Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: Jeff Burton

  • Hot 20 – If dreams do come true, why not a Dale Earnhardt 500 at Talladega?

    Hot 20 – If dreams do come true, why not a Dale Earnhardt 500 at Talladega?

    With more than a month left in the old year, talk about the new is already starting to dominate. Tony Stewart is now retired, with Clint Bowyer no doubt thrilled at the chance to get back into quality equipment as his replacement. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is getting ready to return to racing, though that message from fiance Amy Reimann seems to indicate he never really left. Greg Biffle has left Jack Roush after all these years, with his old ride apparently being put on blocks for next season.

    Dear NASCAR: Please start branding your races so they might one day become stand alone marquee events. Along with the Daytona 500, the Southern 500, and the Brickyard 400, change it back to the World 600 at Charlotte and summertime should mark the Firecracker 400 at Daytona. While we are at it, who would not want to win at Talladega, taking the Hellmann’s Dale Earnhardt 500, or STP’s Richard Petty 500 at Martinsville? A Ridgeway grandfather clock with the King’s face on the face. Hey, it is not our circus, but we have grown fond of some of the monkeys.

    Jimmie Johnson has another trinket to keep polished. NASCAR, in its stupidity, has few iconic events, we know, but Johnson has won them all. Daytona 500? Twice. Southern 500? Twice. World 600? Four times. Brickyard 400? Four more. Ten-time winner at Dover. Nine at Martinsville. Did anyone mention seven Cup championships? Is it too early to wonder about an eighth? Jimmie Johnson is a living, breathing active iconic legend of the sport. Enjoy him while we can.

    Most athletes are done by the time they hit 40. NASCAR is lucky in that way, but even at that age folks start asking the drivers “how much longer?” once they hit the milestone. Johnson, Junior, Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick have already reached the peak of that mountain. The good news is that young gents such as Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, and Austin Dillon have already arrived, with Ty Dillon coming soon, along with the likes of Erik Jones and Darrell Wallace Jr. Those are just the ones with decent rides, either at this level or the one just below. Like XFINITY champ Daniel Suarez, for instance.

    Elliott, Cup’s top rookie, turns 21 within the week. There are 50 drivers younger than him with some experience in the Cup, XFINITY, Camping World, or ARCA series. Harrison Burton finished 22nd in a truck race, third in an ARCA event. Jeff Burton’s boy turned 16 in October. Cole Custer does not turn 19 until January, yet was 10th best in the trucks this season, with a pair of XFINITY Top Tens to his credit in just five attempts. Tomorrow’s stars are coming.

    Let us not rush things, though. 2016 gave us a nice mix of seasoned veterans and fuzzy-cheeked talent, as our Hot 20 bears out.

    1. JIMMIE JOHNSON (5 WINS – 11 T5 – 16 T10) 5040 PTS
    Gunning for eight in 2017. What, too soon?

    2. JOEY LOGANO (3-16-26) 5037 PTS
    I will never forget what he and Brittany did to honor the family of Jake Leatherman.

    3. KYLE BUSCH (4-17-25) 5035 PTS
    If NASCAR was Canadian, would Kyle be sponsored by Smarties?

    4. CARL EDWARDS (3-9-18) 5007 PTS
    Not at the front of the field in the end, but left as the class of the field.

    5. MATT KENSETH (2-8-19) 2330 PTS
    With the Biff leaving, that ole Roush gang have now all departed for greener pastures.

    6. DENNY HAMLIN (3-12-22) 2320 PTS
    Average finish over the final 21 races was 8.5. Thirtieth at Charlotte ruined everything.

    7. KURT BUSCH (1-9-21) 2296 PTS
    Was better in the first half than the second. The good news is that 2017 begins with the first half.

    8. KEVIN HARVICK (4-17-27) 2289 PTS
    Best damn driver in NASCAR this season is a champion…just not for this year.

    9. KYLE LARSON (1-10-15) 2288 PTS
    Second-best 20-something driver this season, and seems to have designs on #1 in the next.

    10. CHASE ELLIOTT (0-10-17) 2285 PTS
    Not all Rookies of the Year are stellar choices, but this one most definitely is.

    11. MARTIN TRUEX JR. (4-8-17) 2271 PTS
    Next year, Erik Jones becomes his new teammate. If the boy wins, soda pop for everyone.

    12. BRAD KESELOWSKI (4-16-22) 2267 PTS
    Brad does not think the format led to great racing last week. Brad did not have my television.

    13. JAMIE MCMURRAY (0-2-12) 2231 PTS
    Joined by Larson, McMurray gave boss Chip Ganassi a pair in the Top Five last Sunday.

    14. AUSTIN DILLON (0-4-13) 2223 PTS
    Some wags figure if Woody from Toy Story drove in NASCAR, he would look a lot like Austin.

    15. TONY STEWART (1-5-8) 2211 PTS
    As iconic as Johnson, Petty, Earnhardt, Gordon, L. Petty, Pearson, Yarborough and Waltrip

    16. CHRIS BUESCHER (1-2-2) 2169 PTS
    Proof that one race can make a season.

    17. KASEY KAHNE (0-3-13) 898 PTS
    2004’s top rookie teams with a seven-time champ, a 13-time most popular, and 2016’s top rookie.

    18. RYAN NEWMAN (0-2-10) 895 PTS
    If he had actually been driving a Caterpillar, the car would have looked better after last Sunday.

    19. A.J. ALLMENDINGER (0-2-9) 830 PTS
    If getting the wave around works good enough to claim eighth at Homestead, why not?

    20. RYAN BLANEY (0-3-9) 812 PTS
    Turns 23 on New Year’s Eve. Talk about welcoming in a new year twice at the same party.

  • The Final Word – Dreams do Come True in California

    The Final Word – Dreams do Come True in California

    Frodo and Sam live. Shane kills the bad men. Cinderella gets the slipper and the fella. Tony Stewart wins at Sonoma.

    It was a fairytale end to the action, but on that last lap, it looked like Cujo was going to win the day and break our hearts. On the seventh lap, Denny Hamlin got inside Stewart to take the lead and started to put some distance between himself and the retiring former champion. Then, on the 11th turn, Hamlin made a miscue. Be it a wheel hop, a braking issue, or too much mirror watching, Hamlin went wide, Stewart went inside and used his entire car to block his rival toward the fence. It was over, as Stewart won his 49th victory, the first since everything went to hell for him in 2013.

    That all but assures Stewart a place in the Chase, just as long as he can make that win count by making up the nine points that separate him from 30th in that category. It also would be helpful if five of the remaining 10 races between now and when the Chase begins are taken by someone already with a victory. If more than 16 claim a win, then this story would end up with an Ole Yeller kind of conclusion. Please don’t let them shoot Tony.

    While Smoke finishes off his career in a good car, Clint Bowyer is spending the year before he succeeds him driving for Harry Scott, Jr. It is like Tony gets a new pair of fresh underwear to start each race, while Clint just gets a different pair of underwear. Trust me, there is a difference. While Stewart was winning, Bowyer’s car quit on the fifth lap. When he tried to restart the lemon, smoke came bellowing out from under the dash, and Bowyer went scrambling to get the hell out of it. It has been a One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest kind of season for him, and time will tell if he is Jack Nicholson or Will Sampson.

    Someone needed to scramble just a split second faster for A.J. Allmendinger. The runaway tire in the pits cost him in the late going, falling from sixth to 35th. Considering he climbed back to finish 14th, one is left wondering just how he might have finished the race if fate had been kinder. Talk about good things just disappearing in the Mist.

    So, gone are Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Gordon, as FOX makes way for Steve Letarte and Jeff Burton and the rest of the NBC gang. Daytona is back on the dance card this Saturday night for what should be known as the Firecracker 400. It is expected Stewart will pick up the points necessary so that win puts him among the top dozen in the standings. That would, for all intents and purposes, leave Kasey Kahne 13 points shy of a Chase position, and Ryan Blaney 16 out as they wave the green flag.

    I guess it is apropos that last Sunday featured this race as well as the season finale of Game of Thrones. You know, one comes back from the dead, another blows up, as everyone wants to sit upon the throne when the season is over. The nice thing is, you do not have to wait 10 months for the next episode.

  • The Final Word – Kyle turns it up, turns it left, and turns it right at Sonoma like a FOX on the run

    The Final Word – Kyle turns it up, turns it left, and turns it right at Sonoma like a FOX on the run

    Win and you are in, or so the saying goes. Well, not if it is only your fifth race, 16 events into the season. However, running together a string of 10 straight Top Fifteens or better is easier than taking one of these contests, and Kyle Busch checked that off his “to do” list at Sonoma Sunday.

    A late caution allowed him to swing in for fresh tires that he used to maximum effect as he got by Jimmie Johnson then held off Clint Bowyer and his brother for the victory. It marked his 30th Cup decision, but he now needs to get himself in the Top 30 in the season standings. He currently sits 136 points distant behind Cole Whitt for that final eligible spot where wins matter. Whitt, who has an average finish of just beyond 27th, was 22nd on Sunday, so Busch gained 25 points on the day.

    Brother Kurt was second, and one does wonder just how hard he was trying to break his sibling’s heart. I am sure I know what Kurt would say, but he did not seem terribly broken up by the outcome. Bowyer jumped 25 points ahead of Carl Edwards, in points, but without a win that does not matter. Where it does matter, Clint is just a point behind the equally winless Aric Almirola, and five in arrears of Ryan Newman for the final two Chase places.

    Albert Hammond was prophetic when he sang “It doesn’t rain in California,” so we saw none. What we did see was Casey Mears coming to a halt after a rear tire and attached axle housing broke free and outpaced him down the track. We saw Martin Truex Jr. force David Ragan wide into the dirt, but a small nudge later and it was Truex heading into the tires along the fence. Later, Edwards tried to avoid going off the track, nudged Ragan, and both of them found the fence. Carl was literally left sitting in 40th place.

    Jeff Gordon came in to have a spring rubber removed. That takes time, and it is quicker for a crewman to toss it over the car and over the wall. Too bad NASCAR has a thing about that, so instead of re-starting 26th, he was 28th, but 36th on the track at the end of the longest line. Sixteenth was his fate. Matt Kenseth had a flat that turned into a departing carcass, but no caution, as he hit the pits and his day did the same, landing him in 21st. A.J. Allmendinger was strong early, but a fuel pressure problem crippled his day to leave him 37th.

    Some seem to do well no matter what. Kevin Harvick was fourth, which is not a surprise, except for the disastrous pit stop that saw the jack come down before his left rear was even placed on the car. The end of hope for some, a beginning of a challenge for others, it would seem.

    Ten races are left before the Chase positions are decided, with six of the 16 current position holders still winless, facing various degrees of vulnerability. With Kyle’s win, 32 drivers are still in the hunt, including Justin Allgaier, himself just a point behind Whitt in the rankings. A win at Daytona next Sunday would sure be sweet.

    Last weekend marked the end of the NASCAR season on FOX, with Larry McReynolds leaving the announce booth in favor of Jeff Gordon when they return next February. That ends a 15-year partnership with Mike and Darrell. Personally, I think the wrong guy is leaving to join Michael Waltrip and Chris Myers down in the studio, but I do not make these Boogity-Boogity-Boogity decisions. Next week, NBC arrives back on the scene with Rick Allen, Steve Letarte and Jeff Burton doing the honors.

    At Daytona, we wait to see if we have a repeat winner or a new kid in the mix. We will see how the battle settles between Newman, Almirola and Bowyer for the final spots on points. We will watch how Kyle does in relation to Whitt and Allgaier. We will listen and watch, and no doubt evaluate, the new television crew. Finally, it is Daytona in the summer. What else do you need to tune in?

  • The Final Word – The Countdown to the New Season is Down to Single Digits

    The Final Word – The Countdown to the New Season is Down to Single Digits

    The countdown has begun to the start of a new season, with less than ten days to go before the Sprint Unlimited exhibition race at Daytona. A new campaign, some new teams and some new expectations.

    Stewart-Haas had a year of mixed results in 2014. Kevin Harvick has his crown, but I think if you claim one championship you might like to claim another. Hey, it works for Jimmie Johnson. His boss, Tony Stewart, has three, but just having a year without the drama would be a Godsend. Kurt Busch won a race, which placed him in the Chase, but he actually was not even as good as Austin Dillon, Paul Menard, or Brian Vickers over the course of the season. He needs to show this year as to why Gene Haas spent the big money to bring him into the stable.

    Danica Patrick must do well. I hear that, I believe that should be so, but I am not so convinced the bloom is off the rose just yet. With the big money funding, a solid organization behind her, and the media attention she gets, I do not believe she needs to be anything more than the novelty she already is. Being the best female driver in NASCAR history might still be enough, but results better than those of, say, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. should be expected as the soon-to-be 33-year-old embarks on her third full season.

    Kasey Kahne turns 35 this spring and probably is considered the little guy at the big boys table at Hendrick by some. Seventeen wins over his career, including six in the past four years, argues otherwise. The only reason Kahne is not more front and center is due to having teammates who have either won the title multiple times or who happens to be the sports most popular performer. Even Harvick and Stewart would be considered fourth on the depth chart on this outfit.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a new crew chief. After matching his win totals of the previous nine seasons in 2014, Junior has Greg Ives on the box after Steve Letarte left for the broadcast booth. The 40-year-old needs to repeat what he did in 2014, as 23 Cup wins, 23 more on the junior circuit, two Daytona 500 wins, five Talladega celebrations, and a dozen straight Most Popular Driver of the Year nods might not be enough to make the Hall…in 2030.

    2015 marks the final full-time season for Jeff Gordon. You better enjoy it, as he will not be eligible for the Hall of Fame until at least 2023. That would mark 30 years since he began his career, which is one qualification. If he has to wait until he is 55, that would be in 2027. Gone is the former three years in retirement qualification, as of this year. This alone causes me to expect more tinkering to the qualification rules between now and then.

    Trevor Bayne has a Daytona 500 to his credit, and not much else over the past four seasons. He leaves his part-time job driving for the Wood Brothers to a full-time gig with Roush Fenway. Bayne turns 24 the day they run the Duels at Daytona, with hopes of taking Mark Martin’s old No. 6 ride back to the front. The question is, does he and teammates Greg Biffle and Stenhouse represent an organization on the rise?

    Bayne takes the place of Carl Edwards, who hopes to realize that first championship with his move. Twice he has been the season’s runner-up, as the 35-year-old seeks some greener grass on Joe Gibbs’ side of the fence. Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth are a pretty good trio of teammates to roll with. Without question, one of NASCAR’s Big Three organizations, along with Hendrick and Stewart-Haas.

    Or should that be Big Four? Penske is just a two car outfit, but with Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano on the reins their wagons can make something happen. Both finished amongst the season’s Top Five, combining for 11 victories last year. Yes, Big Four is more like it.

    Is there anyone to make it a Big Five? Childress has youth in Austin Dillon, with brother Ty waiting in the wings. They have experience in Ryan Newman, who was just one point behind Harvick when the smoke cleared at Homestead last November. Then there is Paul Menard, who has yet to crack the season’s Top Fifteen in his career, the past four with Childress. On the positive side, he does come complete with a sponsor. Is that enough?

    Michael Waltrip’s crew once was considered a top flight team, until the wings came off. Martin Truex Jr. found himself with Furniture Row, where their gains with Kurt Busch disappeared with his replacement. Brian Vickers is on the mend with a heart issue, so he will require a temporary replacement. As for Clint Bowyer, Captain Skid dropped to 19th in the season rankings after being the runner-up in 2012 and seventh the season after. Bowyer is locked in for another three years, but will they be the best of times, or the worst of times?

    Ganassi has 22-year old Kyle Larson, who just missed the Chase in his rookie season, along with veteran Jamie McMurray. Am I the only one who thinks this team should have been, and should be, more successful? McMurray has only seven wins over 13 seasons, but where he won is impressive. Two came at Daytona, including the 500 in 2010, two at Talladega, two at Charlotte, as well as the Brickyard 400. Not enough to make one a contender, but certainly one who gets remembered.

    You cannot forget Petty, if only for the guy the outfit is named after. Aric Almirola is back, after a single win got him into the Chase…for three races. That victory was just one of five the team has had over six seasons. Coming in is Sam Hornish Jr. who, in 239 NASCAR races in all three top series, has just three wins on the junior circuit. Two of them came over his last 39 races run there over the past two campaigns. Let us not forget his 19 IndyCar wins between 2001 and 2007, including the 2006 Indianapolis 500. Does that get one excited? Sadly, not much.

    Maybe the biggest move comes off the track. Gone is ESPN. Thank God Almighty. FOX returns, with NBC taking over the second half of the season. Mike Joy is a good lap-by-lap announcer, while Rick Allen is even better. While he may have a few detractors, I enjoy Darrell Waltrip, along with Larry McReynolds, providing color analysis. I think Steve Letarte will be even better though, surprisingly, Jeff Burton may be the weak link until he smooths out his delivery. Still, he has a few months to work on it. All are infinitely better than the ESPN crew, and that works for me.

    It all begins on Saturday, February 14th with the Sprint Unlimited from Daytona on FOX. Dare I say it, “Boogity, Boogity, Boogity.” Sorry, I just could not resist.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Pure Michigan 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Pure Michigan 400

    With an impassioned driver’s meeting speech by Carl Edwards urging safety and throttling back during cautions at such a high-speed track, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 45th annual Pure Michigan 400.

    Surprising: Drivers were apparently in full throttle preparation for Bristol, with tempers surprisingly abounding at the two-mile track in the Irish hills. Six time champion Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman exchanged words after the race, as did Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Denny Hamlin.

    “Just old Ryan Newman stuff,” Johnson said after his heated conversation with the driver of the No. 31 WIX Filters Chevrolet. “Anybody that has watched the sport long enough or has been in a race car out there understands the frustration of racing Ryan.”

    Racing frustrations also abounded between the drivers of the No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota and the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet.

    “I felt like he crowded me off of (Turn) 4 in the middle part of the race,” Hamlin said. “We’re trying to make the best we can do down 50 horsepower.”

    “I’m going to eventually let him go, but I’m not some lapped car that you can just shove to the high side and I’m going to back off.”

    “I ran him up the track a little bit early in the race,” Earnhardt said. “He didn’t like it too much. I’ve been run up the track, too. I don’t like it either, but I didn’t want him hanging on my quarter panel all the way down the front straightaway and ended up three- or four-wide.”

    “I just wanted to get on by him because I was flying. We were hauling.”

    Not Surprising: Jeff Gordon went three for three for three, with his third win of the season, his third win at Michigan and a now three-win season, his first since 2011.

    “Well, I like to go fast. This place is really, really fast,” the driver of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet said. “Michigan has always been one of my favorites.”

    “Today I was able to drive this place the way I like to drive it, have success here again.”

    Surprising: It was a surprisingly rough weekend for Martin Truex, Jr., with his girlfriend Sherry Pollex undergoing surgery for ovarian cancer, his brother Ryan suffering a concussion in Michigan practice and his involvement a nine car pile-up that relegated him to a 36th place finish.

    “These two Michigan races turned out to be very long days,” the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet said. “It was hard to learn anything about this place back in June and it was the same story today.”

    “I just wish we could have finished one of these Michigan races with a clean car,” stated Truex. “You’re always curious to see how things would have played out and where you could have potentially finished.”

    Not Surprising: He may have been a bridesmaid yet again, in fact for the fourth time at Michigan, but Kevin Harvick deemed his second place run a success, especially in light of the upcoming Chase.

    “Yeah, I mean, we had a solid day,” Harvick said. “Just the 24 had more speed than we did all day. I felt like when Joey was out front, he could get away at the short run, we’d kind of even out.”

    “But all in all, it was a good day,” the driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet said. “The main focus for our team has been consistency heading into the Chase to make sure we can scramble and do the things we’ve done over the last month.”

    “Obviously you want to win, but all in all we had some different goals that are as important leading into the Chase.”

    Surprising: While Joey Logano joked in the media center after the race that he really did not want to relive his last few laps, he too like Harvick had the championship on his mind, laying down the gauntlet after his third place finish.

    “We can win a championship. I really feel we can do that,” the driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford said. “That’s the message I want to put out there. I want to put out for my team that we’re strong enough to do that. I think we showed that today.”

    Not Surprising: It was indeed a ‘hard week’ as Jeff Burton put it after being tapped to substitute for Tony Stewart, who decided to miss another race, grieving the contact with Kevin Ward Jr. which cost the young driver his life.

    “This was a hard week,” Burton said. “This was honestly one of the hardest weeks I’ve ever spent, coming here on Friday not knowing what to expect.”

    Burton’s No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet finished 37th after an electrical issue and a burning smell in the cockpit sent him to the garage.

    Surprising: It was a surprisingly bad day if your name was Kyle. Both Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson crashed, the first on lap four and the latter on lap 98.

    “I felt so good about my car those first few laps running the bottom, but then I was getting hung out on the straightaways,” Busch said “Then I just tried going to the top in (turns) three and four right away, and I got loose all the way through three and four. Every time I touched the gas it wanted to spin out, and finally it was too much gas and not enough save, and I wrecked.”

    Larson’s incident was far more frightening, however, as his No. 42 Target Chevrolet went up in flames after his hard impact.

    “I had no warning the right-front was going to blow,” Larson said. “Michigan is a fast track and into turn three is fast too. We are turning some really high speeds here so the hit was definitely a hard one.”

    “Yeah anytime you see flames you want to get out,” Larson continued, explaining his bailing out of his car in spite of NASCAR’s new ruling. “I have had fires and stuff, but that is the first time I have ever had fumes or smoke and stuff in the cockpit. That is the main reason why I wanted to get out.”

    Not Surprising: Once you get a win under your belt, as AJ Allmendinger did at Watkins Glen, those good finishes just seem to roll along. The Dinger finished top-15 at Michigan and officially clinched his spot in the Chase.

    “It’s really cool,” the driver of the No. 47 Kingsford Charcoal Chevrolet said of his Chase berth. “I thought we had a really good shot, but you never know until it’s official. So to have that is really good.”

    “More than anything I felt like this weekend made some gains so that gets a little excitement going into the next couple of race tracks to see if we can keep getting better. Overall the last few weeks has been really cool to share with the guys and come here and have a little energy and confidence. To come out here all weekend and show some speed has been really good.”

    Surprising: In spite of burning up a test session at Michigan International Speedway prior to the race weekend, Roush Fenway Racing continued to struggle at a track they once owned. Greg Biffle did manage a tenth place finish and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished 15th, however, Carl Edwards had a disappointing end to his day, taking the checkered flag in 23rd.

    “You know, I guess it was a good day,” Biffle said. “We got a top-10. Really we wanted to run up in the top-five. We had a car to do that and that track position we would get loose around other cars. We still have to work on that with our race cars.”

    “It was a good solid top-15,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “We qualified 10th and finished 15th and ran right around 15th the whole time which is kind of a goal. Obviously we want to run top-10 and pass as many cars as we can but all in all we accomplished what we were looking to do.”

    “We were so loose I just couldn’t drive it,” Edwards said. “It looked like Greg (Biffle) had a good run and we had speed in qualifying so that gives us something to look forward to but we were just too loose today to be able to do anything.”

    Not Surprising: After some difficult runs recently, it was not surprising that Paul Menard scored a fourth place finish at an intermediate track where he tends to run well. The driver of the No. 27 Certainteed/Menards Chevrolet did in fact run well, finishing fourth.

    “Our cars are really good,” Menard said. “The RCR fab shop, the ECR engine shop they make really good race cars. This track kind of suits my driving style I guess. Sluggar (Labbe, crew chief) and I, Justin and James and everybody on the No. 27 car have a good baseline intermediate track package that seems to work good at these fast tracks.”

    “Definitely needed a good run the last three or four weeks have been pretty brutal,” Menard continued. “We definitely needed this.”

    As a result of the Michigan race and assuming that they all attempt to qualify for the remaining three races of the regular season, AJ Allmendinger, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin all scored their spot in the championship Chase.

     

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Camping World RV Sales 301

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Camping World RV Sales 301

    From the granite state where the ‘lobstah’ rules, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 22nd Annual Camping World RV Sales 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    Surprising: Team Penske had an interesting day, with one driver taking the broom while the other driver went boom. Brad Keselowski, this week behind the wheel of the No. 2 Redd’s Ford, took his broom to Victory Lane, sweeping both the Nationwide and Cup races and scoring his first lobster trophy at New Hampshire.

    “I don’t want this moment to go away so quick,” Keselowski said. “This was just such a phenomenal weekend, and these don’t happen that often, and that’s what makes it special, and you try to appreciate them and enjoy them and hope that there’s more but not count on it, because these are big deals, winning races at the Sprint Cup level, sweeping a weekend, and it’s all possible because of the hard work and effort from everyone at Team Penske.”

    His Penske teammate Joey Logano, however, went boom in his No. 22 AutoTrader.com Ford, colliding with Morgan Shepherd and wrecking out to finish 40th.

    “I got taken out by the slowest car out there,” Logano said after his collision with Shepherd. “You would think there would be some courtesy to the leaders. We were in second place. He gets out of the way on the straightaway and then goes into the corner and slides right up into the lane I was in.”

    “Whatever. It is just dumb that it happened,” Logano continued. “I feel like that should be stuff that shouldn’t happen at this level of racing.”

    Not Surprising: Right behind Keselowski, who was so dominant in this race, were the dueling Kyles, Kyle Busch, who came in second for the third consecutive time at New Hampshire, and Kyle Larson, who scored the highest rookie honors after finishing third for his fourth career top-five finish.

    “I wouldn’t say it’s a rivalry,” Kyle Larson said of his race with Kyle Busch. “We just somehow are always finishing by each other. It seems like I’m usually one spot behind him (laughing), but it’ll change soon. It’ll change soon.”

    Surprising: Jimmie Johnson, who has scored the lobster in Victory Lane at New Hampshire three times previously, hit the road surprisingly early after crashing out of the race on Lap 11 because of tire issues.

    “The first one (tire) I was able to drive the car all the way through Turns 1 and 2,” Johnson said. “I knew I had a flat and then got down the back and came in.”

    “The other one just blew on the straight as soon as I hit the brakes,” Johnson continued. “I’m not sure what caused it. I’m sure there will be a lot of speculation and I’m sure finger pointing back to the teams or our team. But we saw some issues here especially with that particular tire the last couple of days. We will try to dig in and learn more, but I can promise you one thing is wasn’t low tire pressure. I’ve been out here for two days running around and haven’t had a flat.”

    “But on the bright side…I get to start vacation early,” Johnson later posted on his Facebook page.

    Not Surprising: Matt Kenseth, who took the checkered flag in the fourth position, finally seemed pleased with the direction that his Joe Gibbs No. 20 team was headed.

    “Overall, it was a good day for our Dollar General Camry,” Kenseth said. “I thought we really gained on it. Denny (Hamlin) and them guys really helped us a lot this week. I felt like all three cars were top-five race cars today. I feel like we’re definitely moving in the right direction.”

    “I felt like we were definitely in the ball game today.”

    Surprising: This season, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is such a competitor that even a 10th place finish, especially after qualifying 28th, was completely disappointing to him.

    “That was frustrating, the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet, said. “That was the hardest I’ve ever worked for a 10th place finish. It’s been a real frustrating weekend to be honest. The guys worked real hard. Steve (Letarte, crew chief) and the engineers did their best to try to get the car more competitive. Just to be lacking that much speed against a lot of those guys, I had to drive so perfect every lap.”

    “That was really frustrating,” Junior continued. “I wish we were better. We are going to have to come back here and run better than that to have a shot in the Chase. We will keep working.”

    “10th place I’m really disappointed, but I remember when we used to like these.”

    Not Surprising: NHMS was once again just a gas, gas, gas, with both Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick running out of fuel and finishing 26th and 30th respectively.

    “We knew we were very close,” the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, said. “That pick-up is in the right side and so I was scuffing my tires and think I just took enough fuel out of the pick-up and I could never get any back in there.”

    “I tried. I think if we would have gone green, we would have been fine,” Gordon continued. “I think it was really just because under caution it wouldn’t pick-up the amount of fuel that was in there.”

    “We got to go for it so I thought it was a great call even if we did come up short.”

    DeLana Harvick was not as positive about the fuel mileage rolling of the dice for her husband as Gordon seemed to be. She tweeted this after the race.

    “Came out on the bullshittiness side of interesting today..#fuelmileage. Ready for a week off with my boys!”

    Surprising: Martin Truex Jr. was the biggest mover, at least at the end of the race, gaining ten positions on the green-white-checkered restart and moving from 22nd to finish 12th at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    “The biggest reason we gained 12 positions on the final restart is that we had fresh tires and got in the right lane,” explained Truex. “We never had good restarts all day, but once we settled in and had a decent car we made a move at the end. You have to keep fighting — you never know what can happen.”

    “That was a good call to come in for two tires during that last caution.”

    Not Surprising: It is always tough to get back into a race car after being out for some time and even someone as adept at New Hampshire as Jeff Burton was no exception. Burton took the wheel of the No. 66 Let’s Go Places Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing and finished a disappointing 20th at a track in which he has so often dominated in the past.

    “We had a good car — we just never got track position,” Burton said. “And then Danica (Patrick) got into me there — I think Tony (Stewart) was working the outside and I think she just thought Tony was on the outside. Got the right side tore up.”

    “After that, we never turned. We tried to fix it with changes, but we couldn’t fix it because it was all aero,” Burton continued. “I’m really disappointed with the outcome. Three-quarters of the way through the race I thought we’re doing pretty good.”

    Surprising: A local hero racer Eddie MacDonald of Rowley, Massachusetts, made his Sprint Cup Series debut and finished the race in the 35th spot. This also marked a milestone for the driver of the tryandrozene.com Ford as he completed all five of the sport’s top series.

    “This is what I always dreamed of, being able to run in the Sprint Cup Race,” MacDonald said. “It meant the world for me to be able to do that and have my whole family here.”

    “Our goal was just to stay up there, stay out of trouble and run as many laps as we could,” MacDonald continued. “Thankfully, we were able to stay out of trouble and get a fair finish.”

    Not Surprising: TNT was given a fond farewell as they ended their partnership with NASCAR of 32 years.

    “There is no question that the folks at Turner have been fantastic partners for the past 32 years, and we can’t thank them enough for everything they’ve done to grow the sport during that time frame,” Brian France, NASCAR chairman and chief executive officer, said. “Their dedication to producing first-class, innovative NASCAR broadcasts has never wavered.”

    The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will enjoy a weekend off next week and will resume with the race on Sunday, July 27th at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

  • The Hot 20 – Elder Gents and Past Winners Lead the Way to New Hampshire

    The Hot 20 – Elder Gents and Past Winners Lead the Way to New Hampshire

    If you want to make the Chase, maybe one should win at New Hampshire. Out of 43 drivers entered and scheduled to make up the field at Loudon this Sunday, a whopping 16 of them have won at New Hampshire. They include the only four-time winner, 47-year old Jeff Burton, slated to drive the 66 Toyota of Jay Robinson. Along side will be his team mate, 50-year-old Joe Nemechek and a winner there in 1999, driving the 87. Kids. The oldest driver at Loudon has never won there in 14 attempts, going back to 1993. At the age of 72, Morgan Shepherd will be there in Joe Falk’s 33 Chevy.

    Among our hot 20, based on points and super-sizing the winner’s bonus from 3 to 25 points, a dozen have had the post-race bubbly shower here before. Jeff Gordon is our king of the hill and while both he and Jimmie Johnson both have three wins at Loudon, neither really do not need another one. In reality, a win means a Chase spot, and they are both in. Same goes for Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Denny Hamlin. Matt Kenseth probably does not need one and Ryan Newman is still sitting pretty, but the same can not be said for Clint Bowyer, Greg Biffle, Brian Vickers or Kasey Kahne. Kurt Busch is not even in out Hot 20 but he has a win, though the same cannot be said for Tony Stewart.

    As much as I think this system best showcases which drivers have actually been the most relevant during the season, I doubt NASCAR will adopt it. If I thought I had that much influence, you would never see ESPN’s current crew call another race, but I do not. Plus, giving a Chase spot to a New Hampshire winner would mean adios to the likes of Dale Earnhardt Jr, Brad Keselowski, and Carl Edwards, none of whom have won there. The kids, Austin Dillon and Kyle Larson, obviously have not. Take the free pass for last Sunday’s Daytona win, and Aric Almirola drops from 10th in the official rankings, drops from 19th on my list, down to 21st and with little hope of making the Chase. Of course, my method eliminates the Chase, and I have a feeling that Brian France would not be terribly receptive to that argument.

    I think it a shame that wins put Almirola and Kurt Busch into a Chase place at the expense of Biffle and Vickers. Still, you cannot ignore the excitement that a single victory can bring to the driver, his team, or the fans. Winning is not easy, so maybe the reward is justified. Maybe.

    That said, here is a look at my Hot 20 as they prepare for battle in New Hampshire this Sunday.

    Ps – Driver – Pts – Wins
    1 – Jeff Gordon – 673 – 1
    2 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 668 – 2
    3 – Jimmie Johnson – 662 – 3
    4 – Brad Keselowski – 630 – 2
    5 – Joey Logano – 590 – 2
    6 – Carl Edwards – 587 – 2
    7 – Matt Kenseth – 580 – 0
    8 – Kevin Harvick – 558 – 2
    9 – Kyle Busch – 546 – 1
    10 – Ryan Newman – 534 – 0
    11 – Paul Menard – 516 – 0
    12 – Denny Hamlin – 515 – 1
    13 – Clint Bowyer – 509 – 0
    14 – Austin Dillon – 494 – 0
    15 – Greg Biffle – 490 – 0
    16 – Brian Vickers – 484 – 0
    17 – Kyle Larson – 482 – 0
    18 – Kasey Kahne – 482 – 0
    19 – Aric Almirola – 474 – 1
    20 – Marcos Ambrose – 472 – 0

  • The Final Word – Brad dominated Keselowsky … Kentulowski … Kesetucky … He Owned the Thing

    The Final Word – Brad dominated Keselowsky … Kentulowski … Kesetucky … He Owned the Thing

    They might as well go ahead and rename that Kentucky track Kesetucky. That boy dominated Saturday night’s race from start to finish. Sure, he let team mate Joey Logano, a ninth place finisher, run shotgun for a lot of the race, got the lad some camera time to make the sponsors happy. Kyle Busch got the honors of finishing runner-up, but no one was betting he was going to do better than that. This was Brad Keselowski’s race, he led three-quarters of the laps, and if you were hoping for a challenge, it had to come from watching a channel that was all Brad, all the time. He simply owned it.

    It was win number 12 for the 30-year old former champ, his second of the season and his second in three years on this particular circuit. The win moves Keselowski among the elite on the year, one of six drivers with at least two victories, and the best in points among those not working for Rick Hendrick. Jeff Gordon, who was sixth Saturday, continues to lead the way, with three-race winner Jimmie Johnson (10th) and Dale Earnhardt Jr (fifth) just behind, as Keselowski is ahead of Matt Kenseth (fourth).

    The worst day was had by Denny Hamlin, who spent 90 percent of this one as a spectator after a tire issue introduced him to the outside fence. Kyle Larson lasted a bit longer, finishing 40th, after the same fate awaited him. As they counted down the laps, a failing tire was about the only thing the rest could hope for if they had any aspirations of beating Brad out. In fact, the only thing that got him that day was a breaking champagne bottle that left him in stitches, but it seems not enough to affect him at Daytona this weekend. He probably should have stuck with beer…in a can.

    While Kevin Havick, Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, and Kurt Busch were good enough to be among the top dozen, the best of our “have nots” was Reed Sorenson. Thirty third in the standings, he was 27th on the tower at Kentucky. Unfortunately, even if he wins this weekend he still would not be in a Chase place as he currently sits 69 points beyond 30th.

    Beyond us is the summer return to Daytona and the Firecracker 400 (amongst us traditionalists) on Saturday night. A dozen current drivers, not including Michael Waltrip and Jeff Burton, have won there before. Gordon has six, Stewart four, and Johnson and Earnhardt have three wins apiece. Keselowski is still without after 10 starts, but has a pair of Top Fives in the past two Daytona 500’s. Still, it might be a bit early to refer to it as Daytonalowski just yet.

    SWEET SIXTEEN
    1 – Jimmie Johnson – 594 points – 3 wins
    2 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 594 – 2
    3 – Brad Keselowski – 560 – 2
    4 – Carl Edwards – 536 – 2
    5 – Joey Logano – 519 – 2
    6 – Kevin Harvick – 509 – 2
    7 – Jeff Gordon – 618 – 1
    8 – Kyle Busch – 508 – 1
    9 – Denny Hamlin – 455 – 1
    10 – Kurt Busch – 379 – 1
    11 – Matt Kenseth – 555
    12 – Ryan Newman – 514
    13 – Paul Menard – 488
    14 – Kyle Larson – 474
    15 – Greg Biffle – 474
    16 – Clint Bowyer – 473

    CONTENDERS & PRETENDERS
    17 – Kasey Kahne – 465
    18 – Tony Stewart – 460
    19 – Austin Dillon – 455
    20 – Brian Vickers – 442
    21 – Marcos Ambrose – 438
    22 – Jamie McMurray – 432
    23 – A.J. Allmendinger – 413
    24 – Aric Almirola – 405
    25 – Casey Mears – 397
    26 – Martin Truex, Jr. – 385
    27 – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – 339
    28 – Danica Patrick – 322
    29 – Justin Allgaier – 300
    30 – Michael Annett – 275
    31 – David Gilliland – 246
    32 – Cole Whitt – 244

     

  • The Hot 20 – Get hot in NASCAR and it costs you $25,000, in the NHL it is 2 minutes

    The Hot 20 – Get hot in NASCAR and it costs you $25,000, in the NHL it is 2 minutes

    A guy grabs you and pushes you around. The universally accepted response is a punch to the other guy’s head. My dad taught me that, and so I taught my sons. It is a simple case of cause and effect, you push to start a confrontation and a punch usually will end it. Personally, I might remember once where I was so involved.

    Casey Mears and Marcos Ambrose are not known for it. Neither are Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton, but it happens. Mears got $15,000 for shoving, Ambrose $25,000 for punching, and both got a month’s probation. In hockey, what they did was worthy of a two minute roughing penalty, but “have at it boys” seems to be much more genteel than we once thought. Genteel, as in free from rudeness or vulgarity. My favorite definition, though, is “marked by false delicacy, prudery, or affectation.” This is NASCAR. If what took place after the Richmond race is worthy of $40,000 in fines, Lord knows what a real donnybrook might be worth.

    Genteel is something no one has ever accused Juan Pablo Montoya as being. I remember his on-track discussion with Kevin Harvick at Watkins Glen back in 2007. Montoya has a Top Five to show for his first three starts back in IndyCar this season, and NASCAR fans get to see him back in a stock car soon enough. In June, he will drive for Penske at Michigan, and again in July in the Brickyard 400. I sure hope he acts like a gentleman. We would not want any of our sensitivities upset by any form of rudeness.

    Do you remember Dale Earnhardt’s last race and his one finger salute to rookie Kurt Busch? I guess the Intimidator was just being welcoming and couldn’t get those other four fingers through the window net.

    This is the year where wins mean damn near everything. It seems no one told Jeff Gordon, who remains the steadiest driver thus far in 2014 and he was not picked up a single victory as of yet. Heck, Matt Kenseth does not seem to be hurting as we head to Talladega, even though he also has not shaken the bubbly post-race. Even taking into account our extra 22 point bonus for winning (up to a max of 70 points for a win) both Gordon and Kenseth are doing just fine to remain among our top drivers of the season.

    Position – Points -Driver

    1. 341 Jeff Gordon
    2. 336 Joey Logano – 2 WINS
    3. 336 Matt Kenseth
    4. 335 Carl Edwards – 1 WIN
    5. 332 Kyle Busch – 1 WIN
    6. 331 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 1 WIN
    7. 309 Brad Keselowski – 1 WIN
    8. 282 Jimmie Johnson
    9. 272 Ryan Newman
    10. 264 Kevin Harvick – 2 WINS
    11. 256 Greg Biffle
    12. 256 Brian Vickers
    13. 252 Austin Dillon
    14. 251 Kyle Larson
    15. 245 Denny Hamlin
    16. 243 Tony Stewart
    17. 242 Marcos Ambrose
    18. 240 A.J. Allmendinger
    19. 226 Jamie McMurray
    20. 226 Paul Menard
  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Kobalt 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Kobalt 400

    From the Team Penske pole repeat to the Most Interesting Man’s command to start the engines, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 17th annual Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    Surprising:  Boy, is he ever back…in so many surprising ways. With his crew chief Paul Wolfe back on top of the pit box after being out one race for the birth of his baby, driver Brad Keselowski sailed on past the out-of-gas Dale Earnhardt Jr. to make his way right back to Victory Lane.

    The driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford also went back to back for the race weekend, becoming the first driver to sweep both the Nationwide and Cup races at Las Vegas in the same weekend since 2000 when Jeff Burton did it.

    Finally, Keselowski himself noted after crossing the finish line that he was back in the Chase, having scored the first win for Team Penske of the young 2014 season. He is also back in the point standings, just one point shy of the top spot.

    Not Surprising:  Dale Earnhardt, Jr. joined fellow competitor Martin Truex Jr. in trying to look on the bright side of life after finishes that did not quite live up to their expectations.

    “We knew we were a lap short,” Junior said after finishing second on fumes. “We tried to save as much as we could.”

    “We took a gamble and didn’t win the race, but it still worked in our favor to run second,” the driver of the No. 88 Mountain Dew Kickstart Chevrolet continued. “It sucks to lose like that, but we can’t let that be a negative. The only way to be productive is to be positive.”

    “We have got to look at the positives in today and keep working toward our goal of winning some more races.”

    “We were better than 14th, no question about that,” Martin Truex Jr. said. “We ran in the top-10 for most of the race but lost track position at the end.”

    “On the bright side this was our best performance as a team, much better than last week at Phoenix,” the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet said. “We had good pit stops all day and I really like the gains we made this weekend.”

    Adding to their bright sides was the fact that Martin Truex Jr. made his 300th career start and Dale Jr. became only the second driver, next to the King, to begin a race year with three top-2 finishes in a row.

    Surprising:  Danica Patrick was the best of the Stewart Haas crew, finishing 21st.  Teammates Kurt Busch finished 26; Tony Stewart 33rd and Kevin Harvick 41st with a wheel hub issue putting him 30 laps down.

    “Obviously you always want more, but I’m happy with it, especially after what we’ve gone through the last two weeks,” Patrick said. “It’s a good day and gives us something to build on going to Bristol.”

    Driver and team owner summed up the surprisingly poor overall team performance with three words, “Something wasn’t right.” In fact, Stewart asked that his car at least not be touched after the race so it could return to North Carolina for diagnosis of its troubles.

    Not Surprising:  With a sense of urgency, given his wife was due with their first child at any minute, Paul Menard drove right up to the third spot in his No. 27 Quaker State/Menards Chevrolet. And not surprisingly given his record there, this ended up as Menard’s third top-10 finish in eight races in SinCity.

    “It’s big for sure,” Menard said. “This Quaker State/Menards Chevy was hauling ass on long runs. Had a lot of those today and it kind of played in our favor.”

    “And now I want to get home as soon as possible.”

    Surprising:  For the first time back on the race track since announcing his departure from full-time racing and his soon-to-be broadcast career and for his first time behind the wheel of a Toyota Camry, Jeff Burton had a surprisingly good run.

    In fact, the driver of the No. 66 Let’s Go Places Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing brought it home top-20, finishing in the 17th spot.

    “That was a lot of fun,” Burton said. “That was a good day for the No. 66 guys.  Chad (Walter, crew chief) and the guys were a pleasure to work with this weekend.”

    Not Surprising:  While Carl Edwards was pleased with his top-5 finish in his No. 99 Aflac Ford, he could not help but mourn the passing of William Clay Ford, Sr., the grandson of Henry Ford.

    “We’re all thinking of the Ford family,” Edwards said. “For Brad in a Ford to win both of those races (Nationwide and Cup), I think it says a lot.”

    NASCAR echoed Edwards’ sentiments with Brian France, NASCAR Chairman and CEO, issuing these words, “He will be remembered as a man of style, for both the automobiles he built and the life he led. He was a giant….who forever will be missed.”

    Surprising:  With the new Chase system focusing on race wins, it was surprising to hear at least one driver talk about a good points day after the Kobalt 400.

    “It was a good effort for the team and it was a good points day,” Ryan Newman said after finishing seventh in his No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet. “If we keep running like that, we’ll put it in the top five and if we do that we’ll win.”

    Not Surprising:   That Austin Dillon is just good so it was not surprising that he not only had a good finish in 16th, the highest finishing rookie, but as a result, he now sits as the highest rookie in the point standings. In fact, Austin Dillon is 13th in the point standings, ahead of the likes of Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch.

    Surprising:  While Kyle Busch is usually a favorite with the kids due to the M&Ms candy on his car, he felt more like a kid’s toy, in this case a yoyo, after a grueling day in his home town.

    “We had a really up and down day with our M&M’s Peanut Camry,” Busch said. “We started off getting blocked in the pits and had to come from the back.”

    “The car was too loose on the first run and we tightened it up and it was really fast for a while,” Busch continued. “But, we kept adjusting on it to try and help the tight in the center of the corner and it was just getting looser and looser, especially on the last run.  Just disappointing when we looked like we had a good car earlier in the race.”

    Not Surprising:  With three top-ten finishes to his name, Jeff Gordon is one happy camper so far this season. And to finish top-ten at Las Vegas, admittedly one of his struggles tracks, he was almost giddy.

    “I knew today was going to be one of the most challenging races that we were going to have, possibly all year long,” Gordon said. “And so, I feel like this team did an incredible job. I think we were much better than ninth, but at the same time, this I think is one of my worst tracks right now.”

    “We’re off to a fantastic start. We’re very motivated by that. We’re excited.”