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Tag: Jeremy Bullins

  • Team Penske and Wood Brothers announce crew chief swap for Cindric and Burton, beginning in 2023 Cup Series Playoffs

    Team Penske and Wood Brothers announce crew chief swap for Cindric and Burton, beginning in 2023 Cup Series Playoffs

    With the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs days away from commencing, Team Penske and Wood Brothers Racing announced a crew chief swap for two of their combined Penske-affiliated entries for the remainder of this season and entering the 2024 season.

    Beginning with the Playoff opener next Sunday at Darlington Raceway, Jeremy Bullins, who was the crew chief for Team Penske’s No. 2 Ford Mustang entry piloted by Austin Cindric, will reunite with Wood Brothers Racing and lead the No. 21 team piloted by Harrison Burton. As a result, Brian Wilson, who was atop the pit box of Wood Brothers Racing’s No. 21 team for more than a season, will return to Team Penske and reunite with Cindric to lead the No. 2 team in NASCAR’s premier series.

    The move for Bullins, a native of Walnut Cove, North Carolina, to Wood Brothers Racing, reignites a dynamic pairing as Bullins spent the 2015-17 seasons with the championship-winning organization as a Cup crew chief with Ryan Blaney piloting the No. 21 entry. Through 88 events, Bullins led Blaney and the No. 21 team to a late victory at Pocono Raceway in June 2017, which marks the 99th and latest victory for Wood Brothers Racing, and they went on to make the Playoffs and finish in ninth place in the final standings. The driver-crew chief duo also achieved a combined two poles, eight top-five results, 25 top-10 results and 332 laps led before both departed Wood Brothers and moved to Team Penske in 2018.

    From 2018 through the first 26 events of the 2023 season, Bullins has achieved eight Cup victories while working with three different competitors (Blaney, Brad Keselowski and Austin Cindric). His latest triumph was winning the 2022 Daytona 500 with Cindric, who proceeded to finish 12th in the final standings and claim the Rookie-of-the-Year title. He also achieved a breakout season with Keselowski in 2020, with the duo achieving four victories and making the Championship 4 round before finishing in the runner-up spot in the final standings. In addition to his success in the Cup Series, Bullins has 21 victories as an Xfinity Series crew chief under his resume and played an instrumental role in leading Penske’s No. 22 entry to back-to-back Xfinity owner’s championships (2013 and 2014).

    This season, Bullins and Cindric have only achieved three top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 21.1 through 26 scheduled events. Their best on-track results of this season thus far were three sixth-place runs at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Circuit of the Americas in March along with the inaugural Chicago Street Course in July. Currently situated in 22nd place in the standings, they did not make the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs a year after making it.

    For Wilson, the transition to Team Penske’s No. 2 team reunites the Detroit, Michigan, native back with the three-time Cup Series championship-winning organization to which he first joined in 2004 and was a race engineer during Penske’s first Xfinity Series championship in 2010 and first Cup Series championship in 2012, both achieved by former Penske competitor Brad Keselowski.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Wilson called over 160 Xfinity events as a crew chief and achieved 23 victories from 2016-21, 13 of which were made by Austin Cindric and with whom Wilson will also reunite. During this span, he led Team Penske’s No. 22 entry to three Xfinity owner’s championships (2017, 2020, and 2021) and guided Cindric to the 2020 Xfinity Series driver’s championship. He also called his first four Cup events as a crew chief for Keselowski and the No. 2 entry in 2017 before being named a full-time Cup crew chief for Harrison Burton and the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing team in 2022, who ended up 27th in the final standings.

    This season, Wilson and Burton have only achieved two top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 23.8 through 26 scheduled events. Their best on-track result of this season thus far was a sixth-place run at Darlington in May. Currently situated in 30th place in the standings, they too did not make the Playoffs for a second consecutive season.

    With Bullins now paired with Burton and Wilson reunited with Cindric, the new driver-crew chief duo sets their sights on concluding the 2023 season on a strong note, beginning in this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoff opener at Darlington Raceway for the Cook Out Southern 500. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, September 3, at 6 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Team Penske reveals 2022 Cup Series crew chief lineup

    Team Penske reveals 2022 Cup Series crew chief lineup

    Team Penske took to social media to reveal its crew chief lineup for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, featuring a new member to the roster.

    Jonathan Hassler, a former race engineer, will be serving as a full-time crew chief for Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 Ford Mustang team next season. Hassler currently serves as crew chief for the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang team driven by Matt DiBenedetto. In 15 races this season, Hassler, who replaced veteran Greg Erwin in June, has guided DiBenedetto and the Wood Brothers’ No. 21 team to one top-five result and five top-10 results.

    Hassler is set to replace Todd Gordon, the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series championship-winning crew chief who is set to retire following the 2021 season. Currently, Gordon has won three races with Blaney and the No. 12 team.

    Veteran Jeremy Bullins will be remaining as crew chief for Team Penske’s No. 2 Ford Mustang team set to be piloted by Austin Cindric, who will enter the 2022 season as a full-time Cup Series rookie candidate following four full-time seasons in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Cindric, the 2020 Xfinity champion who is currently in pursuit to defend his series title, is set to replace Brad Keselowski, the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion who is set to join Roush Fenway Racing as a driver and part-owner.

    Paul Wolfe, the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series championship-winning crew chief, will also retain his role as crew chief for Team Penske’s No. 22 Ford Mustang team and driver Joey Logano. Wolfe and Logano are currently in their second full-time season together, where they amassed four victories, 20 top-five results, 35 top-10 results and a third-place result in the 2020 Cup Series final standings.

    All three of Penske’s Cup operations are competing in the Round of 12 in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs that is set to continue at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, October 3, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

    The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season is scheduled to commence at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for The Clash on February 6 followed by the 64th annual running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 20.

  • Jeremy Bullins to call 200th Cup race as crew chief at Daytona road course event

    Jeremy Bullins to call 200th Cup race as crew chief at Daytona road course event

    Following a productive 2020 season with former NASCAR Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski, crew chief Jeremy Bullins is set to achieve a milestone start in his sixth full-time season in NASCAR’s premier series. By calling the shots atop the pit box for this weekend’s event at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course, Bullins will call his 200th Cup race as a crew chief.

    A native of Walnut Cove, North Carolina, Bullins grew up working with his father on dirt late model cars from the race shop to the tracks. After graduating from North Carolina State University with a degree in mechanical engineering, Bullins’ career in NASCAR commenced with Wood Brothers Racing in 1999.

    He went on to work for organizations like ST Motorsports, Robert Yates Racing and Richard Childress Racing, where he was an engineer.

    Prior to the 2012 NASCAR season, Bullins departed RCR and joined Team Penske to serve as crew chief for the No. 22 Dodge team competing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with names like Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Sam Hornish Jr., Parker Kligerman and Jacques Villeneuve. In his first season as a crew chief, Bullins achieved his first three Xfinity career victories with Keselowski. In addition, the No. 22 team achieved a pole, 12 top-five results, 23 top-10 results and a sixth-place result in the final owner’s standings.

    In 2013, Bullins achieved 12 Xfinity wins with Keselowski, Blaney, Joey Logano and A.J. Allmendinger, all of whom shared Penske’s No. 22 Ford Mustang throughout the season. The victories along with three poles, 20 top-five results and 25 top-10 results were enough for the No. 22 team to capture the first NASCAR Xfinity Series’ owner’s championship for team owner Roger Penske by a single point over Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 54 Toyota team.

    The following season, Bullins, who remained as a full-time Xfinity Series crew chief for Team Penske, made his NASCAR Cup Series debut as a crew chief at Kansas Speedway in May for Ryan Blaney, who was also making his debut in the sport’s premier series. Starting 21st, Blaney finished 27th. The duo returned at Talladega Superspeedway in October, where Blaney finished 22nd of the 43-car field. Bullins went on to lead Penske’s No. 22 Ford team to its second consecutive owner’s championship while also winning six races between Blaney and Keselowski. Bullins also worked with Logano, Michael McDowell and Alex Tagliani throughout the 2014 Xfinity Series season.

    In 2015, Bullins moved up to the Cup Series to serve as a crew chief for Blaney and the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford team, which competed in 16 of the 36-race schedule. Together, Bullins and Blaney achieved a season-best result of fourth place at Talladega in May along with two top-10 results.

    In 2016, Bullins embarked on his first full-time season in the Cup Series as a crew chief with Blaney and the Wood Brothers Racing. At the conclusion of the season, Blaney achieved three top-five results, nine top-10 results and a 20th-place result in the final standings.

    The following season, Bullins achieved his first career win in the Cup Series as a crew chief at Pocono Raceway in June, which also marked Blaney’s first Cup career victory following a late battle against names like Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick. Together, they recorded the 99th Cup victory for the Wood Brothers Racing. Bullins and Blaney went on to capture two poles, four top-five results and 14 top-10 results throughout the season. They also made the 2017 Cup Playoffs and all the way to the Round of 8 before finishing in ninth place in the final standings.

    In 2018, Bullins and Blaney departed the Wood Brothers Racing and moved back to Team Penske in the Cup circuit. Together, Bullins and Blaney recorded a thrilling win at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval in September during the Playoffs. They also achieved three poles, eight top-five results and 16 top-10 results. Though they qualified for the Playoffs, Bullins and Blaney were eliminated from title contention following the Round of 12 and went on to finish in 10th place in the final standings. By then, Bullins surpassed 100 career starts in the Cup Series.

    The following season, Bullins and Blaney recorded another thrilling victory at Talladega Superspeedway in October during the Playoffs. To go along with a pole, 11 top-five results, 18 top-10 results and a third consecutive appearance in the Playoffs, the duo made it all the way to the Round of 8 before being eliminated from championship contention. Nonetheless, they ended up with a seventh-place result in the final standings.

    Despite a productive 2019 season, Team Penske decided to reshuffle its entire Cup driver-crew chief pairing for the 2020 season. The move ended up with Bullins being paired with Brad Keselowski and the No. 2 Ford Mustang team while Todd Gordon took over as Blaney’s new crew chief.

    Seven races into the 2020 season and amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Bullins achieved his first Cup victory with Keselowski in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway following a late restart. Two races later, the duo won again at Bristol Motor Speedway, where Keselowski dodged a late incident involving teammate Joey Logano and Chase Elliott.

    Bullins and Keselowski went on to claim dominating victories at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in August and at Richmond Raceway in September during the Playoffs. They made it all the way to the Championship Round at Phoenix Raceway, but ended up finishing in the runner-up spot on the track and in the final standings behind Elliott and crew chief Alan Gustafson.

    This season, Bullins and Keselowski are coming off a 13th-place result in the Daytona 500 following a vicious multi-car accident on the final lap, where Keselowski was in prime position of winning his first 500 title.

    In 199 previous starts in the Cup Series, Bullins has achieved seven career victories, six poles, 40 top-five results and 83 top-10 results, all while working with Blaney and Keselowski.

    Catch Bullins’ milestone start in the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series event at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course on Sunday, February 21, at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Hot 20 – Smokey just tagged the Bandit to make Phoenix a lot more interesting

    Hot 20 – Smokey just tagged the Bandit to make Phoenix a lot more interesting

    If NASCAR was a certain 1977 hit movie, you could say that Sheriff Buford T. Justice finally got his hands on the Bandit. It might not have derailed the adventure, but there is a danger the Snowman might not be able to deliver that truckload of suds to their destination on time.

    That quest could be spoiled by spoilers. Specifically, NASCAR tagged the team of Kevin Harvick with a top drawer penalty violating the rules that explicitly points out that spoilers must be used exactly as supplied from the manufacturer and not altered. Instead of getting that free pass to contend at Homestead, the boys are just three points in.

    Gone are all the benefits of the win at Texas. No free pass, though Harvick does keep the guns and the hat. Gone are 40 of the sixty points he picked up in that race. Gone is crew chief Rodney Childers for the rest of the season. Gone is $75,000 from Childers’ pocket. Gone is car chief Robert Smith until the campaign is over. Stewart-Haas Racing will not appeal the penalties, as production manager Tony Gibson returns to the box he last sat atop a year ago, when he directed Kurt Busch to the 2017 Daytona 500 victory. With the decision, Busch now finds himself just three points out of the Homestead final four.

    Post-race tear downs at the NASCAR Research and Development Center can be a real bitch. Ryan Blaney lost 20 points from Texas, along with crew chief Jeremy Bullins, who was fined $50,000, and car chief Kirk Almquist for the rest of the season. Same goes for Erik Jones, as crew chief Chris Gayle coughs up the same amount of cash and he joins car chief Jason Overstreet on the sidelines until the smoke clears in Florida.

    Of course, neither of those rulings have anywhere close to the same impact as the hit taken by the No. 4 crew. It could all still end the same way most expect, with Logano joined by the Big Three at the big dance. Now, however, it will take a little more action before this movie runs the final credits.

    In the words of Sheriff Justice, “What we’re dealing with here is a complete lack of respect for the law.” Well, message delivered.

    Now it is time for the Bandit to keep his foot hard on the peddle, son, never mind them brakes. Let it all hang out ’cause you’ve got a run to make. Phoenix just got a lot more interesting.

    1. JOEY LOGANO – ROUND VICTORY – 4119 Pts (7 Wins)
    Shell Pennzoil is his Phoenix sponsor. At Homestead, maybe it should be Target.

    2. KYLE BUSCH – 4128 POINTS (7 Wins)
    Nothing has changed for him, other than there are now three opens spots instead of just two.

    3. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 4125 POINTS (4 Wins)
    Do not expect him to go down this week without having vengeance in his heart for the next.

    4. KEVIN HARVICK – 4103 Pts (8 Wins)
    A nine-time Phoenix winner suddenly could sure use a 10th about now.

    5. KURT BUSCH – 4100 POINTS (1 Win)
    Would hate to break his brother’s heart but as for those other two…

    6. CHASE ELLIOTT – 4086 POINTS (3 Wins)
    Phoenix has been kind to him in the past. She needs to be downright romantic on Sunday.

    7. ARIC ALMIROLA – 4068 POINTS (1 Win)
    His schedule reads, “Win this week or destroy Logano next week.” Not sure about the word “or.”

    8. CLINT BOWYER – 4052 POINTS (2 Wins)
    If anyone needed a tinkered spoiler last week, it was him.

    9. RYAN BLANEY – 2263 POINTS (1 Win)
    I am not sure if being in danger of dropping to 10th in the standings is that big a deal.

    10. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 2259 POINTS (3 Wins)
    The Miller Lite Ford will look a lot like a giant pysanka this weekend.

    11. DENNY HAMLIN – 2220 POINTS
    Well, Texas sure sucked.

    12. KYLE LARSON – 2211 POINTS
    Tires. If Fred Flintstone ran Goodyear things might have gone differently.

    13. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 2195 POINTS
    Sometimes Jimmie screws up. Sometimes it is Chad. In Texas, it was all NASCAR.

    14. ALEX BOWMAN – 2187 POINTS
    A Tucson boy returns to Arizona.

    15. ERIK JONES – 2184 POINTS (1 Win)
    He probably would prefer to lose those 20 points rather than $50,000.

    16. AUSTIN DILLON – 2184 POINTS (1 Win)
    The winless streak has now reached 34.

    17. RYAN NEWMAN – 721 POINTS
    Are we done yet?

    18. RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – 676 POINTS
    You could say that Stenhouse was in the eighth fastest unpenalized car at Texas.

    19. PAUL MENARD – 672 POINTS
    Does not exactly have the biggest social media footprint.

    20. DANIEL SUAREZ – 666 POINTS
    Still nothing set for 2019.

  • The View from My Recliner – Thoughts from Daytona

    The View from My Recliner – Thoughts from Daytona

    Let it be known that I hate restrictor plate racing.

    Between the XFINITY and Cup races, it was pile up after pile up. If you’re a fan, you might as well save the money, go to the County Fair and go see the demolition derby.

    If I am a car owner, I would really think hard about even entering my car into a race at Daytona and Talladega. You might as well consider that car a known loss and be surprised if the car survives. The investment for four restrictor plate races isn’t worth it.

    It was great to see Roger Penske in victory lane celebrating the 100th victory for Team Penske. The Captain has been the center of Indy Car racing for years and in the past 20 plus years, has been a force in NASCAR. He has his team poised to be in contention for years to come with younger drivers like Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano driving the Penske cars and Ryan Blaney driving for the Wood Brothers. The three drivers are lined up with three crew chiefs in Paul Wolfe, Todd Gordon and Jeremy Bullins which will add to team chemistry and continuity.

    Tony Stewart made it into the top-30 in points even though he wrecked out of Daytona. Look for Stewart to go hard for another win to solidify his spot in the Chase. I have the feeling Smoke will be a big factor at Indy. He was part of the tire test and would love to get his 50th Cup win at home.

    Kudos to Ryan Newman who called out NASCAR in the drivers meeting. I can see a fine coming, but his comments were on target. With the way the XFINITY race ended on Friday night, Newman calling into question how NASCAR officiated the race was on the money.

    Right now, there have been 11 winners in the Cup series. The five who are in on points right now are Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Newman and Ryan Blaney. After Richmond, unless someone like A.J. Allmendinger grabs a win at The Glen, the only driver in this group I don’t see in the Chase is Austin Dillon. The Slugger Labbe-led team hasn’t been consistent lately and I could see them dropping out of the Chase race and their spot taken by Jamie McMurray on points or Kyle Larson with a win.

    Kentucky will be interesting to see if it is a follow the leader like most re-paves turn out to be.

    Enjoy the racing this week and that is the View from My Recliner.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Duck Commander 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Duck Commander 500

    For the first night race under the vast Texas lights, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 19th annual Duck Commander 500.

    Surprising: This race featured a surprising number of penalties for driving through more than three pit boxes, surpassing the previous most popular penalty in the season to date for uncontrolled tires. There were a total of four such driving through pit box penalties, including ones for Denny Hamlin, Trevor Bayne, Kyle Larson and Casey Mears.

    Hamlin was able to rebound to finish eleventh, Bayne took the checkered flag in the 18th position, Kyle Larson finished a disappointing 25th and Casey Mears ended the race in the 27th spot.

    “To be realistic, we need stuff to go our way,” Hamlin said after the race. “We need cautions and track position. We just can’t drive through the field like that – what those guys are capable of – and we’re a work in progress.”

    Not Surprising: After waking up with a cold and practically no voice, it was not surprising that Jimmie Johnson needed a little assist from Willie Robinson from Duck Dynasty, title sponsor of the race, to lift high the massive Texas trophy.

    “Just a great, great race car,” Johnson said. “We just kept plugging at it and I think the off-week was good for us to sit down and relax, reboot and come back to the track. They brought me a fast race car that was good all weekend.”

    The win signified Johnson’s fifth victory at Texas but his first ever win in the spring race and was also his 72nd victory in 478 Cup Series races.

    Surprising: Hendrick Motorsports teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne had something in common that they both most likely wished they did not share. Both had a whole lot of shaking going on, with vibrations and loose wheels abounding.

    Yet in spite of all that shaking and vibrating going on, both drivers managed good finishes, with Earnhardt in third and Kahne finishing eighth.

    “It’s good to get a good finish in the bank because these last few weeks have been pretty rough, but we know what we are capable of,” Junior said. “Greg (Ives, crew chief) and I are just getting started here and we are right there on their heels man. If we ever get this thing figured out – it’s going to be tough.”

    “There were times when I felt really competitive with the leaders and other times more like a fifth-place car,” Kahne said. “We just left too many wheels loose throughout the race. I think three; you can’t run well when you do that.”

    Not Surprising: While Brad Keselowski had a close encounter of the cone kind, he was able to rally back to score a top-five finish for Team Penske.

    “I was trying to make my mind up and chose poorly,” Keselowski said when asked about the commitment cone violation. “But it was still a great day for the Miller Lite Ford and we have a lot to be proud of.”

    Keselowski’s Penske teammate Joey Logano also had a strong run, finishing fourth in his No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford.

    Surprising: Oops, he did it again. Yes, Kevin Harvick again finished in the second spot in the No. 4 Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet. In fact, this was the eleventh time that Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick have finished one/two in a race and it was also Harvick’s seventh top-10 finish in 2015.

    “I just got behind there and Jimmie was fast for those last couple laps and got around us,” Harvick said. “I got loose coming off four and I got in the wall and just was trying to hang on to where I needed to be. We just raced as hard as we could and it was a lot of fun.”

    Not Surprising: Carl Edwards finally got he wanted and expected after leaving Roush Fenway Racing for Joe Gibbs Racing this season. He got his first top-10 finish with his new No. 19 Stanley Racing For A Miracle Toyota.

    “I wanted to make a statement,” Edwards said. “It’s not a win, but for us it is our first top-10 and we dug hard all day, and we had a lot of fun. It’s a good race track.”

    Surprising: Aric Almirola, who did double duty at Texas racing XFINITY and Cup, may have finished 19th but he has managed to stay firm in his top ten ranking in the point standings.

    In fact, the driver of the Richard Petty Motorsports famed No. 43 held steady in the ninth spot of the point positions and would be considered a Chase contender if that competition started after this most recent race.

    Not Surprising: A two tire gamble was the key for many of the drivers who rounded out the top-ten in the finishing order.

    Jamie McMurray, who finished sixth; Jeff Gordon, who finished seventh; and Martin Truex, Jr., who kept his top-10 streak alive with a ninth place run, all took just two tires at the final stop of the race.

    “We did two (tires) two other times in the race and it worked out really well for us,” McMurray said. “When I cleared the No. 24 (Jeff Gordon) I thought we had a legitimate shot at winning. But once the guys with four tires got clear their cars were a little better than ours and they had better tires. You just can’t hold them up here.”

    “Yeah that was a great gamble, great call by Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and we saw early some guys take two tires and made it work for a short period of time,” Gordon said. “Alan made a great call there at the end to take two tires and that is what got us to seventh.”

    “At the end we had to start doing some strategy stuff to get our track position back and probably gave up a few spots doing it,” Truex Jr. said. “I think it was the right call. We’re taking some gambles and they’ve been paying off.”

    “It was still a top 10, so all in all, it was a good night for us.”

    Surprising: Both Paul Menard and Ryan Blaney checked into the engine heartbreak hotel, finishing respectively after having engine issues.

    “We broke a water hose, I guess,” Menard said after being sidelined with mechanical issues as lap 222. ”The main line that goes in the motor just broke. It pushed a bunch of water out. No warning. The temperature gauge never moved. I was coming down the backstretch to pit and was slowing down and it broke. We popped the hood but couldn’t see anything. So, we went back out but then had no power.”

    “The bright side is I feel like we had a really good car,” Jeremy Bullins, crew chief of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion driven by Ryan Blaney, said. “Obviously, something happened with the engine. I’m not sure exactly what because it’s hard to tell what happened first, so we just got to the point where we couldn’t keep going.”

    “It’s unfortunate. We’ve got a lot of power, so we won’t complain and we’ll go on and get ready for the next one.”

    Not Surprising: David Ragan continued his run as the happiest replacement driver on the race track, bringing his usually driven by Kyle Busch No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota to a 13th place finish after qualifying 30th.

    “Our overall race was really good considering where we started at,” Ragan said. “We didn’t have the best pit stall selection, we were having to drive around cars all night. Adam Stevens (crew chief) and our Interstate Batteries team did a really nice job adjusting on our Camry and I felt like we had a chance at a certainly a top-10 or maybe even a top-five if the cautions would have fell right.”

    “We just weren’t at our best the last 50 laps,” Ragan continued. “I think we learned a few things and certainly overcame a poor qualifying effort.”

    “Not too excited about our finish, very pleased with our race.”

     

  • For Joey Logano, Monster Mile Nationwide Win Feels Like the First Time

    For Joey Logano, Monster Mile Nationwide Win Feels Like the First Time

    While Joey Logano’s victory in the Nationwide race at Dover was his third straight Dover win, the driver of the No. 22 Hertz Ford for Penske Racing was fixated on firsts instead.

    “There were a lot of firsts for me today,” Logano said in the media center after the race. “Winning for Hertz, winning for the No. 22 Nationwide team, and winning for Ford were all firsts.”

    “And finally and most importantly, winning for Roger (Penske, team owner) was a first,” Logano continued. “That’s the coolest part of this win.”

    “There is a huge list of great race car drivers that have won for Roger Penske,” Logano said. “It’s cool to have my name put on that list too.”

    In spite of battling Cup drivers Kyle Busch and Kasey Kahne, both of whom had cars good enough to contend for the win, Logano was confident that he had  Miles the Monster under his control.

    “This is one of those race tracks that I feel like I know what it takes to win and what I need in a race car,” Logano said. “I was able to get Jeremy (Bullins, crew chief) the feedback he needed to give that car to me.”

    Logano admitted that he didn’t quite have that confidence, however, the night before the race.

    “Last night, I felt like we still weren’t there,” Logano said. “We had decent speed in our car but I felt like we were a second place car and not quite good enough to win.”

    “Jeremy and all the 22 team did a great job changing about everything on it,” Logano continued. “They got the car a little bit better.”

    In the end, the race was won in the pits by a gutsy call from the crew chief according to Logano.

    “Really the winning call was on that last pit stop,” Logano said. “Jeremy made an audible and decided to do two tires to beat out a lot of those guys.”

    “To give us that track position was the biggest thing.”

    Crew chief Jeremy Bullins could not agree more with his driver and race winner.

    “Obviously he’s really good here to win three in a row at any track,” Bullins said. “He obviously knows how to get around here.”

    “And he’s right,” Bullins continued. “We changed just about everything.”

    “I thought we were better today but wasn’t sure if we were good enough to win,” Bullins said. “We went back and forth in track position.”

    “In the end we were racing the 5 and the 54, who had been up front all day,” Bullins continued. “As soon as we saw they were taking four, we called it off and took two.”

    “The guys did a good job.”

    Logano may have had another first in mind, that of beating that 54 car, driven by fellow Cup competitor Kyle Busch.

    “It feels good, especially since this year he (Kyle Busch) has been winning everything,” Logano said. “To finally beat that 54 car, that was the team I worked with for the last seven years or so since my Nationwide debut really felt good.”

    “To beat them means a lot to me after they have been winning so much this year,” Logano continued. “I wanted to beat them really bad and to get here in Victory Lane, you have to beat everyone.”

    “They had a strong car again today but my man Jeremy made the right call for us.”

    The victory was also Logano’s 19th in 114 NASCAR Nationwide Series races and his fourth top-10 finish for the season.

    Following closely behind Logano was Brian Vickers in the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. Vickers finished second and had the best finish of his season to date.

    “The guys did a good job,” Vickers said. “But we just needed a little bit more right, one spot more right.”

    “Obviously we wanted to get a win and get this Dollar General in Victory Lane,” Vickers continued. “But we were able to give $1.63 million dollars to Autism Speaks from the customers and Dollar General.”

    “It’s phenomenal for them,” Vickers said. “And to show their generosity for a top-10 finish today, all Dollar General customers get 10 percent off on Monday.”

    Vickers also credited his crew chief with gutsy calls on the pit box, just as Logano had done with his crew chief.

    “That was a great call on Kevin’s (Kidd, crew chief) part,” Vickers said. “It was a last minute call and it was one thousand percent the right call to keep track position.”

    “We were close to even with Logano there at the end of the race,” Vickers continued. “He was probably a little better on the short run and we were a little bit better on the long run.”

    Vickers admitted that he was “pleased but not satisfied” with his runner up status.

    “On one hand, I’m very excited – it was a great points day for the Dollar General team,” Vickers said. “But on the other hand – we wanted to win.”

    “We were so close.”

    This was Vickers fifth top-10 finish in six races at the Monster Mile. It was his sixth top-10 finish of the season.

    Another Cup regular, Matt Kenseth, rounded out the top three in the 32nd annual 5-Hour Energy 200. Kenseth posted his 11th top-10 finish in 19 races at Dover International Speedway.

    “We had a decent GameStop Toyota and made it better there at the end,” Kenseth said. “Got two tires and was able to make up some ground.”

    “I stalled it one time coming out of the pits and so we got ourselves behind,” Kenseth continued. “So, it was just hard to come back from that.”

    Even though he was disappointed, Kenseth did have some fun at the Monster Mile.

    “It was fun to go out and get 200 laps,” Kenseth said. “We were ten laps away from getting a win.”

    “So that was fun.”

    Trevor Bayne also had a decent day behind the wheel of the No. 6 Ford Ecoboost Mustang, finishing fourth. And he too accomplished that top-5 finish with a gutsy call in the pits.

    “Yeah, that two-tire stop got us in the game there,” Bayne said. “We needed that to get some track position.”

    “I was really proud of these guys and the car that they gave me,” Bayne continued. “We have had some bad runs but now we got a couple good ones in a row and we need to keep it going.”

    “Top-fives are what we gotta knock out every weekend and eventually that will lead to Victory Lane.”

    Kyle Busch, who had been so strong in his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing for much of the race, did pull off a fifth place finish. Unfortunately for him, pit strategy did not play to his favor, ruining a possible Dover sweep.

    “It was a great race car,” Busch said simply. “Just real unfortunate that I messed up pit strategy there, you know.”

    “Got us too far back,” Busch continued. “I tried to make some big moves there and a couple of them worked.”

    “But a couple of them didn’t,” Busch said. “It is what it is.”

    Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 32 Vizio/Hulu Chevrolet, was the top finishing rookie, scoring the tenth spot.

    “We started out the first half of the race good through one and two,” Larson said. “We were really good there at the end but we lost a spot or two on every pit stop.”

    “Track position was key today,” Larson continued. “Three top-10s in a row is great and I’m looking forward to Iowa.”