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Tag: Jeff Gordon

  • The Final Word – It was the Matt Kenseth 400 at Richmond

    The Final Word – It was the Matt Kenseth 400 at Richmond

    Richmond, where the final battle royal would take place to decide the final line-up for the Chase. Richmond, where we discovered that only six cars mattered at all the entire night, and all of them already had their tickets punched to the party. So, if you decided to watch something that actually promised some real drama, here is what you missed, in a nutshell, at Richmond.

    On the opening lap, we had Joey Logano leading the way, followed by Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch. That was good for nearly 50 laps when Brad Keselowski replaced Busch. Another 50-some laps went by when we had Denny Hamlin replace Keselowski amongst the top trio, to join Logano and Kenseth. You missed all that drama, and we had nearly 300 laps to go.

    Twenty-five laps went by, and Carl Edwards replaced Logano in a podium position, at least for six laps when Busch moved Edwards out, who was never to be seen again, finishing 11th. All you need to remember is that Kenseth and Busch also remained in the top three, and they would remain there the rest of the way. Hamlin replaced Keselowski for 35 laps before Logano got the position back with more than 100 to go. On lap 400, it was Kenseth, Busch, and Logano crossing the line and Richmond was in the books. Kenseth, Rowdy, Logano, Keselowski, Hamlin and, for six laps, Edwards, were the only cars that mattered at all on Saturday night in Richmond.

    Sure, some got excited that Aric Almirola was fourth, but he had to win, and did not. He also needed Clint Bowyer to finish outside the Top 25, and he came home 10th. No, Almirola did not matter a lick on this night. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, and Jimmie Johnson all had Top Ten days. All did not matter in the end, or at the start, or anywhere near the middle, but I admit they did have nice finishes.

    What did matter was the fact Kenseth won his fourth of the season and the 35th of his Cup career. He led 352 of the 400 laps. So, I am not really sure if any of the other five mattered at all now that I think about it. The victory means Kenseth enters the Chase tied with Busch and Johnson with each having an additional dozen bonus points added to their tally.

    There were some newsworthy tidbits. We did have another Earnhardt running, as nephew Jeremy Earnhardt finished 13 laps off the pace in 40th, making his Cup debut at the age of 26. Martin Truex Jr. had the worst run amongst the Chasers, as a wall rub messed up the car to leave him six off the pace, 32nd. Just about the only other thing from the weekend of note was that Chase Elliott won the XFINITY race. Yes, someone actually registered in that series. I am as shocked as you are.

    So, the Chase begins in Chicago with the “Sweet Sixteen” hoping to survive the cut over the next three events. According to their career average finishes at the track, one could expect Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Keselowski, and Gordon to do well there. Kyle and Kenseth should also do fine. However, this is definitely not the place Hamlin, Jamie McMurray, and Paul Menard have traditionally enjoyed any measure of success. Unless that changes on Sunday, they might have some work to do by the time New Hampshire rolls around. Hey, if you want drama, that might work for you.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Richmond Federated Auto Parts 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Richmond Federated Auto Parts 400

    In the last race of the regular season and the one to set the Chase contenders here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 48th annual Federated Auto Parts 500 at Richmond International Raceway.

    Surprising:  One would think that a team owner standing in Victory Lane and one whose four drivers had qualified for the Chase would be a most happy camper.

    Indeed, Coach Joe Gibbs was pretty happy, but he also alluded to the anxiety that he will feel in the three weeks ahead as the first elimination round plays out.

    “Now the problem is, I think for the next three weeks I’ll be ready to throw up at any minute,” Gibbs said after the race. “That’s the bottom line.”

    Not Surprising:  While two teams, Richard Petty Motorsports and Roush Fenway Racing, were shut out of NASCAR’s playoffs, the way their eliminations took place was not surprising.

    Having not shown much life all season, Roush Fenway drivers Greg Biffle, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Trevor Bayne not only finished well out of Chase contention but they also completed the regular season in disappointment.

    Biffle had the worst of the team’s days finishing 31st. Stenhouse and Bayne finished 16th and 23rd respectively.

    This was the first time in RFR’s history that one of their drivers failed to make the Chase since its inception.

    In contrast, Aric Almirola, who made the Chase last year with Richard Petty Motorsports, delivered one of the gutsiest performances, finishing fourth. And even with that, the driver of the famed No. 43 Smithfield Foods/Waffle House Ford still came up 17 points short, edged out of Chase contention by Clint Bowyer.

    “Disappointed for sure,” Almirola said. “I drove my heart out tonight. All year long, really.”

    “I feel like we’ve certainly overachieved this year. Our cars just haven’t had the speed, and we’ve managed a way to get good results, and really proud of this race team.”

    “Everybody has done so much to support us, and to come up short, it hurts. We were in it last year and we got a taste of what it was like to be in the Chase. This race team is a great race team and we wanted another shot at it, and we just came up short. Just wasn’t meant to be.”

    Surprising:  Forget about making the Chase, Jeff Gordon was just excited about finally having a top-10 car. The driver of the No. 24 3M Chevrolet was also excited about being able to work with his team to finally make good enough adjustments to end up with a seventh place finish.

    “Excited we finally had a solid night on pit road, on the racetrack, in the race car, communication,” Gordon said. “Everything was just really solid. That certainly gives us something to be excited about these next ten races.”

    “It’s nice to be in the Chase and take that relief and take that breath and now go reset and see what we can do over the next 10.”

    Not Surprising:  Kasey Kahne got himself turned around and ended up the odd man out in the Hendrick Motorsports Chase contingent. His HMS teammates, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, instead are all heading on to compete for the Cup without him.

    “I think the main thing for me is just figuring out how to get a car to turn again,” Kahne said. “I’ve struggled all year to have front turn, and if I don’t have that, I can’t race. That’s how I’ve been my whole life.”

    “We’ll just work on trying to get the cars the way I need them to, and if we can’t, we’ll keep running about 15th.”

    Surprising:  While two of his drivers, Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch, head to Chase competition, Tony Stewart achieved a milestone that he would no doubt like to forget. The driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet finished 29th, four laps down.

    Stewart’s 29th place finish was only his fifth outside of the top-25 in 33 career Cup starts at Richmond International Raceway.

    Not Surprising:  Although one’s injuries were much fresher than the other, two drivers with physical challenges managed to not only finish the Richmond race well but also find their spots in the Chase.

    Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Crispy/American Heritage Chocolate Toyota, continued his miraculous comeback with a runner-up position at Richmond. Busch is also seeded in the second place in the Chase, even after missing 11 races due to injuries sustained in the Daytona XFINITY Series race at the beginning of the season.

    Just after tearing another ACL, Denny Hamlin also struggled through his injury to get into the Chase, seeded in the 11th position. The driver of the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota finished sixth in the Richmond race.

    “Well, I think it’ll be a lot better next week,” Hamlin said. “Just three days out, really, four nights out, from when it happened, and anybody that’s had it happen before knows that the first week is pretty tough.”

    “I think I’ll start to rehab and everything this week and try to get it stronger and make sure we’re ready to make a Chase run.”

    Surprising:  Paul Menard summed up the sentiments of several of the drivers who made the Chase but had a bad race at Richmond. The driver of the No. 27 Libman/Menards Chevrolet finished 26th in the race and is seeded 15th in the Chase.

    “We don’t know whether to be happy or sad, it was such a bad race for us,” Menard said. “Obviously very excited to be in the Chase. It was a goal that we set at the beginning of the year. Everybody at RCR and the 27 guys and ECR, they work hard.  We’ve had a lot of good runs this year. Tonight just wasn’t one of them, but we did what we had to do.”

    Kevin Harvick, another driver who made the Chase but struggled at Richmond, finished an uncharacteristic 14th. And Martin Truex Jr. finished 32nd after hitting oil from another driver’s car on Lap 39.

    Harvick is seeded fifth in the Chase, with Truex Jr. following in the 10th spot.

    Not Surprising:  With his usual enthusiasm, Clint Bowyer bounded into this year’s Chase, saving the day at least for now, for Michael Waltrip Racing, which will fold at the end of 2015.

    “Well, I mean, just to go through the year we’ve had, I mean, a lot of ups and downs here, a lot of downs,” Bowyer said. “We did this, now we’re in the Chase!  Pressure is off, go cat go! Let’s go out and have some fun.”

    Surprising:  Michael McDowell went from sharing the invocation before the start of the race to being called to the NASCAR hauler after hitting the safety vehicle during a caution on Lap 288.

    McDowell made heavy contact with the right rear of his No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Ford. McDowell was unhurt, as were the safety workers in the truck.

    “I’m not really sure what happened,” McDowell said. “I’m embarrassed for my team. My mistake. Luckily no one was hurt.”

    Not Surprising:  Kim Lopez, the first woman and Latina to flag races at the highest level, got a tip of the cap as she threw her final checkered flag. Lopez is headed for a new role and challenge in the NASCAR  R&D Center.

  • Hot 20 – The final hurdle for Bowyer and the rest comes this Saturday night in Richmond

    Hot 20 – The final hurdle for Bowyer and the rest comes this Saturday night in Richmond

    If history repeats itself, there will be no surprise winner at Richmond on Saturday night. Going back over the past 10 years, every single driver who has won there is currently locked into the Chase for this year. Except for one.

    Clint Bowyer has a pair of victories on the 3/4-mile track, but none anywhere to his credit this season. To make it worse, even if a first-time driver does not emerge this weekend to steal his thunder, he still sits just 29 points up on Aric Almirola for the final Chase position, with Kasey Kahne just a couple of points further back. A sour engine, a meeting with a wall or a competitor, a bad tire or messed up pit stop at the wrong time, and Bowyer’s season turns south faster than one’s job security at Michael Waltrip Racing. To make sure he is in, Bowyer needs to finish in the Top 25 on Saturday night. That and hope history does indeed repeat itself.

    The odds are almost prohibitive that the winner this weekend at Richmond will be from amongst our Hot 20…

    1. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 4 WINS
    Expect the team of Jimmie, Chad, and Lowe’s to be around for some time yet.

    2. KYLE BUSCH – 4 WINS
    The story of the year to this point.

    3. JOEY LOGANO – 3 WINS
    Liked Johnson’s car so much he almost took it out with a spin last week.

    4. MATT KENSETH – 3 WINS
    Progress last week was thwarted by an early Darlington stripe…okay, more like a sledge hammer.

    5. KEVIN HARVICK – 2 WINS
    A late trip to the pits in Darlington was the pits for Harvick.

    6. DALE EARNHARDT JR. – 2 WINS
    Getting some real cool throwback gifts from fans lately, including on his last trip to Walmart.

    7. KURT BUSCH – 2 WINS
    Went digital with his Darlington dashboard.

    8. CARL EDWARDS – 2 WINS
    After three Bristol wins, he has added a World 600 and a Southern 500 to the collection in 2015.

    9. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 1 WIN
    Led the most laps, but Edwards got to walk down the aisle, leaving him a bridesmaid.

    10. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 1 WIN
    A Darlington Top Ten, and he wasn’t happy. Has three Top Tens in last four at Richmond.

    11. DENNY HAMLIN – 1 WIN
    On Saturday night, he denied Daniel Suarez his first career XFINITY victory. My hero.

    12. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 726 POINTS
    To make the Chase, he just needs to start on Saturday night. If he gets the flu, it could get messy.

    13. RYAN NEWMAN – 714 POINTS
    If his finishing position matches his car number, or better, he rockets in as well.

    14. JEFF GORDON – 700 POINTS
    17th will do no matter what anyone else does…and he needs that only if there is not a repeat winner.

    15. PAUL MENARD – 692 POINTS
    Ninth if there is a first time winner…38th if there is not.

    16. CLINT BOWYER – 682 POINTS
    25th gets him in if history repeats itself, or a move ahead of Ryan, Jeff, or Paul if it does not.

    17. ARIC ALMIROLA – 653 POINTS
    Has the King’s car and last week stole his old mustache.

    18. KASEY KAHNE – 651 POINTS
    Can’t grow a mustache. Okay, I am just guessing here.

    19. GREG BIFFLE – 598 POINTS
    I could get Biffle into the Chase…but it has to be in EA Sports’ indestructible mode.

    20. AUSTIN DILLON – 586 POINTS
    One of three Cup guys in the XFINITY race. Go Austin! Go Rowdy! Go Joey! Just be gone!

    20. KYLE LARSON – 586 POINTS
    Last week, they called him Mello Yello, but is he truly just mad about Saffron?

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Darlington

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Darlington

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Kevin Harvick: Harvick led 44 laps and finished fifth in the Bojangles Southern 500 at Darlington, posting his 18th top-5 finish of the year.

    “It’s great to see the Darlington race back on its traditional weekend,” Harvick said. “I think fans would agree. Ironically, sitting through a 4 hour and 29-minute marathon on Labor Day weekend is truly ‘work.’”

    2. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski started on the pole at Darlington and led a race-high 196 laps. However, Keselowski was beaten out of the pits on the race’s final caution by Carl Edwards. Edwards held on for the win, and Keselowski was left with a disappointing runner-up finish.

    “I’m a big fan of the low downforce package we ran at Darlington,” Keselowski said. “As I said before, it separates the race car drivers from the pretenders. And, .902 seconds separates the winner from second place.

    “I was sporting the ‘Miller High Life’ paint scheme at Darlington. They call ‘High Life’ the ‘Champagne Of Beers.’ The difference between winning and losing is known as ‘Champagne Or Beers.’”

    3. Kyle Busch: Busch finished eighth at Darlington and officially clinched a spot in the Chase.

    “It’s a great day,” Busch said. “Usually, when you hear the word ‘official’ mentioned along with a Busch brother, something’s going on in the NASCAR hauler.”

    4. Joey Logano: Logano finished fourth at Darlington, as Penske Racing took two of the top four spots at “The Track Too Tough To Tame.”

    “It was ‘throwback’ weekend at Darlington,” Logano said. “With one race left before the Chase, and only three Chase spots up for grabs, Richmond could be ‘throw punch’ weekend.”

    5. Carl Edwards: Edwards took the lead late at Darlington, using a quick pit stop to beat Brad Keselowski on the race’s final caution. Edwards pulled away to grab his second victory of the season.

    “I went in third and came out first,” Edwards said, “thanks to my pit crew. I owe this win to them. Believe me, they’ll be a part of the victory celebration. Heck, I might even have them DJ the party because they know how to ‘turn tables.’”

    6. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth hit the wall on lap 19 and struggled with handling for the duration of the Bojangles Southern 500, finishing 20th.

    “It was an otherwise strong day for Joe Gibbs Racing,” Kenseth said. “Carl Edwards took the lead in the pits and pulled away for the victory, winning by nearly a second. Carl took off like he was shot out of a cannon. Much like he did with Roush Fenway Racing, Carl left in a hurry.”

    7. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Earnhardt was the top finisher among Hendrick Motorsports cars at Darlington, finishing eighth.

    “Right now,” Earnhardt said, “HMS cars aren’t fast enough to compete for wins. With the Chase For The Cup right around the corner, that’s not good. So, much like our current lap speeds, it’s a case of ‘bad timing.’

    “In other news, Danica Patrick has become more famous for her yoga poses than for her racing. Should we call her a ‘yoga master’ or a ‘threat to win a race?’ Either way, it’s a stretch.”

    8. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson finished a disappointing 19th at Darlington and is now winless in his last 12 races.

    “You probably heard my crew chief Chad Knaus married a former Miss Sprint Cup,” Johnson said. “Hopefully, Chad will have more luck with the ‘Lady In White’ than I did with the ‘Lady In Black.’

    “I gave the groom a bottle of ‘Burnt Rubber’ cologne. Chad wore some during Sunday’s race. At a track like Darlington, that’s known as ‘tire wear.’”

    9. Kurt Busch: Busch started second in the Bojangles Southern 500 at Darlington and finished sixth.

    “Much like me,” Busch said, “Bojangles is famous for its ‘chicken.’

    “You may have heard that I recently became engaged. I asked Ashley Van Metre and she said ‘yes.’ Soon, I’ll pop the question, and ask her if she’s an assassin.”

    10. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished ninth and had a late run-in with Kurt Busch, whom Truex sent spinning after contact on lap

    “Just as Daytona did, Darlington was offering a flag exchange,” Truex said, “in which you could exchange a Confederate flag for an American flag. With race ticket prices skyrocketing and races becoming even less exciting, leave it to NASCAR to offer fan another offer they can refuse.”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Bojangles Southern 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Bojangles Southern 500

    With retro paint schemes, throwback uniforms and the low downforce package all the rage, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 66th annual Bojangles Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

    Surprising:  One driver at least excelled yet again at one of the extended play versions of NASCAR racing. Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 10 ARRIS Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, won not only the Coke 600, one of the longest races of the season, but also claimed victory with his signature back flip at Darlington this past weekend.

    This year’s race at Darlington was significantly longer at four and a half hours thanks to the record 18 cautions that took place during the event. And Edwards had to work even harder, battling back to Victory Lane from two laps down at one point in the race.

    “I do like the longer races,” Edwards said. “I think growing up it was so cool to me that NASCAR raced these long events, these tough races, and I really enjoy them.

    “It’s fun. These things are like a big adventure. You go out there and you race for three or four hours and you try not to tear anything up. It was so cool tonight to be able to come back from two laps down.”

    Not Surprising:  Not only was Coach Joe Gibbs celebrating a victory with Edwards but he was also reveling in what he called a “great sports story” as one of his other drivers Kyle Busch clinched a spot in the Chase for the Championship in spite of sitting out multiple races due to injury.

    The driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Crispy Toyota finished in the seventh spot at ‘The Lady in Black.’

    “Yeah, I think that’s also a great sports story,” Gibbs said of Busch. “Everything that happened to us there at Daytona and then for him to bounce back in 11 weeks, I felt like the odds were against us.

    “And for him to be able to pull this off and come back, win four times and get back in the Chase tonight — they had a great game plan. They talked all night about the game plan, what they wanted to do, and first up was to make sure that they had enough points tonight that they didn’t have to worry next week.

    “So that was a big deal for them, and it was great for Kyle, and obviously it was great for everybody else over here at the 19 car and Carl.”

    Surprising:  Darlington and stick shifting had a thing or two in common, at least for one driver who just happened to finish runner-up.

    “You know, the race kind of reminded me of — I remember when I was a kid and my dad wanted to teach me how to drive a car, and he gave me a stick shift,” Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller High Life Ford, said. “You practice and you learn and you learn how to drive it and you stall it out all the time and then eventually you kind of start to figure it out and you stop stalling it so much and you get into a pattern and you don’t stall it out anymore.

    “The race reminded me a lot of that because the cars, just five or six years ago when I entered Sprint Cup, were extremely difficult to drive, much like a stick shift when you’re first learning how to drive.

    “And then they’ve gotten really easy to drive over the last four or five years, to the point where we’re all kind of looking around at each other as drivers going, wait a minute here, this isn’t good, it shouldn’t be this easy to drive these.

    “So we asked NASCAR to, ‘hey, make these cars harder to drive, give us our, metaphorically speaking, stick shift back, and they did, and I think somebody thought they’d be really funny and pick Darlington as the track to do that, which would be like if you picked the mountains of Virginia to give somebody a stick shift back.

    “It’s kind of that same feeling.”

    Not Surprising:  A career high and a team record were achieved by two drivers, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr.

    Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing, earned his 18th top-five finish, extending his new single-season career high and topping his 16 top-five finishes from 2010.

    Truex Jr. scored his 17th top-10 finish in 25 races, exceeding Kurt Busch’s team record of 16 top-10s in 2013.

    Surprising:  There was a real lack of communication for the driver of the No. 1 McDonald’s/Cessna Chevrolet, however, he still managed to finish top-15.

    Jamie McMurray had radio trouble throughout the race, which was particularly challenging at a track like Darlington where navigating traffic is essential.

    “We had an okay car tonight,” McMurray said. “I was super conservative.  My radio only worked about two percent of the time.  So, I had a spotter sometimes, but I didn’t others.  I was really conservative on restarts and really throughout the whole race.”

    McMurray remained in the 10th position in the point standings after the Darlington race, still looking to lock himself into Chase contention.

    Not Surprising:  There was no head hanging for another driver trying to also get into the Chase for the championship. Aric Almirola, in his classic throwback No. 43 STP Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports, took the checkered flag in the 11th spot.

    “It was a crazy night,” Almirola said. “A little bit of a struggle at the beginning and then Trent (Owens, crew chief) and the boys made some really good calls and got the car handling a lot better and I was really happy with it there toward the end. We got it the best we could and I think we got out of here with a respectable finish.

    “We need a really good night at Richmond and hope for some bad luck for the 15 but if that doesn’t happen we don’t have anything to hang our heads about to be honest with you.  That is all we had tonight. We will go on to Richmond and race like hell there and see what happens.”

    Surprising:  After winning and having such success at Darlington, it was a surprisingly rough night for Chase Elliott, who was running his last race of his ‘practice’ Cup season.

    The driver of the No. 25 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet and the future driver of the No. 24 car, had trouble early in the race as well as later in the race when he cut down a right-front tire on Lap 228.

    “I didn’t feel like it (tire) was going down or anything. It just like going in there, getting into (Turn) 1 and tore up the race car, unfortunately.

    “I messed up there at the beginning of the race and got us behind and you just can’t do stuff like that.”

    Not Surprising:  There were more than Darlington stripes for both Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Danica Patrick. Stenhouse Jr. finished 38th after his hit into the wall and Patrick fared even worse after her close encounter, finishing 42nd.

    “It just snapped around,” Stenhouse said. “It was a lot of fun out there sliding around and tires wearing out and I think this is what we all wanted.  It just bit a few of us.”

    “It snapped pretty hard in (turn) four,” Patrick said. “So, I don’t know, I mean they said it looked like it snapped pretty hard. I’m not 100 percent sure. It could have just gotten loose, but it could have been a cut tire, too.”

    “It’s a bummer. We fought our way back to the lead lap, and I felt like we were in a position to have a decent end to the day.”

    Surprising:  Running the final race of his career at Darlington, the driver of the No. 24 3M Chevrolet and his crew chief just seemed lost as far as trying to make the car better.

    Jeff Gordon qualified well and started the race in the fifth position. He kept falling back, unable to make the adjustments needed to keep up with the track and finished 16th.

    “I like the aero package.  I like the racecar,” Gordon said. “We just couldn’t ever get track position.  I don’t know, we struggled tonight.  We got it pretty good on the short runs and we were mediocre on the long runs, but not great.  We just had some issues on pit road.”

    Not Surprising:  With a high number of cautions, 18 in total, the best tweet of the day came from Clint Bowyer, who finished the race in 17th in his Buddy Baker Tribute Toyota.

    “Hope no one chose the drinking word CAUTION,” Bowyer tweeted. “They probably dropping cylinders and running a little rough if so!”

    As the Cup Series heads into the final race before the Chase at Richmond next weekend, the sport also paid tribute to Gail Sommer Germain, wife of team owner Bob Germain Jr., who lost her valiant battle with breast cancer at the age of 45.  The No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet race team wore pink armbands at Darlington in her honor.

  • The Final Word – A Southern 500 that took us on a nice ride back to the future

    The Final Word – A Southern 500 that took us on a nice ride back to the future

    Tradition. On Sunday, we learned that tradition means something. We learned it is actually worth waiting for its return, though why it took NASCAR a decade to solve the hot, muggy conditions of a day race in early September by simply moving it to the evening still boggles the mind. The Southern 500 was back, back to where and when it belonged, along with throwback paint schemes and other nods to the past. Tradition.

    We learned that Ken Squier should be cloned. He is to auto racing what Vin Scully is to baseball, a poet with a microphone who has the gift to paint vivid pictures through prose, to enhance the action we see with our own eyes, to allow us to commune with the best of the sport’s past even as we watch its future unfold before us. One is an 80-year-old legend who we got to hear from again on Sunday night, the other is an 87-year old Dodger icon. We learned that sometimes the best of what is has been with us all along. Tradition.

    Jeff Gordon, for one. Seven times he managed to not just survive but to thrive on the track too tough to tame over the course of his career. He finished 16th on Sunday in his event curtain call. Jimmie Johnson, a six-time Cup king and three-time Darlington winner, was 19th. These two eventual Hall of Famers were seen last weekend in the company as such past stars as Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, and Bill Elliott. Terry Labonte was the Grand Marshal. Ned Jarrett was put to work in the broadcast booth, alongside his son Dale. Tradition.

    We learned that even though it is possible for 26 drivers to win a race from Daytona in February to Richmond later this month, it seems improbable. Only 11 different pilots have shaken the suds in Victory Lane this season, with the last first-time victor coming in the form of Martin Truex Jr. three months ago. For the second time this season it was Carl Edwards doing the backflip at the finish line, his first at Darlington’s Lady in Black. Once again, the same 16 drivers sitting in a Chase place coming in will be the same when they hit the line at Richmond next Saturday night.

    Racing began in Darlington in 1950. Three years later, the Richmond tradition got its start. Potential winless Chasers have won there, including Gordon, Ryan Newman and Clint Bowyer. Drivers such as Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne have claimed the prize before, and their only route to the Chase is to do it again this Saturday night. Of the quintet, though, only Bowyer has done so in the past decade. In fact, 19 of the other past 20 Richmond winners have already punched their tickets for this season’s Chase. Unless there is a break in tradition, the 20th should as well.

    The 20 Richmond race winners over the past ten years include…

    Kyle Busch (4)
    Jimmie Johnson (3)
    Kevin Harvick (3)
    Denny Hamlin (2)
    Kurt Busch (2)
    Clint Bowyer (2)
    Brad Keselowski
    Carl Edwards
    Dale Earnhardt Jr.
    Joey Logano

  • Hot 20 – The Southern 500…a tradition truly reborn this Labor Day weekend!

    Hot 20 – The Southern 500…a tradition truly reborn this Labor Day weekend!

    It is the Southern 500 coming our way from Darlington on Sunday night. Interestingly, I do not view it as one of the circuit’s marquee tracks, where you do not dare touch the fast-forward button. However, like Indianapolis, it is one of the Cup Series marquee events where a win gets you remembered.

    After a few years of tinkering around with tradition, something NASCAR seems more than eager to do until the manure hits the ventilation system, the Southern 500 is back for the Labor Day weekend. It worked from 1950 until someone had a bright idea in time for the 2004 event. They pushed the legendary race back to November so that fans would no longer have to face the heat of day in September. That, and they thought it also a brilliant move to give the 500’s date to California after it had taken Rockingham’s spot on the calendar. I wonder how that worked out for them?

    Somebody sued so that Texas could have a second race, and they got it when the Lady in Black’s spring date was spirited away. Then to prove their astute understanding of its fan base, they moved the race to Mother’s Day before dropping the iconic “Southern 500″ moniker entirely for four seasons, starting in 2005. Then they did not have a title sponsor in 2009, at least before Go Daddy came on board, so the Southern 500, now presented by Go Daddy.com, was back.

    The tinkering did not end there, of course. Sponsors come and go, but traditions remain…except in NASCAR. In 2014, the race date was shipped to April before someone came up with a bright idea. No, really. They moved the Southern 500 back to the Labor Day weekend, but as had been the case since its rebirth, they scheduled it for Sunday night to avoid the heat that started all the nonsense a decade before.

    The fact they installed lights in 2004, just before they moved the date to avoid the heat, doesn’t make much sense, either, come to think of it. However, let us just be glad the Southern 500 is truly back with cars with paint schemes from Darlington’s glory years.

    The Hot 20 as they challenge “The Track Too Tough to Tame” include…

    1. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 4 WINS
    Christopher Walken’s favorite driver. More cowbell!

    2. KYLE BUSCH – 4 WINS
    Looking to finish two spots up on Cole Whitt to claim his Chase place. Let the battle begin.

    3. JOEY LOGANO – 3 WINS
    The Shell logo on his car is one I remember…from way back…when I had hair…and youth.

    4. MATT KENSETH – 3 WINS
    After running less than 60 miles at Bristol, he should be well rested for Darlington

    5. KEVIN HARVICK – 2 WINS
    I keep underwear longer than he keeps a house.

    6. DALE EARNHARDT JR. – 2 WINS
    Is Junior interested in driving IndyCar? Apparently, the answer is “no, no, no, no.”

    7. KURT BUSCH – 2 WINS
    Kurt is engaged. It would be easy to come up with a punchline, but I truly wish him happiness.

    8. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 1 WIN
    Frank Kimmel, 10 time ARCA champ and Brad’s matchmaker.

    9. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 1 WIN
    Furniture Row might not be big, but you cannot say they have not been successful.

    10. DENNY HAMLIN – 1 WIN
    Only problem with a throwback weekend is do you go with a Ned, Cale, or Jaws scheme?

    11. CARL EDWARDS – 1 WIN
    Worst driver at Gibbs Racing? Honestly, I do not believe there is such a thing.

    12. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 696 POINTS
    After claiming a Brickyard 400 and a Daytona 500, he needs a little trinket from Darlington.

    13. RYAN NEWMAN – 683 POINTS
    Riding along the walls at Darlington, it might be best to be driving a Caterpillar.

    14. PAUL MENARD – 674 POINTS
    Paul won the XFINITY race last week. I used to outrun my baby sister.

    15. JEFF GORDON – 672 POINTS
    Only driver whose throwback paint scheme could be one of his own.

    16. CLINT BOWYER – 655 POINTS
    Sitting pretty, unless the wrong guy wins on Sunday. Then it could get ugly.

    17. ARIC ALMIROLA – 620 POINTS
    The King won 200 times. Aric needs just one.

    18. KASEY KAHNE – 618 POINTS
    Will be channeling his inner Geoff Bodine this weekend.

    19. GREG BIFFLE – 572 POINTS
    Roll them dice. Daddy needs a win.

    20. AUSTIN DILLON – 564 POINTS
    Race car driver, former Little League World Series player, now basketball star?

  • Finley Factor: The Top Five of All Time – Part One

    Finley Factor: The Top Five of All Time – Part One

    In honor of the Southern 500, the biggest race in NASCAR in the 1950s and the first fully paved oval, being moved back to Labor Day weekend, I have decided to list my top five Cup Series drivers of all time.

    A couple of notes first, however. Notice that this is about Cup success, not factoring in any other racing series, NASCAR or otherwise. I don’t think it would be fitting to name AJ Foyt as the greatest NASCAR driver of all time, for example. The second being that, well, this is my list. My word isn’t law, and to be honest you could probably rank any of my top five as the greatest and make a pretty good argument for him. Just remember that this is all a matter of opinion, and I’d actually love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

     

    Before we get started, however, there is one thing I need to get out of the way-

    Honorable Mention: Richard Petty

    Photo Credit: Lisa Berard/xspimages
    Photo Credit: Lisa Berard/xspimages

    Petty was definitely a very good driver, but looking back I feel he had a lot of luck on his side. For example, Petty Enterprises, being one of very few Chrysler teams in the ’60s and ’70s, had most of Chrysler’s racing budget behind it, in addition to a huge STP sponsorship when nobody else had big sponsorship deals. And when the King jumped over to Ford in 1969, although he won the championship, the real star for Ford’s 1969 season was LeeRoy Yarbrough. The man-not-related-to-Cale became one of only two people in history to win the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola (World) 600, and the Southern 500 in the same year. In a time where big races were much more prestigious than the point’s championship, Yarbrough greatly overshadowed Petty in the same make of car. Petty was also one of very few to run full season schedules before 1972.

    That’s not to say Petty was always lucky. If it wasn’t for injury and in one season manufacture politics, Petty could of very easily been a 10-time champion. The championship wasn’t a priority to most before 1972 when the season was shortened and more money was put into the points fund through Winston, but even so Petty wasn’t just a points driver. Petty’s seven Daytona 500 wins may be just as unmatchable as his 200 victory record.

    But let’s also not pretend that all 200 of those victories were really equivalent to today’s modern Cup races. Is winning a 100-mile dirt race in a field of only two or three (at best) good cars really the same as winning a 400-mile race at Pocono against 20-25 good cars? No, and with so many negatives going against Petty, I can’t put him into my top five.

    However, Petty is the most important driver in the history of NASCAR for what he does off the track to this day. Setting a standard for his fellow drivers and projecting a family friendly image in the then not well-respected sport earned him and NASCAR legions of supporting fans. His 1972 STP sponsorship deal, although definitely not the first time a car has been sponsored, showed how race teams could survive in a post-factory team NASCAR. Petty is the last person still involved with the sport who was present at the very first Cup race in 1949, and the King is still a constant presence in the garage area to this day. This is what makes Richard Petty great, not how many races he won or how many Cups he has in his living room.

     

    1. Cale Yarborough

    Cale Yarborough_Getty

    Cale Yarborough was a very simple driver. He wasn’t going to go out there and conserve his car through a long race like his longtime rival Darrell Waltrip (and according to Waltrip’s book, the two are not exactly good friends to this day). No, Yarborough, similar to his team owner Junior Johnson, went 110 percent every lap of every race, and with Johnson’s driving style, created a multi-year dynasty.

    Yarborough wasn’t the first to win races with the Wood Brothers, but he was the first to do so consistently from season to season. Although Cale did win a dirt track race or two in his early career, like David Pearson he always seemed to turn it up a notch at the big speedways. He was the king of the Southern 500, his hometown race that he won six times in his career. He holds four Daytona 500 wins, 2nd most all-time behind only Richard Petty’s seven.

    There are two reasons why Cale isn’t higher on the list. The first is that he refused to change his style, which cost him victories such as the World 600, a tough race Yarborough never won. The second being that he just didn’t have more years on top. When he ran part time in the ’80s, he did very well but didn’t dominate like Pearson had 10 years earlier, and I doubt he would have beaten Darrell Waltrip or Bobby Allison for a  championship in the early ’80s.

    Yarborough was a character among characters, and might be only behind Curtis Turner when it comes to stories. Like the time when Yarborough poured cold water on a showering Tiny Lund and was chased around a hotel by the naked 6 feet 5 inches tall, 270 pounder. Or the time Yarborough went over the guardrail out of a racetrack and quipped that he knew he was in trouble when he saw grass, as there is, in fact, no grass on the racetrack. My favorite Cale story, though, didn’t even involve him. In Richard Sowers’ “The Complete Statistical History of Stock-Car Racing: Records, Streaks, Oddities, and Trivia,” Sowers told a story about when Dale Earnhardt Sr. had just won his seventh championship and was doing an interview for the media. During a break in questions and comments comparing him to Petty as the greatest of all time, Earnhardt leaned in and told the interviewer, “We all know Cale was the best.”

     

    1. Jeff Gordon
    Photo Credit: Noel Lanier
    Photo Credit: Noel Lanier

    Jeff Gordon was the first modern NASCAR driver. The Californian, who made his Sprint Cup debut at 21 in the Dupont Chevrolet for Rick Hendrick in 1992, just started in his 785th consecutive race for Hendrick at 44 in the Axalta (which is basically the same sponsor, just a different parent company) Chevrolet.

    Gordon was the first to win a championship for Rick Hendrick and thus helped create a 20-year dynasty for the race team. A bad year for Hendrick Motorsports is not winning a championship, and since 2006 all but one championship winning team uses Hendrick equipment.

    What is there to say about Gordon that hasn’t already been said? He has won at every single track he has raced at in Cup with the exception of Kentucky.  His teaming with Ray Evernham is up there with Johnson-Knaus and Stewart-Zipadelli among modern driver-crew chief pairings. In 1998, Gordon averaged a 5.7 average finish, a feat only beaten by Petty and Yarborough in the modern era against a less competitive field. The year before that, Gordon become the only driver in the modern era to win the Daytona 500, Southern 500, and the Coca-Cola (World) 600.

    Gordon from 1995-1999 was unstoppable and could probably beat almost any other driver at any point in history, but in some ways his overall career has been more impressive. Among Hall of Fame locks, only Jimmie Johnson has also stuck with one team throughout their career, and even then Johnson’s starts will not be consecutive. Gordon is only a month away as of the time of this writing from breaking Ricky Rudd’s streak of 788 consecutive starts. In this new Chase era of drivers being able to miss races for injury without hurting their championship chances, this will probably never be broken.

    Why is Gordon not higher? The only thing holding Gordon back is that he has stuck with one team throughout his career, and thus didn’t have success with multiple teams like say Rudd did. Outside of that, really the drivers ahead I feel are better than Gordon, which really says a lot about the top three.

    Check back early next week for part two plus my Darlington preview.

    All statistics for the Finley Factor are provided for by Racing Reference unless otherwise noted.

    Dedicated to Justin Wilson, 1978-2015.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Bristol

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Bristol

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Kyle Busch: Busch suffered from a loose wheel early in the race before picking his way back into the top 5 at Bristol. But a late pit road speeding penalty cost him a chance at the win, finishing eighth.

    “It was still a strong day for Joe Gibbs Racing,” Busch said. “JGR went 1-2-3-4 in qualifying and place three cars in the top 10. That’s quite a stable Joe’s got right now. Take my brother Kyle and myself at our worse, and you’ve got yourself an ‘unstable.’”

    2. Kevin Harvick: Harvick chased Joey Logano over the final laps at Bristol, but Logano’s No. 22 Penske machine was just too strong. Harvick settled for second, his second-consecutive runner-up finish and 11th of the season.

    “We certainly weren’t helped by two pit road speeding penalties,” Harvick said. “At 30 miles per hour, a drive-through penalty is brutal. At that speed, Bristol’s pit road is much like Kyle Petty’s ponytail—long and grey.”

    3. Joey Logano: Logano won his second straight Bristol night race, holding off Kevin Harvick over the final laps to win the Irwin Tools Night Race.

    “I knew I couldn’t make a mistake with Harvick behind me,” Logano said. “Obviously, this Penske driver reacts a little better from a push from Harvick.”

    4. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth blew an engine early at Bristol, spoiling an otherwise solid day for Joe Gibbs Racing.

    “Did this Toyota engine come from Michael Waltrip Racing?” Kenseth said, “because it just quit on me.”

    5. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson was solid at Bristol, finishing fourth for his first top-five result since a second at Daytona in July.

    “With six Sprint Cup championships,” Johnson said, “I obviously have the look of a champion. Now, with the new fragrance ‘Burnt Rubber,’ anyone can smell like a champion. And if you have the nerve to go to the fragrance counter and ask for Burnt Rubber, then you certainly won’t be phased by extreme speeds. Just make sure you ask for ‘Burnt Rubber’ by name, lest you may end up with the Jeremy Mayfield knockoff brand, ‘Speed In A Bottle.’”

    6. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Earnhardt took advantage of two “Lucky Dog” free passes and recorded a ninth-place finish at Bristol. He is third in the Sprint Cup points standings, 89 out of first.

    “Danica Patrick has a new sponsor in Nature’s Bakery,’” Earnhardt said. “Now people can finally say she’s got ‘natural’ talent and actually believe it.”

    7. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski led four laps and finished sixth in the Irwin Tools Night Race as Penske Racing teammate Joey Logano captured the win.

    “Logano showed a load of maturity holding off Harvick,” Keselowski said. “That gives Joey three wins this season. I have only one. I guess we know who wears the firesuit on this team.”

    8. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex suffered from a collection of misfortune at Bristol and finished 28th at Bristol, five laps down.

    “They call Bristol Motor Speedway ‘The Last Great Colosseum,’” Truex said. “I guess that means the drivers are gladiators. Instead of fighting to the death, fans in the stands are bored to death.”

    9. Carl Edwards: Edwards led 74 laps at Bristol and was out front on lap 355 when he suffered a flat tire. He still managed a seventh-place finish, joining Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch in the top 10.

    “A flat tire while leading is the very definition of ‘untimely,’” Edwards said. “What is the very definition of ‘timely?’ Leaving Roush Fenway Racing when I did. Jack Roush may be the ‘Cat In The Hat,’ and chances are he owns the ‘Car In The Rear.’”

    10. Kurt Busch: Busch finished 14th, one lap down, at Bristol, after damaging his car in an incident with David Ragan.

    “What do you expect from a Michael Waltrip Racing driver?” Busch said. “Ragan was driving like there was no tomorrow.

    “I guess you’ve heard that MWR released Clint Bowyer from his contract. And I think I’m qualified to announce that Bowyer is not a secret agent, but a free agent.”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Bristol Irwin Tools Night Race

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Bristol Irwin Tools Night Race

    With lots of discussion and questions about restarts in the drivers’ meeting prior to the race, here is what was surprising and not surprising after the checkered flag flew on the 55Th Annual Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    Surprising:  Joey Logano took a page from ‘Through the Looking Glass’ as he battled against Kevin Harvick and the rest of the field to take the checkered flag at Bristol Motor Speedway. This was the third win of the season for the driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford for Team Penske.

    “It was kind of interesting to watch it in the mirror,” Logano said. “I was watching him (Harvick) drive in and I was like, ‘He’s going to get me eventually,’ so I just wanted to make sure I stayed at least three or four car lengths up on him so he didn’t get to me.

    “There’s not much time to look in the rearview mirror, but I realized how different his line was than mine.  He’d drive in so hard and almost get to my back bumper and then I’d drive off really good.  It’s kind of interesting to watch a race like that when two cars are a similar speed but in two complete different ways.  That’s what’s so fun about Bristol is you can drive the car about five or six different ways and make it fast, so it’s fun to race here.

    “That’s what we did and that’s what we do every week.  We just try to keep our heads calm and cool and just run our race.

    “I feel like we’re right where we need to be, just like we were last year at this point.  I can’t wait for the Chase to start.”

    Not Surprising:  It was a twofer for the No. 4 car, who turned two pit road penalties into another second place finish.

    “Yeah, we had an interesting night,” Kevin Harvick said after finishing second for the 10th time this season. “We went to the back twice and passed a bunch of cars.

    “I think, all in all, it’s just a huge credit to the team. They just keep bringing fast cars to the race track and we’re able to overcome a lot of things.

    “So, it’s just great to be a part of a team like this and just really excited to be able to run like this at Bristol.”

    Surprising:  It was a blowout of the unwanted kind for Kyle Larson, who had such high hopes coming into the Bristol night race. The driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet had a tire blow out when he stayed out after taking just two tires, finishing 41st.

    “The first time we blew our left front we stayed out on two tires and we had a lot of laps on our lefts,” Larson said. “And we blew that one out. Later on we had a lot of damage and got really tight and blew the right front.

    “I guess on our left front the side wall got cut out. I don’t know if that was a wear issue or not. Then we got into the wall and we were pretty tight after that with lots of damage on the right side. So, probably just used up our right front tire because I couldn’t turn. I just hate it we hit the wall with a blown right front and ended our night.”

    Not Surprising:  By no means out but……could best describe Paul Menard, who finished 24th at Bristol and is hanging on to 12th in the point standings and 14th in the Chase grid at present.

    “This was not the finish we wanted when the weekend started at Bristol,” the driver of the No. 27 Knauf/Menards Chevrolet said. “We got behind early in the race and then were never able to make the improvements work to our advantage during the night. Then we ended up getting some damage there near the end and that didn’t help us any.

    “But, the good news is we fought through all that and finished the race. We are by no means out of the Chase for the Championship and look forward to being there after Richmond.”

    Surprising:  Ryan Newman apparently was doing his best imitation of David Copperfield, working some magic on his. No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet.

    “We took a 20th place car from Friday and turned it into a top 10 on Saturday,” Newman said. “Not the end result that we wanted, but a good points day for us. That is part of what we are racing for right now.”

    This was Newman’s second straight top-10 finish at Bristol and his 10th place finish advance him up to the 11th place in the championship point standings and 13th in the Chase Grid.

    Not Surprising:  After the devastating news of the demise of Michael Waltrip Racing for the 2016 season, Clint Bowyer fought the hard fight for his team, finishing fifth in his No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota.

    “MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) really needed that run,” Bowyer said. “With that being said we desperately needed a solid run right there. I mean obviously you’re hungry for a win with this organization given everything it had and I drove my ass off, we just come up short.

    “I’m really proud of all of these guys on the 5-hour ENERGY Toyota. They’re digging man. It’s fun to be a part of this. It’s fun to be a part of a group that can answer the call when you gotta dig down and reach down a little bit more to get in that Chase and be a part of that elite group.

    “These guys are up for the challenge.”

    Surprising:  One young driver surprisingly logged an incredible number of laps at Bristol Motor Speedway, in fact, one thousand to be exact.

    “I could do it again,” Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 21 SKF Ford in the Cup race and driver in the Truck and Xfinity races as well. “It’s just nice to get all those laps under your belt and know the race track, what it does and learn for next time.”

    In the Cup race and after completing his one thousand Thunder Valley laps, Blaney finished 22nd.

    “It’s not the night we wanted, but we gained some good experience and hopefully we come back better.”

    Not Surprising:  As they have done for much of the season, Hendrick Motorsports shop mates Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. fared fairly well at Bristol where shop mates Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne continued to struggle.

    Johnson finished best in fourth in his No. 48 Lowe’s Pro Services Chevrolet, and Earnhardt Jr. popped off another top-10 finish in his No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet.  Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon, however, finished 16th and 20th respectively.

    Jeff Gordon, in his final year of Cup competition, currently sits 15th in the Chase grid after the Bristol race.

    Surprising:  Martin Truex Jr., who has been so consistently running for much of the season to date, took the biggest tumble in the point standings, falling two spots to the sixth spot. Truex had to go to a backup car, then had a lug nut issues, which put him back in the field, and finally was collected in an accident.

    “I felt we had a top-three car tonight, but the loose wheel really hurt our chances,” Cole Pearn, crew chief, said after the race.

    Not Surprising: As usual, given his dry wit, Matt Kenseth had the quote of the race after finishing 42nd due to engine failure, wishing for at least a text before going up in smoke.

    “It broke in the middle of the straightaway – it had that hop and that noise that it makes when you know you dropped a valve,” the driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry said. “Something in the valve train, we dropped a valve or something it felt like and sounded like. Things like that happen.

    “They never warn you, it would be cool if they would send you a text or something. Just the middle of the straightaway it made that pop where you knew that was it.”

    As the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series prepares to head into the Chase, the racers get a needed weekend off next weekend.  On Sunday, September 6, racing will resume at historic Darlington Raceway.