, including Blaney, completed pit stops under green, he restarted alongside teammate Brad Keselowski in a one-lap shootout for the second stage win. Though Blaney gained a run on the final corner, he was edged by his teammate for the stage win.

    Restarting second for the final stage, Blaney kept his No. 12 Ford in contention for the win while battling Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. and Jimmie Johnson. Following another round of pit stops under green, late restarts and cautions, Blaney was able to squeak ahead of Truex with 19 laps remaining to reassume the lead. On the ensuing restart, Kevin Harvick joined the battle and a late three-wide battle dropped Blaney back to third. Following another late caution that set up a two-lap dash to the finish, Blaney received a final opportunity to take back the lead on the final lap, but he, along with Harvick and Truex, would be overtaken by rookie Cole Custer, for the lead on the final lap. Through the frontstretch, Blaney bounced off a small bump below the apron, which nearly turned Blaney sideways as he made contact with Harvick. Though Blaney was able to straighten his car and continue, his opportunity for the win disappeared as he, ultimately, crossed the line in sixth. The result marked Blaney’s eighth top-10 result of the season as he is third in the regular-season standings, trailing Harvick by 95 points. He is guaranteed a spot in this year’s Playoffs by virtue of his win at Talladega Superspeedway in June.

    “We had a really fast car,” Blaney said on PRN Radio. “We were racing [Truex]. We lost the lead there just by sheer caution luck or unlucky with us at the end of that second stage. Then, we lost control of the race after that. I had to restart on the bottom, couldn’t really get back to the lead. You just let [Truex] get away. Finally, a quick caution came out, we were a nose ahead of [Truex]. I was like, ‘Alright, this is what we got to do.’ Restarting on the top and I felt pretty good about it, and he got put three wide. It put me a top of three and just, lost the lead, went to third. Then, we were a bottom of four for the lead there and I didn’t realize there was a jump. You’d think they repaved this place, it wouldn’t be like that. But, I’ve never really run down there. There was a massive jump and I can’t believe that me and [Harvick] didn’t wreck. I didn’t expect that, but overall, not a bad day for our Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang. We had winning speed, just couldn’t the breaks we need. The car was driving pretty good one handed.”

    Busch and Blaney will return for the upcoming NASCAR All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on July 15, which will air at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Ford GT program to end as investors can not be found

    Ford GT program to end as investors can not be found

    The Ford GT era of the 2010s will end with the decade as the Ford GT Le Mans program will not race in IMSA in the hands of privateers, as reported by Racer.com. This also means the end of Chip Ganassi Racing’s participation in the IMSA WeatherTech Series for the time being. The program’s closure will leave the GTLM class with only 6 full-time participants in IMSA going into the 2020 season.

    Fellow Ford pilot Ben Keating, who took a GTE AM class win at Le Mans only to later be disqualified due to his fuel tank being too big, is also opting out of racing his Ford in favor of a Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR in 2020. 

    “If I decide to race the Ford again at some point, that will require a whole lot more stuff,” said Keating.

    The Ford GT’s return to competition from 2016 to 2019 coincided with the 50th anniversary of their four consecutive wins in the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 1966-69 and generated a lot of fanfare. However, in May of 2019 Ford confirmed they would be closing the program after the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans in the WEC and after the 2019 Petit Le Mans in IMSA. 

    The Ford GT program found it’s share of victories, including their class return to Le Mans in 2016 despite claims on sandbagging from other teams. They also won in their class at Watkins Glen in 2017 and at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2018. Despite not winning any titles in WEC or IMSA, they scored 16 class wins in 56 races, meeting and exceeding the goals set by Ford.

    Despite the car no longer competing in an official capacity, there’s reason to believe that it made an impact in sports car racing beyond the track. Following the conclusion of the 2019 IMSA season, the sanctioning body reported that viewership for the sport increased by 15 percent. Although this was in the latter half of the GT’s participation in the sport, there’s no denying that part of the sport’s heritage was part of the larger draw in 2019.

  • Despite rumors, Nemechek to Front Row Motorsports could be needed change for entire organization

    Despite rumors, Nemechek to Front Row Motorsports could be needed change for entire organization

    With the Cup Series returning to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend, one of the biggest headlines heading into Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 is the debut of John Hunter Nemechek. He will be filling in for Front Row Motorsports rookie Matt Tifft, who has been sidelined for the remainder of the 2019 season with medical issues.

    Although Nemechek’s primary obligation is finishing up his rookie XFINITY Series campaign with the No. 23 GMS Racing Chevrolet group, there are rumors circulating that this could be a tryout for the 22-year-old driver since he has no plans for next season. FRM staple David Ragan is set to retire after this season, leaving one of the three seats open in the organization.

    At this moment, Nemechek has made it clear that all he wants to do is go out and earn the respect of the other Cup drivers, telling SiriusXM Speedway’s Dave Moody:

    “The storyline is we want to go and have a quiet weekend for us, just run as many laps as we possibly can and gain as much experience and just have a solid weekend. That’s our goal. It’s all new for me, I’ve never driven a Cup car before so it’s going to be a whole new process and whole new learning curve.”

    However, should Nemechek go and do just that in the final three races, he could be a possible option for a vacant seat in an FRM Ford. That would mean that FRM would have two drivers under 25-years-old, and with Michael McDowell planning on being at FRM in 2020 despite the plan not being set in stone just yet, the organization may very well be on a renewed path instead of just being a home for drivers late in their Cup career.

    Granted, that may not have been the case. But since the team’s inception in 2005, they’ve only won two events. At Talladega Ragan led a 1-2 finish in the 2013 Aaron’s 499 with David Gilliland close behind. Chris Buescher won a fog-shortened Pocono event in 2016 and made one Playoff appearance. This is after the team had been home to drivers such as Gilliland, Travis Kvapil, Josh Wise, and John Andretti.

    But as in Buescher’s case, FRM has shown itself to be a good place for drivers looking to learn the rank-and-file of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup racing. Buescher has gone on to record strong runs with JTG-Daugherty Racing and now finds himself going to the No. 17 Roush-Fenway Ford in 2020. Tifft has established himself as a solid driver in the No. 36 with a top-10 at Daytona in July and 15 top-25 finishes in 32 starts.

    Adding Nemechek to the FRM stable could put the team into a renewed position, where instead of being an organization housing Cup drivers who weren’t established as well elsewhere, they could become an organization that builds (or rebuilds) itself around the future stars of the sport. FRM has become an organization that continues to grow over the years, and not even the expansion to three full-time teams is enough to slow the team down.

    Should Nemechek go for a full rookie campaign with FRM in 2020, there’s going to be no guarantee of success with the team. But there will be ample opportunity for both Nemechek and FRM to continuously grow in Cup racing, and FRM may be the step Nemechek needs to take to earn both respect and success as he advances in his NASCAR career.

  • Daytona 500 Finish Shows Manufacturer Solidarity Can Be Detrimental

    Daytona 500 Finish Shows Manufacturer Solidarity Can Be Detrimental

    Following Sunday’s Daytona 500, Joey Logano and Michael McDowell had a brief exchange on pit road where Logano explained that he believed that had the two linked up, Ford driver to fellow Ford driver, they could have contended for the win instead of Logano finishing fourth and McDowell finishing fifth.

    “Typically you kind of expect manufacturers to work together like the Toyotas do or the Chevys do, and just was expecting that, as well, in that moment coming to the checkered flag. I was very surprised by his decision,” said Logano. But according to McDowell, not only did he feel that Logano would have slowed them down due to damage on his rear end, he was adamant that he had to look out for himself in the final run to the finish.

    “My team doesn’t pay me to push Joey Logano to the win, it’s as simple as that,” said McDowell. “At 200 mph, I made a split-second decision about who had the fastest car, and that’s where I went. I wanted to put myself in the best spot to win the race, and the Fords weren’t that friendly to me this weekend.”

    Although manufacturer solidarity is usually prevalent on the superspeedways as well as other situations when in the hunt for a manufacturer’s championship, sometimes it’s been shown to be a liability for drivers in search of a win, especially in the case of McDowell, who has never won a Cup race in 286 starts. This is in comparison to Logano, who along with winning the 2015 500, also won the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship last season.

    Late in the going of any race, it should always be every driver for themselves regardless of team or manufacturer loyalty. Sure, it may be a few extra bucks in bonuses after the race should a manufacturer sweep a position, but putting manufacturer goals ahead of driver goals essentially robs the the fans and the drivers who are participating. Last October at Talladega the race was dominated by the Stewart-Haas Racing Fords, who at times were several seconds ahead of the rest of the field before SHR driver Aric Almirola took the checkered flag.

    Of course, in terms of team loyalty, it’s common and in some cases expected for Hendrick Motorsports drivers to help each other out or for Team Penske drivers to give each other a push. Given the circumstances surrounding the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas entering this year’s Daytona 500, it’s only fitting that they finished 1-2-3 at the checkered flag.

    But when it counts late in the going, the overall goal is for a driver to go for the win regardless of team loyalties. Even then, manufacturer loyalties shouldn’t have as much clout as team loyalties, because much like the Owner’s Championship, the Manufacturer’s Championship is nothing more than a paper title in order to get a few extra bucks.

    Obviously a few extra bucks goes a long way in an organization’s daily operations, but when the goal of racing becomes more of a battle for cash instead of the ultimate battle for a win, then it’s obvious that the racing isn’t fun anymore.

    McDowell’s point was valid and true: His team doesn’t pay him to push Logano or any other Ford driver to the win. He’s there to race and succeed, which is and should be the ultimate goal of any race car driver.

  • Keselowski, Team Penske Hitting Stride At Key Point In Playoffs

    Keselowski, Team Penske Hitting Stride At Key Point In Playoffs

    At the start of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Playoffs, three drivers stood out as the top title contenders come the finale at Homestead-Miami: Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, and Kyle Busch, who had been turning his season around at the right time.

    The Ford teams seemed to be a step behind, with six drivers winning eight races in the regular season and the last coming at Daytona in July. Stewart-Haas Racing Fords didn’t have the power that was expected of them, Roush-Fenway Racing Fords seemed to still have issues during their rebirth period, and Team Penske Fords had their hands full with Joey Logano’s uncharacteristic struggles and Brad Keselowski’s lone two victories at Atlanta and Martinsville.

    After winning at Talladega for the fifth time Sunday, Keselowski has provided the wake-up call his team needed to get their Ford to the top of the standings as they now sit second in points behind the Toyota team of Truex, who has dominated in 2017. With five races left in the season, things are looking up for the No. 2 crew as they look to make an appearance at Homestead for the first time since the induction of the elimination format in 2014.

    He’s won at two of the next five tracks (Kansas, 2011 and Martinsville, Spring 2017) and where he hasn’t won, he’s performed well, with a best finish of second at Fort Worth in 2015, a best finish of third at Phoenix in 2014, and a best finish of third at Homestead twice, in 2014 and 2015. He knows how to get around these tracks and considering the Fords showing their strength at the 1.5-mile speedways it’s just a matter of both driver and team hitting their marks at each track. He’s the reigning Martinsville champion as well, solidifying his domination of NASCAR’s major short tracks.

    Following his win Sunday, Keselowski pointed out that Martinsville is a must-win race for him and his crew.

    “Yeah, Martinsville at this moment as it stands I would say is a must-win for us, and we know that going in,” said Keselowski. “We tested there, and we feel like that’s the type of track that we have a lot of strength for.  At this point, yes, but you know what, that could change.  You hate to say that; it’s still three weeks away, right?”

    Every year since 2014, when one championship favorite slips, another unexpected entry joins the midst of the championship few. In ’14 it was Ryan Newman, who came up one spot short from stealing the championship. In ’15, it was Jeff Gordon, whose surprise win at Martinsville guaranteed him a Championship Round appearance. In ’16, it was Carl Edwards. Keselowski hasn’t had that strong of a playoff run, as Toyotas have managed to win four of the first five races. But as a former Cup champion he has the championship experience that neither Truex nor Larson have held, and in a way he can use that as an advantage heading into Homestead.

    He’s already had the lone mulligan he’s allowed to have and still remain in contention (a 15th-place at Charlotte offset three previous finishes of sixth, fourth, and 10th). However, as a win can prove to revitalize a team and their goals, it’s looking likely that Keselowski and his crew could be the biggest sleeper of the ’17 Playoffs.

  • Could This Be a Turnaround for Ricky Stenhouse Jr.?

    Could This Be a Turnaround for Ricky Stenhouse Jr.?

    Not since his rookie year of 2013, has Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had such a consistent start to the Sprint Cup season. Since taking over driving duties of the No. 17 from two-time Daytona 500 winner and 2003 champion Matt Kenseth, Stenhouse has had little reason to be confident. Yet, after a fifth-place run at the Auto Club 400 on Sunday he currently sits 14th in points. This coming a week after he finished 37th at Phoenix, thanks to a blown tire and a crash.

    Sadly enough, crashes seem to be the norm for the 28-year-old Mississippi driver. In his fourth full season as a Sprint Cup driver, Stenhouse has finished no better than 19th in points in his rookie year. Since then it seems that the only coverage he was known for was being the boyfriend of Stewart-Haas Racing driver Danica Patrick, who he competed against for the 2013 Rookie of the Year title that Stenhouse won. But in five events in 2016, the No. 17 has earned a fifth at Fontana and a 10th at Atlanta, which is more than what can be said for his rookie year.

    It’s no secret that the Roush Fenway Fords aren’t what they once were. Although every Roush car made the Chase for the Cup in 2005, as of now they have not won a Cup race since Sonoma in June of 2014, one of only two wins that year. Roush staple Greg Biffle has had major issues since his last win in 2013, Trevor Bayne has not come close to relevance since winning the 2011 Daytona 500, and Stenhouse has not had an ounce of glory since winning back-to-back XFINITY championships in 2011 and 2012.

    This is Stenhouse’s second year with young Crew Chief Nick Sandler, who coached Stenhouse to a trio of top-10’s a year ago and has had plenty of time to get comfortable with his driver. A comfortable driver/crew chief bond is pretty ideal, but what else sticks out is this low downforce package.

    KANSAS CITY, KS - OCTOBER 20: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the #6 Cargill/Sam's Club Ford, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on October 20, 2012 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR)
    KANSAS CITY, KS – OCTOBER 20: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the #6 Cargill/Sam’s Club Ford, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on October 20, 2012 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR)

    It’s already been pointed out the low downforce helps drivers maintain better car control, and it’s been said that the package especially helps drivers with a dirt racing background. It so happens that Stenhouse does have a dirt background, having run several midget races and Sprint Car events over the course of his career. He hasn’t reached an Austin Dillon level of comfort in this new package, but like Dillon, he could be expected to shine on tracks where he hasn’t done that well at in 2015.

    Is it too early to say Stenhouse and the Roush Fenway organization is going to thrive in 2016? Yes. However, it’s not unlikely, with the way that team has been running. Expect Stenhouse and Sandler to pull off some great runs at unexpected places in 2016.

  • Kevin Harvick Isn’t Leaving Stewart-Haas Anytime Soon

    Kevin Harvick Isn’t Leaving Stewart-Haas Anytime Soon

    With Stewart-Haas Racing switching to Ford in 2017, many seem surprised that Team Chevy staple Kevin Harvick is staying on through the switch. He’s been with Chevrolet since before signing on with Richard Childress Racing all those years ago, so to imagine him anywhere else is jarring, but considering that he’s adamant about sticking with SHR, why debate it?

    A recent BeyondTheFlag.com article by Christopher Olmstead does just that, claiming that it’s a possibility following the 2016 season if he doesn’t follow through with the option to renew for 2017. While the point is there that Harvick may opt out following 2016, is it likely? Not in the slightest. It would be a career-ending move as opposed as something to elevate his career – would it seriously need elevating?

    Olmstead implores readers to remember various instances, like when SHR co-owner Tony Stewart left Toyota after giving his word he was sticking with then-owner Joe Gibbs or when Kevin Harvick announced his departure from RCR. Granted, things may be promised one way only to go another way. It’s a well-known fact of racing life that things are sometimes unpredictable.

    But take into consideration what happened during Harvick’s first season with SHR: https://youtu.be/hcj96gs0L5k

    Take also into consideration that into his third season with SHR, he has managed to lead more laps in the No. 4 than he ever did in all his time as the driver of Childress’s No. 29. Take also into consideration that if things had gone a bit differently in 2015 he could have easily scored a career-high in wins, as he finished second an astounding 13 times. He’s been dominant in SHR equipment, so why would that change?

    On that note, look at Team Penske power. Hypothetically speaking, it’s a logical assumption to say that Penske will be collaborating with SHR in 2017. Penske is currently the best Ford team in NASCAR, bar none. On the Sprint Cup side of things, rookie Ryan Blaney has managed to make the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford more relevant than they’ve been in years. As for their star drivers Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, let the stats speak for themselves.

    Since switching to Ford in 2013, Logano has 12 wins, 50 top-fives, and 71 top-10s in 112 starts. In that same amount of time, Keselowski has nine wins, 36 top-fives, and 63 top-10s. Do the math: SHR will not be hurting or suffering once they make the jump to Ford. Logano and Keselowski alone have accomplished more with Ford than what the entirety of SHR has done with Chevy, so it’s a safe bet that they won’t argue with whatever brings them more success.

    If Harvick is anything like Stewart, which – newsflash! – he is, then he’s thinking the same thing, and it isn’t manufacturer loyalty. He’s thinking about winning. Winning early, winning often, and winning championships. So with that being said, Harvick isn’t going anywhere.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500

    In race number 33 of the 2015 NASCAR season, here is what was surprising and not surprising after the completion of the 67th Annual Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

    Surprising:  It was a surprisingly rough day for the Ford Racing teams, with Aric Almirola as their highest finisher in the 16th position. And it was also a surprisingly difficult race for Ford’s Team Penske, with Brad Keselowski finishing 32nd and Logano finishing 37th after a controversial move into the wall by Matt Kenseth.

    “I got wrecked.  I don’t know. What am I supposed to say about it?” Logano said after he was wrecked while leading the race by rival Matt Kenseth.  “His race was over and he tried so hard to catch us the first time and he took out half the field, and he was successful the second time so I give that to him. It’s kind of a coward move.  Actually, a really coward move for a race car driver to do that, essentially someone as mature and an experienced race car driver that knows what this is all about.”

    Logano’s Ford and Team Penske teammate also had his own encounter with Matt Kenseth, which resulted in a less than satisfactory finish for the driver of the No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford.

    “I got hit from behind and pushed me into the 20 and my right-front wheel hit Kenseth’s left-rear and it just broke the right-front suspension off the car,” Keselowski said. “The car wouldn’t turn and just kept going straight until I couldn’t do anything and I started wrecking everybody.  I just didn’t have any steering wheel left.”

    Logano fell to the eight spot in the Eliminator Eight round and Keselowski fell to the sixth spot.

    Not Surprising:  At a track that has seen many highs and a major low with the loss of so many loved ones in that tragic plane crash, Hendrick Motorsports and their driver Jeff Gordon celebrated one of the highest of highs with a trip to Victory Lane.

    This was Gordon’s 93rd career victory and his ninth win at Martinsville Speedway. And the driver, running his last few races of the season, guaranteed that he will be one of the participants in the Chase for NASCAR’s Sprint Cup championship.

    “This is the sweetest, most amazing feeling,” the driver of the No. 24 AARP Member Advantages Chevrolet said. “I am so proud of this team. You want to talk about holding back emotions; right now man, wow, we’re going to Homestead!  I can’t believe it. What an incredible battle that was.”

    Surprising:  There were quite a few drivers craving illumination as the race at the track shaped like a paperclip came to a close.

    “It was dark!” Martin Truex Jr. said after finishing sixth in his No. 78 Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet.  “It was getting borderline where we had to quit, but I’m glad the fans got to see a good ending.”

    “I love Martinsville,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said after he took the checkered flag in the fourth spot. “But if we are going to run at night we need to put some damn lights up here.”

    Not Surprising:  The highest finishing Toyota drivers, Denny Hamlin in third and Kyle Busch in fifth, both had to overcome obstacles before taking the checkered flag in the top-5. Hamlin had not just one, but two speeding penalties and Busch hit a wet spot that had him spinning.

    “My race was eventful to say the least – two pit road penalties, my car wasn’t very good at all up until the very, very end and we just took a long time to get going,” Hamlin said. “It’s just part of it. This racing now is different now than what it used to be when I first came in the sport and its just survival of the fittest.”

    “I screwed us up early in the race and touched that water down there in turn one and spun out with the 3 (Austin Dillon) car so that was my bad,” Kyle Busch said. “I bent up the front end of the car and it was just never right from there on out, but we persevered and we just made the changes that we needed to make for this car for our conditions that we had. The M&M’s Crispy Camry there at the end was good enough for a top-five so I’m glad we finished there.”

    Although Hamlin was eliminated from the Chase after Talladega, Busch goes into the next Chase race in Texas in the second spot in the standings, just eight points behind leader Jeff Gordon.

    Surprising:  There was a great deal of apparent comradery at the back of the field, which resulted in at least two drivers working their way back up for top-ten finishes.  Both Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart had to start from the rear in backup cars and both finished well, in fact in ninth and tenth respectively.

    “Kasey (Kahne) and I both finished top-ten in backup cars,” Smoke said. “That was what was really cool; seeing two Team Chevy drivers come from the back like that. He and I both worked pretty good going through the pack there.”

    “I’m happy with it.”

    Not Surprising:  There was definitely ‘more to the story’ of Kurt Busch, who finished 34th after being involved in a wreck that was not of his doing. The driver of the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet debuted his new sponsor Monster Energy for the first time at Martinsville.

    “For us there is so much more to our story,” Busch said. “It’s been a fantastic season.  I’m really proud to debut a new sponsor in the Sprint Cup series with Monster Energy.  They were here today.  We led laps today we were up front.  Restarting third with a set of fresh tires and 70 laps to go I mean we were in perfect position.  We did our job we just didn’t have luck on our side.”

    Surprising:  Carl Edwards found himself in a foreign land at the end of the race, finishing 14th in his No. 19 XFINITY Toyota.

    “I thought it was going to be a top-10 there at the end,” Edwards said. “We struggled for a lot of the day, but really proud of all these guys. Our XFINITY Camry was fast at the end, maybe if we got tires – we were just in no man’s land, we didn’t know whether to get tires or not at the end.”

    “That was a crazy day.”

    Not Surprising:  While it might not have been the outcome he desired, the runner-up at Martinsville admitted that he would be leaving with the best of memories of the competition on the track.

    “For me, Jeff Gordon is the only die cast or T-shirt that I ever bought growing up before I made it to NASCAR,” Jamie McMurray, driver of the No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet, said. “So it was really a cool moment for me to get to battle with him on a green-white-checkered at Martinsville.”

    “I certainly wish it would have turned out a little bit differently.  But that’s a really good memory for me and a very good moment that I will not forget.”

    Surprising:  While many drivers were relieved after surviving Talladega, Kevin Harvick was thankful to end his time in Martinsville with an eighth place finish, especially after getting run into and suffering significant damage to his race vehicle.

    “Well, we didn’t score many points here last year,” Harvick said. “We were in a big hole leaving Martinsville. It’s very easy to get in a hole leaving here. I feel like Texas has been a very good race track for us as we’ve gone through the past couple of years at Stewart-Haas, and we all know how Phoenix has gone.”

    “So, we just need to have two more solid weeks and hopefully position ourselves well to have a chance to get to Homestead.”

    Not Surprising:  Who says NASCAR cannot be compared to stick and ball sports, especially given that the World Series is currently underway?  Well, driver Matt Kenseth did just that in his post-race comments after finishing 38th.

    “It’s a tough sport, some days you’re the bat and some days you’re the ball,” the driver of the very wrecked No. 20 Dollar General Toyota. “I was the ball a few weeks ago and I was the ball again today so that part is never fun.”

    The Sprint Cup Series will head deep into the heart of Texas for next weekend’s race, the AAA TEXAS 500, the second in the Eliminator Round.

  • NASCAR BTS: A Peek Behind the Curtain of the Ford Technical Support Center

    NASCAR BTS: A Peek Behind the Curtain of the Ford Technical Support Center

    Ford Racing’s domination of Daytona Speedweeks, including wins in the Truck, XFINITY and the Daytona 500, may just be traced back to all of the technology developed in the off-season by the manufacturer.

    This week’s NASCAR Behind the Scenes takes a peek behind the magical technology curtain of the Ford Racing Technical Support Center.

    “The main thing that we’ve worked on with the Ford Racing Technical Center in Concord, North  Carolina is really combining a lot of the tools we had in other facilities before, from the kinematics machine measuring camber and toe to the chassis torsional twist rig used to determine stiffness of the car.”” Mark Rushbrook, Ford Racing Engineering Motorsports Manager, said. “We also have a vehicle center of gravity machine used to measure the height of the car and a coordinate measurement machine that enables teams to measure their components for quality control.”

    “But the key thing that we have which has really moved things forward in terms of technology is the driving simulator. It runs a full dynamics model for the vehicle, whether Sprint Cup car, Xfinity car or IMSA car.”

    “It allows full driver engagement where they sit in the cockpit to get the motions of what is happening in the car,” Rushbrook continued. “They are viewing a giant screen in front of them with a three meter radius with projectors that give them the full sensation that they are actually driving the car. So, this is a tool that has been used in Formula 1 and some other road racing successfully and we’re using that now as a tool in our arsenal to help with driver training, as well as car and chassis set ups for both NASCAR and IMSA.”

    Because of the NASCAR testing ban, the driving simulator has become even more important in the off season and during this new season. And the Ford Racing Technical Support Center has risen to that challenge by virtually making every track available through that simulator.

    “At this point, we have all of the NASCAR tracks programmed,” Rushbrook said. “It is a very high graphics representation of the race track itself and everything in the surroundings. You really want the driver to feel like he is there at the track. So, it’s even got the graphic detail for the stands, for flags, for trees, for everything that is on the sides of the track.”

    “So, as the driver drives around the track, it’s the same visual cueing that he would get as if he is driving the real car. It’s a laser scanning of the track surface to get the representation of it.”

    “It gives the full six degrees of freedom to move the drivers up and down as they go over bumps, have the pitch and yaw and roll. It doesn’t do exactly what you see on the track but it’s the cueing representation of it such that they are immersed in it.”

    “The drivers believe and feel that they are driving around the actual track with the motion they are doing. We also have helped it be even more real through high frequency vibrations that are piped in through the structure of the cockpit to make it feel even more real. So, you get that vibration that you would feel from the engine actually coming up through the structure of the cockpit and up through the seat.”

    According to Rushbrook, the driving simulator even helps the drivers when they take an unexpected excursion off the track or into another race vehicle.

    “If you hit the wall and spin out or whatever you do, it’s not the same sensation of having the thirty or sixty ‘g’ force feeling but you do get the sensation of the car spinning into the infield or down into the grass,” Rushbrook said. “So, there is some realism there for sure.”

    With Ford Racing’s success during Daytona Speedweeks, there is no doubt that the drivers, crew chiefs and teams will continue to be lined up at the front door of the Technical Support Center.

    “At this point, we are continuing to develop our tools to make sure it is very well correlated,” Rushbrook said. “We have the race teams come in and have time slots available. It will be almost like a test session at each track. The driver, crew chief and race engineers come in. You don’t need the pit crew because you are not physically changing parts but they all come in. You change the set up in the computer model, the driver drives those changes, provides feedback and they can keep iterating through their setups just like they do at the track.”

    While Ford Racing declines to disclose the investment made in the Technical Support Center, they do acknowledge that it is significant. And according to Rushbrook, “It reflects our seriousness and how well we want to do in racing.”

    “We know the real payout will be in the 2015 season as we are truly applying it.”

    The payout has most certainly begun for Ford Racing after such a dominating Speedweeks and much of that success may be the responsibility of the Technical Support Center.

    “You can’t ask for a better weekend starting out with the truck race and Brad Keselowski’s truck team winning and then Ryan Reed wining the XFINITY race for Roush Fenway Racing and now Team Penske and Joey Logano with the Daytona 500 championship,” Raj Nair, Group Vice President, Global Product Development, Ford Motor Company, said. “What a start for Ford in 2015. We are now 4-for-4 in all the major races we have competed in. We couldn’t ask for a better start to the year.”

    “I think it is really starting to pay dividends with all the work we have done on the technical front and all the homework we did in the off-season.”

    “Whether it is the EcoBoost engine of the FR9 engine all the engines in all three NASCAR series’ I think it really shows the teamwork of working together in a One Ford way and that it can really pay dividends.”