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Tag: Jeff Burton

Jeb Burton: Famous Last Name But Just A Regular Guy

[media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Jeb Burton Racing Facebook Page” align=”alignright” width=”245″][/media-credit]As the son of Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton and nephew of NASCAR Cup driver Jeff Burton, the teenager Jeb Burton most certainly bears that famous last name. But in spite of that, the young up and coming racer says he is “just a regular guy.”

“I have a full-time job at a transmission shop,” Burton said. “It’s 30 hours a week but it’s still a pretty good job.”

“I work like most everybody does, getting up and going to it every Monday morning and being stressed just like they are.”

Burton also says he is pretty much of a ‘regular guy’ when it comes to his hobbies and what he likes to do when he is away from the hustle and bustle of the transmission shop.

“I like to hunt and fish and go to the lake,” Burton said. “That’s what I do when I’m not working.”

This weekend, however, the young man will be trading in his ‘regular guy’ status to follow in the footsteps of his famous racing family names.

In fact, Jeb Burton will be making his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut, piloting the No. 27 State Water Heaters Chevrolet for Hillman Racing, in the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway on March 31^st.

“I’m really excited,” Burton said. “I just want to go out there and keep my nose clean at Martinsville and hopefully come out with a top ten finish.”

“I don’t want to tear anything up so I don’t cost us any money,” Burton continued. “And I want to finish top-10 or top-12 every race and not tear things up.”

“Anything can happen when you don’t tear stuff up and run well.”

In this instance, Burton’s famous last name definitely helped in putting his Truck racing deal together. After much investigation, Jeb and his father settled on a deal to race for Mike Hillman with veteran crew chief Trip Bruce and State Water Heaters on the hood of the race truck.

“My dad went down to Charlotte to look at ARCA teams and some K&N East teams and realized that it didn’t cost much more to run trucks,” Burton said. “So, we went after our sponsor State Water Heaters. They’ve been helping Dad for the last couple of years and they seem really interested.”

“We got with Mike Hillman and he was parting with Bob Germain and had a bunch of good equipment and thought it would be good for us to come with him,” Burton continued. “I started working with him, worked with him for a few days, and we’re all communicating well.”

Burton is also communicating well with Trip Bruce, probably one of the most important member of the team as the youngster’s new crew chief. Burton is also looking forward to Bruce’s sharing his veteran knowledge of the sport, having crew chiefed for other drivers such as Johnny Benson and Kasey Kahne.

“Me and Trip get along good,” Burton said. “We’ve only been to the race track twice together so we probably need to get a little better with that.”

“It just takes time for him to find out what I want in the car and the adjustments he needs to make to make me go fast,” Burton continued. “I think me and Trip will work well together.”

In spite of his ‘regular guy’ status, has the young driver learned any lessons from the other famous race car drivers with the same last name? Or does having that famous name sometimes become more of a hindrance than a help?

“Dad gives me his input and help,” Burton said. “But me and Dad don’t see eye to eye on some things sometimes. So, he kind of stays out of it.”

“I watch the races every Sunday and I see not only what my uncle does but what other people are doing, making mistakes and what they’re doing that is good,” Burton continued. “I just try to soak all that in.”

“I’m sure Jeff and my Dad will talk to me a lot this week,” Burton continued. “I know they’re both probably excited about it for me.”

Burton acknowledged that he has another mentor, to whom he often turns on and off the track. And this mentor will be in his ear for his Martinsville Truck debut.

“I’ve got a good buddy who is my crew chief in my late model car and me and him get along great,” Burton said. “There is good chemistry there.”

“He’s probably going to spot for me because he’s my spotter in my late model car,” Burton continued. “He keeps me calm on the radio.”

“He believes in me and I believe in him,” Burton said. “When you have somebody that’s spotting for you and you don’t know him well, they make think you’re just not driving well. He knows I’m driving the wheels off it.”

“That’s another reason I like him so much,” Burton continued. “He knows I can get it done and he believes in me.”

“That’s a big part of this sport.”

Burton also acknowledged that his late model racing experience will serve him well as he prepares for his Truck Series debut.

“Definitely late models have prepared me best for Trucks,” Burton said. “I tried ARCA and ran one race and on the first lap I got wrecked going down the back straightaway. That wasn’t a very good race.”

“The late models have definitely trained me,” Burton continued. “It’s a tough division to run in and win races. There’s a lot of good drivers.”

Burton will most certainly be experiencing plenty of good drivers as he kicks off his Truck season with his new team at a track that is right in his back yard. In spite of that, however, the young driver is not claiming any home field advantage.

“I think every race is a home race because it’s on national television,” Burton said. “I’m not going to think about that kind of pressure.”

“I just need to work on getting the truck handling right and then the rest will fall into place.”

While Burton has his focus completely on this weekend’s racing, he is also hoping that he can parlay a good run into racing more than just the next few that he has been promised. Currently, Burton is scheduled to compete in five races after Martinsville, including Rockingham, Kansas, Charlotte, Dover and Texas.

“We’ve just got the next five right now and then we have to find some more opportunities with sponsors,” Burton said. “I think State Water Heaters, once they see us run well, they’ll probably continue sponsoring us.”

And as with all young racers today, whether with famous racing last names or just ‘regular guys’, Burton took the opportunity to pitch all of his social media ties, as well as thank his fans.

“You all can follow me on my Facebook racing page,” Burton said. “Or you can follow me on Twitter @JebBurtonRacing.”

“If it weren’t for the fans following me, I wouldn’t get to do what I love to do,” Burton said.

March 28, 2012
Surprising and Not Surprising: Subway Fresh Fit 500

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

March 4, 2012
Matty’s Picks 2012 – Race No. 3 – March 4, 2012 Subway Fresh Fit 500 – Phoenix International Raceway

[media-credit name=”www.phoenixraceway.com” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Enter Clint Eastwood; I recon so…

After the fiasco in Florida last week, I am happy we’re heading to a place that averages just 12 days of rain the entire year. Not counting my chickens before they hatch here, March, historically has been the wettest out of any month. Between the historical rainfall data, and the absolutely perfect weather forecast for Phoenix this weekend, I am confident we’ll be seeing a race on Sunday afternoon.

This will be the second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on the freshly face-lifted Phoenix International Raceway, and I am hoping a bit of new rubber will have worked its way into the 1-mile tri-oval’ish track in the desert. With the track being re-paved in the summer of 2011, PIR worked its tail off to try and give the cup drivers the absolute best racing conditions possible for the 2011 Kobalt Tools 500. PIR made numerous attempts to foster passing on the new surface including “tons of laps” by driving schools on soft tires.

Before this weekend’s Subway Fresh Fit 500, PIR has taken strides again to foster passing and work in their new racing surface’s upper groove. Phoenix International Raceway hired Colorado-based Bandimere Speedway to have a tire rotator machine work additional rubber into PIR’s upper groove. The program was conducted Feb. 25-27, one week before this weekend’s big event.

“The goal was to present the best possible racing surface to NASCAR and the drivers for this weekend’s races,” said Phoenix International Raceway President, Bryan R. Sperber. “This is a very important race in the NASCAR season and we wanted to make sure that the track was ready to perform.”

I like the races at Phoenix, and am looking forward to what Sunday will bring…

Daytona 500 Recap

Where do I start? Despite Mother Nature not cooperating on my Quarter-Century Birthday last week, I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend. Between the hype of Danica’s debut in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the re-birth of “the pack”, and simply the fact that it was the Daytona 500, last weekend’s race had a lot of hoopla surrounding it. The fact that last week’s Daytona 500 would be run in primetime on Monday night, Danica’s crash on lap number two, Brad Keselowski picking up 100,000 followers on Twitter, and the “fire heard round the world” all took the place of FOX’s regularly scheduled dramas on Monday night.

By now, everyone has heard the stories of the fire, Danica’s troubles, Twitter followers and everything other than racing, so I will skip to the recap of my picks. As you may recall, because Daytona tends to be a craps-shoot to pick drivers, my picks last week were determined by the random draw of playing cards.

My Dark Horse pick last week was a rookie in the Great American Race, however he looked like a seasoned veteran as he dodged accidents and hung around the top 15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. remained patient in the pack for the majority of the laps on Monday night, but my quest to start the season off with a strong Dark Horse finish came to a halt with just four laps to go in the Daytona 500. Stenhouse was caught up in a multi-car accident with just four laps to go. The No. 6 EcoBoost Ford came home 20th.

Two NASCAR Series Champions got the start last week for Matty’s picks, and two series champions were caught up in the same racing accident.

Tony Stewart was picked via my random card draw last week, and was on pace for a strong finish just like Stenhouse, but couldn’t avoid the final incident of the marathon weekend. I was happy when the cards fell last Friday and I ended up with Smoke as a starter, but again Stewart will come out of Speedweeks without the Harley J. Earl trophy. Smoke found the front of the pack for laps 59 and 60 gaining confidence in his Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, and with a move of an experienced veteran, slipped back into safer waters for the remainder of the laps on Monday night.

It was just that move that may have caused Stewart his troubles at the end of the 500, as he was collected in the mid-pack accident with just three laps to go. Smoke brought his battered Chevy home 16th, and sent me home crying with no points last week.

Phoenix Picks

Winner Pick

Kasey Khane wanted nothing more than sending Red Bull Racing on its way with a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win last fall. When the Chase came down to the wire, Khane was in the hunt in a handful of the last 10 races, just lacked that last extra nudge to put him in Victory Lane. That extra nudge came at Phoenix International Raceway in November when he sent Red Bull Racing out of NASCAR with a victory.

Kasey Khane has this new racing surface at PIR figured out, and his speeds have been great all weekend. If it wasn’t for Khane pushing his Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet just a bit too hard entering turn number 3 on his qualifying lap earlier today, he would be starting P1 tomorrow afternoon. He was 5th fastest in the first practice on Friday and followed up his mishap on his first qualifying lap with a time quick enough for 10th on the starting grid for tomorrow. 10th just happens to be where he started last fall when he claimed victory on the new configuration.

Khane has been under a microscope since his announcement that he would be moving to Hendrick Motorsports last season, and the time has come for him to shine. The No.5 car has to be the favorite for Sunday, so if you’re able to give him a start, DO IT!

Dark Horse Pick

I hate to call a guy with an average finish of 12.0 at PIR a Dark Horse, but with just 312 laps to do business on Sunday, starting positions are critical. He was my Dark Horse for the race in November and he did not let me down, finishing 4th after starting 14th.

Jeff Burton was one of 36 drivers that tested Goodyear tires on PIR’s new racing surface, and he was the fastest driver on the track over the two-day test. He laid down a lap good enough for the 11th spot on the grid earlier today in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Qualifying. Its been a while since Burton has visited Victory Lane at PIR (2001), but watch for the No.31 to be close to the front when the dust settles in the desert tomorrow afternoon.

That’s all for this week so until next time, you stay classy NASCAR NATION!

March 3, 2012
Sprint Cup: Crew Chief Changes for 2012

Shane Wilson has been named the crew chief of the No. 29 Budweiser/Rheem/Jimmy John’s team with driver Kevin Harvick for the 2012 season. Wilson has previously been with the No. 33 team of Clint Bowyer for the past three seasons. Gill Martin, who has been with the No. 29 team since May 2009, has been named director of team operations.

Wilson and Harvick have worked together in 2006 to earn 10 wins, 24 top-five and 31 top-10 finishes in the Nationwide series en-route to winning the championship. The team had an 824-point margin of victory, creating a new series record.

Steve Addington, the No. 22 crew chief for the 2011 season, is taking his talent to the No. 14 team of Tony Stewart for the 2012 season. Addington has served as crew chief for Bobby Labonte (2005), J.J. Yeley (2006-2007), Kyle Busch (2008-race No. 33 of 2009) and Kurt Busch (2010-2011) during his Sprint Cup career. Twelve wins were scored with Kyle Busch at Joe Gibbs Racing and four wins with Brother Kurt during while working with Penske Racing.

It came as a bit of a shock when Stewart’s crew chief Darian Grubb announced at Homestead that he was released from the team at the end of the 2011 season. The news of him leaving Stewart-Haas came shortly after he led the team to winning the Championship. As of now, Grubb has not announced what team he will be with next year.

The garage rumors say that he may rejoin his former co-workers at Hendrick Motorsports, possibly as a crew chief for one of the team’s four cars. Team owner Rick Hendrick told reporters during a teleconference Monday morning that his crew chief lineup is set for 2012. However, Hendrick did admit to making Grubb another offer to rejoin the team.

Rumors have been confirmed this week that Drew Blickensderfer will join Richard Childress Racing next year to crew chief the No. 31 team with driver Jeff Burton. Luke Lambert, interim crew chief during the closing weeks of the 2011 season, will remain at RCR in a yet-to-be announced position.

[media-credit name=”NASCAR.SPEEDTV.com” align=”alignleft” width=”400″][/media-credit]

Blickensderfer is leaving Roush Fenway racing after nearly ten years with the team, most recently as the crew chief of the No. 6 team with driver David Ragan.

November 29, 2011
Surprising and Not Surprising: Homestead Ford 400

In a championship battle between two drivers separated by a mere three points going into the race, it was no surprise that Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Aflac Ford and Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, participated in a battle of epic proportions that did not end until the checkered flag flew.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the final race of the 2011 season, the 13^th annual running of the Ford 400 from Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Surprising: While NASCAR Chairman Brian France wanted a ‘Game 7’ moment, it was most surprising that this race was not only that, but also an amazing story of comeback, guts and determination.

From a hole in the grille to a fuel mileage gamble, several rain delays, and pit problems causing him to have to pass over 116 cars, Tony Stewart seemingly battled every element known to man to win the race, his 44^th in 464 Cup races, as well as the championship.

Stewart actually tied in championship points with Edwards, 2403 to be exact, but won the tie-breaker due to his five wins. Doing just what he needed to do, Stewart, principal of Stewart-Haas Racing, became just the second owner/driver since Alan Kulwicki in 1992 to score the coveted championship.

Stewart is the seventh champ to win the season finale in his championship run. This was Smoke’s third championship, the others coming in 2002 and 2005.

Stewart also becomes the ninth driver to win three or more championships, joining drivers Darrell Waltrip, Lee Petty and Cale Yarborough, all of whom are Hall of Famers or nominees for the Hall.

“I felt like when we took the white flag, that I could do what I needed to do,” Stewart said. “To be able to fight our way up there, what a dream come true.”

“As far as the owner’s side, it was more important to me to get Gene (Haas) that championship,” Stewart continued. “That’s a big deal in this sport. I’m so proud that we were able to get him up on that stage.”

“I’m in awe,” team owner Gene Haas said of his driver. “I think Tony proved he’s the greatest driver in the world today.”

Not Surprising: Although exuding total class, as well as being the first person to congratulate the race winner and champion, it was not surprising that there was no one at Homestead more disappointed than Carl Edwards in coming up short for the Cup.

Yet even in defeat, Edwards was able to at least be a bit philosophical through his disappointment.

“It’s difficult but to put it in perspective, I plan to be here next year and the next year,” Edwards said. “I just appreciate having this opportunity. I feel like I became a better racer through this.”

“This was a very mentally tough thing, from Tony’s win at Martinsville until now,” Edwards continued. “I’ll be tougher next time too. I learned a lot.”

This second place finish was Edwards’ seventh top-10 in eight races at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It was also his 26^th top-10 finish in 2011, proving that he earned the title of ‘Mr. Consistency’ throughout the season.

Surprising: At a track far from his hometown of Mayetta, New Jersey, it was surprising to see just how well Martin Truex, Jr. ran at Homestead, Florida.

The driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota not only scored the outside pole to begin the race, but finished a strong third in the Ford 400. This was Truex’s fifth top-10 finish in seven races at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“It’s a lot of fun when you can run like that,” Truex, Jr. said. “Just proud of everybody for sticking together.”

“I’m looking forward to next year,” Truex Jr. continued. “It’s going to be fun.”

“Everyone here has put such effort into making our cars better,” Truex, Jr. said. “We’ve had a pretty good season and have had fast race cars.”

“If we can take care of a lot of little things this winter, hopefully we will have three cars capable of winning races week in and week out.”

Not Surprising: Matt Kenseth, who has been ultra-steady all season long, did not disappoint and not surprisingly scored a fourth place finish in his No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion in this year’s race finale.

“It was a good run for us in spite of hitting the wall early,” Kenseth said. “We did all that stuff, we just didn’t have the grip and speed they had.”

“I thought it was Carl’s, to be honest with you,” Kenseth said of his teammate’s championship battle. “He had tires and Tony didn’t, but he just couldn’t quite catch him.”

Surprising: Jeff Burton, admittedly running some experimental set ups in his No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, scored a surprising top-10 finish. Even more surprising, Burton achieved his goal of claiming 20^th in the point standings.

“Everyone is working on next year and everybody’s experimenting a little bit,” Burton said. “We’ve done a lot of testing the second half of the year with the 31 car. Really feel like we’ve moved the ball forward.”

“We had a tight battle for 20^th in points,” Burton continued. “I know that doesn’t sound like much but it means something to us. We had a tight battle for bragging rights.”

Not Surprising: While Brad Keselowski’s Cinderella story did not result in a championship, to no one’s surprise, last year’s Nationwide champ finished fifth in points, in spite of his 20^th place finish at Homestead.

“I don’t think anyone really expected that out of us, but I never stopped believing that we could be, you know, a contender and have a lot of fun and do well as a team,” the driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger said. “I think we’ve got a lot to build off of.”

“We’ll work on it, build off it too,” Keselowski continued. “I’m real proud of the effort for the whole team.”

Surprising: Since Jeff Gordon, behind the wheel of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger, seemed to be on a down-hill slide at Chase-end, it was surprising that he was able to bounce back for a top-five run. His finish also propelled him three positions up in the point standings to the eighth spot.

“It was a great day, a top-five, a great year,” Gordon said. “We had three wins, got number 85, and came up short in the Chase, but we look forward to next year and battling it out for the Sprint Cup.”

As a champion himself, Gordon also had nothing but praise for NASCAR’s newest king.

“Congratulations to Tony Stewart, my gosh, what an amazing run he had in these final ten races,” Gordon said. “He has done some incredible things in his career but I’m guessing that this one is going to top them all.”

“He did it in a fashion that everybody dreams of doing.”

Not Surprising: Kasey Kahne, winner of last weekend’s race at Phoenix, continued his good run, finishing seventh for the last time in the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota Camry. Kahne will now take all his marbles and head to Hendrick Motorsports for the 2012 season, replacing Mark Martin.

“I think we had the best car there those couple runs before the final run,” Kahne said. “We were flying. It felt really good and then we just got tight in that final run.”

“It was crazy,” Kahne said of the race and the championship battle. “That’s as close as a championship can be, will ever be. Those two guys both deserve to be champions if you ask me.”

Surprising: While both Busch brothers, Kurt and Kyle, have experienced some troubles both on and off the track this season, it was surprising to see just how far they fell, finishing eleventh and twelfth in the points standings respectively.

Kyle Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, not the M&Ms Toyota due to his bad behavior with Ron Hornaday in the Truck race two weeks ago, showed moments of brilliance in the race finale. Busch, however, then faded to finish well back in the back in pack in the 23^rd spot.

Big brother Kurt Busch, driving the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger, had troubles early in the Homestead race when on Lap 4, something broke in the engine. He officially finished 34^th.

“I’ve never been so disappointed in my life,” Kurt Busch said. “I think I missed a race once my rookie year and this almost tops that.”

Not Surprising: As exciting as the 2011 season has been, including the race finale and championship, it is not surprising that all good things must come to an end. In addition to the close of Jimmie Johnson’s reign as champion, other goodbyes, including David Reutimann leaving Michael Waltrip Racing, as well as Red Bull Racing pulling out of the sport, need to be said.

“It’s been a good five years,” Brian Vickers, driver of the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, said of his run with the team. “We had some ups and downs. The only goal we didn’t accomplish was the championship.”

“I want to thank everyone at Red Bull, Toyota and all the guys for their hard work through the years,” Vickers continued. “This is it.”

“It’s disappointing,” David Reutimann, driver for the final time of the No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota, said. “I love my guys. A lot of these guys have been with me since the Truck Series and have come up with me.”

“I’m going to miss them,” Rooty continued. “It’s certainly a lot more bitter than it is sweet for sure.”

“We think we had a motor problem,” Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet, said. “I started getting some warning signs in the way to the pits.”

“We had a fast car but I worked my way up and was having some fun,” Johnson, who finished 32^nd, continued. “Sad way to end the season but it’s racing and we’ll come back next year.”

Speaking of next year, it is most surprising just how quickly this 2011 season has flown. Yet it is not surprising that testing at Daytona and Speedweeks is literally just around the corner.

So, until 2012 brings us all back together at the track, happy holidays and God bless!

November 21, 2011
Matty’s Picks: Vol. 28 – Homestead-Miami – November 20, 2011

[media-credit name=”miamihomesteadspeedway.com” align=”alignright” width=”254″][/media-credit]It all comes down to this, one race, three points, one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion. 65,000+ will be on hand Sunday Evening to witness the battle between two-time Sprint Cup Series Champion, Tony Stewart, and number-one contender for the title, Carl Edwards.

Both men have visited Victory Lane twice in their driving careers, so the tale of the tape sets the stage for an exciting finale this Sunday. The stats speak for themselves this week, with both drivers having success at Homestead-Miami Speedway:

Stewart
2 – Wins (1999,2000)
3 – Top-5’s
6 – Top-10’s
12.4 – Average Finish
3206 – Laps Completed (Most of any driver)

Edwards
2 – Wins (2008,2010)
4 – Top-5’s
6 – Top-10’s
5.7 – Average Finish
441 – Laps Led (Most of any driver)

Stewart has run all 12 races at Homestead, whereas Edwards has only participated in 7 of the season finales at the track.

This is the first year that I can remember that The Chase for the Sprint Cup will not come down to Jimmie Johnson NOT finishing the race in 43rd to clinch the title spot. Although Carl Edwards has not won a race during this 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup, the new points system has done what it was designed to do, and that’s create a battle until the final lap of the final race of the season.

I personally do not understand how a guy that has won 4 of the last 11 races does not hold a commanding lead heading into this final race of the 2011 Sprint Cup season, but the “Shootout to the finish” that NASCAR fans have hoped for, has finally become a reality. I am not the kind of person that rewards mediocrity and have often been doted with a “checkers or wreckers” mentality, but I am a bit excited to see this title battle come down to two extremely talented drivers.

I will be following the first portion of the race on Sunday from a perch high above a little-known Whitetail feeding ground via Twitter updates on Sunday Afternoon (so Mikey, remind me to have a full battery in my cell-phone heading to my tree-stand for night watch).

Phoenix Recap

Not a very good Winner Pick for me last week in Jimmie Johnson, wielding an un-traditional paint scheme on the No.48 Lowe’s/KOBALT Tools Chevrolet last week. Its been a rough go of it for Johnson in this 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup, and just when I thought he was due for a win, I was wrong.

Johnson started 16th last Sunday, and used pit strategy to climb as high as 8th within the first 100 laps. But with little rubber down on the new racing surface at Phoenix International Raceway, fresh tires became a hot commodity as the race wore on. The early, two-tire stop proved to be detrimental to Johnson’s push to the front, as he told his team his car was “scary loose” just before the midway point in the Kobalt Tools 500.

The crew worked the rest of the race to tighten Johnson’s car up, but only managed to sneak his way back to a 14th place finish.

My Dark Horse pick last week, Jeff Burton, finished better than my Winner Pick for the first time since the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte last month. It just so happens that my Winner Pick for that race in Charlotte was Jimmie Johnson, and my Dark Horse for that race was last-week’s race winner, Kasey Kahne. Also interesting that my Dark Horse pick last week finished in the exact same position (4th) as Kahne did in October at Charlotte, the last time I picked Johnson as my Winner Pick. Now I’m rambling on…..lay off Uncle Ed.

Anyway, my Dark Horse was a solid pick for me last week, and if it wasn’t for the willpower of Cousin Carl Edwards, I would have netted myself a Top-3 Dark Horse Pick last week at Phoenix. Yet again, had Carl Edwards not passed Jeff Burton in the closing laps of the Kobalt Tools 500 last week, we wouldn’t have such a close margin between first and second in points heading into this weekend’s grand finale.

Homestead-Miami Picks

Due to Mother Nature, I have nothing to go off of making my final picks of the season this week, as rain has delayed all on-track activities this afternoon in Miami.

Winner Pick

I have a gut feeling that the winner of Sunday’s race is going also be the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion, but I will make it fun and not go with one of the two guys in the battle for the championship this year.

“The Closer” is the guy I’m picking to win this Sunday at Homestead, against my better judgment. Kevin Harvick sits 51-points behind Carl Edwards in Sprint Cup Series points standings, and also yields a rather impressive history at Homestead.

Despite not ever visiting Victory Lane at Homestead, Harvick boasts a rather impressive average finish of 7.9 at the 1.5-mile oval. He also has five Top-5’s and eight Top-10’s at Homestead, completing all but one lap of 10 races he’s started in South Florida.

It’s Harvick I’m going with this week just to make this column remotely interesting, so watch for the Budweiser to be flowing in Victory Lane this week.

Dark Horse Pick

The 16th place driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ points standings is A.J. Allmendinger. The guy I’m looking at to mix up the Top-10 this week at Homestead is A.J. Allmendinger. He’s coming off a 6th-place finish last week at Phoenix, falling just one spot short of his season-best.

Allmendinger has finished in the Top-10, four times in this 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup, with two coming in the last two weeks. His short history at Homestead-Miami Speedway has included a 5th, a 10th, and an 11th-place finish, most notably last year starting and finishing in the 5th position. Possibly his most impressive run at the 1.5-mile oval in South Florida was in 2008 when he started dead last on the grid and drove his way all the way to an 11th-place finish.

Bonus Pick: Who Wins the Championship?

It’s Stewart that wins the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup on Sunday…

I think that consistency will run out for Carl Edwards this weekend, and Stewart will prevail in the end. He’s been untouchable the past 11 races, and I don’t see anything changing this weekend.

If Stewart can manage to find the point early, he controls his own destiny. The worst thing that can happen for Smoke is for Edwards to get out front and for Stewart to play catch-up the remainder of the race. Edwards has been lucky up to this point, and I think it runs out this weekend with Smoke claiming his 3rd NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship.

That’s it for this grand finale this weekend, and stay tuned next week for my 2011 Season Wrap-Up of Matty’s Picks.

Until Next Time…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

November 18, 2011
Surprising and Not Surprising: Kobalt Tools 500

With NASCAR traveling to the ‘Valley of the Sun’ for the next to the last race of the season, it was no surprise that the reconfigured race track was soaked instead with liquid sunshine. Yet, the track dried, veteran racer Adrian Fernandez uttered the four most famous words in racing, and the green flag waved as scheduled.

[media-credit id=40 align=”alignright” width=”221″][/media-credit]Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 24^th running of the Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Surprising: While it was no surprise that PIR was new and improved, with brand new pavement as well as a new track layout, it was surprising to see the new faces that showed up in Victory Lane this weekend.

From the Nationwide race with Sam Hornish Jr. scoring his first ever NASCAR win to young Ryan Blaney, son of Dave Blaney, notching the ‘W’ in the K&N Pro Series West finale, PIR definitely had some fresh-faced winners.

But most surprising was Cup winner Kasey Kahne, scoring his first win since 2009, his first victory of the 2011 season, and his first victory ever at Phoenix International Raceway. Kahne’s victory came in his next to the last ride in his No. 4 Red Bull Toyota.

“It feels great to get a win for Red Bull and get a win in the 4 car,” Kahne said. “To win a race at this level, as competitive as everything is right now, for myself, to see how happy all the pit crew guys were, the guys preparing the race cars at Red Bull, it was pretty cool.”

“Makes you feel pretty good to be a part of that.”

Not Surprising: To no one’s surprise, Carl Edwards, behind the wheel of the No. 99 Aflac Ford, and his championship Chase nemesis Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, stalked each other all race long, finishing second and third respectively.

And not surprisingly, thanks to that close finish, the championship will be decided at the final race of the season in Homestead, Florida. Edwards is currently just three points ahead of Smoke going into Ford Championship weekend, one of the closest margins between first and second in the Chase in NASCAR Sprint Cup history.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s a dead heat going in there,” Stewart said of the upcoming Homestead weekend. “We just got to do our job like we’ve been doing.”

“I’m still pumped up,” Smoke continued. “I want to go to Homestead tomorrow and start. I want tomorrow to be Friday. I’m excited about it and ready to go.”

“Yeah, Homestead is going to be a lot of fun,” Edwards said. “I really enjoy racing there.”

“The cool thing about Homestead, you’re going to be able to move around, pass, and not get hung up as badly in traffic as you can at other racetracks,” Edwards continued. “I don’t think there’s a better place to go than Homestead to fight for this championship.”

Surprising: After Phoenix, with only those two drivers remaining in contention for the championship, it is indeed surprising that five-time champion Jimmie Johnson will not be six-time champ.

Johnson, behind the wheel this weekend of a black No. 48 Lowe’s Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, finished 14^th in the race and sits currently in the fifth position in points, 68 points out of first and officially out of contention.

“Yeah, I’m definitely disappointed that we won’t be able to go to Homestead and race for our sixth, but that’s motorsports,” Johnson said. “It’s a very tough business.”

“What we did over the last five years was absolutely spectacular,” Johnson continued. “What we did over the last five years is abnormal. Now we’ll get a taste of normalcy.”

Also surprisingly, Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammates, especially Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. also had difficulty in the ‘Valley of the Sun.’ The driver of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet fared especially poorly, struggling with brake problems to finish 32^nd.

“We weren’t good when we got here,” Gordon said. “We were fighting and battling but then the brake problem happened and that pretty much ruined our day.”

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., in the No. 88 Retro Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard, also struggled and finished 24^th.

“We pitted and got caught with the caution and lost a couple of laps and just never got a chance to get it back,” Junior said. “We missed it. We didn’t hit it.”

Not Surprising: As bad as Hendrick Motorsports team members fared, it was no surprise that the other half of the Stewart Haas Racing duo fared well. Ryan Newman, with his No. 39 US Army Veteran’s Day Tribute car covered with pictures of vets, finished top-five yet again.

“The guys on the US Army Chevrolet, with the Veteran’s Day special paint scheme, that was an amazing comeback for us to come from 30^th to fifth,” Newman said. “I’m really proud of that.”

Surprising: Although the two tangled at Martinsville, it was surprising to see the feud continue between Brian Vickers, soon to be out of work with his No. 83 Red Bull Toyota team exiting the sport next week, and Matt Kenseth, race pole sitter, who was looking for a good run in his No. 17 Crown Royal Ford.

“My two year old could watch that and know it was intentional,” Kenseth said of his wreck with Vickers. “It was real pre-meditated.”

“I don’t understand what happened,” Vickers said of his Kenseth encounter. “He just stopped on the straight-away.”

“He wrecked me at Martinsville,” Vickers continued. “He got wrecked here. He just lifted halfway down the back stretch. I’ll count that one.”

Kenseth finished a miserable34th, dropping two positions to sixth in the point standings. Vickers soldiered on for a 23^rd place finish, languishing in the 25^th position in the points.

Not Surprising: Having had the most miserable week leading up to the race, from being parked to losing his sponsor for the last two races, it was not surprising that Kyle Busch’s most miserable weekend continued.

Busch had to start the race from the back of the field due to engine troubles caused by human error. He managed to work his way up through the pack, only to have the engine of his No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota expire on Lap 214.

“It’s just devastating,” Busch said. “To go through turmoil like this, all you can do is group together and pull through it and try to persevere and move on.”

“Catastrophic engine failure,” Busch continued. “It’s terrible to have one in a weekend, let alone two in a weekend.”

“It’s certainly a tough few weeks and all we can do is look forward to next week at Homestead.”

Surprising: It was surprising to see another crew swap during the race, this time for AJ Allmendinger, whose pit crew let him down during a stop, most likely costing the driver of the No. 43 Wix Filters Ford, a race win.

Allmendinger’s crew was swapped out for the crew of David Ragan, another Ford driver who was not in the hunt, helping the Dinger to a top-five finish.

“We were losing four or five spots on a stop,” Allmendinger said. “You can’t do that and win a race and those guys are pretty good.”

“Thanks to the 6 guys, our Ford teammates coming over and pitting the last two stops,” Dinger said. “They did a good job.”

Not Surprising: To no one’s surprise, Allmendinger’s Richard Petty Motorsports teammate Marcos Ambrose also had a good run at PIR. The driver of the No. 9 DeWalt Ford finished a respectable eighth.

“We had a good car today,” the Aussie said. “We were solid all day long. It bodes even better for the first half of next season.”

Surprising: Since Jeff Burton has had a fairly difficult 2011 season, it was a bit surprising to see the driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Global Mining Chevrolet end up with a fourth place finish. The top-five finishing driver hopes that the turnaround will continue right into the 2012 season.

“The Caterpillar Chevrolet was good, really, all day,” Burton said. “When things are tough, you find out what people are made of. My group has just kept digging and kept their heads up.”

“Nobody has quit on this team, not once,” Burton continued. “I’m real proud of that.”

“We’ve run really well the last month and hopefully we will build some momentum going into next year.”

Not Surprising: With no ride secured for next year, it was not surprising to see David Reutimann, ousted driver of the No. 00 TUMS Toyota Camry for Michael Waltrip Racing, drive his guts out for a seventh place finish in the next to the last race of the season.

“We qualified in the top-10 and we were able to stay up there all day long,” Rooty said. “I’m proud of the crew guys for the job they did today. They really stuck with me.”

“This is a great group of guys, probably one of the best in the garage and they’ve been with me a long time,” Reutimann continued. “We have one more week together and I want to go out on a high note at Homestead.”

November 14, 2011
Matty’s Picks: Vol. 27 – Phoenix – November 13, 2011

Two races to go in the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup, and this week we head to a track that may be the biggest juggernaut of them all, Phoenix International Raceway. After an extensive facelift this summer, PIR will prove to be a handful for the 43 drivers that take the green flag on Sunday.

[media-credit name=”phoenixinternationalspeedway.com” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]A year ago, International Speedway Corporation and the Avondale City Council announced the plans for a $100 long-term improvement for PIR. The plans included a $15 million dollar repaving project (the track’s first since 1990) and the construction of a new media center. Along with the new pavement came a reconfiguration of the famed “dogleg”, a widening of the front stretch to 62 feet, addition of concrete to the pit stalls, as well as progressive banking in the turns.

The dogleg renovations included; pushing the corner out by 95 feet, changing the radius of the backstretch bump to 500 feet, and adding progressive banking to the dogleg from 10-11 degrees. The corners of PIR are now progressively banked from 10-11 degrees in turns one and two, and from 8-9 degrees in turns three and four. The new track has been described almost as a “rollercoaster-like drive” due to the elevation changes as the drivers dip down into the dogleg, rises on exit, and dives back down into turn number three.

Passing has been a bit of controversy in PIR’s new surface’s short history, as many drivers are finding it difficult to find grip outside the one loosely held together groove. PIR has made numerous attempts to foster passing on the new surface including “tons of laps” by driving schools on soft tires.

After a testing session just yesterday at PIR, Elliot Sadler expressed his concerns about the new surface and the racing this weekend, “I actually got to the 82 (Reed Sorenson) that was about a half a second of a lap slower than I was. I really couldn’t do anything with him. I didn’t want to make a move, definitely on the outside, to make a pass.”

Defending NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion, Brad Keselowski also weighed in on the underdeveloped second groove following Thursdays test session: “It found me and I found it. We weren’t looking for each other. It’s just very, very slick. There’s just a lack of stability.”

This weekend’s Kobalt Tools 500 may or may not prove to be exciting to watch, especially if Kyle Busch ends up in Victory Lane. (Joke’s on you M&M’s)

Texas Recap

It was the Texas Shootout that everyone was looking for last weekend in the Lone Star State, and the guys in the noontime dual couldn’t have been any more storybook.

Carl Edwards entered the AAA Texas 500 with the championship points lead, and also left with the lead, only a bit slimmer margin over race-winner Tony Stewart. We’ll cut to lap 265 when Edwards and Stewart restarted side by side on the front row following the final caution of the race. Stewart felt confident in holding off a late race surge from Edwards, should he overtake the No. 99 on the restart.

Stewart’s scenario played out on the final restart, resulting in my Winner Pick being the first to suck in the fumes left behind by the No. 14 Chevrolet on his way to his fourth victory of the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Edwards spoke after his runner-up finish last Sunday: “Tony (Stewart) and those guys stepped it up and I’m proud of my guys for hanging on and for still having the point lead,” Edwards said. “At the end of the day, we’re going to the final two races. Although we would have loved to have won today in our Aflac Fusion, to be three points ahead and then to have the third and fourth-place guys farther behind, it looks like it’s truly going to come down to Tony and I, and that’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s going to get pretty exciting and I’m just glad Tony and I are out there and we can race for this thing.”

Marcos Ambrose, last week’s Dark Horse pick, was on the right track to score a Top-10 going into the final restart, but struggled throughout the last 70’ish laps to find grip. A two-tire call late in the race was the call from Crew Chief Todd Parrott, a call that would not sit well with the Tasmanian’s race car.

As the lights came on at Texas Motor Speedway last Sunday, a group of cars moved up in the running order, and a group of cars began to fall in the running order, struggling to find grip on the 1.5-mile quad oval. Unfortunately for me, Marcos Ambrose was in the group of cars struggling to keep pace with the front-runners.

It wasn’t for lack of effort that Ambrose finished in 11th as he raced his way all the way up from 26th on Lap 302, but for the third straight week I end the weekend without any Dark Horse points.

Phoenix Picks

Dark Horse Pick

I’ll start with my Dark Horse pick this week, as I feel fairly certain that most of my readers may not think of this guy to actually in this weekend at PIR, until you see the practice speeds posted from earlier today. He came close to a win last week, but lost his gamble on fuel strategy late in the race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Oddly enough, Jeff Burton was the fastest car on the track last month in the Goodyear and EFI testing session at PIR. 36 teams took to the track on October 4th, and Jeff Burton was on-track for 125 laps. He was fastest on the speed charts during that testing session, and coincidentally was fastest earlier today during NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice.

It’s not really fair to use previous finishes for my defense of this pick because of the recent transformation of Phoenix International Raceway, so the data I have collected and referenced has come post-new-dogleg era of PIR. On the second day of testing back in October, Burton ran another 120 laps in his RCR Chevrolet, peaking out at 136.747 MPH on the speed charts. For his efforts, Burton was awarded 6th place on the leaderboard out of 35 teams.

This is the first time I’ve picked Burton for any pick this season, and I’m hoping a new face to Matty’s picks will bring me some late-season luck.

Winner Pick

This marks my 6th time picking Jimmie Johnson as a Winner Pick this season, right on par with his winning percentage across the past 5 seasons at Hendrick Motorsports. I’m beginning to wonder if I am slowly becoming a closet Jimmie Johnson bandwagon’eer at this point, but all I have to do is point to past finishes at PIR to justify my pick this week. An average career finish of 4.8 at PIR has me exited this week, even though I said earlier I would NOT use prior finishes as justification for a pick…

If there’s one guy that can adapt to change, its Jimmie Johnson, as he showed in his two days of testing at PIR back in October. At the end of Day 1 testing, the No. 48 Lowe’s team was shown 10th on the speed charts after running 85 laps. Chad Knaus went back to the drawing board with the top of the charts on his mind. Though Johnson did not reach the top of the speed charts on the second day of testing, he did manage to find another 8-tenths of a second around PIR on Day 2 of testing. Those 8-tenths were good enough for Johnson to be shown second on the board.

The only thing that has me nervous about this pick is Johnson’s less than impressive speeds earlier today in Sprint Cup Practice. The No. 48 Car was shown 33rd best after the first practice today, and qualifying that far back in the field could prove to be no-man’s land come Sunday afternoon.

That’s all for this week, stay tuned next week for the 2011 season finale in South Florida.

Until Next Time…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

November 11, 2011
Underdogs of the Tums Fast Relief 500

Jeff Burton: Burton was the top finishing non-chase driver at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday with his sixth place finish. This is his second consecutive top-10 in a row after finishing second in the Good Sam Club 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. The first caution of the race occurred on Lap 7 when Dale Earnhardt Jr ran over a curb, spinning out and causing a pile up. Burton received sheet metal damage to the left-rear corner of his race car, but his pit crew was able to fix the damage and keep him on the lead lap. He quickly raced his way back to the front of the pack and ran as high as seventh in the first 100 laps of the race.

Halfway through the race, Burton was running in ninth and ran in the top-15 for the next 150 laps. On Lap 398 Burton was involved in a pile up involving Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch. Burton backed his Chevy into the outside wall, resulting in minimal rear-end damage and restarting in 16th position. Burton did not pit when the majority of the field pitted under caution on lap 457, moving him up to second place for the restart on lap 463. Racing on old tires, Burton was eventually passed, but still came home with a top-10 finish.

Martin Truex Jr: Unlike a majority of the field on Sunday, Truex had a relatively uneventful day at Martinsville Speedway. Due to qualifying being rained out, Truex started the race in 24th position. By Lap 110, he had broken into the top-10 and remained near 10th place throughout the rest of the race. In the final three laps, Martin raced from 11th to eighth position to secure his top-10 finish. This is the No. 56 team’s second consecutive top-10 finish and tenth top-10 of the season.

AJ Allmendinger: AJ started the race in 16th position and wasted no time letting his team know that he was happy with his race car. In fact, he was so happy with it that crew chief Greg Erwin elected not to bring the No. 43 Ford down pit road during the first three caution’s of the race. Staying out under yellow, along with having a fast race car allowed Allmendinger to drive into the lead of the race on Lap 55. Allmendinger continued to lead until Lap 66 when a caution came out, allowing him to pit for an air pressure adjustment, four tires and fuel. Several teams did not to pit under this caution period, forcing Allmendinger to restart in 16th place.

Still pleased with his car, Allmendinger was able to take the lead again on Lap 117. As the race wore on, the No. 43 car started to lose grip and positions on the race track. Lap 407 Allmendinger sustained left front fender damage due to a multi-car pile up. He was forced to pit to repair damage on Lap 409 and restarted in 22nd position on Lap 413. Being the last car on the lead lap, Allmendinger race his way through the field and was in the 14th spot by Lap 441.

On Lap 444 Allmendinger made contact with the No. 78 car sending him sliding into the wall, causing minor right side damage. He yet again found himself at the tail end of the lead lap with 50 laps to go. Allmendinger once again raced his way to 15th position with six laps remaining in the race. To Allmendinger’s benefit, caution came out for the final time on Lap 494. This caution allowed AJ to gain four spots in the final three laps of the race, securing his 11th place finish.

November 1, 2011
Surprising and Not Surprising: Brickyard 400 at Indy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

August 1, 2011