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Bristol Motor Speedway Promises to Deliver – Sprint Cup Preview

Bristol Motor Speedway had humble beginnings.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”241″][/media-credit]In 1960 Larry Carrier and Carl Moore visited Charlotte Motor Speedway and came away with a dream. They wanted to build a race track in Tennessee.

But the goal was not to imitate. They had a vision of a half-mile track with turns banked at 22 degrees and amphitheater style seating that would offer a more personal experience for race fans.

With the help of R.G. Pope, the dream of Bristol International Speedway became a reality and the first race was run on July 30, 1961. The seating capacity was 18,000.

A practice session was held for ‘The Volunteer 500’ on July 27, 1961 and Tiny Lund was the first driver on the new track. Fred Lorenzen won the pole for the first race with a speed of 79.225 mph. The 1960 Rookie of the Year, David Pearson, was there, becoming the first driver to drive the No. 3 at Bristol.

Jack Smith became the first winner at Bristol even though he wasn’t in the car when the race ended. He made it to lap 290 but had to turn the car over to relief driver Johnny Allen, due to severe blistering on his feet.

Throughout the years, there have been many changes. The name has changed, ownership has changed and the track has undergone a few makeovers.

In 1969 the banked turns were increased up to 36 degrees, the track size was enlarged to .533 miles and in 1992, they switched to a concrete surface. Today the seating capacity is approximately 160,000. The current Sprint Cup qualifying record is 128.709 mph and was set by Ryan Newman on March 21, 2003.

There has however been one constant. Bristol Motor Speedway is short track racing at its best. The drivers love it and the fans can’t get enough.

Dale Earnhardt got his first Cup win at Bristol in 1979. Other first time winners include Rusty Wallace, Ernie Irvan, Elliot Sadler and Kurt Busch.

The 2011 Sprint Cup season has already seen five first time winners. Will we add another name to the list at Bristol Motor Speedway?

Anticipation is building for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol this Saturday as drivers try to snare a spot in the Chase.

Kyle Busch has already clinched at least a Wild Card slot in the Chase with his win at Michigan. He is also a favorite to win this weekend. He swept all three series last August and has 11 wins at Bristol, including five in the Cup Series. Those five wins tie him with Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch, for most among active drivers.

Darrell Waltrip currently holds the record for most driver wins with 12 (7 consecutively).

We could also be looking at a little rivalry between the Busch brothers. Kyle’s win at Michigan was his 23^rd Sprint Cup victory which mirrors brother Kurt’s 23 total wins.

Brad Keselowski is another one to watch at Bristol Saturday night.

Only a month ago he was 23^rd in points and didn’t appear to have any chance of making the Chase. Three weeks ago, he broke his ankle and everyone counted him out. But then the unthinkable happened. Instead of giving up, he used the injury as motivation and has rebounded to 12^th in the points standings.

His win at Pocono plus a second place finish at Watkins Glen and a third place finish at Michigan have moved him up to only 52 points outside the top ten.

For all the Chase contenders, the number to remember this weekend is 97. Any driver leaving Bristol with a 97 point lead over 11^th place will guarantee themselves a spot in the Chase. All of the top eight drivers can mathematically reach this goal.

On the Wild Card front, Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin have laid claim to the top two spots. Keselowski has two wins and Hamlin has one victory. Hamlin scores the second spot because of points position.

Paul Menard in 18^th place and David Ragan in 20^th, each have one win and are still in the running for a wild card slot. Marcos Ambrose and Regan Smith each have victories, but currently sit outside the top 20.

Bristol is also the final race for drivers to become eligible for the Sprint Summer Showdown. The Bristol winner will join Paul Menard, Brad Keselowski, Marcos Ambrose and Kyle Busch, who have all secured a spot. If one of these eligible drivers wins at Atlanta, they will claim a million dollar payout. The driver’s charity and one fan will also receive a million dollars.

It’s getting crunch time in the ‘Race to the Chase’ and Bristol Motor Speedway promises to deliver a night of excitement. You never know what will happen but one thing is certain. You don’t want to miss it.

August 25, 2011
NASCAR Beginnings Featuring Buck Baker

Elzie Wylie “Buck” Baker was one of the most dominant drivers in NASCAR during the 1950s. His never give up attitude was the fuel for the fire that pushed him to be the best. Baker became the first driver to win consecutive Sprint Cup Championships in 1956 and 1957.

His strategy was a mixture of determination and the belief that he was capable of winning any race.

“You can’t let anyone think you’re not going to win a race,” he once said during an interview. “If you talk yourself out of believing you are a

winnner, then you might as well stay in the pits and let someone else do the driving.”

“There were times we left home without money to buy new tires. We didn’t know where the money was coming from. Heck, there’s times we didn’t have money to put gas in the truck to get to the track.”

“But someone always came through for what we needed. We always could have used more and better equipment, but I’m talking about don’t let yourself believe you can’t be a winner.”

Baker was born on a farm near Chester, SC on March 4, 1919. He didn’t grow up with dreams of racing but he always had a wild streak.

It was a bull calf named Buck that inspired Baker’s nickname because he shared the same uncontrolled abandon as the animal. That recklessness continued into his teenage years when he began running moonshine for his cousin.

He also supplemented his income with a variety of other jobs including working in a bakery and selling cars.

When World War II erupted, Baker did a stint in the Navy and served in Maryland. But even the regimented life of a serviceman did not change him. He still found a way to run moonshine for his pals in his spare time.

After the Navy he moved with his wife and son to Charlotte, NC. Baker found work as a bus driver for Trailways. He had a family and a regular job but Baker was never the typical family man.

One evening he was headed to Union, SC, with about 20 passengers on board. Somebody mentioned that there was a square dance in the town of Chester. They all took a vote and decided to take a detour to the dance.

“The vote to go to the dance was unanimous among the passengers, who were singing and having a good time. So I parked the bus and we all went in. Meanwhile, the dispatcher had the police out looking for the bus.”

They finally arrived in Union about three hours late.

“The passengers were half drunk, hanging out the windows and waving and carrying on. Driving into the garage to park the bus, I almost ran over the owner of the company. He fired me on the spot but rehired me the next morning before it was time to make another run.”

It was during this period of his life that Baker decided he wanted to try his hand at becoming a race car driver. He got a later start than most but competed in his first NASCAR race in 1949, at the age of 30.

Baker found some success in those early years, racing mostly as an independent owner/driver and in 1952 he captured his first win in the Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series) in Columbia, SC.

Baker was known as a hard charger both on and off the track. His competitors knew that too much beating and banging on the track would be dealt with in the pits after the race.

“My dad won his share of races on the track,” said Baker’s son Buddy, “but I don’t think he ever lost a battle in the pits.”

In 1955 Baker finished second in the points standings and caught the eye of mulit-car team owner, Carl Kiekhaefer.

“I saw that Buck was my top competition,” Kiekhaefer said. “There is only one thing to do with a man like that — hire him!”

In 1956 Baker won 14 races and his first Cup championship while driving for Carl Kiekhaefer who was partnered with legendary car and engine builder, Ray Fox.

The following year, Kiekhaefer left NASCAR and Baker was on his own again. He partnered with Bud Moore as his crew chief and scored ten victories in 1957. Baker won his second Cup championship becoming the first driver to win consecutive championships.

The following season Baker once again finished second in the points standings.

One of Baker’s most controversial races was on December 1, 1963 at Speedway Park in Jacksonville, FL. Although NASCAR awarded the winning trophy to Baker, the race was actually won by Wendell Scott.

Hours after the event, NASCAR officials admitted that Scott had won the race. Wendell Scott went in the record books as the first and only African-American to win a NASCAR race in the premier Cup series. They gave him a trophy about a month later in Savannah, but it wasn’t the real thing. Baker got the real trophy.

Years later, Baker would say, “Many racers gave him a hard time, including some of my friends, but I got along fine with him and tried to help him. He did as well as anybody with the equipment he had.”

“By the time he was declared the winner, all the fans had left the track. I’ll always believe that I won the race, but I don’t want to take anything from Scott by saying that. It was OK with me, and I was happy for him.”

Baker continued to race until 1976. In 636 starts, he won 46 times and ranks 14th on the all-time wins list.

In addition to his two championships, Baker won the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway three times. His last victory there came in 1964, at the age of 45. It would also be the final win of his career.

Baker considered it his biggest accomplishment.

“In 1964, I drove Ray Fox’s Dodge in the Southern 500. I was 45 years old at the time. Fox was concerned that I was too old to run 500 miles. Others had written me off as too old. I told Fox not to worry about the horse, just load the wagon. Buddy (Buck’s son) was there, and toward the end of the race, Fox was seriously thinking that I might need relief. Buddy told him there was absolutely no need to say anything to me, because I wouldn’t get out of the car. And he’s never been more right.”

“It was the biggest thrill I had in racing. There was nothing left for me to prove to those who had said I was finished.”

Baker was known as one of the most versatile racers of his time. He won races in NASCAR’s Modified, Speedway and Grand American series, raced in multiple makes of cars and won for eight different team owners.

His son, Buddy once said, “There was a time in the modified division that nobody could beat him.”

After retiring from NASCAR, Baker opened the Buck Baker Driving School in 1980. Many of today’s top drivers have attended his school including Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Jeff Burton and Ward Burton.

Baker claimed that Jeff Gordon made the decision to race stock cars at his school.

“He turned North Carolina Speedway about three seconds faster than the school car he was driving had ever gone. He drove to the motel and told his mother that stock car racing was what he was going to do for the rest of his life. I knew then that he was going to be a hell of a driver. I guess the rest, shall we say, is history in the making.”

In 1998 Buck Baker was named as one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers and in 2010 was honored as a nominee in the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Baker died on April 14, 2002 at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, NC, at the age of 83.

His son, Buddy, followed his father’s path, winning 19 NASCAR Cup races and continued his legacy at the Buck Baker Driving School.

He summed up his father’s life saying, “Throughout the entire racing world, I don’t know of anybody who would have said he didn’t give 110 percent from the time they dropped the green flag until the time the race was over.”

“He was that same way in life, too.”

Achievements:

1982 – Inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame
1990 – Inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame
1992 – Inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame
1996 – Inducted into the Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame
1998 – Inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
1998 – Named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers
2010 – Nominee to the inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame induction class
2011 – Nominee to the NASCAR Hall of Fame
2012 – Nominee to the NASCAR Hall of Fame

Thanks to circletrack.com for Buck Baker quotes

August 22, 2011
Surprising and Not Surprising: Pure Michigan 400

Irish eyes were smiling in the hills surrounding Michigan International Speedway, keeping the rain which had plagued the last two Cup races, at bay. Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 42^nd annual running of the Pure Michigan 400.

[media-credit name=”Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”255″][/media-credit]Surprising: Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion, could not have summed up the surprisingly bad day for his manufacturer and team any more succinctly.

With a surprisingly uncharacteristic engine failure, Edwards was Ford’s worst finisher at Michigan, a track where not only has Ford excelled but where Roush Fenway Racing has traditionally had free reign to play at the front of the field.

“I thought we would have a Ford in Victory Lane,” Edwards said. “I thought one way or another, we would win this thing.”

“It was a very tough race,” Edwards said. “We weren’t expecting a failure like that.”

Edwards lagged behind his Roush Fenway Racing teammates Matt Kenseth, who finished in 10^th in the No. 17 Kroger Ford Fusion; David Ragan, driving the No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion, who brought home a 12^th place finish; and pole sitter Greg Biffle, behind the wheel of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion, who finished a disappointing 20^th after leading the most laps in the race.

Biffle was as surprised by his disappointing finish as his teammate Edwards was of his finish and engine failure.

“I don’t know what happened,” Biffle said. “I have a feeling we kinda got a bum set of tires and then we got off on our adjustments. I really don’t know what happened.”

Not Surprising: After being ever so close to Victory Lane at both Pocono and Watkins Glen, it was no surprise that the driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota outran a five-time champ in a green-white-checkered finish to finally took the checkered flag and made his trademark celebratory bow.

This victory was Kyle Busch’s first at Michigan International Speedway. It was his fifth top-10 finish in 14 races at Michigan.

“Today the car was flawless,” Busch said. “We knew the restart would be treacherous but I got a good run on the top-side and I was able to take the lead off Turn Two and set our sights on the checkered flag from there.”

With his fourth victory of the season, including this win at the Irish hills, Busch was also the first driver to officially clinch his berth in the championship Chase. And with Edwards’ poor finish, Busch now sits alone at the top of the leader board.

“It feels awesome,” Busch said of his guaranteed Chase spot. “It gives us an added bonus to just go out there and race for wins. We certainly feel good about it.”

Surprising: Brad Keselowski, behind the wheel of the Blue Deuce for Penske Racing, continues to surprise all by starring in his own sequel, ‘Iron Man Part Three.’ Keselowski finished third in the Pure Michigan 400, his third straight top-three finish since breaking his ankle and wrenching his back in a testing crash.

This was Keselowski’s first top-10 finish in five races at Michigan. With his finish, Keselowski also moved ever so close to Chase contention, moving up two positions in the point standings to 12^th.

“It was a good effort,” Keselowski said. “It was a great day, with great execution and I’m proud of my team.”

“I think we’re in pretty good shape,” Keselowski said of his Chase chances. “I feel better every week.”

Not Surprising: With the Chase race heating up, it is no surprise that the driver of the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet has found his groove, as well as his lucky horseshoe. Jimmie Johnson, who like Busch has also never won at Michigan, scored a career-best second place finish.

This was Johnson’s eighth top-10 finish in 20 races in the Irish hills. It is also his 15^th top-10 finish in the 2011 season to date.

“It was a great finish for the Lowe’s team,” Johnson said. “We had a tough start to the race on pit road and on the race track but we got that ironed out.”

“Good runs put so much confidence in the driver and the team,” Johnson continued. “It felt good to be racing with the leader and have a shot at it.”

Surprising: Although Stewart-Haas Racing had a surprisingly good day at Michigan, with Ryan Newman finishing fifth in his No. 39 Wix Filters Chevrolet, and team owner Tony Stewart also finishing top ten in his No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet, the latter seemed surprisingly depressed after the race.

“I don’t know what we got to do to get one balanced for a day but we haven’t figured it out yet,” Stewart said. “We were on both sides of the coin today between tight and loose.”

“I’ll be perfectly honest at this stage in the deal if we’re going to run this bad, it really doesn’t matter if we make the Chase or not,” Smoke continued. “Our stuff’s so bad right now we’re wasting one of those top 12 spots.”

Not Surprising: On the flip side, it was no surprise to see the Hendrick Motorsports gang have a good day on the sweeping turns of Michigan International Speedway. Following closely behind runner up Jimmie Johnson, HMS teammate Mark Martin finished fourth in the No. 5 Carquest/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet.

“It’s an incredible privilege to drive stuff like that,” Martin said. “We were right there and could see the lead and anytime you can see the lead, you feel like you have a crack at it. I feel very fortunate.”

HMS four-time champ Jeff Gordon also had a decent day at the office, finishing sixth in the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet, moving up another spot in the point standings to sixth as well. Gordon also made history, marking over 22,000 laps led in his career.

“All in all, a solid day for the Dupont Chevrolet,” Gordon said. “I loved the effort and the cars and team that we are bringing to the race track. It was a lot of fun out there.”

The final driver, piloting the No. 88 National Guard/Amp Energy Chevrolet for Mr. Hendrick, had a fairly good race as well. In spite of pit problems, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished fourteenth, keeping himself solidly in the ninth spot in the Chase standings.

“I had some awesome runs and the car was really fast,” Junior said. “And then I put on some tires and I couldn’t drive the car. We had some bad stuff happen on pit road, but we drove it back up there.”

Surprising: With a starting spot of fourth, the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota had high hopes for redemption in Michigan, as well as the hope of keeping his Chase chances alive. Surprisingly, in spite of Denny Hamlin’s new engine, he struggled throughout the race, hitting the wall and heading to the garage to repair significant right front suspension damage.

Hamlin finished the race in 35^th and lost two positions in the point standings, falling to a disappointing 14^th, barely hanging on to any chances of a Chase berth.

Not Surprising: Coming off his top-10 finish at the Glen, it was not surprising that A J Allmendinger almost pulled off another one at MIS. The driver of the No. 43 Best Buy Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports powered through the field from his 29^th place start to finish 11^th.

Surprising: On the flip side, the Dinger’s teammate Marcos Ambrose, winner of the Cup race at Watkins Glen last weekend and the Nationwide race in Montreal this weekend, had a surprisingly frustrating day.

The driver of the No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion started out strong but then was tagged from behind by Kevin Harvick while trying to pit, shoving his car head first into the pit wall, relegating him to a 27^th place finish.

“That was frustrating,” Ambrose said. “We had a good car and we were top-10 a lot of the day.”

“We just kept getting tighter and tighter,” Ambrose continued. “We had a hole in the grill. That really hurt us and we ended up turned around in the pit there at the end, so that hurt us too.”

Not Surprising: Although the driver of the No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet qualified poorly and started 35^th, it was no surprise to see him drive as hard as he could to a top-ten finish. With Clint Bowyer’s 8^th place finish at Michigan, he has managed to hang on to the 11^th spot in the Chase standings.

“It was a good, hard fought battle all day long,” Bowyer said of his race. “From where we started, starting 35^th, getting up there in the top ten, we had a good car all day long.”

“We gained but not near enough. We’re running out of time but if we keep digging, who knows what’s going to happen.”

August 21, 2011
Watkins Glen – A Siren’s Song

If Sonoma is the wicked witch of the west, with her short track tendencies and her hot temper attitude. Then Watkins Glen is the evil witch of the east, with her high speeds and dangerous tempting of drivers to drive in just a little deeper go just a little faster. After a days delay due to rain, she rewarded patience and collected those who gave into her sirens song.

After coming close enough to see the checkers wave. After having fate rip the flag from his hands. Marcos Ambrose finally silenced the reminiscing of his close calls when he took the checkers in very convincing style. Ambrose held off a hard charging Brad Keselowski in the final turns to bring home his first Sprint Cup win.

[media-credit name=”Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”234″][/media-credit]Although the checkers flew with the yellow for two serious wrecks on the final lap both occurred behind the leaders leaving Ambrose, Keselowski and Kyle Busch to bring them all to the finish line wide open and going for broke.

As the wind caught the checkered flag, a sickening stillness spread on the breeze as the carnage of the wreck involving David Ragan and David Reutimann became apparent via the big screen on the front stretch. Reutimann was air born. He hit two walls and the car appeared to disintegrate around him. Ragan hit an oblique wall dead head on after contact from Boris Said and then bounced into Reutimann sending him airborne when they both hit the outside Armco retaining wall.

This was the third serious wreck of the day. The first saw Kurt Busch lose his brakes entering turn 5 and go head on into the tire barrier. “I had a big problem getting into the braking zones today — just rear brakes locking up,” Busch said after the crash. “I had to crank eight rounds of front brake into our [car] just to survive. All that does is generate brake heat, and I blew out the left-front tire.

“It was a bummer of a day and not anything that we expected. It must have been something with the brake package. Whatever Keselowski found at Road Atlanta [during his Aug. 3 testing accident], I had a problem with today.”

The second of the day was Denny Hamlin’s crash in turn 1 on lap 65. Hamlin’s car lost its brakes and hit a tire barrier and guard rail head on at 60mph moving a fence backwards almost 2 feet whose posts were set in concrete.

“This was just terrifying,” Hamlin said, “because you know there’s nothing you can do, and you’re heading straight for the fence. It’s the [most scared] I’ve been, by far.”

“You’re obviously traveling fast. This is obviously the fastest road course,” said David Ragan after his crash, “It’s crazy, though, in this day and age to not have SAFER barriers and a little better design. That guardrail and all has probably been here since the 1900s when this race track was built. It’s kind of absurd. There are dirt tracks that have better SAFER barriers and wall systems.”

Reutimann who was struck in the leg by a piece of flying debris that cut through his uniform, when he became air borne and struck both inside and outside armco guard rails. “This is one of the bigger hits I would say, but it’s part of the gig,” Reutimann said. “You sign up to do this stuff, every once in a while you’re going to hit something. As fast as we’re going, you hit stuff pretty hard. I’m good and will be ready for Michigan next week. I’m thinking where I hit would probably be a good place for SAFER barriers. So, maybe we should look at that next time we come back. Overall, I’m OK and ready to get out of here.”

Jeff Gordon was a victim in the same spot in the track last year and was fortunate enough to walk away from a very nasty crash. Although Gordon finished 13^th and was not involved in the wreck, he certainly sympathized with the drivers who were involved.

“You can’t have walls like that. You’re going to find those places eventually, so they’ve got to fix them. And unfortunately, this one has been found before. And we’ve seen what can happen, and we’re very fortunate we don’t have any injuries coming from that, because obviously it could have been much worse. But anytime you’re in a race car and you’re trying to go fast, accidents are going to happen. And when they do, you have to make sure they have a clear path for cars to exit the race track. In this situation, they’ve got a wall that [produces] not only a big impact, but puts it right back out into traffic.” Stated the four time champion.

In fairness not every driver voiced a concern about the barriers. Race winner Marcos Ambrose had a different perspective on the tracks barriers coming from a road course back ground. “I don’t drive around this place looking at any one spot saying, ‘Ooh, that looks nasty to me.’ I think they’ve done great with what they’ve got,” he said. “If you don’t have a guardrail off Turn 2, you end up going down a bank, so that’s not good, either. So I think the track itself is fine. I think we just have to keep working on safety. All the drivers walked away. I’ve got no complaints about this place. I think it’s a safe race track. We’re just driving these cars flat out, and it creates problems. … I think the track is a classic road-racing circuit. You don’t want to make it too sterile. You’ve got to have bumps and lumps and change of camber and roughness and all that kind of stuff that makes it what it is.”

But the facts remain that one more time NASCAR has taken a wait and see attitude. It took the death of J.D. McDuffie here to create the bus stop chicane to insure that the heavy high powered stock cars could make the turn safely. One would think with the history of serious career and life threatening injuries that Watkins Glen has that NASCAR would want to take a proactive stance and say Ok we need you to look into making changes here and here. But that is simply not the case.

Nascar will review the black box information from all the wrecked cars and see if the G Spikes were high enough to warrant S.A.F.E.R. barriers being placed in the trouble spots. G Spikes occur at impact and are a measurement of the gravitational force that the driver sustains. It takes a certain level for the sanctioning body to mandate the S.A.F.E.R. barrier technology be placed in the area by the track.

For the third week in a row, there were safety concerns for drivers. For the third week in a row lives were at risk. Again it calls into question the Driver Safety First Initative of NASCAR. Obviously this car has incredible safety systems. But is that enough?

If the technology exists to make the enviroment safer to race in why on earth would you not have it in place? If driver safety first is your first priority, so much so that unlike other series, Sprint Cup does not race in the wet, why would you not insist that the technology be in place at tracks where they race?

Spokesman for Watkins Glen International Speedway, Ryan Lake stated post race, “Driver safety is certainly our No. 1 concern, and I think our past shows that we’re more than willing to do what’s necessary — such as two years ago, when we made those changes with the extended runoffs and SAFER barriers,” track spokesman Ryan Lake said. “After this race, we’ll certainly speak with NASCAR, and if they come back and say we need to make changes, we’re certainly going to do that.” The key words here are “if they come back and say we need to make changes, we’re certainly going to do that.”

Why after the crashes we saw this weekend would you need NASCAR to tell you that you have a problem? It’s apparent that there is a problem and it’s not the first time the problem has shown itself. Why? Because S.A.F.E.R. barriers are expensive. Very expensive. It’s in the neighborhood of $500 a foot. That isn’t the only problem. Dr. Dean Sicking, creator of S.A.F.E.R. barriers said, “The truth is, along with the expense, there wasn’t enough steel tubing in the world to do it. [put safer barriers on every wall]

“We would have used it all and still come up short. We had to select the areas where a crash was most likely to occur.”

The S.A.F.E.R. barrier is comprised of hollow rectangular tubes in front of foam padding, which is in front of the concrete walls. S.A.F.E.R. stands for Steel and Foam Energy Reduction.

NASCAR is aware of the risks. “Obviously, we want to have the S.A.F.E.R. walls in the areas where we have the most risk,” NASCAR CEO Brian France said, “I know we’re always looking at it, and every track is a little bit different.

“Some are road courses, so you can’t just say every wall. It may not be practical or it may not be necessary. But clearly in areas of high risk, we have to do better.”

Now, the restrictions are understandable. The outside factors are very apparent. But the fact remains that if NASCAR is going to put driver’s safety first then as a whole the sport should be proactive in the area of driver safety not reactive. It should not take losing a driver or having one seriously injured before we take the steps to prevent it. This is the second consecutive year that this turn and area of the track has been shown to be unsafe. Yet we wait and see what happens. The time is here for NASCAR to say this is what happens and if you want to keep this date, you will fix this area of the track.

The sky was growing dark over the track and teams were hurriedly preparing to finally go home. Some breathed sighs of relief. Some celebrated a victory over the evil witch. Some just sighed happy to be returning home with limited pain. As the thunder rumbled far off more than one looked over their shoulder towards the chicane where the destruction had occurred and wondered out loud, how close did we really come? The slowly falling rain drops seemed to whisper the answer they all knew as they hit the tops of metal trailers and sent a universal shutter down the spines of all present.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * * * * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Congratulations to Kurt Busch and the Ruby Tuesdays/Discount Tire team on their victory in the NNS this weekend. Kudos to Jimmie Johnson on racing to win a race in a series, where he had nothing to gain or lose.

Congratulations to Marcos Ambrose and his Stanley Tools team. It was awesome to see the King and Todd Parrot back in victory lane. It’s been too long. It was also a great thing to watch Marcos finally put to bed all the almosts.

That said, to all the competitors in all the series thanks for giving us everything you have to give, you are our heroes. Most importantly, thanks to all the families who shared their loved ones with us so we could cheer our favorite driver and favorite teams. You are the true heroes of the sport and we are forever in your debt.

August 16, 2011
Marcos Ambrose Claims First Sprint Cup Series Win at Postponed Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen

The rain held off and 85,000 race fans were treated to an exciting race today at Watkins Glen International. At the start, it looked as if NASCAR was trying to fit a square die in a round hole, but the showers held and all of the scheduled 90 laps (92 actually) were completed today at The Glen. All this action coming today after yesterday’s weather forced a Monday race for the second time in three years.

[media-credit name=”Ed Coombs” align=”alignright” width=”239″][/media-credit]The Tasmanian native surged to his first NASCAR Sprint Cup series victory in dramatic fashion, surviving a wild Green-White-Checkered finish that will go down as one of the most epic two laps in The Glen’s storied history. For a second race in a row (the other coming in Saturday’s Zippo 200) the driver who led the most laps at The Glen would not come home with the race win.

Crew Chief Todd Parrott proved his strategy for today’s race would be relatively conservative in comparison to other teams when he called Marcos Ambrose in for his first of three pit stops on the day coming at lap 17. Others like the No. 18 team of Kyle Busch, the No. 24 of Jeff Gordon, and the No. 2 of Brad Keselowski tried to stretch their fuel mileage in exchange for improved track position.

There were really two ‘groups’ of cars today, those going conservatively and those trying to squeeze every drop of fuel from their cars in an effort to come to pit road just twice rather than three times.

The caution flag waived just 5 times today at Watkins Glen International, four of which were created by rather violent crashes across various points on the 2.45 mile road course.

The first caution caused by contact came past the half-way point in the race involving the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger on lap 50 when Kurt Busch’s car blew a left front tire sending him into the outside tire barrier in turn number 5.

Kurt Busch explained the incident after climbing from his wrecked car “I had a big problem getting into the braking zones today, the rear brakes locking up. I had to crank eight rounds of front brake in our Shell/Pennzoil Dodge just to survive. All that does is generate brake heat and I blew out the left-front tire. It was just a bummer of a day and not anything that we expected. It must have been something with the brake package.” This marked Kurt Busch’s first DNF dating back to Michigan in August of 2010.

Kyle Busch was shown as the race leader following the caution lasting for three laps, but would lose the point to limping Brad Keselowski just 5 laps after the restart.

The second bad accident came on lap 67 when Denny Hamlin went for a ride off of the 90 degree turn number 1 at Watkins Glen International. The replay showed Hamlin’s car with the front brakes completely locked up with the rear wheels still going forward, and eventually plowing the wall in the first turn causing the wall to buckle upwards of 15 inches. The Toyota driver would later explain that something felt like it had broke in the front end causing him to drive straight through the hard right hander.

Eventual race winner, Marcos Ambrose along with Juan Montoya had pitted just one lap prior to the caution moving them into 4th and 5th respectively behind leader Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, and Martin Truex Jr. when the green flag came back out on lap 69.

Marcos Ambrose wasted no time after the third restart in his effort to drive to the front, zipping past Truex on lap 72 for third, and past Keselowski for second on lap 76. Ambrose whittled away at Kyle Busch’s 2.5-second lead throughout the next few laps, forcing Busch to burn more fuel to stay at the point.

Crew Chief for the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Dave Rogers, was asked on lap 83 if the No. 18 had enough fuel to make the 30 laps he needed to take the checkered and responded “Oh, that’s going to be close, I’m more worried about the No. 9 (Ambrose) right now.”

Dave Rogers’ prayers for a caution were answered when the second tire issue of the day caused the No. 27 of Paul Menard to smash the wall exiting the top of the esses. Menard’s car leaked fluid all the way around, almost to the entrance of turn number 10, forcing an imminent Green-White-Checkered finish.

Under caution, the leader Kyle Busch putted around the track, shutting down his engine several times in an effort to conserve fuel for the two lap dash that would make up the finish of the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen. Ambrose had 4 laps more fuel than Busch, so the No. 18 knew Ambrose would be charging hard on the final restart to overtake him.

The stage was set for the final restart with Kyle Busch in the lead, Ambrose starting to his left in second, Brad Keselowski starting inside row 2, Martin Truex Jr. in fourth, and Juan Montoya in fifth.

The race would go green for the final time on lap 91, with Kyle Busch hammering down towards the hard right hand turn number 1. Marcos Ambrose faltered on the restart, spinning his tires just before the start/finish line, giving room for Brad Keselowski and Truex to become a threat in the race. Busch drove his Toyota Camry too hard into turn 1, going sideways at the exit, giving way for Keselowski to sneak by on the inside.

Kyle Busch had this to say about his slip up in turn 1 “Just knew exactly what not to do and did it anyway. Just got in there and didn’t think I got in there too fast, but the car just didn’t slow down the way I needed it to and then it didn’t turn the way I needed it to. Saw sprinkles on the windshield, but everybody else made it fine through there. I just screwed up.”

Keselowski maintained the lead all the way up the esses, down the backstretch, and through the bus stop chicane. Ambrose would make his move on the Blue Deuce in the carousel turn, sneaking past Keselowski on his right. Once Ambrose got to the point halfway through lap 91, there was no turning back. He was absolutely flawless for the next lap through the 11 turns that make up the short course at WGI.

The final caution would come on lap 92, ending the race and putting Marcos Ambrose in Victory Lane for the first time as a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver. Heavy contact between the No. 6 of David Ragan and No. 00 of David Reutimann caused the caution to fly just as the field made their way through the first part of the esses in turn number 2. The crash was the most vicious one of the day, leaving Reutimann on his roof and Ragan with safety concerns about the track at Watkins Glen.

“That was a hard hit. I looked down at my feet and my pedals and my leg rests were all pushed over. It’s a shame that a race track we go to in 2011 doesn’t have a better wall design all the way around the race track, so hopefully they’ll look at that. I’ve been to some dirt tracks that have better walls than that. It was a hard hit, but our cars are safe.”
Said David Ragan, following his trip to the Infield Care Center.

Race winner Marcos Ambrose has no concerns with the safety at Watkins Glen “The track itself is a first-class facility. It’s a great race track. I think they’ve done an awesome job in some of the safety features they’ve already implemented around this place. I don’t drive around this place looking at any one spot saying, ‘Ooooh, that looks nasty to me.’ I think they’ve done great with what they’ve got. If you don’t have a guard rail off of turn two, you end up going down a bank, so that’s not good either. I think the track itself is fine, I think we just have to keep working on safety…But I think the track is a classic road racing circuit. You don’t want to make it too sterile. You’ve got to have bumps and lumps and change of camber and roughness and all that kind of stuff that makes it what it is.”

Ambrose’s win today marks the 5th different First-Time Winner in the Sprint Cup Series this year, and it’s the first win for Ford at Watkins Glen since Geoff Bodine’s win at The Glen in 1996.

Marcos elaborated on his win in Victory Lane just before 1PM today “I’ve sacrificed so much to get here and to finally win and be here in Victory Lane in the Cup Series is a dream come true. I flew the kids home yesterday. It was the little one’s first day at school. I was desperate to be there for her and this kind of makes up for it. I’ve just got to thank the Richard Petty Motorsports team, Stanley, DeWalt, everybody involved. Mrs. Petty is not doing so well at home. We wish her the best. This win is for her and the whole Petty family. Richard and everyone else who gave me the chance, thank you very much. Winning in the Cup Series for Stanley is just an incredible feeling and I’m very, very proud.”

The rest of the top 5:

battered Brad Kesolowski – 2nd

3rd-Kyle Busch

4th-Martin Truex Jr.

5th-Joey Logano

Kyle Busch leaves Watkins Glen tied for the points lead after a 12th place finish from Carl Edwards. Jimmie Johnson dropped one spot to 3rd following his 10th place finish at The Glen.

August 15, 2011
Surprising and Not Surprising: Good Sam RV Insurance 500 at Pocono

On a weekend where the patriarch of Pocono Raceway, Doc Mattioli, dramatically announced his retirement and sporadic rain made both the NASCAR Camping World Truck race and the ARCA Series race two-day events, it was no wonder that there was drama aplenty in the 38^th Annual Good Sam RV Insurance 500.

[media-credit id=43 align=”alignright” width=”230″][/media-credit]Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Long Pond, Pennsylvania track known affectionately as the ‘Tricky Triangle’.

Surprising: Although known for his victory lap celebrations displaying a large American flag, it was surprising how the race winner put aside both the celebration and the pain of his broken ankle to patriotically pay tribute to the lives of the troops lost this weekend.

Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, climbed gingerly from his race car after taking the checkered flag to pay tribute to the Navy Seals and all who protect the country.

“I’m no hero,” Keselowski said. “The heroes are the guys that died in Afghanistan this weekend. And I want to spend time thinking about them.”

“I have a cousin in the Navy Seals,” Keselowski said. “It was really inspirational to me. That’s what it means to man up.”

“They were my inspiration for this weekend,” Keselowski continued. “I’m glad that we could win today but those are the heroes. I just drive race cars.”

This was Keselowski’s third victory in 74 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races and his second victory in the 2011 season. This was also Keselowski’s first victory at Pocono Raceway.

Not Surprising: With Keselowski’s set up in his car, it was no surprise that his teammate Kurt Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Dodge, finished third. This was Busch’s 12^th top-10 finish in 22 races at Pocono Raceway.

Although Kurt Busch did everything he could after the race to deflect the attention, it was also not surprising that he had the most significant altercation in the race, on and off the track. Busch got into it with five-time champ Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, as the two battled for position late in the race.

“Today was definitely a hard fought battle,” Busch said. “We were hanging on to it at the end. And I brought her home third.”

“We had a good battle all day, especially at the end with the 48,” Busch said. “We’ve had our battles and a lot of times I come out on the short end of the stick. But what I saw today was good hard racing.”

“That’s what race fans love to see, that’s what they bought this ticket for, that’s what they’re sitting in the grandstands, rooting on their favorite driver for to see him get out there, mix it up clean, and bring it home, just like what we were third and fourth.”

Surprising: At a track the he admittedly does not do well at and after spinning in the early laps of the race, as well as being penalized for pitting too soon, it was surprising to see the other Busch brother, Kyle, finish in the runner up position. This was the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota driver’s fifth top-10 finish in four races at Pocono but his 13^th top-10 finish in 2011.

“The guys were flawless this weekend,” Busch said. “We worked real hard at it and it was fast.”

“That last caution killed us,” Busch continued. “I was really hoping to see it go green the rest of the way. Our car was fast out front.”

“All in all, it was a great day to come in second at one of my worst tracks.”

This was the second race of the day in which Busch finished second. He was also the bridesmaid to Kevin Harvick in the Camping World Truck Series race, held over due to the rain.

Not Surprising: Speaking of weather, it was not surprising to see it impact the race, which ended up being was halted for a rain delay lasting one hour, 40 minutes and 46 second. Principal among those drivers who suffered the consequences of the precipitation was pole sitter Joey Logano.

The driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet not only started the race in front but was in the lead when the rains came pouring down. In spite of doing every rain dance possible, Pocono Raceway got the track dry and the race resumed. Logano, however, did not resume well, struggling after the race restart, cutting a right rear tire down late in the race and finishing 26^th.

“We just had a flat,” Greg Zipadelli, Logano’s crew chief, said. “You can’t predict that.”

Surprising: Teammates Brian Vickers, driver of the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, and Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota Camry, had their hopes for a good race weekend surprisingly dashed at the ‘Tricky Triangle.’

Vickers suffered an engine failure early in the race and suffered his first DNF since Talladega, officially finishing 39^th.

“We lost an engine,” Vickers said dejectedly. “It was tough. I think we had a good car.”

“We just haven’t had things go our way.”

Teammate Kahne also did not have things go his way. He got into a late race collision with Juan Pablo Montoya and finished 28^th.

“We started the weekend off pretty strong,” Kahne said. “But in the race we just were behind.”

“It definitely wasn’t what I expected, especially for a team that’s run so well here in the past.”

Not Surprising: Since Jeff Gordon won the June 12^th Pocono race, it was not surprising to see him power his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet back from a qualifying encounter with the wall to finish top ten in the August 7^th Pocono race.

“I’m happy with our finish considering were we started, deep in the field,” Gordon said.

It was also not surprising that his fellow Hendrick Motorsports teammates had good finishes as well, with Jimmie Johnson in fourth, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in 9^th and Mark Martin in 13^th.

“We had a good car all day long and I’m real happy how that worked out,” Dale Earnhardt, Jr. said.

Surprising: With all the focus on ‘Iron Man’ Keselowski for gutting out his win and the new feud brewing between five-time champion Jimmie Johnson and one-time champion Kurt Busch, the driver of the No. 27 Certain Teed/Menards Chevrolet went surprisingly unnoticed.

Yet Paul Menard followed up his surprising win from last week at the Brickyard with a tenth place finish at Pocono.

“It was a good follow-up to last week’s win,” Menard said. “We fought hard for this top-10 finish.”

Not Surprising: It was not surprising that the three turns of Pocono wreaked havoc with many drivers, most significantly the driver of the No. 6 UPS Ford. David Ragan brought out the second caution early in the race when he spun, heavily damaging the back end of his car.

“I was probably a little too aggressive this early in the race,” Ragan said. “I ran out of race track and didn’t have enough room to chase it.”

With his 34^th place finish, David Ragan not surprisingly became NASCAR’s biggest loser, plummeting three positions in the point standings to 19^th, all but shattering his Chase hopes.

Surprising: There were a surprising number of lead changes, however, they were primarily due to green flag pit stops and not passing on the track. Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, had the lead four times for 65 laps and yet, in spite of that, still finished a surprisingly poor 15^th at a track where he has excelled in the past.

Not Surprising: Given the intensity of the restarts, especially on the long Pocono straightaway, it was not surprising to see yet another driver get bit by a changing lanes before the start-finish line penalty. Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M/811 Ford, was assessed a pass through penalty, yet was able to learn from his mistakes, overcome it, and rebound to finish 8^th.

August 9, 2011
Is Edwards’ Team Ready to Be Champions This Year?

Carl Edwards did the loyal thing and stayed with the team that took a chance on him when no one else would. His “multi-year” contract with Roush-Fenway Racing was somewhat of a surprise as most media outlets had him going to a fourth team at Joe Gibbs Racing. Whether that was true or not, no one knows and Edwards isn’t talking. One has to wonder, though, how long the contract is and how much money he is making. Also left to ponder is how it will affect his performance on the track. Many thought it would take a burden off his shoulders and start a march toward the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship. It didn’t work out that way during today’s race.

[media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”242″][/media-credit]Edwards started fourth and was found mostly hovering around the top 10 all day, but he was outclassed by guys like the Busch Brothers, Jimmy Johnson, Jeff Gordon, and the winner, arch-rival Brad Keselowski. What’s up with that? At the finish, Edwards finished in the lower half of the top 10 and finds himself only nine points in front of Jimmie Johnson—not exactly a secure position considering both have one win this year. So what happened on Sunday?

Edwards said his car got loose, but one has to wonder why adjustments were not made to rectify that situation. Remember, Johnson and Knaus are known for those in-race adjustments. That is the reason why I think Johnson is still the man to beat in this championship competition. Today, while Johnson found himself back in the pack all day, just like Edwards, the right moves were made to make him a factor at the end. Edwards seemed to lose positions, gain them back, and stay in the same place. That’s not going to cut it in that horrible aberration that NASCAR calls The Chase. No one doubts Edwards’ ability or desire, but what is in question is if his team is ready to be the champions they are capable of being. After a trip to the road course at Watkins Glen, which could be disastrous for Edwards point-wise, he heads to the friendly confines of Michigan where he shines. The trouble is that Johnson does pretty well on road courses and at Michigan. It should be an interesting sequence. And maybe this is the warm-up for next year’s run. We’ll soon find out.

****
NASCAR sure has a knack for the Cinderella story. Brad Keselowski, seriously injured in a practice accident at Road Atlanta, comes back to win with a broken ankle and a bad back at Pocono, which may be the sanctioning body’s longest race. This ranks right up there with Denny Hamlin’s comeback after surgery, Dale Earnhardt’s win after the death of his father, and Ricky Rudd’s win at Martinsville a few years ago when he had to be carried from his car on a hot October day. It was simply amazing. No doubt the rain delay helped him go the distance, but what will he do on the road course at the Glen?

Lots of questions will be answered soon. Keselowski put himself in the driver’s seat to make the Chase with the win, his second of the season, but what will the injury mean to his performance in upcoming races? That’s why Watkins Glen is all important to not only to Edwards and Johnson, but Brad Keselowski too. Maybe that’s a reason to tune in next week. Not being a fan of the road courses, where ringers come in and try to spoil the show for the regulars, it may be the only reason for this writer.

August 8, 2011
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Indianapolis

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Carl Edwards: Edwards took a run through the Indianapolis Motor Speedway grass, damaging the front splitter of the No. 99 car and setting him back in the field with 33 laps to go. Forced to resume in fuel conservation mode, Edwards went the rest of the way without pitting and finished 14^th. He remained atop the point standings, and leads Jimmie Johnson by 11.

[media-credit name=”Adam Lovelace” align=”alignright” width=”239″][/media-credit]“How is a spin through the infield grass like my free agent negotiations?” Edwards asked. “In both cases, there’s a lot of ‘green’ up ahead. I’ve had more money thrown at me than the Dale Earnhardt, Jr. merchandise trailer.”

2. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson raced in the top 5 at Indianapolis for most of Sunday’s Brickyard 400, but like many other drivers, fell victim to cautions that sabotaged pit strategies. After pitting for fuel and four tires late, he crossed the line 19^th as Paul Menard posted his first Sprint Cup win.

“I can certainly relate to the advantages of having the financial backing of a large home improvement chain,” Johnson said. “Paul Menard’s win at Indianapolis was a huge surprise. There are those that say Menard’s win had everything to do with the advantages of having financial backing from his billionaire father, John Menard. I say give Paul some credit, not only for his driving, but also for serving as the impetus to the Menard’s chain of stores’ brand new slogan: “Menard’s: Where You Can Buy Anything.”

3. Kyle Busch: Busch survived two incidents, one with Tony Stewart on pit row, the other with the wall, and bounced back to finish 10^th at Indianapolis, scoring his 12^th top-10 result of the year. Busch is now fourth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 16 out of first.

“One thing’s for sure,” Busch said, “the wall at Indy smacks harder than Richard Childress.

“I can’t help but ponder the possibilities of having Carl Edwards as a teammate here at Joe Gibbs Racing. I could teach Carl a thing or two, and when that goes sour, he could teach me a lesson.”

4. Kevin Harvick: After struggling with a tight-handling car for much of the race, Harvick and the No. 29 team gambled on pit strategy, coming in for a splash of fuel under green on lap 129, which allowed them to reach the finish without another stop. He finished 11^th as Richard Childress teammate Paul Menard took the Brickyard 400 victory.

“Congratulations to Paul Menard,” Harvick said. “It’s refreshing to hear a driver thank his sponsor and really mean it.”

5. Jeff Gordon: Gordon took the runner-up spot at Indianapolis, finishing second to surprise winner Paul Menard, denying Gordon his fifth Brickyard 400 win. Gordon is seventh in the Sprint Cup point standings, 52 behind Carl Edwards.

“Despite the money trail,” Gordon said, “I still couldn’t catch Menard. “I knew with a few laps to go I wouldn’t be able to catch him. As Brickyard 400’s, as well as Sprint Cup championships, go, I knew I was running out of time to win my fifth.”

6. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth led the Roush Fenway Racing charge at Indianapolis, finishing fifth at the Brickyard to post his seventh top-5 result of the year. He improved one spot in the point standings to fifth, and now trails Carl Edwards by 16.

“I may lack style,” Kenseth said, “or a wealthy benefactor, but I don’t lack substance. I haven’t finished out of the top 20 since early May. I’ve got no problem being called ‘Mr. Consistency.’ Heck, I’m just glad that anyone calls me ‘Mister.’”

7. Tony Stewart: Stewart was up front and in charge with 15 laps to go, but had to pit, knowing the No. 14 Office Depot Chevrolet couldn’t make it on fuel. He settled for 6^th and moved up two places in the point standings to ninth, 73 out of first.

“Normally,” Stewart said, “I’m not one to play it conservative, unless it involves an attractive female politician with delusional views on American history and family values. Sadly, the state of American politics requires that the speaker of that statement to ‘be more specific.’

But there’s no room for politics in NASCAR, although I do love a good party. If I use the term ‘bi-partisan,’ it’s usually to describe punching Kurt Busch with my right and left hands.”

8. Kurt Busch: Busch’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge suffered damage when he dove through the infield grass to avoid Landon Cassill’s spinning No. 51 car. The damage bent the splitter upwards into the grill, hindering airflow and causing an overheating problem. Repairs left Busch with serious handling issues, and he eventually finished 20^th after a late stop for fuel. He tumbled three spots in the points to sixth and is now 18 out of first.

“I was not happy with my car,” Busch said. “And as you know, when I’m not happy with my car, I often say a ‘blessing,’ which is often replete with vulgarity. But nothing I’ve ever said is as vulgar as a pre-race blessing containing the words ‘boogity, boogity, boogity’ and ‘smoking hot wife,’ among others. I’m appalled, that I haven’t been attending church all these years.”

9. Ryan Newman: Knowing a win was unlikely given his circumstances at the Brickyard 400, Newman pitted with 29 laps to go for three seconds of fuel and rallied to post a 12^th-place finish. It was another strong showing for Stewart Haas Racing after he and teammate Tony Stewart finished 1-2 at Loudon on July 17^th. Newman is now eighth in the point standings, 64 out of first.

“This is one case,” Newman said, “in which ‘Rocket’ fuel slows you down.”

10. Denny Hamlin: After an engine change during Friday’s practice, Hamlin started from the rear of the field on Sunday. He worked his way through the field, but like many others, fuel mileage spoiled any chances for the win. After a late stop for fuel, Hamlin crossed the finish line 27^th, and now sits 11^th in the point standings, 95 out of first.

“I’m in a very precarious points position,” Hamlin said. “Luckily, the new Chase wildcard spots work in my favor. However, since winning at Michigan on June 19^th, I’ve finished 37^th, 13^th, 11^th, 3^rd, and 27^th. That’s taking the term ‘a win to fall back on’ a bit too literally.”

August 2, 2011
Surprising and Not Surprising: Brickyard 400 at Indy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

August 1, 2011
A Future Begins At The Track of Dreams

The brickyard has long been known as the place of dreams. It didn’t change today. Today it saw a young man who has struggled and fought the naysayers to chase his dream. He never lost his faith and his family never lost their faith in him. A familiar face moved that dream forward last fall when Richard Childress added team number 4. That addition to the legendary RCR stable would set up today’s dream come true for Paul Menard. Because today Paul Menard made his dreams come true with a win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

[media-credit name=”Brian Douglas” align=”alignright” width=”232″][/media-credit]Although Menard was a long shot to win. He did so with strategy and fuel mileage and consistency. He conserved when he had to conserve. He raced hard when he had to race hard. He over came the obstacles. He fought the temptation to be intimidated by the 24 of Jeff Gordon coming fast in his mirror. He stayed steady and he ran his line

He won one of the crown jewels of NASCAR, by being Paul Menard. He was quiet on the radio. He was composed in victory lane. His emotions were his to share and he choose to share them with the people who got him there not the people who were undoubtedly surprised that he arrived. “This one is for my Dad.” He said calmly. When asked about the 24 in his mirror, he said, “Beating Jeff Gordon at Indy is a big deal”.

It was a dream day for others as well. Teams that didn’t run well and haven’t run well, 6 in the top 10 had a below average day and yet the fuel strategy game fell their way. Teams like Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, Jamie McMurray, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth all benefited from late race fuel strategy calls.

But the track of dreams also brings disappointments for some. It is inevitable after all. For everything that is gained something is lost. In this case it was a race that many who ran well all day ended up not a part of due to fuel mileage. Crew Chief Alan Gustafson commented on those who got good finishes because of the strategy, “You hate that running bad gives those guys an advantage.” Gustafson’s driver finished 2^nd after making up 11 seconds in 12 laps.

Tony Stewart led late only to have to stop for fuel. Jimmie Johnson who ran strong all day in the top 10 finished a disappointing 19^th. Dale Earnhardt Jr who took the lead on pit strategy after over heating with debris on the grill and led the race for 6 laps midway but finished 16^th. The list goes on.

The one resounding comment that was heard from every driver was, “Congratulations to Paul and Slugger Labbe. They worked hard for it. It’s good to see it come their way.”

The race itself was rather nondescript. It was intense for the final 19 laps or so. But it was not really exciting. The broadcast was well a bit over dramatized. The new anchor in the pit studio, Nicole Briscoe was over dramatic in her starring role debut. And the entire broadcast had the feel of theatrical production rather than a race.

The whole weekend was somewhat that way. The Camping World Trucks normally exciting and fun to watch ran a snoozer on perhaps their final showing at LOR/ORP. But it had its bright spot. We got to see a champion behave like a champion.

Truck Series winner Timothy Peter’s, however showed an extreme lack of judgment when he proceeded with his celebratory burn out while there were still two trucks on the front stretch. To his left, dead in the water and out of gas a few yards from the start finish line was Ricky Carmichael unable to go any further. To his left was Austin Dillon, trying to finish the race after contact with Todd Bodine. To continue with the burn out while putting others at risk was simply not acceptable. Granted he won the race and was entitled to his celebration but wait until the track is clear.

The incident between Todd Bodine and Austin Dillon on the final lap was troubling. Todd Bodine ran Austin Dillon into the wall. He made no bones about it and took complete responsibility. He said, “I didn’t see him. If I were him, I would be mad at me too.” Austin Dillon showed his roots when he said, “I don’t know what happened there. I have to talk to Todd first.” How refreshing! A Champion who acted like a champion and a potential champion that acted like a champion, is it any wonder the Camping World Truck Series is so much fun to watch. But fun or not it doesn’t change the fact that Todd’s spotter obviously didn’t tell him that Austin was there. Fortunately, Todd Bodine has exceptional truck control and was able to prevent the situation from becoming more serious. This incident was only the beginning of the “unusual” happenings at LOR/ORP that could have had serious results in terms of driver safety.

The Nationwide Series also ran at LOR/ORP. This race had perhaps the scariest incident of the year. Justin Allgaier lost a fuel line and the fire under the car grew with each passing lap. Crew Chief Jimmy Elledge called him in when he saw the fire on the monitor.

The fire itself was scary enough. But what Allgaier’s wife reported happened next on Twitter was terrifying. “I’m so angry w/ the firefighters… Got to car & told crew “not my job” so crew guy took fire extinguisher and it didn’t even work!” she reported. “I’m thankful Justin was okay and for the 32 guys for pulling him out of car!” She concluded.

So not only did the fire officials refuse to help Justin out of the car, they didn’t have fire fighting equipment that was functional to try to put out the fire. Surely, this incident did not get lost in all the confusion about lining up for the restart?

The young man’s life was at risk. The oil in the engine was reportedly over 300 degree’s. The front of the car was a rolling ball of fire. Yes he had on a fire retardant suit. But there was no way for anyone to know at that point that the engine would not blow up or that the fire was not much wider spread than it appeared and it appeared severe.

This situation was severe enough that NASCAR needs to step up to the plate and make their driver’s safety first initiative a mandatory requirement for all tracks. No driver should ever be at the mercy of help coming or not coming because of the location of the vehicle that is on fire. No driver should have to depend on his team or team mates to help out of a burning vehicle. It is simply unacceptable.

Regardless of what happened on the track with the restart, Justin Allgaier should have been the primary concern of everyone on pit road. His safety and his exit from that car should have been the foremost thought and focus for everyone, officials and safety workers. Every one of those people within the reach of a fire extinguisher or him should have been there immediately to assist him out of the vehicle and to put out the fire.

Officials wear fire suits too. Yes I understand that they are impartial. But saving or assisting a driver from harms way is part of their job. It’s why they monitor lug nuts and pit stall positioning. I will lay you odds that if Justin had been out of the box there would have been an official there to issue the penalty. Yet when he needed them to be proactive and help him, they were conspicuous by their absence.

The hype and the spectacle that is Indy has come to an end. The bricks have been kissed. The trophy has been awarded. And the haulers have begun their trek homeward. The new week has begun. Crew Chiefs have replaced their notes with Pocono and the work begins in earnest to find the way to victory lane again, this time at the tricky triangle. For some this will be a night of celebration and champagne. For some it will be a night of if only’s. But one constant remains, on nagging thought on the minds of every driver and team. How do we squeeze a gallon from a drop and when will we race for the checkers again. Only time will tell and then only if NASCAR will allow the secret to be told.

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Congratulations to Timothy Peters and his Red Horse Racing Team on their victory at LOR/ORP.

Congratulations to Brad Keselowski and his Penske Racing Team on their NNS victory.

And major congratulations to Paul Menard and his RCR team on their win of the Brickyard 400. It is always inspiring and uplifting to see someone make their dreams come true. Enjoy it Paul. You earned it. “Remember today, for it is the beginning of always. Today marks the start of a brave new future filled with all your dreams can hold.”

That said, to all the competitors in all the series thanks for giving us everything you have to give, you are our heroes. Most importantly, thanks to all the families who shared their loved ones with us so we could cheer our favorite driver and favorite teams. You are the true heroes of the sport and we are forever in your debt.

July 31, 2011