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Tag: Jimmie Johnson

  • The Final Word – Dover is over and now to Pocono where Jimmie has not won for an entire year!

    The Final Word – Dover is over and now to Pocono where Jimmie has not won for an entire year!

    Even a ball player could appreciate Jimmie Johnson’s average at Dover, having gone 9 for 25 for a sweet .360 average. Sunday, Johnson led much of the way to lock down his second of the season. Brad Keselowski, who has a win, finished second while Matt Kenseth, who does not, was third. That fact should not be cause to worry at the moment, as Kenseth still has more points than anyone, even without a victory to his credit. If this keeps up, he might not need one.

    Tony Stewart needs a win to make the Chase, but a seventh place result was as good as it got. Kevin Harvick has two wins, but a flat as they came to green after a caution removed him from the lead and contention. Kurt Busch, who has a win and precious little else, was one back of Harvick, in 18th. As for Danica Patrick, if 25th is a decent day, she was better than decent by two positions.

    Some teams you expect to be better, some not. Not much is expected from the BK Racing trio of Cole Whitt (27th), Ryan Truex (32nd), and Alex Bowman (40th) and we were not surprised. We thought Roush would be running better, but Carl Edwards (14th) was as good as it got for those boys as circumstances left Greg Biffle (38th) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr (41st) all torn up. Hendrick may have won, but Penske had the better average with Keselowski and Joey Logano both in the Top Ten.

    When is all clear not all clear? Ask Clint Bowyer or, better yet, ask Kyle Busch. Seeking the weekend Dover three-peat, Busch was charging to the outside of Bowyer, but that is not what his spotter told him. It was clear to us that Rowdy was looking to the outside, only to wind up squeezed into the fence and out of the race. He had definite evil intentions aimed at his rival, but the guy he really should have wanted was high up in the grandstands. Oops.

    When is debris not really debris? It is not if you run over a chunk of concrete and reduce it in size by blasting it to chunks and dust. Ask Jamie McMurray, who was the beneficiary of the gift of masonry Ryan Newman kicked up just in front of him from the newly formed pothole. McMurray clobbered it but good to split his splitter and send him fence-ward. Interestingly enough, he was 16th at the time, yet finished 13th.

    While I shall miss FOX, I believe TNT’s coverage of NASCAR is the superior. Should we discover Pocono to be boring, yet we continue to watch primarily due to the entertainment provided by the announcers, then we have found folks who know how to do their job.

    Why don’t the New York Yankees play three of four games a month against minor league teams on national television? The reason is that would be stupid, but enough about Kyle Busch.

    As long as there are less than 16 race winners, wins lock you into the Chase while being the best in points will still get you there. Welcome to a world where Kurt Busch can lead Matt Kenseth in the standings, where a single victory trumps having more points than anybody else. That means that by this time next week, anyone from the top 36 could find themselves in the Chase by simply winning this Sunday at Pocono. Nothing to it.

     

    SWEET SIXTEEN
    1 Jimmie Johnson – 2 WINS – 436 Points
    2 Joey Logano – 2 WINS – 414
    3 Kevin Harvick – 2 WINS – 373
    4 Jeff Gordon -1 WIN – 461
    5 Carl Edwards -1 WIN – 438
    6 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 1 WIN – 429
    7 Kyle Busch – 1 WIN – 411
    8 Brad Keselowski – 1 WIN – 404
    9 Denny Hamlin – 1 WIN – 379
    10 Kurt Busch – 1 WIN – 241
    11 Matt Kenseth – 463 POINTS
    12 Kyle Larson – 377
    13 Ryan Newman – 374
    14 Brian Vickers – 366
    15 Paul Menard – 362
    16 Austin Dillon – 358

    CONTENDERS AND PRETENDERS
    17 Greg Biffle – 357
    18 Clint Bowyer – 350
    19 Kasey Kahne – 349
    20 Aric Almirola – 344
    21 A.J. Allmendinger – 337
    22 Tony Stewart – 336
    23 Marcos Ambrose – 331
    24 Jamie McMurray – 317
    25 Casey Mears – 301
    26 Martin Truex, Jr. – 289
    27 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – 261
    28 Danica Patrick – 239
    29 Justin Allgaier – 223
    30 Michael Annett – 188

    PARTICIPANTS
    31 Cole Whitt – 181
    32 David Gilliland – 175
    33 Reed Sorenson – 165
    34 David Ragan – 158
    35 Alex Bowman – 156
    36 Josh Wise – 149

     

  • Jimmie Johnson Stole the Monster Mile Show to Make it Two in a Row

    Jimmie Johnson Stole the Monster Mile Show to Make it Two in a Row

    For the ninth time, Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet stole the show at the Monster Mile, making it two race wins in a row and virtually guaranteeing himself a place in the Chase for the tenth consecutive year.

    “It was an awesome race car,” Johnson said. “The first run I wasn’t sure we were really going to have the normal Dover magic here. Once the track ‘rubbered’ in our car came to life and it was so good.”

    “It’s amazing that we can stay on top of things here with the different generation car, different rules, different tires,” Johnson continued. “This place just fits my style and Chad Knaus’ style.”

    “I don’t even know where to begin,” Chad Knaus, winning crew chief, said. “We came in here with high expectations and things went really well for us right out of the gate. We were pretty optimistic at that point. Qualifying went well and we were excited to get into the event today.”

    “At that point, we tried to manage the race and it turned out to be a pretty good day.”

    Both Brad Keselowski, who started from the pole, and Matt Kenseth, who remains winless for the season, attempted to hang with the six-time champ, but finished second and third instead.

    “We just had an up and down day,” the driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford said. “We started up front and went to the back early in the race.”

    “Then we took back off and had some strong runs,” Keselowski continued. “We were probably going to get a crack at Jimmie and then that last caution came out. We drove back up to second with the help of the restart and we were pretty even with Jimmie but it was just a matter of being out front.”

    “It was a solid day for us,” the third place finishing driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota said. “I did a poor job qualifying and so good adjustments and pit stops moved us forward. There was just that one group of cars that we couldn’t quite run with. We just need to be a little bit faster.”

    Kenseth, who looked like he had a shot to win, actually struggled on the final restart with six laps to go, spinning his tires and then getting into the wall.

    “The 48 spun them and I spun them a little bit,” Kenseth said. “I just need to do a better job and let the rear tires quit screaming so I could get going. And then Clint (Bowyer) hit me I guess trying to give me a push there.”

    In addition to being a factor in the final restart with Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer was a factor in another incident early in the race with Kyle Busch, who looked strong as he tried to achieve the sweep of the race weekend after winning both the Truck and Nationwide races.

    Bowyer and Busch tangled on Lap 126, putting Busch out of the race. Bowyer went on to salvage a good finish, bringing home his No. 15 Cherry 5-Hour Energy Special Ops Warrior Foundation Toyota home in the fourth position.

    “I hated to be in that position with the 18,” Bowyer said. “I thought I was clear, obviously I wasn’t. Ruined his day.”

    One of the other major incidents of the race involved AJ Allmendinger, Greg Biffle and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., the latter of whom sustained hard hits on Lap 135.

    “Inside of the car I didn’t really know what happened,” the driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion said. “I just knew that the 47 got into us pretty hard and turned us into the fence. After watching the replay I see what happened.”

    “They were racing hard back there and he stuck it into a hole that maybe there wasn’t room for,” Biffle continued. “There definitely wasn’t room come three-quarters of the way around the corner I guess and he slid off the bottom and got his right-rear caught by the 17 and up into us. It was a chain reaction. This place is tight and fast and when you get racing that hard back there on a restart stuff like that is going to happen.”

    “We were really loose,” Ricky Stenhouse Jr. said. “The 47 jumped to the inside of us there and I tried to stay out of his way and he got me. We met right-rear to left-front and it got him sideways and everything else happened after that.”

    “Our Nationwide Insurance Ford was really, really loose all race long and we were trying to hang on with it,” the driver of the No. 17 Nationwide Ford Fusion said. “We didn’t want it to end that way and we got our teammate caught up in it and tore up a lot of cars.”

    “That is now what we wanted to do. It is a tough end to our day,” Stenhouse Jr. continued. “It is a bummer.”

    In one of the more bizarre incidents and for just the third time in the last few years, once in April 2004 at Martinsville and once in 2010 at the Daytona 500, the red flag was displayed after a piece of concrete dislodged from the race track and hit Jamie McMurray’s car.

    The red flag lasted six minutes and 39 seconds and while McMurray could not work on his car during that time, repairs were made when the red flag was lifted and the driver of the No. 1 Cessna Chevrolet got the ‘lucky dog’ break, soldiering on to a respectable 13th place finish.

    Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s vice president for competition, addressed the media after the race, advising that NASCAR was not aware of the concrete hole prior to the race and then addressed it immediately after the issue occurred with materials that are utilized regularly for repair work.

    “We do a track walk after every race and in the morning and at the time, that had been a previous patch, but our staff did not see anything wrong with it,” Pemberton said. “The hole was two or three inches deep and six or eight inches by ten inches, so it was pretty substantial.”

    “Our team has equipment and product at every facility in case there is a need for it. It’s an epoxy type filler that we use and is the same material we use whether it be asphalt or concrete.”

    Many of the drivers praised NASCAR’s handling of the concrete repair, including Brad Keselowski.

    “I think NASCAR did a good job or whoever fixed it did a good job of repairing it,” Keselowski said. “It’s hard to come back up there at the end and it was definitely an issue when it happened. You knew it was going to get worse if it wasn’t repaired and a small hole was going to turn into a big hole. I give NASCAR credit to realize that, stop, and fix it.”

    Kyle Larson, behind the wheel of the No. 42 Cottonelle Chevrolet, was the highest finishing rookie yet again. With the third place finish of Matt Kenseth and the 15th place finish by the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet Jeff Gordon, Kenseth gained the points lead over Gordon and is now in P1 by two points.

    The full race results are as follows:

    2014 NSCS FedEx 400 Race Results

    Fin Str Car Driver Team Lap Pts BPts Status TLd LLd
    1 4 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet 400 48 5 Running 7 272
    2 1 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford 400 43 1 Running 1 1
    3 21 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota 400 42 1 Running 5 17
    4 10 15 Clint Bowyer Cherry5-hrEnergySpecialOpsWarriorFnd Toyota 400 41 1 Running 2 5
    5 7 11 Denny Hamlin Autism Speaks/FedEx Freight Toyota 400 39 Running
    6 16 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Chevrolet 400 38 Running
    7 20 14 Tony Stewart Code 3/Mobil 1 Chevrolet 400 37 Running
    8 3 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 400 36 Running
    9 13 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Chevrolet 400 35 Running
    10 15 27 Paul Menard Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Chevrolet 400 34 Running
    11 5 42 Kyle Larson # Cottonelle Chevrolet 400 33 Running
    12 25 43 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 400 32 Running
    13 19 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna Chevrolet 400 31 Running
    14 29 99 Carl Edwards Subway Ford 400 30 Running
    15 6 24 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet 400 29 Running
    16 27 9 Marcos Ambrose DeWalt Ford 400 28 Running
    17 8 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevrolet 399 28 1 Running 2 24
    18 24 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 399 26 Running
    19 17 5 Kasey Kahne Farmers Insurance Chevrolet 399 25 Running
    20 23 3 Austin Dillon # American Ethanol Chevrolet 398 24 Running
    21 11 47 AJ Allmendinger Scott Products Chevrolet 397 23 Running
    22 18 66 Brett Moffitt Land Castle Title Toyota 396 22 Running
    23 28 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet 396 21 Running
    24 38 36 Reed Sorenson Click It or Ticket Chevrolet 396 20 Running
    25 22 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 395 19 Running
    26 30 51 Justin Allgaier # AccuDoc Solutions Chevrolet 395 18 Running
    27 31 26 Cole Whitt # Burger King Toyota 394 17 Running
    28 33 98 Josh Wise iRacing.com/Reddit.com Chevrolet 390 16 Running
    29 32 38 David Gilliland The Pete Store Ford 388 15 Running
    30 43 32 Blake Koch(i) supportmilitary.org Ford 388 0 Running
    31 14 31 Ryan Newman Caterpillar Chevrolet 387 13 Running
    32 41 83 Ryan Truex # Burger King Toyota 387 12 Running
    33 42 77 Dave Blaney Ford 383 11 Running
    34 36 40 Landon Cassill(i) Newtown Building Supplies Chevrolet 382 0 Running
    35 39 7 Michael Annett # Pilot Flying J Chevrolet 378 9 Running
    36 34 34 David Ragan Dockside Logistics Ford 350 8 Running
    37 40 33 David Stremme Little Joe’s Autos Chevrolet 297 7 Overheating
    38 12 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 292 6 Running
    39 37 44 JJ Yeley(i) Phoenix Warehouse Chevrolet 232 0 Engine
    40 35 23 Alex Bowman # Dr.Pepper Toyota 208 4 Accident
    41 26 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Nationwide Ford 131 3 Accident
    42 2 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Peanut Butter Toyota 125 3 1 Accident 1 81
    43 9 55 Brian Vickers Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 73 1 Engine

     

  • Keselowski and Team Penske Capture Monster Mile Pole

    Keselowski and Team Penske Capture Monster Mile Pole

    Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, and Team Penske did it again, capturing the pole for the FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway with a new track record of 164.44 mph.

    This was Keselowski’s fifth pole in the Cup Series and his second pole, as well as his tenth top-10 start in 2014. Keselowski also ripped off his Monster Mile rookie pole stripe, scoring his first pole in nine races at Dover.

    “It’s been a good year for qualifying,” Keselowski said. “And for most years that has not been the case. Very happy because pit road selection is so important here. We are very pleased with our qualifying position.”

    Keselowski credited Team Penske’s total package for the success that he and his teammate Joey Logano have had so far in qualifying.

    “Speed is the backbone of any success in this sport,” Keselowski said. “But being the backbone it is not the totality. There are ancillary things that you also have to work on with these cars. We are executing and we need to keep that up.”

    “We are qualifying a lot better than this time last year,” Keselowski continued. “I think the cars are better and Ford has done a good job, especially with the nose. We needed those pieces that were outside our control to fall into place.”

    “This is a good start to the weekend.”

    For pole sitter Keselowski, as well as Kyle Busch, who qualified second and Joey Logano, who will start behind his teammate in the third spot, watching the sky was also important to their qualifying efforts.

    “At a track that is concrete like the Monster Mile, it doesn’t attract as much heat as the black asphalt does, but the sun does make a difference,” Keselowski said. “I missed the clouds by about a minute. We still put down a good lap but the track probably had a little more speed in it.”

    Kyle Busch second No. 18 M&Ms Peanut Butter Toyota

    “The car was really fast in practice, Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Peanut Butter Toyota, said. “I really liked it but just wasn’t able to get the speed and kind of slowed down. Just couldn’t quite get enough for that lap.”

    “I think a lot of people were just waiting there and waiting on that cloud,” Busch continued. “We were trying to go as late as we could to see if the track would cool down.”

    “We were fast but came up a little short,” Logano, driver of the No. 22 Pennzoil Ford, said. “We picked up a lot of speed from practice and made some good adjustments. It just was over adjusted a little bit from the first to the second run.”

    “I think everyone was looking for that cloud,” Logano continued. “We were staring at the clouds and I saw all the crew chiefs staring up into the sun. We were doing the same thing and maybe we were chasing ghosts.”

    This was Busch’s sixth top-10 start of 2104 and his tenth in 19 races at Dover and this is Logano’s third top-10 start 10th in 13 races this season.

    Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 42 Cottonelle Chevrolet, was the highest qualifying rookie.

    “It was pretty good for us ending up fifth,” Larson said. “We had a good car in practice and we worked on it there a little bit. I’m happy with a top-5 starting spot for Sunday’s race. If we get our car a little better, we should be right up there in the front.”

    “Sometimes I like this place and sometimes I think it’s awful,” Larson said. “It depends how good the car is because this track is definitely tricky and on the edge. But I feel like I’m pretty comfortable around here. It’s like Bristol and I like that place.”

    Hendrick teammates Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, and Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, rounded out the top sixth in qualifying, starting the race in fourth and sixth respectively.

    The full run-down of the FedEx 400 qualifying results, including manufacturer and speed in miles per hour are as follows:

    1 Brad Keselowski Ford 164.444

    2 Kyle Busch Toyota 163.785

    3 Joey Logano Ford 163.688

    4 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 163.362

    5 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 163.080

    6 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 163.066

    7 Denny Hamlin Toyota 163.066

    8 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 162.499

    9 Brian Vickers Toyota 162.411

    10 Clint Bowyer Toyota 162.243

    11 AJ Allmendinger Chevrolet 162.155

    12 Greg Biffle Ford 160.995

    13 Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet 162.933

    14 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 162.903

    15 Paul Menard Chevrolet 162.889

    16 Martin Truex Jr Chevrolet 162.844

    17 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 162.690

    18 Brett Moffitt Toyota 162.602

    19 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 162.580

    20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 162.550

    21 Matt Kenseth Toyota 162.536

    22 Casey Mears Chevrolet 162.250

    23 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 162.155

    24 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 162.009

    25 Aric Almirola Ford 161.754

    26 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Ford 161.747

    27 Marcos Ambrose Ford 161.725

    28 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 161.623

    29 Carl Edwards Ford 161.573

    30 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 160.887

    31 Cole Whitt Toyota 160.592

    32 David Gilliland Ford 160.435

    33 Josh Wise Chevrolet 160.206

    34 David Ragan Ford 159.419

    35 Alex Bowman Toyota 159.391

    36 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 159.200

    37 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 159.081

    38 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 159.046

    39 Michael Annett Chevrolet 159.032

    40 David Stremme Chevrolet 158.569

    41 Ryan Truex Toyota 158.124

    42 Dave Blaney Ford 157.618

    43 Blake Koch Ford 156.359

     

  • Jimmie Johnson Hankering for a Ninth Dover Triumph

    Jimmie Johnson Hankering for a Ninth Dover Triumph

    Jimmie Johnson, following a victory in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a result that all but guarantees him a spot in NASCAR’s playoffs, enters this weekend at Dover International Speedway, a circuit he’s dominated in recent seasons.

    Johnson, 38, has eight triumphs at the ‘Monster Mile’, making this weekend a golden opportunity to extend his legacy and confidence in chasing a seventh NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

    “We are coming to my favorite race track and by the stats probably our best track as well,” Johnson explained in a media center appearance at Dover. “Excited to be here, look forward to getting on the race track and seeing how this new rules package works here.”

    Dominating in Dover, Delaware has been quite familiar to Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports. However, this weekend, after NASCAR implemented the new rules package, it’s left the team questioning their performance in America’s first state.

    “Over the years we have been able to adapt to a variety of generations of car and hopefully we can adapt quickly to what is needed here and what the set-up needs to be to get around the ‘Monster’ once again,” Johnson further commented. “Really at the end of the day there is a feel, a sensation, I look for to get around this race track.”

    “This is still the Gen-6 cars, but a different rules package under it. Regardless of change there are just some tracks that work well for you and you are able to still find that feeling you are looking for regardless of circumstances.”

    Johnson, though, isn’t fretting over the rules package; instead, he’s hoping to add another ‘Monster’ to his trophy collection at his ‘man cave’.

    “I have a great man cave. It’s a big warehouse and I have a huge bar that I restored and it’s got a big top shelf on it. And I think five of them are up there. They stand out. They’re a big trophy and they certainly draw a lot of attention.”

    Nevertheless, according to Johnson, winning this weekend and improving upon his record-breaking eight victories at this track, is expected and needed after letting wins slip by them this season.

    “We feel like wins have gotten away from us this year that we weren’t happy about and we also feel that there are tracks that we went to where we just had poor performances,” Johnson finished his appearance with. “So, the win is great, but we kind of hold ourselves to that standard and we’re coming to one of our best tracks and the expectations are very high for this weekend.”

     

     

  • The Hot 20 – It ain’t over till Johnson wins again at Dover

    The Hot 20 – It ain’t over till Johnson wins again at Dover

    Jimmie Johnson won last week. The odds are that Johnson will win again this week. Nothing is for sure, but a 33% winning rate anywhere is astronomical and Six Time has done it eight times in 24 attempts in Delaware. At least we will not have to hear his name dropped in the ongoing non-story as to “when, oh when might he win again?”

    No, now it will be Matt Kenseth the focal point of these nonsensical hand wringers. We have 14 races to the Chase, 14 more bids for victory to make it. Me thinks it a bit too early to worry about such things, especially when it comes to the former champ. Never in the modern era has more than 16 drivers won prior to race number 27, and considering Kenseth has the second highest point total even without a win he is just fine, for now. Those outside the Top 16, well, they might have cause for worry.

    Just what in the world is wrong at Stewart-Haas? Sure, Kevin Harvick has a couple of wins and does well, as long as the car stays together. Kurt Busch has a win, but without it he would be buried in the depths with Tony Stewart and Danica Patrick. We might view Patrick’s body of work and toss her under the bus as just not being good enough, but you cannot do that for Stewart or Busch. Now, if you want to start wailing as to Smoke’s woes and his need for a victory, go right ahead. He will need one. For that matter, what about Clint Bowyer, Jamie McMurray, and Martin Truex Jr? I think it is pretty clear now that none of them can make the Chase on points alone.

    I have some sad news to bring to your attention. Soon we will say goodbye to the FOX guys after Dover, as TNT takes over for a six race run before surrendering the coverage to ESPN in late July. Enjoy Chris, Michael, Darrell, Mike, Larry, Jeff and all those infield boys and girls while you can. Savor Adam, Wally, and Kyle when they come our way from June to mid-July. Soon enough it will be back to Allen, Brad, and Rusty, but at least it will be for only one more excruciating season.

    By leaving the points alone, other than giving 22 bonus points per win, we see that Jeff Gordon remains our top driver over the season, with Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards in the mix. However, if all goes according to the script at Dover, I would expect the guy in seventh to move up the ladder significantly by the time the weekend comes to a close.

    Driver – Points – Wins
    1 Jeff Gordon – 454 – 1
    2 Kyle Busch – 430 – 1
    3 Carl Edwards – 430 – 1
    4 Joey Logano – 422 – 2
    5 Matt Kenseth – 421
    6 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 416 – 1
    7 Jimmie Johnson – 410 – 1
    8 Kevin Harvick – 389 – 2
    9 Brad Keselowski – 383 – 1
    10 Brian Vickers – 365
    11 Denny Hamlin – 362 – 1
    12 Ryan Newman – 361
    13 Greg Biffle – 351
    14 Kyle Larson – 344
    15 Austin Dillon – 334
    16 Paul Menard – 328
    17 Kasey Kahne – 324
    18 A.J. Allmendinger – 314
    19 Aric Almirola – 312
    20 Clint Bowyer – 309

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Charlotte

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Charlotte

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Jeff Gordon: Gordon overcame back spasms to post a seventh in the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte. He remains atop the Sprint Cup points standings, 11 ahead of Matt Kenseth.

    “Back problems have been an ongoing issue for me,” Gordon said, “as has the quest to win my fifth Cup championship. That’s why the latter part of my career can be described as ‘back and fourth.’

    “We had Regan Smith on standby just in case I couldn’t go. Turns out, we didn’t need him, which certainly isn’t the first time Regan’s heard that.”

    2. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson started on the pole and led a race-high 164 on his way to the win in the Coca-Cola 600. It was Johnson’s first win of the year, and all but ensured his chance to defend his Sprint Cup championship.

    “The No. 48 Chevrolet with the special Memorial Day paint scheme was awesome,” Johnson said. “Matt Kenseth was no match for me. You could say I ‘red, white, and blew’ right past him.

    “You’ve probably heard that I completed a triathlon last Saturday. I’m proud to call myself a ‘triathlete.’ The great Tim Richmond was NASCAR’s original triathlete, because he’d ‘tri’ anything.

    3. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth held the lead on the final restart but was easily passed by Jimmie Johnson, who went on for his first victory of the year. Kenseth eventually finished third, and is second in the points standings, 11 behind Jeff Gordon.

    “Johnson went by me like I wasn’t even there,” Kenseth said. “I could say the same about most NASCAR fans. I may be the most unrecognizable athlete in professional sports today.”

    4. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt finished two laps down in 19th at Charlotte after engines problems soured his day. He is fourth in the Sprint Cup points standings, 38 behind Jeff Gordon.

    “I raced Charles Barkley head-to-head a couple of weeks ago,” Earnhardt said. “Charles can really drive. The last time he went that fast, there was a prostitute waiting on him. Where was she waiting, you ask? Well, let’s just say Sir Charles’ car is good at ‘cornering.’”

    5. Kevin Harvick: Harvick led 100 laps and finished second at Charlotte to Jimmie Johnson. Harvick was going for his third win this season, but couldn’t chase down Johnson.

    “Where’s one of those phantom cautions when you need one?” Harvick said. “I guess that’s what happens on Memorial Day weekend—there’s plenty of red, white, and blue flags, but no yellow.”

    6. Carl Edwards: Edwards posted his third top-five finish of the year with a fourth in the Coca-Cola 600. He is third in the points standings, 24 out of first.

    “Trevor Bayne’s joining the Roush Fenway Racing family in 2015,” Edwards said. “That means a current driver at Roush is likely to say goodbye. Could that be me? If it is, I guess you could call me ‘Cousin It.’”

    7. Joey Logano: Logano finished 12th at Charlotte as Penske teammate Brad Keselowski finished tenth. Logano is now sixth in the points, 54 behind Jeff Gordon.

    “What a run by Kurt Busch at Indianapolis,” Logano said. “And what a run by race winner Ryan Hunter-Reay. Not only does he lead the Indy Car points standings, he’s the most sought-after driver on the talk show circuit now. I guess that’s what happens when the Hunter becomes the hunted.”

    8. Kyle Busch: Busch finished ninth at Charlotte, recording his sixth top-10 result of the year. He is now third in the points standings, 24 out of first.

    “My brother Kurt didn’t complete the Indianapolis-Charlotte ‘double,’” Busch said, “but he did finish sixth. I think all NASCAR drivers would agree that’s an incredible accomplishment. And I’m sure all NASCAR drivers would agree Kurt should become a full-time open-wheel driver.”

    9. Brian Vickers: Vickers finished sixth in the Coca-Cola 600, earning his second straight top-10 and fifth of the year. He is now eighth in the Sprint Cup points standings, 67 behind Jeff Gordon.

    “It’s great driving for Michael Waltrip,” Vickers said. “And it’s great driving the Aaron’s Dream Machine. I like to think my alter ego, who’s a fierce competitor talented enough to contend for the Cup, would drive a car called the ‘Rude Awakening.’ Here’s to dreaming.”

    10. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski’s attempt at fuel mileage strategy was derailed by a late-race pit stop for a right-wheel vibration. Still, the driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford finished tenth, his fifth top-10 of the year, and is now ninth in the points standings, 71 out of first.

    “We just didn’t get the wheel on tight enough,” Keselowski said. “If that would have happened to the No. 48 car, it would have been called a ‘Shimmy Johnson.’”

  • The Final Word – A Racing Junky’s Sunday, from Monaco to Indianapolis to Charlotte

    The Final Word – A Racing Junky’s Sunday, from Monaco to Indianapolis to Charlotte

    It is the greatest day on the motorsports calender. We begin in southern Europe, head over to the Midwest United States, then back to stock car’s heartland in the southeast. Using my vast wealth, I guess I could have dropped by to visit Prince Albert before firing up my Star Trek transporter to take in the action in the New World, but I could not help but notice that I have a fair sized television screen, a nice comfy couch, with a refrigerator and a washroom just feet away. I did not even have to wear pants…though I did. Welcome to how I spent my Sunday.

    The first stop on the world tour was Monaco, where they have been racing on the two-mile layout in Monte Carlo since 1929. My first impression was that they must be out of their damn minds. No room, lots of turns and elevation changes. The next thing that strikes you is the opulence to remind us of all those things some have that most of us do not. Anyone else notice the yachts? Then there were the sponsors, and as I watched I wondered what products I might be able to afford or want. I did notice Johnnie Walker.

    Visually it was stunning, but as for racing, it was more like stunt driving. It was all Mercedes as Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton led from the very start, with Rosberg taking his second straight Monaco victory as Hamilton held off a late charging Daniel Ricciardo with Red Bull. It was not my kind of racing, but it sure was one hell of a ride. If NASCAR could only put forth that kind of stimulating visual spectacular each and every week, they would never again have to worry about television ratings.

    An even older tradition continued as the Indianapolis 500 continued a competition that began in 1911. Twenty-seven-year-old Marco Andretti, still winless after eight attempts on this track, was considered the favorite going in, ahead of three-time winner Helio Castroneves. Former NASCAR full-timer Juan Pablo Montoya was also given a shot, at 8-to-1, but most fender fans were wondering how 30-to-1 driver Kurt Busch would do as he attempted the double, running both Indianapolis and Charlotte. Two hundred thousand were in the stands to watch 83-year old Jim Nabors who returned to sing “Back Home Again in Indiana” for the final time, and somewhere a bottle of milk was being chilled for the winner of the world’s biggest single day sports event. That turned out to be Florida’s Ryan Hunter-Reay, who passed Castroneves for the victory, with Andretti settling for third. Montoya brought it home in fifth, while Busch finished sixth.

    Oh, but Busch was not finished, not on this day. He was off to Charlotte, North Carolina and the Coca Cola 600 as the 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup champ had not even completed half of his on-track work just yet. Well, according to his engine, he actually was. It only lasted 400 miles before going up in smoke, same as that of teammate Danica Patrick. The trio who dominated much of the event finished on top, with Jimmie Johnson claiming his first of the season and 67th of his Cup career, ahead of Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth. It was an interesting race, an enjoyable race, but no surprises loomed at the end of the night. So concluded a memorable Memorial Day for televised racing.

    As they reset for next Sunday’s action in Dover, Joey Logano and Harvick continue to lead the way atop the Cup standings with a couple of wins apiece. 12 races in and still more than 30 drivers have a shot at the Chase, and all it would take is a visit to Victory Lane this upcoming weekend.

    SWEET SIXTEEN
    1 Joey Logano – 2 WINS – 378 Pts
    2 Kevin Harvick – 2 WINS – 345
    3 Jeff Gordon – 1 WIN – 432
    4 Kyle Busch -1 WIN – 408
    5 Carl Edwards – 1 WIN –  408
    6 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 1 WIN – 394
    7 Jimmie Johnson – 1 WIN – 388
    8 Brad Keselowski – 1 WIN – 361
    9 Denny Hamlin – 1 WIN – 340
    10 Kurt Busch – 1 WIN – 215
    11 Matt Kenseth – 421 POINTS
    12 Brian Vickers – 365
    13 Ryan Newman – 361
    14 Greg Biffle – 351
    15 Kyle Larson – 344
    16 Austin Dillon – 334

    CONTENTERS & PRETENDERS
    17 Paul Menard – 328
    18 Kasey Kahne – 324
    19 A.J. Allmendinger – 314
    20 Aric Almirola – 312
    21 Clint Bowyer – 309
    22 Marcos Ambrose – 303
    23 Tony Stewart – 299
    24 Jamie McMurray – 286
    25 Casey Mears – 282
    26 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – 258
    27 Martin Truex, Jr. – 251
    28 Danica Patrick – 218
    29 Justin Allgaier – 205
    30 Michael Annett – 179

    PARTICIPANTS
    31 Cole Whitt – 164
    32 David Gilliland – 160
    33 Alex Bowman – 152
    34 David Ragan – 150
    35 Reed Sorenson – 145
    36 Josh Wise – 133

     

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Coca Cola 600

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Coca Cola 600

    With military tributes abounding and NASCAR patriotism at its best, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 55th annual running of the sport’s longest race, the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    Surprising: In a sport where man so often is at the mercy of machine, the competitive spirit of the drivers surprisingly triumphed over whatever difficulties they were facing in their race cars.

    One such example of perseverance was Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, who triumphed over back spasms that were so severe that he missed final practice to finish the longest race of the season in the seventh spot.

    “It was tough,” Gordon said after the race. “I was aching in there. There was one time when I got on the brakes into (Turn) 1 and it triggered something. I didn’t know what was going to happen after that, but it settled down.”

    “I’m happy that I got through it. It tells me a lot about what kind of threshold I have and I just want to show this team the kind of commitment I have to them because of what they have shown me this year.”

    The driver who triumphed most mightily over his race machines, however, was Kurt Busch, who raced his heart out in the Indianapolis 500, finishing sixth in his rookie effort, and then went on to race in the Coke 600, only to have his engine give up the ghost on Lap 271.

    “To feel the stock car right after driving the Indy car was a day I’ll never forget,” the driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Made in America Chevrolet, said. “I can’t let the mood here with the car dampen what happened up at Indy today. That was very special.”

    “Andretti Autosport gave me a top-five car to try and win the 500 with, and these Stewart-Haas guys gave me a good car too,” Busch continued. “The motor just went, sometimes that happens. All in all I gave it my all.”

    Not Surprising: For Hendrick Motorsports, with their headquarters just up the road from the speedway, there truly is no place like home. And for race winner, Jimmie Johnson, and his team owner Rick Hendrick, Charlotte Motor Speedway is like coming home.

    “I think, number one, Charlotte is kind of home,” Mr. H said after the race. “Won my first NASCAR race here with Sr. in ’83 in the Nationwide or Busch Series. It’s a special place, all the families here.”

    “Winning a race, Jimmie and Chad have been so close this year, and several situations got away,” Mr. Hendrick continued. “To get this one behind us is great.”

    This home track win was Johnson’s first of the season, his 67th victory in 44 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races and his seventh win at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Patriotic Chevrolet also broke the tie with NASCAR Hall of Famers Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip as the all-time series points wins leader at Charlotte.

    Surprising: Danica Patrick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. had surprisingly much in common in the Coke 600, starting out strong and then both going down for the count with engine issues. Junior finished 19th and Patrick finished an even more disappointing 39th.

    “We had a little bit of an engine issue or something cropping up,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Superman Chevrolet said. “But it was very fast. I was very happy with the speed.”

    “We were able to at least finish 19th,” Junior continued. “We could have blowed up and finished in the back. You’re going to have some bad weeks and you’ve got to be able to roll with them. This was one of them and we just have to look at the positives and try not to dwell too much on what happened.”

    “Yeah, it’s really unfortunate,” Patrick said, echoing the words of Dale Earnhardt Jr. “We started off great and started to get tighter and tighter. We couldn’t really figure out how to fix it.”

    “We had a good plan, then dropped a cylinder and lost power, then got rear-ended,” the driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet continued. “That was our day. We’ll just remember the good stuff that happened here at Charlotte and at Kansas last race and build on that for Dover.”

    Not Surprising: Kevin Harvick did not close and was not fast in the pits so therefore it was not surprising that he also was not happy after the race, even though he finished second.

    “We shot ourselves in the foot again,” the driver of the No. 4 Budweiser Folds of Honor Chevrolet said. “We left two wheels loose and played catch up the rest of the night.”

    “We’re just shooting ourselves in the foot on pit road,” Harvick continued. “We have to clean that up because we obviously can’t win races with the fastest car if we make mistakes continuously on pit road. It’s frustrating.”

    Surprising: Jamie Mac is back, backing up his All Star race win with a top-five finish in his No. 1 Cessna Chevrolet.

    “Our car was fast enough that even when we went to the back, we were able to recover and get back to the top-five, which was great,” McMurray said. “We’ve had such good cars all year long and have not been able to capitalize because of tire issues or just some bad luck.”

    “So I’m excited we won last week. We ran really good again this week. Just an all-around good night.”

    Not Surprising: Carl Edwards, one of Ford’s best pitch men, credited his manufacturer’s fuel mileage for getting him a fourth place finish and scoring top honors for Ford in the race.

    “That’s Ford fuel mileage right here,” the driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford Fusion said. “You talk about Fords getting great fuel mileage and they did today.”

    “Our car finished fourth and that was probably as good as we deserved to finish,” Edwards continued. “We did have a good run.”

    Surprising: This time, rookie Austin Dillon actually finished ahead of ROTY competitor Kyle Larson to tighten up that rookie recognition battle. Dillon scored the 16th finishing spot while Larson finished two behind in 18th.

    “I’m proud of everyone’s effort on this No. 3 Cheerios Chevrolet team this weekend,” Dillon said. “It was not a bad finish considering all of the challenges we battled during the race.”

    Not Surprising:  Pleased but not satisfied was the theme for the top-finishing Toyota drivers. Matt Kenseth finished third in his No. 20 Home Depot Husky Toyota and Brian Vickers had a great run, finishing sixth in his No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota.

    “I thought we had a top-five car — a lot of it was definitely an improvement,” Kenseth said. “Just needed a little more and couldn’t quite run with the 48 (Jimmie Johnson) and the 4 (Kevin Harvick) and a couple of them other cars. Overall, it was a good night for our Home Depot Husky Tools Camry — we just have to get just a little better.”

    “Our Camry was good all night,” Vickers said. “We were really close to top-five and probably close to a win, we just needed a little more speed.”

    “The guys did a great job and just really proud of them,” Vickers continued. “Pleased but not satisfied.”

    Surprising: Paul Menard had a surprisingly good run in his No. 27 Serta/Menards Chevrolet at Charlotte, finishing in the eighth spot after starting 21st.

    “We had a great finish tonight in Charlotte considering where we started,” Menard said. “It was a hard fought race the for No. 27 Serta/Menards team, but with some strategy and adjustments we were able salvage what could have been a tough night.”

    “This race in Charlotte is a tough one, but we finished strong.”

    Not Surprising: Ryan Newman, behind the wheel of the No. 31 Quicken Loans Chevrolet, epitomized the spirit of the weekend as he never quit and never gave up in spite of cutting down a tire on Lap 293 and finishing 15th in the Coca Cola 600.

    “This Quicken Loans team persevered this weekend,” Newman declared. “We had quite a bit to overcome, but we never gave up.”

    “We started from the back after an issue in qualifying and had a Chevrolet good enough to race all the way up to ninth position before we had a tire cut down on a restart,” Newman continued. “I have to hand it to this team; we never gave up through all the adversity.”

    “I will never stop fighting and nor will my crew, we’ll be fine.”

    The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series moves on next weekend to pay a visit to Miles the Monster in the 45th Annual FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware.

  • Johnson Reclaims Charlotte Glory with Superb Coca-Cola 600 Performance

    Johnson Reclaims Charlotte Glory with Superb Coca-Cola 600 Performance

    From lap one to lap 400, Sunday Night at Charlotte belonged solely to Jimmie Johnson. Johnson and his No. 48 team dominated as they perfectly executed a game plan en route to their first victory of the year.

    The victory was Johnson’s 67th career series win which places him eighth on the all-time wins list. It was his seventh points win at Charlotte Motor Speedway, breaking a tie with Bobby Allison for most wins at the track and his fourth Coca-Cola 600 victory. Only Darrell Waltrip has won more 600s, with a total of five wins.

    Rarely does this team go too far into the season without scoring a victory. However, the team wasn’t fazed by the somewhat slow start. This was demonstrated in the race as Johnson once again proved why he’s a six-time champion.

    After the race, Johnson was asked about the significance of the win.

    “It means a lot,” he said. “Through the years a lot of references (have been made) to this race as one of our majors. I certainly agree with that. 600 miles around here is no easy task. To deal with all the things that are thrown at a race team through the evening with the track changing, the mechanical obstacles that you have to overcome, keeping an engine alive, tires alive, all of it; it’s a serious team effort to finish 600 miles. And then win here, especially as hard as we had to run throughout the night, the pace we had to keep up, certainly proud of that.”

    Throughout the race, it was typically one of three drivers leading the field. Johnson, Kevin Harvick, and Matt Kenseth all had fast cars and found themselves leading for large portions of the event.

    Harvick was first to take the top spot away from Johnson on lap 76. He maintained the lead until the ensuing restart after the second caution when Johnson soared back by.

    Brad Keselowski was another driver who stuck his nose out front at different points in the race as he and Paul Wolfe worked out a different pit strategy. The strategy was successful in getting the No. 2 car out front; however it did not work out in their favor at the end as they placed tenth at the end of the night.

    Unlike last year’s Coca-Cola 600, only one multi-car incident occurred throughout the race. On Lap 235, Marcos Ambrose spun off turn four. As drivers attempted to slow and avoid the accident, Josh Wise came in hot and hit the back of Landon Cassill which started a chain reaction. Brian Scott and Danica Patrick were also involved.

    Kenseth made his way to the top spot on Lap 271. He was able to hold the position for a majority of the race’s second half.

    Kurt Busch’s attempt at the Indianapolis-Charlotte double was going fine until Lap 273. Busch had placed sixth in the Indianapolis 500 earlier, but would finish 40th in Charlotte after blowing his engine 906 miles into his attempt at completing 1,100 throughout the day.

    Despite the disappointing end, Busch was upbeat and satisfied about the day as a whole. “A day I’ll never forget,” was how Busch described his attempt at the double to FOX.

    The eighth and final caution of the night came with 22 laps remaining. Jeff Gordon was the leader on the ensuing restart; however Kenseth would quickly regain the spot.

    Johnson made the winning move with eight laps to go when he passed Kenseth. He then cruised to victory as he frequently did prior to the repave of the track in 2006.

    Harvick came home second after being a threat early on and cited issues on pit road that thwarted their efforts.

    “We had a fast car all night,” he said, “just kind of fumbled again on pit road, got behind, got a lap down.  We needed a 700-mile race to get back to where we needed to be. All in all, they’re doing a great job of putting cars up on the track; we just have to clean up on pit road.”

    Kenseth couldn’t get the job done and ended up third. He still has yet to score a victory in 2014. He was generally satisfied with the team’s efforts but said the car lacked the necessary speed.

    “Overall for the weekend, I thought it was a step in the right direction,” he said. “I thought we were more competitive tonight. I didn’t think we were quick enough to win unless everything fell exactly our way. Even then I couldn’t quite hang on. Overall I thought it was a step in the right direction. I thought we had a top-five car all night. Great pit stops, great adjustments, just couldn’t hang on to it at the end.”

    Carl Edwards and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top five, finishing fourth and fifth, respectively. Brian Vickers, Jeff Gordon, Paul Menard, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski complete the top 10.

    Jeff Gordon, who finished seventh, retains the series points lead followed by Matt Kenseth who is 11 points behind in second place. Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards are tied at 24 points behind the leader for third and fourth in the standings and Dale Earnhardt Jr. fell one spot to fifth place.

    NASCAR’s two home weeks concluded with the waving of the checkered flag. Now, all three series head to Delaware for a battle with the Monster Mile at Dover next weekend.

     

     

  • Coca-Cola 600 Preview

    Coca-Cola 600 Preview

    Come Sunday, Kurt Busch will join John Andretti, Robby Gordon and his boss Tony Stewart as the only NASCAR drivers to complete the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. Kurt Busch will start the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 from the 12th position. Busch’s attempt has enraptured the entire motorsports community. There is a reason why the double has not been attempted since 2004; however, Kurt Busch does not care.

    Inside and outside of the NASCAR community, Kurt Busch has gained a tremendous amount of respect. Busch serves as a spokesman for the Armed Forces Foundation, when he is not driving in NASCAR’s top circuit. Busch has been dearly involved with the AFF’s efforts and dedicates each race during the season to a service member that has been killed in action or to a member that suffers from an invisible wound such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As the son of a Marine and the grandson of a fallen World War II veteran, Busch has earned my respect.

    What can we expect from Kurt Busch in the Indianapolis 500? First, Busch has much to learn. During practice for the 500 on May 22, Busch broke loose and smacked the turn two wall, hitting the SAFER barrier. Flames erupted from behind the No. 26 Honda as it came to rest in the grass at the exit of the turn. Veteran open-wheel drivers like Josef Newgarden and Juan Pablo Montoya, blamed the wreck on Busch’s NASCAR instincts. The car broke loose, but both drivers agreed that Busch tried to save the car like he would in a stock car. It is entirely different in IndyCar.

    Finishing the race would be monumental for Kurt Busch, considering the fact that it has been 12 years since a driver attempting the double has finished the race. Busch conceded to the media that pulling off the double would require a prodigious amount of self-preservation. Given what some consider Kurt Busch’s reckless driving style, many people doubted he would even attempt such a feat. However, Busch is here to silence the critics. Even if he wrecks in the 500, he will have attempted a feat that most drivers would never give a second thought.

    Once Busch is done with the Indianapolis 500, the 2004 Cup Series Champion, will head to Charlotte, searching for his second Coca-Cola 600 win. In 2010, Chip Ganassi had a shot to win the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 and Indianapolis 500 all in the same year, but it was Busch who denied Ganassi a shot at history. It is a feat that is certainly rare and the chance may not come again for a while.

    Many people do not see Jamie McMurray as a favorite this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but why not? When McMurray was subbing for the injured Sterling Marlin in 2002, McMurray won in just his second career start, holding off Bobby Labonte, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon among other drivers. McMurray won at Charlotte in the fall of 2010, redemption after coming up short in the 600 earlier in the year. Just this past weekend, McMurray won a million dollars, passing Kevin Harvick on lap 81, and never looking back as he won the Sprint All-Star race. Expect McMurray to be the dark horse for this race. McMurray is an underdog, but he is not one to be doubted.

    The season has not even reached the halfway mark , but Joey Logano is showing promise as a championship contender. Logano has been strong, especially at the 1.5 mile tracks. In addition, he has won multiple races this season (Texas and Richmond) for the first time in his Cup career. Logano was also dominant at Texas. I have no reason to doubt Joey Logano. For that reason, I am picking Joey Logano to score his first major victory, becoming the first three-time winner in the Sprint Cup Series this season.