Tag: Jeff Gordon

NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Watkins Glen

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Earnhardt finished 11th at Watkins Glen after an untimely late caution cost him any chance of winning. He passed Jeff Gordon to take over the lead in the Sprint Cup points standings, and now leads Gordon by four.

“Let me point out,” Earnhardt said, “that at this point, points don’t mean much. Have I made my point?

“It was a crazy day at Watkins Glen. A.J. Allmendinger proved that a one-car team can compete with the multi-car teams. Chances are that the ‘Dinger’ will be with a big-time team in the future. Instead of losing a ride, he’ll be pimping one.”

2. Jeff Gordon: Gordon won the pole at Watkins Glen but faltered late after electrical issues sabotaged his chances. He eventually finished 34th and now trails Dale Earnhardt, Jr. by four in the Sprint Cup points standings.

“There’s only one word to describe how you feel sitting in a car suffering from electrical issues,” Gordon said. “Powerless.

“The weekend started on a high note. I won the pole on my son Leo’s birthday, and he couldn’t be happier. And can you blame him? What other adolecent has a Coors Lite Pole Award in his bedroom? Besides Kurt Busch?”

3. Brad Keselowski: A promising start at Watkins Glen soured for Keselowski after brake issues relegated him to a 23rd-place finish, five laps down.

“I’d rather have trouble stopping,” Keselowski said, “than trouble ‘going,’ which is a problem 72-year-old Morgan Shepherd deals with on a daily basis. At least that’s what Joey Logano tells me.”

4. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson had a solid finish in sight before a spin on a lap 80 restart sent him hurtling back in the field. He finished a disappointing 28th.

“Sunday’s race was stopped twice so repairs could be made after accidents,” Johnson said. “Chad Knaus radioed me during the delays and asked, ‘How’s the track look?’ I replied, ‘It’s fixed.’ And I fully expect that statement to be taken out of context.”

5. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished ninth in the Cheez-It 355 At The Glen and remains winless on the year. He is third in the points standings, 70 behind Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“Unless I can find a win in the next four races,” Kenseth said, “I’ll be starting at the bottom when the Chase For The Cup starts. Where my wins total is concerned, ‘V’ is for ‘void.’

6. Joey Logano: Logano finished sixth at Watkins Glen, recording his 12th top 10 of the year.

“Allmendinger ran a heck of a race,” Logano said. “I guess the competition was a lot like drug problems—he put it behind him.”

7. Carl Edwards: Edwards finished fifth at Watkins Glen, posting his fifth top-five result of the year. He is sixth in the points standings, 115 out of first.

“I had a good view of the A.J. Allmendinger-Marcos Ambrose battle,” Edwards said. “Allmendinger obviously knew the track well. He’s certainly done his homework. There’s probably only one circuit he knows better than Watkins Glen, and that’s the road to recovery.

“It was a great day for the Cheez-It brand. They sponsored the race, as well as my No. 99 car. If the race in Sonoma is attended by the ‘wine and cheese’ crowd, then fans at the Glen should be called the ‘wino and Cheez-It’ crowd.”

8. Ryan Newman: Newman crashed heavily with 34 laps to go at Watkins Glen, smashing a fence and causing the race to be stopped for over an hour while repairs were made. Newman finished 41st, 35 laps off the pace.

“Race officials raised more red flags than the Mayfield family,” Newman said. “And I’m not happy with safety at the Watkins Glen track. It seems track officials need a crash course in safety.”

“My former teammate Rusty Wallace was recently inducted into the Motorsports Hall Of Fame. I don’t know who told Rusty to ‘Go to Hall,’ but it sure as Hell wasn’t me.”

9. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished seventh at Watkins Glen, posting his 11th top-10 result of the year.

“Was God on AJ Allmendinger’s side at Watkins Glen?” Harvick said. “It certainly looked that way. If He was, AJ should change his name to ‘Amendinger.’”

10. AJ Allmendinger: Allmendinger repelled the challenges of Marcos Ambrose on two late restarts to win the Cheez-It 355 At The Glen. The win guaranteed Allmendinger a spot in the Chase For The Cup.

“Kimberly-Clarke Corporation renewed their sponsorship of my car,” Allmendinger said, “making the weekend even more satisfying for car owner Brad Daugherty and myself. Kimberly-Clarke produces the Kleenex, Scott, Viva, and Cottonelle brands, and that means Sunday was a great day for white paper and black hillbillies.

“Of course, this doesn’t mean I’m a ‘paper’ champion. It does mean I’m well equipped to wipe up the competition.”

August 12, 2014
Surprising and Not Surprising: Cheez-It 355 at the Glen

As the NASCAR community mourned the death of sprint car driver Kevin Ward Jr., which led to Tony Stewart’s decision not to participate at Watkins Glen, the racing did go on at one of the sport’s more challenging road courses.

And with that overlay of respect for all involved in the tragedy, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 29^th annual Cheez-It 355 at the Glen.

Surprising: For at least two drivers, one with a powerhouse team and the other from a small operation, the race was all about power, from the four-time champion driver who lost it to the first-time winning driver who dug down deep to find the sheer willpower to get to Victory Lane.

Jeff Gordon, whose sponsor Drive to End Hunger just announced their renewal for 2015, looked like the man to beat, scoring the pole position and leading laps early in the race. Then, inexplicably, Gordon’s No. 24 machine slowed on the track and he lost power, finishing a disappointing 34th and losing the points lead to teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“I’ve got to get with the team and find out what caused it,” Gordon said. “It looks like we had a battery go dead, two batteries go dead. I didn’t see anything on the volts meter that stood out or anything really going on there that was alarming.”

The other driver, AJ Allmendinger, drove the race of his life against Watkins Glen expert Marcos Ambrose, running on sheer willpower, as he was bound and determined to get his first ever win in the Sprint Cup Series.

“I wasn’t going to let Marcos take that from me,” AJ Allmendinger, driver of the No. 47 Scott Products Chevrolet for JTG Daugherty Racing, said simply. “I’ve dreamed about this moment, and I’m not going to forget it.”

Not Surprising: It is not often that the race winner pays homage to the track workers, but AJ Allmendinger did just that, recognizing those that had to make extensive repairs, not only to the Armco barriers but also to the pit road barrels, after two horrific crashes.

The first crash involved Ryan Newman and Michael McDowell, resulting in almost a rebuild of fencing, and the second involved Denny Hamlin hitting the pit barriers hard. Track workers labored furiously making repairs for almost two hours after the serious damage from the two crashes.

“For me to be able to have that race be so memorable about how it ended, for the fans, they were so great for staying around through all the red flags, the track workers did such a great job to fix the fence and everything,” the Dinger said. “It’s just a memorable day to go out there and remember everything that just happened.”

Surprising: Just when you thought that Kyle Larson’s rookie mistake of missing the inner loop would lead to a surprisingly bad finish, the Rookie of the Year contender pulled it off once again, scoring a surprising top-five finish.

“It was a really good day for us,” The driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet said. “We were terrible all weekend long. I was down on myself. It’s probably the most frustrated I’ve ever been with myself, aside from racing sprint cars in Pennsylvania.”

“I can’t believe we finished top five,” Larson continued. “It feels like a win. I was hoping for a top 15 or top 20 going into today. I’m totally shocked and super excited.”

Not Surprising: While it was not at all surprising that the No. 9 Ford of Marcos Ambrose was strong, taking the checkered flag in the runner up position, the Australian also had some Ford comrades with whom to celebrate. In fact, there were four Fords that finished in the top-ten at the Glen.

“I left nothing on the table,” runner up Ambrose said. “We just came up a little short. I am just really proud of my Stanley team. We put a lot of effort into this race and really tried to win it. We won yesterday and came up one short today.”

“I am glad Jimmy Fennig put us in a position to be up there for the win,” Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Kellogg’s/Cheez-It Ford and fifth place finisher, said. “I am sure like everyone up there that you want the last few laps to do over again. It was a blast and a lot of fun.”

“That was crazy to say the least,” Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, said after finishing sixth. “We had about a fifth place car and had to go through a lot to get back to that point. We fought hard with this Shell Pennzoil Ford and put tires on it late and was very aggressive on the restarts and got a few spots back. I wish there were more laps. The tires were worth a few there at the end but I needed a few more laps there at the end.”

“The racing was really good,” Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford said after finishing eighth. “We were able to make up a lot of ground. It is aggressive and as people got more comfortable it got nuts. You just try to do the best you can and protect your position and race hard. That is about all you can do.”

Surprising: Jimmie Johnson’s troubles continued to plague him, even at Watkins Glen. The six-time champion went for a dramatic spin late in the race, resulting in a 28th place finish. Although he has three wins to his credit and is solidly in the Chase, Johnson fell one position in the point standings, from sixth to seventh as a result.

Not Surprising: Perhaps it was because he can relate to having to overcome adversity and seek redemption in the sport, but third place finisher Kurt Busch had nothing but praise for race winner AJ Allmendinger.

“He won the race today in a fashion that everyone is proud of him for doing, to beat one of the best in the world at driving these stock cars,” the driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet said of race winner Allmendinger. “He deserves the trophy, and he had to pull from within. He had to dig in deep, and he had to believe in himself all the way through this.”

“He’s put himself through all those mental challenges, and today he persevered. He didn’t break down and he brought home a victory, so we’re all very proud of him.”

Surprising: Brakes, or the lack thereof, were responsible for some of the bigger crashes of the day, especially for Cole Whitt, who crashed his No. 26 Bully Hill Vineyards Toyota Camry surprisingly hard into the tire barriers, finishing 43rd.

“It just seemed like something in the rear brakes faded or just actually just completely lost them going into (turn) one,” Whitt said. “It seemed like the front was trying to stop but the rear wasn’t at all and the pedal was just going to the floor on brakes. Not a whole lot you can do there. I was trying to get it turned but there was no way I was going to be able to.”

“Sucks for the guys but I know we’ll rebound.”

Past champion Brad Keselowski also suffered from tire issues, finishing a surprising 35<sup>th</sup> in his No. 2 Miller Lite Ford.

“We had something in the brakes that broke,” Keselowski said. “At Watkins Glen you can’t run without brakes.”

Not Surprising: Matt Kenseth, still without a win, continued his run of good points days, advancing one spot up to third, just 70 behind new points leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kenseth was the top-finishing Toyota driver with a ninth-place result in the race at the Glen.

“It was an okay finish,” the driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota, said. “Things didn’t pan out quite as we were hoping. But, overall not a terrible day.”

Surprising: Danica Patrick was making quite the bear bond fashion statement after surviving an accident in practice, as well as one during the race. The driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet soldiered on in her bear-bonded race car to finish 21st, after gaining 22 spots

“It was a tough day,” Patrick said. “It was a long race, but Gibson (Tony, crew chief) and the GoDaddy guys worked on the car and we got a 21st out of it, which isn’t bad with the weekend we had.”

Not Surprising: Regan Smith, who was called on at the last minute to replace Tony Stewart in the race, summed up the situation best after an on-track incident at lap 81 caused him to finish 37th.

“It’s my job to be able to drive a race car and it took me a little longer to get acclimated than I would have hoped it would and felt like at the end there I was finally starting to make some progress and I was able to get consistent with the car and understood the car a little better and what it was doing,” the substitute driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevrolet said. “These guys build fast race cars at Stewart-Haas and I was thankful to get to get in one. Definitely not under the circumstances.”

“My day really doesn’t matter right now,” Smith continued. “There are a lot of people more important than me at the moment; so we’re thinking about all those people and our prayers are with them.”

August 12, 2014
The Final Word – Tragedy in New York

Watkins Glen might have hosted the action on Sunday, but it was Saturday night at the Canandaigua Motorsports Park a hundred miles away that drew our attention.

Amateur video shows Kevin Ward Jr racing his Sprint car against Tony Stewart, winding up brushed against the wall and out of action. The 20-year old unbuckled himself, came out of his car, walking toward the cars running under caution. He appeared upset at being taken out of the race, apparently pointing toward Stewart.

We see the car in front of Stewart go past, as Ward appears to take a slight step to his left, away from the car as the video briefly follows it before panning back to pick up Stewart. It happens so fast, so I pause the video showing the young man halfway down the track as Stewart’s car appears in the frame. It appears to be passing him, then Ward is gone. In less than two seconds, his body is flung upward, dragged, then tossed for yards before coming to rest down the track. The crowd reacts as emergency personnel race to his still form.

There are some who claim, in watching the same video, that it shows a deliberate action. It does not. Due to the angle, we do not know the precise distance Ward was standing from Stewart’s, or even the previous car, as it passed. We do know that it was close. There are those who claim Stewart gunned his car as he passed, causing it to fish-tail toward the young man.

In going over the video numerous times I cannot tell for certain if the end of Tony’s car initially flipped ever so slightly to the right or not. If it did, it could not have been by more than a couple of inches, if that. I do know it definitely moves left. In his anger, Ward may have approached too close, within mere inches to the side of Stewart’s moving car, to his rear tires. So close that any slight movement, or no movement at all, was going to catch him. Even under caution the cars were still moving at a fair clip. The engine of Stewart’s car does sound like it revs up, either through a brief acceleration or the car broke traction on the dirt track instantaneously with making contact; contact that appears to have been made with Stewart’s rear right tire.

On Sunday, Stewart did not race. Regan Smith drove for him, as the winless Stewart drops nearly a hundred points out of a Chase place. It was a day of celebration for first time Cup winner A.J. Allmendinger, who shared his condolences for what had taken place the day before even as he secured a Chase berth of his own.

It was a race that featured a great battle in the end between Allmendinger and Marcos Ambrose. It featured a terrible crash that saw both Ryan Newman and Michael McDowell walk away from pieces of scrap metal. It saw a bid by Jeff Gordon end when he lost power, Denny Hamlin lost his along with his brake fluid even before finding some barrels to destroy later on, and Kyle Busch left with a gas can and shortly after left with a blown tire.

With four to go, a dozen Chase spots have been claimed by race winners with only four left on points unless another first time victor emerges at Michigan, Bristol, Atlanta, or Richmond. Tony Stewart may be there to contend, but today his thoughts no doubt are understandably with a young man and a track a hundred miles from Watkins Glen.

SWEET SIXTEEN
1 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 3 Wins – 773 Points
2 – Brad Keselowski – 3 – 696
3 – Jimmie Johnson – 3 – 650
4 – Jeff Gordon – 2 – 768
5 – Joey Logano – 2 – 671
6 – Carl Edwards – 2 – 658
7 – Kevin Harvick – 2 – 645
8 – Kyle Busch – 1 – 615
9 – Denny Hamlin – 1 – 552
10 – Kurt Busch – 1 – 539
11 – Aric Almirola – 1 – 532
12 – A.J. Allmendinger – 1 – 525
13 – Matt Kenseth – 0 – 703
14 – Ryan Newman – 0 – 645
15 – Kyle Larson – 0 – 635
16 – Clint Bowyer – 0 – 634

CONTENDERS & PRETENDERS
17 – Greg Biffle – 0 Wins – 626 Points
18 – Kasey Kahne – 0 – 622
19 – Austin Dillon – 0 – 616
20 – Marcos Ambrose – 0 – 584
21 – Paul Menard – 0 – 574
22 – Brian Vickers – 0 – 573
23 – Jamie McMurray – 0 – 566
24 – Tony Stewart – 0 – 537
25 – Casey Mears – 0 – 516
26 – Martin Truex, Jr. – 0 – 508
27 – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – 0 – 447
28 – Danica Patrick – 0 – 419
29 – Justin Allgaier – 0 – 398
30 – Michael Annett – 0 – 360
31 – David Gilliland – 0 – 334
32 – David Ragan – 0 – 312

August 11, 2014
Allmendinger Wins At The Glen & Updated Chase Grid

With drivers racing with heavy hearts following the tragic incident involving Tony Stewart and Sprint Car driver Kevin Ward Jr., the world’s best stock car drivers knew they had to put on a great show to allow the fans to forget about the events that occurred, even if it was for just a few hours.

When you see finishes like 2012’s epic duel between Marcos Ambrose and Brad Keselowski, or last year’s battle between Keselowski and Kyle Busch, you know Watkins Glen can put on one heck of a show. Not to mention, with the new chase rules, if you win a race within the first 26 races (and attempt to qualify for every race as well as remain in the top 30 in points) you will be eligible for the chase.

We’ve already seen one first time winner this season when Aric Almirola took the checkered flag at Daytona, and for the first time since 2011, we now have two first-time winners in one season.

Judging by the first few laps of the race, it appeared that Jeff Gordon and the heavily favored Ambrose were going to battle it out all day for the trophy, until Gordon’s car lost power around lap 50. Gordon ended up finishing the race in 34th position, four laps down.

Ambrose was unsurprisingly solid all day long, having the best average running position (third) and highest driver rating (130.9). However, Gordon’s misfortunes may have opened the door for a driver whom everyone thought was a contender for the victory, A.J. Allmedinger. And he did not disappoint.

After taking the lead on a restart after a massive red-flag-causing wreck involving Ryan Newman, Danica Patrick, Michael McDowell, Greg Biffle and Alex Bowman, not even Ambrose could shake Allmendinger from the top spot. Even when Denny Hamlin, Alex Kennedy and Reed Sorenson wrecked with just a few laps to go, setting up a restart with just two laps to go, Allmedinger was able to defeat Ambrose by 1.160 seconds and claim his spot in the chase. With Allmendinger’s victory, here’s a look at the updated chase grid as well as five drivers who are on the outside looking in.

1) Dale Earnhardt, Jr., 3 wins, 1st in points.

2) Brad Keselowski, 3 wins, 4th in points.

3) Jimmie Johnson, 3 wins, 7th in points

4) Jeff Gordon, 2 wins, 2nd in points

5) Joey Logano, 2 wins, 5th in points

6) Carl Edwards, 2 wins, 6th in points

7) Kevin Harvick, 2 wins, 9th in points

8) Kyle Busch, 1 win, 15th in points

9) Denny Hamlin, 1 win, 20th in points

10) Kurt Busch, 1 win, 21st in points

11) Aric Almirola, 1 win, 23rd in points

12) A.J. Allmendinger, 1 win, 24th in points

13) Matt Kenseth, 0 wins, 3rd in points

14) Ryan Newman, 0 wins, 8th in points

15) Kyle Larson, 0 wins, 10th in points

16) Clint Bowyer, 0 wins, 11th in points

Outside Looking In:

Greg Biffle, 8 points behind Bowyer

Kasey Kahne, 12 points behind Bowyer

Austin Dillon, 18 points behind Bowyer

Marcos Ambrose, 50 points behind Bowyer

Paul Menard, 60 points behind Bowyer

August 11, 2014
The Final Word – Daytona and Talladega I get, but Junior is the King of Pocono?

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is having a rather pleasant season thus far. On Sunday, he swept the season series at Pocono, upped his count to three wins this term, tops the standings, and is second only to Jeff Gordon in accumulated points. No bad at all.

Gordon actually had the car to beat on the day, leading the most laps, but with 39 to go he stayed out while Junior hit the pits. That allowed his teammate to gas and go with 10 remaining, while Gordon required full service, and that was that. Gordon finished sixth, leaving Kevin Harvick to fill up Junior’s rear view as they ticked down to the end, with Harvick claiming the runner-up spot.

Three years ago at Sonoma, Brian Vickers had enough of Tony Stewart and wound up parking Smoke atop a stack of tires. On Sunday, Vickers again caused Stewart to end up jacked up, though not intentionally. Denny Hamlin lost traction, almost spun, causing Vickers to ponder evasive action. That was enough to send his car into Matt Kenseth, which caused one heck of a mess behind them, including Stewart parked atop Paul Menard’s ride.

That meant Stewart failed to get his much needed win. Kenseth remains the points leader amongst the winless. Menard needs a win, not another car. Jimmie Johnson has his three wins, but tire woes meant wall woes as he was done in 39th. Kyle Busch does not smoke, but his car did after 20-odd laps to leave him 42nd. As for Ms. Patrick, she failed to make it over the Danica-line as she came home 30th. She was a solid Top-10 early but smacked the wall, which caused her tire to blow a lap later, which pretty much shot the handling after that. Just another day in paradise.

This Sunday, Watkins Glen provides the test, where Patrick finished 20th in her first attempt. Marcos Ambrose won there in 2011, and he sure could another one this weekend. Same goes for Stewart, who has claimed it five times. Both usually do quite well turning left and right, while a win would turn one of them right into a place in the Chase.

THE SWEET SIXTEEN

1 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 3 Wins – 740 Points
2 – Brad Keselowski – 3 – 687
3 – Jimmie Johnson – 3 – 633
4 – Jeff Gordon – 2 – 757
5 – Joey Logano – 2 – 633
6 – Carl Edwards – 2 – 618
7 – Kevin Harvick – 2 – 608
8 – Kyle Busch – 1 – 611
9 – Denny Hamlin – 1 – 532
10 – Aric Almirola – 1 – 506
11 – Kurt Busch – 1 – 488
12 – Matt Kenseth – 0 – 668
13 – Ryan Newman – 0 – 642
14 – Clint Bowyer – 0 – 617
15 – Kyle Larson – 0 – 595
16 – Greg Biffle – 0 – 590

CONTENDERS & PRETENDERS
17 – Kasey Kahne – 0 Wins – 589 Points
18 – Austin Dillon – 0 – 588
19 – Paul Menard – 0 – 562
20 – Marcos Ambrose – 0 – 541
21 – Brian Vickers – 0 – 539
22 – Tony Stewart – 0 – 537
23 – Jamie McMurray – 0 – 536
24 – Casey Mears – 0 – 487
25 – A.J. Allmendinger – 0 – 477
26 – Martin Truex, Jr. – 0 – 477
27 – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – 0 – 423
28 – Danica Patrick – 0 – 396
29 – Justin Allgaier – 0 – 371
30 – Michael Annett – 0 – 347
31 – David Gilliland – 0 – 312
32 – Cole Whitt – 0 – 305

August 5, 2014
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Pocono

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Earnhardt used a no-tire pit stop to take the lead and subdued the challenge of Kevin Harvick down the stretch to win the GoBowling.Com 400 at Pocono. The victory completed Earnhardt’s season sweep at the “Tricky Triangle” and was his third win of the year.

“That’s the first season sweep at Pocono since Denny Hamlin’s in 2006,” Earnhardt said. “Normally, I would celebrate with a broom, but I can’t. I developed an aversion to brooms when I discovered that Teresa Earnhardt rode them.

“The fans of Junior Nation will certainly party. I’m not sure they’re that into bowling, though. They couldn’t tell you anything about PBA, but they sure know a lot about PBR.”

2. Jeff Gordon: Gordon led a race-high 63 laps at Pocono but fell victim to lack of track position and some untimely cautions, finishing sixth. He remains atop the Sprint Cup points standings with a 17-point lead over Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“Junior’s No. 88 car had the name ‘Michael Baker’ all over it,” Gordon said. “That had to be a new experience for Earnhardt. It’s not often people see the No. 88 car and have to ask, ‘Who is that?’”

3. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski survived an unlucky day at Pocono, salvaging a 23rd-place finish, one lap down to the leaders. Keselowski damaged the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford with after contact with Kurt Busch on lap two, then was an unwilling participant in the lap 117 “Big One.”

“Thanks, Kurt Busch,” Keselowski said. “Just like the last race at Pocono, I had a run-in with a ‘piece of trash.’”

4. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson suffered two blown tires, the last of which sent him into the wall, ending his day at Pocono on lap 111. He finished 39th, 49 laps down.

“We’ve had our share of tires issues this season,” Johnson said. “It’s not a big deal to us. That’s called ‘underinflating’ the severity of an issue, just the opposite of what Goodyear thinks.

“We’ve finished 39th or worse in three of the last five races. But don’t count us out once the Chase starts. Chad Knaus has a lot of things up his sleeve, including a sandbag of tricks.”

5. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth was collected in a lap 117 pileup triggered when Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin got loose, causing Brian Vickers to check up and create mayhem behind him. Thirteen cars were involved in the accident and Kenseth finished 38th.

“It was the GoBowling.Com 400,” Kenseth said, “and I’d like to pin the blame on Hamlin. But congratulations go to Dale Earnhardt Jr. He deserves to celebrate, not in Victory Lane, but in Victory Alley.”

6. Joey Logano: Logano led 30 laps and posted a strong third-place finish at Pocono, earning his eighth top-five of the year. He is seventh in the points standings, 124 behind Jeff Gordon.

“Richard Petty was the grand marshal for the GoBowling.Com 400,” Logano said. “In the Poconos, they call that being the ‘King Of The Mountain.’

“I’ve always had a ton of respect for Petty. Now I’ve got even more after realizing he raced against Morgan Shepherd for over 20 years and lived to tell about it.”

7. Carl Edwards: Edwards finished a disappointing 29th at Pocono as Dale Earnhardt Jr. raced to the win. He is eighth in the points standings, 139 out of first.

“I’m going to blame this on a preoccupation with thoughts of where I’ll be driving next year,” Edwards said. “As was evident at Pocono, my mind was racing, but I wasn’t.”

8. Ryan Newman: Once again, Newman was solid for Richard Childress Racing, taking eighth in the GoBowling.Com 400.

“It was an otherwise tough day for RCR,” Newman said. “Austin Dillon finished 15th while Paul Menard finished 33rd, under Tony Stewart’s No. 14 after that big wreck on lap 117. I hear it’s no fun looking up and seeing Stewart on top of you. But at least Tony was awake.”

9. Kevin Harvick: Harvick chased Dale Earnhardt Jr. for three laps after the final restart at Pocono, but couldn’t get around the No. 88 car. Harvick settled for second, his fourth runner-up finish of the year.

“After a pit road speeding penalty and damage from the lap 117 wreck,” Harvick said, “I was ‘Happy’ to be in that position.”

10. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer finished fourth in the GoBowling.Com 400, boosting his Chase For The Cup chances with five races left until the playoffs. He stands ninth in the Sprint Cup points standings, 140 out of first.

“No team needs a win more than Michael Waltrip Racing,” Bowyer said. “I think all we need is a lively pep talk from Michael. And I think that should work. Everybody knows Michael makes a great cheerleader.”

August 4, 2014
Surprising and Not Surprising: Pocono GoBowling.com 400

From the impact of crew chief suspensions inspired by the No. 11 Denny Hamlin penalty to the forecasted rain that never reared its ugly head, here is what else was surprising and not surprising in the 41^st Annual GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway.

Surprising: They may have swept Pocono for the first time since Denny Hamlin did it in 2006 and also scored their third victory of the season, but what Dale Earnhardt Jr. and crew chief Steve Letarte were most eloquent about after the race was their praise for the positive impact of team owner Rick Hendrick on their lives.

“I just told him thanks for believing in me and making my life better,” Dale Jr. said of the call he made to Mr. H. in Victory Lane. “He has that effect on all the people that work for him. He makes everybody’s life better.”

“He put me with Steve and I think that Steve was in a place where he was looking for something new and I was definitely needing something new, and it worked out,” Earnhardt Jr. continued. “I was, it was a touch and go there for a while, but we have worked, we have done some good things together and we have continued to get better and we finally are realizing that potential and doing the things on the racetrack that we dreamed about doing when we first started working together.”

“Mr. Hendrick has helped me become a better person, put me around people that influence me to be a better person, so just want him to know that I appreciate it.”

“He’s the kind of guy that through the low times in your life you can lean on and you don’t worry about talking to him about it,” crew chief Steve Letarte said of Mr. H, in support of his driver’s opinion. “He’s given me a tremendous amount of advice without probably ever even knowing it. He’s just that kind of guy.”

“People don’t work at Hendrick Motorsports because we win races, people work at Hendrick Motorsports because they want to work for Rick Hendrick and that’s a big difference.”

Not Surprising: Jeff Gordon may not have won the race in spite of leading 63 laps, but he did achieve two career milestones as a result of his sixth place run in the GoBowling.com 400. The driver of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet broke the 24,000 career laps led mark and also achieved the milestone of leading 1,000 laps at Pocono Raceway.

“I’m really happy with the way our car performed,” Gordon said. “It’s just so awesome and encouraging and has got my confidence sky high. And I just can’t wait to get to the next race.”

Surprising: Tony Stewart and Paul Menard had a close encounter of the on-top-of-each-other-yet-again kind after a multi-car pileup on Lap 118.

“I told Tony the last time we did that was about two years ago at Talladega,” Menard, driver of the No. 27 Certainteed/Menards Chevrolet, said. “So, we have got to stop doing that.”

“Yeah, I tend to end up on Paul (Menard) a lot,” Stewart said, followed by a quick clarifying statement. “Car wise, our cars tend to end up on top of each other for some reason.”

“I think that is the second time I’ve landed on top of him,” Smoke continued. “This time at least we weren’t’ looking windshield in at each other.”

Not Surprising: For at least one driver, who officially locked himself into the Chase with his second place Pocono finish, there were lessons to be learned at the Tricky Triangle.

Kevin Harvick described his team’s biggest lesson learned as the ability to scramble after suffering damage in the multi-car wreck that sent their car into a drain and then the wall.

“Well, I think today was very important,” the driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Chevrolet said. “We didn’t have the car that we wanted, I felt like we had a top three car today, we were going to need track position and things were not really going well.”

“They were able to fix the car after we wrecked it,” Harvick continued. “So that’s what we talked about as we came back from the break was just scrambling, being able to scramble and get a finish of some sort to get something out of a day.”

“That’s what you’re going to have to do the last 10 weeks and today we were able to accomplish that and hopefully this is a good sign of things to come.”

Surprising: Danica Patrick and Jimmie Johnson had one surprising thing in common at Pocono. Both of their races were pretty much ruined by tire issues, which coincided with hitting the wall issues as well.

Six-time champ Johnson had his tires go down twice, once early in the race and the second time on lap 113, sending him into the wall.

Patrick actually hit the outside wall first on lap 14, which resulted in a severe tire rub. Just one lap later, her right-rear tire failed as she was trying to make her way to pit road.

Johnson finished 39^th and Patrick ended her day in the 30^th spot.

“Unfortunately, we had some trouble early and were able to really rally back and get ourselves in the top-five,” the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet said. “So disappointed for sure, but really unclear as to what happened going into Turn 2. The car went straight down into the Tunnel Turn.”

“I feel so badly that I started the problems when I hit the fence there in Turn 2,” the driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet said. “I just wish I would have been smart enough to bring our GoDaddy Chevy to pit lane as soon as it happened, but sometimes tire rubs seem worse than what they are, so I stayed out there and we lost the tire.”

“I’m really disappointed, and I know all the guys are, too.”

Not Surprising: After scoring the pole with a new Pocono track record of 183.438 mph and 49.063 seconds, it was not surprising for rookie Kyle Larson to yet again score Rookie of the Race honors with his 12^th place race run.

NASCAR Camping World Truck race winner and Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Austin Dillon finished in the 15^th position as the next highest rookie runner.

Surprising: While Kyle Busch is quite often the dominant Toyota, the driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing, exited early with some sort of engine issue and Clint Bowyer instead led the charge in his No. 15 RK Motors Charlotte Toyota Camry, finishing 4^th.

“We had a good car all weekend and we unloaded good,” Bowyer said. “I’m proud of (Brian) Pattie (crew chief) and all these guys that work so hard.”

“It’s the work during the week, day in and day out, that makes the difference when you come to these weekends and it’s good to be getting a good finish.”

Not Surprising: Denny Hamlin, sans his regular crew chief Darian Grubb, deemed his substitute crew chief Mike Wheeler good after a top-10 finish at the Tricky Triangle.

“You know, he (Mike Wheeler) did a really good job,” the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota said. “He called the race nice. Good communication and we were on the same strategy as far as what I was thinking and what he was thinking so that was good.”

“So really pretty seamless for the most part.”

Surprising: Matt Kenseth’s predictions of Pocono not being the best track for him came true when he finished a disappointing 38^th after having his car destroyed in the Pocono version of the ‘Big One.’

“It’s never been a wonderful track for me,” Kenseth said prophetically prior to the race. And after the race, he simply said. “We just got all collected.”

Not Surprising: There was at least one driver that was ready to accept his 15^th place finish and head on to the road course at Watkins Glen for next weekend’s race.

“If you had asked me at the start of the day would I take a top-15 finish, I would have said yes but it was just a little frustrating there at the end,” Marcos Ambrose, driver of the No. 9 DeWalt Ford Said. “We had some issues and I probably let a few spots go, but we’ll keep digging and keep working on it.”

“It’s frustrating for all of us to not be as competitive at these downforce tracks as we want, but we’ve got a good one next week coming up and hopefully we can get rolling there.”

August 4, 2014

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Wins and Sweeps at Pocono Raceway

In 2006 it was Denny Hamlin. This time around, it was Dale Earnhardt Jr. who won for the second time this year at Pocono Raceway, effectively sweeping the season. Earnhardt picked up his third win of the season and his 22nd career victory in NASCAR’s most elite series. The last time he swept a race was in 2002 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Earnhardt credited the win to a team effort led by crew chief Steve Letarte saying, “Steve did a great job, really, with his strategy to get in that position. We’re not in that position just on car alone. We had a fast car and I drove a good race, but Steve’s strategy gave us a chance to win.”

Letarte cited the work the team has done since their first visit to the track earlier this season.

“I feel we unloaded a better car for the second Pocono than we did the first Pocono,” he said. “You cannot ever assume a winning car is going to be good enough the next week. While we were excited to win (in June) and we’ll take it, there was room for improvement, so we worked very hard between that race and this race.”

Coming in second in the GoBowling.com 400 was Kevin Harvick who definitely had his fair share of battles today, and third was Joey Logano.

The dominant car of the race was Jeff Gordon. After leading a race-high 63 laps, the No. 88 team strategy bested Gordon, and ultimately left the five-time Brickyard winner to finish a disheartening sixth place. Fortunately for Gordon and his fans, he was able to maintain the regular season points lead.

The race started when there was nearly a caution on lap one when Brad Keselowski almost lost his car after Kurt Busch attempted a pass of the No. 2 car. Fortunately, the race continued on smoothly until Jimmie Johnson encountered his first problem of the day.

The first caution of the day came when debris was reported on the track after Johnson brushed the wall and as soon as he went down, a tire blew. The 48 team went a lap down but almost immediately regained it when yet another caution came out.

Danica Patrick brought out the second caution while running in 10th as she clipped the wall which resulted in a blown tire.

Another two cautions were brought out and Kyle Busch’s day ended early when he encountered engine issues. After that, the race remained relatively quiet, despite the fact that there were three different pit strategies going on by the time that Johnson hit the wall and ruined his day.

On the restart, Denny Hamlin got a little loose which caused a 13 car accident that was reminiscent of what you would expect to see on a superspeedway like Talladega or Daytona. Cars that ran so well earlier in the day suddenly found themselves behind the wall. Drivers like Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, and Carl Edwards found themselves out of the running.

Another driver involved in the accident was race runner-up Kevin Harvick.

Under this caution, eventual race winner Earnhardt chose to pit, making it so he would only have to pit once more and only for a splash of gas when the time arose.

When the race restarted on lap 126 drivers were wary of gas, and it turns out that that wouldn’t be an issue, as the race went on to have two more cautions. On the first one, Earnhardt was able to take the lead for the first time and after the second caution, he was able to hold off a hard charging Harvick with three laps to go, and take the win.

The fourth place finisher was Clint Bowyer who ran strongly throughout the entirety of the race and fifth place went to Greg Biffle.

Jeff Gordon retains the points lead by 17 over second place Dale Earnhardt Jr. Brad Keselowski (-70) is third followed by Matt Kenseth (-89) and Ryan Newman (-115).

Complete Results for the GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway:

Position	Car No.	Driver
1	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2	4	Kevin Harvick
3	22	Joey Logano
4	15	Clint Bowyer
5	16	Greg Biffle
6	24	Jeff Gordon
7	1	Jamie McMurray
8	31	Ryan Newman
9	11	Denny Hamlin
10	5	Kasey Kahne
11	42	Kyle Larson
12	13	Casey Mears
13	41	Kurt Busch
14	9	Marcos Ambrose
15	3	Austin Dillon
16	51	Justin Allgaier
17	38	David Gilliland
18	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
19	34	David Ragan
20	83	Ryan Truex
21	26	Cole Whitt
22	7	Michael Annett
23	2	Brad Keselowski
24	98	Josh Wise
25	32	Travis Kvapil
26	37	Dave Blaney
27	36	Reed Sorenson
28	33	Alex Kennedy
29	99	Carl Edwards
30	10	Danica Patrick
31	23	Alex Bowman
32	78	Martin Truex Jr.
33	27	Paul Menard
34	47	AJ Allmendinger
35	43	Aric Almirola
36	14	Tony Stewart
37	55	Brain Vickers
38	20	Matt Kenseth
39	48	Jimmie Johnson
40	66	Joe Nemechek
41	40	Landon Cassill
42	18	Kyle Busch
43	93	Johnny Sauter

August 3, 2014

Rookie Kyle Larson Wins First Career Pole at Tricky Triangle

Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender and Drive4Diversity grad Kyle Larson scored his first career pole behind the wheel of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet at one of the most demanding tracks on the circuit, Pocono Raceway.

Larson took the pole in knock out qualifying with a track record speed of 183.438 mph and 49.063 seconds, qualifying him for the Sprint Unlimited. He joins rival Austin Dillon, who scored his first pole at the Daytona 500 to open the season, in rookie pole runs.

“It’s great to get my first real pole,” Larson said. “I got the pole at Richmond but that was due to qualifying rain and we were quickest in practice. This time we got to beat the rain and actually earn the pole.”

“It was an exciting third round and I had some butterflies actually going into it,” Larson continued. “I was definitely nervous. I felt like I hit all three corners as good as I could. I barely edged out Joey and he has been fast in qualifying.”

“It feels really good and allows me the confidence for Sunday.”

Right behind the rookie were the Penske duo of Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski, with speeds of 183.408 mph and 182.700 mph respectively. Logano has 17 top-ten starts and Keselowski is right behind him with 16 top-ten starts for the season.

“My Shell Pennzoil Ford is really fast,” the driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford said after qualifying. “We unload today and we were loose but the car had a lot of speed in it. We definitely made some good adjustments and in qualifying trim we were decent.”

“The first lap was really good and we tried to keep up with the cycle of tires and fuel,” Logano continued. “We ran the third session really hard and I felt like we nailed the balance and all three corners.”

“I was pretty confident that that was going to be the pole and then we got beat,” Logano said. “This is our sixth front row start of the season, which is good but second sucks. It’s still something to be proud of so we have two fast race cars. I thought my lap was damn near perfect but we got beat.”

Penske teammate Brad Keselowski echoed many of Logano’s sentiments in his shortened media availability due to his travel to Iowa for the Nationwide race.

“Third is a respectable effort,” the driver of the No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford said. “I always want the pole but we had to make an extra run there in the second session and that took us away from having a legitimate run with Kyle.”

“Strong effort. You can win from third and we’re happy with that and we’ll move on.”

As to his heading off to the Midwest after his qualifying at Pocono, Keselowski said that someone had to do that race and so he elected to make the trip.

“I enjoy Iowa,” Keselowski said. “The track has been good to me. Someone had to run it, either Joey or me. So, when we sat down at the start of the year to figure out who was going to start where, this was one that I thought would be good.”

Kurt Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet, and most recent race winner at the Brickyard Jeff Gordon, in the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet, rounded out the top-five in qualifying.

“I had a good turns one and two,” Busch said. “Just got in there and got a little bit too low and got the car out of the track and then had to peddle it all the way from the center out.”

“Still a good lap. The guys have done a good job and just have to get it right for race trim now.”

Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Danica Patrick qualified in the sixth through tenth positions for the 41^st Annual GoBowling.com 400. The rest of the starting grid is as follows:

Pos		Driver	Sponsor	Make
1	42	Kyle Larson	Target	Chevrolet
2	22	Joey Logano	Shell Pennzoil	Ford
3	2	Brad Keselowski	Alliance Truck Parts	Ford
4	41	Kurt Busch	Haas Automation	Chevrolet
5	24	Jeff Gordon	Axalta	Chevrolet
6	4	Kevin Harvick	Mobil 1	Chevrolet
7	18	Kyle Busch	M&M’s	Toyota
8	1	Jamie McMurray	Bad Boy Buggies	Chevrolet
9	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Michael Baker International	Chevrolet
10	10	Danica Patrick	GoDaddy	Chevrolet
11	3	Austin Dillon	American Ethanol	Chevrolet
12	5	Kasey Kahne	Farmers Insurance	Chevrolet
13	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Office	Toyota
14	15	Clint Bowyer	RK Motors Charlotte	Toyota
15	55	Brian Vickers	Aaron’s Dream Machine	Toyota
16	14	Tony Stewart	Code 3 Associates/Mobil 1	Chevrolet
17	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe’s	Chevrolet
18	20	Matt Kenseth	Dollar General	Toyota
19	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row	Chevrolet
20	47	AJ Allmendinger	Scott Products	Chevrolet
21	31	Ryan Newman	Quicken Loans	Chevrolet
22	51	Justin Allgaier	AccuDoc Solutions	Chevrolet
23	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford EcoBoost	Ford
24	13	Casey Mears	GEICO	Chevrolet
25	16	Greg Biffle	3M	Ford
26	99	Carl Edwards	Fastenal	Ford
27	9	Marcos Ambrose	DeWalt	Ford
28	43	Aric Almirola	GoBowling.com	Ford
29	27	Paul Menard	CertainTeed/Menards	Chevrolet
30	38	David Gilliland	Long John Silver’s	Ford
31	98	Josh Wise	Phil Parsons Racing	Chevrolet
32	40	Landon Cassill	Newton Building Supplies	Chevrolet
33	26	Cole Whitt	Toyota of Scranton	Toyota
34	32	Travis Kvapil	FAS Lane Racing	Ford
35	36	Reed Sorenson	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet
36	23	Alex Bowman	Dr. Pepper	Toyota
37	83	Ryan Truex	Burger King	Toyota
38	7	Michael Annett	Pilot Flying J	Chevrolet
39	34	David Ragan	A&W Root Beer Float	Ford
40	37	Dave Blaney	Accell Construction	Chevrolet
41	66	Joe Nemechek	Land Castle Title	Toyota
42	33	Alex Kennedy	Little Joe’s Autos	Chevrolet
43	93	Johnny Sauter	Dr. Pepper	Toyota

August 1, 2014

Statistical Breakdown: 2014 Brickyard 400

As an avid NASCAR fan, I love NASCAR statistics. I mean really love them. Beyond the typical top fives, top 10s, poles and other statistics you can easily find on most NASCAR-related websites, there is a smorgasbord of statistics available that you probably never knew existed. This information is compiled from loop data that NASCAR has accumulated since 2005 when they began using computerized scoring loops to improve the accuracy of scoring during races.

The driver rating is probably the best indicator of a driver’s overall performance. A perfect score is 150.0. It’s based on a formula that takes into account a variety of statistics such as finishing order, average running position, average speed and fastest lap. Bonus points are also a consideration. This is one of the tools that team owners and drivers can use to evaluate and improve their success on the track.

I’ve listed below the latest numbers generated from the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Average Running Position

Highest Average Running Position: Kasey Kahne – 4th

Lowest Average Running Position: Alex Bowman – 41^st

Passing Breakdown

Highest Percent of Quality Passes: (A quality pass is made when a driver passes a car running in the top 15 under green flag conditions). Brian Vickers: 50 percent

Highest Number of Quality Passes: Austin Dillon and Brian Vickers with 39 each.

Highest Number of Passes made under green flag conditions: Marcos Ambrose: 108

Lowest Number of Passes made under green flag conditions: Alex Bowman: 18

Highest Number of Times Passed under green flag conditions: Ryan Newman: 115

Lowest Number of Times Passed under green flag conditions: Alex Bowman: 13

Highest Differential between green flag passes and green flag times passed: Aric Almirola: 35

Lowest Differential between green flag passes and green flag times passed: Clint Bowyer: 25

Laps Breakdown

Highest Number of Fastest Laps: Jeff Gordon: 52

Highest Number of Laps in the Top 15: Kevin Harvick: 153

Driver Rating (A perfect driver rating is 150.0.)

Highest Driver Rating: Jeff Gordon: 138.4

Lowest Driver Rating; Alex Bowman: 24.8

August 1, 2014