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  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Texas AAA 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Texas AAA 500

    After remembering the passing of racer Jim Sauter with a moment of silence, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 10th annual AAA Texas 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway.

    Surprising: Brad Keselowski gave a whole new meaning to minding the gap after his on and off track real estate dispute with Jeff Gordon.

    “Today something happened,” Keselowski said after finishing third. “There was a gap. It closed up. By the time it closed up, I was committed, and I stayed in it. That almost won me the race.”

    “It hurt somebody else’s day. That’s a shame,” the driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford said. “But the reality is there was a gap.”

    “You know, I’m not Dale Earnhardt or Senna. I read how they raced, how great they were for this sport. They would sit here and tell you they would go for that same gap. I’m not them, but I’m inspired by that, and I’m going to race that way.”

    Not Surprising: Team Hendrick continued flawlessly executing their strategy in the Eliminator Round of the Chase, sending their Chase busting team members into Victory Lane as a sort of protection for their Chaser brethren Jeff Gordon, who did not quite make it there after his Keselowski encounter.

    Hendrick driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. became the Chase buster in Martinsville last weekend and this weekend it was another HMS Chase buster Jimmie Johnson who took his turn, honoring all Lowe’s employees who wear the red vest in his red No. 48.

    “We are back on track,” Johnson said after winning his fourth of the year and his fourth at Texas Motor Speedway. “Unfortunately we didn’t find this stuff a month or two ago, but that is the way racing goes.”

    With both HMS Chase busters in Victory Lane for the first two races in the Eliminator Round, the lone HMS Chaser Gordon has maintained his position in the top-4, a team feat especially impressive given Gordon’s 29th place run at Texas.

    Surprising: While tire troubles may be a common driver mantra, it is not often that there are complaints about the sheer lack of number of tires available, so much so that NASCAR actually permitted teams to get an extra set of tires during this particular race.

    “It’s kind of a sad situation when you run out of tires like that,” Newman, driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet said after finishing 15th. “I wish NASCAR had given us more tires. They gave us one set, but when they keep throwing cautions like that that were totally unnecessary, and there’s not debris on the race track and no reason to throw it. We need to keep racing. And it’s sad to see but that’s the way they’ve been playing it.”

    Not Surprising: If you think that Alexander had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, just ask the Toyota drivers how they were feeling after Texas.

    “We were a bag of everything today. Man we were so bad,” Kyle Busch said after his fourth place run. “I don’t know what happened to us from yesterday. We fought all day long.”

    “We had a bad car,” Denny Hamlin, who finished tenth, said, echoing the theme. “We made the best of it. Other guys made mistakes. We weren’t really that good. Luckily other guys had problems. That’s what happened.”

    “We went the wrong direction on adjustments during the middle part of the race,” Brian Vickers said after his 16th place run. “Billy Scott (crew chief) was able to get the car pretty good for the end of the race but with all those cautions we just got too tight.”

    “We were okay when we were up front and had track position, but we had a problem in the pits and lost our track position,” Matt Kenseth said after finishing 25th. “The way my car drove — I was kind of afraid of how it would be in traffic. We got most of our track position back, stayed out on tires and just couldn’t get by Kurt (Busch) there — and got to the back again having to get tires. Then we got caught up in a restart deal that was three-four wide which did some damage, and we could just never overcome it.”

    Surprising: Joey Logano was on a surprisingly odd salvage mission of his own, trying to make good after, of all things, a glue issue on pit road.

    “We were able to salvage something decent out of tonight,” the driver of the No. 22 AAA Insurance Ford said. “We were a top five car and possibly a winning car if scenarios played out right.”

    “I don’t know what happened with the glue on the pit stop and I haven’t gotten the full story yet but we had a hell of a time trying to put rear tires on the car,” Logano continued. “We lost all our track position with 30 to go and I came off the corner and the 9 hit me and popped my right rear and then we spun out. We put tires back on it and then just held on until the end and got something decent out of something that could have been way worse.”

    In spite of his sticky situation, Logano did emerge the point’s leader by virtue of his five wins for the season, which broke the points tie with Denny Hamlin, who has but one win to date.

    Not Surprising: After the two past races where Austin Dillon scored Rookie of the Race honors, Kyle Larson emerged victorious in that regard, finishing seventh to Dillon’s 21st place run.

    “I thought we practiced really well,” the driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet said. “When the race fired off, we weren’t very good. I thought we’d get better, but we didn’t. We got worse and worse and worse. We had a lot of late-race restarts to get up there to get a better finish.”

    “Disappointing day, but okay to finish seventh where we did. Hopefully we can get some better runs in the last races.”

    Surprising: In a somewhat surprisingly ironic twist, Kevin Harvick, who nudged along the Keselowski vs. Gordon post-race match up, did not want anything to do with retaliation, even after some harsh words for Matt Kenseth as a result of last weekend’s short track racing.

    “I just raced,” Harvick said after Texas was completed. “I thought my car was fast enough to win the race and be in contention. Doing something crazy at that point in the race, then I never saw him (Matt Kenseth) towards the end of the race, so it wasn’t really our game plan to get into that situation any further than we needed to.”

    “It’s like I said before the race, I know he didn’t do it on purpose, but in the end we still lost 33 points to the leader. We got to race as hard as we can to try to get that back.”

    Not Surprising: Even with a swapped out crew chief, Kurt Busch was able to pull off a top-10 finish in his No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet.

    “It was great to have a shot at the win,” Busch said after taking the checkered flag in the eighth position. “Tony Gibson (new Crew Chief), the engineers did a great job reading my balance, and I was trying to pick up on their changes. So, it was nice to go out there and execute.”

    “We used the last yellow to our advantage,” Busch continued. “The last two yellows for fresh tires, and worked our way from, I don’t know, 25th to eighth. All-in-all, a great first day. I love the team; I love the guys. We are going to be good. We just have to work out the details.”

    Surprising: Jamie McMurray could not wait for the sun to go down on him, as when the darkness descended he ascended to the fifth finishing spot.

    “We had an up and down day,” the driver of the No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet said. “Fortunately for us we were better when the sun went down. It was really slick at the beginning. We really struggled with the car, but when the sun went down the car started coming to us.”

    Not Surprising: There is no quit in the No. 99 Aflac Ford team, who finished the race ninth after battling from the rear.

    “We got super lucky there at the end and my guys never quit,” Carl Edwards said. “I am so proud of my guys. I have no idea where we are at in points but we certainly finished better than we should have tonight.”

    “It was a great night when for awhile it didn’t look like it was going to be,” Edwards continued. “We get to move on to Phoenix now and we will know what we have to do there. We will take it.”

    “My guys didn’t quit and I know they won’t quit and we are going to go next week and go for this thing.”

  • Johnson Claims the Six Shooters in Texas

    Johnson Claims the Six Shooters in Texas

  • Kenseth Wins Pole For AAA Texas 500; Stewart Breaks 200 MPH

    Kenseth Wins Pole For AAA Texas 500; Stewart Breaks 200 MPH

  • Hot 20 – If Sweetness and Loveliness is What you are After, Texas Might not be the Place to Find It

    Hot 20 – If Sweetness and Loveliness is What you are After, Texas Might not be the Place to Find It

    So, Danica Patrick is not all sweetness and loveliness. Okay, she is the latter, but the fact she is a little ticked or not going along with the company line, has some folks talking. She is upset with Joey Logano, she had a bit of a run in with Martin Truex Jr. at Martinsville and she thinks qualifying at Talladega stinks after her boyfriend got left in the cold. She even is not a fan of NASCAR’s diversity program.

    To start with, if we were talking about Kurt Busch here, nobody would care less. Okay, his having a boyfriend might come as a surprise, but that is about it. As for the diversity program, it either works or it does not. To be honest, graduates such as Darrell “Bubba” Wallace and Kyle Larson might have gotten there based on their talent, looks, character and some marketing in the same fashion Patrick emerged. Did the program remove any barriers that would have prevented them from otherwise rising to the top? I know many would say so, whether that be true or not. My reaction to her questioning its validity would be the same whether Danica said it, or Richard Petty, or Dale Earnhardt Jr. Then again, I am one of those guys who sees nothing wrong in questioning even sacred cows. It causes conversation and that is never a bad thing.

    As Danica and the boys head to Texas, the only thing critical I have in regards to her is that she is the 28th best driver in Cup. She is the dividing line between those who matter and those who continue to strive for respectability each week. What she says or does should carry about as much weight as, say, Aric Almirola or Casey Mears. However, that is not the reality of things.

    What is real is that Jeff Gordon remains the best driver so far this season, though Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski are right there, according to these standings. However, after the issues last week Keselowski’s Chase dreams are about to go the way of the dodo, or the Earnhardt and the Johnson, unless fortune smiles down in Texas. It won’t. Matt Kenseth goes in as the race favorite and Matt loves everybody.

    Except Keselowski, but everybody loves Matt. Except Kevin Harvick. Something tells me these boys are not exactly all sweetness and loveliness either.

    *Drivers awarded a 25 (rather than a 3) point winner’s bonus
    BOLD = Currently in the Chase

    Hot 20

    1 – Jeff Gordon – 4 Wins – 1247 POINTS
    2 – Joey Logano – 5 – 1227
    3 – Brad Keselowski – 5 – 1188
    4 – Dale Earnhardt Jr – 4 – 1158
    5 – Kevin Harvick – 3 – 1088
    6 – Jimmie Johnson – 3 – 1045
    7 – Matt Kenseth – 0 – 1032
    8 – Ryan Newman – 0 – 1031
    9 – Carl Edwards – 2 – 1029
    10 – Kyle Larson – 0 – 981
    11 – Kyle Busch – 1 – 969
    12 – Greg Biffle – 0 – 931
    13 – Kasey Kahne – 1 – 927
    14 – Clint Bowyer – 0 – 923
    15 – Austin Dillon – 0 – 910
    16 – Jamie McMurray – 0 – 906
    17 – Denny Hamlin – 1 – 896
    18 – Paul Menard – 0 – 856
    19 – Brian Vickers – 0 – 847
    20 – A.J. Allmendinger – 1 – 828

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Martinsville

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Martinsville

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Jeff Gordon: Gordon, an eight-time winner at Martinsville, finished second in the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500, the best finish among Chase-eligible drivers. He leads the points standings by three over Ryan Newman.

    “I just couldn’t catch Dale Earnhardt, Jr.,” Gordon said. “Would I have moved him out of the way had I got close enough? You bet. I took no teammates to the Chase, and I take no prisoners in the Chase.”

    2. Joey Logano: Logano finished fifth at Martinsville as Penske teammate Brad Keselowski struggled and finished 31st.

    “How many times to I have to apologize to Danica Patrick for wrecking her at Charlotte?” Logano said. “My goodness, I can’t imagine what it’s like to be her boyfriend, although I can’t say I haven’t fantasized about it.”

    3. Ryan Newman: Newman finished third at Martinsville, posting his fifth straight top-10 result.

    “I may be the forgotten man in the final eight of the Chase,” Newman said. “But I could surprise some people. Brad Keselowski calls me the ‘Matt Kenseth Of The Chase,’ because I can sneak up on you.”

    4. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished sixth at Martinsville but raised the ire of Kevin Harvick, who was spun by Kenseth just past the halfway point. Harvick all but promised retaliation.

    “I guess the question isn’t ‘Oh no,’” Kenseth said. “It’s ‘Owe? Yes.’

    5. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin posted a solid eighth in the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville.

    “Martinsville was a ‘Headache’ for Kevin Harvick,” Hamlin said. “Finishing eighth was a ‘Relief’ for me. And Brad Keselowski’s championship hopes are nearly ‘Shot.’ ‘Goody!’”

    6. Carl Edwards: Edwards struggled at Martinsville, spending much of the race a lap down and finishing 20th.

    “I may have just driven myself out of Cup contention,” Edwards said. “I sense a pattern developing here—me saying my goodbyes early.”

    7. Brad Keselowski: After staying alive with a dramatic win at Talladega last week, Keselowski lost his transmission with 64 laps left. He finished 31st.

    “Something just snapped,” Keselowski said. “This time, it wasn’t me.

    “Once again, I’ve placed myself behind the eight ball. But digging myself a hole seems to be the ‘queue’ for me to pull off a big win.”

    8. Kevin Harvick: Harvick qualified a disappointing 33rd and worked his way to the front before contact with Matt Kenseth damaged the No. 4 Outback Chevrolet. Harvick finished 33rd and will likely need a win at Texas or Phoenix to advance to the final round.

    “Speaking of ‘Outback,’” Harvick said, “I’d like to take Kenseth ‘out back,’ to the woodshed.

    9. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt led 79 laps and held off teammate Jeff Gordon to win the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville. It was Earnhardt’s fourth win of the season, and his first ever in a Sprint Cup race at Martinsville..

    “Winning that Martinsville grandfather clock has always been on my bucket list,” Earnhardt said. “It must be a very small bucket, because a ‘Cup’ won’t even fit in it.”

    10. Kyle Busch: Busch responded from his disastrous finish at Talladega with an 11th at Martinsville. Excluding his Talladega result, Busch has finished 11th or better in every Chase races.

    “I’ve put Talladega behind me,” Busch said. “Now, it’s on to Texas. Unfortunately, I’m not in the hunt, but Ill be interested to see how things play out. The line between fourth place and fifth place in the points standings will be hotly contested. And Texas is just the place for such a ‘border’ war.”

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Talladega

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Talladega

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Joey Logano: Logano finished 11th at Talladega as Penske teammate Brad Keselowski won, joining Logano and six others with a chance to win the Sprint Cup.

    “Brad is in with the win,” Logano said, “If NASCAR had a ‘wild card’ qualifier, Brad would have made it solely based on his performance at Charlotte.”

    2. Jeff Gordon: Gordon finished 26th at Talladega and secured his spot in the Eliminator round.

    “Amazingly,” Gordon said, “Brad Keselowski didn’t make contact with anyone at Talladega. He drove a heck of a race. He was in a zone, as opposed to a headlock.

    “I’m the only Hendrick Motorsports driver in the final eight. It’s up to me to carry the HMS flag. As for the ‘HMS Johnson,’ the ‘HMS Earnhardt,’ and the ‘HMS Kahne’—those ships have sailed.”

    3. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski beat the odds and won the Geico 500 to qualify for the Eliminator round in the Chase For The Cup. Needing a win, Keselowski held off Ryan Newman for his sixth win of the year.

    “The Redd’s Wicked Apple No. 2 car was set up perfectly,” Keselowski said. “There’s only one thing better than a Redd’s Apple, and that’s a bad apple driving it.

    “There’s nothing more satisfying than doing burnouts on the track. NASCAR handed me a check after that. I’ve smoked the tires in the garage area, as well. I handed NASCAR the check after that one.”

    4. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished ninth at Talladega as a frantic finish saw Brad Keselowski take the win and an unlikely spot in the Chase’s Eliminator round.

    “It was nice to go to Talladega and not have to win,” Harvick said. “I admire the guts it took for Keselowski to pull out the win. I had the same reaction after the race at Charlotte: ‘the nerve.’”

    5. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished second to Brad Keselowski and qualified for the Eliminator round on points.

    “Just like at Charlotte,” Kenseth said, “I’m ‘after’ Keselowski.”

    6. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished 18th in the Geico 500, good enough to advance him to the third round of the Chase For The Cup.

    “What a run by Brad Keselowski,” Hamlin said. “The results were much different than those at Charlotte, but in both cases, he drove like a man possessed.”

    7. Ryan Newman: With a fifth at Talladega, Newman punched his ticket as one of the final eight drivers in the Chase.

    “I’m sure a lot of drivers were pulling for me to win,” Newman said, “if for no other reason than to keep Brad Keselowski out of the next round. But I just couldn’t keep Brad behind me, which was surprising, because Denny Hamlin advised me that the No. 2 would likely be on my bumper well past the checkered flag.”

    8. Carl Edwards: Edwards advanced to the Eliminator round with a safe 21st at Talladega. He is one of eight drivers eligible to win the Sprint Cup championship.

    “Kyle Busch is expecting,” Edwards said. “Nobody was expecting Brad Keselowski to win. Either way, a ‘baby’ made headlines.”

    9. Jimmie Johnson: Needing a win to advance to the Chase’s next round, Johnson finished 24th at Talladega and fell well short of qualifying for the Chase’s next round.

    “Our title hopes were dashed,” Johnson said. “But we gave it all we had. We didn’t run out of talent, we just ran out of eligibility.”

    10. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Earnhardt struggled from the start and finished 31st in the Geico 500. He finished 13th, well short of qualifying for the Chase’s third round.

    “Junior Nation is in a state of ‘E-nial,’” Earnhardt said. “But I expect them to survive. These final four races will be business as usual for Junior Nation—I’ll be racing with no chance whatsoever to win the Sprint Cup championship.”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Talladega Geico 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Talladega Geico 500

    After a confusing qualifying session set the starting field, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 46th annual Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

    Surprising: Even though it is the season, there were a surprising number of football references when the ‘Dega race was completed, from Brad Keselowski’s ‘Hail Mary’ win to Clint Bowyer’s third place gridiron game plan finish.

    “We had to win the race,” the driver of the No. 2 Redd’s Wicked Apple Ale Ford said. “This would be the football equivalent of scoring two touchdowns with two minutes left in the game. That’s what we did and it’s just an incredible feeling.”

    “The whole time I knew the odds were against us and to pull it off was something I don’t even know how to reflect upon.”

    The driver of the No. 15 Pink Lemonade 5-Hour Energy Toyota was also in the football mode, pronouncing his game plan good.

    “Well, my game plan worked,” Bowyer said. “It’s so hard to strategize around this. You can a little bit, but you still got to bob and weave and take it as it comes.”

    “I was in a pocket where I felt it was safe,” Bowyer continued. “I went from about 25th and drove up to what was going to be third. That caution came out when we were all on pit road.”

    “Still, third place is a good day for us.”

    Not Surprising: Matt Kenseth demonstrated his role yet again as one of the most cerebral racers in the sport, using strategy and even his arch enemy from last week’s race, to secure his second place finish. Kenseth also punched his ticket to the next round of Chase competition.

    “That was his (Brad Keselowski’s) only way in I think was to win that thing and I gave Kevin (Harvick) a huge push,” Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota, said after the green-white-checkered finish. “I thought Kevin was going to go right around him and Brad went for the block.”

    “I had to get a finish so instead of going with Kevin I went to the bottom,” Kenseth continued. “I thought maybe I would get a big enough run to get underneath Brad, but I just didn’t quite have the speed to do it.”

    “Like I said, that’s where I felt I had to put my car for my best chance at the best finish. All those guys were pretty quick up there. Got a good restart, got a good run. It’s just how it turned out.”

    Surprising: While there was not a ‘big one’ to be had at Talladega, there were some surprisingly deadly small ones in the Geico 500. Two Chase contenders, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch experienced those small ones that unfortunately played into their lack of advancing to the next round of championship contention.

    Junior was involved in a racing incident with Greg Biffle, finishing 31st in a race that he had to win to move on to compete for NASCAR’s biggest prize.

    “We worked real hard all day long trying to run up front,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I knew we needed to be up front all day long. We got shuffled to the back. I made a move trying to get up front and it didn’t work out. So, we lost a lot of track position and never got it back.”

    “The race is over, it’s time to go home,” the driver of the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet said. “Well, we will just go try to win some more races before the year is out. That is all we have left.”

    Kyle Busch experienced his own heartache in one of the ‘small ones’, which caused major damage to his car, forced him into a 40th place finish, and dashed his Cup hopes yet again.

    “It’s a shame, everyone has been working really hard,” Dave Rogers, crew chief for the No. 18 M&Ms Halloween Toyota, said. “I felt like we got off to a slow start early in the season and we were advancing through the playoffs pretty well with hard work and good decisions and good teamwork.”

    “I thought we were in a decent spot coming into the race and rode around in the back,” Rogers continued. “Kyle got checked up for the wreck and had everything saved up, but he got run over from behind.”

    “There is no safe place in here. The truth is that if you’re out there on the race track at Talladega or Daytona, you have a pretty good chance that you’re going to get in a wreck and today was our day. It’s unfortunate, but that’s the way it is.”

    Not Surprising: The one thing that makes Talladega unique is that even the ‘little’ teams have a chance at an upset victory. And one of them, Landon Cassill, in his No. 40 Carsforsale.com Chevrolet, took full advantage, finishing fourth and scoring his highest career finish.

    “We wanted to win this race,” Cassill said. “We came here to win it. My team deserves it. Carsforsale.com deserves it.”

    “We don’t have a lot to work with,” Cassill continued. “But what we do work with, we set out to run good at these four superspeedway races, and we proved that this year.”

    “Fourth place is just amazing.”

    Surprising: After so many races where rookie Kyle Larson not only almost won the race, but also finished as the highest rookie of the race, it was Austin Dillon’s turn to be the rookie star.

    Dillon, in his No. 3 Dow Chevrolet finished 13th, ahead of Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 42 Energizer Chevrolet, who finished 17th.

    Larson is still leading the Sunoco Rookie of the Race points, with 290 to Dillon’s 206, with just four races left to go in the season.

    Not Surprising: He may have secured his place in the next round at Talladega, having squeaked by with just three points to spare, but Jeff Gordon had only one thing in mind at the end of the race.

    “If I never have to come back to Talladega, I’ll be fine with that,” Gordon said. “I’m just mentally drained right now. It’s always tough racing here at Talladega trying to put yourself in position to win. But when you have that much on the line and you know that your championship hopes are right there in that final moment, it’s nerve racking.”

    “I’m proud of this team for the job they did,” the driver of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet said after finishing 24th. “We had a great strategy. Unfortunately the caution hit us at the absolute worst time and put us behind there. We fought hard that last restart. The inside lane just didn’t go anywhere. I was just sitting there going backward and couldn’t do a thing.”

    “I’m just glad we made it.”

    Surprising: Even six-time champions sometimes cannot find a friend or catch a break in the draft. Jimmie Johnson led the most laps in the race at 84 but finished a disappointing 24th, ending his quest for his seventh championship.

    “At the end, I guess on the next-to-last restart – assuming it would be the last restart – I was lined up in fourth,” the driver of the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet, said. “I made my move, got to his outside, looked in the mirror and I had no friends.”

    “It’s how plate racing goes,” Johnson continued. “If I knew there was a second green-white-checkered I probably would have stayed in line, but you just don’t know how those things are going to develop.”

    “They gave me a great Lowe’s Chevrolet today and unfortunately we just didn’t get it done.”

    Not Surprising: Terry Labonte, behind the wheel of the No. 32 C&J Energy Services Ford, finished the race in the 33rd spot and completed his 890th and final race at Talladega.

    “After I came here the first time I didn’t know if I’d have the opportunity to come back a second time much less 61 times, but it’s been a lot of fun,” Labonte said. “Of course, you know it’s only about the third time I’ve said this is gonna be my last race, but this is really gonna be the last one.”

    “It’s been fun.”

    Surprising: What happened after the race may just have a critical impact on the Chase. Ryan Newman, who finished fifth, had his car go through post-race inspection only to fail, being too low on both sides at the rear.

    NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said a decision on any penalties would come either on Monday or Tuesday, with the chance for an early appeal by the team if the penalty warrants.

    Not Surprising: Michael Waltrip finished the race in the similar fashion to his finishes on Dancing with the Stars with pro Emma Slater. Waltrip finished 16th in his No. 66 MyAFibStory.com Toyota for the team that bears his name.

    “This was a good day,” Waltrip said. “We got a top-20. I just wasn’t as strong as I hoped. My car wouldn’t draft up as well as I envisioned it.”

    “We kind of struggled.”

    In spite of that Waltrip, @mw55, tweeted the following “I told @EmmaSlaterDance how wonderful @NASCAR fans are. Thanks. Y’all made her weekend very special. Cheers!”

     

     

  • The Final Word – Loved Talladega, Just Not All That Thrilled With the Outcome

    The Final Word – Loved Talladega, Just Not All That Thrilled With the Outcome

    What a wonderful race we saw at Talladega on Sunday. It had visual excitement that can only be rivaled by Daytona. We had suspense, as we did not know who would continue in the Chase and who got their hearts broken right through to the final lap. It was everything we could have hoped it would be. Then Brad Keselowski won the damn race and ruined everything.

    Keselowski. A former champion. A great diver with five wins this season. After Kansas, a whiney little weasel who has a “who me?” attitude in presenting his fabricated version of events. A twit. Of course, that is just my opinion, I could be wrong. Other than that, though, I love the guy. Don’t you?

    Down to the final lap, with his little buddy Joey Logano trying to run interference, Keselowski beat off the challenge of Ryan Newman in his illegal low rider, and held off Matt Kenseth to take it. In doing so, Kyle Busch and Kasey Kahne saw their hopes for a title this year come to an end. Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. led the most laps that day, but both needed to lead the final one in order to advance. That leaves boss Rick Hendrick down to cheering for Jeff Gordon, his final dog in this hunt.

    For a successful drama, you need your heros and you need your villains. Any guess what side of the ledger that I put Keselowski? You can put Logano there, as well. Toss in Denny Hamlin, while you are at it. No doubt wonderful individuals all, but when they win I do not have much stomach to view or listen in to the post-race celebrations. At least that gives me five guys I can be, to various degrees, content with.

    The eight remaining contenders start afresh, with Martinsville, Texas, and Phoenix before them to determine the final four. Gordon (8 wins) and Hamlin (with 4) appear to be the favorites entering round one next Sunday. They also claim the best average finish there amongst the final eight. Third and fourth best? Logano and Keselowski.

    I wonder who I might be cheering for on Sunday afternoon?

    Eight who continue to rate…
    1 – Joey Logano – 1 WIN – 3121 POINTS – In by Win
    2 – Kevin Harvick – 1 – 3117 – In by Win
    3 – Brad Keselowski – 1 – 3085 – In by Win
    4 – Ryan Newman – 0 – 3117 – 27 Points In*
    5 – Denny Hamlin – 0 – 3100 – 10 Points In
    6 – Carl Edwards – 0 – 3099 – 9 Points In
    7 – Matt Kenseth – 0 – 3099 – 9 Points In
    8 – Jeff Gordon – 0 – 3093 – 3 Points In

    Four who’ve been shown the door…
    9 – Kasey Kahne – 0 – 3090 – 3 Points Out
    10 – Kyle Busch – 0 – 3086 – 7 Points Out
    11 – Jimmie Johnson – 0 – 3053 – 40 Points Out
    12 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 0 – 3045 – 48 Points Out

    *Up to a 15 Point Penalty expected for low riding car

  • Vickers Wins a Wild Qualifying Session at Talladega

    Vickers Wins a Wild Qualifying Session at Talladega

    Brian Vickers took the Coors Light Pole Award for Sunday’s Geico 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway in what could be described as one of the weirdest qualifying sessions ever seen for a NASCAR Sprint Cup race. “It’s crazy,” Vickers said after the third and final segment was completed.

    “I thought that coming to three (laps) to go that we had literally no shot. We were way back — like a half a straightaway behind the whole field and they all checked up and gave me a chance and gave me a run. I really get no credit for it. I just tried not to wreck.”

    With the first session being split into two five minute sessions of 23 drivers, each driver waited until the last minutes to take to the track. No one really wanted to be the person leading the pack since they’re usually the slowest car on the track. Denny Hamlin was the first one to go out and no one followed.

    “It’s kind of a dumb format”, Hamlin said after qualifying 38th, “but what can you do? I guess it’s supposed to be entertaining, but I don’t know. We just wanted to get a lap in and the object of this is to make sure we start the race with the same car we practiced.”

    When the second group of 23 went out it seemed like they’d have one more lap of running at speed when they suddenly slowed down and many drivers in the Chase failed to get to the line before time expired, therefore their last lap did not count. Times for Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick , Jeff Gordon, Kyle Larson and others were not counted.

    Harvick, who already qualified for the next round of the Chase and qualified 39th said, “This qualifying is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. It just doesn’t work on the speedways. They all made a plan and told me to be the lead guy. I took off and no one took off with me. Then we all sat around and here we are.  You have to be at the back, but all in all they told me to be the point person and nobody followed me. So appreciate everybody’s help.”

    Jeff Gordon qualified 43rd and said, “I messed up ultimately. I just mistimed getting to the line. The whole group was going so slow I knew I had to have a gap and when I came across the line I thought I had enough to be able to complete that lap and get one more, which was the only way we were going to be able to make it. But we came up short. It’s a mess out there. It’s not easy.”

    Defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson who qualified second said, “Having to really come through and work out for you is just the toughest thing, because 20 some guys and a lady have an idea of what is going to work and timing that right and finding what works for you is impossible.  Not impossible, just the odds very low.  Hopefully it is entertaining.  You don’t really feel like you are doing your part as a race car driver in a qualifying session like this, but it is plate racing and if it’s entertaining I guess I’m okay with it.”

    A.J. Allmendinger, Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top five. There were some surprises in the top ten that saw Michael McDowell and Travis Kvapil lining up sixth and seventh. Chase contender Kasey Kahne was eighth. Terry Labonte and Michael Annett rounded out the top ten.

    Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Justin Allgair and Reed Sorenson were the cars that were initially listed as “Did Not Qualify” but Sorenson was reinstated when it was found that the No. 87 car had an improperly sealed oil tank and was disqualified.

    GEICO 500 Lineup

    1. (55) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 196.129.
    2. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 195.732.
    3. (47) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 195.496.
    4. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 194.015.
    5. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 194.007.
    6. (95) Michael McDowell, Ford, 193.693.
    7. (33) Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, 193.603.
    8. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 193.498.
    9. (32) Terry Labonte, Ford, 193.431.
    10. (7) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 193.162.
    11. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 191.302.
    12. (78) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 190.981.
    13. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 193.415.
    14. (23) Alex Bowman, Toyota, 193.376.
    15. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 193.291.
    16. (21) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 192.401.
    17. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, 192.278.
    18. (41) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 192.096.
    19. (13) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 191.908.
    20. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 191.773.
    21. (38) David Gilliland, Ford, 190.985.
    22. (26) Cole Whitt, Toyota, 190.97.
    23. (49) Mike Wallace, Toyota, 184.729.
    24. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 191.577.
    25. (34) David Ragan, Ford, 191.42.
    26. (9) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 191.214.
    27. (10) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 191.149.
    28. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 191.134.
    29. (40) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 191.13.
    30. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 191.027.
    31. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 190.818.
    32. (83) J.J. Yeley, Toyota, 190.689.
    33. (15) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 190.681.
    34. (66) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 190.586.
    35. (98) Josh Wise, Ford, 190.507.
    36. (36) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 189.305.
    37. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, Owner Points.
    38. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, Owner Points.
    39. (4) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, Owner Points.
    40. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, Owner Points.
    41. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, Owner Points.
    42. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, Owner Points.
    43. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, Owner Points.

     

  • Hot 20 – Four of the Season’s Top Eight Could be Eliminated after Talladega

    Hot 20 – Four of the Season’s Top Eight Could be Eliminated after Talladega

    When the smoke clears at Talladega, and I mean that literally, four of our top eight drivers throughout the course of the season, might no longer be contenders for the championship. With four races to follow, five time winner Brad Keselowski could be toast, along with three time winners Dale Earnhardt Jr and Jimmie Johnson, as well as the winless yet resilient Matt Kenseth. If the 2007 New England Patriots and 1968 Baltimore Colts can fall short, if the 2001 New York Yankees can be denied, then why not? Welcome to the playoffs, where someone will get eliminated and voted off the island (for fans of the Amazing Race and Survivor).

    For Junior to advance, he has to win. He has said so himself. Same goes for Johnson, while Keselowski has a bit more wiggle room, but do not expect him to have many friends out there, outside of teammate Joey Logano. Kenseth can do it, as he is just a point behind Kasey Kahne in those standings. However, this is Talladega, where a contender could kick open the door for someone else with a finish somewhere beyond 30th due to circumstances beyond his control.

    Keselowski was a tad out of control at Kansas. His view that everyone else started it when they tried to pay him back was laughable. His observation of events was faulty, his hit on an unbuckled Kenseth and burn out in the garage after the race were both nothing short of reckless. His $50,000 fine was warranted. Tony Stewart’s $25,000 fine for bashing in the front of Brad’s car was warranted, too, but it was sure a joy to watch.

    It might not be the same for those out on the track, but for you and me, Talladega should also be a joy to watch. If only every race could be like the one we will be viewing on Sunday.

    *Race winners awarded 25 (rather than 3) bonus points
    Bold = Current Chase contenders

    Hot 20

    1 – Jeff Gordon – 4 WINS – 1184 POINTS
    2 – Joey Logano – 5 – 1154
    3 – Brad Keselowski – 5 – 1106
    4 – Dale Earnhardt Jr – 3 – 1075
    5 – Kevin Harvick – 3 – 1052
    6 – Jimmie Johnson – 3 – 1011
    7 – Carl Edwards – 2 – 982
    8 – Matt Kenseth – 0 – 950
    9 – Ryan Newman – 0 – 950
    10 – Kyle Larson – 0 – 940
    11 – Kyle Busch – 1 – 899
    12 – Kasey Kahne – 1 – 890
    13 – Greg Biffle – 0 – 880
    14 – Jamie McMurray – 0 – 867
    15 – Austin Dillon – 0 – 847
    16 – Clint Bowyer – 0 – 844
    17 – Denny Hamlin – 1 – 832
    18 – Paul Menard – 0 – 818
    19 – Brian Vickers – 0 – 806
    20 – Kurt Busch – 1 – 779