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  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Sprint Unlimited

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Sprint Unlimited

    After an off-season filled with snow, as well as major changes in the rules of the sport, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 2014 Sprint Unlimited.

    Surprising:  After twenty Sprint Unlimited victories for Chevrolet, it was surprising that Toyota was in Victory Lane instead. Denny Hamlin won the non-points race, scoring his second win in the Sprint Unlimited at Daytona and becoming the ninth driver to win multiple times.

    “The best car won, that’s for sure,” Hamlin said. “It was survival of the fittest.”

    “This car was just phenomenal.”

    Not Surprising:  Daytona International Speedway, especially under a full moon, seems to lend itself to something catching on fire. This time, however, it was the pace car that burst into flames, causing Brett Bodine and a passenger to bail out as quickly as they could.

    “The pace car experienced a fire in the trunk area, which contains a purpose-built auxiliary electrical kit to operate the numerous caution lights during the race,” Chevrolet said in a statement. “The pace car driver and passenger safely exited the vehicle. An assessment is underway.”

    Surprising:  While Jeff Gordon may have been jacked up with excitement thanks to his record of 20 consecutive Sprint Unlimited appearances, he was also jacked up, literally, in the race.

    The back end of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger was sent high in the air during a multi-car crash on lap 36, causing Gordon to have to settle for a 12th place finish.

    “Yeah when you get hit like that it’s pretty soft,” Gordon said. “I mean it sends you up in the air pretty good, but it’s not really that severe of an impact for me because the back of the car absorbs so much of it.”

    “I knew it was flying up in the air and I was just hoping it was going to sit back down on all four wheels,” Gordon continued. “The funny thing is that we slid in there and I was into Tony (Stewart) and I thought well I will try to drive it back.”

    “I put it in reverse I didn’t realize my rear tires were off the ground.”

    Not Surprising:  It may have been a small field, with just 18 cars on the track, but that did not stop tempers from flaring. Just ask Dale Earnhardt, Jr. who was none too happy with the driver from down under.

    “It looks like I was trying to get down a little bit there, and Marcos (Ambrose) went to the outside,” Junior said. “I didn’t know he was out there. Hard racing, and I was upset with him.”

    “A lot was happening right there and we just got turned around.”

    Surprising:  There was no one more surprised with the incident with Earnhardt, Jr. as Marcos Ambrose, especially since in his mind, he was just trying to help.

    “I was trying to help Junior there and ended up hurting him and hurting myself,” the driver of the No. 9 Stanley Ford said. “I was trying to push him and there was a little bit of a zig and a little bit of a zag and the next thing you know I helped him in the fence.”

    “That’s just what happens here.”

    Not Surprising:   While Danica Patrick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. remain romantically involved off the track, they certainly created sparks on the track when Stenhouse rammed Patrick after she got away clean from one of the Sprint Unlimited’s bigger wrecks.

    Not surprisingly, however, all was forgiven thanks to some dark chocolate from Godiva.

    “Well he got me 18 tin cans of Godiva dark chocolate for Valentine’s Day so I don’t know if he’s trying to butter me up,” Patrick said. “If his hood wouldn’t have been up and had the inability to see obviously there would have been more frustration.  It was one of those racing things.”

    Surprising:  Jimmie Johnson continued his streak of surprisingly poor finishes in the Sprint Unlimited, finishing 14th in the past two years and 18th this year.

    “The back of the car got light off of turn four there,” Johnson said. “The car went into a drift and for a second there I thought I could keep it off the inside wall, but the longer I slid the more the wall became a reality and I got it.”

    Not Surprising:  Kevin Harvick proved yet again that he is nicknamed ‘the Closer’ for good reason. In fact, the driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet was the only Stewart Haas Racing driver to finish the race, let alone finish in the top-five.

    “For us, we had a really good car,” Harvick said. “Led several laps in the beginning. Then on that restart we couldn’t get organized and wound up getting shuffled to the back.”

    “We about got lapped,” Harvick continued. “We kept working on it and working on it and the next thing you know, it was at least drivable and you could hold it wide open again.”

    “Heck at one point coming to the white flag, I thought we were going to win the race,” Harvick said. “To come out of here with a fifth place finish and do all the things they did to the car to make it go was pretty awesome.”

    Surprising:  There was no one more surprised than Kyle Busch with the sparse number of cars racing at the end of this year’s Sprint Unlimited.

    “There’s so little cars out there that you’re just kind of on your own trying to figure things out,” the driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota said after finishing third. “That’s kind of the way the race played out tonight.”

    “It was interesting there at the end and I don’t know that we’ve ever had so few cars at the end.”

    Not Surprising:  Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford for Team Penske, was no doubt humming Carol King’s song ‘So Far Away’ as he finished fourth.

    “I’m trying to relive it all in my head right now.  It’s crazy,” Logano said. “It’s just so frustrating when you’re that close. It’s so close and you can see it, but it’s so frustrating because you’re going as fast as you can and that’s all you’ve got.”

    “These things don’t mean anything unless you win.”

     

  • NASCAR 2014 Season Predictions

    NASCAR 2014 Season Predictions

    *Kyle Busch leads 54 laps and passes Ryan Newman on the final lap to win the Daytona 500, his first Sprint Cup win at the season opener. In a post-race interview with Erin Andrews, Busch announces that he and his wife Samantha are pregnant with their first child. Busch beams to Andrews that “I’m sure I’ll be a good father, because I know what it’s like to be a baby.”

    Busch finishes second in the Sprint Cup point standings, winning five races, and caps his year with a win at Homestead and his first Sprint Cup championship.

    *Tony Stewart vows to win his third Sprint Cup championship in 2014, and fans and other drivers notice his new attitude. Former teammate Ryan Newman quips in an interview at Daytona that Stewart seems to be “walking with a purpose, as well as a limp.”

    Stewart wins at Watkins Glen and qualifies for the Chase, but finishes a disappointing seventh in the final standings.

    *Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s No. 88 car gets a new sponsor just in time for the Daytona 500 when an online funeral planning service signs on for 12 races. The service, known as “Final-E” sees a boom in business after their logo appears on Earnhardt’s Chevy.

    Earnhardt finishes second in the Daytona 500, and wins at Daytona in July on his way to a fourth place finish in the Sprint Cup points standings.

    *Kevin Harvick coins the name “Two Men And A Babe, And Kurt Busch” to describe the Stewart-Haas Racing stable of Stewart, Harvick, Kurt Busch, and Danica Patrick after a heated drivers’ meeting following wreck at Fontana initiated by aggressive driving from Busch.

    Harvick, aided by new buddy Stewart, exacts his revenge the following week at Martinsville, where the two craft an elaborate hoax in which a phony façade of Busch’s hauler placed in front of a Port-A-Potty lures Busch into a trap. Once inside, Busch is fork-lifted to an outer parking lot, and is forced to walk back and misses qualifying.

    *E! Network and ABC collaborate on a new reality show called “Keeping Up With The Chase Format: Extreme Makeover: NASCAR Edition.” In the show, host Brad Daugherty roams around NASCAR events asking fans if they understand not only the Chase For The Cup format, but Daugherty’s hayseed, mountain drawl.

    *Richard Childress Racing rookie Austin Dillon bulls his way to the win in a wreck-filled race at Bristol on March 16, as only 22 cars are running at the end. In Victory Lane, Dillon salutes his detractors with a middle finger, then pops the top on a beer before shouting “Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!”

    The outburst makes Dillon a sensation, but also saddles the driver of the Childress No. 3 Chevy with the nickname “The Imitator.”

    *In an interview promoting a partnership between the No. 48 team and Caesar’s Palace before the March race in Las Vegas, Jimmie Johnson coins his quest for his seventh Sprint Cup championship “VIIni, VIIdi, VIIci.”

    Later, after International Speedway Corporation CEO Jim France makes Smith an insulting offer for Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Smith slaps France, leading a fallen France to quip, “Et tu, Bruton?”

    Johnson leads the points standings for most of the year, and heads to Homestead with a chance to win No. 7, but engine trouble ends his day. He finishes third in the points standings.

    *Danica Patrick and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. elope in Barbados on April 19th at a ceremony presided over by Russell Brand and streamed live on GoDaddy.com. Patrick wears a Vera Wang gown crafted from fire-suit material and accented with a HANS device and also featuring a plunging neckline that leaves little to the imagination.

    Patrick’s good fortune continues when she wins at Talladega on May 3rd, darting from 23rd to first on the final lap as a wild pileup eliminates half the field. A wild celebration ensues in Victory Lane, where Patrick delivers a message to her competitors, “There’s a party at my house. I hate to be ‘Petty,’ but no one’s invited, so you can all go home.”

    *In a new advertisement for ESPN’s Sportscenter, Clint Bowyer leads a spin class in the ESPN company workout facility, while Michael Waltrip is seen guiding a tour group from Finland around ESPN’s headquarters. The commercial ends when Bowyer and Waltrip dupe the tour group into paying a second admission fee before they’re busted by Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman, who accuse the MWR duo of “manipulating the Finnish.”

    *Carl Edwards is scheduled to make an appearance in the March 2nd episode of AMC’s The Walking Dead, in which he portrays the leader of a brainless following of half-dead dimwits, a group eerily similar to the Carl Edwards Fan Club.

    To publicize the event, the No. 99 sports a Subway/The Walking Dead paint scheme bearing the slogan, “Subway: Eat Flesh” at Phoenix. Edwards leads 88 laps and wins in a race that features only three lead changes. In Victory Lane, Edwards performs his trademark back flip while disappointed fans file out like zombies.

    *Matt Kenseth wins the Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 6th, and is presented the winner’s trophy by “Duck Dynasty” patriarch Phil Robertson, who oddly comments that his favorite parts of the 1.5-mile track are the “straights.”

    *After a crash at Kentucky Speedway on June 28th, Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards are summoned to the NASCAR hauler for a talk with NASCAR officials. Keselowski creates a firestorm when he tweets a picture from inside the hauler, a photo which shows he and Edwards smoking cigars and playing ping-pong while officials in the background relax in a hot tub.

    Keselowski is placed on probation for two weeks, while NASCAR bans cell phones and all liquids in excess of 3.4 ounces. 5-Hour Energy shots takes advantage of the opportunity, and becomes the official drink of drivers called to the NASCAR hauler.

    *June’s road race at Sonoma is delayed for three hours after a mild earthquake strikes the region, causing slight damage to the circuit’s surface. Swan Racing part-owner 50 Cent is seen inspecting a fissure in the track along pit road, leading to TNT’s Kyle Petty to make the controversial statement, “Well, he was a crack dealer.”

    50 laughs off the comment, and later in the year makes a big splash when, as honorary starter at Dover in June, eschews waving the green flag and instead fires a starters pistol nine times. In doing so, 50 becomes the first rapper to be “shot nine times” twice.

    *Gene Haas abandons his plan to enter Formula 1 and instead opts to field a funny car in the NHRA. Haas car flops, failing to qualify for a single final, and becomes the laughingstock in the drag racing garage, leading to the nickname “Funny Haas Haas.”

    *A healthy Denny Hamlin wins four races on the season, including March’s Martinsville race, where he fights off a challenge from Joey Logano, than challenges Logano to a fight after the race. Hamlin and Logano settle their differences in a charity 1-on-1 basketball game, which ends in a tie, 1-to-1.

    Hamlin qualifies for the “Elimination Round” of NASCAR’s revamped Chase For The Cup format, and wins at Phoenix on November 9th, but tweaks his back shaking an oversized champagne bottle and struggles the following week at Homestead.

  • Sprint Media Tour – Day Two – Furniture Row Racing and Hendrick Motorsports

    Sprint Media Tour – Day Two – Furniture Row Racing and Hendrick Motorsports

    The final two stops on day two of the tour featured Furniture Row Racing and Hendrick Motorsports. Furniture Row found its most success last season with Kurt Busch in the driver’s seat, but Busch has been replaced by Martin Truex, Jr., who piloted a Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota in 2013.

    Furniture Row is the only single car team to ever make the Chase and is the only Cup team headquartered west of the Mississippi River. Their alliance with Richard Childress Racing was hailed as vital to their performance.

    “Our team is intact from last year,” said team manager Joe Garone. “We didn’t want the season to end.” Crew Chief Todd Berrier said, “Things have come together very well with Martin. I felt like we had strong opportunities to win races last year, so we strengthened the things we needed to work on.”

    In an unusual turn of events, Truex was not at the press conference. After some jokes about where in the world he was, he appeared on the big screen during his vacation in the Caribbean. Questions were asked of Truex from a really long distance.

    “I know all of you are tired of hearing everyone say they are excited for this year, so I’ll just say I’m fired up, Truex said. “I couldn’t be more pleased about how the way things have gone. Luckily, we will be in the Chase. I’ve been in the Chase and kicked out of the Chase before. I want to take this team to the next level. I wanted to get away from last year and what happened at the end of the season and this situation helps a lot.”

    The final team on Day Two’s schedule was NASCAR’s most successful team of the last two decades, Hendrick Motorsports. The first question team owner Rick Hendrick was asked is what is most thrilling moment in the 30 years HMS has existed?

    “I think it will have to be when Ricky (Hendrick’s son who was killed in a plane crash near Martinsville, Virginia) won his truck race. My second most thrilling moment was when Geoff Bodine won the first race for HMS at Martinsville. We were about to close the doors on the operation, and those that close rarely ever open up again.”

    Asked about the changes to qualifying that NASCAR has proposed, the drivers (Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Dale Earnhardt, Jr.), all seemed to be in agreement.

    Johnson said if it was good for the sport and it would keep the grandstands full and television ratings high, he was all for it. Kahne felt it would give him a better shot of winning and starting near the front. Earnhardt said that he was “all for it,” and even though he does not like change, he has gotten used to it. Gordon said after watching Formula-1, he thinks it will create excitement for the race.

    When Hendrick was asked why he wasn’t heavily invested in the Nationwide Series, he said, “I had a development program a few years ago and it almost broke me, but helping Dale, Jr. has helped. I’ll help him to do that.”

    Other issues were discussed including the bet between Kyle Busch and Kahne on the Super Bowl. Kahne is an avid Seahawks fan and Busch is a Broncos fan. Who ever wins has to wear the other team’s jersey for a week. “I don’t want to wear an orange jersey under any circumstances,” Kahne said.

  • NASCAR BTS: Bob Pockrass ‘Humbled’ by NMPA Writer of the Year Honor

    NASCAR BTS: Bob Pockrass ‘Humbled’ by NMPA Writer of the Year Honor

    This week’s NASCAR Behind the Scenes focuses on one of the sports hardest working reporters Bob Pockrass, who received the National Motorsports Press Association’s highest honor this past weekend as Writer of the Year.

    And as is his typical style, Pockrass found the honor to be, in one word, humbling.

    “Well it means a great deal to me,” Pockrass said of the recognition. “When your work is put side by side with some of the other great writers that are in NMPA and that entered that contest, it’s very flattering and very humbling to have people think that you are worthy of that honor.”

    While flattered and humbled, however, Pockrass put the award in perspective, reflecting the real vision of how he approaches his writing and his work in the sport.

    “It’s great to be honored by people in the field but you always know that these decisions are a couple of people’s opinions so you don’t let it go to your head too much,” Pockrass said. “It’s just like the Oscars or the Golden Globes.”

    “You don’t write the stories to win awards,” Pockrass continued. “You write them to inform people.”

    “This is just a validation that you’ve done a good job in performing for the people who read the stories.”

    Pockrass has spent most of his career telling the stories of NASCAR to his readers and his knowledge of racing runs deep, from short tracks to the storied Indianapolis Motor Speedway where he grew up.

    “I’ve always had an interest in racing,” Pockrass said. “My older brother had done some journalism work for the school paper and was working for the Indianapolis News and so I kind of followed him because I had the same interest in journalism and in sports.”

    “I got my first job at the Daytona Beach newspaper and I worked there covering high school and college sports,” Pockrass continued. “And in January and February, I found myself at the race track helping out to cover NASCAR.”

    “I had some racing experience because at Indiana University I did some stringer work for UPI at Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” Pockrass said. “I spent one summer working for Gannett at the Speedway too.”

    “I always had an interest in racing and when NASCAR Scene had a job opening in 2003, they knew my work and that’s how my NASCAR-centric career got launched.”

    In addition to his NMPA Writer of the Year award and other accolades, Pockrass is probably most well-known for the time he puts in each and every weekend at the track, from being the first one at the media center to typically being the last one to leave at night.

    So, what drives this passion and dedication to telling the stories of NASCAR racing?

    “It’s really easy,” Pockrass said. “One of the first stories I did at Indiana was on the crop walk for hunger. And so I wrote about that in advance of the event and I had to go cover it.”

    “And when I got to the event, there were a couple of people there who had clipped the paper and signed up to do the walk,” Pockrass continued. “And I think that showed me the power of journalism and the power of being able to have an influence.”

    “And if you keep those people, those readers, in mind and know that you can influence what people do through what you write,” Pockrass said. “They may decide whether to go to a race or they may decide if they’re going to root for Jeff Gordon or boo Jeff Gordon or whether or not they will buy a Dale Earnhardt Jr. T-shirt or never buy one.”

    “I think that responsibility is what makes me want to do everything I can to be knowledgeable, that I’m writing with accuracy and with a passion for it,” Pockrass continued. “If I didn’t care, then I’m doing those people who read me a really big disservice.”

    “If you think about the people that are reading what you’re writing, it’s real easy to be there early and stay late because you owe it to them,” Pockrass said. “You owe it to your readers to give your best effort.”

    While Pockrass has told many stories over his years of covering NASCAR so passionately, there are several that have stood out as ones that touched him deeply.

    “The most memorable story was Dale Earnhardt’s death,” Pockrass said. “That was one day you just don’t forget.”

    “You don’t forget the scene of that evening and everything that surrounded that race,” Pockrass continued. “You don’t often see reporters crying when they’re writing.”

    “I’ll never forget seeing Ken Schrader outside the medical center and you could just tell,” Pockrass said. “His face was so white and his expression was that this was not good.”

    “That was one of those days that you never forget.”

    There are also stories that have been incredibly difficult to tell due to the personal connections that evolve after years of being in the garage area and getting to know the racers and team members on a weekly basis.

    “One of the other hardest stories that I had to write was the day that Rodney Orr died in Daytona,” Pockrass said. “He was from the area and I had talked to him several times.”

    “He had died a couple of days after Neil Bonnett died and we had talked about that in the garage,” Pockrass continued. “That was a pretty tough thing because he was a driver that I had known very well and one of the first drivers that I had known well that died on the race track.”

    With all that history and knowledge, including the highs and lows of the sport, fans might just be hoping that Pockrass would step back a minute and put his musings all in one place and join others in the sport who have written books on the subject.

    “I guess I might have a little bit of a desire to do a book, but I’m so busy with what I’m doing now that I need to give one hundred percent to,” Pockrass said. “So, I’ve never really thought about it very much because I enjoy doing what I’m doing.”

    “As long as I’ve still got the pen and the paper to do what I’m doing, I don’t know that I’d have the time to devote to a book.”

    Pockrass is also enjoying the new and evolving ways to interact with his readers, including social media and the popular ‘tweet ups’ that he hosts at almost every track, sharing the location of the event through Twitter.

    “The great thing about Twitter and the tweet ups is that I talk to more fans now than I ever did and get a better feeling about what the fans are thinking,” Pockrass said. “I embrace that.”

    “Sometimes it’s a juggling act between finding out information in the garage and meeting with the fans,” Pockrass continued. “But I think there are very few people who write and don’t interact with fans because they just don’t even know you or your writing are even there anymore.”

    Pockrass, along with his media brethren, are currently involved with the NASCAR media tour, meeting with all of the teams in preparation for the Daytona 500 and the start of the 2014 season. Looking into this own crystal ball, Pockrass has some predictions about the major story lines that he intends to cover for his readers and followers.

    “I think Tony Stewart coming back is going to be a major story line,” Pockrass said. “The new aero package for the cars and the new qualifying procedures will be story lines.”

    “And the changes to the Chase will be a major story line.”

    As the season gets underway, however, Pockrass took a moment to reflect again on the honor that he received this past weekend from the National Motor Sports Press Association for his work in telling the stories of the sport.

    “That’s what I do,” Pockrass said. “If you have that passion, it’s not hard.”

    “While it’s always good to be recognized, it is also humbling,” Pockrass continued. “But it’s a nice feeling.”

  • If by chance the France proposal had come to pass…in 2013

    If by chance the France proposal had come to pass…in 2013

    A year or two ago, let us say that Brian France had a brainwave. He came up with a proposal to allow 16 drivers into the Chase, first determined by wins gathered up to and including Richmond. The rest would get an invite due to the points accumulated. Let him add another twist. Let him have the rank of contenders drop by four after three Chase events, another four after six, with four more gone just as they headed to Homestead. In the big finale, an artificially engineered four driver showdown for all the marbles would take place, also featuring 39 also-rans out there to keep them company.

    So, after the race in Richmond in 2013, they would have set the sweet 16, to steal yet another concept from another sport. A dozen would wind up getting a pass based on having won at least once up to that moment. Welcome David Ragan to the derby for his win at Talladega. Tony Stewart would limp in, though he would be gone after the third race of the Chase for obvious reasons.  Just like Clint Bowyer, not enough penalties could have kept Martin Truex Jr out, due to his win at Sonoma. The remaining four spots get in on points, which would mean no help needed by Jeff Gordon as he would join Dale Earnhardt Jr, Kurt Busch, and Bowyer..

    Three races down in the Chase, and four drivers would be eliminated. Stewart is officially gone, to be joined by Ragan, who in three races earned only 53 points more than the idle Smoke.  A lousy day at Loudon finished Kasey Kahne’s hopes, while Joey Logano started the Chase bad and that was all that was needed. Then, to keep us all on the edge of our seats, they evened up the points to put the final dozen on an equal footing.

    12 left, with four more about to go by the time they left Talladega. A bad day in Chicago was all that was needed to eliminate Ryan Newman while Truex had a tough time just finishing in the Top 20 in those initial Chase weeks. Chicago also meant the end of Kyle Busch’s hopes, as the second stage also would have spelled adios for Greg Biffle. For the eight that remain, the points are again evened out as they all start from scratch, season be damned.

    While Johnson would have cruised through the next segment with a win and a pair of Top Fives, Kurt Busch was just so-so, so he had to go. Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards both had Texas disasters, while Bowyer was good at a time he needed to be great. 12 drivers and nine races down and it was down to NASCAR’s manufactured “game seven”…even though no other sport actually attempts to engineer such a thing. There is the Super Bowl, I guess, but I can’t help but notice that only the contenders ever hit the field on game day and most often the two teams are meeting for the first time that year. Still, I digress.

    So, off they would have gone to Homestead, just four still alive in the hunt for the paper title. Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Matt Kenseth in a one race showdown. What a wonder for the ages it would have been, that is if the fans had bought into the nonsense.  All four were on the lead lap on the final day, and while in-race observer Denny Hamlin was out in front at the end, the third place Junior was putting on a furious charge in an attempt to catch the second place Kenseth on the track. He would come up just short. Matt would no doubt have been overjoyed to win his second title, while Johnson finished ninth in the one race spectacular. Despite an average finish of 5.1 over the final ten races, it just would have not been good enough under the new France system. Would it have been a good enough finish for you?

    While Matt celebrated and Johnson pondered what could have been, Dale Earnhardt rolled over in his grave. As for Richard Petty, he was just happy that the 1967 season was run under different rules. If it had not been, Bobby Allison’s sixth win that year in the Weaverville, North Carolina finale would have trumped the King’s 27 to claim the title that year. Petty finished second in the race, but even the best season in NASCAR history would have been reduced to a mere footnote.  Still, imagine the excitement and joy of the fans in watching that “game seven” spectacular. Imagine the legitimacy of the championship.

    Just imagine.

  • The Top 20 Sprint Cup Drivers entering 2014

    The Top 20 Sprint Cup Drivers entering 2014

    This was pretty tough to put together. Honestly, anybody in the top 10 outside of first could be ranked in any order, and so many teams are so good it’s tough to put them in order.

    One thing I’ve noticed is that the good drivers keep getting better. In 2005, Tony Stewart won the championship with five top-fives and seven top-10s, with no wins during the Chase. Eight years later, Jimmie Johnson wins the championship with two wins, seven top-fives, and nine top-10s, with all 10 races in the Chase being top-15 finishes. While the quality of racing may not be as good as it was in 2005, nobody can argue the competition has become more fierce.

    Remember though, that this list is my opinion. You are allowed to disagree and give me yours in the comment section below.

    I ranked this using Chase Results, overall season stats, off-season changes and my opinion on the driver. This is not my predictions for final 2014 points, only who is the best going into the season. I do not count Nationwide Series results unless the driver raced for points in that series last season; this is why Kyle Busch isn’t first and Larson and Dillon are where they are.

    Honorable Mention: AJ Allmendinger

    What a comeback year for the 32 year old driver from California. After losing the ride of a lifetime in 2012 after failing a drug test, he gets rehired by Penske Racing to run a few IndyCar and Nationwide Series races and over performs. He won both of his Nationwide races last season and might have won the Indy 500 if it were not for a broken seat belt. Then he gets hired by JTG-Daugherty and gives them the best runs in that car since Marcos Ambrose ran it, with a shot to win Watkins Glen in particular. All of this without mentioning his top-15 runs helping to put the tiny James Finch team in the top-10 in Sprint Cup owner points in the early portion of the 2013 season.

    20: Jamie McMurray

    The 2010 Daytona 500 champion enters 2014 as the veteran driver of Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR). Outside of Loudon and his Talladega win, he really didn’t do much in the Chase. He can make the 2014 Chase, but his two main problems are constituency and he needs to turn top-20s into top-10s, and top-10s into top-fives.

    19. Carl Edwards

    My, how the mighty have fallen. After tying with Tony Stewart for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship in points in 2011 (losing on tiebreaker), he missed the Chase in 2012 and had the single worst point finish of any Chaser in history. (Nobody has finished worse than 12th before, Edwards finished 13th).

    18. Greg Biffle

    Biffle is the quietest guy in the Cup Series. I almost completely forgot about him when making this ranking. If he wants to move from 10th in points to top five, he needs to do better than 16th or worse in three Chase races.

    17. Kyle Larson

    This guy has a lot of talent, as has been said before. He’s a huge question mark this season. Is it too early? Can CGR compete with other teams? “The Knife” could have a typical rookie season, be incredibly successful or be like Danica Patrick and finish 27th in points.

    16. Kasey Kahne

    Next year’s champion?  Every single year I see people say this will be Kahne’s season, almost more so than a certain driver in a bright yellow Toyota. In reality, almost every season he struggles to make the Chase. Then if he does make the Chase, he usually doesn’t do much or is too inconsistent to do much. Last season in particular, I think his big hurdle is that when it gets down to it, he can’t close and get the win. Just look at his awesome duels with Kenseth all throughout 2013 and who ended up going to Victory Lane in every one of them.

    15. Ryan Newman

    It was a roller coaster season for the “Ogre from South Bend.” First he loses his ride, then that very week he wins at his home track in Indianapolis. Then he gets screwed out of the Chase due to Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) shenanigans, but was put in it anyway. Now he’s with a new Richard Childress Racing (RCR) where the only returning driver is Paul Menard. It’s going to be interesting to see what Newman will do in the No. 31 compared to Jeff Burton, who did a lot of nothing over the past two years.

    14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    Here’s my crazy prediction for this season – Stenhouse will contend for the Chase and win a couple of races. He’s got a year under his belt now and he has his old Nationwide championship winning crew chief now. He scored all three of his top-10s in the last 11 races of the season. I think he’s also going to continue being way ahead of Danica Patrick. When she said that she wanted to be the one among the two who got the first victory, I really doubt I was the only one who out and out belly laughed.

    13. Denny Hamlin

    Everything since 2010 Homestead has been downhill for Hamlin. Yes he won five races in 2012, but only one of those was in the Chase. Winning races is good and all, but at this point in Hamlin’s career, you need to be competing for championships year in and year out. Even if he wasn’t knocked out of action at Auto Club Speedway, I really doubt he would have competed for one in 2013. The only reason he’s this high on the list is because of four top-10s in the final six races along with a win at Homestead.

    12. Joey Logano

    Logano finally buckled down and made the Chase last season, even though he was too inconsistent to do much. He didn’t make many friends last season at all, but he finally grew as a driver and is starting to live up to his potential while breaking the 22 car curse. A great thing going for him is his teammate. Say what you will about Brad Keselowski, but it isn’t like Logano had a former champion to help him out back with Gibbs.

    11. Clint Bowyer

    This team might have very well won the championship or at least could have been a contender before Richmond. It took a lot of momentum from MWR as a whole and Bowyer’s team might have suffered the most with them being in the center of the controversy. He may change things in 2014 but he enters it at an all time low.

    10.  Austin Dillon

    Dillon is the favorite to win Rookie of the Year (ROTY) and the Nationwide Series championship. Yes, he didn’t win a race last season in Nationwide, but that’s primarily because of Sprint Cup drivers winning 26 races last year (28 if you count AJ Allmendinger, which I don’t.) He’s going to have enormous pressure coming into this season, as would any driver stepping into that No. 3 Chevy.

    9. Kurt Busch

    He took a tiny team into the Chase and gave all of the bigger teams a run for their money. Now he’s finally back in a car with the best equipment in the business and with a championship winning team in Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR). Don’t call it a comeback, because he never really left.

    8. Brad Keselowski

    The 2012 Champ started off 2013 wrong and it just kept getting worse and worse. Part of the problem has to have been Roush-Yates engines not being ready to support two more full time teams, as the Fords in general struggled this year.

    7. Tony Stewart

    Okay, he might be a strange choice to be in the top 10, but let me explain. I think he’s one of the best pure drivers in NASCAR, and I think he’s going to enter this season ready to make up for lost time.

    6. Jeff Gordon

    Just missing out on a top five spot in 2013, Gordon’s Chase personified his career the past few years. He’ll do consistently well, even winning a race, before something happens, in this case, a wreck at Texas on lap 75. If you don’t count that, he’s in the top 15 in every single race from Bristol onward.

    5. Matt Kenseth

    Yes, I know I’m going to get a lot of hate mail for this. It seems really strange having the runner-up in points who won seven races last year, only fifth, but I think the runner-up hangover is just too strong to get over. Bowyer couldn’t, Edwards couldn’t, and it’s still affecting Hamlin four years later. I don’t see how he’s going to be that different.

    4. Kyle Busch

    The 18 team are the Dallas Cowboys of NASCAR. They either fail to make the playoffs against all odds, or they do and choke away the championship either way.  And like Dallas, it’s really sad to see it happen, because outside of the play-offs they are supremely talented and always a threat every week. You also either love them or hate them. There is very little middle ground.

    3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    I think Earnhardt’s big problem this year is the new crew chief search. That will always distract a driver when it happens to them, in some way. It’s a shame too, because he and Letarte finally started clicking together this season, the final eight races in particular.

    2. Kevin Harvick

    The only problem Harvick might have next season is that SHR is spreading itself a bit thin. Otherwise, he has all the momentum and now he’s in absolute top of the line equipment, not the RCR stuff that only he can win with.

    1. Jimmie Johnson

    Who were you expecting to be up here? If Jimmie wins nine races and the championship this season, he’ll match Earnhardt Sr. in wins and championships in roughly five less full-time seasons. And the scary thing is that I think nobody in the entire sport would be shocked if he has that kind of season. Case in point: his worst finish in the Chase was a 13th at Talladega, the place where luck takes priority over talent or equipment. Other than that, he had seven top-fives, a sixth at Kansas and a ninth at Homestead, where he was more concerned with finishing the race rather than getting the best result possible. Can anybody stop Johnson? Possibly but I wouldn’t bet on it.

  • Looking Back at NASCAR’s 2013

    Looking Back at NASCAR’s 2013

    Looking back at the 2013 season, NASCAR had the usual ups and downs but this year would be different. NASCAR unveiled its new GEN-6 car to mixed reviews and fans waiting to see what this new car would bring to actual racing.

    It started with the horrific wreck during the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) season opener at Daytona International Speedway (DIS).  Unfortunately, we watched the same scene played out at most restrictor plate tracks like Daytona, only this time when the “big one” happened the fence didn’t hold and fans were hurt, some seriously.  Everyone waited and listened the rest of the day for updates on those injured and looked back in amazement that the car of Kyle Larson, which had hit the fence, was destroyed, yet he walked away.

    The next day at the Daytona 500 we all waited and watched, held our breath and prayed that the scene the day before would not repeat itself and thankfully it didn’t. The 55th running of the Daytona 500 went off without any major issues with Jimmie Johnson in his 400th start taking the prize. That perhaps was a sign of the year to come.

    It was the fifth race of the season in Fontana, California that Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin got together with six laps to go and ended up wrecking each other. Denny Hamlin suffered a compression fracture in his back that most thought would sideline the driver for the season.  But Hamlin worked hard at his recovery and was able to return to race at Talladega.

    Talladega was a rainy day and eventually the race was red flagged due to the rain. The red flag was three hours and 36 minutes long and darkness had started to fall but with the rain stopped, NASCAR made the decision to go ahead and race. A late race caution bunched the field up with 20 to go. By this time the skies were even darker and the “big one” happened sending Kurt Busch flipping and landing on top of Ryan Newman’s car. In all 14 cars were involved and Newman went on to criticize NASCAR for continuing the race in the dark.

    It was at Iowa Speedway where Tony Stewart crashed hard into a car that spun in front of him. Stewart was taken to the hospital where it was determined by doctors that he had broken both his tibia and fibula in his lower right leg. Stewart would be sidelined for the rest of the season, after undergoing several surgeries and then physical therapy, so that he would be ready for the 2014 season.

    There was a lot of hype over Danica Patrick joining the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) for the 2013 season. There was a lot of expectation put on her but she was still a rookie and ended up with a best finish of 8th, her only top-10 finish, which came in the Daytona 500 where she had also won the pole.  Her boyfriend, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, competed with Patrick for Rookie of the Year in which Stenhouse took home the prize.

    Jamie McMurray won at Talladega, his second at that track, and his seventh win overall in his NSCS career. The win snapped a 108 winless streak for McMurray.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. would see the 2013 season close without a win.  But it was a consistent season overall and he ended up fifth in the series standings.

    We had the announcement that Mark Martin had decided to retire along with Ken Schrader. Martin ended a long career with NASCAR starting in 1981 in North Wilkesboro and giving him a career with 40 wins, 453 top 10′s and 56 poles. Schrader started his career in 1984 in Nashville and went on to have four wins, 184 top 10′s, and 23 poles. NASCAR will not be the same without these drivers and they will both be missed in 2014.

    To everyone’s astonishment we also had what was dubbed “Spingate” which was Michael Waltrip Racing’s (MWR) attempt to manipulate the chase for the championship. This not only marred MWR but their reputation was further damaged by Clint Bowyer who is believed to have spun to cause a caution in order to get a teammate into the chase.  These issues actually made NASCAR add a 13th spot to the chase, to the benefit of Jeff Gordon being that 13th driver. This put another mark on NASCAR for adding the 13th spot but with the chase outcome in question, it was the only course of action NASCAR could see to attempt to right what MWR had attempted to change. The biggest loser in that whole deal was Martin Truex Jr. who had done no wrong but paid a penalty all the same.

    Matt Kenseth probably had one of his best years of his career and in the end was truly the only driver in contention with Johnson to take home the big prize. Kevin Harvick, having a good run of his own, was unable to catch Kenseth and Johnson. Kenseth did everything he could and came out strong at the end but it was Johnson who would bring home the 2013 Sprint Cup Series trophy, the sixth of his career, making him at the moment the only driver with the chance to tie or surpass Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt’s seven championships.

    When we look back on the year there were tragedies as well.

    On June 12th 2013 on a Wednesday night we heard of a serious crash at Bridgeport Speedway involving former NASCAR driver Jason Leffler in a Sprint car. We would find out later that Jason “LEFturn” Leffler had died from the injuries that he sustained in the accident. He left behind one son, five year old Charlie. The biggest tragedy of all is learning that if Sprint cars used the same neck restraints as NASCAR does, he may have survived the accident.

    It was May 16th that I learned of the death of my friend, Richard Leroy Trickle, aka Dick Trickle; he had taken his own life after years of struggling with chronic pain. He had raced in NASCAR becoming the oldest Rookie of the Year at age 48 in 1989. He was best known for his career in the Midwest. Known best as “the White Knight,” it is estimated that he ran well over 2,200 races in his Midwest short track career and his many loyal fans will remember not how he died, but how he lived.  He will be remembered wearing snakeskin boots, a cigarette in one hand, and a cup of coffee or barley pop (beer) in the other, signing autographs and even going down to his knees to be eye level with children who wanted an autograph.

    With a new season beginning, questions remain to be answered.

    • What will the 2014 NASCAR season bring?
    • Which rookie will come out on top, maybe Kyle Larson or perhaps Parker Kligerman?
    • Who will win their first race this season?
    • Will Austin Dillon, driving the number three, live up to the expectations of fans that are waiting to see if he will do the number three proud?
    • Who will take it all? Matt Kenseth or maybe it will be Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s breakout year, or will it be Jimmie Johnson again, tying that seventh championship.
    • What new rivalries will form, and what old rivalries will manage to put it behind them?

    Hopefully in 2014 there will be no injuries or tragedies as we’ve seen this year. Perhaps it will be NASCAR’s best year yet. We won’t have to wait long as it’s right around the corner!

  • Are We Seeing The Sun Set On Jeff Gordon’s Career?

    Are We Seeing The Sun Set On Jeff Gordon’s Career?

    Jeff Gordon will always be, at the very, very least, one of the top ten best drivers in NASCAR history on any list. The guy whose Racing Reference page costs $95 to sponsor. The Tom Brady of racing. He’s the driver of the 1990’s who will probably end his career with over 90 wins, a first ballet Hall of Famer, and helped a team go from race winners to champions. If Jimmie Johnson is the Derek Jeter of Hendrick Motorsports, Gordon is the Babe Ruth without the drinking and about 50 pounds lighter.  But is it time for him to get out?

    Ten or so years ago, Gordon was at undoubtedly the lowest point in his entire life (Yes, lower than the 2008 season). In the middle of a nasty divorce with his first wife, he was at one point reduced to living with his team owner Rick Hendrick. Fast-foreword to the present. From the outside looking in (and I do think this is the case), he has a loving wife and children, a big house, and millions upon millions of dollars. Not only that, but he is the part owner of a car that has won six of the past eight Sprint Cup Series championships, is probably going to become a team manager at Hendrick Motorsports in retirement, and may even take over the entire operation if Rick ever wanted to retire. So if he were to go out tomorrow and announce his retirement, he’s already pretty set up for it.

    As a talent, he’s still doing very well for himself. Ten years ago, there were only a good 10-15 cars that could contend for a win each week. Now it’s more like 30. So generally, if you come out of a season in the Chase and with a win or two, you have done incredibly well for yourself. That’s exactly what Gordon has done for more or less the last six years. That may not be Gordon like, but 95% of drivers in NASCAR would kill for that type of constant success.

    However, if I were to ever point to a turning point in Gordon’s career where he went from being Gordon to being…. not Gordon, it’s Las Vegas 2008, the third race of the 2008 season. In the closing laps of the race, Gordon spun out and hit a non-SAFER barrier wall at an alarming rate of speed. While he did not break anything that I am aware of, this came less than a year after the birth of his first child. I obviously can’t say for certain, but I think something changed that day for him.

    I can’t outright quote him (I can’t find the quotes), but I do remember Darrell Waltrip saying (I want to say in his book) two things about things of this nature. The first being that after you’ve been in a really bad wreck, you drive different and might not take as many risks. In 1990, Waltrip had a horrible practice wreck at Daytona that sidelined him for six races, after which he only won five more races over 10 years, in a career that finished with 84 wins. He also never finished higher than eighth in the point standings. That could be due to the fact of the teams he was driving for, but I digress. The other being that, when he was hired by Junior Johnson in the early 80’s, Junior told him at one point that the best drivers are under 35. Gordon was 36 when the accident happened.

    Should Gordon retire now? No. He hasn’t fallen off the wagon like Waltrip did, and still makes the Chase and wins races every year. Is his time limited? Yes. I have a pretty good feeling that, in a few years, there will be a young Hendrick Motorsports development driver who has had some Nationwide Series seasons under his belt and is ready for the big time. The only way I can see Chase Elliott getting into Sprint Cup without jumping off the Hendrick ship, which I don’t see happening, is if Kasey Kahne leaves at the end his contact after the 2015 season (unlikely) or if Gordon retires sometime over the next three years (much more likely).  At the end of the day, Gordon has probably realized this, and I think he wants only the best for Hendrick Motorsports.

    While plenty of Gordon fans will probably dismiss this article as nothing more than mere retirement speculation that has been going on for five years now. When Brett Favre first retired in 2008, the first speculation of retirement was happening in 2002-2003. I think it’s only a matter of time until it happens. And, honestly, I think the last thing anybody reading this article wants is for Jeff Gordon to go out like Favre.

  • NASCAR Class of 2013 Yearbook Memories

    NASCAR Class of 2013 Yearbook Memories

    The 2013 season of NASCAR will be remembered as one of the most tumultuous in recent memory. The year would not be complete without a few snapshots to commemorate the highs and lows.

    Favorite Couple: Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Steve Letarte

    The partnership between the most popular driver and his Hendrick Motorsports crew chief continues to improve with each passing year. In 2013 the pair had their best season together earning fifth place in the Chase point standings.

    Dale Jr. had an impressive run during the final 10 races of the Chase with five top-5s that included three runner-up finishes and 8 top-10 finishes. His most disappointing result was due to a blown engine at Chicagoland Speedway.

    “I don’t know what would have happened if we could have done Chicago over but we ran so good in the other nine races, we’ve just got to be real proud of ourselves,” Earnhardt said.

    “We’ve got nothing to be disappointed about. We’ve gotten better each year, and that’s what we’re supposed to do.”

    Worst Breakup: Kevin Harvick and Richard Childress Racing

    Few in NASCAR will ever forget how Harvick took over the vacant seat at RCR after Dale Earnhardt’s tragic death in 2001. They were shoes that could never be filled but Harvick handled the challenge with humility and respect.

    When Kevin Harvick first announced that he was leaving Richard Childress Racing after the end of the 2013 season, many were surprised. However Harvick emphasized that he and the team were committed to finishing the year on a positive note by contending for the championship. From the outside, it appeared to be an amicable split.

    But appearances can be deceiving.

    During a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway, tempers flared between Harvick and Ty Dillon as they were competing for second place during the final laps of the race and got together. The two drivers spun out and continued to show their displeasure with each other on the track. Things disintegrated further when Dillon’s crew members got involved by going after Harvick on pit road.

    It was Harvick’s comments after the race that sealed the end of this partnership.

    “The 3 just dumped me,” he said. “Exactly the reason why I’m leaving RCR because you’ve got those kids coming up that got no respect for what they do in this sport and they’ve had everything fed to them with a spoon.”

    Although Harvick later apologized, it was obvious that the relationship had actually ended long before the season came to a close.

    Most Popular Race: Eldora Speedway – The Mudsummer Classic Camping World Truck Series race

    The race at Eldora Speedway was one of the most highly anticipated events of the 2013 NASCAR season and it lived up to expectations.  It wasn’t the biggest or the fastest but it showcased the best short track competition that NASCAR has to offer.

    Austin Dillon won the inaugural event becoming the first driver to win a Camping World Truck Series race on dirt.

    The event marked NASCAR’s first national series dirt race since 1970. It was filled with side-by-side racing action, exciting passes and enough beating and banging to keep the sold out crowd on their feet. This back to basics, stripped down version of racing is the heart and soul of a sport that many feel has lost its way.

    Biggest Controversy:  The September 7th race at Richmond International Raceway

    The final race of NASCAR’s 2013 regular season will be remembered as a turning point in the sport’s history. A suspicious spin by Clint Bowyer led to an investigation and NASCAR determined that Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) manipulated the race results at Richmond. Penalties were issued, points were deducted and as a result MWR teammate Martin Truex Jr. lost his spot in the Chase to Ryan Newman.

    But that was only the beginning. Further allegations of cheating by two other teams led to more investigation by NASCAR and an unprecedented decision to add a 13th driver, Jeff Gordon, to the Chase for the Championship.

    Brian France explained, “We believe that there were too many things that altered the event that gave an unfair disadvantage to Jeff and his team, who would have qualified. It’s just the right thing to do. I have the authority to do that, and we are going to do that.”

    Many fans applauded NASCAR for doing the “right thing” but just as many were appalled at what they saw as NASCAR “fixing” the Chase to include one of its most influential drivers. The fact that Gordon drives for Hendrick Motorsports, arguably the most powerful team in NASCAR, only added fuel to the fire.

    Has the integrity of NASCAR been irreparably damaged by this incident? Only time will tell.

    Most Likely to Continue to Succeed: Jimmie Johnson

    Jimmie Johnson’s sixth championship title has catapulted him into an elite group of NASCAR champions. Only Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt have more with seven each.  Johnson already has the record for most consecutive championships with five titles between the years 2006-2010. It is entirely within the realm of possibility that he will not only equal but surpass the record set by Petty and Earnhardt.

    There is no doubt that Johnson has earned his place as one of the best drivers in the history of NASCAR and he’s not done yet. The more intriguing question is this. Does success equal greatness?

    Best Move: Matt Kenseth

    Matt Kenseth’s move from Roush Fenway Racing to Joe Gibbs Racing has provided what Kenseth called an “unbelievable” year.

    “Obviously it’s been a great year, best year I’ve ever had,” said Kenseth. “I think when you look at our season overall, when I talk about it being the best season of my career, we didn’t come up with the championship, the championship is the ultimate goal, you always want that, but from a competitive standpoint it’s been by far the best season of my career.

    “We lead the most laps, qualified the best, most wins, all that stuff. From a competitive standpoint, it was our best year.”

    Kenseth scored a career best seven Sprint Cup wins in one season, a career best of 1,783 laps led and captured three poles along the way.

    Most Significant Victory: Darrell Wallace Jr.

    When Darrell Wallace Jr. won the Kroger 200 Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway in October, he became the first African-American driver to win a NASCAR national series race since Wendell Scott’s win on December 1, 1963.

    After the race, Wallace spoke passionately about the impact of this win.

    “It means everything,” Wallace said. “This is an emotional one for me, especially to do it in Wendell Scott’s backyard. I love coming here to Martinsville. It’s always good to me, and it finally paid off.”

    He also hopes that it will help propel his career forward.

    “Winning, there’s nothing better than winning,” he said. “And I think that’ll help kind of pave its own way there, and hopefully get my name out there even more. Winning this big race can always do that, and that’s what I’ve been trying to do all year is to get my name out there, to keep pushing, to strive for kids younger than me to get in the sport and be here sitting here talking to you guys one day.”

    Best Comeback: Shane Hmiel

    Shane Hmiel’s story is one of triumph over adversity. As he made his way through the ranks of the Busch Series (now Nationwide Series), his career was put on hold when he failed a drug test in 2003 and was suspended indefinitely. He was reinstated in 2004 but over the next couple of years failed two more drug tests and in 2006 was banned from NASCAR for life.

    Hmiel fought his way back to sobriety and began competing in the touring divisions of the United States Auto Club (USAC) Series. Then, in 2010 he faced the biggest challenge of his life.

    While attempting to qualify for a USAC Silver Crown race, his car hit the outside wall and rolled several times. The roll cage was damaged and Hmiel suffered head and spinal injuries that left him paralyzed. He wasn’t expected to live but once more, Hmiel defied the odds.

    In January 2013 his recovery took another leap forward when he was given the chance to get behind the wheel of a racecar one more time at Rockingham Speedway.

    Accessible Racing co-founder and president, Brian Hanaford, Hmiel’s mother, Lisa, and Andy Hillenburg, president of Rockingham Speedway, were instrumental in giving Shane this unique opportunity. Randy LaJoie whose company ‘Joie of Seating’ makes custom seats for race cars, provided the specialized seats.

    Hmiel drove 10 laps around the track and as he headed into the pits, the huge grin on his face spoke volumes.

    “I don’t want to get out, let’s go again,” he exclaimed!”

    Shane Hmiel’s tenacity is a testament to the strength of the human spirit.

    “It felt so great to be back,” he said. “The conceited side of me loves this. It proves to people, do not quit. You can always do more. Believe in that. It’ll get you so far.”

    These are only a few of the most memorable NASCAR moments in 2013. Records were broken, champions were crowned and controversy abounded. The new season begins in less than three months. Will you be watching?

     

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Homestead

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Homestead

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson clinched his sixth Sprint Cup championship, and first in two years, with a ninth at Homestead. He finished the season 19 points ahead of Matt Kenseth.

    “That’s Cup number six,” Johnson said. “Now it takes two hands to indicate my championships. That makes me a second-hand champion, and that’s something everyone needs to get ‘used’ to.”

    2. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth started on the pole at Homestead and finished second, as Jimmie Johnson clinched the Sprint Cup championship. Kenseth finished second in the standings, 19 points back.

    “We gave it our all,” Kenseth said, “but that wasn’t enough. And it’s painful. But, all in all, it was a successful year for Joe Gibbs Racing. Still, JGR gently weeps.”

    3. Kevin Harvick: In his last race for Richard Childress Racing, Harvick took tenth in the Ford EcoBoost 400. He finished third in the points standings, 34 out of first.

    “Like Kurt Busch, I’m off to drive for Tony Stewart,” Harvick said. “I expect a smooth transition from RCR to Stewart Haas. Why? Because with Busch as a teammate, I already want to leave.”

    4. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt finished third at Homestead, posting his tenth top-5 result of the year. He completed the year fifth in the points, 56 behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson.

    “I was awesome over the last five races,” Earnhardt said. “In fact, I scored more points over the final five Chase races than Johnson and Matt Kenseth. Unlike me, Johnson can look back fondly on the ‘first five.’”

    5. Kyle Busch: Busch finished seventh in the Ford EcoBoost 400, scoring his 22nd top-10 result of the year. He finished the season fourth in the Sprint Cup points standings, 55 behind Jimmie Johnson.

    “I’m happy to have a respectable Chase finish,” Busch said. “But this championship is all about Jimmie Johnson. Six Cups is historic. Based on his driving, Jimmie deserves a statue. Based on his personality, he is a statue.”

    6. Jeff Gordon: Gordon, who won last year at Homestead, took 11th on Sunday, just missing his 18th top 10 of the year. He is sixth in the Sprint Cup points standings, 82 out of first.

    “Jimmie Johnson raised the championship trophy for the sixth time,” Gordon said. “I guess you could say, ‘The world is his hoister.’”

    7. Joey Logano: Logano, in the No. 22 Penske Ford, finished eighth at Homestead. He finished eighth in the points standings, 96 out of first.

    “My friends call me ‘Sliced Bread,’” Logano said. “My enemies call me ‘Slight Build,’ probably because I’m no threat, to them or the Sprint Cup championship.”

    8. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski won Saturday’s Nationwide Ford EcoBoost 300 and finished sixth in Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400. Jimmie Johnson clinched the Sprint Cup title as Keselowski’s one-year reign as champion came to an end.

    “This year gave me very little to shout about,” Keselowski said, “and even less to tweet about. But I’m still one of NASCAR’s most individualistic drivers. Hopefully, when all is said and done, they won’t be calling me the ‘one and only’ because of my single Sprint Cup title.”

    9. Greg Biffle: Biffle struggled with handling issues and came home 24th at Homestead, finishing ninth in the points standings, the highest among Roush Fenway Racing drivers.

    “I’m of good mind to give Jimmie Johnson a piece of my mind,” Biffle said. “Maybe that way, he’ll give me a piece of his, and I can finally say I have the mindset of a champion.”

    10. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer finished fifth in the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead. He finished seventh in the points standings, 83behind Jimmie Johnson.

    “Did you see Johnson’s victory burnout?” Bowyer said. “It was impressive, but didn’t produce anything like the smokescreen I made with my spin at Richmond.”