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  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Brickyard 400 at Indy

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Brickyard 400 at Indy

    With Big Machine Records as the presenting sponsor, the Indy pre-race festivities were destined to feature artists such as Reba McIntire and Rascal Flatts performing ‘America the Beautiful’ and the national anthem respectively, as well as CEO Scott Borchetta waving the green flag for the race start.

    [media-credit name=”Adam Lovelace” align=”alignright” width=”245″][/media-credit]Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 18th annual Brickyard 400 presented by BigMachineRecords.com:

    Surprising:  In spite of leading the race at the halfway point, clicking off a position a lap in the final twelve laps of the race, and being the only car assured of finishing the race with enough fuel, it was surprising that the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, Jeff Gordon did not win the race.

    Gordon did, however, come in a solid second, improving his point standings to being just 52 points behind leader Carl Edwards. This was Gordon’s 14th top 10 finish in 18 races at Indianapolis Speedway and his ninth top-10 finish in 2011.

    “Oh my goodness what a day,” Gordon said. “I am so proud of this Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet team. I mean they were just flawless.”

    “It was all we could do to put pressure on those guys and hope they would run out,” Gordon said of his battle with those in danger of running out of fuel. “I passed all of them but one.”

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising that the one that Gordon could not get past was a driver with a family history as storied as the Brickyard itself. Dedicating the win to his father John, Paul Menard, driver of the No. 27 NIBCO/Menards Chevrolet won his first ever NASCAR race at the track where he had been coming with his family since he was a youngster.

    “You know I’ve been coming here since I was a kid and my Daddy has been trying to win this race for 35 years,” Menard said. “So this is for my Dad.”

    “I can’t believe we won Indy,” Menard continued. “This is just a really special place for my family and myself.”

    Menard made a little history at the Brickyard himself, becoming the first driver to win his first career race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This is also the first Indy win in a Menard’s sponsored race car.

    This is Menard’s sixth top-10 finish in 2011 and his first top-10 finish in five races at Indy. He also became the fourth different first-time winner for the 2011 NASCAR season.

    Surprising:  One of the biggest surprises of the day was how many drivers pitted under green for fuel directly after a restart towards the end of the race. One of those drivers who did just that was NASCAR’s favorite son Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in his No. 88 Amp Energy/National Guard Chevrolet.

    Junior’s fuel strategy did not, however, play to his advantage. He finished 16th and dropped one more position in the point standings to tenth, just barely maintaining Chase contention status.

    “You don’t want to be hanging around out there on the race track when everybody else is already inside a fuel window,” Earnhardt, Jr. said. “So, yeah I can understand why it turned out like it did.”

    Not Surprising:  Since the Brickyard is considered one of the ‘big’ races on the NASCAR schedule, it was not surprising that two drivers who have won ‘big’ races in the past had good runs. Regan Smith, behind the wheel of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet and winner of the Darlington Showtime Southern 500, scored the third place finish and Jamie McMurray, Daytona 500 and defending winner of the Brickyard 400 last year, took fourth in his No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet.

    “It was a great run for the Furniture Row Chevy and my guys worked their butts off all weekend,” Smith said. “This is not a great track for me, so I am happy and if I couldn’t win, the guy in Victory lane is my best friend on the circuit and I can’t wait to congratulate him.”

    “We got a little bit lucky today,” McMurray said. “We’ve had a tough year and a lot of things go wrong and a lot of bad luck. So, it’s very nice to have good luck and a good finish.”

    Surprising:  In spite of an uncertain future for 2012, with his ride for Rick Hendrick ending at the end of the season, Mark Martin in his No. 5 Quaker State/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet pulled off a surprisingly good top-10 finish.

    Martin took the checkered flag at the Brickyard in eighth place, advancing his point standings by two spots up to the 18th position.

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising that the winner of the final Nationwide race at Lucas Oil Raceway continued his great weekend run over at the Brickyard. Brad Keselowski, behind the wheel of the Blue Deuce, finished top-10.

    “It was kind of an up-and-down day for the Miller Lite Dodge,” Keselowski said of his ninth place run. “At the three-quarter part of the race, I thought we were going to win the Brickyard.”

    “It just didn’t quite work out, but we made our car faster throughout the day and I was proud of that.”

    Surprising:  Even Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota, surprised himself by battling not only track position and fuel strategy but also a tussle with Tony Stewart in the pits to attain a top-10 finish.

    “I definitely had no idea that the day would be so ugly, but yet come out of it smelling like a rose I guess,” Busch said. “We worked our butts of this whole weekend trying to get something out of nothing.”

    Not Surprising:  In spite of a crew chief change, Jeff Burton, RCR veteran and NASCAR statesman, continued his downward spiral. Burton finished 35th in his No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet.

    “We had a little miscommunication on pit road,” Burton said. “The radios blanked out and I couldn’t hear him (Burton’s new crew chief Luke Lambert). I drove by pit road and it just put us in a hole the rest of the day.”

    “We were fast but we just had a lot of crap go on.”

    Surprising:  With so many media pundits predicting a victory at Indy, it was surprising to see how badly Indy 500 champ Juan Pablo Montoya finished. JPM, piloting his No. 42 Target Chevrolet, finished 28th.

    “It sucks when you run good all day,” Montoya said. “We unloaded really bad but at the end, we were a really competitive car.”

    “Right now it’s all about looking at the future.”

    Not Surprising:  After their one, two finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, it was not surprising to see the two drivers of Stewart Haas Racing have another fairly good day.  Tony Stewart, piloting the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet overcame adversity on the track and on pit road to finish sixth.

    Stewart’s teammate Ryan Newman, behind the wheel of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet, also had a decent day, finishing 12th. Both drivers maintained their positions solidly in the top ten in the point standings.

    “I just fought for everything I could get all day,” Stewart said. “We didn’t have the best car by any means.”

    “Whatever you get here, you appreciate it because you had to earn it,” Stewart continued. “You don’t get anything free here.”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: New Hampshire Lenox Industrial Tools 301

    After a week of debate on whether or not NASCAR drivers were athletes, thanks to Golden Tate at the EPSYs, as well as which driver was in desperation mode to make the Chase, 43 NASCAR Sprint Cup cars took to the Magic Mile in Loudon, New Hampshire.

    Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Lenox Industrial Tools 301.

    [media-credit id=43 align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Surprising:  Prior to the race, most of the drivers were praising the new tire that Goodyear had brought to the track. Yet, by the end of the race, several drivers had experienced surprisingly significant tire issues. One of those most affected was the point leader coming into the race, Kyle Busch.

    Busch, behind the wheel of the unusually white No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, blew a tire and slammed into the wall at turn 3. Even worse than his 36th place finish was his fall from the top of the Chase standings leader board, from first to fifth.

    “We blew a tire,” Busch said. “There was too much brake heat.”

    “I had a pretty fast car and we were getting there,” Busch continued. “But the tire wouldn’t take it.”

    Not Surprising:  With one driver dominating the race weekend, from winning his third straight Whelen Modified Series race to the Coors Light pole, it was not surprising to find Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 US Army Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing, in Victory Lane.

    And following right behind him, sporting a big smile, was his team owner and teammate Tony Stewart, who brought his No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, to the checkered flag in second place.

    This was the first time that Stewart-Haas Racing had finished 1-2. They had also started the race in the same order in which they finished.

    “I’m just really proud of this US Army team and all the people that help out,” Newman said. “It’s a big deal for us.”

    “We had a great weekend at Stewart-Haas Racing and I’m really proud of everybody’s effort.”

    “It was a perfect day for the organization for sure,” Stewart said. “This is big for everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing.”

    Surprising:  In contrast to their Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch’s problems, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano both had surprisingly good days, even with the beating and banging going on at the Magic Mile.

    Hamlin, driving the No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota, and Logano, behind the wheel of the No. 20 Home Depot, came in third and fourth respectively.

    “It was a pretty physical race in the sense that guys were really banging into each other,” Hamlin said. “I was banging into guys.”

    “It was one of those days where you just had to do the best you can to keep four fenders on it by the end of the day,” Hamlin continued. “We had three, but it was good enough to get us through and have a good comeback day finishing third.”

    Not Surprising:  Four-time champion Jeff Gordon, driving the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, proved he had the mettle to face adversity and still salvage a decent day at the track. Gordon battled electrical issues for much of the race, describing his warning lights as “lighting up like a Christmas tree” at one point.

    Because Gordon had to turn his brake blowers off due to the electrical issues, he had a tire failure at the end of the race, rolling slowing across the line to finish 11th.

    “Oh my goodness,” Gordon said. “What didn’t happen today? It was a pretty crazy day for us.”

    “We had a lot of obstacles thrown at us, but certainly we had a lot to smile about with how great our car was.”

    Surprising:  With all the radio communications possible between driver, crew chief and team nowadays, it was surprising to see one team writing out instructions to their driver on a piece of cardboard during the race.

    Jamie McMurray, driving the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker 1 Chevrolet, could not hear his crew so they resorted to old school style of communication. Even that did not help, however, and McMurray and company finished a tough 31st.

    Not Surprising:  Similar to his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jimmie Johnson, in the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet, had a bad day but took it and made it better. Johnson and company had a lug nut issue and then spun, but still recovered to finish fifth.

    “We’ve been working and we’ve been patient as a group trying to mature guys and get stuff ready,” the five-time champion said. “But we can’t have these mistakes anymore.”

    “We are way too close to the Chase and we need to be right.”

    Surprising:  While the Red Bull team has had it troubles, especially with the news that the team would be gone after the season, it was surprising to see teammates Kasey Kahne, in the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, and Brian Vickers, in the No. 38 Red Bull Toyota, wreck into each other.

    Kahne was able to finish the race in sixth but Vickers, who was most affected by the collision, could only recover to place 34th.

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising to see the driver of the No. 99 Ortho Home Defense Ford, Carl Edwards, play the fuel mileage game to regain the points lead with his 13th place finish.

    “We had fun,” Edwards said. “It is fitting we have Aflac for a sponsor because I feel like I was buying insurance at the end.”

    “I was letting those guys go by one point at a time thinking that if we had a green-white-checkered, we could win this thing,” Edwards continued. “It is hard to back up like that but it worked.”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Inaugural Kentucky Quaker State 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Inaugural Kentucky Quaker State 400

    The bluegrass state, known more for its horse racing than horse power, hosted its first ever NASCAR Sprint Cup race, the Quaker State 400. Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the inaugural running of the cars at Kentucky Speedway.

    [media-credit name=”Joe Dunn” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Surprising:  It was a bit surprising to find the biggest complaints of the fans echoed the complaints of the drivers on this historic night. And it was all about the traffic, on and off the track.

    Many fans never even made it into the race because of the traffic. This situation was so bad that both the track management and NASCAR had to issue statements of apology.

    Several drivers also complained vehemently about the traffic on the track as well, especially about not being able to pass. Four-time champion Jeff Gordon, driving the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet, was most vocal about the both sets of traffic situations.

    “When the green flag dropped, I was surprised with how little grip there was because we had so much grip throughout the weekend,” Gordon said. “It was so impossible to pass here.”

    “I think the only thing that made this a great race today was the green-white-checkered and the excitement and energy of the fans,” Gordon continued. “I think when Bruton (Smith) is looking at how to get the traffic in here, he’s going to have to look at the race track as well.”

    “It’s rough and it’s really hard to pass.”

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising to see one driver yet again prove his versatility and driving skills, especially with the spotlight shining on the inaugural run in the bluegrass state.

    That driver, Kyle Busch, proved that he can not only drive from the back of the pack to the victory, as he did in the Camping World Truck Series race, but also start from the pole, lead 125 laps of the 267 laps in the race, and win the first ever Cup event at Kentucky Speedway.

    “This is cool man,” the driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota said. “This is right up there with the best of them.”

    “I haven’t won the big ones, so this is as good as it gets right now,” Busch continued. “I can’t put it into words. The way we ran tonight was awesome.”

    This was Busch’s 22nd victory in 240 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races and his third victory in 2011. The victory also catapulted the 26 year old driver into the lead in the Chase standings by 4 points over Carl Edwards.

    Surprising:  David Reutimann, driver of the No. 00 Tums Toyota Camry, surprisingly not only starred in the Tums commercial with team owner Michael Waltrip, but also starred in his best career finish, runner up to race winner Kyle Busch.

    This was only Reutimann’s second top-10 finish for the entire 2011 season.

    “It was a great race man,” Reutimann said. “It was a phenomenal race.”

    “We got a run on top and got it pointed in the right direction,” Reutimann said of the final lap as he battled five-time champ Jimmie Johnson. “Jimmie gave me enough room up there and we ended up getting a decent finish.”

    Not Surprising:   It was not surprising that the winner of the Kentucky Speedway Nationwide race was the closest contender in the Cup race as far as laps led to the race winner. Brad Keselowski, winner of the Nationwide race at Kentucky, led three times for a total of 79 laps in the first-ever Cup race.

    Unfortunately for Keselowski, driver of the blue deuce for Penske Racing,  the late restarts did not work in his favor and he ended up finishing seventh in the inaugural Cup run atKentucky.

    “It was an incredible Miller Lite Dodge Saturday night,” Keselowski said. “I led a bunch of laps and I have to thank my team for that.”

    “But I would have liked to have gotten a better finish from where we ended up.”

    Surprising:  Old five time Jimmie Johnson made a surprisingly uncharacteristic mistake behind the wheel of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet. He lost count of the laps and thought there was one more lap to go in the race instead of it being completed.

    “I didn’t see the white flag,” Johnson said. “I saw some type of flag when we were coming, which was the checkered, but I didn’t see the white for some reason.”

    “I think the 18 was going to be the winner the way it was,” Johnson continued. “It didn’t change the outcome of the race by any stretch of the imagination.”

    Johnson finished the race in the third spot. He also moved up one spot in the point standings to fifth place.

    Not Surprising:  While Juan Pablo Montoya, behind the wheel of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, may be known as a fiery, aggressive driver, it is not surprising that he and his crew chief Brian Pattie are calculating their every move with the Chase fast approaching.

    Montoya had a good car at Kentuckyand was up in the front lurking for much of the race. Although he finished 15th after qualifying for the outside pole, Montoya has inched ever nearer to Chase contention, moving up one spot to the 13th position in the point standings.

    Surprising:  Jamie McMurray, driving the No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet, is having a surprisingly bad run of motor failures for the season. The engine gremlin struck him again at Kentucky Speedway and it blew up, exuding a tremendous amount of smoke that forced him to a dead stop on the track.

    “Yeah, I got a little freaked out because I felt the motor start shaking and blow up and the smoke came in the car so fast I couldn’t see,” McMurray said. “That’s the first time that’s ever happened to me.”

    “I’m really frustrated,” McMurray continued. “I can’t believe we broke three engines in 18 races or however many we’ve run so far. I don’t know that I’ve blown up three engines in the last five or six years.”

    “So, it’s unbelievable that we seem to keep getting the engine that breaks.”

    Not Surprising:  After several drivers experienced challenging runs at their first ever attempt at Kentucky Speedway, it is not at all surprising that the last words out of the mouths of these drivers is how much they cannot wait to get to the next race in New Hampshire.

    “That was a tough night for the NAPA Know How team,” Martin Truex, Jr., driver of the No. 56 NAPA Good To Go Toyota Camry, said. “We started slow and then it looked like we were going to get a good finish but our car kind of plowed there at the end.”

    “I’m looking forward to New Hampshire.”

    Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry, echoed Truex’s sentiments.

    “It was a fight,” Hamlin said of his inaugural Kentucky run. “We couldn’t make any moves, especially when it came night time and it seemed like our car went away from us.”

    “I’m looking forward to going back to a short track likeNew Hampshire.”

    Hamlin finished 11th and moved up to 10th in the point standings. Truex, Jr. finished 18th and held steady at 23rd in points.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Charlotte Coca Cola 600

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Charlotte Coca Cola 600

    After exceptionally exciting finishes in the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 earlier in the day, all signs pointed to a stellar finish in one of NASCAR’s biggest races of the season. Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”260″][/media-credit]Surprising: With several of the sport’s biggest races won by first-timers this season, including Trevor Bayne’s story book win at the Daytona 500 and Regan Smith’s unpredicted win at Darlington, it was a bit surprising that no first time winner stood in Victory Lane after the Coke 600.

    One driver, however, came mighty close. David Ragan, who had snagged the Showdown win to make it into the All-Star Race the weekend before, almost pulled off his own Cinderella-like story, falling short of the win by just one position.

    Ragan, in his No. 6 UPS “We Love Logistics” Ford, finished second, scoring his highest career finish in the Coca Cola 600.

    “We had a strong car all day,” Ragan said. “That’s a finish that we deserved, but we just went about doing it the hard way.”

    Not Surprising:  After all those laps and all those miles, it was not surprising to see the Coca Cola 600 come down to a green, white checkered finish. And it was equally unsurprising to see one driver that is becoming well-known for his stealth finishes to come from nowhere and snag another victory.

    Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Budweiser Armed Forces Tribute Chevrolet, did just that to lead the last 400 feet of the race and take the checkered flag for his fifth top 10 and second top five in 21 starts at Charlotte.

    “We were lucky,” Harvick said. “It’s nothing against the race track, I just don’t like racing here. But to be in Victory Lane, it says a lot about this Budweiser team.”

    “This is a huge accomplishment for us,” Harvick continued, admitting that he had struggled with his car and team throughout the race. “This is a hell of a race to win. We’re going to celebrate it like it’s our last one.”

    Surprising:  After leading the race on the final lap, seeing the checkered flag, and then running out of gas, it was surprising how positive Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was after the race. Junior limped to the finish line on fumes to finish seventh in his No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet.

    Echoing his ever upbeat crew chief Steve Letarte, Earnhardt, Jr. said, “I’m disappointed we didn’t win, but if we would’ve won, it would have been a gift.”

    “We ran good tonight,” Junior continued. “I’m proud.”

    Not Surprising: In contrast to the positive, proud vibes in the Dale Jr. camp, it was not surprising that there was a whole lot of swearing going on in his teammate Jimmie Johnson’s camp. In fact, crew chief Chad Knaus dropped the F-bomb on national television when Johnson’s engine expired with just five laps to go in the race.

    This was the first engine failure for Hendrick Motorsports this season and it forced Johnson to a 28th place finish in his No. 48 Lowes Summer Salutes Chevrolet. Johnson also fell one spot, from second to third, in the point standings.

    Surprising:  Although the Coca Cola 600 is the longest race of the season, it was surprising to see the number of engine failures that occurred. In addition to Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray, Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart all experienced engine issues.

    For Jamie McMurray, behind the wheel of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shop/Convoy of Hope for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, this engine failure signified the sixth of the season for the ECR engine builders.

    “It started shaking and one second later, it was ‘boom,’” McMurray said.

    Hamlin, on the other hand, was able to recover after his engine issues, with his No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota team doing a yeoman’s job of changing out the carburetor. Hamlin managed a top ten finish, which boosted him into the top twelve Chase contenders.

    Stewart also suffered engine woes in the waning laps of the race, radioing crew chief Darian Grubb that something was amiss with less than 20 laps to go. Stewart, in his No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, finished 17th, scoring his 10th top-20 finish to date.

    Not Surprising:  In addition to engine woes, it was not surprising that many other teams were plagued with other types of mechanical problems, from overheating to radio problems.

    Greg Biffle, behind the wheel of the No. 16 3M Ford, seemed ready to implode from overheating issues in his car early in the race. Biffle was, however, able to overcome, rallying back to lead laps at the end. Unfortunately, he too succumbed to not having enough gas, having to make a splash and go stop at the end, which relegated him to a 13th place finish.

    Jeff Gordon, piloting the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, also struggled and battled radio issues early in the race. Gordon too looked strong at the end of the show, only to have to pit for gas as well. Gordon finished 20th, falling two positions to 16th in the point standings.

    Surprising:  Serving as a substitute driver for Trevor Bayne and making his Cup debut, it was surprising how well Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. did in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford. Stenhouse, Jr. managed to bring his car home in the 11th position even after having several close encounters with the wall.

    “That was interesting,” Stenhouse, Jr. said. “I hit the wall a couple of times, the caution came back out and it worked great for us.”

    “I’m just glad I got this opportunity.”

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising that after Stenhouse, Jr. and Bayne prayed together before the race, Bayne playfully pushed his friend out of the way and tried to get behind the wheel of his race car. After five weeks of being out of his car due to a mystery illness, Bayne was most certainly chomping at the bit to get back to racing.

    Bayne reinforced that desire by tweeting after the race, “This was by far the hardest weekend to sit back and watch! Can’t wait to be back in action!!”

    Surprising:  In the battle of the Busch brothers, it was surprising that this weekend Kurt Busch prevailed, finishing fourth in his Shell/Pennzoil No. 22 Dodge, while baby brother Kyle took a wild ride through the grass and then another spin, finishing 32nd in his No. 18 M&Ms Toyota.

    “The race was 600 miles and it felt like 800,” Dave Rogers, Busch’s crew chief, said. “Kyle was trying to make something out of nothing and it got away from him. We ended our day a little early.”

    Not Surprising:  Not surprisingly, one driver who never expected to even make the show captured the true spirit of the Memorial Day race weekend. David Starr, behind the wheel of the No. 95 Jordan Truck Sales.com Ford Fusion crashed early in the race, finishing 36th. Yet this is what he had to say.

    “This was a great weekend,” Starr said. “I’m just honored and blessed to be driving this Ford Fusion.”

    “It was awesome out there,” Starr continued. “It was a big honor to race in the Coca Cola 600 even though it ended up like this. I’m really blessed.”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Richmond’s Crown Royal 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Richmond’s Crown Royal 400

    After the sounds of the US Marine Drum and Bugle Corps playing the National Anthem and the command to start engines by surviving war hero and race namesake Staff Sergeant Matthew Hansen faded, Saturday night racing was officially underway at Richmond International Raceway.

    Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Crown Royal Presents the Matthew and Daniel Hansen 400.

    Surprising:  It was surprising to see just how quickly the pole sitter Juan Pablo Montoya, in his No. 42 Target Chevrolet, fell from his prime starting position into a world of trouble with Ryan Newman, piloting the No. 39 US Army Medicine Chevrolet.

    After some tussling back and forth for position, Newman had had enough with the ever assertive Montoya, sending JPM into the wall on Lap 106. Montoya returned to the track and on Lap 236 took his revenge. [media-credit id=5 align=”alignright” width=”258″][/media-credit]

    After being spun out by Montoya, Newman was definitely hot under the collar. “I can’t believe they’re not going to black flag that 42 car,” Newman said. “I’m going to take care of this after the race.”

    Newman did indeed head straight for the NASCAR hauler after the race to share his concerns and see what the sanctioning body had to say about the incident. Montoya, on the other hand, waved off the media, jumped on his golf cart and headed back to the motor coach lot without comment.

    Newman declared he just wanted the situation to be handled fairly by the sanctioning body.

    “I know that he (Montoya) ran up on me of (Turn) 2 there and I clipped him. I mean I’m not going to try to dump myself into the wall,” Newman said. “But to retaliate the way he did just didn’t show much class.”

    Not Surprising:  Since the track was Richmond, it was not surprising to see the Joe Gibbs Racing team at the front of the pack when the checkered flag flew. While Denny Hamlin had dominated the weekend, winning his own charity race as well as the Nationwide event, it was JGR teammate Kyle Busch, in his award winning M&Ms Pretzel Toyota, that led 235 laps including the final 84, to claim the victory.

    “This race tonight was a good one,” Busch said. “We knew if we could go through traffic, we could win.”

    “We just really got beat by our teammate,” Hamlin said. “He drove a great race. Our cars were dead equal. We just got beat.”

    Surprising: There were definitely some surprising names in the top ten finishers when the checkered flag flew at RIR. Both Red Bull drivers, Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, and his teammate Brian Vickers, behind the wheel of the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, had good nights.

    Kahne, still smarting from his recent knee surgery, finished third and Vickers posted a tenth place finish.

    Another driver David Ragan, piloting his No. 6 UPS “We Love Logistics” Ford for Roush- Fenway Racing, had a strong car especially at the end of the race, finishing fourth.

    “It was a fun night,” Ragan said. “This is my favorite track to come to. Back in 2007, we finished third here and I have really liked the place since.”

    The final driver not usually in the top ten but with a great run at Richmond was AJ Allmendinger. With new sponsor Nautica on his No. 43 Ford Fusion, the ‘Dinger brought his car home in the seventh spot.

    “Sometimes in these races, you have to get a little lucky,” Allmendinger said. “We have been on the bad end before with good cars so I will take luck over skill any day.”

    Not Surprising:  Although mightily struggling for much of the race, five-time champion Jimmie Johnson found his inner rally and finished eighth.

    “We had a good finish out of it but it was a long, long night,” Johnson said. “We got the car semi-competitive and then finally got some strategy, got back on the lead lap and we went from there. So, frustrating night but a good points night.”

    Surprising: Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jeff Gordon had a surprisingly bad night. Gordon yet again found a non-safer barrier wall and wrecked into it driver’s side first.

    The crash on Lap 301 also collected Paul Menard, Mark Martin, David Reutimann, Bobby Labonte, Jamie McMurray and Matt Kenseth.

    “It knocked the wind out of me,” Gordon said after his visit to the infield care center. “I seem to find the worst angles of walls.”

    “What a shame,” Gordon continued. “The Dupont Chevrolet was so strong. With 100 laps to go everyone was losing their patience including me. I just wish they had a safer barrier there.”

    Not Surprising: Unfortunately, it was not surprising that Team Penske continued their struggles. Kurt Busch, in the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge, had all kinds of trouble, from the initial wreck involving Montoya, continuing throughout the race. Teammate Brad Keselowski, in the Blue Deuce, was also involved in several crashes. Busch finished 22nd and Keselowski finished 36th.

    Surprising:  After returning to the lead lap via the ‘lucky dog’ process, Dave Blaney, with his newly committed sponsor Golden Corral on his No. 36 race car, managed to move forward at the end of the race to finish 13th, his season’s best. Blaney, racing not start and parking for Tommy Baldwin Racing, has now locked himself into the top 35, firmly ensconced in 32nd in the point standings.

    Not Surprising: Carl Edwards had another strong run, posting a fifth place finish in his No. 99 Scotts EZ Seed Ford. He also maintained the top spot in the point standings, nine points over second place Jimmie Johnson and thirty points ahead of race winner Kyle Busch in third.

    “That was a lot of work,” Edwards said. “I think that feeling of fifth here tonight will be replaced with the points lead feeling in a little bit and that will feel better.”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Martinsville Goody’s Fast Relief 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Martinsville Goody’s Fast Relief 500

    [media-credit name=”Brad Kepel ” align=”alignright” width=”277″][/media-credit]
    Martin Truex Jr. crashes into Kasey Kahne at Martinsville
    At Martinsville’s version of the ‘paper clip’, NASCAR’s elite made their own history at one of the most storied tracks on the circuit.  Greg Biffle and Jamie McMurray both made their 300th starts of their careers and iron man Mark Martin made his 800th start of his career.

    Here is what was surprising and not surprising in the Goody’s Fast Relief 500:

    Surprising:  It’s not often when the duel for the second place finish is one of the most surprising, and exciting, moments of the entire race. But this second place competition just happened to be between NASCAR’s most popular driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and one of the sport’s rowdiest drivers Kyle Busch. Junior prevailed by the slightest of margins, less than 0.020 of a second.

    Both the driver of the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet and the No. 18 Pedigree Toyota had great points days, with Junior climbing four spots to eighth and Busch taking the points lead.

    Not Surprising:  Now officially able to relinquish his former nicknames of ‘Happy’ and the ‘Bakersfield Basher’, Kevin Harvick, this week in his No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet, can most decisively claim the nickname ‘The Closer.’ Harvick is the first repeat winner of the season and has now won back to back races in decisive passes late in the race.

    “Just an awesome day,” Harvick said. “I didn’t think we had the car to do that. I had a lot of fun racing with Dale Jr. and I hate to be the bad guy, but we’re in it to win it.”

    Surprising: The two dominant drivers of past Martinsville races were not the ones battling for the lead this year.  With 34 laps to go, Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet, made an uncharacteristic mistake, entering the pits too fast. He was forced to the tail end of the field, finishing in the 11th position.

    Denny Hamlin, oft the master of Martinsville, was one of the first to get to pit road, which bit him late in the race. The driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota had to take a wave around on Lap 473, relegating him to a 12th place finish.

    Not Surprising: To no one’s surprise, four-time Cup champion and seven time Martinsville winner Jeff Gordon had a strong day, finishing fifth in the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet. With his good run, Gordon also surpassed the ‘King’ Richard Petty and took the fourth spot in the all-time laps led category.

    “We did have a great day,” Gordon said. “We weren’t great at the beginning but we worked our way up. It was an awesome day to drive to fifth there at the end.”

    Surprising: The number of changing lanes before reaching the start finish line penalties, affectionately known as the ‘David Ragan faux pas’ after his Daytona mistake cost him the win, was definitely surprising. Penalized were Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin, and Tony Stewart.

    It took Kenseth almost half the race to right his wrong. At the end of the day, Kenseth was able to salvage a sixth place finish in his No. 17 Crown Royal Ford.

    Martin was also able to redeem himself, finishing 10th in his No. 5 Quaker State/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet. Martin is now officially the eighth driver to reach the level of 800 starts in his racing career.

    The driver who came out on the short end of the changing lanes penalty stick was Tony Stewart. The driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet finished a miserable 34th, several laps down.

    Not Surprising:  Short tracks usually equal short tempers and that was definitely the case at Martinsville.  Several drivers were unhappy with one another for the bumping, beating and grinding that occurred during the hard racing.

    Most notably was Paul Menard, who had been leading the charge for his new Richard Childress Racing team, only to get into it with Robby Gordon.

    Menard said that Gordon brake-checked him “out of apparent retaliation,” putting a hole in the radiator of the No. 27 NIBCO/Menards Chevrolet. Menard finished 38th, falling six spots to 13th in the point standings.

    Another byproduct of the hard racing that had tempers flaring was the usually unflappable Aussie Marcos Ambrose, who was definitely angry with Michael McDowell.

    “I don’t know what McDowell was thinking,” Ambrose said. “I got stuck on the outside and lost 20 positions just trying to get to the bottom and he just jacked me up and put me in the fence around lap 100. It was uncalled for and made for a very long day.”

    Surprising:  At a short track like Martinsville, big wrecks are not the norm. But there was a monster of a hard hit when Martin Truex, Jr. lost his brakes and pummeled himself into the wall, taking innocent bystander Kasey Kahne with him.

    The hit was so intense that the race had to be red flagged while repairs were made to the safer barrier. Thankfully the drivers of both the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota and the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota were able to walk away from the incident.

    “I thought, oh man, this is going to hurt,” Truex said of the wreck. “Thanks to NASCAR and everybody who built the SAFER barriers. Ten years ago, I wouldn’t be standing here.”

    Not Surprising: As loud as the Truex/Kahne wreck was, in contrast the quietest mover in the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 was Juan Pablo Montoya. The driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet started in the 27th position and, without fanfare, worked his way towards the front to finish fourth. JPM is also quietly working his way up the leader board, advancing one position to seventh in the point standings.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: PIR Subway Fresh Fit 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: PIR Subway Fresh Fit 500

    After one of the most exciting Daytona 500 finishes, the Cup Series promptly headed west to Phoenix International Raceway. Although it actually rained a bit in the Valley of the Sun, the second race of the NASCAR season, the Subway Fresh Fit 500, was filled with its own share of surprises.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”292″][/media-credit]Surprising:  In contrast to the youngest winner, 20 year old Trevor Bayne, celebrating in Victory Lane after his Daytona 500 win last week, a 39 year old veteran driver was finally able to celebrate a victory, ending a 66 race winless streak.  After receiving a big bear hug from team owner Rick Hendrick, the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, Jeff Gordon, stood relieved and overwhelmed with emotion in Victory Lane.

    What seemed to mean the most to Gordon, in addition to beating Kyle Busch of course, was how the fans embraced his win.

    “Man, we just beat Kyle Busch!” Gordon said after getting out of his race car. “Are you kidding me? Pinch me, pinch me.”

    “I don’t really care how we do it because we just wanted to get to Victory Lane,” Gordon said. “But to do it that way, leading the most laps, and to see the fans’ reaction. What an awesome feeling it is.”

    “God, it feels so amazing,” Gordon said. “I’ve got to say thanks to the fans.”

    With the win at PIR, his 83rd, Gordon officially tied Cale Yarborough for fifth in NASCAR’s all-time win list. Gordon also catapulted up 21 spots in the points, now in the fifth position.

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising that Kyle Busch, who had won both the Truck and Nationwide Series races at PIR, was right there nipping at Gordon’s heels in the final laps. Busch battled back from an early incident to give Gordon a run for his money, just coming short of the sweep by finishing as the runner up.

    After paying homage to Gordon, Busch then apologized for getting into Carl Edwards, whose pole sitting race car was totally wrecked as a result of the contact.

    “It was unintentional,” Busch said. “All that aside, we came through a lot of adversity and kept battling through everything that was thrown at us. There at the end, Jeff just had a better car than us and flat out passed me.”

    Surprising: In a flashback moment to Daytona, there was actually a ‘big one’ at Phoenix International Raceway.  Thirteen cars were involved, including the likes of Brian Vickers, Jamie McMurray, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, David Ragan, Regan Smith and David Reutimann to name a few.  The race actually had to be red-flagged in order to allow for the extensive clean up needed.

    Clint Bowyer summed up his take on the ‘big one’ up best. “I’m pretty disgusted with the whole thing,” Bowyer said. “Our day is done.”

    Not Surprising:  Whether as a result of the big one or smaller skirmishes on the track, there were several drivers who were unhappy with one another, sparking the first rivalries of the season. One of the biggest differences of opinion occurred between Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch, who clashed in an early incident.

    “In my opinion, this was the car to win,” Edwards said after his tussle with Busch. “That’s too bold a move to make early in the race.  We had been in the running for the race win.”

    Other cross words were exchanged between Brian Vickers and Matt Kenseth after getting into one another.

    “Matt wrecked us,” Vickers said simply. “It’s coming back to him.”

    Surprising: One of the most surprising finishes was for NASCAR’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. After receiving a penalty for entering too fast into his pit, sliding through his pit stall, and breaking a wheel off the jack, Junior rallied back for a top ten finish.

    Not Surprising: Rick Hendrick’s wisdom in making his giant crew chief swap amongst the Hendrick drivers, sans Jimmie Johnson, certainly became evident at this race. Thanks to his pairing of Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the new duo was able to rally back from adversity, with Letarte serving as head cheerleader. And of course, the driver in Victory Lane, Jeff Gordon, credited his new crew chief pairing with Alan Gustafson, with getting him back to winning ways.

    Surprising and Not Surprising: It was surprising, yet not surprising, that last week’s winner Trevor Bayne had such a difficult time at Phoenix. He wrecked his primary car in practice and had the same experience in his back up car in the race. Bayne hit the wall hard, bringing out the third caution in the race and totally destroying the rear end of his No. 21 Wood Brothers race car.

    “I don’t know what happened,” Bayne said after the wreck. “That’s tough coming off of our high at Daytona to come to this, but we’ve got a great race team behind us.”

    “We’ll be back at Vegas,” Bayne continued. “I hate it ended this way this weekend, but we’ll be back.”

    Indeed all of the Sprint Cup drivers will be back and this time they will try their luck on the track in Sin City. The Kobalt Tools 400 will run at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 6th at 3:00 PM and will be broadcast on FOX and PRN.

  • Jeff Burton Claims Second Duel Victory; Brian Keselowski Makes the Show

    Jeff Burton Claims Second Duel Victory; Brian Keselowski Makes the Show

    The second Gatorade Duel race was all about teamwork and brotherly love.  Clint Bowyer pushed his Richard Childress Racing teammate Jeff Burton to the checkered flag and victory, while Brad Keselowski pushed his brother Brian into a place in the Daytona 500.

    [media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]”It’s a shame two cars can’t fit in here,” Burton said in Victory Lane.  “Clint and I decided that we would find each other early and it worked out well.  For us, this is a good start and being in Victory Lane means a great deal.”

    “I learned a lot of things,” Bowyer said for his part, acknowledging the pusher role.  “I don’t know if there will be another rule change.  It was fun out there.”

    While Bowyer and Burton were high fiving one another after taking the checkered flag, Brad Keselowski was leaning in to congratulate his brother Brian, newly announced Rookie of the Year candidate, who made the biggest race of his life.

    “I owe my brother in a thousand ways,” Brian Keselowski said.  “We wouldn’t have made it here without him.”

    Keselowski, racing an old Ray Evernham car built in 2006, seemed almost in shock that he had raced his way in to the Daytona 500.  “I owe everything to eveybody right now,” Keselowski said.

    “I didn’t get to start driving until I was 18 years old,” Keselowski said.  “But I had to do it all on my own.  If I didn’t put it together, I wouldn’t be racing right now.”

    Michael Waltrip, former Daytona 500 winner, also made it in on time, thanks to his third place finish.  While he felt “blessed to be here,” Waltrip also admitted that he was really “tired”, particularly mentally after that challenging race.

    “You wouldn’t believe how relieving it is to get in no matter how you get in,” Waltrip said.

    Thanks to Waltrip’s finish, Travis Kvapil secured his place in the race on his time.  This was his first time to really experience the two car tango in race conditions.

    “Well it feels great,” Kvapil said about racing his way into the show.  “Last year, we missed this race and we have worked really hard over the wintertime.  It paid off for us and it’s great for our team.”

    The second duel race had a record 22 lead changes and also had a few more cautions than the first race.  One of the first drivers to get involved in a wreck was Joey Logano, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota.

    “Sometimes you’re the bug and sometimes you’re the windshield,” Logano said.  “Today I was the windshield. Wrong place, wrong time.”

    Denny Hamlin also had a less than stellar day.  The driver of the No. 11 Toyota  for Joe Gibbs Racing had a tire go down and then was involved in a single car spin.

    “I have to have a sense of humor I’ve learned this weekend,” Hamlin said.  “What’s so crazy is the fact that we were spun out and three laps later we go from deal last to second or something like that.”

    “This has been an amazing ride and hopefully our weekend is steadily improving,” Hamlin continued.  “We finally did finish.  It’s going to be interesting to see what happens from this day forward.”

    One of the most heartbreaking wrecks occurred late in the race, when Trevor Bayne, who had been stellar all race long, tussled with Jeff Gordon, causing a multi-car accident.  David Ragan was also a significant victim in this wreck as well.

    “I really  had a blast working with Trevor Bayne,” Gordon said.  “He’s a good kid.  He’s a heck of a race car driver.”

    For his part, Bayne was thrilled to have been working with his boyhood hero, Jeff Gordon.

    “Gordon and I worked awesome together and it was just down there at the end,” Bayne said.  “I hate it for all these guys because we were doing awesome, but that’s part of it.  That’s racing.  We’ll get there.”

    In addition to the two car tandem of Jeff Burton, winner, and runner up Clint Bowyer, Michael Waltrip, Kyle Busch and Brian Keselowski rounded out the top five finishers.  Jamie McMurray, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex, Jr. and Carl Edwards completed the top ten in the second Gatorade duel.

  • Daytona’s Magical Aura: Jamie McMurray’s 2010 Daytona 500

    Daytona’s Magical Aura: Jamie McMurray’s 2010 Daytona 500

    Daytona has always had this magical aura with stories surrounding the Daytona 500 that everybody loves to tell over and over. As we near closer to the Daytona 500, here is a look back through some of the highlighted moments in Daytona 500 history.

    [media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”212″][/media-credit]When it got near the end of the 2009 season, there was a lot in question with many drivers and teams.

    Jamie McMurray had been let go from Roush-Fenway Racing as the odd man out when Roush has to downsize his team, looking for a new ride.

    Earnhardt-Ganassi had just lost Martin Truex Jr. to Michael Waltrip Racing and was now looking for a driver to go with sponsor Bass Pro Shops. Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing found themselves also in question with the status of the team after the merger between Chip Ganassi Racing and Dale Earnhardt Incorporated.

    Both needed somebody and needed to turn their ship back upstream so they went to each other – Chip Ganassi called on Jamie McMurray to drive for the No. 1 car for him.

    They had worked together as McMurray began his Sprint Cup career at with Ganassi in 2002. It was announced at Richmond that he’d drive the No. 42 Dodge for the 2003 season full-time, although after Sterling Marlin was injured at Kansas, those plans were accelerated. McMurray began driving the car at Talladega in 2002. They had success quickly together then as in his second-ever start, he led 96 of the final 100 laps to win the UAW-GM Quality 500. The following seasons produced positive final standings finishes as he finished 13th, 11th and 12th in points, despite zero wins. During this time, he accumulated 18 top fives and 46 top 10 finishes.

    At the end of the 2005 season, McMurray left Chip Ganassi Racing to drive the No. 26 Roush-Fenway Ford, hoping for bigger results. Though in return, the point finishes weren’t there: He finished 25th 17th, 16th and 22nd over the next four years with a total of 11 top fives and 42 top 10s. He did manage to win two races (2007 Coke Zero 400 and 2009 Amp Energy 500), but for the most part, the expected success wasn’t there.

    As a result, the 2010 Daytona 500 became the perfect story for both McMurray and Ganassi as it began the start of the second partnership. The race couldn’t had gone any better as McMurray took the lead with a pass by Kevin Harvick on the second green-white-checkered after a big push from ex-teammate Greg Biffle. McMurray never looked back as he took the win over Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Greg Biffle.

    When it came to McMurray’s victory celebration, he let all the emotions out that he had gone through during this time as fans saw him fall to his knees in tears on the Daytona logo, followed by more tears in victory lane.

    “Unbelievable,” McMurray said in victory lane in tears. “Unbelievable. I told my wife today, she was like if you win tonight….oh I am going to cry…it is so unreal. I thought if I made it without seeing my Dad or my wife, I’d be ok. It is unbelievable really. I can’t explain it. It is a dream. I mean it really it is.

    “Where I was last year…and for Johnny Morris (Bass Pro Shops) and Chip (Ganassi) and Felix (Sabates), Bass Pro Shops to take a chance on me and let me come back, it means a lot to me. What a way to pay them back. Happy Valentines Day to my wife. My Dad is here, it is just very emotional.

    “After we won Talladega, we went to McDonald’s. I think tonight we will have a Big Mac.”

    McMurray said earlier in the weekend that he was glad that he kept a good relationship with Ganassi and Sabates since he was able to get this chance again.

    With the Daytona 500 victory, he certainly proved he was worthy of a second chance and that their second time together could equal to lots of success.

    McMurray’s dream season this past didn’t just end with the Daytona 500 as he won the second biggest race of the year—the Brickyard 400, which gave Chip Ganassi the Indy sweep as Dario Franchitti won the Indy 500 earlier in the year.

    “I think it’s just a situation where you got to get the guys in the right position with the right crew chief and the right team and the right owner,” McMurray said following the Brickyard win. “I’ll tell you something that [team owner] Chip [Ganassi] said to me right before I got in the car. He said, ‘Let’s go out and do this thing.’ I said, ‘I’ll give you everything I got.’ He said, ‘I know, that’s why I hired you. I believe in you. You go out and do your best, that will be enough.’

    “I think every driver is different, but for me that’s what drives me, is having somebody behind you. I think it’s been really good for both Chip and I to experience all of this together because we were together when things weren’t great and we kind of built this together along with the 1 team to where it is.”

    McMurray then finished NASCAR’s version of the triple crown by winning in NASCAR Central, winning the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    “I also want to take the time to explain something: as the laps were winding down, I was thinking about Daytona and crying in victory lane,” McMurray said in victory lane at Charlotte. “I don’t think I ever really got to explain that, and why I cried, and what was going on there. As those laps were winding down I was thinking about Daytona and why I cry and the power of prayer. I had a tough year last year. I found out the power of prayer and what that can do for you.

    “When you get to victory lane, and you get to experience this, it just makes you a believer. I talked to Chip earlier today, and we were discussing sponsorship and where this organization was a year ago, and how far we’ve come. 

    “To be in victory lane four times this year, and to have both cars (teammate Juan Pablo Montoya) run as well as they do, and to have the support we do from Target and all these sponsors now, it’s incredible. And I just feel very blessed to be a part of it.”

    As a whole, McMurray had one of the best seasons that any driver could have. One of the downsides is yes, he did miss the Chase, however, it still was a great year, considering how lost things were at the beginning.

    “We’ve had a really good season,” McMurray said in the media center following his Charlotte win. “Our successes have been in some really big races, and it’s really been a gratifying year. You just drive your heart out. If you’ve got the car, you can make those passes, and we had the better car at the end.”

    In the end, he finished the year off 14th in points with three wins, nine top fives and 12 top 10s.

    McMurray’s season allowed Ganassi to establish himself as a valid NASCAR owner by winning two of the biggest races in the sport. Ganassi also completed what he calls the “Ganassi Slam” as his team won the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, giving him four of the biggest wins at the two of the biggest tracks in a 12-month span.

    This story proves that anything is possible and when times get tough, there are ways to get through and make a positive at the end of the journey. The magical side of the emotions and how it played out go back to the Daytona’s Magical Aura of creating stories that fans will remember forever.