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  • Was The New All-Star Race Format a Winner or a Loser?

    Was The New All-Star Race Format a Winner or a Loser?

    Now that the All-Star Race is over with, the criticism/praise of NASCAR’s new format begins! After fairly exciting on track action during the first four segments, Jimmie Johnson stole the show in the final 10 lap dash after taking  he overtook teammate Kasey Kahne for the lead with eight to go. The Busch brothers dominated the first four segments but came home 3rd and 5th after the Hendrick duo of Kahne and Johnson beat them off pit road. So, did this new format create better racing or does NASCAR have to redo it all again for the 30th running of the All-Star Race in 2014?

    The average finish rule worked perfectly in my opinion. The drivers raced hard from the entire race and it didn’t matter if it was for the lead or 12th spot. The final 10 laps were unfortunately anticlimactic courtesy of Jimmie Johnson which left most fans disappointed. A large contingent of people out there decided to just blame the format but that’s unfair to do. The average finish was a good idea and doesn’t need tweaking. On the other hand, how the end of the race is setup definitely need fixing. One of the most riveting moments of the race was when Bowyer, Edwards and Mark Martin stayed out on old tires which caused the field to stack up behind them and cars were all over the place jockeying for position. Prior to the final dash for cash though, everyone in the field was forced to be on the same exact strategy with the mandatory four tire pit stop and that needs to be changed.

    NASCAR needs to give these guys more options so we can watch two or three different strategies unfold at the end of the race. Some may opt for four fresh tires, a few will take two and maybe even a team that’s feeling brave stays out. That would make the end of these races insane and chaotic which is the point of the All-Star Race, right? Crew chiefs should be given more leeway and I’m sure if they did Saturday night, somebody deep in the pack like Tony Stewart or Ricky Stenhouse Jr. may have stayed out and gone for broke setting up a wild showdown.

    That would be a perfect change and would add some much needed excitement without NASCAR having to manufacturer any of their own with gimmicks like field inversions. Another minor change I’d like to see would be shortening the final sprint to the finish from ten laps to five. It’s not like ten laps is too long but five laps would just raise the intensity level and the sense of urgency that much more. If it was five laps to go when they went green this past weekend, Johnson and Kahne would have been battling door-to-door for the win with just 2 1/2 laps remaining instead of 7 1/2.

    Other than that, keep the average finish rule and definitely keep that no pit road speed policy for qualifying! That qualifying session was one of the most enjoyable ones I’ve ever watched and doesn’t need to be touched. Overall, the racing throughout the event was good and kept my interest but the finish didn’t live up to the hype. I’m all for letting races play out on their own but the point of this exhibition event is to entertain the fans so those are my ideas to create the best show possible without compromising the integrity of the race. Overall, I give this race a B-; it’s an improvement from 2011 and 2012 but there’s still some work to do on NASCAR’s part.

  • Matty’s Picks 2013 – Vol. 9 Sprint All-Star Race – Charlotte Motor Speedway – May 18, 2013

    Matty’s Picks 2013 – Vol. 9 Sprint All-Star Race – Charlotte Motor Speedway – May 18, 2013

    We’re 1/3 of the way through the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, and it’s onto Speedweeks at Charlotte. A million bucks is up for grabs this week (actually 2 million), and unlike the NHL, the NBA, and the MLB, we’re already on to the All-Star weekend.

    There have been 28 previous All-Star races, all but one being held at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the 1986 event was held at Atlanta Motor Speedway and won by Bill Elliott. The first All-Star race was won by Darrell Waltrip back in 1985 amongst a field of 12. This year, 22 cars will take the green flag of the 2013 All-Star race, 19 of those divers have already locked up a spot in the field.

    Here’s how the starting field for the drivers that will be making the start in the main event tonight:
    – NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points race winners in 2012 and 2013
    – NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race winners in the last 10 years
    – Drivers who are past NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions in the previous 10 years
    – The top-two finishers in the Sprint Showdown, the 40-lap race that precedes the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race
    – The top Sprint Fan Vote driver who finishes the Showdown and whose car is in “raceable” condition.

    Like last year, the All-Star race will consist of five segments – four 20-lap segments and a 10-lap shootout. Unlike last year, the running the running order at the completion of the fourth segment (Lap 80) will be repositioned behind the Pace Car, based on the drivers’ average finish for the first four segments – putting a premium on strong finishes throughout the entire event.

    The new lineup will be placed directly behind the caution car prior to the opening of pit road for a mandatory four-tire pit stop, yielding the spotlight from the drivers to the pit crews.
    The order of the cars returning to the track will determine the starting order of the final 10-lap shootout. Running order ties will be broken by the finish of the fourth segment.
    I am a fan of the new setup as NASCAR has done a nice job of eliminating the sandbagging factor we’ve seen in previous events, by emphasizing strong finishes in each of the first four 20-lap segments.

    Darlington Recap

    I will keep this brief this week as the intro section is rather long, and I have little to brag about from last week. I chose Kasey Kahne as the winner last week, a pick that looked like a jackpot throughout the middle to late stages, but with 33 laps to go, my chances went south. Whether Kyle Busch got into Kahne, or if he only got close enough to take the air off the No.5 car, this little rivalry heating up between the two drivers is going to be something to watch over the next few weeks. The incident left Kahne settling with a 17th place finish.
    As for my Dark Horse, Ryan Newman, it was the fourth time I picked him this season and he did ok for me for the first time this year. Newman ran a strong race, avoiding trouble throughout and finished 10th.

    All-Star Picks

    Winner Pick
    On Thursday in my preview of tonight’s All-Star race with Greg Depalma on The Prime Sports Network, I picked a guy who is one of the favorites tonight, despite never winning a race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    This is a Kyle Busch style race, with nothing to lose and two million bucks at stake, you can bet that the floorboards of the No.18 car are going to be worn out at the end of the race on Saturday Night.

    He has never won an all-star event in 7 tries despite starting on the pole three times and never won at Charlotte in 26 tries. In spite of never winning at Charlotte, Kyle has been very strong throughout the course of his career and since 2008, he has finished outside the top 8 just twice in 14 races. Kyle’s Driver Rating has never been less than 100, besides the two accidents in 2010 and 2011 since the spring of 2007.

    He has lead laps in 20 of 26 starts at Charlotte, and in the fourth starting spot tonight, Kyle has put himself in position for an early lead. He was close in 2011 to the cool million when he started on the pole for his third time, but Carl Edwards was the guy to beat that night. I still like my pick today.

    Dark Horse Pick

    He might not be a Dark Horse now, but on Thursday he was a 30 to 1 longshot to win the All-Star race tonight. An important stat to mention with this Dark Horse pick is that Eight of the 28 (28.5%) NASCAR Sprint All-Star Races have been won from the front row: four from the pole and four from second-place.

    The guy I picked on Thursday as a “quiet pick” to win the million bucks was Kyle’s brother, Kurt. Kurt Busch’s overall All-Star Race record is: 11 starts, one win, four top-fives, six top-10s, one pole and 30 laps led. His average start is 8.1 and average finish 10.8.

    He followed his 2010 All-Star Race win with a victory the following week in the Coca-Cola 600 and is one of four active drivers to have won the Charlotte double. The others are Jeff Gordon (1997), Jimmie Johnson (2003) and Kasey Kahne (2008). Busch qualified for this year’s Sprint All-Star Race as both a former winner of the event and as a former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion (2004).

    Kurt will be starting outside of Carl Edwards on the front row tonight, and is my quiet sleeper pick this week.

    That’s all for this week, so until the longest race of the season next week, You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

  • Reaction to NASCAR Legend Dick Trickle Death Complicated by Suicide

    Reaction to NASCAR Legend Dick Trickle Death Complicated by Suicide

    While any death is tragic, especially when it is unexpected, reactions are even more complicated when the person takes his own life. This was definitely demonstrated after the NASCAR family learned of Dick Trickle’s death of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in a local cemetery.

    As a NASCAR fan and citizen journalist, as well as a mental health professional, I was most interested to see how the NASCAR community would react on learning this news. And as the story has unfolded, the reactions did indeed mirror those that are normal when learning of a death by suicide.

    When news of Trickle’s suicide first broke, there was the most normal initial reaction of shock. Most expressed that they could not understand how someone with Trickle’s apparent love of life could turn around and end his own.

    “He had a special personality,” Mark Martin, veteran NASCAR Cup Series driver, said. “He was tough, but he was fun.”

    “He was just a very unique person,” Martin continued. “He was doing it his way.”

    Jimmie Johnson, five-time NASCAR champ, also expressed his feelings on Trickle’s death in much the same way as his colleague Mark Martin. While Johnson had never raced with Trickle, he had gotten to know Trickle while racing in the IROC Series.

    “I’m shocked and saddened by it,” Johnson said. “His stories were legendary.”

    NASCAR racer and now television analyst Rusty Wallace described it best.

    “I am in 100 percent shock,” Wallace said on learning the news of Trickle’s suicide. “Dick Trickle was my mentor.”

    “He was a legend,” Wallace continued. “He was a role model to many short track racers coming up.”

    Geoff Bodine, another veteran racer of the genre of Trickle, was also shocked by his passing at his own hand.

    “He was fun. Just plain fun,” Bodine said. “People everywhere knew his name.”

    “That’s why they used his likeness in the movie ‘Days of Thunder’ with Tom Cruise portraying a driver named Cole Trickle,” Bodine continued. “He was such a character.”

    There was also a real sense in the NASCAR community after the news broke of responsibility and even some guilt. Many of those calling in to Sirius XM NASCAR Channel 90 wondered why they did not see the signs and why they had not reached out to Trickle sooner in the hopes that the suicide could have been prevented.

    “It’s crazy surprising news,” Matt Kenseth, NASCAR champion and fellow Wisconsin native to Trickle, said. “I don’t really know all the circumstances.”

    “I’m still in shock,” Kenseth continued. “I don’t really get it.”

    In addition to that wondering and guilt about being able to step in and stop the suicide, anger is also a very normal reaction when someone has taken their life, especially someone so vibrant and colorful.

    “I know one thing: next time I see him I’m going to slap him,” Butch Fedewa, who raced against Trickle in the 1960s said. “I had just talked to him a few weeks ago.”

    “He wasn’t a coward,” Fedewa continued. “I don’t understand it. I don’t.”

    “But he had to have a reason.”

    Unlike many suicides, where the reason is never known to those left behind, the motive for Dick Trickle’s suicide has been made public. This may assist those in the NASCAR community to understand Trickle’s taking of his own life, however, still does not totally ease the pain of the manner in which he died.

    Trickle shot himself in the Forest Lawn Cemetery, the same cemetery where his granddaughter was buried, in Boger City, North Carolina. Police revealed a note was found with the body and the audio from the 911 call that Trickle placed himself said “There’s going to be a dead body. Suicide. I’m the one.”

    When emergency responders went to the scene after being unable to reach Trickle, they did indeed find his body lying next to his 1993 Ford pickup in the cemetery.

    Chuck Trickle shared after the suicide became public that his brother Dick had been having chest pain that no doctor seemed to be able to diagnose or ease. In fact, Trickle had just been to the local hospital at Duke University for testing to try to identify the cause of the pain, which he described as being under his left breast.

    “He was very down,” Chuck Trickle said, sharing some insight into the why of his brother’s suicide. “He more or less said he didn’t know how much longer he could take the pain.”

    “He must have just decided that the pain was too high, because he would have never done it for any other reason.”

    “I thought about it pretty hard last night,” former Sprint Cup crew chief and now television analyst Ray Evernham, said. “The only thing you can say is Trickle lived on his own terms and died on his terms, and that’s the only sense I can make of it.”

    “He raced the way he wanted to race,” Evernham continued. “He came up with that one hour sleep rule for every hundred miles he raced.”

    “He partied hard and he raced hard,” Evernham said. “He didn’t conform.”

    “That’s helping me try to make sense of it in my mind.”

    Perhaps the biggest reaction in the garage, especially now that the potential cause for Trickle’s suicide is somewhat explained, is that of loss and sadness for Trickle’s passing and his legacy and meaning to the sport of racing.

    Not only was Trickle a character of the largest proportions, he was also an outstanding short track racer, winning around 1,200 feature races throughout his time on the track. He had 303 career starts in the NASCAR Cup Series from 1989-1998 and also had two NASCAR Nationwide Series wins under his belt.

    “The era of stock car racing up in that area really died with him,” Matt Kenseth said of his fellow Wisconsin racer. “He had a unique way of looking at things, a ton of common sense and he was really smart.”

    “He was a very talented racer,” Jimmy Fennig, Trickle’s former crew chief, said. “The one thing about Dick, he built his own cars, he knew his cars inside and out.”

    “He was fantastic.”

    “A guy like Trickle and Richie Evans (another modified racer great), they wanted to race on their own terms and they raced a lot,” Ray Evernham said. “I’m glad that there are some guys like that.”

    “You don’t have to be Richard Petty or Dale Earnhardt or Jeff Gordon to be a racing legend,” Evernham continued. “Those guys, Trickle and Evans, are racing legends too.”

    Reigning champ Brad Keselowski also paid tribute to the late Dick Trickle.

    “He was ‘the guy’ during the great short-track era,” Keselowski said. “His loss, in some ways, is a symbol of the end of that era.”

    “That’s very sad to see.”

    The NASCAR community will no doubt continue to remember and mourn the passing of Dick Trickle throughout the All-Star race weekend. One of the most touching tributes has been Dick Trickle’s name over the door of All-Star pole sitter Carl Edwards, particularly with Jimmy Fennig, Trickle’s former crew chief, now on the box for Edwards.

    Trickle’s obituary best sums up his life, as well as his death at his own hands, as follows. Rest in peace now Dick Trickle.

    Richard Trickle (October 27, 1941-May 16, 2013)

    Richard “Dick” Trickle, age 71, of Iron Station, NC died of a self inflicted gunshot. He had been suffering for some time with severe chronic pain, had seen many doctors, none of which could find the source of his pain. His family as well as those who knew him, find his death very hard to accept, and though we will hurt from losing him for some time, he’s no longer suffering and we take comfort knowing he’s with his very special angel.

    He is survived by his wife Darlene (McMahon) Trickle, three children Victoria Bowman (John), Tod Trickle, and Chad Trickle (Shannon), and 3 grandchildren, Lucas Bowman, Courtney Trickle and Carlee Trickle. He lost his oldest grandchild Nicole Bowman in a tragic car accident nearly 12 years ago. He was the son of the late Leo and Lauretta Trickle and is survived by his brothers Duaine Trickle, Charles Trickle and sisters Delores Iwanski and Susan Trickle.

    Dick’s passion in life was his racing. He touched many lives throughout his career, provided memories for many that will last a lifetime. Many thought when he retired he would continue as a car owner, but he was a driver at heart, he wanted to be behind the wheel and be in control of his destiny. We believe he felt himself no longer able to be behind that wheel of life or be the man he only knew how to be because of the pain and suffering.

    “His passion was racing but his love was his family. This is a very difficult time for the family, they hope everyone will understand and respect their wishes to have private services for his funeral. They appreciate all the calls, messages, and letters of support, but at this time need to be together as a family.

    There have been requests for where to send flowers, in lieu of flowers the family has asked that a donation be made in Memory of Dick to: Victory Junction, 4500 Adams Way, Randleman, NC  27317. They thank you for all your love, thoughts and prayers.

  • Crunching The Numbers: Charlotte All Star Weekend

    Crunching The Numbers: Charlotte All Star Weekend

    After tackling “The Lady in Black” at Darlington last weekend, NASCAR heads home for a two week home stand at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series taking center stage during All Star Weekend.

    Sprint Cup Series

    With 11 points paying races behind them, the Sprint Cup Series heads into one of the wildest races of the year as the Sprint All Star Race is upon us once again. The non-points race that is all for the trophy, bragging rights, and a nice payday of a possible two million dollars for the winner, leads to some brash moves by drivers to get to the front and take the checkers. Since the drivers don’t have to worry about points, the phrase “Bring me the trophy or bring me the steering wheel” perfectly explains a driver’s mindset heading into this race. To add to the drama, the race will have a new format that makes running up front an even more important factor and this race should be a great one not to be missed when these drivers strap in and go for the win on Saturday night.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Joey Logano 2 0 1 2 0 11.5 5.5
    Matt Kenseth 12 1 5 9 2 9.3 6.3
    Jimmie Johnson 11 3 7 7 1 9.1 6.6
    Marcos Ambrose 1 0 0 1 0 18.0 7.0
    Tony Stewart 14 1 8 9 0 11.1 7.7
    Dale Earnhardt Jr 13 1 4 10 0 14.2 8.3
    Ryan Newman 11 1 3 7 1 8.8 9.3
    Jeff Gordon 19 3 6 9 0 8.6 9.5
    Kevin Harvick 12 1 2 3 0 8.6 10.5
    Kurt Busch 11 1 4 6 0 8.1 10.8

    Who To Watch: While any of the drivers who run the Sprint All Star Race have a chance to win, a few stick out above the rest and the driver with the highest average finish among All Star Race participants may surprise you. That driver is Joey Logano, who has an average finish of 5.5 in two starts. Following close in Logano’s steps are last weekend’s winner at Darlington, Matt Kenseth, and five time Sprint Cup champion, Jimmie Johnson. Kenseth has one win, five top fives, nine top tens, one pole, and an average finish of 6.3 in 12 starts. Johnson is close behind with three wins, seven top fives, seven top tens, one pole, and an average finish of 6.6 in 11 starts.

    Although not in the top ten of drivers with the best average finish in the Sprint All Star Race, Kyle Busch is another driver to keep an eye on this weekend. Busch has two top fives, three top tens, three poles, and an average finish of 12.4 in seven starts. However, Busch does have four DNF’s in those seven starts. As long as Busch can keep his car in one piece, he could capture his first win in the Sprint All Star Race this weekend.

    Camping World Truck Series

    The Camping World Truck Series heads into Charlotte this weekend for Friday night’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200, ending a nearly month long hiatus in the schedule. Several Sprint Cup Series regulars will be running the race along with the Truck Series regulars, which driver will come out on top? After 200 miles, we’ll have our answer.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Kyle Busch 7 4 5 6 2 335 5.4 3.6
    Ron Hornaday, Jr. 8 2 6 6 0 170 7.6 6.8
    Jeb Burton 1 0 0 1 0 0 21.0 8.0
    Justin Lofton 3 1 1 1 0 44 17.3 9.7
    Matt Crafton 10 1 2 7 0 29 12.6 9.8
    Ty Dillon 1 0 1 1 1 25 1.0 10.0
    James Buescher 4 0 2 2 0 26 7.8 10.5
    Joey Coulter 2 0 0 1 0 0 13.0 11.5
    Dakoda Armstrong 1 0 0 0 0 0 24.0 13.0
    Todd Bodine 9 0 4 4 0 18 14.4 14.0

    Who To Watch: Sprint Cup regular Kyle Busch could have another one of his weekend sweeps if the statistics are to be believed on his career in the Truck Series at Charlotte. In seven starts, Busch has four wins, five top fives, six top tens, two poles, 335 laps led, and an average finish of 3.6. Multi-time Truck Series champion, Ron Hornaday, falls in behind Busch with two wins, six top fives, six top tens, 170 laps led, and an average finish of 6.8 in eight starts. Others to keep an eye on include: Jeb Burton, making his second Charlotte start after finishing in the top ten in his first start last year; Justin Lofton, who has one win, one top five, one top ten, 44 laps led, and an average finish of 9.7 in three starts; and Matt Crafton, who won the last race in the Truck Series before this weekend and has an average finish of 9.8 and one win in 10 starts.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Bojangles’ Southern 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Bojangles’ Southern 500

    On what has become a Mother’s day weekend tradition at the historic Darlington Raceway, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 64th annual Bojangles’ Southern 500.

    Surprising:  While bad news often comes in threes, Matt Kenseth had the opposite experience, with only good news in threes for this Joe Gibbs Racing team member. Kenseth scored his third Sprint Cup win of the season and advanced one spot to third in the point standings.

    Not only was it a stellar evening for JGR with Kenseth in Victory Lane, but teammate Denny Hamlin gutted out a surprisingly good full-race performance after returning from his back injury. Hamlin finished in the runner up position, scoring his seventh top-10 at Darlington and his second top-10 finish for the season.

    “I think our whole team, we’ve just got a great team from top to bottom,” J.D. Gibbs, President of Joe Gibbs Racing, said. “Gosh, I couldn’t feel much better about our year so far.”

    Not Surprising:  For the other member of the Joe Gibbs Race team, however, three times was nowhere near a charm. JGR driver Kyle Busch, who was the dominant driver all evening long, in fact leading 265 laps, tussled with competitor Kasey Kahne for the third time this season to finish a disappointing sixth in the race.

    “He’s pretty tore up that they’re racing hard and Kasey Kahne tore up another car,” Dave Rogers, crew chief of the No. 18 Doublemint Toyota, said. “This is the third time we’ve been involved in an incident with Kasey and all of us over here have a ton of respect for that program.”

    “Well, he needs to quit,” Kasey Kahne, recipient of the three incidents with Busch, said simply. “Three times this year. I mean he’s got to just race me.”

    Surprising:  While enjoying a much celebrated 700th career start, Jeff Gordon, at the tender age of 41 years, also managed to set yet another record. Gordon posted his 300th top-five finish, becoming only the fourth driver to accomplish this feat, along with NASCAR legends David Pearson, Bobby Allison and Richard Petty.

    “Well, we all wanted this 700th start to be a memorable one,” the driver of the No. 24 Cromax Pro Chevrolet said. “I’m very proud of this.”

    Not Surprising:  As so often happens, David Ragan experienced the highs and lows of the sport, from his previous week’s win at Talladega to overheating and struggling to finish 39th at Darlington at this weekend’s race.

    “Yeah, that’s how it goes sometimes,” the driver of the No. 34 Peanut Patch Boiled Peanuts Ford said. “That’s a character-building weekend for sure.”

    “You’ve just got to work hard and stay focused and keep the right attitude.”

    Surprising:  In spite of decent race finishes for two of the Roush Fenway drivers, with Carl Edwards taking the checkered flag in seventh and Greg Biffle in 13th, both expressed the feeling that they are lacking something so far this season.

    “We struggled a lot and ended coming back to seventh so I’m proud of our effort,” Edwards, behind the wheel of the No. 99 Geek Squad Ford, said. “But we’re just missing something.”

    “It’s a little disappointing,” Biffle, driver of the No. 16 Meguiar’s Ford, said. “We still don’t have the grip that we need.”

    “We’re missing it ever since the season started with this car.”

    Not Surprising:   All good things must come to an end and so it was not surprising that Aric Almirola’s streak of top-tens came crashing down at Darlington. The driver of the No. 43 Smithfield Ford finished 20th at the track ‘Too Tough to Tame.’

    “That’s not the result we wanted at all,” Almirola said. “We fought hard, but just weren’t quite good enough.”

    “That was a tough night.”

    Surprising:  The struggles of Tony Stewart surprisingly continued at Darlington and the trip to Victory Lane that he so badly wanted at a track where he had never won eluded the former champion yet again.

    Stewart was poised to get a good finish, in fact starting eighth on a restart with under 60 laps to go. But the Lady reached out and grabbed the driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, putting that old Darlington stripe right down the side of his race car.

    Stewart finished a disappointing 15th when the checkered flag finally flew.

    “Darlington is such a tough track to get a handle on,” Stewart said. “You don’t see a lot of guys who have a lot of success there.”

    Not Surprising:  In spite of scoring a pole run, with a track record to boot, and a record number of laps led for his team, Kurt Busch still did not get the finish he wanted at Darlington.

    The driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Serta Chevrolet ran strong all night but slipped at the end after getting hit by the No. 13 of Casey Mears. Busch finished 14th in the Bojangles’ Southern 500.

    “We could not keep up with the changing conditions of the track,” Busch said. “We made a number of chassis and air pressure adjustments but couldn’t get the car hooked up.”

    “We let it slip away and that’s disappointing,” Busch continued. “But we won the pole, led laps, ran up front for a good portion of the race and came away with a respectable finish.”

    Surprising:  Penske Racing had a surprisingly bad day, especially for reigning champ Brad Keselowski, who had never finished outside the top 15 in his four starts at Darlington. The driver of the Blue Deuce was caught up in an accident and finished 32nd.

    While teammate Joey Logano has had an admittedly up and down relationship with the track, with two top-10 finishes and two finishes outside the top-25, he struggled as well. The driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford finished in the same position as his car number, 22nd.

    Not Surprising:  Although the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Emerald Green Chevrolet admitted that the track is tough, his love affair with Darlington continued, especially after scoring another top-five finish. Johnson now leads the point standings by more than a full race worth.

    “It was just a great 500 miles here at Darlington,” Jimmie Johnson said. “I love this place.”

    “I wish we could race here three or four times a year.”

    Surprising:  It was a bit surprising that there were just enough cars at Darlington for a full 43 car field. For the first time in quite a long time, no one was sent home unhappy after qualifying for this Southern 500.

    Not Surprising:  Juan Pablo Montoya’s focus on execution continued at the ‘Lady in Black’. He and his No. 42 Target Chevrolet team had a great run, finishing eighth.

    “Well, we didn’t unload as good as we wanted, but we got it really good,” Montoya said. “I keep telling the guys we have got to execute.”

    “If every person here does their best, we are going to be looking like heroes here.”

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Darlington

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Darlington

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson finished fourth in the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington, posting his sixth top 5 of the year and increasing his points lead. He now leads Carl Edwards by 44.

    “I’ve finished outside of the top 12 only once this year,” Johnson said. “That’s the type of consistency you won’t find anywhere, especially not in the NASCAR rule book.

    “I invite NASCAR to give my car the once-over. I have nothing to hide, and neither does Chad Knaus, save for his receding hairline. The measure of a driver shouldn’t be made in millimeters or grams, but in Cup championships. That makes me the ‘heavy.’”

    2. Carl Edwards: Edwards took seventh in Darlington, scoring his seventh top-10 result of the season. He trails Jimmie Johnson by 44 in the Sprint Cup point standings.

    “It was a heck of a week for Kenseth,” Edwards said. “He was two for two—he beat the field and the system.”

    3. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt finished ninth in the Southern 500 in a race dominated by the Toyotas of Joe Gibbs Racing. Earnhardt now holds the fourth spot in the point standings, trailing Jimmie Johnson by 64.

    “Gibbs cars claimed the 1, 2, and 6 spots,” Earnhardt said. “Unfortunately for them, it’s in the inspection line. Inspecting a JGR engine is a lot like taking a walk through the camping area of Junior Nation—there’s no telling what you’ll find, but chances are, it’s illegal.”

    4. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth took the lead from Kyle Busch with 13 laps to go and sailed to the win in the Southern 500, his first win at Darlington. His third win of the year boosted him to third in the point standings, 59 out of first.

    “Hopefully,” Kenseth said, “Busch isn’t the only thing I’ll ‘pass’ this week.

    “Recent history suggests I should possibly delay in celebrating this victory. I think we all, inspectors included, know that’s a ‘proper wait.’”

    5. Kyle Busch: Busch led a race-high 265 laps at Darlington, but faltered over the final ten laps due to a leaking rear tire and finished sixth. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin finished first and second, respectively.

    “Nothing takes the air out of sails like the air out of your tires,” Busch said. “That tire snatched the win right out from under me. I guess you would call it ‘burn’ rubber.”

    “My brother Kurt just completed his rookie test for the Indianapolis 500, thus giving him a license to compete in the 500. I say that’s unfair. When I went over 200 miles per hour in a borrowed car, I had my license taken.”

    6. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer finished 11th at Darlington, joining Michael Waltrip Racing teammate Martin Truex, Jr. in the top 12. Bowyer is now fifth in the point standings, 74 out of first.

    “They call Darlington Raceway the ‘Lady In Black,’” Bowyer said. “According to David Gilliland, that wasn’t the only female at the track. There was one he called the ‘Bitch In Green.’”

    7. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished nine laps down in 32nd at Darlington, two weeks after an equally-disappointing 33rd at Richmond. The defending Sprint Cup champion is sixth in the point standings, 97 behind Jimmie Johnson.

    “Johnson has enough Cups to fill a trophy case,” Keselowski said. “I have enough to fill a jock strap.

    “After winning the Cup last year, I haven’t done much this season. I guess that’s why you haven’t heard a peep, nor a tweet, from me.”

    8. Denny Hamlin: In his first full race since injuring his back at California, Hamlin finished second in the Southern 500 as Joe Gibbs teammate Matt Kenseth won.

    “I needed medical clearance before I could race,” Hamlin said. “And I got it. Here at Gibbs Racing, we like to say I ‘passed inspection.’”

    9. Kasey Kahne: While challenging Kyle Busch for the lead with 33 laps to go, Kahne’s No. 5 Time Warner Cable Chevy got loose and slammed the wall. Kahne eventually finished 17th and is now sixth in the point standings, 97 out of first.

    “Including Daytona and Talladega,” Kahne said, “that’s the third time this year Kyle and I have made contact that resulted in a wreck. I’m not happy. Kyle’s ‘razing Kahne,’ so I’ll ‘give ‘im hell.’”

    10. Kevin Harvick: One week after a 40th at Talladega, Harvick rebounded with a fifth in the Bojangles’ Southern 500. It was only Harvick’s second top-5 finish of the year.

    “Toyotas have won six races this year,” Harvick said. “I’ve won one, and it was called the ‘Toyota Owners 400.’ That’s called ‘irony,’ and it also applies to a Japanese automaker dominating an American sport. To the head honchos at NASCAR, that’s got to be ‘dis-Orient-ing.’”

  • Matty’s Picks 2013 – Vol. 8 Darlington Raceway – Bojangles’ Southern 500 – May 11, 2013

    Matty’s Picks 2013 – Vol. 8 Darlington Raceway – Bojangles’ Southern 500 – May 11, 2013

    Darlington Raceway needs no introduction this week. Its the 64th annual Bojangles’ Southern 500 and there’s a reason why the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has continued to come back to the track Too Tough To Tame year after year. It’s NASCAR’s oldest paved superspeedway, and over the years has become one of my favorite stops on the series. There’s something about the history, the heritage, and the excitement about the racing at Darlington that keeps me glued to the broadcast and puts Darlington on my bucket list.

    Talladega Recap

    Last weekend’s chaos at Talladega left me in rough shape, but the good news for me is that nobody saw David Ragan soaring to Victory Lane either. Scoring an unlikely win on the last lap of last week’s Aaron’s 499 with help from his teammate David Gilliland, was a shot in the arm for both David Ragan, Front Row Motorsports, and all the under-funded teams in the sport. It was a major confidence booster in the garage for teams not normally in the spotlight, being that the entire race was dominated by the big guns like Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson. It was a “David takes down Goliath” last week at Talladega, but don’t expect the same this week at Darlington.

    As for my picks last week, I went with defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion, Brad Kesolowski to win last week. Bad Brad made it through the mayhem of each of the big wrecks, but unfortunately had no help for a charge to the front following the rain delay and wound up finishing 15th.

    As for my Dark Horse, Danica Patrick, a late race accident on lap 182 ended her long day of drafting. She missed a big accident early and waited out the three-hour rain only to be caught up in a late race crash on the backstretch when several cars began crashing in front of her. The incident put her out of the race, finishing in 33rd.

    Darlington Picks

    Winner Pick
    On Wednesday while previewing tonight’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 with Greg Depalma on the Prime Sports Network, I picked Kasey Kahne to win, before the cars even hit the track in South Carolina. It’s a pick I still like after Kahne showed decent speed in practice and qualified the No.5 Time Warner Cable Chevrolet in the fourth starting spot. He enters Saturday Night’s race coming off consecutive top 10’s at Darlington Raceway, leading laps in 3 of the last 4 at The Lady In Black. Flashback to 2011, Kahne dominated the Southern 500 in his No.4 Red Bull Toyota, leading a race-high 124 laps, but a late race incident involving oil dropped on the track, collected a slue of solid race cars including Kahne. NASCAR failed to throw a caution, despite many drivers reporting oil on the track, a call that was looked at as controversial in many drivers eyes. Kahne has completed all but one lap in his 10 races at Darlington, and he’s put himself in position to pick up his first win at the historic track through a solid qualifying run on Friday.

    Dark Horse Pick
    On Wednesday, I liked Ryan Newman’s chances at The Lady In Black, but throughout the weekend we haven’t seen much speed out of the No.39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet. I thought he was the guy to look at who has flown under the radar with solid finishes at Darlington, including 6 top 10’s in the last 8 races at Darlington. He traditionally has qualified very well in South Carolina, notching one pole and starting outside the top 12 just twice in 14 starts. He’s got some work to do if he’s to end up in Victory Lane, but needs a solid finish for not only his Chase hopes, but to keep Stewart-Haas racing on the radar as a major player in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

    That’s all for this week, so until we head to Charlotte and All-Star Weekend, You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

  • Kurt Busch Wins the Pole for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 and Sets a Track Record at Darlington Raceway

    Kurt Busch Wins the Pole for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 and Sets a Track Record at Darlington Raceway

    Kurt Busch won the Coors Light Pole Award with a qualifying lap of 181.918 mph. His time set the track record previously held by Kasey Kahne in 2011 with a lap speed of 181.254. It is his 16th pole in 446 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

    This is Busch’s second pole in 17 years at Darlington Raceway. In September 2001 he won the pole and became the youngest pole winner at the legendary track. He was 23 years and 29 days old at the time.

    Jimmie Johnson qualified second giving him his seventh top-10 start in 2013. In 15 races at Darlington Raceway, Johnson has scored eight top-10 starts. That number includes his 2012 win which gave Hendrick Motorsports its 200th NASCAR Sprint Cup victory.

    Kyle Busch will begin the race from the third position. This is Busch’s fourth top-10 start at Darlington Raceway and his eighth top-10 start this season.

    Kasey Kahne and Martin Truex Jr. will start the race in positions four and five, respectively. Denny Hamlin qualified in sixth place and will compete in his first full race since March.

    Please visit nascar.com for the complete starting line-up. http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/standings/results/2013/bojangles-southern-500.html

    NASCAR pre-race action starts at 6 p.m. on Fox for the 64th annual Bojangles’ Southern 500 on Saturday, May 11th. The green flag is scheduled to drop at approximately 7 p.m. The drivers will once again race under the lights for 501.3 miles (367 laps) to determine who will tame the ‘Lady in Black.’

  • Crunching The Numbers: Darlington

    Crunching The Numbers: Darlington

    With a weekend full of rain delays, wild wrecks, close finishes, and underdog winners at Talladega Superspeedway behind them, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series head to Darlington Raceway, NASCAR’s first superspeedway, for some night racing on Mother’s Day weekend at the track that is “Too Tough To Tame”.

    Sprint Cup Series

    Saturday night’s 64th Annual Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington, which has become a staple of Mother’s Day weekend in recent years, is one of the toughest races of the year in large part to the egg shaped nature of the track that gives crew chiefs fits when trying to perfect the setup of the car and the inevitable “Darlington Stripe” that drivers are sure to get during the duration of the event. The new Gen6 car will also make its Darlington debut this weekend and 500 miles on Saturday will tell the tale if early season success with the car will lead to Victory Lane or if we’ll see a new winner take the checkered flag.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Denny Hamlin 7 1 3 6 0 354 10.7 5.9
    Jimmie Johnson 14 3 7 10 0 543 12.5 9.1
    Brad Keselowski 4 0 1 2 0 0 16.2 9.2
    Martin Truex, Jr. 7 0 1 3 0 98 24.3 11.3
    Tony Stewart 20 0 4 11 0 20 17.1 11.8
    Jeff Gordon 32 7 18 21 3 1720 6.7 11.8
    Jeff Burton 30 2 8 16 0 817 20.7 12.3
    Mark Martin 46 2 17 26 2 801 13.3 12.4
    Ryan Newman 14 0 7 9 1 325 7.9 12.4
    Carl Edwards 9 0 3 6 0 94 15.8 13.1

    Who To Watch: This weekend, Denny Hamlin is scheduled to make a full time return to racing after getting out early at Talladega last weekend. Hamlin couldn’t have picked a better track to make his return at than Darlington because Hamlin leads all active drivers with the best average finish of 5.9 in seven starts at the track, along with one win, three top fives, six top tens, and 354 laps led. The next driver, Jimmie Johnson, is a full 3.2 position points behind with an average finish of 9.1 in 14 starts. However, Johnson does have more wins, top fives, top tens, and laps led than Hamlin with three wins, seven top fives, 10 top tens, and 543 laps led. Defending series champion, Brad Keselowski, will also be another to watch with his 9.2 average finish in four starts, which is comprised of one top five and two top tens.

    One last driver to keep an eye on is Jeff Gordon, who is the wins leader among active drivers with seven wins in 32 starts. Gordon also has amassed 18 top fives, 21 top tens, three poles, 1720 laps led and an average finish of 11.8. Gordon will also be making his 700th career Sprint Cup Series start this weekend.

    Nationwide Series

    As has been commonplace for Nationwide and Cup Series companion weekends all season long, several Cup drivers will run the Nationwide race in order to learn information for the Cup race and to go all out to win the trophy and Friday night’s VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200 will be more of the same with the Cup regulars battling it out with the Nationwide regulars for supremacy at Darlington.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Austin Dillon 1 0 1 1 0 0 3.0 5.0
    Joey Logano 2 1 1 1 0 4 4.5 6.5
    Sam Hornish, Jr. 2 0 1 1 0 3 10.0 7.5
    Matt Kenseth 16 3 9 12 0 327 12.4 9.7
    Justin Allgaier 4 0 2 2 0 31 11.0 9.8
    Kasey Kahne 10 0 1 4 0 46 13.7 12.8
    Reed Sorenson 4 0 0 2 0 0 20.5 13.0
    Kyle Busch 8 1 3 4 1 273 5.1 13.5
    Jeff Green 19 1 5 9 1 86 16.1 14.9
    Trevor Bayne 1 0 0 0 0 0 9.0 16.0

    Who To Watch: Heading into his second start at the track, Austin Dillon leads all drivers with the best average finish of 5.0 after his 5th place finish last year and his qualifying run that placed him in 3rd to start the race. Next in line is Joey Logano, with one win, one top five, one top ten, four laps led and an average finish of 6.5 in two starts. Others who should be good at Darlington include: Sam Hornish, Jr., who has one top five, one top ten, three laps led, and an average finish of 7.5 in two starts; Matt Kenseth, with three wins, nine top fives, twelve top tens, 327 laps led, and an average finish of 9.7 in 16 starts; and Justin Allgaier, with two top fives, two top tens, 31 laps led, and an average finish of 9.8 in four starts.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Talladega Aaron’s 499

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Talladega Aaron’s 499

    With a three hour plus rain delay pushing the Aaron’s 499 from day into a Talladega Night, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Alabama 2.66 mile oval.

    Surprising:  While Talladega has seen its share of calamities, the 44th annual race running seemed to be the granddaddy of all mayhem. There was not just one ‘big one’ but two, with sixteen cars involved in the first wreck early in the race and twelve cars in the second ‘big one’ near the end of the race.

    In between the crashes, there was the weather red flag, which lasted three hours, 36 minutes and six seconds, pushing the race to its finish in what some called darkness.

    There were two drivers, however, who experienced the most ‘Dega mayhem. Kurt Busch, driving the No. 78 Furniture Row/Beautyrest Chevrolet, was having a great run until getting clipped by another car as it slipped down the track.

    This sent Busch airborne and rolling over and over to eventually land smack dab on top of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet of Ryan Newman.

    “We just got hit from behind and along for the ride we went,” Busch said. “It’s Talladega, what can I say.”

    “That’s no way to end a race,” Newman said. “You got what you wanted but that’s just poor judgment restarting the race, running in the dark and running in the rain.”

    Not Surprising:  While ‘Dega may have been filled with mayhem for many drivers, it was a dream come true and the luckiest track ever for two Ford drivers, who both just happened to be named David.

    For David Ragan, winning his first race at Talladega and scoring the first ever victory for his team Front Row Motorsports, Talladega was indeed a dream come true.

    “I always knew in my heart I would get another chance,” Ragan said. “We know we are an underdog but we know ‘Dega is an equalizer.”

    “How sweet to see all those Fords up there for the win,” Ragan continued. “I’m looking at my mirror and I was wondering if I was dreaming.”

    While David Ragan stood in Victory Lane, he would not have been there without the push of his teammate David Gilliland, who himself pronounced Talladega as the luckiest track ever.

    “It was a big day,” the driver of the No. 38 Love’s Travel Stops Ford said. “A lot of it had to do with this little note from my 10-year-old daughter Taylor wishing me good luck.”

    “She wrote that with a little horseshoe on it and put it on my dash before the race,” Gilliland continued. “And she had some horseshoe good luck earrings in too.”

    Surprising:  The race at Talladega was surprisingly nightmarish for one Trevor Bayne, who had once asked if he was dreaming after winning the Daytona 500. The driver of the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford blew up, bringing out the first caution of the race.

    “There was no warning at all,” Bayne said of his engine issue. “I got to turn one and it let go.”

    “I’m surprised the whole field didn’t crash with as much oil that was pouring out of this thing.”

    Not Surprising:  Given the carnage on the race track, it was not surprising that Trevor Bayne was not the only driver watching the remainder of the race from his motor home. In fact, Kasey Kahne, who was involved in the ‘big one’ early on, watched what was left of the race from his couch at home.

    “Btw I’m on the couch at home,” Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Time Warner Cable Chevrolet for Hendrick Motor Sports, tweeted after being knocked early. “This sucks.”

    Kahne finished 42nd and lost three spots in the point standings, falling from the third to the sixth position.

    Surprising:  Demonstrating a new-found maturity, Kyle Busch accepted full responsibility for causing the first ‘big one’ at Talladega.

    “Kind of caused it,” the driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota said. “I really don’t know what happened.”

    “I know I got in the back of the No. 5,” Busch continued. “I hated that I caused a melee for everybody especially early in the race.”

    “I hated that we all got crashed in that deal.”

    Not Surprising:   Restrictor plate racing does indeed make strange bedfellows. There was no better demonstration of this than the ‘friends’ that Denny Hamlin made to enable his successful comeback to the sport after his back injury.

    “It means a lot as a driver to have your peers have your back like that,” Hamlin said of Tony Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya, Michael Waltrip and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., all of whom fell to the back of the pack to help him. “They really sacrificed the first part of the race for me.”

    “I can’t thank them enough.”

    Also, not surprisingly, the driver change between Hamlin and Brian Vickers went perfectly, allowing Hamlin to escape through the roof hatch to the broadcast booth in the Hollywood Hotel while watching his replacement Brian Vickers take the wheel, only to wreck out in the ‘big one.’

    “Everything went seamless and painless,” Hamlin said. “Every week I feel a lot better.”

    Surprising:  Danica Patrick showed some surprisingly skilled evasive moves in avoiding the first wreck and was in good position until the late-race accident on lap 182 ended her day. The driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Stewart Haas Racing finished 33rd.

    “We were watching and we were like, ‘Holy Cow’,”  Tony Gibson, crew chief, said of Danica’s avoidance of the first ‘big one’.  “I don’t know how she missed it.”

    “It’s just unfortunate how it ended up with the late-race crash,” Gibson continued. “But that’s part of restrictor-plate racing.”

    Not Surprising:  With a rain delay of the magnitude at Talladega, it was not surprising that several drivers and cars had issues attempting to go back racing. Juan Pablo Montoya could not get his No. 42 Clorox Chevrolet re-started after the rain delay and ended up behind the wall before returning to the track for a 25th place finish.

    Joey Logano was right there with JPM struggling to restart after the rain delay, however, his problem was more serious and ultimately fatal. The No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford had some sort of engine issue that led to his 35th place finish.

    “We’re not sure what happened,” Logano said. “We’re thinking maybe an air pocket somehow got in the water system, but it doesn’t make sense.”

    “It’s a bummer when you’re sitting third when it is raining and you don’t finish the race.”

    Surprising:  Toyota had a good day at Talladega with occasional Toyota driver and team owner Michael Waltrip surprisingly leading the way. Waltrip was the highest running Toyota  with a fourth place finish, followed by Martin Truex Jr. in seventh and lap-leader Matt Kenseth in eighth.

    “I love being a part of the Toyota family,” the driver of the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine/Alabama National Champ Toyota said. “We had a great run.”

    “I had a ball,” Waltrip continued. “I love being at Talladega and I love racing.”

    Not Surprising:  Jimmie Johnson extended his points lead to 41 over second place Carl Edwards with his fifth place finish at Talladega.

    “It was obviously a very good day for our Lowe’s Chevrolet,” Johnson said. “We had a very fast car and I felt like we were a player all day long, and that’s awesome.”

    Surprising:  Regan Smith, behind the wheel of the No. 51 Hendricks.com Chevrolet, was surprisingly disappointed with his top-ten finish, especially after winning the crash-filled Nationwide race.

    “Well the last few laps I didn’t see much because it was pretty dark,” Smith said. “A little disappointed.”

    “I kept getting stalled out by the cars on the outside.”

    Not Surprising:  Even with the mayhem of restrictor plate racing, Aric Almirola, behind the wheel of the No. 43 Gwaltney Ford, continued his streak of consecutive top-ten finishes. In fact, he will make history for Richard Petty Motorsports at Darlington if he finishes in the top-ten there.

    “We sure are on a roll lately,” Almirola said. “I think we are the only people that aren’t surprised we are seventh in points and have the longest current top-10 streak in the series.”

    “We just need to keep it up and start moving to top-fives and hopefully a win soon.”