Tag: Greg Biffle

Surprising and Not Surprising: Pure Michigan 400

[media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”217″][/media-credit]From the older pole sitter Mark Martin, celebrating thirty years of racing at MIS, to Kid Rock giving the command, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 43^rd annual Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

Surprising: It was surprising that the race winner, standing in Victory Lane in the Irish hills of Michigan, had another city, Las Vegas, on his mind.

Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford, capitalized on the Jimmie Johnson’s engine woes to score his second victory of the season and his third at Michigan International Speedway.

He is now 20 points ahead of his teammate Matt Kenseth in the point standings and has a Vegas-style championship celebration on his mind.

“It’s an important win,” Biffle said. “We have been working really hard to get back into Victory Lane.”

“We are going to make a run at the title,” Biff continued. “I know they don’t talk about us a lot, but they will when we get to Vegas.”

Biffle’s win also catapulted Roush Fenway Racing to its 12^th win at MIS, breaking a tie with the Wood Brothers for most wins at that race track.

Not Surprising: For the second week in a row, Brad Keselowski was the enthusiastic runner-up, heading quickly to Victory Lane to congratulate the race winner.

“He just did a great job,” Keselowski said of Biffle. “He had a fast car and passed me legit and I couldn’t keep up with him.”

“I tell you what, it felt good to be racing up there at my home track here at Michigan,” The driver of the Blue Deuce continued. “It’s an honor to race with guys like Greg and be door-to-door.”

“I feel like the best is yet to come.”

This was Keselowski’s second top-10 finish in seven races at Michigan and his best finish at his home track. He has now finished 1^st, 8^th, 5^th, 9^th, 4^th, 2^nd and 2^nd in the last seven races.

Surprising: Mr. Hendrick found himself in a surprising role, that of referee between two of his drivers, veteran Jeff Gordon and the sport’s most popular Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

The two tangled on the track after a restart, which led to consternation from the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet and confusion from Junior and company.

“He took me four-wide and then he slid up in front of me,” Gordon said after the race. “I didn’t think it was very smart what he did.”

“I didn’t feel like I did anything wrong,” Earnhardt, Jr. said. “I thought there was plenty of room.”

Not Surprising: Marcos Ambrose, winner of last week’s race at the Glen, continued riding the wave of momentum on his mission to try for a Chase berth. Ambrose, in the No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion, finished fifth and currently sits 17^th in points with one win.

“It was a really strong day,” Ambrose said. “We came off a win and sometimes you struggle to keep that mojo going.”

“It’s great to run top five, but winning is what it’s all about now for us.”

Surprising: While races can sometimes be full of challenges and surprises, Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet, sure had his hands full in the Irish hills.

Kahne was caught up in the one of the major wrecks of the day, yet was still able to overcome to finish third, his eighth top-10 finish in 18 races at MIS.

“Man, there was a lot that went on for us,” Kahne said. “Slid through the grass and thought it destroyed my car.”

“Fortunately it just pushed the right fender in,” Kahne continued. “The guys were able to pop it up out and we came back to third.”

“Solid day, solid recovery.”

Not Surprising: In spite of a wreck that could have been devastating, with his car practically impaled, the ever effervescent Mark Martin had only praise for his team after getting out of his fiery, destroyed race car.

“I just want to thank all the race fans,” the driver of the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota said. “Michael Waltrip gave me a chance to drive an awesome race car.”

“I’m glad I’m OK too and I’m glad I got to drive this thing.”

Martin was rewarded for his efforts with a deal announcement that he will drive 22 races for MWR in 2013.

Surprising: With an engine shop that is usually the gold standard, it was surprising that drivers were in defense mode of the Hendrick motors after four failures during the race.

Tony Stewart was one of those drivers affected by a broken valve spring in his No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet, relegating him to a 32^nd place finish. This was Stewart’s first DNF in 42 races.

“It’s not something that’s the norm,” Smoke said. “I appreciate everybody at the Hendrick engine department.”

“We have the best engine department in the world, definitely in the series, and they did everything they could,” Stewart continued. “It was just a bad day.”

Not Surprising: In spite of his teammate’s engine troubles and his own flu-like symptoms, Ryan Newman said hello to an eighth place finish at MIS. This was also his eighth top-10 finish for the season, keeping him in potential Chase contention in the wild card spot.

“I’m better,” Newman said after stepping out of the car. “I think adrenaline took over for the most part.”

“Finishing eighth, I think we’re proud of that.”

Surprising: Traditionally at a track like Michigan, four-wide racing is the norm. But surprisingly, MIS may have become the new Bristol, thanks to the beating and banging on the track and the feuds developing in the aftermath.

One such duo that tangled at MIS was Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, and young Joey Logano, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet.

“He came down on me twice,” Logano said of Montoya. The youngster soldiered on after a hard hit to the wall to finish 31^st.

“Well anything that could go wrong today did,” JPM, who finished 26^th, said. “It was a rough day.”

Not Surprising: Sam Hornish Jr. continued to show just how badly he wants to retain the seat of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger. After finishing second in the Nationwide race in Montreal, Hornish returned to MIS and worked his way up from the back of the field to finish 12^th in the Cup race.

“Not a bad day,” Hornish Jr. said. “I felt like it was pretty good from the point that we started in the back and worked our way up and by the midpoint of the race, we were running in the top five.”

“We just got off on our strategy and that kept us from getting the finish that we wanted.”

“Hopefully I get the opportunity to be here in the Cup Series.”

August 22, 2012
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Michigan

[media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”226″][/media-credit]Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Jimmie Johnson: After passing Brad Keselowski on lap 191, Johnson was poised to capture his series-best fourth win of the year. But a blown engine just four laps later ended Johnson’s day, and his 27^th-place finished dropped him to fourth in the point standings.

“That’s was my second engine failure of the weekend,” Johnson said. “Let me tell you, that ‘b(Lowe’s).’ Who’s building these things? Ironically, he may have to be ‘let go.’

“Is Keselowski the biggest threat to my chances of winning my sixth Cup title? If number of tweets is any indication, then I’m in deep trouble. But I, a five-time champion, tend to put more stock in ‘hardware’ instead of ‘software.’ I don’t follow @Kes, or that logic.”

2. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski took the runner-up spot for the second-straight week, finishing second to Greg Biffle in the Pure Michigan 400. Keselowski remained fifth in the point standings and is 47 out of first.

“Am I destined for second place?” Keselowski said. “Apparently, I need to send a tweet to ‘@theleader,’ because that’s who I’m following.

“I hear than Joey Logano could be my new teammate at Penske Racing. I think it would be great to see Joey’s name on the side of a Penske Dodge. That way, I can once again say I have a teammate who’s ‘on something.’”

3. Greg Biffle: Biffle took the lead when Jimmie Johnson’s engine blew on lap 196, and held off Brad Keselowski to win the Pure Michigan 400. It was Biffle’s second win of the year, giving him the Sprint Cup points lead and significantly improving his position in the Chase.

“These are happy days for me,” Biffle said. “Oddly enough, Johnson’s ‘expiration point’ became my ‘inspiration point.’ And I ‘made out’ well.

“It looks like Jack Roush’s hopes for the Cup title rest solely on my shoulders. Matt Kenseth seems to be mailing it in, while Carl Edwards won’t deliver on Sunday.”

4. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt, who won at Michigan in June, finished fourth in the Pure Michigan 400, his tenth top-10 of the year. He moved up one spot in the Sprint Cup point standings to third, 22 behind Greg Biffle.

“Jeff Gordon had some unkind words for me over the radio at Michigan,” Earnhardt said. “I’m not offended. And neither is Rick Hendrick. In his eyes, Gordon was just ‘sharing information.”

5. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished 17^th at Michigan, as Roush Fenway teammate Greg Biffle gave Jack Roush his 12^th win at Michigan. Kenseth is now second in the point standings, 20 behind Biffle.

“Congratulations to Greg Biffle,” Kenseth said. “I have no problem ‘giving it up’ for the Biff.’ I also have no problem ‘giving it up’ for a fat new contract with Joe Gibbs Racing. I envy Biffle. He closed the deal and wasn’t afraid to talk about it.”

6. Kasey Kahne: Kahne solidified his wildcard position in the standings with a third in the Pure Michigan 400. He is 11^th in the point standings, 33 behind Deny Hamlin in 10^th.

“Mark Martin had a heck of a crash on Sunday,” Kahne said. “Officially, he retired on lap 64. Considering the magnitude of the wreck, I’m surprised Mark was able to walk away. I’m even more surprised he didn’t officially announce his retirement.”

7. Tony Stewart: Stewart finished 32^nd at Michigan after a long day in which he struggled after losing a cylinder on lap 51. After several trips to the garage, Stewart ended the day 92 laps down.

“Luckily,” Stewart said, “I’ve got three wins to fall back on. And I pride myself on being amply cushioned.

“My good friend Danica Patrick ran over a shoe in Montreal on Saturday. It seems she’s trying a little too hard to get her ‘footing’ in NASCAR. She probably could have used a shoe ‘horn.’ The GoDaddy.com car spits out shoes faster than a Chinese Nike factory.”

8. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished 11^th at Michigan, leading one lap and just missing on his 12^th top-10 result of the year. He is tenth in the point standings, 96 out of first.

“Despite my standing in the points,” Hamlin said, “I still think I’ll contend for the Sprint Cup title once the Chase begins. So, unlike my unborn child, my championship hopes are ‘legitimate.”

9. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer posted his third consecutive top-10 finish with a seventh in the Pure Michigan 400. He remained seventh in the Sprint Cup point standings, 66 out of first and firmly in place to make the Chase.

“I’m a shoo-in to make the Chase,” Bowyer said. “And speaking of ‘shoe-ins,’ a sneaker tossed on the track in Montreal derailed Danica Patrick’s chances in the Nationwide race. She ran slap over the thing. I’m guessing she would have stopped had it been a high heel.”

10. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex finished 10^th at Michigan, scoring his 13^th top-10 result of the year. He stands sixth in the point standings, 60 out of first.

“Michael Waltrip Racing is poised to put two cars in the Chase For The Cup,” Truex said. “Can you imagine an MWR driver winning the Sprint Cup championship? Michael says if you can’t ‘buy’ that, maybe you will ‘rent’ it.”

August 21, 2012
Pure Michigan 400 Review: Bizzare Day at Michigan

[media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”232″][/media-credit]As the 43^rd Annual Pure Michigan 400 came to a close, the race was anyone’s game with some of the top names in the sport racing for the lead position. Brad Keselowski held the lead with 10 laps to go, as five-time champion Jimmie Johnson was putting the pressure on him. Keselowski’s No. 2 Miller Light Dodge got loose one lap later and Johnson was able to sneak by him to take over the lead. Greg Biffle, who was running third with ten to go, was able to pass Keselowski for second as Johnson took over the lead.

It looked as if Johnson would drive on to win his fourth race of the season, until his engine expired with 6 laps remaining – making that the third Hendrick Motorsports engine with problems this weekend. The race would finish under green-white-checkered as Biffle held off a hard-charging Keselowski to win for the second time this season and third time at MIS. Kasey Kahne finished in third position, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Marcos Ambrose rounding out the top five.

“It was a wild race. We struggled with our car throughout the weekend, worked real hard on it overnight,” said Biffle after the race. “My car was super good at the beginning of the race when the track was green. Once I got on restarts and in traffic, I wasn’t that good.

“We just kept working on it, trying different things. But, we were so good out front. I knew once we got out front we’d be tough to beat. I know that a lot of people don’t expect us to win the championship, and don’t think we can compete for the title. But, we will be a factor when it comes down to Homestead.”

This moves the No. 16 team to the points lead, with 20 points over Roush Fenway Racing teammate Matt Kenseth. Earnhardt moves to third position in standings, with his teammate Johnson dropping three positions to fourth. Keselowski rounds out the top five, 47 points behind the leader.

Cautions Breed Cautions

First caution of the day occurred on Lap 6 when Aric Almirola and David Gilliland got together on the front stretch. Unfortunately for the rest of the field, this was just the start of the cautions for the day.

[media-credit name=”Wesley Hitt/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”221″][/media-credit]Mark Martin started the race from the pole position and ended his day with a bizarre crash on Lap 64. Juan Pablo Montoya and Bobby Labonte were racing in front of Martin in an attempt to stay on the lead lap, when the two got together coming out of Turn 4. Martin dove low to try and avoid the incident, but sent his car spinning down pit road. His car then crashed into an opening of the pit wall just in front of the No. 5 team’s pit stall. Crew members dove to safety as debris flew from the pit stall and the No. 55 Toyota.

“That was a pretty freak angle that I got at that,” Martin said. “I’m not sure what you could do. It could have been really bad if I would have got in that hole a little deeper where it caught me in the door instead of in the crush area back there. It’s hard to keep up with what exactly is going to be happening there. I was hoping that I was going to miss the pit wall completely and not tear the car up, but then I saw that the angle I was going that I was going to hit the end of pit wall.”

Luckily, Martin was able to walk away from the incident safely, along with the crews on pit road. If the car would have hit any closer to the driver’s door than it did, Martin may not have been so lucky. Martin will continue driving part-time for Michael Waltrip Racing in 2013, with 22 Sprint Cup races on his schedule.

Drivers were having a tough time getting their cars to stick to the track in Turn 4 on Sunday, including Watkins Glen winner, Marcos Ambrose. On Lap 77 his Stanley Tools Ford got loose and slid up the track and tapped the No. 78 sending him into the Turn 4 wall. Regan Smith was able to continue, but finished the race in 29th position, 47 laps down.

The numerous amounts of cautions continue on Lap 90 when Joey Logano blew a right front tire due to a fender rub he sustained a few laps earlier. Two laps earlier the No. 42 of Juan Pablo Montoya got into Logano and forced him into the outside wall, causing the fender rub. Montoya finished in 26th position, Logano in 31st place.

On Lap 135 Kurt Busch’s bad luck continued as he appeared to break something in the right front of his No. 51 Toyota and slammed into the wall. This brought out a caution and changed up pit strategy as 11 cars did not pit, including Earnhardt who assumed the race lead. Earnhardt led the field for a total of 25 laps after starting in the back of the field due to wrecking his car in final practice on Saturday.

The last crash-induced caution occurred when Trevor Bayne blew his right front tire on Lap 182, causing him to finish in 24th position.

Chase for the Sprint Cup

With only three races left until the Chase for the Sprint Cup, all eyes are on drivers like Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin who are riding the line for falling out of the top ten in points. Kahne is only 33 points away from jumping into the top ten and continues to hold one of the wild cards that will allow him access into the Chase. If he races his way into the Chase and Hamlin or Stewart were to drop out of the top ten, this would give the wild card slot to one of them. As of now, Kahne and Ryan Newman hold these cards.

Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Marcos Ambrose, and Joey Logano still have a shot to steal the wild card away from Newman, as they all hold one win this season. The wild card option goes to the drivers outside of the top ten who have the most wins this season; so far the only driver with more than one win outside of the top ten is Kahne.

August 20, 2012
Matty’s Picks 2012 – Vol. 21 – Michigan International Speedway – Pure Michigan 400 – August 19, 2012

The summer tour continues this week in the rolling hills of Michigan for the 43rd Annual Pure Michigan 400. The new racing surface at Michigan International Speedway, produced speeds upwards of 210 mph and sent Goodyear’s engineers back to the drawing board. NASCAR was forced to circle the wagons and have a fleet of new Goodyear tires caravanned up to MIS from Charlotte as a result of the blistering speeds. The tires held up and the race at MIS nine weeks ago turned out to be a far cry from the traditional strung out boring-ness that races at Michigan tended to produce.

Drivers are loving the new surface at Michigan, and with a two-groove racing surface coming into play this weekend, side-by-side racing is surely on the menu this week.

Watkins Glen Recap

It was a wild one last week at Watkins Glen, but in the end I was proved wrong by the recent ‘Master of The Glen’, Marcos Ambrose.

I went out on a limb last week and said it would not be one of the two ‘Road Course Specialists’ in Victory Lane last week, and had that statement shoved in my face on the final lap of the Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen. My Winner Pick, Brad Kesolowski fought hard all day last week and fell victim to the bold driving of Marcos Ambrose on the final lap last week.

The oil down on the track at the conclusion of the race on Sunday was the main story.

“Well the 18, (who was leading the race at the start of the final lap) was oil. Look like he had something wrong there and had the whole track slick as hell. You couldn’t drive it; it was undriveable…Then it came down to just running a whole lap against Marcos. I got in the oil and we’d slip up. He’d get by me and then he’d get in the oil and I’d get by him. Just really good, hard racing; some beating and banging. I think its the way racing should be.” Brad Keselowski said about the situation.

My Dark Horse pick last week considers Watkins Glen International to be one of his ‘Hometown Tracks’. The Mayetta, NJ native started ninth and finished tenth in Sunday’s 90-lap NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International. Quickly climbing through the top-10, Martin Truex Jr. made his way all the way up to third by lap 27. A mid-race mishap for the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota (an empty fuel tank), put the kibosh on Truex’s bid for the victory at the 2.45-mile road course.

Truex commented after the race “We dodged a big bullet there with a 10th-place finish. We had a good car. The NAPA Toyota was fast. We were running third and one lap from pitting and we ran out of gas and the caution came out. So, when we pitted we had to go to the tail end of the longest line and I think there were only 25 laps to go and we were in the tail end of the longest line. We had to pass a lot of cars to get back to 10th.”

Michigan Picks

I’m very glad I’m finishing this week’s column today rather than yesterday. With the drama of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice this morning, my picks would have been far different had I written my column yesterday, rather than today.

Winner Pick

Dale Jr. was the guy I was looking at for the win before this morning’s practice session, but with Jr. forced to a backup car following a spin in practice, it would be a true underdog victory tomorrow afternoon for the No. 88 team. To make things worse for the Steve Latarte and Dale Jr., the wreck happened with less than ten minutes remaining in Final Practice, leaving no time for adjustments to the Hendrick Motorsports backup car.

With the Dale Jr. drama unfolding this morning, I have no choice but to turn to a guy with two wins under his belt at Michigan International Speedway. He’s currently second in points, and has just one win this season. He’s had an up and down last few weeks, and needs a win for seeding purposes for this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup. Greg Biffle was fastest in each of the two final practice sessions this weekend at MIS, and has a great looking car for tomorrow’s Pure Michigan 400.

Dark Horse Pick

Reagan Smith is riding a great looking Furniture Row/Farm American Chevrolet this week into Michigan, and is coming off back-to-back top tens at the two tracks closest to his hometown of Cato, NY. Michigan International Speedway has not been the kindest of racetracks for Reagan Smith, but that’s not to say he can not change that this week. He boasts a best finish of thirteenth at the two-miler, but was shown eighth fastest on the speed charts this morning in Final Practice. Smith will start the Pure Michigan 400 from the eighteenth starting spot, so he’s got some work to do on Sunday to leave Michigan with a solid finish.

That’s all for this week, so until next time….You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

August 18, 2012
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Watkins Glen

[media-credit name=”Ed Coombs” align=”alignright” width=”256″][/media-credit]Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson finished third at Watkins Glen, posting his Sprint Cup series-best 11^th top-5 result. Johnson jumped three spots to the top of the points standings, and leads Greg Biffle by one.

“Wow! What a finish!” Johnson said. “That’s what NASCAR racing is all about? Too bad it only happens once or twice a year.

“But I’m tickled by any race that ends with me on top in the points standings. Now, is Marcos Ambrose a threat to win the Sprint Cup? No way, and the thought of such is pure ‘Tasmanian drivel.’”

2. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt spun with seven laps to go, losing a likely top-10 finish and crossing the line 28^th. He tumbled out of the Sprint Cup points lead, and is now fourth, 17 out of first.

“After two weeks atop the Sprint Cup point standings,” Earnhardt said, “who didn’t expect a tailspin.

“The track was a mess. It was as ‘well-oiled’ as the Junior Nation campground. And

3. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski led with one lap to go in the Finger Lakes 355 At The Glen, but was passed by Marcos Ambrose near the finish in a wild final lap. Keselowski was denied his fourth win of the year, but moved up two places to fifth in the points standings, 44 out of first.

“I was so close to getting away with the win,” Keselowski said, “but much like Roger Penske’s other kids, I got ‘caught.’ If Roger’s boys would have been as slippery as the Watkins Glen track, they’d never have been caught.

“As it is, Roger may have to pull another A.J. Allmendinger and disown them.”

4. Greg Biffle: Biffle took sixth at Watkins Glen, as Roush Fenway Racing placed three cars in the top 14. Biffle moved up one spot to second in the point standings, and trails Jimmie Johnson by a single point.

“I did what I needed to do at The Glen,” Biffle said. “Finish in the top 10, and steer clear of Boris Said. He finished 25^th, which was nowhere near me. So, the answer to what Boris Said and Boris did is ‘nothing.’”

5. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished a solid eight at Watkins Glen, earning his 14^th top 10 of the year. He is now third in the point standings, trailing Greg Biffle by one and points-leader Jimmie Johnson by two.

“I am soooo close,” Kenseth said, “to announcing the details of my deal with Joe Gibbs Racing. Hopefully, my last races with Roush Fenway Racing will see me contending for the Cup championship. I definitely want to have a ‘going away presence.’”

6. Tony Stewart: Stewart was running second when he spun in the final turn with 16 laps remaining. With extensive rear-end damage to the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil Chevy, he had to settle for 19^th at The Glen.

“I was going for ‘broke,’” Stewart said. “Unfortunately, I succeeded. It’s not often I can say ‘I lost it’ and it not have anything to do with Kurt Busch.”

7. Kasey Kahne: Kahne remained in the hunt for a Chase position with a respectable 13^th-place finish at Watkins Glen. He is 11^th in the Sprint Cup point standings, and currently holds the first wildcard spot for the Chase.

“I’ve never been to the Nantucket Yacht Club,” Kahne said, “but I’m confident I’ll fare better ‘in the Chase’ than Roger Penske’s boys.”

8. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex posted his 12^th top-10 finish of the year with a 10^th in the Finger Lakes 355 At The Glen. He is now sixth in the point standings, but with no wins on the year, would likely start at the bottom of the Chase For The Cup field.

“You never know,” Truex said. “I could get hot and win the Sprint Cup championship. I would say I need to ‘Get in the Zone,’ but I’m contractually forbidden to do so.”

9. Denny Hamlin: A disastrous weekend at Watkins Glen started with a crash in Friday practice and ended with a 34^th-place finish on Sunday. Hamlin’s No. 11 Fed Ex Toyota suffered a fiery end when his engine blew and ignited on lap 57. Hamlin fell two places to tenth in the point standings, 84 out of first.

“Kyle Busch and I were both victimized by our respective old nemeses,” Hamlin said. “For Kyle, it was Brad Keselowski. For me, it was a Toyota engine. Kyle and I were both left ‘fuming.’”

10. Marcos Ambrose: Ambrose nipped Brad Keselowski at the wire to win for the second year in a row at Watkins Glen. Ambrose and Keselowski dueled on a wild final half-lap on a track made treacherous by leaked oil from the car of Bobby Labonte.

“There’s only one way to describe this,” Ambrose said, “and that’s ‘Finger Lake-ing good!’ I gave Keselowski the slip. This more than makes up for Sonoma two years ago when I stalled my engine and let a sure win get away. There was only one way to describe that: ‘Sonoma bitch!’

“I think it’s safe to say that I’m Tasmania’s most famous citizen who’s not a cartoon character.”

August 14, 2012

Ambrose wins a wild one at The Glen

[media-credit name=”Matt LaFlair” align=”alignright” width=”215″][/media-credit]

In one of the wildest laps ever seen, Marcos Ambrose held off Brad Keselowski for the win in the Finger Lakes 355 at the Glen Sunday. When the white flag flew the leader was Kyle Busch who took the lead in dramatic fashion on a late restart following Tony Stewart’s spin coming off turn 11, slamming the entrance to pit road with 18 laps left.

With the race winding down, there were numerous reports of the No. 47 car of Bobby Labonte dropping large amounts of oil across all sections of the 2.45 mile road course. A slue of drivers conveyed reports of an oil trail all the way from turn one to the final right -hand turn eleven, and controversy surrounded the finish of the Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen. The finish shaped up to be an old fashion dogfight between the three best cars all day in race-winner Marcos Ambrose (led twice for 8 laps), second place finisher Brad Kesolowski (led three times for 37 laps), and seventh place finisher Kyle Busch (led three times and a race-high 43 laps).

“It was absolutely chaos at the end.” said Ambrose “Shit, it was crazy!” said race-winning crew chief, Todd Parrott.

The oil down on the track at the conclusion of the race on Sunday was the main story. Said Brad Keselowski about the situation: “Well the 18, (whom was leading the race at the start of the final lap) was oil. Look like he had something wrong there and had the whole track slick as hell. You couldn’t drive it; it was undriveable…Then it came down to just running a whole lap against Marcos. I got in the oil and we’d slip up. He’d get by me and then he’d get in the oil and I’d get by him. Just really good, hard racing; some beating and banging. I think its the way racing should be.”

It was no clean road to Gatorade Victory Lane for Marcos Ambrose, as he had his quarrels with the oil-soaked racing surface, “I was the first one to slip in the oil and it was just getting worse and worse. You could tell the car was staying out there because the oil was moving around the race track and you just take your chances. You’ve got to commit at that point in the race and it was great racing with Kyle and Brad. They’re the two best guys to race. It’s just awesome fun and that’s the way racing should be, and we got the No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion to Victory Lane.”

The third driver involved with mixing of front-runners, Joe Gibbs racing’s Kyle Busch, declined to comment on the late-race mayhem that unfolded this afternoon.

The win marks Ambrose’s second in 141 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts, his first victory of the season and six top 10. It also adds to Ambrose’s impressive resume of five straight top-3 finishes at The Glen. Brad Kesolowski added to his Watkins Glen resume, finishing second for the second year in a row.

With Dale Earnhardt Jr’s troubles on Sunday afternoon, Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson took over the points lead, with Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Dale Jr., and Brad Keselowski making up the top-5.

Unofficial Race Results
Finger Lakes 355 at the Glen, Watkins Glen Int’l
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=22
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	5	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	47
2	4	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	43
3	3	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	41
4	8	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	40
5	17	22	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	0
6	15	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	38
7	2	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	39
8	24	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	36
9	13	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	35
10	9	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	34
11	6	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	33
12	22	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	32
13	20	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	31
14	18	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	31
15	19	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	29
16	30	13	Casey Mears	Ford	28
17	21	195	Scott Speed	Ford	27
18	29	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	26
19	7	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	25
20	34	38	David Gilliland	Ford	24
21	12	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	23
22	32	34	David Ragan	Ford	22
23	35	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	21
24	42	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	20
25	25	32	Boris Said	Ford	19
26	39	33	Stephen Leicht *	Chevrolet	18
27	26	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	17
28	16	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	16
29	36	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	0
30	28	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	14
31	27	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	13
32	14	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	12
33	1	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	12
34	23	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	10
35	41	249	Jason Leffler	Toyota	0
36	31	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	8
37	11	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	7
38	38	26	Josh Wise *	Ford	6
39	10	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	5
40	37	10	J.J. Yeley	Chevrolet	4
41	40	119	Chris Cook	Toyota	3
42	43	30	Patrick Long	Toyota	2
43	33	55	Brian Vickers	Toyota	1

August 12, 2012

Jeff Gordon Weathers Storm to Win Pennsylvania 400

[media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”241″][/media-credit]In a race delayed by rain at the start and then called later for severe thunderstorms, one driver weathered the storms to collect his first victory of the season.

Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, won the rain-shortened race, with torrential rain, blinding wind, thunder and lightning heralding his official celebration.

The win tops an action-packed weekend for the Hendrick Motorsports driver, who earlier collected the Heisman Trophy Humanitarian Award and celebrated his 41^st birthday. Crew chief Alan Gustafson also celebrated his birthday on race day.

This was Gordon’s 86^th victory in 674 Cup races and he is third on the all-time series wins list. But sweeter still is that this is Gordon’s first win of the season and his ninth top-10 finish in 2012.

Although wild weather this weekend, Pocono Raceway has been smooth sailing for Gordon. This is his sixth victory at the ‘Tricky Triangle’ and he is now the sole proprietor of the all-time Pocono win list.

With the victory, Gordon moves to second in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup wild card standings.

“Pocono has been a special place for us,” Gordon said. “It’s been an interesting year to say the least.”

“We’ve had some trying times,” Gordon continued. “We’ve had cars capable of winning and things didn’t go our way, so to see this race unfold the way it did certainly makes up for those would have, could have, should haves.”

“Today we got the win and it’s nice to know that things can still go our way.”

What meant the most to Gordon, however, was that his family, his wife Ingrid Vandebosch and children Ella and Leo, were there to celebrate with him.

“With the wind, rain and lightning, I was so excited to have all my family here,” Gordon said. “I didn’t care if Victory Lane was in a shed.”

“That experience means more to me than anything else.”

“Obviously that was a great day for us,” Alan Gustafson, crew chief, said. “We didn’t have the fastest car but we did have a good enough car to get a win. It all worked out our way.”

Along with Gordon in the first wild card position is now teammate Kasey Kahne. The driver of the No. 5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet finished in the runner up spot, even with a flat right rear tire and some miscues in the pits.

This was Kahne’s sixth top-10 finish in 18 races at Pocono and his 11^th top-10 finish for the season.

“We had a great car,” Kahne said. “The Hendrick power is something else here on these straightaways.”

“I made a mistake on pit road, slid over the hose, and it cost us a lot of time and a couple of positions,” Kahne continued. “Jeff got a little better restart and got in front of me when the field wrecked in front of us and he won the race.”

“And we came in second,” Kahne said. “It was a solid day for us car-wise.”

New Jersey native Martin Truex Jr., in the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, posted his fifth top-10 finish in 14 races at Pocono. He scored the third place finish in the 39^th Annual Pennsylvania 400.

Truex Jr. commented that the weather was a ‘monsoon’ and that he had to move quickly through his post-race media obligations.

“Newman told me ‘one word answers’ because he’s waiting on me and we’ve got to go,’ Truex Jr. said. “It was a good race for NAPA Toyota.”

“Once we got going out there, we were the fastest car on the track,” Truex Jr. continued. “Obviously we got a little bit lucky because a lot of those guys wrecked.”

“All in all a good day for us.”

Storms brewed for the Busch brothers, both of whom had close encounters with the wall. Kyle Busch, driving the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota, brought out the first caution on Lap 20 and brother Kurt, behind the wheel of the No. 51 Phoenix Construction Services Chevrolet, brought out the second caution on Lap 87.

While Kurt Busch was whisked away without comment from the infield care center after his hard hit, Kyle Busch had plenty to share as his team worked feverishly on his car to get him back on the track.

“We just blew out the rear brake rotors – – disintegrated it and then blew out the rear caliper after that,” Kyle Busch said. “Getting down into Turn One with a three-wheel brake is about the worst situation you can have as a race car driver.”

“I kept trying to pump it to keep feeding pressure to the rest of the three wheels to keep it off the fence, but just couldn’t do it,” Busch continued. “I hate it for all of these guys. We had a really fast race car today.”

Busch admitted that this did nothing but hurt him in the point standings. And he knows that a win will be a necessity going forward.

“We’re obviously not going to make the top-10 so if we get a win great we’ll make the Chase,” Busch said. “If not, we’ll probably miss it.”

Points leader Dale Earnhardt, Jr. also had a stormy day at the ‘Tricky Triangle.’ The driver of the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew/AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet lost a transmission and finished 32^nd.

“We didn’t have third or fourth gear, so we had to change the transmission,” Junior said. “After qualifying it was fine, but when the race started it was a bit of a vibration and started missing some shifts.”

“We had a good run going,” Junior continued. “I’m sorry to all the guys at the shop and I hope we get a win for one of our cars.”

The other major drama of the race occurred in the waning laps just before the storms hit. On Lap 92, the race leaders got into one another, causing a wreck that involved Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Burton and Jimmie Johnson.

“Well on that last restart, Turn One actually widened out pretty good and we took off,” Kenseth, driving the No. 17 Zest Ford, said. “The 2 didn’t get going and I had a pretty good gap so I crossed the line and was going to pull behind Jimmie (Johnson) and when I pulled down to go behind him I got a little draft and actually pulled up to his door.”

“So, I decided to race him through there and we went off into One and I could hear his pipes,” Kenseth continued. “I wasn’t sure he lifted. He drove in really, really far and spun out underneath me and I got wrecked.”

“You don’t mind if something happens it is just a bummer when it takes you out after you are running top three all day and finish 22^nd or wherever we are,” Kenseth said. “That is very disappointing and it is hard to look at the bright spot in that.”

Rounding out the top-five finishers in the Pennsylvania 400 were Brad Keselowski, in the No. 2 Miller Lite Doge, who finished fourth, and Tony Stewart, in the No. 14 Office Depot Back to School Chevrolet, who finished fifth.

Unofficial Race Results
Pennsylvania 400, Pocono Raceway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=21
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	27	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	47
2	4	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	43
3	15	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	41
4	31	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	41
5	28	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	39
6	9	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	38
7	17	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	37
8	19	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	36
9	11	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	35
10	5	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	34
11	3	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	33
12	18	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	32
13	14	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	31
14	10	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	32
15	12	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	29
16	25	22	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	0
17	21	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	27
18	16	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	27
19	13	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	25
20	1	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	25
21	26	38	David Gilliland	Ford	23
22	23	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	22
23	7	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	22
24	24	10	David Reutimann	Chevrolet	20
25	37	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	19
26	22	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	18
27	39	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	17
28	32	34	David Ragan	Ford	16
29	2	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	16
30	6	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	15
31	41	32	Jason White	Ford	0
32	8	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	13
33	20	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	11
34	36	30	David Stremme	Toyota	10
35	29	13	Casey Mears	Ford	9
36	38	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	0
37	34	26	Josh Wise *	Ford	7
38	42	36	Tony Raines	Chevrolet	6
39	30	119	Mike Bliss	Toyota	0
40	35	37	J.J. Yeley	Chevrolet	4
41	43	98	Mike Skinner	Ford	0
42	40	191	Reed Sorenson	Ford	0
43	33	23	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	1

August 5, 2012

NASCAR Athletes In An Olympic State of Mind

[media-credit name=”Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”232″][/media-credit]While NASCAR’s elite get set to race in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, many of them are keeping one eye across the pond in London for the Olympic games.

“I love the Olympics, all the aspects of it,” Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford, said. “It is so fun to watch.”

“From the swimming to the gymnastics, all of that,” Biffle continued. “I haven’t seen much more than that right now but I really enjoy that and it is a lot of fun to watch.”

Teammate Matt Kenseth concurs with the Biff’s take on the Olympic festivities. But in the case of the driver of the No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fusion, the family is watching just a bit more than he has been.

“I have been watching a little bit,” Kenseth said. “My wife has been watching a lot.”

“I am not really into the swimming and some of the gymnastics and all that stuff,” Kenseth continued. “Probably the running and the beach volleyball is pretty fun to watch.”

“I got to meet Kerri Walsh a few years ago at the Super Bowl, so we were watching her play the other night,” Kenseth said. “Some of that stuff is fun to watch.”

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet, enjoys the Olympics, however, seems a bit puzzled by some of it.

“I was watching the other morning and I didn’t know trampolines were,” Harvick said. “I didn’t know that was an Olympic sport.”

“Whatever the case, it gets the whole world together to see who is the best at each individual sport.” Harvick continued. “It is fun to watch on root on your country.”

Carl Edwards has been watching, however, he recognizes that in spite of his intensive training, he most likely never could compete in the games.

“I have been watching the Olympics and thought ‘I could do that’ for like one second,” the driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford said. “The closest thing I have done is the Race of Champions.”

“I don’t know if the world is ready for a bunch of race car drivers in the Olympics,” Edwards continued. “I don’t know if Bob Costas could explain some of the things we would do or say.”

Edwards does, however, have a somewhat personal connection to the games. His trainer Dean Golich is at the Olympics, having trained several members of team USA.

“My trainer from Carmichael Training Systems is at the Olympics with some athletes he trains,” Edwards said. “To have everything culminate from four years of work to one floor exercise or one time trial on a bike or a 100 meter race in a pool, I can’t imagine the amount of pressure that would be.”

“We get to do this 38 times a year and it is still a lot of pressure,” Edwards continued. “That would be very difficult.”

“I have a lot of respect for those athletes.”

So as the best of the NASCAR drivers have been watching from across the pond, is there one Olympic game in which they would fancy themselves competing?

“I don’t know what I would be good at,” Biffle said. “I’ll have to think about that one.”

“Probably none of them because I am not talented enough to keep up in any of them,” Kenseth said. “If I was an Olympic athlete I would still like to do this, but I would be doing something else.”

“I think the best I can do is watch.”

“I don’t even know them all,” Harvick said of the various Olympic venues. “I was reading there were 300 and some medals that they hand out during the Olympic games.”

“Obviously, if I didn’t know trampolining was a sport, I would have to do a little research and find out which one I think I might be capable of,” Harvick continued. “I think I’m too old to do pretty much anything in the Olympics it seems anyway.”

“I can tell you what sports that it wouldn’t be,” Edwards said. “I need a race car out there to jump off to do any gymnastics.”

“It is amazing.”

As the Olympics continue from across the globe, the best of the drivers in stock car racing will be competing at Pocono Raceway, better known as the ‘Tricky Triangle.’ And, just like their team USA counterparts, every one of them will be dreaming of their own ‘gold medal’ come Sunday in Victory Lane.

August 3, 2012
Surprising and Not Surprising: Brickyard 400

[media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”254″][/media-credit]At one of the most storied tracks on not just the NASCAR schedule but the motor sports circuit overall, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 19^th Annual Crown Royal Presents the Curtiss Shaver 400 at the Brickyard.

Surprising: It was surprising that the emerging points leader after the race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway enhanced his proud team owner’s sleep habits.

Hendrick Motor Sports principal Rick Hendrick had just one thing to say about his driver, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who assumed the coveted lead by 14 points after a fourth place finish at the Brickyard.

“I will be able to sleep better tonight,” Mr. H. said simply after the race. His HMS driver has not led the point standings since September of 2004 after the race at New Hampshire.

Junior echoed his team owner’s sentiments of pride, while reiterating that he not only wants, but needs more wins to keep that top spot.

“I’m proud of that because it says a lot about our body of work,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. “I have felt that way about our position in points all season long.”

“But we need to win more races,” Junior continued. “If we want to win the championship, we have to.”

“We’d like to step it up just a little bit more.”

Not Surprising: While making history with his fourth Brickyard win and tying teammate Jeff Gordon and idols Al Unser, A.J. Foyt and Rick Mears for four victories, it was not surprising to see this driver’s little girl Genevieve steal the show during the post-race ceremonies.

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, simply could not convince his daughter to kiss those hot, gritty bricks in spite of his intense coaxing.

“I don’t really think she knew what was going on,” Johnson said. “The asphalt was pretty hot, so she got her hands down on it and I think that scared her.”

“She’s a very cautious girl and that is going against everything we’re trying to teach her,” Johnson continued. “She just wasn’t in to it.”

Surprising: It was most surprising that the second place finisher was so ecstatic about his finish that he wanted to do his own ‘victory’ burnout after the race.

Kyle Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota, posted his career best finish at the Brickyard and his best finish of the season since his third place finish at Charlotte in May.

“It feels so good to actually run well and finish well,” Busch said. “We’ve been needed to do this for so long.”

“It felt like a win to us,” Busch continued. “I wanted to do a burnout, but I’ll save that for when we really do collect the checkered flag.”

Not Surprising: Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford, proved one NASCAR adage true, that loose is fast. Biff came in third, his sixth top-10 finish in ten races at Indy.

“We were pretty loose all day long,” Biffle said. “It was unfortunate we were that free and we couldn’t fix it.”

“We were too loose to get it done so we came in third.”

Surprising: With a great qualifying run, an outside pole starting position and a brand new crew chief in Chad Norris on the box, it looked like nothing could derail Carl Edwards from finally pulling out a decent finish and a good day in the points race for the Chase.

But a surprising mechanical problem forced the driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford to go laps down early in the race and finish 29th.

“We didn’t know what was wrong with the engine and we were kind of points racing but also racing for the win,” Edwards said. “We stayed out there with seven cylinders or so and then got caught up on pit road again and went another lap down.”

“That was pretty much the death knell for the whole thing.”

Not Surprising: As is so often the case, being at the back of the pack leads to trouble. And that’s just what Matt Kenseth experienced on lap 134 when Joey Logano lost control, slid into Trevor Bayne, Bobby Labonte and ultimately Kenseth.

“The farther that we went back, the dumber people drove,” Kenseth said after exiting his fiery No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford. “You could see it was just a matter of time before the wreck happened.”

Kenseth finished the race in the 35^th position and, not surprisingly as a result, fell to second in the point standings.

Surprising: Jeff Gordon surprisingly has not posted a top-3 finish in his last 23 races and he continued the longest stretch of his career in that mode with a fifth place finish at Indy.

“I’m pretty disappointed really,” the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet said. “It’s always nice to finish in the top five but at this point in the season, I feel like it was a little bit of a missed opportunity.”

Not Surprising: So much uncertainty continued to reign for the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Penske race team, even at the Brickyard. Although Sam Hornish, Jr. was still behind the wheel, finishing 16^th, the cloud of the A.J. Allmendinger indefinite suspension for the failed drug test continued to hang over the proceedings.

“There are so many questions,” Roger Penske, team owner said after the drivers’ meeting at Indy. “Our phone is ringing off the hook with people who are interested in the ride in the No. 22.”

Penske has since made the decision to release Allmendinger as their driver and have named Hornish Jr. the driver for the remainder of the 2012 season.

Surprising: Only one driver could compare the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway to a junk yard but Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Jimmy Johns Chevrolet, did just that, at least when it came to his 13^th place car.

“We were junk all weekend,” Harvick said. “No matter if we were turning left or going straight.”

“That pretty much summed up today.”

Not Surprising: Stewart Haas racers Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman showed their Midwestern pride by scoring top-10 finishes at the Brickyard.

Stewart, who qualified his No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot in the 28^th position, rallied to finish tenth and teammate Newman, in the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet, finished seventh.

“We just were a little bit tight in the center of the corner and that’s kind of what we fought all day,” Smoke said. “So, I was proud of the gains we made.”

“I’m from the Midwest and so is Quicken Loans so it was nice to get a top-10 finish,” Newman said. “We just didn’t have quite the speed we needed.”

This was Newman’s sixth top-10 finish of the season and his second top-10 finish in 12 starts at the Brickyard.

The Cup Series will next take on the ‘Tricky Triangle’ at Pocono Raceway.

August 1, 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