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Tag: Jeff Burton

  • The Last Word on Bristol, as Kyle W(inner) Busch again sweeps Tennessee

    The Last Word on Bristol, as Kyle W(inner) Busch again sweeps Tennessee

    [media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]So, what did we learn at Bristol?

    Well, we learned that Kyle Busch is one hell of a driver. Okay, if we had been in a coma the past couple of years, that might have been a revelation. He wins on Saturday, wins on Sunday, and his Bristol tally includes four Cup wins in his last five attempts there, two straight Nationwide wins, and don’t forget the three in a row he has rung up in the trucks. I’m guessing ole Rowdy kind of likes Bristol.

    We learned that if Carl Edwards knew his final shot at getting by Busch was with about thirty laps to go, he would not have been so clean in making the attempt. It is not that Edwards doesn’t mind using some muscle to make a pass, just ask Brad Keselowski. However, if you move a guy you got to leave the guy to avoid payback, but Busch was the one who rode off into the sunset. Edwards had to settle for second, which gives him three runner-up tallies to go with a couple of wins in his last six starts.

    We learned that Jimmie Johnson has not won a race in a dozen tries. However, before we start resizing the crown worn by Bristol’s third place finisher, Five Time hasn’t exactly been slumming it out there. Of those 12, he has been a Top Three guy six times, with eight Top Fives and 10 Top Tens. If that is a slump, there are a bunch of drivers who would love to be so mired.

    We learned that Jeff Burton’s problems continue. 20th at Bristol was the best he has done since he was 19th at Phoenix last fall. The Virginian sits 30th in the standings, almost fifty positions out of Chase contention. If all the gold is in California, he better find himself the mother lode next weekend.

    We learned that bad things happen to good people at Bristol. Burton’s problems made him a pylon out there with a loose wheel, which resulted in Trevor Bayne, David Reutimann, and Denny Hamlin beat up and scrambling for crumbs for the rest of the day.

    We learned that Juan Pablo Montoya’s loose wheel at the mid-point of the race was the beginning of the end for him. Later, when Kasey Kahne got loose and log-jammed the field, the resulting mess made sure Montoya, Bayne, and Jamie McMurray finished outside the Top 20. When Clint Bowyer’s engine blew up, he went from crippled to dead to 35th.

    We learned that when the smoke had cleared, it was that other Busch who was our points leader as Kurt heads west up by one over Edwards. They have a sizable gap over Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart, and Paul Menard, who has a pair of Top Tens in four starts. Kyle, Jimmie, and Juan are right behind, with Dale Earnhardt Jr and Mark Martin rounding out the top ten. Jeff Gordon’s win at Phoenix would give him a invite to the party, while Kasey Kahne would get his only because Bayne isn’t turning his Daytona gold into a glass slipper.

    We have learned that the track at Fontana might be sunny but, Lord help me, it more often provides a cure for insomnia than it does excitement. However, there is one guy who just loves the Auto Club Speedway in California. Tony Stewart may have won there last October. Bristol’s fourth place finisher, Matt Kenseth, may have three out there. Even Edwards was the man at Fontana three years ago. However, the guy to watch is Jimmie Johnson, who has claimed four of the last seven they have run there. Maybe that poor, luckless fellow can finally end the heartbreak and break out of his slump. His worst finish in his last ten Fontana starts? Eleventh. Oh, the humanity. Enjoy your week.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: PIR Subway Fresh Fit 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: PIR Subway Fresh Fit 500

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Fairy Tales Do Come True, Just Ask Trevor Bayne, Daytona 500 Winner

    Fairy Tales Do Come True, Just Ask Trevor Bayne, Daytona 500 Winner

    For Trevor Bayne, fresh off his 20th birthday and in only his second race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, dreams really do come true.  Bayne became the youngest winner of “The Great American Race”, the Daytona 500.

    [media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”281″][/media-credit]”I keep thinking I’m dreaming, I really do,” Bayne said in Victory Lane. “We said a prayer before the race and this just shows how powerful God is and the good job these guys did on this race car. This is just incredible.”

    “I drove down here in my F150 and I was planning to drive back, but I think someone else will have to drive it back for me,” Bayne said, acknowledging that he must now do his Daytona 500 duties in New York City as the race winner. “I guess I will have to call someone to get some clothes down here.”

    “This is so crazy,” Bayne continued. “I felt a little undeserving, but I’m just glad that I got to be the guy behind the wheel to get the win.”

    Bayne’s team owners Eddie and Len Wood were beside themselves after the win. It was so emotional that they both, particularly Eddie Wood, had to stop talking several times to get their tears in check.

    “It hasn’t really sunk in yet,” owner Eddie Wood said, with a hitch in his voice. “We’ve struggled just to make the Daytona 500.”

    “It’s unbelievable we are sitting here,” Wood continued. “Trevor Bayne did such a good job. Now he is a Daytona 500 winner.”

    Donnie Wingo, Bayne’s crew chief, was also elated at his driver and team’s success.

    “I couldn’t be happier and the job the kid done today, you couldn’t ask for anything else,” Donnie Wingo, crew chief, said. “At the end, he did what he needed to do.”

    “He just might be the next big deal.”

    The race not only left Trevor Bayne and his car owners and crew chief shaking in disbelief, but many of the other drivers as well. There were a record 74 lead changes, a record 22 different race leaders, and a record 16 cautions in the event.

    “I’ve never run one like that,” veteran Terry Labonte, driver of the No. 32 U.S. Chrome Ford Fusion, said. “It’s a good thing the race wasn’t much longer because we were about done.” Labonte finished the race in the 15th position.

    Just as in the Bud Shootout and the Gatorade Duels, this running of the Daytona 500 necessitated a dance partner, with all cars running in the now familiar duo pack. The tandem racing put even more pressure on the spotters, who were not only having to guide their drivers around the track but strategize on the spotter stand as to who to partner up with next.

    “It was a pretty crazy day overall,” Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota, said. “Everything was just all over the place and pretty nuts.”

    Busch had his own set of challenges, spinning early in the race on lap 4 after getting tagged by his pusher, who was at the time Michael Waltrip.  Busch managed to recover and snag a top-ten finish, scoring in the eighth spot.

    Another major factor in the race was engine failure, especially given the hotter ambient temperature at Daytona. Both Kevin Harvick and Richard Childress Racing teammate Jeff Burton lost their engines, an anomaly for sure for ECR engines.

    Harvick denied any forewarning of his engine failure, saying “No, it just let loose.”

    “I just blew water out of the bottom of the thing,” Harvick continued. “I hadn’t done anything different.”

    Burton echoed his teammate’s sentiments about the engine failure.

    “We are asking a lot out of the engines here for sure,” Burton said. “These are tough situations. I thought we were well within our limits but maybe not.”

    It would not be a Daytona 500 without the “big one” and this was delivered at lap 29 of the race.  Fourteen cars were involved, including three of the Hendrick teammates Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Mark Martin, taking them for the most part out of race contention.

    Dale Earnhardt, Jr., in the spotlight due to the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of his father’s death at Daytona, also had a good run, at least until the final laps of the race when a crash took him out of contention. Earnhardt came in 24th, after claiming the pole, wrecking in practice, and starting from the rear of the field.

    “We run good,” Earnhardt, Jr. said. “I had as much fun as I could under the circumstances. It was wild.”

    Carl Edwards took the runner up spot to Bayne’s fairy tale ending.

    “Trevor, he did a good job of blocking the bottom,” Edwards said. “All day we waited and waited, trying not to tear up the race car.”

    “There at the end, it almost worked out perfectly,” Edwards continued. “We didn’t have a chance to be able to mount up a real charge on him.”

    “I think that I can tell you that second place in the Daytona 500 feels way worse than any other position I’ve ever finished in the Daytona 500,” Edwards said. “But that is made better by listening to Trevor and how excited he is. He is really a nice young man, a great guy to represent this sport with this win.”

    David Gilliland, veteran Bobby Labonte, and Kurt Busch rounded out the top five in “The Great American Race.” The rest of the top ten included Juan Pablo Montoya in sixth, Regan Smith in seventh, Kyle Busch in eighth, Paul Menard in ninth, and Mark Martin, who rebounded from the big one to finish tenth.

    Unofficial Race Results

    Daytona 500, Daytona International Speedway

    February 20, 2011 – Race 1 of 36

    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Pts. Bon. Laps Status
    1 31 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 0 0 208 Running
    2 12 99 Carl Edwards Ford 42 0 208 Running
    3 5 34 David Gilliland Ford 41 0 208 Running
    4 6 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 41 1 208 Running
    5 25 22 Kurt Busch Dodge 40 1 208 Running
    6 4 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 39 1 208 Running
    7 27 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 38 1 208 Running
    8 39 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 37 1 208 Running
    9 1 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 36 1 208 Running
    10 34 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 34 0 208 Running
    11 35 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 34 1 208 Running
    12 42 9 Bill Elliott Chevrolet 32 0 208 Running
    13 3 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 31 0 208 Running
    14 18 6 David Ragan Ford 31 1 208 Running
    15 37 32 Terry Labonte Ford 30 1 208 Running
    16 16 7 Robby Gordon Dodge 29 1 208 Running
    17 15 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 28 1 208 Running
    18 2 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 27 1 208 Running
    19 29 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 26 1 208 Running
    20 36 77 Steve Wallace Toyota 0 0 208 Running
    21 38 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 24 1 208 Running
    22 20 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 24 2 206 Running
    23 11 20 Joey Logano Toyota 21 0 206 Running
    24 13 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 21 1 202 Running
    25 17 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota 19 0 199 Running
    26 21 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 19 1 198 In Pit
    27 24 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 17 0 189 Running
    28 23 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 17 1 173 Running
    29 8 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 16 1 166 Running
    30 10 0 David Reutimann Toyota 14 0 164 Running
    31 30 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 13 0 160 Running
    32 7 38 Travis Kvapil Ford 0 0 153 In Pit
    33 33 71 Andy Lally * Chevrolet 11 0 149 Running
    34 26 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 10 0 133 Running
    35 14 16 Greg Biffle Ford 9 10 126 Running
    36 32 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 9 1 92 Out
    37 19 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 7 0 82 Running
    38 40 37 Robert Richardson Jr. Ford 0 0 45 Running
    39 22 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0 0 29 In Pit
    40 9 115 Michael Waltrip Toyota 4 0 28 In Pit
    41 41 192 Brian Keselowski* Dodge 3 0 28 Running
    42 28 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 3 1 22 Out
    43 43 46 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 1 0 10 Out
  • Jeff Burton Claims Second Duel Victory; Brian Keselowski Makes the Show

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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