Tag: Greg Biffle

NASCAR Mixes Chase, Charity and Gout Awareness at Charlotte

This weekend marks the midway point of NASCAR’s closest yet Chase for the championship, with just eight drivers within 20 points of the top of the leader board. Yet in the midst of the Chase, charity has also been a major theme at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the race weekend.

[media-credit name=”goutpitstop.com” align=”alignright” width=”223″][/media-credit]The major charitable focus, as expected in the month of October, has been for breast cancer awareness. Almost all of the race cars have been adorned with some sort of pink accents, from the recognizable pink ribbon logos, to pink lanyards and gloves worn by the NASCAR officials.

“Breast cancer awareness month is one of those unique opportunities in which the NASCAR industry and NASCAR fans rally together for such a special and important cause,” Sandy Marshall, executive director of The NASCAR Foundation, said. “Each year the program gets bigger.”

Other charities featured in the Chase race weekend at Charlotte include the USO on Clint Bowyer’s No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevy, as well as the No. 16 machine of Greg Biffle sporting a paint scheme for the 3M/Give Kids a Smile effort.

The most unique charitable initiative, however, is one led by Kevin ‘Bono’ Manion, crew chief for the No. 1 Bass Pro Shop/Arctic Cat Chevrolet driven by Jamie McMurray. Manion has been leading the charge for a new gout awareness campaign in conjunction with the Men’s Health Network and Takeda.

Manion suffers from gout, a form of arthritis that affects over 8.3 million people in the United States. It is often misunderstood as a disease afflicting those who are rich who indulge in too much food and alcohol.

“It’s an educational campaign to bring awareness to anyone suffering from gout,” Manion said. “I’ve had it for about ten years and for awhile I didn’t know what it was.”

“I suffered a lot until the pain got so unbearable that you couldn’t sleep because the sheets couldn’t touch your foot,” Manion continued. “I’ve heard of gout before but always thought of somebody that drank a lot or that it was a rich man’s disease.”

“I’m basically trying to get the word out there and to let others know that they are not alone.”

Manion has partnered in the awareness campaign with Men’s Health Network and Takeda. His participation as a spokesperson has not only helped to educate himself about the disease but also to reach others who may be suffering.

One of the biggest issues related to gout is the shock of receiving the diagnosis, particularly due to the stigma and stereotyping of the illness.

“When I got my diagnosis, I was surprised for sure,” Manion said. “I’m not a heavy drinker and don’t do those things that they say trigger a flare up.”

“When I went to the doctor finally, I thought I had a broken foot or a broken toe,” Manion continued. “I went to get X-rayed and they told me that I had gout instead.”

“It was surprising but you wouldn’t believe the people that I’ve met who are suffering too.”

Manion has learned many lessons after being diagnosed with gout. Other than having some occasional pain climbing up the ladder to the top of the pit box or running around on race weekend, he has been able to manage his symptoms.

“What I’ve learned is that you have to take care of yourself,” Manion said. “Like your race car, you’ve got to take care of your body”.

“As we get older, things change and for me I hopefully have not done any damage by not taking care of myself,” Manion continued. “Everyone’s different.”

“There’s surely ways to manage through medication, exercise and watching your diet,” Manion said. “But it’s basically being cautious of what’s going on.”

This weekend, Manion has spent time in the Fan Zone sharing his experience and educating race fans on this illness.

“A lot of people I’ve met haven’t been to the doctor so encouraging people to see their health care provider to get checked out,” Manion said. “We have information at the ‘Gout Pit Stop’ booth and people can also visit the website www.goutpitstop.com for more information as well.”

While Manion and many of the other drivers and teams in the sport focus on charitable endeavors throughout the race weekend, they have just one other goal in common. All want to chase the win in the Bank of America 500.

“Our goal is to win the race,” Manion said simply. “We have a great record and Jamie loves this place. We have a win here so with a 500 mile race, we hope to have a good car for the long haul.”

October 15, 2011
Surprising and Not Surprising: Kansas Hollywood Casino 400

With the wind whipping as is so typical in the land of Toto and Aunty Em, the fourth race in the Chase, the 11^th Annual Hollywood Casino 400, was run at the 1.5 mile paved tri-oval that is Kansas Speedway. Here is what was surprising and not so surprising from the 267 laps, 400.5 mile race.

[media-credit id=2 align=”alignright” width=”231″][/media-credit]Surprising: It has been a bit surprising just how much the race winner has seemingly been toying with not only the media, but the race fans. At the beginning of the Chase, five-time champion Jimmie Johnson had fallen from eighth to tenth in the point standings, particularly due to his 18^th place finish at Loudon.

At that point, many media pundits had begun to write off the chances for a sixth consecutive championship, especially since the tension seemed to be mounting between the driver of the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet and his crew chief Chad Knaus.

Yet Jimmie Johnson again proved that he still has what it takes by scoring his 55^th career victory and his 20^th career victory in the Chase, the latter being the most ever, tying him with Rusty Wallace for eighth on the all-time wins list.

And, yes, ‘old five time’ has yet again made his way toward the top of the leader board, up two positions to third, just four points out of the coveted top spot.

“I told you not to count him out,” Hendrick Motorsport teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr. said. “I think the media made a big deal out of the runs he was having and they were a long ways out of the lead in the points.”

“But that’s a great race team,” Junior continued. “You don’t win five in a row on luck, you know? You don’t just trip over the championship trophy; you do it because you’re great.”

“And they’ll win the championship this year if anybody doesn’t get going.”

Not Surprising: Although most often it is the female fan base flirting with this driver, Kasey Kahne, behind the wheel of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota for the remaining races of the season before heading to Hendrick Motorsports next year, continues to flirt with a race win.

To no one’s surprise, Kahne finished second, scoring his third top-10 finish in nine races at Kansas, as well as his 10^th top-10 finish in 2011.

“The biggest thing to me would be to leave on a good note,” Kahne said. “There are a lot of people there working really hard and unsure about maybe their future and where they’re going to work next year, and they’re still putting everything they have into our race cars each week.”

“That’s pretty awesome on their part.”

Surprising: In addition to the wind, there was also a good deal of smoke, of all sorts, in Kansas City. The driver known as ‘Smoke’, was instead the cause of some, smoking his tires on a pit stop, causing him to not only slide wildly through his box but also lose eight positions on the track.

Tony Stewart, piloting his No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, finished the race in the 15^th position and fell four positions to seventh in the Chase standings.

‘Smoke’ immediately admitted his error, telling his team that his foot had accidentally hit the accelerator when he was trying to brake. But the uncharacteristic error caused the driver to come out as the last car on the lead lap, relegating him to a less-than-stellar finish.

Another surprising bit of smoke at Kansas was the one that erupted on lap 265 when four-time champ Jeff Gordon’s engine expired. The driver of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet, who looked strong all race long, finished 34^th, dropping him to tenth in the point standings, 47 points out of first.

“I started seeing smoke inside the car,” Gordon said. “We had a really bad restart and got shuffled back.”

“Our day was pretty much over and we were going to finish maybe 15^th or something,” Gordon continued. “I started to smell burning oil and saw the oil temp start to come up.”

“I felt like it was just a matter of time before it blew up.”

Not Surprising: Although actually gaining one position in the point standings, from tenth to ninth, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., driver of the HMS No. 88 National Guard/Amp Energy Chevrolet, to no one’s surprise now seems to be focusing more on race wins than a championship.

“I just want to win a race,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It’s a goal of mine right now to just go out there and win.”

“Man, if we could do that, that would really, no matter what happened in the Chase, I think we’d be real happy with our season.”

Surprising: While loose and tight are most often descriptors for action on the track, it is surprising that those words also apply to Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch.

On one hand, the driver of the No. 2 Blue Deuce seems to be looser than loose, finishing third in the Kansas race. This was Keselowski’s second top-10 finish in four races at Kansas Speedway.

And that top-5 finish moved the driver up two spots to fourth in the Chase, just eleven points behind the leader.

“This year, it seems like as a group, we’re just clicking,” Keselowski said. “We’re doing a good job of maximizing our day and taking care of everything that’s in our control.”

“I’m really proud of our team for doing that.”

On the flip side, Keselowski’s teammate Kurt Busch just seems tight, tight, tight behind the wheel of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Dodge. Busch managed to finish 13^th, but still lost two spots in the Chase standings to the sixth position.

“We got behind in qualifying and had to start 17^th,” Busch said. “We ran from 15^th to 20^th most of the day and caught a break; we got the lucky dog to get back on the lead lap.”

“We were still a top-10 car when the green-white-checker came out but just couldn’t hold on to a top 10,” Busch continued. “The fresher tires got us.”

Not Surprising: There were at least two ‘come back kids’ that surprised no one. The first was the driver of the No. 99 Alfac Ford, Carl Edwards, who rallied from a too-aggressive set up prior to the race, relegating him to needing to be the ‘lucky dog’ to finish fifth.

With that top-five finish, Edwards scored the points lead, just one point over second place Kevin Harvick.

“I cannot believe we finished fifth,” Edwards said. “It feels like a win.”

“That’s the best we’ve done with the worst,” Edwards continued. “I just cannot believe from the way the day started to finish like that is spectacular.”

The other ‘comeback kid’ was Greg Biffle. Although not in the Chase, the driver of the No. 16 Sherwin-Williams Ford and pole sitter for the race, rallied back from a pit road speeding penalty to finish eighth.

“Our car wasn’t that good,” Biffle said. “I don’t know what happened with the speeding on pit road.”

“That was stupid,” Biffle said. “My car just wasn’t that good in traffic, which is where I got hurt there at the end.”

Surprising: There was a surprising rash of drivers missing driver introductions prior to the Hollywood Casino 400. A.J. Allmendinger, David Reutimann and Reed Sorenson all had to move to the back of the field for the start of the race due to their absence at the pre-race intros.

Allmendinger, driver of the No. 43 Best Buy Ford, finished the best of the group at 25^th. Reutimann, behind the wheel of the No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota, finished 35^th and Sorenson, who had lost his Turner Motorsports Nationwide ride, finished 38^th in his No. 7 SPEED Energy/MAPEI/Menards Dodge Cup ride.

Not Surprising: With his career decided, it was not surprising that the driver of the No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing finished top-10. Prior to the race festivities, Bowyer confirmed that he will move in 2012 to the Michael Waltrip Racing stables.

“All in all, it wasn’t a bad day,” Bowyer said. “That’s the last time I’ll be able to run here with these cars.”

“Hopefully, we’ll get one next time.”

Surprising: Hendrick Motorsports is surprisingly close to scoring a record of its own thanks to driver Johnson taking the checkered flag. HMS is just shy of their 200^th win, which would put them squarely behind Richard Petty Motorsports with 268 all-time wins.

Not Surprising: To no one’s surprise, again thanks to Johnson’s win, Chevrolet clinched their 35^th Cup manufacturer’s championship, assuming a Chevrolet will start each of the final six races.

October 10, 2011
Matty’s Picks Vol. 21 – Kansas – Hollywood Casino 400 – October 9, 2011

“We’re not in Kansas anymore Toto”

I figured I would add some kind of excitement to this week’s race by using a famous movie quote to break the ice in this week’s column.

There were 17, uneventful lead changes among 9 drivers during the STP 400 earlier this year at Kansas Speedway, a race that I chose to watch the back of my eyelids rather than the on-track activities. According to this week’s media advance from NASCAR, Kansas Speedway was Brad Keselowski’s coming out party, winning there in June during the series’ first trip to the 1.5-mile track.

[media-credit name=”Kansasspeedway.com” align=”alignright” width=”250″][/media-credit]Apparently, I missed Keselowski’s run to the front in June, as he was only shown in the top spot for the last 9 laps, the only laps he lead all day. Keselowski’s run to the front started around lap 165, after the 5th and final caution flag flew during the STP 400. The final 102 laps would be run under green-flag conditions and Keselowski would go on to win by a margin of 2.813 seconds over second-place finisher Dale Earnhardt Jr.

My picks for June’s race at Kansas Speedway were Jeff Gordon as my Winner Pick and A.J. Allmendinger for my Dark Horse. Gordon finished 4th, and Allmendinger flirted with a Top-15 for the majority of the race, but failed in the fuel-mileage game and ended up finishing 26th.

I can’t say that I’m overly-excited for the race on Sunday, partly due to the fact that it’s almost guaranteed that that race will come down to fuel-mileage in the end. I AM excited for the second-half of The Chase to start, and to finally visit some tracks that will keep me awake on Sunday Afternoon.

Dover Recap

There was no place to go for me but up after my performance two weeks ago at New Hampshire. I had my worst combined total finishes two weeks ago with a 25th and 26th-place finish for my picks. I half-rebounded last week at Dover, scoring a top-5 for my winner pick.

Let’s start with the bad news this week.

Greg Biffle was my Dark Horse pick last week at the Monster Mile after an intense look at his statistics prior to last week’s AAA 400. In the prior 5 races at the Monster Mile, Biffle’s finishes were: 19th, 6th, 19th, 3rd, and 16th. In the 5 races prior to the start of the 2009 season, Biffle’s finishes were: 1st, 3rd, 6th, 2nd, and 8th.

After getting off to a solid start it appeared that Greg Biffle was headed for a top-10 finish in Dover today. He was running seventh when the field restarted on lap 358 following a caution but lost control of his 3M Cubitron II Ford three laps later and made contact with the inside wall. Biffle brought the car to pit road for repairs but went two laps down in the process. When the checkered flag dropped Biffle was in the 27th position. He dropped one spot in the points to 15th.

“We had a fast car from the start,” said Biffle. “The guys worked hard in the pits all day and we should have had a top-10 finish at the least. We had a pit road penalty early on and were able to bounce back from that but we were just too loose on that last run.”

My winner pick faired a lot better than Biffle last week, finishing in the runner-up spot. Spinning his tires on the final restart might have cost Jimmie Johnson his seventh victory at Dover International Speedway, but it didn’t hurt his run for a sixth straight NASCAR Sprint Cup championship.

Johnson had led a race-high 157 laps coming into the final restart at Dover’s one-mile concrete oval. He lined up on the front row with Kurt Busch and spun the tires slightly, giving Busch the edge. Johnson crossed the finish line second, improving five spots in the championship standings to fifth.

Johnson spoke of his troubles on the final restart following the AAA 400 last Sunday “I just got a poor restart when I was the leader, and for the last restart, I didn’t get a good one again,” Johnson said. “I couldn’t race (Busch) through Turns 1 and 2. The cars were very equal. We saw that.”

I look to parlay my half-rebound last week at Dover into full-on success this weekend at Kansas.

Kansas Picks

Chevrolet has claimed 6 victories in the 10 Hollywood Casino 400’s, the most of any other manufacturer, but Chevy hasn’t seen Victory Lane at Kansas since October of 2009. Chevy’s recent lack of success has me looking at a Dodge and a Ford on Sunday.

Winner Pick

Due to his success at Kansas in June, and his lack of success in The Chase thus far, Brad Keselowski is receiving my Winner Pick this week. Even though he led just 9 laps en route to his victory at Kansas in June, his teammate Kurt Busch led a race-high 4 times for 152 laps.

Busch’s soaked up Penske Racing’s pool of luck last week at Dover, and I think its Brad’s turn to hit the spotlight this weekend. He raced his way into the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup in dramatic fashion, but has failed to reach Victory Lane since his win at Bristol in late-August.

Keselowski is ready to put his name back in the discussion for the Driver’s Championship this year and I say he is the favorite to win on Sunday. “We do want to send a message this weekend that we are going to fight to the finish,” Keselowski said.

At this point in the season, Keselowski is looking to rebound from a disappointing power-steering issue and 20th place finish last week, and put his name back in the mix to take home the Sprint Cup.

Dark Horse Pick

David Ragan will be making his 175th Career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start this weekend at Kansas Speedway. Sticking with my trend of not picking a Chase driver for my Dark Horse pick, I think Ragan stands the best shot of bringing home a Top-5 out of all non-chasers this weekend.

His past finishes at Kansas are less than impressive but Ragan and his Crew Chief, Drew Blickensderfer seem to have the fuel mileage game down to a science. In the prior two races decided by gas (Geico 400 at Chicagoland and Sylvania 300 at Loudon), Ragan finished 11th and 7th respectively.

Ragan has five prior Sprint Cup starts at Kansas Speedway. With those five starts, Ragan has an average starting position of 16.8 and finishing position of 17.6.

Ragan said earlier this week “We always look to improve at tracks from the first event there and Kansas is a track that really fits our program. Our engines run well there and our cars are fast. Drew and I are going to work hard to try and grab another win for our UPS team.”

He will be piloting the car that finished 13th at Kansas Speedway earlier this year, and I think Ragan is a driver ready to pounce on the chances of playing spoiler on Sunday.

That’s all for this week, stay tuned next week as I make my first trip to Charlotte Motor Speedway with SpeedwayMedia.com editor, Ed Coombs and Photo Journalist, Brad Keppel. I look forward to an exciting week next week, so be sure to stay tuned for live updates on my trip on Twitter @ML_B_Lo.

Until Next Week…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

October 7, 2011

Biffle takes the Hollywood Casino 400 pole at Kansas

Qualifying at Kansas took place under cool and cloudy conditions with wind gusts that reached up to 25 mph. At the end of qualifying, Greg Biffle’s Sherwin Williams Ford from Roush Fenway Racing was sitting on the pole with a lap of 174.887 MPH. His teammate Carl Edwards will start outside the front row in the Aflac Ford.

[media-credit id=2 align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]“Well, it was a really good lap. I think what I really would rather talk about is how slow we were when we unloaded off the truck. It was quite amazing. We were 35th or 37th when we unloaded off the truck today.” Biffle said. “We made about six qualifying runs and the last one was pretty dang good and they changed a bunch more stuff on it for the real one. The car was really good.”

The pole for the Hollywood Casino 400 was the 8th of Biffle’s career and his best start in 11 tries at the mile and a half track.

Edwards commented he had never started this far up at Kansas so he was excited. Edwards said “How you qualify is not indicative of how you are going to run in the race.” But he stated that he was excited to be starting so far up in the field.

It is Roush Fenway’s eighth Sprint Cup pole in 2011, with all four of the team’s Cup drivers having won multiple poles this season. It also marked Roush Fenway’s second Sprint Cup pole at Kansas and its first since 2005.

Kyle Busch who starts 3rd tomorrow stated that he hoped to have a much better race than he had last time here at Kansas. He also stated that he was happy to see Clint Bowyer added to the Toyota family.

“We were looking for a little bit more than that, but certainly the pace is a little bit slower than we expected qualifying to be. So far so good. We’ve dodged a couple bullets. The M&M’s Camry unloaded good.” Busch said.

Austin Dillon qualified 26th to make his first start in the Sprint Cup Series.

“Thinking about it going up there, I wasn’t nervous all the way up until it was time to go. And then it’s just like you think of every little thing that could go wrong. We were fast enough in practice to get in really fast. That time we actually picked up some more speed, but I think if I would have calmed down a little bit it would have helped my lap.” Dillon said.

The field is separated by only 0.86 of a second.

Starting Lineup
Hollywood Casino 400, Kansas Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=30
===========================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===========================================
1	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	174.887	30.877
2	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	174.571	30.933
3	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	174.447	30.955
4	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	174.436	30.957
5	4	Kasey Kahne	Toyota	174.413	30.961
6	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	174.317	30.978
7	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	174.222	30.995
8	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	174.126	31.012
9	5	Mark Martin	Chevrolet	174.092	31.018
10	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	174.048	31.026
11	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	174.031	31.029
12	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	174.02	31.031
13	6	David Ragan	Ford	173.863	31.059
14	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	173.617	31.103
15	83	Brian Vickers	Toyota	173.605	31.105
16	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	173.527	31.119
17	22	Kurt Busch	Dodge	173.327	31.155
18	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	173.238	31.171
19	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	173.182	31.181
20	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	173.171	31.183
21	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	173.066	31.202
22	43	A.J. Allmendinger	Ford	172.944	31.224
23	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	172.933	31.226
24	33	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	172.889	31.234
25	46	Scott Speed	Ford	172.866	31.238
26	198	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	172.723	31.264
27	0	David Reutimann	Toyota	172.607	31.285
28	55	J.J. Yeley	Ford	172.568	31.292
29	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	172.535	31.298
30	34	David Gilliland	Ford	172.43	31.317
31	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	172.397	31.323
32	30	David Stremme	Chevrolet	172.177	31.363
33	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	172.161	31.366
34	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	171.936	31.407
35	71	Andy Lally*	Ford	171.86	31.421
36	38	Travis Kvapil	Ford	171.521	31.483
37	13	Casey Mears	Toyota	171.429	31.5
38	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	170.989	31.581
39	7	Reed Sorenson	Dodge	170.837	31.609
40	66	Michael McDowell	Toyota	170.53	31.666
41	51	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	170.482	31.675
42	32	Mike Bliss+	Ford	170.132	31.74
43	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	170.148	31.737

October 7, 2011

Matty’s Picks Vol. 20 – Dover – AAA 400 – October 2, 2011

The Monster-Mile! Dover International Speedway is one of my favorite tracks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule, so yes I will watch the race this Sunday for the first time in three weeks.

[media-credit name=”doverspeedway.com” align=”alignright” width=”254″][/media-credit]A short 6-hour trek from where I grew up, Dover has been a popular destination for vacations of my family and friends. Dover’s high concrete banking offers endless passing potential, high speeds, and even a spot to pay for your trip in the casino located along the backstretch of the 1-mile concrete oval.

I was lucky enough, two years ago, to have the opportunity to ride shotgun in a two-seater, NASCAR Stock Car around the high-banks of Dover International Speedway. Monster Driving School offered members of the media complementary rides in the two-seater stock cars at the Monster Mile, and in turn gave me the utmost respect for stock car drivers. The experience is one that I will never forget and made my interest level in NASCAR go from insane to outright ridiculous.

Now for anyone out there that thinks the 43 guys that strap into the 750-horsepower stock cars each week are not actual athletes, THINK AGAIN. I had the opportunity to take 8-laps around the Monster Mile, and I will tell you I had all I could do to walk straight when I climbed out of the car. The exuberant amount of adrenaline I had flowing through my veins that day was the only thing aiding my head to stay straight and remotely close to my body. I have the utmost respect for those guys now after just 8-laps, I can’t fathom the physical strain 3.5 hours of petal to the metal action puts on a driver’s body.

So if you’re one of those people who think NASCAR isn’t a sport, I challenge you to climb into one of those 750-horsepower stock cars and THEN see what you think.

Loudon Recap

If I had fifty-cents for every time one of my picks ran out of gas in the past two weeks, I would have enough for one double cheeseburger at McDonalds. (My roommates’ favorite snack in college)

It was another terrible week for me in New England last week (even though I got my revenge by my Bills taking it to Tom Brady and the Patriots last week), marking my worst combined total finish in the 19 editions of Matty’s Picks.

Ryan Newman was my winner pick last week, and yes I did make the pick before the dramatic qualifying session that ensued last week, resulting with Newman starting on the pole for last Sunday’s Sylvania 300.

Newman led the following 62 laps, when a miscue on pit-road sent him back in the field, never to reach the lead again. The bad news continued to roll in for Newman when he cut a tire down late in the race while running in the top-10 with just five laps remaining. The catastrophe cost Newman an imminent top-10 finish, and a boost in the points standings as well. Instead, the misfortune caused Newman to drop from 8th to 12th in points.

Newman spoke earlier this week about his misfortune in the first two races of The Chase “The results have not equaled the performances for our team at the past two races,” said Newman. “We’ve put ourselves in a hole, but the good news is that we still have eight races to go to make up the difference. We’ve been known for our comebacks and the way we fight through adversity. One thing you always hear from our Soldiers is that you never quit and you complete the mission. That’s what this Army race team has done and will always continue to do.”

As for my Dark Horse pick, Clint Bowyer was poised to win the race Sunday but his gas tank did not agree with him winning the race.

After starting 11th, Bowyer wasted no time in breaking into the top 10 and was shown in 8th-place around the midway point in the race. It was at that time when crew chief Shane Wilson came over the radio and told Bowyer to save as much fuel as he could for the end of the race.

Bowyer flexed his muscles after a round of pit-stops near lap 250 when he took the lead, conserving fuel all the way. He was ahead of race-winner Tony Stewart by half a second when his engine was finally starved of fuel with just three laps remaining. Bowyer’s day ended on pit-road with a 26th-place result and he was short when speaking with the media following the race “It’s just not our year. I’m proud of this team. What a great car. It just didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to.”

Even Stewart had sympathy for fellow Chevy driver Clint Bowyer following his win last Sunday “I know exactly what that feels like. I know exactly how he feels (Clint Bowyer) right now. I saw him slow down the back and I thought ‘Oh, no, you’re kiddin’ me’. That is not the way you want to win it for sure.”

Dover Picks

The spring race at Dover back in May marked the debut of Matty’s Picks, and laid the groundwork for a successful regular season of picks this year. I am looking to rebound off the past two weeks of miserable picks and get back into championship contention down the stretch here in the final 8 editions of Matty’s Picks.

Considering five drivers (Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, and Matt Kenseth) have combined to win 15 of the last 19 races at the Monster Mile, it leaves little for question this week.

Winner Pick

Jimmie Johnson sits 10th in points going into Sunday’s race, a position he is fairly unfamiliar with this far into the Sprint Cup Schedule.

He leads all active drivers with 6 wins at the Monster Mile, including three of the last five after sweeping both races in 2009 and taking the fall race last year in Dover. The concrete mile has been kind to Johnson throughout the years (something that doesn’t always happen when your tires break loose due to the severe banking all around the track), making one of the most incredible saves in NASCAR history back in his 2006 qualifying efforts.

Johnson has an average finish of 9.6 at Dover, and sitting 10th in points is nowhere he wants to be for any period of time. “New Hampshire obviously wasn’t the finish we were looking for especially with how good we were throughout the weekend. I’m really looking forward to this weekend though. Dover has always been a good place for the 48 team and I really enjoy racing there. I’m not really sure why, but it has always just kind of suited my driving style” said the five-time champ earlier this week about his chances this weekend.

Jimmie Johnson’s quest for 6 in a row is underway, and now the time to make his statement, a win will do it.

Dark Horse Pick

Since the other four drivers are in The Chase that are a part of the statistic above pertaining to the past 19-races at Dover, I have to go with the only driver without a shot at claiming the Sprint Cup this year.

Greg Biffle’s trends at Dover have been rather interesting to look at this afternoon. It seems like he is more back and forth than a ping-pong match. In the past 5 races at the Monster Mile, Biffle’s finishes have been: 19th, 6th, 19th, 3rd, and 16th. In the 5 races prior to the start of the 2009 season, Biffle’s finishes were: 1st, 3rd, 6th, 2nd, and 8th.

Now, Biffle is not in the Chase, but is a serious contender to take the checkered this Sunday. His average career finish across 18 races is 11.4 and he currently sits 13th on the speed charts in Sprint Cup Final practice.

The Biff is also coming of an impressive third-place finish last week at Loudon, and sits just three points out of the top Non-Chaser points in 14th. Biff spoke about his success at Dover this week “I’ve had some success at Dover and it would be great to get the 3M Ford Fusion in victory lane there this weekend. It’s been a pretty up and down season for us so far but I feel like we’re moving in the right direction. A win would definitely keep the momentum going though. As a driver, you have to be on your toes in Dover. You want your car to be a little loose but at the same time, it can’t be too loose. I have high expectations for this weekend.”

That’s all for this week as I look forward to watching my first Chase race this season on Sunday afternoon because my Buffalo Bills are on the road this week in Cincinnati.

Until next time…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

September 30, 2011

Ryan Newman’s Loudon Love Affair Continues with Pole Run

In spite of the rain drops that yet again delayed action on the track, Ryan Newman continued his love affair with the ‘Magic Mile’, scoring a record-setting sixth pole.

[media-credit name=”Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Newman, behind the wheel of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet, turned a lap of 28.213 seconds and a speed of 135.002 mph.

This was Newman’s third pole in 2011 and his 59^th career pole, tying him for ninth all-time with Bobby Isaac, Hall of Fame Nominee. In spite of it being a personal career pole best, it was the drama of it all that most impressed Newman.

“In general, I don’t think I’ve seen that kind of drama going into the last five cars qualifying in my ten or eleven years of experience,” Newman said. “It’s kind of a tough situation, one hand you’re thinking other guys had to qualify in the sprinkles.”

“My track was dry,” Newman continued. “I don’t know if it was any faster. I think we picked up the same speed as the other guys did earlier in qualifying.”

The drama particularly played out with five-time champion Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet, who started his qualifying run but then pulled off the track, only to be resoundly booed and heckled by the crowd, who were desperate for the completion of qualifying.

“Some of them did and some of them didn’t go out, but in the end we’re supposed to have dry track conditions or at least not be raining when we go out on the race track,” Newman said. “So, I understand where Jimmie (Johnson) came from when he pulled in.”

“I’m just really proud of my team,” Newman said. “We backed up what we did here at least on Friday from the spring race and give the Haas Automation a good starting spot.”

The Red Bull teammates of Kasey Kahne, behind the wheel of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, and Brian Vickers, driving the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, were also part of the drama that played out in Loudon qualifying.

Vickers went out prior to the rain drops falling, where Kahne had to cool his heels with the five remaining cars awaiting the drying of the track. In the end, Kahne still scored the outside pole, while Vickers lost the provisional pole, falling to the third spot.

“Obviously the conditions were tough,” Vickers said. “I would have liked to have seen it play out just running straight through.”

“It is what it is,” Vickers continued. “Either way we started out better than we would have.”

“We ended up with a top-three start,” Vickers said. “So, that’s great and both Red Bull cars are up front.”

“But again, I would have liked to have seen our laps hold if we were heads up in the same position.”

Outside pole sitter Kasey Kahne was second quickest when he finally got to qualify, with a lap of 28.263 seconds and a speed of 134.763 mph.

“It was a good effort,” Kahne said. “We ended up right where we would have been if it would have ended up if it hadn’t rained.”

“The track was definitely slicker,” Kahne continued. “The way my car handled, we were definitely quicker in practice. But I’m glad we got qualifying in.”

Greg Biffle, driving the No. 16 Ford40MPG.com Ford, and Kurt Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Dodge, rounded out the top five for the 15^th annual Sylvania 300. The remainder of the top ten qualifiers were Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex, Jr. and Jimmie Johnson.

Starting Lineup
Sylvania 300, New Hampshire Motor Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=28
===========================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===========================================
1	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	135.002	28.213
2	4	Kasey Kahne	Toyota	134.763	28.263
3	83	Brian Vickers	Toyota	134.648	28.287
4	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	134.587	28.3
5	22	Kurt Busch	Dodge	134.382	28.343
6	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	134.354	28.349
7	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	134.16	28.39
8	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	134.146	28.393
9	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	134.146	28.393
10	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	134.075	28.408
11	33	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	134.056	28.412
12	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	133.981	28.428
13	43	A.J. Allmendinger	Ford	133.82	28.462
14	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	133.816	28.463
15	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	133.792	28.468
16	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	133.769	28.473
17	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	133.755	28.476
18	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	133.595	28.51
19	0	David Reutimann	Toyota	133.572	28.515
20	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	133.445	28.542
21	5	Mark Martin	Chevrolet	133.357	28.561
22	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	133.245	28.585
23	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	133.203	28.594
24	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	133.114	28.613
25	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	132.905	28.658
26	6	David Ragan	Ford	132.896	28.66
27	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	132.665	28.71
28	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	132.591	28.726
29	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	132.572	28.73
30	51	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	132.429	28.761
31	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	132.232	28.804
32	38	J.J. Yeley	Ford	132.213	28.808
33	34	David Gilliland	Ford	132.048	28.844
34	30	David Stremme	Chevrolet	131.856	28.886
35	66	Michael McDowell	Toyota	131.797	28.899
36	7	Robby Gordon	Dodge	131.352	28.997
37	13	Casey Mears	Toyota	131.293	29.01
38	55	Travis Kvapil	Ford	131.058	29.062
39	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	130.833	29.112
40	32	Mike Bliss	Ford	130.613	29.161
41	37	Josh Wise	Ford	130.55	29.175
42	71	Andy Lally+*	Ford	128.784	29.575
43	46	Scott Speed	Ford	130.305	29.23

September 23, 2011

NASCAR Pays Tribute by ‘Honoring Our Heroes’ with Special Paint Schemes and Remembrance

If there is a NASCAR race being run in Richmond, you will generally find me in the Media Center moonlighting from my “day job.” It allows me to put on a different hat for a couple of days and see the world in a completely different light. Writing about NASCAR is not only a passion, but, at times, a much needed distraction from my full-time career. I am a Paramedic with a background in firefighting. Rarely do my worlds collide, but this weekend, commemorating the tenth anniversary of 9/11 at the track, they did just that.

I listened to drivers share their personal accounts of where they were on Sept. 11, 2001. Denny Hamlin was putting an exhaust on a new car, Kurt Busch was testing in South Carolina and Ryan Newman was listening to a waterproof radio that hung from the shower head while he was bathing that morning. You can’t help but be transported right back to where each of us was that day.

I lived in Arlington, directly across from the Pentagon, I watched it all play out in real time before my eyes. Not knowing what could possibly happen next, I choked back tears as I said my “good-byes” and “I love yous” to my parents on the phone that morning. It seems almost melodramatic now but at the time I was terrified and truly unsure if I’d make it out alive. The anniversary brings back painful memories for me. It remains the worst day of my life.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”234″][/media-credit]Today in the Media Center I was reminded of loss, as Mary Siller Scullin recounted her brother’s life, a New York Firefighter who died on Sept. 11, 2001. Stephen Siller was off that day preparing for a game of golf with friends when he heard the news that the World Trade Center had been attacked. Instinctively, he grabbed his gear, threw it into his truck and made his way towards the burning towers. When he arrived at the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, it had already been closed to vehicular traffic, so Siller put his 75 pound gear on his back and ran through the tunnel to the towers to help rescue his fellow New Yorkers.

Siller lost his life when the towers collapsed leaving behind his wife, five children and five siblings to carry on his memory and share his story. The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, was started by his brother Frank to honor his fallen sibling. It is a charitable organization set up to follow in the footsteps of this true American hero.

Drivers David Gilliland, Danica Patrick, Greg Biffle, Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. joined Howard Hitchcock, Vice President of Lionel NASCAR Collectibles, to present a $125 thousand dollar check to Mary Suller Scullin, Vice President of the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation.

One of the primary missions of the Foundation is to help military members who have been seriously injured and sacrificed the quality of their lives in the line of duty. The Foundation is currently in the process of building “smart homes” for three servicemen who suffered the loss of both arms and legs during combat but lived to share their stories.

Two of the three gentlemen were on hand, US Army Specialist Brendan Marrocco and USMC Corporal Todd Nicely. Scullin earmarked the donation to be used for the construction of a customized home for Nicely. Marrocco’s home was finished in June.

“It’s not every day that you get to do something so important for America’s finest heroes on an anniversary that’s so meaningful to our country,” said Hitchcock. “I’m proud of our team, we worked extremely hard to put the Honoring Our Heroes program together and we hope this donation and the funds that follow it will go a long way towards finishing Todd’s new home. “

The check was the first installment of the proceeds from Lionel NASCAR Collectibles “Honoring Our Heroes” die-cast program. Eight drivers will run a special “Honoring Our Heroes” pain scheme this weekend. Each of those cars will honor those who lost their lives in the 9/11 attack as well as our nation’s military heroes. During the Nationwide race, look for the special paint schemes on the cars of Danica Patrick, Carl Edwards, Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.. David Gilliland, Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart and Jamie McMurray will their “Honoring Our Heroes” cars on Saturday night’s Sprint Cup race.

“When we first talked to Lional NASCAR about the possibility of drivers racing with out Foundation’s name on the cars, we had no idea it would be this big,” said Scullin. “Today, as I see these drivers and all these cars I am overwhelmed with emotion. On September 11, 2001, my brother Stephen sacrificed his life for his fellow Americans and he would be honored to know that his legacy is making such a difference in the lives of young men like Brendan and Todd.”

After the presentation of the check, Scullin presented each of the drivers a small piece of metal from the World Trade Center stamped with the words “W.T.C. 9/11 Never Forget” and the number 343 in honor of the 343 firefighters who died that day. She reminded the drivers that the metal was special because her brother’s body was never recovered, so each piece of that metal held a piece of Stephen’s spirit and hoped that it would help to keep each of them safe.

Each of the drivers acknowledged the “gift” with great humility and thanks. They not only recognized the lives lost, but applauded the fact that even though all those firefighters lost their lives running into the face of danger, the disabled servicemen who sat before them knew that they could face death or dismemberment but they still signed up to simply “do their jobs” and if given the chance would do it all again.

It is refreshing to see that our NASCAR heroes have heroes of their own.

September 9, 2011
Surprising and Not Surprising: Pure Michigan 400

Irish eyes were smiling in the hills surrounding Michigan International Speedway, keeping the rain which had plagued the last two Cup races, at bay. Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 42^nd annual running of the Pure Michigan 400.

[media-credit name=”Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”255″][/media-credit]Surprising: Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion, could not have summed up the surprisingly bad day for his manufacturer and team any more succinctly.

With a surprisingly uncharacteristic engine failure, Edwards was Ford’s worst finisher at Michigan, a track where not only has Ford excelled but where Roush Fenway Racing has traditionally had free reign to play at the front of the field.

“I thought we would have a Ford in Victory Lane,” Edwards said. “I thought one way or another, we would win this thing.”

“It was a very tough race,” Edwards said. “We weren’t expecting a failure like that.”

Edwards lagged behind his Roush Fenway Racing teammates Matt Kenseth, who finished in 10^th in the No. 17 Kroger Ford Fusion; David Ragan, driving the No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion, who brought home a 12^th place finish; and pole sitter Greg Biffle, behind the wheel of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion, who finished a disappointing 20^th after leading the most laps in the race.

Biffle was as surprised by his disappointing finish as his teammate Edwards was of his finish and engine failure.

“I don’t know what happened,” Biffle said. “I have a feeling we kinda got a bum set of tires and then we got off on our adjustments. I really don’t know what happened.”

Not Surprising: After being ever so close to Victory Lane at both Pocono and Watkins Glen, it was no surprise that the driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota outran a five-time champ in a green-white-checkered finish to finally took the checkered flag and made his trademark celebratory bow.

This victory was Kyle Busch’s first at Michigan International Speedway. It was his fifth top-10 finish in 14 races at Michigan.

“Today the car was flawless,” Busch said. “We knew the restart would be treacherous but I got a good run on the top-side and I was able to take the lead off Turn Two and set our sights on the checkered flag from there.”

With his fourth victory of the season, including this win at the Irish hills, Busch was also the first driver to officially clinch his berth in the championship Chase. And with Edwards’ poor finish, Busch now sits alone at the top of the leader board.

“It feels awesome,” Busch said of his guaranteed Chase spot. “It gives us an added bonus to just go out there and race for wins. We certainly feel good about it.”

Surprising: Brad Keselowski, behind the wheel of the Blue Deuce for Penske Racing, continues to surprise all by starring in his own sequel, ‘Iron Man Part Three.’ Keselowski finished third in the Pure Michigan 400, his third straight top-three finish since breaking his ankle and wrenching his back in a testing crash.

This was Keselowski’s first top-10 finish in five races at Michigan. With his finish, Keselowski also moved ever so close to Chase contention, moving up two positions in the point standings to 12^th.

“It was a good effort,” Keselowski said. “It was a great day, with great execution and I’m proud of my team.”

“I think we’re in pretty good shape,” Keselowski said of his Chase chances. “I feel better every week.”

Not Surprising: With the Chase race heating up, it is no surprise that the driver of the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet has found his groove, as well as his lucky horseshoe. Jimmie Johnson, who like Busch has also never won at Michigan, scored a career-best second place finish.

This was Johnson’s eighth top-10 finish in 20 races in the Irish hills. It is also his 15^th top-10 finish in the 2011 season to date.

“It was a great finish for the Lowe’s team,” Johnson said. “We had a tough start to the race on pit road and on the race track but we got that ironed out.”

“Good runs put so much confidence in the driver and the team,” Johnson continued. “It felt good to be racing with the leader and have a shot at it.”

Surprising: Although Stewart-Haas Racing had a surprisingly good day at Michigan, with Ryan Newman finishing fifth in his No. 39 Wix Filters Chevrolet, and team owner Tony Stewart also finishing top ten in his No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet, the latter seemed surprisingly depressed after the race.

“I don’t know what we got to do to get one balanced for a day but we haven’t figured it out yet,” Stewart said. “We were on both sides of the coin today between tight and loose.”

“I’ll be perfectly honest at this stage in the deal if we’re going to run this bad, it really doesn’t matter if we make the Chase or not,” Smoke continued. “Our stuff’s so bad right now we’re wasting one of those top 12 spots.”

Not Surprising: On the flip side, it was no surprise to see the Hendrick Motorsports gang have a good day on the sweeping turns of Michigan International Speedway. Following closely behind runner up Jimmie Johnson, HMS teammate Mark Martin finished fourth in the No. 5 Carquest/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet.

“It’s an incredible privilege to drive stuff like that,” Martin said. “We were right there and could see the lead and anytime you can see the lead, you feel like you have a crack at it. I feel very fortunate.”

HMS four-time champ Jeff Gordon also had a decent day at the office, finishing sixth in the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet, moving up another spot in the point standings to sixth as well. Gordon also made history, marking over 22,000 laps led in his career.

“All in all, a solid day for the Dupont Chevrolet,” Gordon said. “I loved the effort and the cars and team that we are bringing to the race track. It was a lot of fun out there.”

The final driver, piloting the No. 88 National Guard/Amp Energy Chevrolet for Mr. Hendrick, had a fairly good race as well. In spite of pit problems, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished fourteenth, keeping himself solidly in the ninth spot in the Chase standings.

“I had some awesome runs and the car was really fast,” Junior said. “And then I put on some tires and I couldn’t drive the car. We had some bad stuff happen on pit road, but we drove it back up there.”

Surprising: With a starting spot of fourth, the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota had high hopes for redemption in Michigan, as well as the hope of keeping his Chase chances alive. Surprisingly, in spite of Denny Hamlin’s new engine, he struggled throughout the race, hitting the wall and heading to the garage to repair significant right front suspension damage.

Hamlin finished the race in 35^th and lost two positions in the point standings, falling to a disappointing 14^th, barely hanging on to any chances of a Chase berth.

Not Surprising: Coming off his top-10 finish at the Glen, it was not surprising that A J Allmendinger almost pulled off another one at MIS. The driver of the No. 43 Best Buy Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports powered through the field from his 29^th place start to finish 11^th.

Surprising: On the flip side, the Dinger’s teammate Marcos Ambrose, winner of the Cup race at Watkins Glen last weekend and the Nationwide race in Montreal this weekend, had a surprisingly frustrating day.

The driver of the No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion started out strong but then was tagged from behind by Kevin Harvick while trying to pit, shoving his car head first into the pit wall, relegating him to a 27^th place finish.

“That was frustrating,” Ambrose said. “We had a good car and we were top-10 a lot of the day.”

“We just kept getting tighter and tighter,” Ambrose continued. “We had a hole in the grill. That really hurt us and we ended up turned around in the pit there at the end, so that hurt us too.”

Not Surprising: Although the driver of the No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet qualified poorly and started 35^th, it was no surprise to see him drive as hard as he could to a top-ten finish. With Clint Bowyer’s 8^th place finish at Michigan, he has managed to hang on to the 11^th spot in the Chase standings.

“It was a good, hard fought battle all day long,” Bowyer said of his race. “From where we started, starting 35^th, getting up there in the top ten, we had a good car all day long.”

“We gained but not near enough. We’re running out of time but if we keep digging, who knows what’s going to happen.”

August 21, 2011
Surprising and Not Surprising: Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen

Not to be outdone by the weather at Pocono last weekend, Watkins Glen International took it one step further with a full course, one day rain delay. Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Monday matinee Cup race at the Glen.

[media-credit name=”Ed Coombs” align=”alignright” width=”245″][/media-credit]Surprising: In a race in which he started from the pole position and clearly dominated, leading three times for a record-high 49 laps, it was surprising that Kyle Busch was not in Victory Lane yet again. The driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota took the checkered flag in the third position, one back from his runner up position at Pocono the weekend before.

Busch lost the lead on the final restart, a green-white-checkered one at that, of the race. Known for his usually stout re-starts, Busch made a surprising mistake in Turn One, taking it just a bit wide enough to allow both Brad Keselowski and Marcos Ambrose through to the lead.

“Just knew exactly what not to do and did it anyway,” Busch said. “I just screwed up.”

“I felt like we were right there and had a shot to win,” Busch continued. “I knew it was going to come down to one corner and I messed it up.”

Surprisingly, although Busch did not score the win, he did re-emerge as the co-leader in the point standings. Busch climbed two spots to tie with Carl Edwards, both atop the Chase leader board with 752 points each.

Not Surprising: It was not surprising to see road course redemption collide with another first time winner, resulting in Marcos Ambrose, driver of the No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion, being in Victory Lane. With his loss of the win at Sonoma due to his own error firmly behind him, Ambrose redeemed himself to become NASCAR’s fifth first-time winner of the season.

“I’ve fought so much to get here, to finally win and be in Victory Lane is a dream come true,” Ambrose said. “To win in the Cup Series is an incredible feeling and I’m very, very proud.”

Ambrose’s win was Richard Petty Motorsports first since 2009 when Kasey Kahne won on the road course at Infineon. Ambrose’s win officially came on his 105^th Cup start.

“It’s just a dream day,” Ambrose continued. “The sacrifices you make to be a contender in the Cup Series, to finally get to Victory Lane is a dream come true for me.”

Surprising: As surprising as Brad Keselowski’s ‘Iron Man’ performance was at Pocono, with his win there in spite of his broken ankle, the driver of the No. 2 ‘Blue Deuce’ pulled off an ‘Iron Man Redux’, with a runner up score at the Glen.

“I wouldn’t say it got easier,” Keselowski said of racing with his injured ankle. “But when your car is fast, you can put a lot of stuff behind you and make it work.”

“I think that’s about as good as the racing gets right there,” Keselowski continued. “I’m proud to be a part of it. Life is good when you have fast race cars.”

Not Surprising: It was not surprising that the stars of several other traditionally good road racers shone at the Glen. Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, finished seventh and AJ Allmendinger, who started outside pole in his No. 43 Best Buy Ford, finished eighth.

Allmendinger was particularly proud to not only see his Richard Petty Motorsports teammate in Victory Lane, but also took great pride in his comeback after an altercation with Kurt Busch early in the race.

“It’s great to see Marcos in Victory Lane and it’s great for the team,” Allmendinger said. “I’m proud of my guys and proud of the way we fought back all day. The car was fast.”

“Our Target Chevy was really good,” Juan Pablo Montoya said. “I thought we had a winning car. We were really close but it was all okay. It was a good day for us.”

Surprising: It was most surprising to see Boris Said and Greg Biffle channeling the fighting spirits of two other competitors, Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch. This week, instead of Johnson and Busch feuding, it was Said and Biffle who were trading paint on the track and harsh words in the garage as well.

Said, standing in for Landon Cassill in the No. 51 Phoenix Construction/Thank A Teacher Today Security Benefit Chevrolet, was furious with the way Biffle, in his No. 16 Valvoline Ford, raced him in the waning laps, especially since Biffle was a lap down at the time.

Said accused Biffle of ‘flipping him off’ and Biffle countered by accusing Said of causing the last race crash that sent two cars hard into the wall. After the race, the disagreement really heated up into not only harsh words but also some attempted punches.

“He wouldn’t even let me get out of the car and he comes over and throws a few little baby punches,” Said said of Biffle. “Then when I get out, he runs away and hides behind some big guys.”

“But he won’t hide from me long,” Said continued. “I won’t settle it out on the track. It’s not right to wreck cars.”

“But he’ll show up at a race with a black eye one of these days.”

Biffle, for his part, had equally strong reactions.

“Let me tell you something,” Biffle said. “Boris, the ‘road course ringer’ caused that wreck. He did the same thing to me earlier in the race.”

“Then ‘Mr. Class’ pulls in behind my truck after the race today,” Biffle continued. “How unprofessional and disrespectful.”

Not Surprising: It was not surprising that the aforementioned feud between Johnson and Busch did not continue to percolate at the Glen, especially since the two drivers were nowhere near each other on the race track.

The driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge spun early in the race and then lost his brakes on Lap 49 after a tire failure sent him hard into the wall. Busch did not finish the race, scored in the 38^th position, causing him to fall two positions to sixth in the point standings.

“I had a big problem getting into the braking zones today,” Busch said. “I had to crank eight rounds of front brake into our car just to survive.”

“All that does is generate brake heat and I blew out the left-front tire,” Busch continued. “It was a bummer of a day.”

Johnson, on the other hand, had a top-ten finish in his No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet. The five-time champ currently sits just six points behind Chase co-leaders Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch.

“We had a great day,” Johnson said. “To have the pace that we did all day long, even though we weren’t up there leading, we had a very fast race car and that’s what we wanted to have here.”

Surprising: It was a bit surprising that a 15^th place finish left NASCAR’s most popular driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and his crew chief Steve Letarte feeling so very optimistic. Both agreed that they ‘did what they had to do’ to solidify their place in the Chase, a place where Junior has not been for the past three years.

Dale Junior, admittedly not a lover of road course racing, scored his first top-15 in six years of racing at the Glen. The driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Amp Energy Chevrolet now sits solidly in the ninth spot in the Chase standings.

“I think we’re a good enough team to make the Chase bar none,” Earnhardt, Jr. said. “We should be able to get in there no problem.”

Not Surprising: It was not surprising at all that the calls for safer barriers at Watkins Glen International have intensified after several very hard hits at the road course in the midst of the Finger Lakes.

Not only did Kurt Busch hit hard into the wall, but Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, also lost his brakes and took a nasty lick head on into the tire barrels.

“Something blew out in the left front,” Hamlin said after being checked and released from the infield care center after his hit. “I had no brakes. There was nothing you could do.”

The worst of the hard hits, however, came in the final lap of the race where David Ragan, driver of the No. 6 UPS “We Love Logistics” Ford, wrecked hard himself and then spun into David Reutimann, behind the wheel of the No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota, sending him into the air and into the wall as well.

Both Davids were rattled but escaped major injuries, exiting gingerly from their mangled race cars as they attempted to catch their collective breaths.

“It’s just a product of close quarters racing at the end,” Ragan said. “I’m sore. That was a hard hit.”

“I looked down at my feet and my pedals and my leg rests were all pushed over,” Ragan continued. “It’s a shame that a race track we go to in 2011 doesn’t have a better wall design all the way around the race track.”

“Hopefully they’ll look at that,” Ragan said. “I’ve been to some dirt tracks that have better walls than that.”

“This is one of the bigger hits I would say, but it’s part of the gig,” Reutimann said. “You sign up to do this stuff every once and awhile and you’re going to hit something.”

“Overall I’m okay,” Reutimann continued. “I’m thinking where I hit would probably be a good place for SAFER barriers.”

“I’m good and will be ready for Michigan next week.”

August 17, 2011
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Watkins Glen

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Carl Edwards: Edwards finished a solid 12^th at Watkins Glen, Roush Fenway Racing’s top finisher in Monday’s Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips At The Glen. Edwards is now tied with Kyle Busch for the lead in the Sprint Cup point standings.

“Should I be worried that I no longer sit alone atop the point standings?” Edwards said. “Of course not. I’m NASCAR’s resident pretty boy, and like it or not, I even look good in a ‘tie.’”

I hear Boris Said has it out for my Roush Fenway Greg Biffle. Boris said one day soon, a driver will show up at the race track with a black eye. I tend to believe him. Stranger things have happened. Heck, twice a year, a driver shows up at the track with an afro!”

2. Kyle Busch: Busch led 49 of 92 laps at Watkins Glen and was leading on the race’s final restart with two laps to go. But both Brad Keselowski and Marcos Ambrose slipped by on the restart, and Ambrose muscled his way to the win. Busch finished third, his series-best 11^th top 5 of the year, and is now tied with Carl Edwards atop the point standings.

“M&M’s may simply melt in your mouth,” Busch said, “but apparently, leads evaporate altogether in my hands.”

How about poor Denny Hamlin, losing his brakes on lap 66 and crashing hard into the Turn 1 wall? He’s okay, but with brake issues on top of all the engine problems he’s experienced this year, you have to believe there will be some changes with that team. I say it’s time for Viagra to return to NASCAR sponsorship, and Hamlin’s No. 11 car would be a perfect fit for a product with a proven solution to equipment failure.”

3. Jimmie Johnson: After a week of feuding with Kurt Busch, Johnson finished 10^th at Watkins Glen, scoring his 13^th top-10 finish of the year. Johnson is now third in the point standings, trailing Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch by six.

“So, Kurt Busch says he’s ‘in my head?’” Johnson said. “Well, he’s out of his mind. Now, he needs to get out of mind. Anyway, I finished 28 places better than he, which just goes to show that Kurt’s a punk, and karma’s a bitch.”

4. Kurt Busch: After winning Saturday’s Nationwide race subbing for Penske teammate Brad Keselowski, Busch found the going much rougher during Monday’s rescheduled Sprint Cup race. Busch spun out on lap 4, then blew a tire and slammed the Turn 5 tire barrier on lap 49. He finished a disappointing 38^th, and dropped two places to sixth in the point standings, 40 out of first.

“It’s nice to know,” Busch said, “that I can get in Keselowski’s car and win a race. Especially since I, the former driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, have witnessed Brad get into my car and win. Twice.”

At The Glen, I barely made it to the halfway point of the race. You could say I couldn’t ‘break a sweat,’ which, incidentally, is exactly what Jimmie Johnson said about my fighting ability.”

5. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished sixth at Watkins Glen, posting his first top-10 result since Daytona on July 2^nd. Harvick is now fourth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 14 behind Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch.

“I’m certainly pleased with the result,” Harvick said. By no means am I a road course ringer. Now, if I would have been in Boris Said’s shoes, I would have been a road course wringer, because somebody would have been choked.”

You may have seen me throw out the first pitch at the Angels-Yankees game inNew Yorklast week. One thing’s for sure: that baseball won’t get a ticket for speeding on pit lane. My incident with Kyle Busch at Darlington, coupled with my pitching skill, just goes to show that his right arm can’t hit a target, moving or otherwise.”

6. Jeff Gordon: Gordon led six laps at Watkins Glen on his way to a 13^th-place finish in the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips At The Glen. He remained seventh in the point standings and is 52 behind Carl Edwards.

“What I finish,” Gordon said. “That last lap was a lot like a Kurt Busch radio tirade, because all ‘hell’ broke loose. And David Reutimann was much like Indy Car driver Will Power at New Hampshire—they both flipped. Of course, Power’s middle finger salute to the race officials drew a fine. I guess that’s the ‘Power’ of ‘one.’ You would never see a Sprint Cup driver flip off NASCAR officials. Not because our manners are any better than Power’s, but NASCAR officials don’t have a problem not throwing a caution. And they don’t need any rain to do it.”

[media-credit name=”Ed Coombs” align=”alignright” width=”231″][/media-credit]7. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth suffered an early setback at Watkins Glen, running out of gas midway through the race, but fought back to come home 14^th. He moved up one spot to fifth in the point standings, and is now 28 out of first.

“Thanks to Greg Biffle for the push back to the pits after I ran out of gas,” Kenseth said. “According to Boris Said, that’s the only ‘push back’ Biffle’s good for. If Biffle does show up for an upcoming race with a black eye, then he’ll be the only ‘Said head’ who’s not a member of Boris’ fan club.”

8. Tony Stewart: Stewart finished 27^th, the last car on the lead lap, after his No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil Chevy spun and was hit by another car. Stewart fell one spot in the point standings to tenth, and is 25 ahead of Clint Bowyer in 11^th.

“I wouldn’t classify my finish as ‘Heluva Good,’” Stewart said. “I would, however, classify Boris Said’s challenge to Greg Biffle as a ‘heluva goad.’”

9. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski nearly captured his second-consecutive win of the year, leading with one to go at Watkins Glen before Marco Ambrose bulled past him. Keselowski settled for second and further solidified his wildcard chances.

“Ambrose is the first Australian to win a NASCAR race,” Keselowski said. “I say that’s ‘Aus-some.’ He’s establishing quite a few milestones. Last year, he became the first Australian to stall his engine while leading the race.”

10. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt finished 15^th in the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips At The Glen, joining Hendrick teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon in the top 15. Earnhardt improved one position in the Sprint Cup point standings, and is in ninth with four races before the Chase opener.

“I like my chances to make the Chase For The Cup,” Earnhardt said, “if the Chase started tomorrow. Hopefully, I can survive these next four races and maintain my position. One thing’s for sure: I won’t be winning my way into the Chase.”

August 16, 2011