Tag: jamie mcmurray

  • Monster Mile Makes Monster Smiles with Autism Speaks Day at the Races

    [media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”216″][/media-credit]The Monster Mile, otherwise known as Dover International Speedway, has partnered for the past several years with Autism Speaks, a nonprofit organization with the mission of raising funds for and calling attention to this spectrum disorder.

    But this weekend, Dover took that partnership to a completely new level, creating an innovative, first of its kind ever autism-friendly NASCAR race track experience.

    Families with children along the autism spectrum were provided special race seating in the Monster Mile’s air-conditioned grandstands, with dedicated quiet spaces for children to get away from the frenzy if they became over-stimulated.

    “We created an autism-friendly NASCAR experience at the track and that’s never been done before,” Gary Camp, Sr. Director of Communications, Dover International Speedway, said. “For a first-time event, there’s been a lot of planning.”

    “There’s a quiet zone where, if the kids get overwhelmed, they can go,” Camp continued. “Ollie’s Bargain Outlet has donated some bean bags and we’ve got toys that Toys R Us donated.”

    “It’s just a real fun atmosphere.”

    The children and their families were also treated to special appearances by NASCAR drivers Jimmie Johnson, sporting the No. 48 Lowe’s Madagascar car this weekend, and Jamie McMurray, driver of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Allstate Chevrolet, whose family has a close connection to the issue of autism.

    “It is always a nice feeling to make an appearance like that,” McMurray said. “It is something that is so simple for me to do.”

    “To see the excitement on the faces in that room really makes you feel special,” McMurray continued. “I know that I really appreciate what Dover International Speedway and the Autism Speaks group does to host all the families for this event and I am just glad that I can do something to put a smile on someone’s face.”

    McMurray has been so committed to this cause because of his family’s involvement that he also has recorded a public service announcement for the cause.

    “I have received so much positive feedback from friends and fans on the public service announcement that we did for Autism Speaks, with my niece who has autism,” McMurray said. “It is just a small part to try and promote awareness about autism and to encourage the public to learn the early warning signs.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsqXDSJZVMY

    “Autism Speaks is the largest and leading science and advocacy organization in the world, founded seven years ago,” Mark Roithmayr, President of Autism Speaks, said. “We are a $60 million organization, funding research, awareness, advocacy and family services, all to combat the fact that one in 88 children in the United States are being diagnosed with autism.”

    “First and foremost, Autism Speaks and our autism community are blessed by Dover,” Roithmayr said. “We’re blessed with NASCAR. We’re blessed with FedEx, who for the second year in a row are sponsoring this.”

    “It’s been six years ago when NASCAR and Dover first came to us and said they wanted to make us the beneficiaries of that sponsorship and call this the Autism Speaks 400.”

    “Denis McGlynn (President and CEO, Dover Motorsports), Mark Rossi (Vice President Sales and Marketing, Dover Motorsports), and Artie Kempner (Executive Producer, NASCAR on FOX) who is involved with Autism Delaware saw that autism was becoming a big issue for their families.
    Roithmayr continued. “So, they came to us and said they would like to offer the opportunity for lots of awareness and promotion and that it was important to their fans.”

    “NASCAR, of all the sports, has a tremendous heart and soul and came to us.”

    “Dover has been incredible,” Roithmayr said. “Since that first year, we always tried to do something to encourage families with autism to come out to the track.”

    “So many of the families tell us their children love NASCAR and they wanted to be part of the experience. We tried a couple of different locations but with autism, the noise, the smells and the sensory experiences were overwhelming, Roithmayr continued. “So, to have a grandstand that was air conditioned, price the tickets at $88 for the adults to symbolize one in 88 who have autism and $20 for the children, and an area buffeted from the over-sensory part of NASCAR but still a part of it, has been amazing.”

    [media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”186″][/media-credit]“There is a quiet room, where the lights are muted, with toys that are specially designed from our good friends at Toys R Us for kids from autism,” Roithmayr said. “The last piece is that we are going to have a series of special presentations for the families, presenting on science, services, and family support. We even have a young man with autism who graduated from college who will talk about what his life has been like.”

    “We are so blessed.”

    In addition to Jimmie Johnson and Jamie McMurray, team owners Coach Joe Gibbs and his son J.D. Gibbs also made appearances to interact with the children and their families for the Autism Speaks day at the Monster Mile.

  • 2012 Sprint All-Star Review: The No. 48 Team Dominates All-Star Week

    2012 Sprint All-Star Review: The No. 48 Team Dominates All-Star Week

    Sprint Showdown: Dale Jr Back To Victory Lane

    AJ Allmendinger put his No. 22 Pennzoil Dodge on the pole; however, as the field was coming out of Turn 4 to take the green-flag, Allmendinger was forced to pit for a flat left front tire. This moved Allmendinger to the back of the field, remaining on the lead lap. Allmendinger’s loss was Dale Earnhardt Jr’s gain. Because of Allmendinger’s misfortune, Earnhardt took over the pole position, with Martin Truex Jr. starting in second. Earnhardt looked like a bullet shot out of a gun when he jumped out to a 1.398 second lead over Truex within three laps of the green-flag.

    Earnhardt held onto the lead through the end of the 20-lap segment. While under caution, majority of the teams from third position back went down pit road for adjustments. Earnhardt remained on track to hold onto the lead for the restart and once again jumped ahead of the field by half a straight away. After starting in the back of the field, Jamie McMurray stayed on track during this caution to pick up the second position.

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Allmendinger and Truex battled aggressively for third position for nearly 10 laps, with Allmendinger finally taking the position with 12 laps to go. Allmendinger then caught McMurray with 10 laps to go, battling for the position to advance to the All-Star race. This battle continued in the final ten laps – all the while, Dale Jr. held onto a two second lead.

    With a lap and a half to go, McMurray got loose coming off the backstretch which allowed Allmendinger to get under his bumper and make an aggressive pass on him. Earnhardt went on to win the Sprint Showdown, with Allmendinger getting the second place transfer spot. “I got to give most of the credit of our performance to the team”, Earnhardt said. “They put a great car out on the line today that was fast right out the gate.”

    Earnhardt was assumed by many to win the fan vote. With Earnhardt winning the showdown race, this opened up the fan vote to Bobby Labonte. “Actually, the story is two weeks ago we weren’t even going to show up here because this is not in our budget to run this race”, Labonte said. “Guys stepped up, so we got this far. Hopefully we can just keep going. Again, just thank the fans for doing that. That’s really a great deal.”

     

    Sprint All-Star Race: Johnson Steals All-Star Victory

    Kyle “Rowdy” Busch started on the pole for the race, with Ryan “Rocket Man” Newman on the outside pole. Jimmie Johnson showed he had a fast car right off the bat, taking over the lead on Lap 16. After the first segment ended, pit stops and strategy began to play out. Jimmie Johnson pitted twice under this caution; while seven other drivers, including Earnhardt and Denny Hamlin, did not make a pit stop. Hamlin restarted the race in first position, with a fast Earnhardt restarting in 6th position.

    Caution waved on Lap 26 when Carl Edwards’ engine expired. The race restarted on Lap 31 with Hamlin and Marcos Ambrose, who did not pit, leading the field. Just one lap later, Kenseth wasted no time taking over the second position from Ambrose. On the same lap, Earnhardt began to put pressure on Ambrose for third position. Kenseth took over the lead just before the end of the second segment, with Earnhardt taking over third.

    Seven drivers stayed out under caution, allowing Keselowski, Kasey Kahne, and Kevin Harvick to take over the top three positions. Right at the start-finish line, Kahne tried his best to steal the lead from Keselowski, but was about an inch shy of taking it.

    Beginning the fourth segment, Kurt Busch took over the lead of the race after staying on track under caution. It only took Earnhardt, who restarted in second, two laps to take over the lead. Running on old tires, Busch dropped back to fourth position, as Allmendinger and Kahne took over the second and third positions.

    Caution waved on Lap 68 when the second Roush Fenway Ford of Greg Biffle, lost an engine. With 16 to go on the restart, Earnhardt took over the lead once again and jumped out to a hefty lead.  As the final segment came to a close, the 10-lap shootout began. Johnson led the field off pit road, with Kenseth, Keselowski, and Earnhardt following. In the same week that his No. 48 Lowes team won the pit crew challenge, Johnson took his Lowes Chevrolet to victory lane in the All-Star race for the third time in his career. This win has tied Johnson for most All-Star victories with Dale Earnhardt and his teammate, Jeff Gordon.

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”342″][/media-credit]At the end of the race, instead of driving the flag around the track in victory, Johnson took his car owner for a victory lap. Rick Hendrick was at the end of pit road and told Johnson to come pick him up. Once Hendrick put his leg inside the car, he was in for a ride.  Rather than driving his owner to victory lane, Johnson took his car owner for a little joy ride around the tri-oval.  Rick waved to the fans around the track in a humorous manner. Johnson won a total of $1,071,340 with his All-Star win.

    Race Results : Sprint All-Star Race
    Sprint All-Star Race – May 19, 2012 – Exhibition

    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time Bnd
    1 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 0 90 Running
    2 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0 90 Running
    3 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 0 90 Running
    4 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 0 90 Running
    5 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 0 90 Running
    6 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 0 90 Running
    7 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 0 90 Running
    8 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 0 90 Running
    9 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 0 90 Running
    10 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 0 90 Running
    11 22 AJ Allmendinger Dodge 0 90 Running
    12 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 0 90 Running
    13 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 0 90 Running
    14 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 0 90 Running
    15 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 0 90 Running
    16 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 0 90 Running
    17 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 0 90 Running
    18 34 David Ragan Ford 0 90 Running
    19 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 0 90 Running
    20 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 0 90 Running
    21 55 Mark Martin Toyota 0 90 Running
    22 16 Greg Biffle Ford 0 67 Out of Race
    23 99 Carl Edwards Ford 0 25 Out of Race
  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Auto Club 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Auto Club 400

    [media-credit name=”Simon Scoggins” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]While sunny during pre-race activities, weather came in and played a prominent role at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 16th annual, but first ever rain-shortened, running of the Auto Club 400.

    Surprising:  While the race was caution free until the predicted rain appeared, the most surprising issue, other than weather, affecting the racing was that of problems on pit road. Even with the shortened number of laps run, there were five pit road speeding penalties, including Regan Smith, Joey Logano, Bobby Labonte, Brad Keselowski, and J.J. Yeley.

    Other penalties were doled out to Jamie McMurray, driver of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shop/Allstate Chevrolet for a lug nut violation and Matt Kenseth, behind the wheel of the No. 17 Ford EcoBoost Ford, who had to go to the tail end due to a team member not being in contact with the outside tires.

    The most costly errors on pit road, however, occurred for four-time champion Jeff Gordon and his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet crew. Gordon had two penalties; one on lap 107 for removing equipment, including the gas can man himself, from the pit stall and the second one on lap 126 for a tire rolling beyond the center of pit road.

    “It was just not our day on pit road,” Gordon said simply.

    Not Surprising: It was not surprising that the reigning champ proved that age 40 is just about the perfect time to peak in NASCAR racing.

    Tony Stewart, behind the wheel of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, scored his 46th victory, tying Buck Baker for 14th on the all-time Cup Series win list.

    This was Smoke’s second victory in the first five races of the 2012 season. This was his second victory and 12th top-10 finish in 21 races at Auto Club Speedway.

    “I mean you hate to have them end with rain like that,” Stewart said. “But I’ve lost some that way. The good thing is we didn’t back into the lead because we stayed out, the leaders came in.”

    “I mean, we were leading the thing and had earned that spot,” Stewart continued. “I’m proud of that.”

    Surprising:  Usually somewhat morose after a race, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. surprisingly deemed himself “pretty happy.” The driver of the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard Chevrolet finished third in the race and moved up to third in the point standings as well.

    This was Junior’s fifth top-10 finish in 20 races at Auto Club Speedway.

    “We had a really good car,” Dale Junior said. “I was really happy about that.”

    “We drove the car up to fifth before the weather came,” Junior continued. “We made the right choice by staying out and building ourselves into the top three.”

    Not Surprising:  On a day when the driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota led laps, clipped the wall, and then had to work his way back up front, it was not surprising to see Kyle Busch score the runner up spot.

    This was Busch’s 10th top-10 finish in 15 races at the Fontana track. It was also his second top-10 finish in the 2012 season.

    ‘I wish we would have been able to race the whole thing on one hand, but on the other hand I’m kind of glad we’re not because we kind of had a little bit of damage that slowed us down there,” Busch said. “All in all, it was a really good day.”

    Surprising:  It was a bit surprising that the driver who not only finished sixth in the race, but kept the points lead too, just was not all that pleased at the end of the race festivities.

    “I like this track but the last few times here, we’ve been off just a tick,” Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford, said. “Today, I didn’t keep up with the track.”

    “I was a little bit too tight.”

    Not Surprising:   As so often happens, it was not surprising that the pole sitter did not win the race. In this case, pole sitter Denny Hamlin was well positioned to do so, however, pitted prior to the rain, which relegated him to an 11th place finish.

    “We were planning on the race going back to green,” the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota said. “We had finally gotten to Stewart’s bumper when the rain came.”

    Surprising:  Granted, the race was rain-shortened, however, it was still surprising to see Kurt Busch in his new No. 51 Phoenix Construction Chevrolet score a top-10 finish, the best of the season for both the driver and his team.

    “This just goes to show what results when you are smart all day,” Busch said. “The car’s going back onto the trailer without a scratch on it.”

    “That’s a first for us this year.”

    Not Surprising:  Martin Truex, Jr., to no one’s surprise, continued flying the flag for Michael Waltrip Racing with another good run. The driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota finished eighth and is now sixth in the point standings.

    “Overall, it was a decent day,” Truex, Jr. said. “This place was really tough on us last year.”

    “It’s nice to come in here and have a decent run – something we can build on.”

    Surprising:  It was a bit surprising that the driver known as ‘The Closer’ did not seal the deal at the Auto Club Speedway. The driver of the No. 29 Jimmie John’s Gourmet Sandwiches Chevrolet finished fourth and is just seven points behind the points leader in the standings.

    “All in all, the guys on the Jimmy John’s Chevrolet did a pretty good job,” Harvick said. “We will just keep working away.”

    Not Surprising:  Jimmie Johnson, not surprisingly, seems to be well on his way to living up to his Twitter moniker of ‘Six Pack.’ After a successful appeal that restored his points and kept his crew and car chiefs intact, Johnson survived an oil leak to finish top-10 in the No. 48 Lowe’s/Jimmie Johnson Foundation Chevrolet.

    “Something happened and we developed an oil leak,” Chad Knaus, Johnson’s crew chief, said. “But the Jimmie Johnson Foundation Chevy ran well today.”

    “We were really happy with the performance.”

     

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Bristol Food City 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Bristol Food City 500

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    “Heck of a day for MWR.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

     

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Kobalt Tools 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Kobalt Tools 400

    [media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”259″][/media-credit]Under a gloriously sunny sky and with an amazing flyover complements of the United States Air Force Thunderbirds, the green flag flew on the Kobalt Tools 400. Here is what was surprising and not surprising from Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    Surprising:  Since the reigning champ is primarily known for heating up over the summer or in the Chase, it was surprising to see Tony Stewart capture the checkered flag this early in the season.

    This was also Smoke’s first ever win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a track that he felt definitely owed him one after a pit miscue cost him the victory last year.

    “I don’t know that it’s important this early but we only get one shot at Vegas,” the driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet said. “It was real hard leaving here last year. It’s nice to come here and have a car that was bad to the bone.”

    It was also surprising that Steve Addington, Stewart’s new crew chief, won his first ever Cup race with a driver not named Busch. And although known for his calm, relaxed nature, Addington definitely felt the pressure of calling the race on his shoulders.

    “I take it very personal every time that car goes on the race track,” Addington said. “I felt a ton of pressure on myself to get a win and I’m glad that’s under our belt.”

    “The stars lined up and we won this race at Vegas.”

    Not Surprising:  With the penalty appeal scheduled to be heard during the upcoming week, it was not surprising to see Jimmie Johnson attempt to get the best finish and most points possible. The driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet scored the runner up spot in the race bearing his sponsor’s name.

    Johnson had an eventful race weekend, crashing in the first lap of final practice, as well as having to go to the rear of the field in a backup car for the start of the race. So, although he wanted the win, he seemed satisfied with his second place run.

    “Tony could just get through the gears better,” Johnson said of his final run with Smoke. “With everything we went through this weekend, I’ll take it.”

    Surprising:  Greg Biffle, behind the wheel of the No. 16 3M/Meguiars Ford, scored his third third place finish of the season. But even more surprising, the Biff is now the official points leader, with the chance to be the only driver to win a championship in all three of NASCAR’s top tier series.

    “It certainly has started off to be a good season for us so far,” Biffle said. “We’re super excited about it but there again, we want to win like the 14 car did today so we’re going to keep our heads down and keep working hard.”

    Not Surprising:  With one half of the Stewart-Haas Race team in Victory Lane, it was no surprise that his teammate would not be far behind. Ryan Newman, in his No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet for SHR, scored a top-5 finish as well.

    “It was a hard fought day,” Newman said. “We struggled a bit in the pits but we got lucky on the last restart. It was an awesome day for Stewart-Haas.”

    Surprising:  As good as Jimmie Johnson was for Hendrick Motorsports, it was surprising to see four-time champion Jeff Gordon struggle so mightily. Gordon fought tight conditions most of the race, complaining that his car was plowing mightily.

    Gordon did manage to bring his anniversary celebrating No. 24 Dupont 20 Years Chevrolet home in the twelfth position.

    “Well, we weren’t very good,” Alan Gustafson, Gordon’s crew chief, said simply. “We struggled but we ended up with an okay finish. Sometimes you have to do that and we did it.”

    “You’re never happy with 12th, but there was a point in time during the day when I would have been happy to finish 20th,” Gustafson continued. “So, it was okay.”

    Not Surprising:   In spite of the fact that the two are teammates, it was not surprising to see sparks fly yet again between the Roushketeers Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards. The two tangled on the restart in the waning laps of the race.

    Carl Edwards, in the No. 99 Alfac Ford, saw it this way.

    “Matt spun his tires just a little bit on the restart and I went down to the apron,” Edwards said. “He gave me a ton of room but we just got all bunched up over there.”

    Kenseth, behind the wheel of the brightly colored No. 17 Zest Ford, just seemed confused by it all.

    “I honestly don’t really know what happened,” Kenseth said. “Carl just laid back and got by me three-wide and then it just didn’t seem like there was a lot of room getting into turn one.”

    “And then I did get clear behind him and he just stopped in the middle of the corner.”

    Edwards was able to finish well in the fifth position, while Kenseth finished 22nd in contrast.

    Surprising:  With their driver under the weather, it was surprising to see the No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet score an eighth place finish.

    “Jamie (McMurray) showed up this morning and he was sick,” crew chief Kevin ‘Bono’ Manion, said “For him to come through like he did for us today was really big.”

    “Going into this race, we felt really strong about our McDonald’s Chevrolet,” Manion continued. “All in all, it was a good day.”

    Not Surprising:  In spite of leading more laps than he did all last season and scoring a top-10 finish, it was not surprising to find a frustrated Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at the end of the race.

    “I think we should have run better than that,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet said. “We are just a little bit disappointed.”

    “We were fast and I knew before the end of the race we were going to have to free my car up and I never let Steve (Letarte) do it,” Junior said. “It was more my fault than anything really. I didn’t give him enough information I guess.”

    Surprising:  Fresh faced youngster Trevor Bayne had a surprisingly good run in his No. 21 Motorcaft/Quick Lane Ford for the famed Wood Brothers.

    “A top-10 feels like a win to us,” Bayne said simply. “We hadn’t had a top-10 since Daytona and it feels good to be back at it.”

    Not Surprising:  Unfortunately, it was not surprising that the Dodges again struggled early in this 2012 season. Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, finished 32nd and his teammate AJ Allmendinger fared even worse, finishing 37th in his No. 22 Pennzoil Dodge.

    “We had a pretty decent Dodge Charger and we were going to give Tony a run for his money,” Keselowski said. “The fuel pump broke. It just wasn’t meant to be.”

    “Man, this is not the start to the season any of us were expecting,” Allmendinger said. “Just when I knew we could make something solid, we started having fuel pressure issues.”

    “We came into the garage and changed some things,” ‘Dinger continued. “My guys busted their butts but we’re not sure yet what the cause was.”

    “But you know the guys back at the Penske shop will figure it out.”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Subway Fresh Fit 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Subway Fresh Fit 500

    [media-credit name=”Simon Scoggins” align=”alignright” width=”259″][/media-credit]With the 36 hours of Daytona in the rear view mirror, the Cup Series headed to the Valley of the Sun. Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Subway Fresh Fit 500.

    Surprising:  With the short interval between the Great American Race and the trek to Phoenix International Raceway, the amount of news made before the haulers even arrived in the Valley of the Sun was indeed surprising.

    The first ‘surprise’ was for Chad Knaus, who was fined $100,000 and suspended for six races due to illegally modified C-posts found on the No. 48 Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson prior to the Daytona 500. Knaus and his team at Hendrick Motorsports have already agreed to appeal.

    The second pre-race surprise occurred with Penske Racing announcing its move from Dodge to Ford in 2013. Roger Penske, the ‘Captain’ of the team, affirmed that he needed to make the manufacturer move for one reason only, to finally secure the Cup championship.

    Not Surprising:  With a championship level crew chief in Darian Grubb atop his pit box, it was not surprising that his new driver Denny Hamlin raced his way right to the checkered flag. After a spectacular burnout, the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota paid homage to his crew chief and team from Victory Lane.

    “If you would have asked me, I would have told you I would have taken a 15th place finish,” Hamlin said. “We just kept working at it.”

    This was Hamlin’s 18th career win in his 225th start. It was the driver’s first win at PIR, having finished third four times before this victory.

    With the win at Phoenix, Hamlin jumped to first place in the point standings. Although obviously very early in the season, Hamlin has not been at the top of the leader board since his losing championship battle two years ago.

    “We’ve never been in this position at this point in the season,” Hamlin said. “We’re back this year.”

    Surprising:  While NASCAR nation has been waiting with bated breath, it was a bit surprising that the Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) reared its ugly head for none other than reigning champ Tony Stewart. The driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet fell prey to EFI difficulties, unable to re-fire his engine after attempting to save fuel.

    “I just shut the car off to save fuel and it never re-fired,” Smoke, who finished 22nd, said. “I don’t know why that was, but it definitely cost us a good day.”

    Not Surprising:  Although he did not quite live up to his moniker as ‘The Closer’, the driver of the No. 29 Rheem Chevrolet was pretty happy nonetheless. Kevin Harvick coasted on fumes to secure a second place berth in the Subway Fresh Fit 500.

    “Finishing second and racing for a win in a place where we ran back in the twenties, was pretty good,” Harvick said. “You cut the fuel mileage that close, you’re figuring it right. Hopefully this is what sets the tone for the year.”

    Surprising:  Those drivers hooked up with new teams for the 2012 season did not fare well in the Valley of the Sun. Hendrick newcomer Kasey Kahne hit the wall in his No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet on Lap 22. Kahne ended up in the garage for many laps, finally finishing 34th.

    AJ Allmendinger, new pilot of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge, also had some calamity befall his Phoenix run. The ‘Dinger was caught up in the Paul Menard crash on Lap 132, relegating him to an 18th place finish.

    Not Surprising:   After finishing almost dead last at Daytona and under the gun with his penalty, Jimmie Johnson was already 23 points in the hole before coming to Phoenix. Yet, to no one’s surprise, Johnson was in redemption mode yet again, scoring a fourth place finish in his No. 48 Lowe’s Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, moving him up to 38th in points.

    “We were concerned about fuel,” Johnson admitted. “We just tried to make sure we got some points.”

    “We had a little hiccup on pit road but we really fought back.”

    Surprising:  It was surprising how well Michael Waltrip Racing performed at Phoenix, at least for the majority of the team members.

    Martin Truex, Jr. scored his first top-10 of the year for his No. 56 NAPA Filters Toyota, coming in seventh. Teammate and pole sitter Mark Martin brought his No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota to a second-straight top-10, officially finishing ninth.

    “We need to get finishes like this each week,” Truex Jr. said. “And hopefully there are even better ones to come.”

    “Proud of the effort,” teammate Mark Martin said. “Any time you get a top-10 finish, you have to say it’s a reasonable run.”

    The No. 56 and the No. 55 are now tied, at 71 points, for sixth position in the point standings.

    Not Surprising:  With the slipperiness of the race track, it was no surprise that several drivers, including the third MWR driver, suffered tire troubles. Most notably on the tire issue list was MWR driver Clint Bowyer, behind the wheel of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota.

    Bowyer suffered tire failure not one, but twice, relegating him to a 30th place finish. The MWR driver now sits 17th in points, falling six spots back due to his tire woes.

    Surprising:  In addition to EFI and tire troubles, the Valley of the Sun seemed to cause some engine failures as well. Most notably were the blown engines of Jamie McMurray, Marcos Ambrose and Jeff Burton, all of whom had good runs going until the tell-tale smoke billowed out from their tail pipes.

    “We blew up,” Ambrose, driver of the No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion, said simply. “We are here trying to run for wins and run for championships and to trip over ourselves like that, it just isn’t going to get it done.”

    Not Surprising:  Although not technically a short track, there were some short track tempers flaring at Phoenix International Raceway. Most notably was a flare up between Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Subway Ford for whom the race was named, and Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Wix Filters Chevrolet.

    On lap 256, Newman brought out the seventh caution of the race, crashing after contact with Edwards.

    “I’m 99 percent sure Carl Edwards didn’t do that on purpose,” Newman said. “But I trusted him.”

    “Now he can’t trust me because there is a lot to be had and lost, and we lost today,” Newman continued. “We know plenty of times in this sport, what comes around goes around.”

  • Race No. 2 – 54th Annual Daytona 500 Daytona International Speedway, February 26, 2012

    Race No. 2 – 54th Annual Daytona 500 Daytona International Speedway, February 26, 2012

    [media-credit name=”daytonainternationalspeedway.com” align=”alignright” width=”288″][/media-credit]Happy Birthday to Me!

    This year’s Great American Race happens to fall on my quarter-century milestone, and what a better way to spend my birthday than with some 200 mph high octane pack racing! My living room will be transformed into a pit of NASCAR fans on Sunday afternoon, but could never rival the ‘stadium-seating’ that was brought in during my brother’s collegiate days in the Delta Sigma Phi house at Clarkson University. This was hands-down the coolest Daytona 500 party I was ever able to (and will probably ever) attend, however I am excited for this year’s racing season to formally kick-off on Sunday.

    In an effort to expand the sport’s following I’ve decided to share my Daytona 500 this Sunday with some non-NASCAR/non-racing fans. My living room will be full on Sunday of half die hard’s and half newbies; the die hard’s pleading their case on why each of their drivers are the best and cheer for. Nonetheless, it will be exciting to watch the action in my living room and exciting to see the pack duke it out for one of the most prestigious crowns in all of motorsports.

    Bud Shootout Recap

    Just like each restrictor plate race, last weekend’s Bud Shootout turned out to be a roll of the dice. It’s either feast of famine with these races, and I (just like most fantasy players) ended up on the short end of the stick when the dust settled last Saturday Night.

    My Dark Horse pick wasn’t really a Dark Horse because he does have 2 wins at Daytona, but like I said last week, the criteria for entrance to the Bud Shootout doesn’t yield many Dark Horses in general. Jamie Mac found the front quickly last week in the first segment, reaching the point just four laps in. He showed that the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet would be a contender all night, leading a total of 5 times for 11 of the 75 laps. My misfortune came on the final lap of the Bud Shootout last week when McMurray was collected in a multi-car incident, which sent the No. 24 of Jeff Gordon for a wild ride on his roof, netting McMurray a 16th-place finish when all was said and done.

    My Winner Pick last week is the guy that can “see the air” on the Superspeedways (despite the fact that he hasn’t won in 3 years). Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a fan of the way the racing has morphed back to the pack at Daytona, “I like it better. The closing rate is a little fast. Guys will go flying backwards and forwards. I think we made a lot of great improvements don’t get me wrong. I think we have really made a lot of great improvements and I have more of my destiny in my hands in this type of racing.” said Jr. following his Bud Shootout efforts.

    Despite being a bit more comfortable behind the wheel on Saturday Night, Dale Jr couldn’t make it through a lap 55 incident that collected his No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet. Jr. finished 20th and I finished the weekend looking like a buffoon.

    Daytona 500 Picks

    With complete disregard for claiming to know what I am talking about, I’ve decided to make my picks a little bit differently this week…
    It is probably not a great idea because of Ford’s complete dominance of Daytona 500 practice and qualifying sessions, but I would like to have a little fun this weekend for my birthday and also bring in some outside help in making my picks.

    Because of my rocky start last week, and the complete craps-shoot it is to choose a driver to win a restrictor plate race, I’ve decided to make my picks based off a total random draw. My picks this week will be based off my girlfriend’s random draw of playing cards (0-9), and I will provide historical data and insight as to why that driver stands a chance to take the Checkered Flag on Sunday Afternoon.

    So using Price is Right rules, I will have my girlfriend Casey select four cards at random, and the closest driver (by car number) to the cards selected (without going over of course) will be the drivers I will pick this week for Matty’s Picks.

    Here’s a photo of the draw:

    [media-credit id=24 align=”aligncenter” width=”169″][/media-credit]

    Dark Horse Pick

    Via random draw (and a pre-determined list of possible Dark Horses and Winners), Casey selected the 10 of Spades (0) and the 6 of Diamonds. So on the nose for the Dark Horse this week is a Roush Fenway Racing driver that everyone can agree on as a Dark Horse, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    Not much Sprint Cup history here for my Dark Horse pick, as Stenhouse will make just his second start in the Sprint Cup series on Sunday, but based off his practice speeds, it looks like Casey didn’t do too bad picking my Dark Horse this week.

    Last year’s NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion didn’t stretch his points lead when it came to the three races on Superspeedways in 2011, (8th at Daytona in February, 38th at Talladega in April, and 28th back at Daytona in July), but his practice speeds for this year’s Daytona 500 have been nothing to frown at. He was 12th quick in the first practice session, 14th in the second, his highest mark on the leaderboard came in the third practice session, and his most recent efforts landed him seventh in the sixth session earlier today.

    I’m not emptying my bank account on Stenhouse for Sunday’s race, but with his Roush-Fenway FR9 Ford Fusion looking strong in practice, I will not count him out just yet.

    Winner Pick

    Casey selected the Ace of Clubs and the Deuce of Spades when it came down to my winner pick, and via Price Is Right rules, (with no driver in the No. 12 car) this would bring us to the No.13 of Casey Mears. I’m not sure that Mears is shown on anyone’s list of ‘Winner Picks’, so I will bypass that pick and head for the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet of Tony Stewart.

    Now how can I be mad at the random draw of the No. 14 car this week? Coming off a second-place (closest finish of the Bud Shootout by the way) in last Saturday’s race at Daytona, and a win in the first of the two Dual races Thursday, what is there not to like? Yes, I know he’s not in an FR9, but really, what is there not to like about this pick?

    Smoke will be making his 14th start in the Great American Race on Sunday, a race that has evaded him 13 times before. Despite being winless in the big dance, Smoke has tallied an impressive 16 victories at the World Center of Racing including:
    3 – Sprint Cup wins in the July race
    3 – Bud Shootout Wins
    2 – Gatorade Dual Wins
    2 – International Race of Champions (IROC) Wins
    6 – NASCAR Nationwide Series Wins

    This Stewart-Haas racing team is so confident in their chances that after his win on Thursday, Stewart came across the radio and said “Keep it clean, please“. Spotter Bob Jeffrey added “Don’t put anything on our race car. That’s going to be the Daytona 500 winner.

    Seriously, what’s not to like about this? He’s starting third on Sunday and has a race record that rivals anyone in history…

    That’s it for this week. I’d like to thank Casey for her help with my picks this week and until next time, you stay classy NASCAR NATION!

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Martinsville Tums Fast Relief 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Martinsville Tums Fast Relief 500

    Even before the race, the infamous short-track tempers were flaring with Kevin Harvick and Greg Biffle getting into it on and off the track during practice. Here is what was surprising and not surprising when the green flag flew for the 63rd annual Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

    [media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”236″][/media-credit]Surprising:  It was most surprising that at race end, Victory Lane was more like a Food Network ‘Throwdown with Bobby Flay’ show, with victor Tony Stewart challenging current point’s leader Carl Edwards regarding the Chase.

    With his win, Stewart felt free to throw down the Chase gauntlet, climbing two positions to the second spot in the Chase standings. Smoke is now just eight points out of first place, where Carl Edwards currently resides.

    “He’d better be worried,” Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, said of Edwards in Victory Lane. “That’s all I can say. He’s not going to have an easy three weeks.”

    “This is the best Chase field we’ve ever had,” Stewart continued. “To be in the position that we’re in right now, sitting here knowing that we’re right in the middle of this thing with three weeks to go, it’s obviously a great feeling and a great position to be in.”

    “We’ve just got to go out and keep doing what we’re doing here.”

    This was Stewart’s third victory of the season, as well as his third win in 26 races at Martinsville Speedway. The forty-year old has now won 42 times in 461 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

    Not Surprising:  In spite of some Martinsville mayhem, the momentum that has been Carl Edwards throughout the Chase, was maintained, although greatly challenged.  The driver of the No. 99 Scotts Winterguard Fertilizer Ford, who was lapped twice during the race and almost penalized for jumping a restart, finished respectably, albeit his worst Chase finish to date, in the ninth position.

    “This track has just been really, really tough for me,” Edwards said after the race. “So I think this is one of those days where everything went wrong and everything went right as well.”

    Also not surprisingly, Edwards seemed in no way fazed by Stewart’s ‘throw down’ challenges regarding the championship Chase. And he laid down his own challenge as well.

    “I told you I thought he was one of the guys that could win this race and be a guy that you’d have to beat for the championship,” Edwards said of Smoke. “I think he’s proving that right now.”

    “We’ll go race hard,” Edwards continued. “They’re gonna have to race us too, so I’m excited about the next three races.”

    Surprising:  It was most surprising to see just how aggressively Dale Earnhardt, Jr. ran his Martinsville race. In fact at one point he quipped that he might become known as a ‘dirty driver’ if there were more short tracks like Martinsville on the Cup schedule.

    Junior, who finished seventh in his No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew Paint the 88/National Guard Chevrolet, seemed absolutely pleased that the race was as chaotic as it was.

    “Well, it’s time man,” Junior said. “That right there was basically, hey the season is running down and we are not going to be racing much longer and I am going to miss it so I came to the buffet and got everything I could eat.”

    “I drank a couple of AMPs before the race started and probably was a little bit too excited,” Junior also confessed.

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising that the so-called ‘Masters of Martinsville’, teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, came ever so close to getting Hendrick Motorsports that coveted 200th win.

    Johnson, who finished second in his No. 48 MyLowe’s Chevrolet, posted his 18th top-10 finish in 20 races at Martinsville. Gordon, piloting the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, finished third, his 31st top-10 finish in 38 races at Martinsville Speedway.

    In spite of not achieving the 200th HMS win milestone, Gordon in particular still made history. Gordon made his 650th start, as well as becoming the fourth driver to lead more than 3,000 laps at Martinsville Speedway.

    “Gosh we came so close to getting win 200 for Rick Hendrick,” Gordon said. “I ran it as hard as I possibly could to get our Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet back to the front.”

    “It was pretty fun coming up through there and getting up to the front and leading,” Gordon continued. “It just seemed like the last couple of runs just didn’t quite go our way.”

    “So, we came home third and it was a nice top five for us.”

    For his part, five-time champ Jimmie Johnson was just trying to mind his ‘P’s and Q’s’, especially when it came time to race with Stewart for the win.

    “I just wanted to do the right thing and unfortunately got beat in the process,” Johnson said of his battle with Smoke. “Thought about going in there and leaning on him but that was just not the right thing to do.”

    Surprising:  It was surprising to see the moniker of good guy  ‘Sheriff’ usually worn by Brian Vickers change to the villain of the short track. Vickers was at the heart of many of the race cautions, finally succumbing to the damage and taking his ailing No. 83 Red Bull Toyota off the track.

    Chaser Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Crown Royal Ford, was one of Vicker’s victims. He finished the race 31st thanks to his on-track incident, falling three spots to fifth in the championship standings.

    “The 83 car hit me about twice a lap every lap for about ten laps,” Kenseth said. “So, it made me mad.”

    “By the looks of his car, I wasn’t the first one he hit.”

    Jamie McMurray, in the No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet was also involved in an incident with the No. 83 car. The crash with Vickers early in the race effectively ended McMurray’s day, relegating him to a 35th place finish.

    “When you don’t feel like you have the corner good, you block,” Vickers said. “I pulled down and blocked and I saw he (Brian Vickers) was going to get in there, so I moved back up the track.”

    “I feel like he let off the brake and went ahead and sent me for a ride,” Vickers continued. “I just felt like he kind of took a cheap shot on me and I just didn’t appreciate it.”

    Not Surprising:   After winning his first ever Truck Series race at the short track, Denny Hamlin went on to have a great run in the Cup race. The driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry finished fifth, his first top-five in the 2011 Chase.

    “We had a great race car today,” Hamlin said. “I felt like the best car most of the day.”

    “We thought it was a blessing that last stop when we beat the 24 (Jeff Gordon) out – the pit crew did an amazing job,” Hamlin continued. “It was the dagger for us because it put us on the outside line with those guys that stayed out.”

    “We just needed to start on the bottom one or two of those restarts – then we would have been fine.”

    Surprising:  It was almost spooky to watch the tricks played on Kyle Busch in his No. 18 M&M’s Halloween Toyota Camry late in the race. He and driver Matt Kenseth got into each other during a restart and then Busch lost a tire after leaving the pits for the repair as he was trying to stay on the lead lap.

    “The M&M’s Toyota Camry was really fast,” crew chief Dave Rogers said. “We led the most laps again, the second time this year that we’ve led the most laps at Martinsville.”

    “That’s just hard racing out there,” Rogers continued. “We were a victim of circumstance at a short track.”

    Not Surprising:  After an admittedly miserable season, it was not surprising that Jeff Burton, driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, continued to turn it around with another good run. Burton followed his second place finish last weekend at Talladega with a sixth place finish at Martinsville, his third top-10 finish for the season.

    “I can’t be too unhappy with finishing sixth because the Cat team worked their tails off to get us in position at the end to win this thing,” Burton said. “That last caution probably didn’t help us, but it was another solid finish.”

    Surprising:  Surprising kudos to Casey Mears, driver of the No. 13 Geico Toyota Camry , who scored his best finish of the season to date.  The Germain Racing driver, cheered on by crew chief Bootie Barker, finished 12th at the Martinsville short track.

    “I’m so proud of all the guys on this Geico racing team,” Mears said. “We’ve known all year that we could run this well and it’s a nice feeling to have two weeks in a row where we have run up front.”

    Not Surprising:  A.J. Allmendinger continued his strong run, finishing 11th, just shy of another top-10 finish. In fact, the Dinger’s No. 43 AdvoCare Ford Fusion looked to be the car to beat until a late race altercation, as well as some slower pit stops, relegated him further back in the pack.

    “That’s Martinsville,” Allmendinger said simply. “It was a really good car.”

    “I was proud of all the guys,” Allmendinger continued. “We’ve got to work on our pit stops a little bit because we kept losing a couple of spots, but what really hurt us was I got put three-wide on the outside and got into one and that shoved the fender over the tire and from there, we were at the back of the pack and everybody was just gauging back there.”

    Surprising:  Brad Keselowski’s Cinderella carriage turned into a bit of a pumpkin at Martinsville. The driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger had a good run going, but ended up finishing 17th.

    “That’s racing on these short tracks,” Keselowski said. “We got some good racing in the middle section of the race, but at the end we just didn’t catch a break.”

    “It will come back around for the Miller Lite Dodge team,” Keselowski continued. “We came up a few laps short.”

    Not Surprising:  Kevin Harvick continued his reign as the ‘Closer’, finishing fourth in his No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet. Happy has now finished in the top five for three consecutive races at Martinsville.

    “It was definitely a battle,” Harvick said. “Everybody was driving hard.”

    “That is what you are supposed to do here at Martinsville.”

     

  • NASCAR Mixes Chase, Charity and Gout Awareness at Charlotte

    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.”

  • Juan Pablo Montoya: One Driver, Many Facets

    Juan Pablo Montoya: One Driver, Many Facets

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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