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  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Michigan Quicken Loans 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Michigan Quicken Loans 400

    Awash in tributes to the memory of Jason Leffler and to all the dads for Father’s Day, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

    Surprising:  For the first time since June of 2005 at Sonoma, every Hendrick Motorsports car finished outside the top 25.

    Five-time champ Jimmie Johnson finished 28th after hitting the wall in the remaining laps of the race, while Dale Earnhardt, Jr. blew an engine to finish 37th. The next HMS driver to finish was Kasey Kahne in the 38th position after blowing a tire and hitting the wall, followed by Jeff Gordon, who was caught up in an early wreck with Bobby Labonte to finish 39th.

    Four-time champion Jeff Gordon, who himself experienced his second DNF in a row at MIS, summed up the disappointing finishes of all of Hendrick Motorsports teams best.

    “It’s testing my frustration level,” Gordon said. “I don’t want to see the team get down.”

    “I have a lot of fight and so does the team,” Gordon continued. “I’m looking forward to going to Sonoma.”

    Not Surprising:  Since it was Michigan, a track that has been known as a Ford playground and where Roush Fenway Racing has such deep roots, it was no surprise that the race winner was Greg Biffle, the driver of the No. 16 3M/Give Kids a Smile Ford.

    It was also not surprising that Biffle scored the 1,000th win for the Ford Motor Company as well as giving the Ford Motor Company a happy 110th birthday. And for the Biff, he was also able to celebrate his very first win of the 2013 season.

    But what was not surprising in the least was the emotion of the driver in Victory Lane as he held his daughter Emma tight, celebrated Father’s Day, and honored the memory of a fellow competitor who was lost too soon, leaving his beloved five year old son behind.

    “It is Emma’s first victory lane on Father’s Day,” Biffle said as the confetti rained down upon them. “I am thinking about my dad that couldn’t be here who is hopefully watching.”

    “We are also thinking about little Charlie Leffler that doesn’t have a father today.”

    Surprising:  In spite of an engine failure on Lap 132 and the resulting poor finish, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was surprisingly upbeat when all was said and done. In fact, he actually took on the role of team leader and chief cheerleader, especially when it came to the performance of his car.

    “We just had something come apart in the motor,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Man of Steel Chevrolet said. “Really happy though with the engine.”

    “Happy with the way the car performed,” Junior continued. “We had an awesome car.”

    “We had a first or second place car there.”

    Not Surprising:  He may not have closed the deal, but Kevin Harvick was indeed happy with his second place finish in his No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet. And he even managed that great finish in spite of having an ill-handling car to start off with and a vibration at the end of the race.

    “I didn’t wake up thinking that we were going to even run in the top ten,” Harvick said. “I was pretty nervous about our car.”

    “But everybody on this whole Budweiser team did a great job,” Harvick continued. “We just kept our head in there and kept digging.”

    This was Harvick’s fifth top-10 in a row and his fifth top-five finish of the season. His good run also moved him up one spot in the point standings to the fourth position.

    Surprising:  The rest of Richard Childress Racing had a surprisingly good day at the race track, with all of their other drivers in the top 15 at Michigan International Speedway. Jeff Burton finished 10th, Austin Dillon finished 11th and Paul Menard finished 14th for team RCR.

    “The No. 31 Caterpillar team fought hard all day to bring home another solid finish,” Burton said. “We continue to make progress with our mile-and-a –half and two-mile track programs.”

    “Overall it was a good points day,” Burton said, moving four spots up to 17th in the standings.

    Not Surprising:   Smoke, who has been on fire as of late, continued to rip off good finishes now that the summer has arrived. In spite of a crash on Friday, the driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet finished top-five and moved up into the top ten in the point standings.

    “We had some breaks go our way,” Stewart said. “I’m proud of these guys.”

    “We weren’t very good all weekend so this team had to work hard to get us where we were today.”

    Surprising:  After all the talk of engine woes and failures and the ratcheting up and down of horsepower, Toyota had a surprisingly good day, scoring a third place finish with Martin Truex, Jr., a fourth place with Kyle Busch, a sixth place with Matt Kenseth and a seventh place finish with Clint Bowyer.

    “The power in the engine was definitely better than last week,” Truex, Jr., driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota said. “They’re working on that.”

    “We were very competitive horsepower-wise and all that was good.”

    “That was a crazy day,” Bowyer, driver of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota said. “We got off to a rough start but we worked on it all day long and made the absolute best of the situation.”

    “Not the way we would have drawn it up, but I’ll take it.”

    Not Surprising:  There was indeed some drama between teammates, from a restart issue with Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., as well as  a disagreement about trash between Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards.

    “Yeah, he spun his tires and almost ran into the side of me trying to control his car,” Johnson said of teammate Junior on a restart. “I wasn’t going to get burned on that again so I jumped off the gas and got drilled from behind.”

    “There is a game to be played there and you can cause a heck of a pile up if you are trying to give it back.”

    Biffle and Edwards, on the other hand, had a major disagreement about of all things trash on the grille.

    “It’s his job to help me,” Edwards said of Biffle, who he felt should have backed up to help him dislodge trash that was causing significant overheating.

    “I didn’t know when I passed him he had something on his grille or I’d let him get it off then,” Biffle said. “But when I looked up and he was 25 car lengths back, I said ‘I can’t help him, not right now.’ This is my chance to win today.”

    “I didn’t feel like I could take that risk.”

    Surprising:  After starting 37th, Danica Patrick scored her first top-15 finish in a Cup Series race at the big track in the rolling hills of Michigan.

    “At the end of the race, the last run was the best run I felt,” the driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet said. “It’s so nice to get a decent finish for the team.”

    “This will hopefully get everyone’s head up a little bit and we will go on,” Patrick said. “I think we have been strong lately.”

    “We just needed to have days like today where we finished it off.”

    Not Surprising:  Bobby Labonte, booted temporarily from his No. 47 Charter Toyota for JTG Daugherty Racing, struggled even after picking up a new ride in the No. 51 Phoenix Construction Services Chevrolet for James Finch and Phoenix Racing.

    Although Labonte was able to keep his consecutive race streak alive at 702, unfortunately his race results were not what he wanted or needed as he wrecked out early, finishing dead last.

    AJ Allmendinger, who JTG Daugherty had hired to shake down Labonte’s ride, did a little better in that car, scoring a top-20 finish.

    Allmendinger could drive a few more times for JTG, while Labonte is scheduled to return for the remainder of the schedule. Labonte’s best finish so far in the No. 47 car has been 15th in the Daytona 500.

    Surprising:  Kasey Kahne showed off a surprisingly new talent, that of firefighting. The driver of the No. 5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet was leading the race when the car took off, hit the wall and burst into flames.

    “Something broke,” Kahne said. “I would say it was a tire that went down but I don’t know for sure.”

    “I was just going into the corner and then it went ‘boom’ and turned right straight into the wall.”

    Kahne’s car burst into flames and he was able to exit quickly. He then, however, reached back into the car and initiated the fire extinguishing equipment, putting out the fire well before any of the safety professionals arrived at the scene.

    Kahne later tweeted, “First time I have ever pulled the fire extinguisher. That was cool.”

    Not Surprising:  As with every driver, team and owner, hearts were heavy for the loss of Jason Leffler, who died in a sprint car from blunt neck trauma at a dirt track in New Jersey. Team owner Jack Roush put it best with his hope that Leffler would live on through new and improved safety at those local race tracks.

    “Every time somebody gets hurt in racing, we need to look behind it and see what we can learn about the tragedy and see what we can do to establish some safety thing that would make it survivable for somebody else in the future,” Roush said. “If there was something to be learned from this, Jason will have an impact, as Dale Earnhardt’s death did, on the generation of drivers that follow him.”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Richmond Toyota Owners 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Richmond Toyota Owners 400

    A full moon and short track racing led to plenty of surprises and some not so surprising moments in the 59th Annual Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

    Surprising:  Race winner Kevin Harvick, currently with Richard Childress Racing but leaving at year end, was surprisingly more fixated on dispelling the moniker of ‘Lame Duck’ than celebrating his ‘Closer’ nickname in Victory Lane.

    In fact, with his first win of the season for RCR and his 20th career win under his belt, Harvick proclaimed he was nothing like a ‘Lame Duck’.

    “You know, a lot of people have thought we might lay down this year,” Harvick said. “There ain’t no lame in that game is there?”

    “It was a great night.”

    Not Surprising:  With some tempers tested on the short track, it was no surprise that a late-race caution and a green-white-checkered finish led to total chaos up to and even after the checkered flag flew.

    Perhaps the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing/Sealy Chevrolet summed it up best after seeing his potential top-five finish disappear to a ninth place finish thanks to the final lap craziness.

    “It was just chaos,” Kurt Busch said. “Some guys had older tires. Some guys had newer tires.”

    “People were beating and banging and shoving each other out of the way,” Busch continued. “It was a free-for-all at the end.”

    Surprising:  Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 15 Toyota Camry for Michael Waltrip Racing, was surprisingly pleased with his bridesmaid’s position. This was his ninth top-ten finish in 15 races at Richmond and his fifth top-ten finish of the season.

    “We had a good car,” Bowyer said. “It really got wild there at the end.”

    “Wish we could have won the Toyota race, but second’s not bad.”

    Not Surprising:  With his team’s appeal hearing looming this week, it was not surprising to see Penske’s Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, make a statement with a third place finish. This was Logano’s second top-ten finish in nine races at Richmond.

    “I’m just super-proud of my guys,” Logano said. “They never quit.”

    “They threw the kitchen sink at it and I’m just proud of what we got out of that.”

    Surprising:  Logano’s teammate, Brad Keselowski, however, had a surprisingly freaky bad day at the track, perhaps proving that ‘Redd’ was not a good color for a car known as the No. 2 ‘Blue Deuce.’

    “It was a long day,” the reigning champ said. “We had a bad pit stop and then blew a tire.”

    “Then whatever happened with the engine,” Keselowski continued. “It was a freak deal where something in the wheel broke and let all the air out of the tires.”

    “We got hit by a lot of freak deals.”

    Not Surprising:   With the ‘Orange Cone’ away, commitment violations came into play. And no one understood that more completely than Kyle Busch, who was tagged by NASCAR for that violation.

    In an unusual move, however, NASCAR reviewed the penalty and actually overturned it. Unfortunately for Busch, the damage was done and his four Spring Richmond race win streak came to a screeching halt.

    Busch’s fate was sealed after he was caught up in an accident and he finished 24th in the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota.

    Surprising:  With the beginnings of resurgence by Petty Motorsports, it was surprising that driver Marcos Ambrose suffered his first DNF of the season since Texas last year.

    “This is so disappointing for us,” the driver of the No. 9 DeWalt Ford Fusion said. “We were fast and had fantastic power from Ford Racing and Roush Yates Engines.”

    “So, we can’t complain.”

    Not Surprising:  Even with his first win on an oval track in sight, it was not surprising to see Juan Pablo Montoya and his crew chief thinking big picture and maximum points. The team elected to pit to take tires before the green-white-checkered finish to guarantee themselves a top-five finish.

    “Everybody on the Depend Chevy did an amazing job,” Montoya said. “We had a great car.”

    “This is what we needed,” Montoya continued. “We made the right call when we pitted.”

    Surprising:  Another Richard Childress racer Jeff Burton had a surprisingly great run, from threading his way through one of the many wrecks to finishing fifth.

    “Kevin Harvick and I both got better at the end of the race,” the driver of the No. 31 Airgas/Bulwark Chevrolet said. “We were best at the end.”

    Not Surprising: Richard Petty Motorsports’ other driver Aric Almirola continued to reel off  top-ten finishes in his No. 43 Smithfield Ford. Almirola managed an eighth place finish on the short track after battling an ill-handling race car.

    “At one point we were almost a lap down,” Almirola said. “We were in big trouble and Todd Parrott made so many adjustments and kept making it better and better and better.”

    “Our guys never gave up.”

    Surprising:  Matt Kenseth may have won the pole for the Toyota Owners 400, led the most laps at 140, and finished seventh, but he felt more like he was riding a roller coaster than driving an elite Cup car.

    “It was an up and down race,” Kenseth said. “In the beginning, we were real strong.”

    “That last restart, just being on the outside and the 78 (Kurt Busch) drove up through there and knocked my whole side off,” Kenseth continued. “That was the best I could do.”

    Not Surprising:  While Richmond may be known more as a Denny Hamlin type track, the Hendrick Motorsports team fared pretty well, with three of the four drivers finishing in the top-15.

    In fact, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson finished tenth, eleventh and twelfth respectively while Kasey Kahne brought up the rear in 21st.

    With his  finish, Johnson extended his points lead, now 43 points ahead of Carl Edwards in the second spot. And all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers are now in the top 15 in the point standings.

  • Crunching The Numbers: Richmond

    Crunching The Numbers: Richmond

    After a blazing fast weekend at Kansas Speedway, the NASCAR world sets its sights on Richmond International Raceway and the second night race of the year for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series. As one of the few short tracks on the circuit, Richmond always provides great racing in each series and this weekend’s events should be no exception, especially with the Sprint Cup drivers getting their first shot at this track in the new Gen6 car.

    Sprint Cup Series

    For the third time this season, the Sprint Cup Series makes its way to a short track and will take on the 3/4 mile Richmond International Raceway under the lights on Saturday night for the first night-time short track race of the season. Will Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports continue their stranglehold on Victory Lane with the new Gen6 car, or will we see a new contender emerge after 400 laps in the Toyota Owners 400?

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Kyle Busch 16 4 12 13 1 891 12.7 5.4
    Clint Bowyer 14 2 2 8 0 163 14.1 9.6
    Tony Stewart 28 3 11 19 0 950 17.7 10.4
    Ryan Newman 22 1 5 13 1 450 11.3 11.6
    Kevin Harvick 24 2 6 15 1 942 16.5 11.7
    Mark Martin 54 1 18 30 5 449 9.7 11.9
    Dale Earnhardt Jr 27 3 9 11 1 494 15.9 13.9
    Jeff Gordon 40 2 16 25 5 1415 7.9 14.4
    Carl Edwards 17 0 3 8 1 442 11.7 14.9
    Jeff Burton 37 1 9 16 1 942 15.2 15.0

    Who To Watch: With four wins in 16 races at Richmond along with 12 top fives, 13 top tens, one pole, 891 laps led, and an average finish of 5.4, Kyle Busch leads all active drivers with the best statistics at this track. After a terrible weekend last week in Kansas, this race could be just what the doctor ordered for Busch to get back to his winning ways.

    Others to keep an eye on include: Clint Bowyer, who won last fall to give himself two wins and has an average finish of 9.6; Tony Stewart, who has had a lackluster season thus far, but could rebound here due to his two wins and average finish of 10.4; Ryan Newman, Stewart’s SHR teammate, who has one win and an average finish of 11.6; and Kevin Harvick, who has two wins and an average finish of 11.7.

    The rest of the drivers in the top ten statistically at Richmond (Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, and Jeff Burton) could also be threats here Saturday as they have a combined seven wins and average finishes of 15.0 or better.

    One last note of importance that could come into play here is that Toyota has won seven of the last eight races at Richmond, will we see their dominance continue or will Chevrolet or Ford have something to say about it?

    Nationwide Series

    Friday night’s running of the Nationwide Series’ ToyotaCare 250 will be full of Sprint Cup regulars coming in to see if they can steal the show away from the Nationwide regulars. Sounds like a recipe for some great racing pitting the Nationwide drivers running for points against their Sprint Cup counterparts who just want the trophy and the win.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Kyle Busch 15 4 9 12 3 772 8.9 6.7
    Kevin Harvick 23 6 15 18 2 1089 8.3 7.0
    Brian Vickers 5 0 1 3 0 0 20.4 12.4
    Reed Sorenson 9 0 2 6 0 4 11.6 13.3
    Austin Dillon 3 0 0 2 0 14 12.0 13.7
    Justin Allgaier 8 0 1 3 0 0 16.4 14.1
    Trevor Bayne 4 0 1 2 0 0 6.8 14.8
    Parker Kligerman 1 0 0 0 0 0 7.0 15.0
    Joe Nemechek 22 1 5 9 0 201 13.8 15.5
    Elliott Sadler 19 0 2 6 0 58 19.7 16.1


    Who To Watch: To say that Kyle Busch has been dominating the field this season in the Nationwide Series would be an understatement and Busch is poised to continue that dominance in Friday night’s race. Heading into the weekend, Busch has four wins, nine top fives, 12 top tens, three poles, 772 laps led and an average finish of 6.7 in 15 starts at Richmond. However, another Sprint Cup regular hot on his heels at Richmond is Kevin Harvick, who has six wins, 15 top fives, 18 top tens, two poles, 1089 laps led, and an average finish of 7.0 in 23 starts. Following behind Busch and Harvick is a slew of Nationwide regulars, including: Brian Vickers, Reed Sorenson, Austin Dillon, Justin Allgaier, Trevor Bayne, and Parker Kligerman, all of whom have average finishes ranging from 12.4 to 15.0.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Bristol Food City 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Bristol Food City 500

    From the intro songs to the beating and the banging that comes with short-track racing, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 53rd annual Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    Surprising:  Hendrick Motorsports’ Kasey Kahne is a Bristol victory virgin no more. The driver of the No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet scored his first ever win in nineteen races at Thunder Valley and his first win of the young 2013 season.

    “This is a big win,” Kahne said. “The whole team was flawless.”

    “I feel like for myself it’s a big accomplishment to win here,” Kahne continued. “We’ve prepared pretty hard this year and it feels good to win.”

    Not Surprising:  Both Busch brothers earned their stripes as ‘come back kids’, overcoming adversity to finish in the top five.

    Kyle Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota, overcame a speeding penalty to finish second and Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Beautyrest Chevrolet, contended with a loose wheel, as well as some damage to his race car, to battle back to a fourth place finish.

    This was Kyle Busch’s second top-10 finish in 2013 and Kurt Busch’s best finish of the 2013 season, as well as his best finish so far with Furniture Row Racing.

    “I need to stop getting penalties and stay up front all race,” Kyle Busch said. “I wish there was more to have there. But it’s a good day I guess.”

    “Considering how much we had to battle back from adversity today, the finish was even more gratifying” Kurt Busch said. “We battled hard and the poor No. 78 car – she’s used up.”

    Kyle Busch is now in the top ten in points and Kurt Busch vaulted from 29th to 16th in the point standings.

    Surprising:  While Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth have had issues between one another in the past, they had a surprisingly tough encounter on the track at Bristol. With Gordon in the lead and Kenseth right behind, Gordon blew a tire, hit the wall and Kenseth plowed into him from behind after his throttle apparently stuck.

    “As soon as I got into the banking, I felt the tire go,” the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet said. “I really hate that for Kenseth.”

    “There was not a lot either of us could do,” the driver of the No. 20 Home Depot/Husky Toyota said. “It will take a lot of Husky tools to fix that thing.”

    “We had a great car but we didn’t make it to the end.”

    Not Surprising:  Yes, it was Bristol and there were some temper flare ups, especially between Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano, who do have a history with one another.

    Hamlin, who had had an eventful week deciding not to appeal his $25,000 fine from NASCAR, got a bit peeved with Joey Logano and ended up turning his former teammate and sending him spinning.

    The driver of the No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota, finished 23rd and Logano, driving the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, finished 17th.

    “Really, you’ve got to control your car and he slid up in front of me,” Hamlin said. “I meant to run into him but didn’t mean to spin him out.”

    “We finished bad. He finished bad,” Hamlin continued. “It’s even.”

    “That’s a freaking genius behind the wheel of the 11 car – probably the worst teammate I ever had, so I learned that now,” Logano said. “He decided to run in the back of me, so whatever.”

    “I have a scorecard and I’m not putting up with that,” Logano continued. “What goes around comes around.”

    And yes, the disagreement spilled over into Twitter-world, first with Logano tweeting, “Hey @dennyhamlin great job protecting that genius brain of yours by keeping your helmet on” and Hamlin responding, “Last time I checked he had my cell and direct message button to choose from if he’s got a problem. Otherwise hush little child.”

    Surprising:  It was a surprisingly difficult day for the drivers of the cereal cars, with Jeff Burton, driver of the No. 31 Cheerios Chevrolet, and Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Kellogg’s/Frosted Flake Ford Fusion, involved in an early wreck.

    Burton finished 32nd while Edwards soldiered on, in spite of being ill most of the race and reportedly throwing up in his car, to finish 18th.

    “I have to thank the infield medical folks and folks with NASCAR medical,” Edwards said. “They really helped me out a lot today.”

    “That’s the most miserable race I’ve ever been through, but there was a little bit of satisfaction to come back and finish 18th.”

    Not Surprising:   Brad Keselowski, who finished third in the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion and now leads in the point standings, was not satisfied in the least.

    “We weren’t close at the start but at the end, the car was pretty good,” Keselowski said. “The 2 team did a great job adjusting on the car during the race. “

    “We’ve been so damn close and just haven’t sealed the deal.”

    Surprising:  In spite of bringing out the first caution with a flat tire, spin and a wreck, Tony Stewart still managed to keep his sense of humor throughout the rest of the race.

    On lap 254 with only half of the race completed, Stewart radioed in to his ailing crew chief Steve Addington to say, “The good news is that it’s halfway over.”

    Addington, who was battling the flu, replied simply, “Don’t make me laugh too hard right now.”

    Not Surprising:  While he may not have been stellar, he has been consistent so far in the 2013 season. Fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished sixth and is just nine points behind Keselowski, sitting second in the point standings.

    The driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet solely credits the consistent performance to crew chief Steve Letarte, who Earnhardt Jr. referred to after the race as ‘magic man.’

    “I have to give all the credit to Steve Letarte,” Junior said. “He made a couple, two, three great pit calls there at the end and gave us the opportunity to get some guys on old tires and beat a few guys that we probably weren’t going to beat.”

    “Great call by him.”

    Surprising:  There were some surprising names in the top ten when the checkered flag waved at Bristol, including Brian Vickers, Paul Menard and Jamie McMurray.

    “Honestly after today, it felt like a win,” Vickers, driver of the No. 55 RK Motors Toyota, said. “We had some damage but got that fixed and we got back to the top 10.”

    Not Surprising:  In spite of a stellar Daytona, Danica Patrick has continued to struggle at the tracks following the season kick off. The driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, finished 28th at Bristol, several laps down.

    “We just never really got it completely freed up like we needed to,” Patrick said. “It was better later in the race, but by then the damage was done.”

    Patrick is looking forward to the next race at Fontana, in spite of never having driven a Cup car at that track before.

    “There are a lot of things that I have to work on at this point in time,” Patrick said. “The most important thing is to find a decent balance to start off the race so that we don’t drop back.”

     

     

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Phoenix Subway Fresh Fit 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Phoenix Subway Fresh Fit 500

    In the Valley of the Sun, surprisingly dotted by a few sprinkles at race start, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 9th Annual Subway Fresh Fit 500 from Phoenix International Raceway.

    Surprising:  There was a surprising amount of frustration from many of the drivers finishing in the top five in the second race of the young NASCAR season.

    Second place finisher Jimmie Johnson was frustrated because of what he perceived as a not so kosher restart on the green-white-checker finish.

    “The leader’s not supposed to slow down before you take off,” the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet said. “If you get away with it, it works great.”

    “But if it had been me, my Twitter inbox would have been full.”

    The third place race finisher, Denny Hamlin, was also frustrated but for a different reason, lack of passing. This frustration was, however, a bit surprising since he came from the back of the field due to an engine change and also achieved a bonsai pass on the apron to secure his top-five finish.

    “It was so hard to pass,” the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota said. “Aero tight is a huge, huge deal.”

    “I hate to be Denny Downer, but I just didn’t pass that many cars today.”

    The final surprisingly frustrated driver was none other than Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who finished in the fifth position at a track where he has been known to struggle. Junior was frustrated because of a pit stop where he was boxed in and lost positions, in his mind costing him the race win.

    “Well I hate to be frustrated at Phoenix, but I think we are,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet said. “We feel like we could have finished better than fifth, maybe won the race.”

    “Just didn’t get the breaks on pit road.”

    Not Surprising:  Just as Denny Hamlin had done before, it was not surprising to see another driver follow suit, calling his own race win after an excruciating Speedweeks  in Daytona.

    Ending a 70 winless drought, Carl Edwards back flipped his way right into Victory Lane, achieving his 20th Cup career win. Edwards was especially proud to do the honors with his sponsor Subway on the car and sponsoring the race.

    “I feel good,” the driver of the No. 99 Subway Ford said. “It’s tough to go that long without winning.”

    “I’ll be eating Subway all week.”

    Surprising:  After struggling mightily last year, the driver of the No. 31 Cheerios Chevrolet had a surprisingly good day. Jeff Burton finally put it all together for an entire race to score a top-10 finish, even with some crew chief adversity.

    “Over the last 60 or so laps, we consistently had the fastest car in the field,” Burton said. “It was great to top it off with a top-10 finish, especially after all the adversity the team faced early in the day when Luke (Lambert, crew chief) flew home to be with his wife who is pregnant.”

    “I appreciate the entire Cheerios team pulling together.”

    Not Surprising:  In spite of all the pre-race hype and race promotion, there was no retaliation whatsoever between arch rivals from last year’s Phoenix race, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer. In fact, both not only shared a few pre-race chuckles but also raced each other cleanly to top-10 finishes, with Bowyer finishing 6th and Gordon 9th.

    The duo, who were not even speaking at the end of last season, had similar pronouncements about their 2013 Phoenix race finish.

    “All in all it was a decent day for our 5-Hour Energy Toyota,” Bowyer said.

    “It was a solid top-10,” Gordon said. “All-in-all that was pretty solid.”

    Surprising:  Perhaps more heartbreaking than surprising is the incredibly poor start that Martin Truex Jr. has gotten off to in the 2013 season.

    Truex Jr. finished 24th in the Daytona 500 and barely got started in the Phoenix race, stalling on pit road with a gear and axle problem, relegating him to a 36th place finish.

    “I don’t even know what to say,” Truex Jr. tweeted after the race. “Never seen that happen in all my days. Had a fast @napafilters car too.”

    Not Surprising:   On his return to the NASCAR scene, A.J. Allmendinger had a great day in the Valley of the Sun. The ‘Dinger finished 11th behind the wheel of the No. 51 Guy Roofing Chevrolet for Phoenix Racing.

    “Everyone on the team kept fighting hard and worked their asses off,” Allmendinger shared via Twitter on his way out of the track.

    Surprising:  There was a surprising car, one with a big red Target on the hood, that just so happened to be at the front of the pack for much of the race. Juan Pablo Montoya drove his No. 42 Target Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet to a 12th place finish and was most proud.

    “It was a good points day,” JPM declared.

    Not Surprising:  Although she had an historic outing at Daytona as the first woman to sit on the pole and lead a green flag lap, it was not surprising that Phoenix was a major dose of reality for Rookie of the Year candidate Danica Patrick. The driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet blew a tire, hit the wall hard and then was hit on the driver’s side by David Ragan’s car.

    “I blew a right front with no real warning,” Patrick said. “It was a little unexpected.”

    “Thank God for SAFER barriers.”

    Surprising:  The Busch mother and brothers had a surprisingly trying weekend. Mama Busch was involved in a golf car accident and brothers Busch both started from the back of the field, Kyle for an engine change and Kurt for a wreck in qualifying.

    Both brothers were involved in on-track spins, in fact spinning in tandem at one point during the race.

    Although Kyle Busch finished a disappointing 23rd and brother Kurt finished even worse in the 27th position, Mrs. Busch was reportedly a little banged up but back at the track and “in good spirits.”

    Not Surprising:  Reigning champ Brad Keselowski had a blast at Phoenix, especially during the green-white-checkered finish. The driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion energetically shoved the winner into the first turn, hoping to get a run for the win, but had to settle for a fourth place finish.

    “Those guys fought hard and we fought hard and there was a lot of desire,” Keselowski said. “It’s early in the season, but I feel like there’s a lot of passion and that’s a good thing.”

    “That’s how it’s supposed to be, right?” Keselowski continued. “That was cool.”

  • 2013 Sprint Cup Team Preview: Richard Childress Racing

    2013 Sprint Cup Team Preview: Richard Childress Racing

    Photo Credit: Getty Images
    Photo Credit: Getty Images

    Today our 2013 Sprint Cup team preview will cover the 2013 season outlook for Richard Childress Racing, which fields the #27 Chevrolet for Paul Menard, No.29 for Kevin Harvick, No.31 for Jeff Burton, and the No.33 in a part time capacity for Austin Dillon.

    The 2012 season was a season to forget for RCR. After the departure of competition director Scott Miller, who moved over to Michael Waltrip Racing for the 2012 season, the team never got its feet under it and struggled throughout the year. The only win by an RCR driver came at Phoenix in November, with Harvick taking the win there. Harvick was also the only RCR driver to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The other two full-time RCR drivers, Paul Menard and Jeff Burton finished the year 17th and 19th, respectively.

    With the dismal 2012 season behind them, the team is looking ahead to 2013 season and made a key hire in competition director Eric Warren, who comes over to RCR from Richard Petty Motorsports. While all of the RCR drivers are hoping to improve their fortunes for 2013, the 2013 season will also be a lame duck year for Harvick, who announced that he will not be returning to the organization after the season. Reports are that Harvick will be headed for Stewart Haas Racing in 2014. Only time will tell how much of a distraction Harvick’s departure after 2013 will be for the organization.

    With the majority of the key personnel returning in 2013 and with the new Gen6 car, this could be a rebound year for RCR. However, if the organization is not able to produce better results than they were able to in 2012, look for some changes to be made after this year.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Phoenix Advocare 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Phoenix Advocare 500

    [media-credit name=”Simon Scoggins” align=”alignright” width=”244″][/media-credit]In the next to the last race on the one miler in the Valley of the Sun, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 25th annual Advocare 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

    Surprising:  Although avoiding the shower of sponsor product, baby Keelan had his first ever visit to Victory Lane, celebrating with his dad Kevin Harvick, driver of the Richard Childress Racing No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet.

    “It was great to be back in Victory Lane and to have Keelan there for our first victory celebration as a family,” Harvick said. “He was fine until everyone started screaming.”

    “That made him cry.”

    Surprisingly, this was Harvick’s first victory of the 2012 season, breaking a 44 race winless streak. Also surprisingly, this was Richard Childress Racing’s first win of the year as well.

    Harvick’s victory came on the heels of a surprising announcement prior to the race, one that will see him leave RCR for Stewart Haas Racing in the 2014 season.

    “It has been a struggle and an interesting weekend to say the least,” Harvick said. “Regardless of what happens in 2014, we have the end of this year and we’ve got all of next year.”

    “We want to win races and we want to be competitive and that is what we are here to do.”

    Not Surprising:  The theme of survival, which has been his mantra since Talladega and throughout the Chase, continued with the driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge.

    Brad Keselowski finished sixth in the Blue Deuce and also grabbed the points lead in the championship race after competitor Jimmie Johnson hit the wall to finish 32nd. Keselowski also had to navigate a wild last lap wreck, in which he was dinged, to take the checkered flag.

    “I raced pretty hard last week at Texas but that was borderline ridiculous,” Keselowski said. “We survived and I’m proud of everyone on the Miller Lite team for that.”

    “I felt very lucky to make it through the carnage today.”

    Surprising:  For a driver, crew chief and team that is so often totally in control, it was most surprising for the championship contending Jimmie Johnson and team No. 48 to come out of Phoenix feeling totally out of control.

    “We were cruising along and I think going to have a top-10 day if things worked out,” Johnson said. “I had a slight vibration and then as I was coming off of turn four, it went down and straight in the wall I went.”

    “Unfortunately, we lost a lot of control or all control in the championship,” Johnson continued, now 20 points back of point leader Keselowski. “It’s way, way out of our control with the problem we had.”

    “That’s racing,” Johnson said. “We will go to Homestead and do all we can down there and see how things pan out.”

    Not Surprising:  As with any fracas, there are a variety of ways to see the incident, depending on your point of view. And the melee on and off the track between Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet, and Clint Bowyer, pilot of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota, was no exception to this rule.

    “It’s just that things have gotten escalated over the year and I’ve just had it,” Gordon said after wrecking Bowyer and participating in a bench-emptying brawl in the garage area. “Clint’s run into me numerous times.”

    “I’ve had it and was fed up with it and got him back.”

    “For him to act like that, I barely touched him,” Bowyer said. “Next thing I know, Brett (Griffin, spotter) is telling me that he’s waiting on me.”

    “It’s pretty embarrassing for a four-time champion and what I consider one of the best the sport’s ever seen to act like that.”

    For those directly and not so directly involved in the disagreement, other perceptions prevailed.

    “When I was young, I thought Jeff Gordon was the best driver,” Joey Logano, whose No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet was collateral damage in the Gordon/Bowyer madness, tweeted after the race. “Now I’ve lost a lot of respect for him.”

    “The 24 should be parked!” Denny Hamlin tweeted after the race. “He took out 5 cars in that BS!”

    One driver, however, seemingly enjoyed the hoopla and the sparring.

    “I like fights,” Kevin Harvick, race winner, said to the media with a devilish grin. “We should have more fights.”

    “They’re not always fun to be in, but fights are what made NASCAR what it is.”

    Surprising:  While Denny Hamlin had much to say about fellow competitor Jeff Gordon via Twitter, he also had a lot to say about the track, even with a second place finish.

    “The track is just so slick,” Hamlin said after the race. “Treacherous. The race track is extremely treacherous.”

    “You can’t – with these hard tires – you just can’t get a grip on the race track.”

    “Everyone’s just sliding around and sliding into each other.”

    The driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota also had some choice, but perhaps not politically correct words, for the track conditions on the final lap, which led to multiple wrecks and many torn up race cars.

    “There was oil all over the track,” Hamlin said. “Ray Charles could see that.”

    “Holy cow, it was a mess.”

    Not Surprising:   After dominating for the first third of the race, the intrepid Kyle Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota, had to settle for a third place finish. This was Busch’s 10th top-10 finishes in 16 races at Phoenix International Raceway.

    “Great day,” Busch said simply. “Guys gave me an awesome car.”

    “Obviously, having a car that’s the class of the field – you expect to win and you’re supposed to win,” Busch continued. “I guess I just didn’t know how to win it today.”

    “So, it seems to be the way the year goes.”

    Surprising:  For as bad of a season and weekend that Jeff Burton was having, the driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet pulled off a surprisingly good 13th place finish in the Advocare 500.

    Burton had to start from the rear of the field after multiple accidents in both Friday and Saturday’s practices.

    “Just a solid effort this weekend from the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet team,” Burton said. “We wrecked two cars on Friday and Saturday.”

    “For these guys to come back and give this kind of effort was amazing.”

    Not Surprising:  Kurt Busch continued to settle in with his new Furniture Row race team, recovering from a lug nut problem to finish eighth in the Valley of the Sun. This was his second straight eighth-place finish, giving his team its best back-to-back finishes in the team’s history.

    “That was a wild ending,” the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Farm American Chevrolet said. “I just stayed on the gas to get to the finish line.”

    “We definitely had a car that was capable of winning,” Busch continued. “We battled back to notch our second straight top-10.”

    Surprising:  Another Cup rookie had a surprisingly good day, in fact the best yet in her young career in the top tier of the sport. Danica Patrick, in the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, finished 17th, her best result to date.

    “We had a green-white-checkered, so it was a nice exciting finish for the fans,” Patrick said. “The No. 31 went in too deep and clipped my left rear, spun me around and I just tried to limp back to the line.”

    “Still our best finish,” Patrick continued. “But you always want more.”

    Not Surprising:  Ryan Newman, often known as the ‘Iron Man’ of the sport, proved he was as tough as all the veterans’ pictures on his camouflaged car. After qualifying in the 12th position, the driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet worked his way to the front to finish fifth in the Advocare 500.

    “That was a good run for our Quicken Loans Chevrolet,” Newman said. “It was a special Veteran’s Day paint scheme and I’m really proud of everything there.”

    Surprising:  Chaser Martin Truex, Jr., racing no doubt with a heavy heart for his home state of New Jersey ravaged by Hurricane Sandy, saw his day end before it even got started. The driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota had an engine failure and finished 43rd.

    “Well, the engine started laying down on like the second lap and something broke in the top end, so we were done for the day,” Truex said. “It’s a shame.”

    “Just one of those deals – probably a parts failure or something.”

    Not Surprising:  Greg Biffle showed his mettle behind the wheel, coming back from a miserable start to the race to being the highest finishing Ford, scoring a top-10 finish.

    “It was actually a hard fought day,” the driver of the No. 16 Filtrete/3M Ford said. “We came back from not having a very good car to being really good.”

    “We kept working on it and working on it,” Biffle continued. “I never thought we’d get that good.”

    “That was remarkable.”

  • Nicole Biffle Shares Passion for Work of Greg Biffle Foundation

    Nicole Biffle Shares Passion for Work of Greg Biffle Foundation

    [media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”183″][/media-credit]Nicole Biffle is one busy young woman, as wife to Chase contender Greg and mom to 15 month old Emma. And while obviously completely committed to both of those roles, she is also passionate about her work with the Greg Biffle Foundation.

    Nicole started the Greg Biffle Foundation with her husband in 2005 with the mission of creating awareness and serving as advocates to improve the well-being of animals by engaging the power and passion of the motor sports industry.

    One of her ‘pet’ projects is the NASCAR Pets Calendar and she has just wrapped up work on the 2013 calendar, featuring many drivers including Kyle Busch, Jeff Burton, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., and Joey Logano. It also features NASCAR media members Shannon Spake, Rutledge Wood, Jeff Hammond, John Roberts and Chris Myers.

    “So we just finished our 2013 calendar and it’s really cool,” Biffle said. “This year we have Danica Patrick, the King and Kyle Petty, and media and drivers of course.”

    “It’s fun because this year we have our daughter Emma in the calendar,” Biffle continued. “So, it’s completely different.”

    “It’s funny because when it comes out after taking the picture so long ago, she looks so different since then.”

    The NASCAR Pets Calendar has been the fundraising hallmark for the Greg Biffle Foundation. The response to the inaugural edition of the calendar made it the best selling item on NASCAR.com and in 2009, Greg’s sponsor 3M got on board to take it to the next level.

    The 2013 edition of the calendar is already on sale in various outlets, including 30 Petco stores, Mooresville, NC vet clinics, animal welfare organizations nationally and again on NASCAR.com.

    According to Nicole Biffle, the Foundation took another bold step to raise money recently by auctioning off a 2012 Ford Raptor truck designed by her husband. The truck sold for $80,000, with all of the proceeds benefitting the Foundation.

    “With that Barrett Jackson auction we just did, we also raised money as well,” Nicole Biffle said. “The truck was really cool.”

    “I was watching it on TV and I was so nervous,” Biffle continued. “I’m very thankful to the lady who bought it. That was very nice of her and that will help a lot of animals.”

    “The great thing is that the dog they had there in that rescue, there were a lot of inquires about adopting him,” Biffle said. “So, having him there brought some attention to not only him but his shelter too.”

    “People were really interested which was really cool.”

    Nicole Biffle is also passionate about another upcoming event to benefit the Foundation, their annual mountain retreat fundraiser.

    “We have our Foundation event, our mountain retreat event, after the Charlotte race,” Biffle said. “We do that at our mountain property.”

    “It’s an exclusive event and we invite about nine drivers and we make of teams,” Biffle said. “We invite them and they go on the dirt track and shoot skeet.”

    “We have an archery course set up and we do trail rides,” Biffle continued. “It’s really a lot of fun.”

    “We raise money through sponsorships and the participants pay to attend,” Biffle said. “It is a competition so the drivers are always competitive, especially on the dirt track, but we also give awards for the best shooter and things like that.”

    “We also added the night before a poker tournament and a casino night just for fun,” Biffle continued. “Of course, people are generous enough to donate their winnings back to us which is so nice.”

    While Nicole Biffle is passionate about all of the Foundation fundraisers, she is most passionate about the real reason for the Foundation, making all of the grants. And this year, she has had a record amount of applications to consider, from 93 grants made last year to 380 applications this year.

    “We go through them and it is so difficult because there is so many,” Biffle said. “We look at what we’ve got and we tend to give to those that have little so they can keep their doors open.”

    “I had to hire an assistant to help me with the grant requests because my brain wasn’t working with what my heart was saying and I would have given to everybody,” Biffle continued. “It’s just hard but that’s obviously what the Foundation is for.”

    Nicole Biffle is also passionate about another endeavor, serving on the Board of the Friends of the Animals organization, where she serves as President and Greg as Vice President.

    “Greg and I are involved with the Friends of the Animals,” Biffle said. “That’s to build an adoption center in Mooresville.”

    “That is really, really going well,” Biffle continued. “We are making progress and the community backing is astounding.”

    “I’m pretty excited,” Biffle continued. “I think it’s going to be a big thing for us.”

    As with every mom, however, Nicole Biffle’s passion must now be shared and spread around, from her Foundation work to her roles as wife and mother. And like every busy mom, she works hard at trying to balance it all.

    “It’s different now that I’ve got Emma because I can’t focus as much time as I did in the past,” Biffle said. “I love being with her.”

    “We just try to balance it out and I’m grateful for good help at the Foundation and good board members at the Friends of the Animals.”

    Oh and by the way and on one final note, Nicole Biffle is also passionate about her husband Greg, who is currently competing for NASCAR’s highest honor the Sprint Cup. And she is very passionate in supporting him, along with Emma, in that endeavor.

    “I would love for Greg to win the championship this year,” Nicole Biffle said.”Being the first to win in all three series would be amazing.”

    “It would be awesome to have our little family to celebrate that.”

    For more information about the Greg Biffle Foundation or to purchase a 2013 calendar, visit gregbifflefoundation.com.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Federated Auto Parts 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Federated Auto Parts 400

    [media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”221″][/media-credit]In a race full of twists and turns, including rain delays and wild card drama, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 55th annual running of the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond.

    Surprising:  It was surprising what a dramatically different reaction this driver had to a second place run this weekend as compared to the last.

    Jeff Gordon, piloting the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, went from kicking himself for his second place finish behind Denny Hamlin at Atlanta to being thrilled with his Richmond runner up run, especially since it clinched his wild card spot in the championship Chase.

    Gordon, Alan Gustafson (crew chief), Eddie D’Hondt (spotter) and the entire 24 team demonstrated the ‘never give up’ mantra, taking a car that was admittedly ‘junk’ at the beginning of the race, cutting the chain on the rear sway bar on a pit stop, and getting the car back up through the field after the rain delays to finish in the second spot and secure the final wild card berth in the Chase.

    “We went from last week to being the most disappointed I’ve ever been to finish second to the most excited I’ve ever been to finish second,” Gordon said. “Wow, what a race for us.”

    “I still can’t believe we actually did it.”

    Not Surprising:  As elated as Jeff Gordon was, the driver who fell out of the Chase was equally deflated, if not more so. Errors on pit road, including a lug nut problem that created a lengthy pit stop, cost Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota, the chance to compete for the Cup this year.

    Busch, who finished the race in the 16th position, fell back to the 13th spot in the point standings, losing his wild card berth to Gordon.

    “We missed it,” Busch said simply, after gathering his composure enough to make a brief statement. “That’s it, plain and simple.”

    “There’s no right way to handle this situation.”

    Surprising:  While many were surprised that all four of the Hendrick Motorsports cars scored spots in the Chase, the bigger surprise was that Michael Waltrip Racing achieved a similar feat, getting both of their race cars into Cup contention.

    In fact, one of their drivers, Clint Bowyer, in the No. 15 5-Hour EnergyToyota, powered through an incident with Juan Pablo Montoya and almost running out of gas, to make his way right toVictory Lane.

    “”To win this last race before this Chase is unbelievable,” Bowyer said. “We had a lot of adversity we had to bounce through.”

    “This is a good way to get things bounced back headed into this Chase,” Bowyer continued. “You never give up in this sport.”

    Bowyer’s Michael Waltrip Racing teammate, Martin Truex Jr., also never gave up and achieved his goal of a Chase spot.

    “Man, I feel good,” the driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts MWR Toyota said. “The way our cars are running and as fast as we’ve been the last six or seven weeks, we’re dangerous.”

    “Looking forward to going out and having some fun and hopefully we’ll be in the hunt.”

    Not Surprising:  Although thrilled that the team that bears his name raced two cars into the championship hunt, co-owner Michael Waltrip had another driver and good friend on his mind as he reflected on just how far his team had come over the years.

    “I’m so proud of what we’ve put together,” Waltrip said. “I’m obviously really happy with having two cars in the Chase.”

    “But my inspiration for having a team from the beginning was Dale Earnhardt,” Waltrip continued. “I always wanted to have a team like Dale had.”

    “So anytime something goes good, I always think about what all he meant to me.”

    Surprising:  Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota had a surprising new attitude about not only his race, in which he led 202 laps but finished 18th, but also his bid for the championship.

    “For the most part, I think I’ll just be a lot more relaxed this time around,” Hamlin said. “What do we have to lose?”

    “We’ve never won a championship,” Hamlin continued. “We’re going out there to try to win our first.”

    “I’m going to race week-to-week and just not think about a championship until I get to Homestead.”

    Not Surprising:   While Richmond was good to Stewart Haas Racing, it was not quite good enough to get one of their teams into the Chase.

    Tony Stewart, piloting the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, finished 4th at Richmond and became the 3rd seed in the Chase standings.

    “Really proud of Steve Addington (crew chief) and all of our guys at Stewart-Haas Racing,” Smoke said. “Just proud of the effort tonight.”

    Teammate Ryan Newman, however, did not fare so well. Although he brought his No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet home in the 8th position, he missed out on a spot in the Chase.

    “It’s disappointing,” Newman said. “I don’t really know what to say other than that.”

    “We gave it all we had and we didn’t get the win we needed to make the Chase.”

    Surprising:  One driver who has been admittedly struggling all year had a surprisingly good Richmond run. Jeff Burton, driving the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, finished top-10, in the sixth position to be exact.

    “I’ve been saying week after week how strong this team is getting and we proved that tonight with a hard-fought top-10 finish,”Burton said. “I am happy and proud of everyone.”

    Not Surprising:  Although Kasey Kahne focused mightily on his No. 5 race car all night and into the morning, he was, not surprisingly, focused on another number, four, after the race.

    “Four Hendrick cars in the Chase,” Kahne said. “Four Chevrolets too.”

    Kahne finished 12th at Richmond, but more importantly secured the 11th seed in the Chase, making him one of those four Hendrick Motorsports drivers in the hunt for the championship.

    Surprising:  Ford had a surprisingly divided run to the Chase, with two Fords in and two Fords out. Matt Kenseth, in the No. 17 Best Buy Ford, finished fifth and will be seeded 8th in the Chase. Greg Biffle, in the No. 16 3M Ford, finished 9th and is seeded fifth in the Chase.

    The two Fords out, however, were Carl Edwards in the No. 99 Kellogg’s Ford and Marcos Ambrose in the No. 8 MAC Tools Ford. Edwards finished the Richmond race in the 17th position and Ambrose finished top-15.

    “I’m obviously disappointed,” Edwards said. “We just let too many points get away for a bunch of different reasons.”

    “We will just go try to build the best team we can for next year and try to make sure a Ford wins this championship.”

    “I just tried my hardest,” Ambrose said. “It wasn’t our night.”

    “Obviously we wanted the win, but it wasn’t meant to be.” 

    Not Surprising:  One driver was not only happy to be in the conversation, but has just been plain having fun as well. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished 14th in the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard Chevrolet and picked up the 7th place in the Chase.

    “We ran good,” Junior said. “I’m proud of the effort the whole company put forward this year.”

    “I’ve had an awesome time,” Junior continued. “It’s been so much fun.”

    “We are in the conversation and we’re going to work hard to still be in that conversation at Homestead.”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen

    [media-credit id=24 align=”alignright” width=”224″][/media-credit]In spite of a few drops of rain and much discussion about oil on the track in the waning laps, here is what else was surprising and not surprising for the 27th annual Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen.

    Surprising:  Although this two-time winner at the Glen was far from home, in fact about as far away as one can possibly be, he felt right at home, relishing his triumph with his family from down under in Victory Lane.

    Australian Marcos Ambrose, driving the No. 9 Stanley Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports, scored his first victory of the season and his second win in 141 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

    “My kids haven’t shared this in America and it’s a special thing to win a NASCAR race, especially a Sprint Cup race, so it’s fantastic,” Ambrose said of having his children with him in Victory Lane and the media center post-race. “I’ve got my in-laws sitting in the back here too.”

    Although Ambrose was surrounded by family, his thoughts were with his family who could not be with him to celebrate.

    “My dad is in the hospital right now, so I hope this makes him feel better and gets him going,” Ambrose continued. “It’s a tough life when you’re racing , especially I’m from Australia and my immediate family is down home and I feel a long way away a lot of days.”

    “It’s great to have my family here and great to let them celebrate with me,” Ambrose said. “These days don’t come around every day.”

    Not Surprising:  Ever the hard core racer, it was no surprise to see Brad Keselowski so completely jazzed with his runner up finish after beating and banging with Ambrose all the way to the checkered flag.

    This was the second top-10 finish in three races at Watkins Glen International for the driver of the Miller Lite Blue Deuce for Penske Racing. It was also Keselowski’s 12th top-10 finish of the season.

    “That’s what racing is supposed to be right there; a little bit of bumping and rubbing but none of that intentional wrecking BS,” Keselowski said. “It came down to just running a whole lap against Marcos.”

    “I got in the oil and we’d slip up,” Keselowski continued. “He’d get by me and then he’d get in the oil and I’d get by him.”

    “It’s great to race against guys like Marcos that you can run on, lean on and don’t lose their cool,” Keselowski said. “I think that’s the way racing should be.”

    Surprising:  They may be teammates and even share a Hendrick Motorsports garage, but Jimmie Johnson took advantage of his teammate Dale Junior’s slip up to not only finish third in the race, but also snatch the points lead away from him.

    “I just got in the corner and made a mistake and that was pretty much all there was to it,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet said. “I was just overdriving the car.”

    “It was a bad ugly finish at the end.”

    Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Cortez Silver Chevrolet, deemed the finish “chaotic” as well.

    “But I’m glad we got back to the finish line and finished third,” Johnson continued. “Very solid day for this Lowe’s team.”

    “I’m excited to be leading the points.”

    Not Surprising:  In spite of one Earnhardt Ganassi Racing driver sitting on the pole and the other re-signing with the team, both EGR drivers had yet another rough day at the race track.

    Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, secured his second pole in a row, last week at Pocono and this week at the Glen. Mechanical troubles, however, sidelined JPM, relegating him to a 33rd place finish.

    “I think it was the lower control arm,” Montoya said. “We got the last two poles and I did think we had a car to win today.”

    “It was looking really good; everything looked like it was going according to the plan,” Montoya continued. “All of a sudden I hit a curb and the car went completely left on me.”

    Teammate Jamie McMurray, fresh off inking his signature on his new contract with the team, also struggled. Jamie Mac hit the Armco barrier so hard that it left its impression on the driver’s side door of his No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet.

    “It just happened all of a sudden,” McMurray said. “The tire blew out and we hit the guardrail pretty hard.”

    Surprising:  While the Queen may have had her James Bond moment at the Olympics, there was one such moment at the Glen, with the wild card spots being definitely ‘shaken, not stirred.’

    The two drivers whose Chase chances were most shaken were both Kyle Busch and four-time champion Jeff Gordon.

    Busch, behind the wheel of his No. 18 M&Ms Toyota, looked like he would notch another win until he tangled with Brad Keselowski and got shuffled back to seventh at the race end. That win would have moved Busch into the second wild-card spot in the Chase.

    “I’ve got nothing good to say,” was Busch’s only post-race comment. He later posted on Facebook, “Can it get any worse?”

    The other driver shaken in the Chase was Jeff Gordon, behind the wheel of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet. He too was headed for at least a top-10 finish until he slid in oil and wrecked on the last lap, finishing 21st.

    Gordon lost two spots in the Chase standings, falling to 15th.

    “I’m pretty bummed,” Gordon said after the race. “We didn’t have the day I thought we were going to have.”

    Not Surprising:   While brother Kyle struggled at the Glen, so too did big brother Kurt Busch. Busch, driving the No. 51 Phoenix Racing Construction Services Chevrolet, had a mechanical problem, blew a tire, and headed to the garage.

    “These guys work way too hard for these mechanical things to happen,” Busch said. “Sometimes these things just add up and we are just on the wrong side of the eight-ball.”

    Surprising:  For the second race in a row, Denny Hamlin suffered problems on the track that entailed another quick exit from his No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota.

    “I have a thing with wrecks and fires here lately,” Hamlin said. “I was fine until once again I started feeling the heat and looked down and saw the fire at my feet.”

    “Once I got fire on me, I decided to stop at the nearest fire station,” Hamlin continued. “It’s unfortunate but an overall bad weekend for us.”

    Not Surprising:  Regan Smith, driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Farm American Chevrolet, had another top 10 finish for himself and the team. Smith, who finished ninth at Pocono last weekend, replicated it again at the Glen.

    This was also his first career top-10 finish on a road course.

    “I am happy to come away with a top-10,” Smith said. “I am very proud of this team and very excited about what we’ve been able to accomplish recently.”

    “We’re on the right track and that’s encouraging.”

    Surprising:  Something that is surprisingly not heard often was heard at the road course this weekend. Veteran driver Jeff Burton was black flagged for failing to maintain minimum speed.

    “Once again, bad luck found us, this time it was in the form of a fuel pump issue,” the driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet said. Burton soldiered on to finish 30th.

    Not Surprising:  Michael Waltrip Racing teammates Clint Bowyer and Martin Truex Jr. conquered nerves and dodged bullets respectively to both finish in the top-10 on the road course.

    “That was some slick racing the last few laps,” Bowyer, behind the wheel of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota, said. “We were sliding everywhere.”

    “It was kind of fun, but it was pretty nerve-wracking.”

    “Man, it was rough,” teammate Truex, Jr., driving the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, said after running out of gas with 25 laps to go. “Those kinds of days when you make mistakes, you’ve got to battle back.”

    “We dodged a big bullet be being able to come back through the field like that.”

    Surprising:  Tony Stewart, driving the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, made a surprising and uncharacteristic error on a road course, spinning on lap 71 after being second in the race running order.

    Smoke backed into the Armco barrier, significantly shortening up the car. He went on to rally after repairs from 29th to finish 19th.

    “Sorry guys,” Stewart said. “I gave it away there.”

    Not Surprising:   On the flip side, Stewart Haas Racing teammate Ryan Newman said a big hello to the wild card spot in the Chase. The driver of the No. 39 US Army Chevrolet finished 11th to move up to 13th in the point standings, just 49 points out of the 10th position.

    “In the end, it was a good day for us in the points, which was what we needed to make the Chase,” Newman said. “That’s our mission and we’re going to have to fight it out these next four races.”

    “Just like our Army Strong soldiers, we’re a determined bunch and we’re not going to give up.”