Tag: Jimmie Johnson

2012 Sprint All-Star Review: The No. 48 Team Dominates All-Star Week

Sprint Showdown: Dale Jr Back To Victory Lane

AJ Allmendinger put his No. 22 Pennzoil Dodge on the pole; however, as the field was coming out of Turn 4 to take the green-flag, Allmendinger was forced to pit for a flat left front tire. This moved Allmendinger to the back of the field, remaining on the lead lap. Allmendinger’s loss was Dale Earnhardt Jr’s gain. Because of Allmendinger’s misfortune, Earnhardt took over the pole position, with Martin Truex Jr. starting in second. Earnhardt looked like a bullet shot out of a gun when he jumped out to a 1.398 second lead over Truex within three laps of the green-flag.

Earnhardt held onto the lead through the end of the 20-lap segment. While under caution, majority of the teams from third position back went down pit road for adjustments. Earnhardt remained on track to hold onto the lead for the restart and once again jumped ahead of the field by half a straight away. After starting in the back of the field, Jamie McMurray stayed on track during this caution to pick up the second position.

[media-credit name=”Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Allmendinger and Truex battled aggressively for third position for nearly 10 laps, with Allmendinger finally taking the position with 12 laps to go. Allmendinger then caught McMurray with 10 laps to go, battling for the position to advance to the All-Star race. This battle continued in the final ten laps – all the while, Dale Jr. held onto a two second lead.

With a lap and a half to go, McMurray got loose coming off the backstretch which allowed Allmendinger to get under his bumper and make an aggressive pass on him. Earnhardt went on to win the Sprint Showdown, with Allmendinger getting the second place transfer spot. “I got to give most of the credit of our performance to the team”, Earnhardt said. “They put a great car out on the line today that was fast right out the gate.”

Earnhardt was assumed by many to win the fan vote. With Earnhardt winning the showdown race, this opened up the fan vote to Bobby Labonte. “Actually, the story is two weeks ago we weren’t even going to show up here because this is not in our budget to run this race”, Labonte said. “Guys stepped up, so we got this far. Hopefully we can just keep going. Again, just thank the fans for doing that. That’s really a great deal.”

Sprint All-Star Race: Johnson Steals All-Star Victory

Kyle “Rowdy” Busch started on the pole for the race, with Ryan “Rocket Man” Newman on the outside pole. Jimmie Johnson showed he had a fast car right off the bat, taking over the lead on Lap 16. After the first segment ended, pit stops and strategy began to play out. Jimmie Johnson pitted twice under this caution; while seven other drivers, including Earnhardt and Denny Hamlin, did not make a pit stop. Hamlin restarted the race in first position, with a fast Earnhardt restarting in 6th position.

Caution waved on Lap 26 when Carl Edwards’ engine expired. The race restarted on Lap 31 with Hamlin and Marcos Ambrose, who did not pit, leading the field. Just one lap later, Kenseth wasted no time taking over the second position from Ambrose. On the same lap, Earnhardt began to put pressure on Ambrose for third position. Kenseth took over the lead just before the end of the second segment, with Earnhardt taking over third.

Seven drivers stayed out under caution, allowing Keselowski, Kasey Kahne, and Kevin Harvick to take over the top three positions. Right at the start-finish line, Kahne tried his best to steal the lead from Keselowski, but was about an inch shy of taking it.

Beginning the fourth segment, Kurt Busch took over the lead of the race after staying on track under caution. It only took Earnhardt, who restarted in second, two laps to take over the lead. Running on old tires, Busch dropped back to fourth position, as Allmendinger and Kahne took over the second and third positions.

Caution waved on Lap 68 when the second Roush Fenway Ford of Greg Biffle, lost an engine. With 16 to go on the restart, Earnhardt took over the lead once again and jumped out to a hefty lead. As the final segment came to a close, the 10-lap shootout began. Johnson led the field off pit road, with Kenseth, Keselowski, and Earnhardt following. In the same week that his No. 48 Lowes team won the pit crew challenge, Johnson took his Lowes Chevrolet to victory lane in the All-Star race for the third time in his career. This win has tied Johnson for most All-Star victories with Dale Earnhardt and his teammate, Jeff Gordon.

[media-credit name=”Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”342″][/media-credit]At the end of the race, instead of driving the flag around the track in victory, Johnson took his car owner for a victory lap. Rick Hendrick was at the end of pit road and told Johnson to come pick him up. Once Hendrick put his leg inside the car, he was in for a ride. Rather than driving his owner to victory lane, Johnson took his car owner for a little joy ride around the tri-oval. Rick waved to the fans around the track in a humorous manner. Johnson won a total of $1,071,340 with his All-Star win.

Race Results : Sprint All-Star Race
Sprint All-Star Race – May 19, 2012 – Exhibition

Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time	Bnd
1	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	0	90	Running
2	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	0	90	Running
3	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	0	90	Running
4	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	0	90	Running
5	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	0	90	Running
6	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	0	90	Running
7	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	0	90	Running
8	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	0	90	Running
9	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	0	90	Running
10	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	0	90	Running
11	22	AJ Allmendinger	Dodge	0	90	Running
12	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	0	90	Running
13	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	0	90	Running
14	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	0	90	Running
15	21	Trevor Bayne	Ford	0	90	Running
16	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	0	90	Running
17	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	0	90	Running
18	34	David Ragan	Ford	0	90	Running
19	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	0	90	Running
20	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	0	90	Running
21	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	0	90	Running
22	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	0	67	Out of Race
23	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	0	25	Out of Race

May 20, 2012

Matty’s Picks 2012 – Vol. 12 Charlotte Motor Speedway – NASCAR Sprint All Star Race – May 19, 2012

[media-credit name=”charlottemotorspeedway.com” align=”alignright” width=”199″][/media-credit]The stars have come home to Charlotte for this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint All Star Race, and this year brings new drivers, a new format, but the same old distinction. A million dollars rides on the driver able to cross the finish line first following 90 or so laps at The Beast of the Southeast. Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint All Star Race will be run in 4-20 lap segments, with the four segment-winners staging at the front of the field for the final 10-lap shootout to the wire for the cool million. 90 or more laps will make up the All Star race this year, as only green flag laps count in the final 10-lap shootout.

Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers in NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race wins, with three under his belt already. Carl Edwards made his mark on Charlotte Motor Speedway last season when he practically ripped the front end of his Ford Fusion off from the rest of the car, following his turn through the front-stretch grass in celebration of his first NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race win.

Some big names still need to race (or be voted) into the big dance on Saturday Night, namely Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex Jr., Jeff Burton, and Jamie McMurray. The way to earn a ticket to the big dance – finish in the top two of the Sprint Showdown is a surefire way, the other – be at the top of the Sprint Fan Vote. Much like Friday and Saturday night home-track races, there’s an A-main and a B-main tonight in Concord. The Sprint Showdown will be ran in two segments of 20 laps each, with the top two finishers moving onto tonight’s A-main.
With the absence of NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship points comes an extreme level of action and daring driving. Settling for second is never a thought in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star race, making it one of my favorite race weekends of the entire Sprint Cup season.

Darlington Recap

The Lady in Black tamed my recent hot streak of winner picks last week, a result of the toughness Darlington Raceway brings to the sport.

I picked last week’s pole-sitter, Greg Biffle to win the Bojangles’ Southern 500, a move that looked fairly promising for 74 or so laps last Saturday Night. Biffle’s car seemed to go away as the laps ticked away, battling loose conditions through the latter of the laps at Darlington. He ran in the top-10 for the majority of the race, but the late-race caution set the field up for a green-white-checkered finsh. Biffle restarted 10th, but his 3M Ford Fusion was too much of a handful to muscle into the top-10, ultimately crossing the finish line in 12th.

My Dark Horse last week qualified for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 in the sixth spot, and ended the race one spot better in fifth. Martin Truex Jr. also battled a loose condition throughout the duration of the race and ran as high as first, but only faltered back to 11th last week. He lead a season high 25 laps and managed to hold his 5th place spot in the championship points standings.

All-Star Picks

There is so much to pick for tonight’s All-Star festivities, so I will try to keep my picks short and sweet this week…

Sprint Showdown

Kicking off tonight’s on-track activities is the B-main or LCQ (if you’re used to motorcycle racing), otherwise known as the Sprint Showdown. The Showdown is packed with guys eager to have a shot at racing for the cool million, but its Martin Truex Jr. and Jeff Burton that will punch their tickets to the big dance by racing their way into the A-main. Both will start in the top-5 for the Showdown and practiced well on Friday.

Fan Vote

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will not race his way into the Sprint All-Star race, but will have a shot at the million via JR Nation. The will vote in droves following his third-place effort in the Sprint Showdown, but JR will start last on the grid for the NASCAR All-Star Race by receiving the 2012 fan vote for the second straight year.

NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race
Here’s the segment winners first:
1- Kyle Busch
2- Jimmie Johnson
3- Jeff Gordon
4 – Tony Stewart

Starting in the top-4 spots of the 10-lap shootout for tonight’s million-dollar purse will be one Toyota and three Chevrolets. In the end, it will be Stewart claiming victory in the All-Star race. He was at Thursday night’s Pit Crew Challenge, and was disappointed when his Stewart-Haas Racing crew was knocked out of the competition in the semi-finals. The defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion is out for revenge tonight and will go home a million dollars richer when the checkered falls.

That’s all for this week, so until next week’s Monaco Grand Prix, Indy 500, and Coke 600…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

May 19, 2012
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Darlington

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished sixth at Darlington, posting his seventh top 10 of the year. He is second in the Sprint Cup point standings, and now trails leader Greg Biffle by two points.

“Once again,” Kenseth said, “the cowardly actions of Kurt Busch have overshadowed an exciting and historic night at Darlington. Bojangles picked the right race to sponsor. They’re a lot like Kurt Busch—they both specialize in ‘chicken.’”

2. Greg Biffle: Biffle started on the pole at Darlington, and dominated the first third of the race before handling issues arose due to changing track conditions. He maintained the lead in the points position and leads Matt Kenseth by two.

“I’ve held the points lead for a long time,” Biffle said. “And I plan on battling to keep it. Say what you will about me, but don’t compare me to Kurt Busch, because I won’t go down without a fight.”

3. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin led 56 laps in the Southern 500, and sped by Tony Stewart on the final restart to claim the runner-up spot to Jimmie Johnson. Hamlin held on to fourth in the point standings and is 17 behind Greg Biffle.

“I had my firesuit signed by the great Cale Yarborough,” Hamlin said. “Now I can say I’m just like Jimmie Johnson: I’ve got the name of a Sprint Cup champion on my suit.”

4. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson led a race-high 134 laps in the Southern 500 and controlled the final third of the race. After speeding away on the final restart, Johnson had his first win of the season, as well as Hendrick Motorsports’ 200^th win.

“In addition to giving Rick Hendrick his 200^th win,” Johnson said, “I also broke a 16-race winless streak with the victory. That’s called ‘killing two birds with one stone.’ This year, it seems I’m the only driver at Hendrick capable of ‘throwing’ a stone.”

5. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt finished 17^th at Darlington, his first finish outside the top 10 in seven races. He remained third in the Sprint Cup point standings, 14 out of first.

“Congratulations to all at Hendrick Motorsports on their 200^th win,” Earnhardt said. “I can call myself part of a winning team for the first time in years.”

6. Tony Stewart: Stewart battled back from clutch troubles to compete for the win at Darlington. But a sub par restart on the green-white-checkered finished relegated him to a solid third-place finish. He is seventh in the point standings, 42 out of first.

“Indeed,” Stewart said, “we had serious clutch problems. That pales in comparison to the plight of Carl Edwards. He experienced ‘clutch’ problems in all ten races of the Chase last year.

“I hear the teams of Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch had to be separated after the race. If I were feuding with Busch, everyone knows the only things needing separation would be my hand and Kurt’s face.”

7. Martin Truex, Jr.: After struggling at Richmond and Talladega, Truex rebounded with a fifth in the Bojangles’ Southern 500, posting his fourth top-5 result of the year. He is tied for fifth in the point standings, 39 out of first.

“Michael Waltrip said Darlington Raceway is probably the most intimidating track on the NASCAR circuit,” Truex said. “But hearing that said in Waltrip’s silky, effeminate voice quelled my trepidations. Michael puts the ‘lady’ in ‘Lady In Black.’

“’The Lady In Black’ wasn’t the only lady in Darlington. Danica Patrick was there. She’s ‘The Lady In Red,’ after finishing six laps in the hole.”

8. Kyle Busch: Busch recorded his third consecutive top-4 finish, posting a fourth at Darlington. After a slow start to the season, Busch is up to ninth in the point standings, where he trails Greg Biffle by 62.

“I may be the hottest driver in NASCAR right now,” Busch said, “but I doubt anyone’s aware of that. I know it seems impossible, but a Busch brother can do something quietly.

“My older and less-wiser brother Kurt was involved in a confrontation with Ryan Newman’s team after Kurt spun his tires through Newman’s pit stall.

Newman attributed Kurt’s actions to a ‘chemical imbalance.’ That’s an astute observation. Kurt often loses his balance, often after being slapped in the face.”

9. Carl Edwards: Edwards finished seventh in the Southern 500, earning his seventh top-10 result of the year. He is now 10^th in the point standings, 74 out of first.

“Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth are 1-2 in the point standings,” Edwards said, “while good old Cousin Carl well behind in seventh. I guess that makes me a ‘distant’ cousin.”

10. Kevin Harvick: Harvick was not a factor at Darlington, finishing 16^th in the Bojangles’ Southern 500. Harvick has only two top 10’s in the last five races, and hasn’t won since September of 2011.

“I don’t know who’s more ‘due,’” Harvick said. “Me or my wife. I just know I bitch less about it.

“In any case, Darlington is one tough track. Not only is it hard to drive there, it’s near impossible to get your hands on a Busch brother there as well. Whether they finish the race or not, the Kyle and Kurt are always classified in the race results as ‘running.’”

May 15, 2012
Surprising and Not Surprising: Darlington Bojangles Southern 500

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”224″][/media-credit]With the NASCAR moms getting the race started with the command, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 63^rd annual Bojangles’ Southern 500.

Surprising: Only one of three women to compete at historic Darlington, Danica Patrick achieved her goal of finishing the race.

And although the driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet finished 31^st, she surprisingly finished better than at least one veteran driver, Jeff Gordon, whose bad luck, this time tire trouble and mechanical failure, continued to plague him yet again.

“I know I didn’t have a great result, but I accomplished all the things I wanted to accomplish,” Patrick said. “My goals were to be respectable out there and I think I held my own all right.”

“I earned my stripes anyway.”

Not Surprising: As he took in the moment of celebrating his 200^th win with his driver Jimmie Johnson, it was no surprise that Mr. Hendrick twice paid tribute to those that were lost in the plane crash and who helped build the team to have achieved that milestone.

“I had to get away,” Hendrick said. “They said that we were going to make it (on fuel), but I don’t believe them, you know?”

“I’m kind of numb, but I’m glad it’s over,” Hendrick continued. “I think we’re going to win a few more now.”

In fact, Hendrick whispered that plan to the driver of the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet in Victory Lane as he bear hugged him several times.

“You’ve got to love that man,” Johnson said of his boss Mr. H. “He said,’ Two hundred is great, but let’s go get 250.’ So, that tells you where his head is.”

“Oh, man, what a day,” Johnson said simply.

The 200^th victory for Hendrick Motorsports makes them only the second team, next to Petty Enterprises with 268 wins, to accomplish such a milestone.

Surprising: It was certainly surprising to see so few cautions at the beginning of the race on a track whose moniker is ‘Too Tough to Tame.’

In fact, the yellow flag did not fly for the first 172 laps in Bojangles’ Southern 500, allowing the drivers to make three green-flag pit stop cycles in that run.

Not Surprising: As is so often the case, it was not surprising that the last caution, late in the race to set up the green-white-checkered finish, set off some sparks.

The melee started when Kurt Busch, behind the wheel of the underfunded No. 51 Phoenix Construction Services Chevrolet hit the wall, which caused Ryan Newman, in the No. 39 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet, to not only check up but get turned into the wall by Aric Almirola, in his No. 43 Verifone Sail Ford.

After the race, Newman and Busch had a confrontation, as did some of their crew members. But all was resolved, especially after intervention by the NASCAR officials.

“It’s crazy,” Tony Gibson, Newman’s crew chief, said. “Things happen and everybody’s emotions run high.”

“It’s a hot night,” Gibson continued. “Everybody settled down and talked about it. We’re all good.”

Newman put it more simply, “It all went bad there at the end.”

Surprising: The Dodge team had a surprisingly rough night at the historic track, with both drivers encountering their own struggles. Brad Keselowski, in the Blue Deuce, battled back to score a 15^th place finish, while A.J. Allmendinger, in the battered No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge, finished 33^rd.

“I think we had a top-15 Dodge; I just tore it up early in the run,” Keselowski said. “I got loose and hit the wall pretty good.”

“We just struggled all night going from one extreme to the other, from so tight to just wicked loose,” Allmendinger said. “We could never find a happy medium.”

“The car was just a handful all night.”

Not Surprising: The Toyota drivers had a surprisingly good evening with the ‘Lady in Black’, especially since the majority of them scored in the top-10 finishing order. Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota, finished second to earn the status of highest-finishing Toyota driver.

Kyle Busch, in the No. 18 Wrigley’s Doublemint Toyota, finished fourth with Martin Truex, Jr., in the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, in fifth. The driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota, Joey Logano, rounded out the top-ten for the manufacturer.

“It was a good day for our Sport Clips Toyota,” Hamlin said. “We just didn’t have quite the winning car today.”

“We wanted to win the Southern 500, but second isn’t too bad.”

Surprising: Tony Stewart, reigning Champion, surprisingly still has not tamed that Darlington track, which is one of two where Smoke has not won. The driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet came close, however, scoring a hard-fought third place finish, his best ever at the storied 1.366 mile oval.

As with several drivers, Stewart battled fuel mileage at the end. But he had the added complexity of a clutch problem as well, making re-starts a challenge.

“I broke the clutch with about 85 (laps) to go there,” Stewart said. “And the fuel pressure light was blinking when we got the one-to-go signal.”

“We just got better as the night went on,” Smoke continued. “We weren’t good enough to win the race but I’m still pretty happy to come out of here with a third tonight.”

Not Surprising: The Fords ran steady and consistent at Darlington, to no one’s surprise especially with the Ford of Greg Biffle scoring the pole for the evening. Matt Kenseth’s No. 17 Zestfully Clean Ford, finished sixth, with Carl Edwards, in the No. 99 EcoBoost Ford, finishing 7^th.

Marcos Ambrose, in his No. 9 DeWalt Ford, overcame adversity and damage to finish 9^th and pole sitter Biffle brought his No. 16 Ford to the checkered flag in the 12^th spot.

Although the good run of team Blue Oval is not surprising, Marcos Ambrose’ post-race comments were most surprising. When asked where he came from after being two laps down to finish top-ten, the Aussie said, “I came from Mars.”

“At Lap 200, I was about ready to hang myself and by Lap 260, I was ready to go to the front and show the boys what I had.”

“I re-entered orbit around Lap 260 and the last 80 laps were a lot of fun.”

“Our team didn’t give up.” Ambrose said. “It was just a good night for us.”

May 13, 2012
Stewart ‘pretty pleased’ with third place after frustrating performance

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”224″][/media-credit]Considering the two have won the last seven NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships, it was only fitting that it came down to the two of them to settle who would take home another one of NASCAR’s prestigious trophies on Saturday night.

The final 15 laps of the Bojangles Southern 500 at Darlington saw a dominant Jimmie Johnson leading but a charging Tony Stewart behind him. On the line for Johnson was his first win of the season, No. 200 for Hendrick Motorsports. On the line for Stewart was his third win of the season but very first at Darlington.

Johnson was able to pull away on the green-white-checkered finish with Stewart falling to third. While he came ever so close again to crossing another track of his winless list, Stewart wasn’t about to complain about the finish he and his No. 14 Office Depot / Mobile 1 team had to fight for.

“I was pretty frustrated about halfway through because we just kept fighting the same issues on the respective ends of the track,” said Stewart afterwards. “We just kept fighting loose and couldn’t get it tightened up in one and two and couldn’t do anything. Because we were trying to tighten it up in one and two, we didn’t really have the opportunity to try to free up three and four.

“It’s hard and frustrating when you got two different conditions going on. We basically fought that loose condition in one and two since we unloaded [Friday]. It just kind of was frustrating that we couldn’t find anything and couldn’t hit on it. After the first couple of runs of the race, having two or three chances to take a stab at it didn’t seem like we were making the direction. It was frustrating.

“It’s why we won a championship last year, too. We never give up. Steve [Addington, crew chief] kept me positive. He was calm the whole time. He kept saying, I’ll work on it; I’ll get it fixed. It just kept me calm. Sure enough, we finally got it to do one thing and then we could work on it from there and try to get it the rest of the way.”

Stewart bounced between the top 15 and the top 10 for the first 100 laps. The defending NSCS champions only able to make adjustments on the car during a fast paced race and green flag pit stops.

Finally the first caution flew on lap 172 for debris and soon cautions were flying often. By the races 200-lap mark Stewart had climbed to the top five and started to make his presence known. When the fourth caution flew on lap 298 Stewart pitted with the leaders but had to give up his fifth place position as the team took a look at his clutch and transmission.

It didn’t take long for Stewart to rebound. He quickly climbed back into contention and into Johnson’s rearview mirror for the finish.

“It ended up really good, I was really proud of Steve Addington and all of our crew,” Stewart said, noting how difficult the car was in the first half of the race. “Really proud of Addington. He just kept throwing things at it to try and get a direction. Once he got on what it was like, it got a lot better at the end there. We got both ends at least to do the same thing and we could balance it out from there.

“I broke the clutch with about 85 to go, came into the pits, they jacked it up and looked at it and figured out we could keep going. But we came in because we looked at it, took the option to come back in and top it off with fuel, just basically got the opportunity the next caution. When everybody came in, we got up to eighth, had two really good restarts after that got us up to second.”

Before the restart however, Stewart suffered another scare. He told the team he had only 20 pounds of fuel pressure and he wasn’t sure what to do. Without hesitation he was told to stay on the flat of the racetrack and Stewart was able to tell the team the pressure was building back up.

In the end though he just didn’t have enough for Johnson who drove away on the restart, Hamlin then getting around Stewart for second. The 14 just got too tight when he was behind Johnson and Stewart was hoping Johnson would spin his tires on the restart so he could have a shot at the win.

But the track Too Tough To Tame now has Stewart sitting winless in 20 career attempts and he remains seventh in the NSCS points.

“Coming to the green, we actually lost fuel pressure, with one to go and that’s why we were on the apron trying to get it back to the pickups,” said Stewart. “Got it back, but then lost it again coming off four to the green. Coming down the front straightaway on the restart it kind of laid down a little bit, that dropped us back to third.

“Considering the hurdles of the day, I’m pretty happy with a third-place run.”

May 13, 2012

Jimmie Johnson Wins the Southern 500 and Claims the 200th Victory for Hendrick Motorsports

[media-credit id=9 align=”alignright” width=”199″][/media-credit]Jimmie Johnson held off Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart to take the checkered flag in the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. He also gave Rick Hendrick his long anticipated 200^th win. Hendrick Motorsports is only the second team to accomplish this. The first to do so was Petty Enterprises with 268 wins.

It was Johnson’s 56th victory in 374 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. It was the 14^th victory at Darlington Raceway for the Hendrick Motorsports organization.

The two celebrated in Victory Lane with a hug. After the race Johnson said of Hendrick, “Without a doubt, you got to love that man. He just said ‘Let’s go get 250.’”

Johnson went on to say that he was “very proud of the effort that the whole 48 team put together. My mind goes back to the early days of Hendrick Motorsports, to the people that won the early races, worked on those early cars, helped Rick build Hendrick Motorsports to what it is today.”

“I think of Harry Hyde, Tim Richmond, Geoff Bodine and Kenny Schrader. There’s a lot of people over the years that put a lot of time and effort and commitment into this organization. So I think about all those people and I’m just so happy for Rick. His dedication to this sport and to performance and winning is second to none.”

Rick Hendrick also thanked those who helped him get to this point in his career as a team owner.

“I’m just proud of these guys and the whole organization. You want to thank everybody from Harry Hyde to Tim Richmond and Geoff Bodine, all the guys along the way that won races. You think you’re going to get there but then you think you’re never going to win another one when you get to 199. I’m real proud.”

Johnson also presented Rick Hendrick with a helmet celebrating their 200^th win in the media center after the race. It was signed by the drivers that contributed to this accomplishment. Family members signed for those drivers who are no longer with us.

Denny Hamlin finished the race in second place giving him his sixth top-ten finish in 2012.

When asked to talk about his run, Hamlin pointed to the last pit stop when he slid through his pit box. As a result, they lost several crucial seconds on the stop. It cost him the lead but he said he was “really proud of our effort” and “it’s definitely a good run for our team.”

Tony Stewart was the third place finisher posting his eleventh top-ten finish in 20 races at Darlington Raceway.

He talked about the adjustments during the race that helped his car but revealed that he had broken the clutch with about 85 laps remaining. His crew determined that he could continue with the broken clutch. Then, with one lap to go, he began losing fuel pressure which caused him to get a slow restart.

Stewart said, “Considering the hurdles of the day I’m pretty happy with a third place run.”

Kyle Busch finished in fourth place and Martin Truex Jr. finished in fifth.

The top five in the points standings after the finish of the Bojangles’ Southern 500 are Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson.

Unofficial Race Results
Bojangles’ Southern 500, Darlington Raceway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=11
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	2	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	48
2	8	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	43
3	17	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	41
4	5	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	41
5	6	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	40
6	19	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	38
7	7	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	37
8	3	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	37
9	28	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	35
10	21	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	34
11	26	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	33
12	1	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	33
13	14	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	31
14	9	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	30
15	15	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	29
16	23	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	28
17	24	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	28
18	10	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	26
19	13	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	25
20	18	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	24
21	25	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	23
22	31	13	Casey Mears	Ford	22
23	4	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	22
24	27	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	20
25	36	38	David Gilliland	Ford	19
26	20	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	19
27	34	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	17
28	37	34	David Ragan	Ford	16
29	22	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	15
30	42	32	Reed Sorenson	Ford	0
31	38	10	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	0
32	33	173	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	12
33	16	22	AJ Allmendinger	Dodge	11
34	11	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	10
35	12	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	9
36	41	93	David Reutimann	Toyota	8
37	43	249	J.J. Yeley	Toyota	7
38	39	74	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	0
39	32	30	David Stremme	Toyota	5
40	40	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	0
41	35	52	Mike Skinner	Toyota	0
42	29	179	Scott Speed	Ford	2
43	30	26	Josh Wise *	Ford	1

May 13, 2012

Matty’s Picks 2012 – Vol. 11 Darlington Raceway – Bojangles’ Southern 500 – May 12, 2012

[media-credit name=”darlingtonraceway.com” align=”alignright” width=”199″][/media-credit]Tonight we head to NASCAR’s oldest superspeedway. The track “Too Tough to Tame” is the spot for the 63rd running of Bojangles’ Southern 500 tonight on FOX, (live 7 p.m. ET) and when the engines fire tonight, it will be the last time the 43-cars making the start tonight have four straight fenders. The cars that exit the racetrack this weekend will surely go to the same scrap pile as the cars raced at Bristol and Martinsville. With the aging track surface and 43 drivers itching to claim hardware from The Lady in Black, the fenders will connect tonight when the green flag files.

Darlington Raceway dates all the way back to 1950 as NASCAR’s first asphalt oval that measured over a 1/2-mile in length. The track’s first NASCAR race was held on Labor Day in 1950, won by Californian Johnny Mantz in a six-cylinder Plymouth, amongst a field of 75 cars! Much like this month’s Indianapolis 500, the first Southern 500 staged a 2-week qualifying scheme to whittle down the field of more than 80 entrants and align the 75 car field into 25 rows of three cars. When the dust settled, it was Mantz, driving a car owned by Bill France Sr., that would claim the $25,000 purse, a reward that was 7-times the average wage in 1950.

Talladega Recap

I had the honor of watching last week’s Aaron’s 499 with a very close family friend whom happens to be a Brad Keselowski fan (or maybe he’s just a fan of the Blue Deuce, or Miller Lite, or maybe just beer in general), and I have to give him credit for my win last week in Alabama. I happened to be writing my column last Saturday afternoon when Uncle Scotty walked through my front door, and I admit to asking his advice with my picks last week. “Pick Bad Brad” he said, “Remember when we were at Talladega and he put (Carl) Edwards in the fence for his first win. The kid can race in Alabama.”

Thanks Uncle Scotty for the pick as Brad Keselowski ran as flawless of a race last week by Talladega standards as ‘flawless’ comes. Keselowski put himself in second coming out of the final turn at the 2.66-mile superspeedway, a position which conventional wisdom says the driver in the second spot on the final lap of a restrictor-plate race has a much better chance of winning than the leader.

“I had this whole plan if I ever got in that situation where I was leading,” Keselowski said. “I thought about it and thought about it — dreamed about what to do — and sure enough, going into (Turn) 3, it was just me and (Kyle) Busch. And I knew the move I wanted to pull.”

“. . . I went into Turn 3 high and pulled down off of Kyle and broke the tandem up. That allowed me to drive untouched to the checkered flag. It wasn’t easy to convince myself to do that, but it was the right move. I’m glad it worked.”

My Dark Horse pick, Joey Logano got caught up in a wreck with 10-laps to go and finished 26th. I guess sometimes you just have to take the hi’s with the low’s.

Darlington Picks

Winner Pick

As much as I hate to jump on the Biffle bandwagon, I believe it is in my best interest to make an educated pick this week and go with the Roush-Fenway racing driver. He’s starting from the pole at a track where passing is extremely difficult to complete and the eventual race-winner has come from the pole position 19-times, you’ve got to go with a driver starting towards the front tonight.

Once in the last 10 races at Darlington has a driver won the race after starting the race outside the top-12 positions. That one time occurring in last year’s Southern 500 when Regan Smith made a late-race gamble to stay on-track and not take on tires during the race’s 11th and final caution, a call that would win him the race after starting in 23rd.

Biffle enters the weekend as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ points leader, and took the pole by breaking the tie between Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne for the top spot late in qualifying Friday evening. He was second fastest in both NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ practice sessions yesterday at the track Too Tough To Tame. The last time Biffle started from the pole at Darlington was back in 2008, and the top spot was not too kind to the Washington native, as he blew an engine and finished just 234 of the scheduled 367 laps at The Lady in Black, finishing dead last in 43rd. I’m hoping Lady Luck is on my side tonight and Biffle becomes the 20th winner from the pole at Darlington Raceway.

Dark Horse Pick

I’m not sure you can qualify the guy sitting 6th in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points a Dark Horse, but a Dark Horse isn’t always a driver that is way outside the realm of possibility of winning. This week it’s a guy that tends to fly under the radar of most NASCAR writers and fans. Martin Truex Jr. has been leading the charge of Michael Waltrip Racing drivers to boost the Toyota team to the upper echelon of race teams. Last week’s 28th-place finish marked Truex’s worst finish of the season, and he is looking for a quick rebound this week at a track where he has finished no-better than 6th in his six tries to tame The Lady in Black.

6th in the first practice Friday afternoon, Truex slipped back to 12th on the leader board during Happy Hour, and rebounded to claim a starting spot for his NAPA Auto Parts Toyota in the third-row tonight in South Carolina. He’s had a great season so far, and a win tonight at Darlington would make a statement that Michael Waltrip Racing is a force to be reckoned with in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

That’s all for now, so until the All-Stars come out in Charlotte…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!!

PS: Happy Mother’s Day to all the NASCAR Moms this weekend!

May 12, 2012
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Talladega

[media-credit name=”Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”266″][/media-credit]Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth led with one lap to go at Talladega, but was passed by Brad Keselowski, benefitting from a huge push from Kyle Busch. Kenseth settled for third, and advanced one place in the point standings to second, seven behind Greg Biffle.

“My first thought was to say ‘Where’s the Biff?’” Kenseth said. “I didn’t mean to leave Biffle. Ask Carl Edwards. He’ll tell you that usually when I run away from a teammate, it’s on purpose.

“I just got too far out in front. That’s how it goes when you’re leading the field at Talladega. If you check out on the field, you better be ready to check up on the field. I was like my own debris caution.”

2. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt finished ninth at Talladega, unable to muster the momentum needed for a late-race surge towards the front. He dropped one spot to third in the Sprint Cup point standings and trails Greg Biffle by nine. Earnhardt’s winless streak now stands at 139.

“The No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet was fast,” Earnhardt said, “but not fast enough to win. That’s been a familiar refrain for me lately. I hate to repeat myself, and that’s sad, because I’m getting pretty good at it.”

3. Greg Biffle: Biffle posted a solid fifth in the Aaron’s 499, leading 15 laps and running near the front for much of the day. On the green-white-checkered finish, Biffle pushed Matt Kenseth to a sizeable lead, but Biffle’s No. 16 couldn’t keep pace with Kenseth’s No. 17. With their draft connection lost, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch passed the Roush Fenway duo.

“Keselowski and Busch just blew us away,” Biffle said. “The ‘friends with benefits’ were outdone by the ‘enemies with benefits.’

“But I’m still on top of the Sprint Cup point standings. At least we know one Roush Fenway driver can hold a lead.”

4. Kyle Busch: With one lap to go in the Aaron’s 499, Busch was in the driver’s seat, in second place, trailing race leader Brad Keselowski. But Busch never got close enough to even attempt a race-winning move, and settled for the runner-up spot. Busch moved up two spots to ninth in the point standings, 70 out of first.

“I had Keselowski,” Busch said, “right where I wanted him. But he outsmarted me. In other words, he had me. But I’m not upset. This made me a complete driver. Now, I can say I’ve been ‘schooled’ for going too fast, and ‘schooled’ for going too slow.”

5. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski, with a strong push from draft partner Kyle Busch, surged into the lead with a lap to go at Talladega, zooming past the Roush Fenway duo of Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle. Keselowski held off Busch and won for the second time this year, and second career victory in the Talladega spring race.

“I got a big push from Kyle,” Keselowski said. “I’ll reiterate what I said at Bristol some years back: ‘Kyle Busch is an ass…..et.’ I’m not sure if Kyle follows me on Twitter, but he definitely follows me on asphalt. That’s two second place finishes for Busch for the weekend. Apparently, M&M’s melt in your hands, and under pressure.

“It was an extremely satisfying win for me. Not only did I win the race, but I was able to tweet from Victory Lane for the second time this year. Call it a ‘re-Tweet.’”

6. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin was fast all day at Talladega, and was prepared to make a charge after a restart on lap 192. Hamlin’s dive to the middle lane was cut off by a block from A.J. Almendinger, and the contact knocked Hamlin out of the race. He finished 23^rd, and fell one place in the points to fourth, 27 out of first.

“I got dinged by the ‘Dinger,’” Hamlin said. “But that’s just the nature of racing at Talladega. You race all day, waiting for the ‘Big One.’ And, when it happens, you can usually blame the ‘Biggest One.’

“Trust me. I’d like nothing more than to seek revenge. But I can’t afford the penalty that is sure to follow. Therein lies the ‘Catch-22’ of catching 22.”

7. Tony Stewart: Stewart ended a frustrating day at Talladega with a 24^th in the Aaron’s 499, as Stewart-Haas teammate Ryan Newman finished 36^th. Newman suffered early engine trouble, while Stewart was KO’d in a nine-car wreck four laps from the finish.

“You probably heard about my tongue-in-cheek assessment of the racing at Talladega,” Stewart said. “That’s just my way of keeping my ‘tongue-in-check.’ For those too ignorant to understand sarcasm, call it Talladega Spites: The Ballyhoo Of Tony Stewart.”

8. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex was collected in a lap 142 pileup started when Dave Blaney and Aric Almirola made contact. Truex’s No. 55 Toyota slammed into Jeff Gordon’s No. 24, ending the day for both. Truex fell one spot to sixth in the points, and trails Greg Biffle by 46.

“The No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota was running well,” Truex said. “Then, it all came crashing down. NAPA ‘know how’ suddenly became NAPA ‘no how.’”

9. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson suffered a broken oil pump that sent him to the garage just 61 laps into the Aaron’s 499. He finished 35^th and fell two places in the Sprint Cup point standings, 54 out of first.

“We certainly don’t look like 5-time champions,” Johnson said. “Then again, who does?

“I watched the rest of the race from Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s pit box. It’s quite a view from up there. You can see for miles, and somewhere in the distance, there’s a win on the horizon.”

10. Kevin Harvick: Harvick was caught in a lap 184 wreck that left his No. 29 Rheem Chevrolet unable to continue. He finished a disappointing 25^th and is now fifth in the point standings, 45 out of first.

“We led one lap,” Harvick said, “so the car went from the front of the field to the back of the garage. Appropriately, with Rheem as our primary sponsor, we ran hot and cold.

“Brad Keselowski drove a heck of a race. He kept Kyle Busch behind him. Last year at Darlington, I couldn’t keep Busch in front of me.”

May 8, 2012
Aaron’s 499 Review: Talladega Puts On a Show

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photography, Inc.” align=”alignright” width=”228″][/media-credit]When NASCAR comes to Talladega it’s almost like playing the lottery; you never know who is going to win, but it’s still fun to gamble. Jeff Gordon started on the pole with last year’s champion Tony Stewart on the outside pole. The race was delayed for about 30 minutes due to rain that flooded the track overnight, but once the race got started it was an entertaining show.

Overheating started out early on Lap 16 when Regan Smith blew an engine to bring out the caution flag. Tony Stewart, who was leading when the caution came out, got off pit road second to Matt Kenseth. Kenseth was able to hold the lead until Lap 26 when Michael Waltrip took his No. 55 Toyota to the lead.

The overheating woes continued on Lap 44 when Ryan Newman took his car to the garage when water began to pour out of his windshield. The top three drivers under this caution were Waltrip, Kenseth, and Stewart. At Talladega a driver can go from the rear of the field to the front instantly with the help of the two car tandem and that’s exactly what Jimmie Johnson did on Lap 46 with the help of his teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kurt Busch.

Kenseth took the lead in his Best Buy Ford on Lap 53 with Jeff Gordon in tow. Around this time is when Johnson reported to the team that his engine was blowing up due to overheating. After green-flag pit stops on Lap 58 Earnhardt took over the lead from Kenseth for about 20 laps, until Earnhardt lost the draft and dropped back to 15th position. Approximately 50 laps into the race Kasey Kahne was forced to make a spotter change. His interim spotter Kevin Hamlin was suffering from laryngitis at the time and eventually lost his voice. The No. 5 team replaced Hamlin with Joe Nemecheck’s spotter to finish the race.

From 80 laps to go on, the leader of the race changed almost every ten laps. The drivers exchanging the lead were Greg Biffle, Kasey Kahne, Kenseth, Casey Mears, Brad Keselowski, and Kurt Busch. Busch caught a big break on Lap 141 when his car ran out of fuel just as caution flew on the race track. In Turns 3 and 4 the big one struck involving Landon Cassill, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Juan Montoya, Terry Labonte, Aric Almirola, and Dave Blaney. Under this caution Kenseth and Ambrose were penalized for pitting too soon. Kurt Busch and Bobby Labonte also pitted too soon after running out of fuel.

Paul Menard led the restart with Keselowski on his outside. Keselowski took the lead with 39 to go. Mears spun his race car in Turn 3 to bring out a caution with 15 laps to go. During this caution Stewart brought his car down pit road for overheating issues. The cautions continued when former teammates Keselowski and Kurt Busch got together, sending Busch spinning through the infield.

As the field attempted to restart, another caution flew once again. Hamlin jumped out of line to try and make it three wide down the middle. Allmendinger blocked Hamlin and started another big wreck. Menard, Kevin Harvick, and Waltrip were also involved. Just before the restart Hamlin blew a tire causing the caution to be extended for debris on the track.

The race was settled by a green-white-checkered finish between Kenseth, Keselowski, and Kyle Busch. Keselowski pulled ahead by three car-lengths over the field to win his second race at Talladega.

[media-credit name=”articles.boston.com” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Kurt Busch, or Should I Say “Ricky Bobby”?

Kurt Busch’s paint scheme for Talladega looked very familiar to race fans, and even non-race fans. Busch ran the colors of “ME” from the popular movie “Talladega Nights”. Not only did he run Ricky Bobby’s paint scheme, his entire team took this role to a whole different level. The team referred to Busch as “Ricky” over the radio and quoted the movie throughout the entire race. The team even carried a stuffed animal cougar named “Karen” in the racecar with them.

Busch’s race was going very well until Lap 181 when Keselowski and Busch got together, sending Busch sliding across the start-finish line. With limited damage to his race car, it looked as if Busch would be able to get back on track and continue racing. However, when Busch drove his car down pit road backwards in attempt to get to his pit stall, he was forced to pit again. This is when the fun and games ended between the team and driver, and the No. 51 car finished in 20th place, one lap down.

Fresh Faces Finish in the Top-20

After losing his Cup ride at Roush Racing last season, it was nice to see David Ragan finish in 7th position. Ragan ran a clean race and was able to stay out of trouble to keep his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford in the Top-10. Trevor Bayne is running a part-time NASCAR schedule this season due to lack of sponsorship with Wood Brother’s Racing. Bayne is known for being a good plate-track racer and he finished in 8th position in the Aaron’s 499. Aric Almirola is another driver who we don’t normally see at the top of the field, but was able to finish in 12th position. David Gilliland, who is Ragan’s teammate at Front Row Motorsports, finished in 13th position. Travis Kvapil, who is running a par-time schedule, finished in 16th position.

May 8, 2012
Surprising and Not Surprising: Aaron’s 499 at Talladega

[media-credit name=”Credit: Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”243″][/media-credit]From a rain-delayed beginning to the green, white, checkered finish, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 43^rd annual Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Surprising: It was surprising that it took nearly 36 years for a Dodge to return to Victory Lane, with the last one being the Dodge win of Dave Marcos on August 8, 1976.

And thanks to Brad Keselowski, in the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge for Penske Racing, the long winless streak for the manufacturer was finally been broken.

“At Talladega you don’t have a plan,” Keselowski said. “You go up front and you race your butt off all day.”

“You either get to the front or you don’t,” Keselowski continued. “That’s what we did.”

“Man it feels good to win here in Talladega,” Keselowski declared from Victory Lane. “I’m glad to come out on top with the Miller Lite Dodge.”

This was Keselowski’s sixth victory in 99 Cup races and his second victory and fifth top-10 finish in 2012. The driver has won twice before at Talladega as well.

Not Surprising: Since it was Talladega, as well as Super Moon and Cinco de Mayo weekend, it was not surprising that crazy things happened, including many drivers watching the remainder of the race from the sidelines, due to everything from engine woes to multiple car pileups.

Even the most influential athlete and five-time champ Jimmie Johnson was not immune, succumbing to engine failure and officially retiring on Lap 110 with a 35^th place finish.

Johnson spent the remainder of the race on his teammate Dale Earnhardt Junior’s pit box, rooting for that elusive 200^th win for Hendrick Motorsports, which again was not meant to be.

“We lost the oil pressure there,” the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet said. “We don’t know exactly what happened.”

Surprising: In spite of celebrating his 20 year sponsorship with Dupont and 20 straight years with a pole, Jeff Gordon was NASCAR’s surprising biggest point’s loser. The four-time champion battled overheating all race long and was caught up in the ‘big one’ on Lap 141.

Gordon fell six spots, from 17^th to 23^rd, in the point standings. The driver of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet finished the race in the 33^rd position.

“That was not fun,” Gordon said. “I didn’t like hitting the wall.”

“Man, this is just one of the most bizarre years that this Dupont Chevrolet and Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet team has ever gone through,” Gordon continued. “I mean, it’s almost comical at this point.”

Not Surprising: As high as his teammate was for winning, it was not surprising that the other Penske Dodge competitor, A.J. Allmendinger was about as low as he could go.

The driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil-AAA Dodge went to block Denny Hamlin and the wreck was on. Allmendinger finished 15^th after starting from the outside pole.

“My guys did a good job, fast motor, fast race car,” Allmendinger said. “I had a chance to win the race until it all went down the drain.”

“We had a chance to win,” Dinger said with abject disappointment. “I’m happy the 2 car won.”

Surprising: At a track where the spotter is essential, it was surprising that the driver of the No. 5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet was able to rebound for a good finish after losing his spotter Kevin Hamlin to laryngitis.

Kasey Kahne, dodging at least three wrecks, finished fourth. He was the highest Hendrick Motorsports finisher.

“We survived, that was the biggest thing,” Kahne said. “We missed the wrecks and got a good push there at the end.”

“We were catching the guys in front of us, but it was just too late.”

Not Surprising: With the new rules changes by NASCAR designed to decrease the tandem racing and increase the pack racing, it was not surprising that many drivers were concerned about the cars overheating and the temperatures of the water and oil in the engines.

The unofficial ‘Mayor’ of the NASCAR garage, Jeff Burton, weighed in on the issue. The driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet was none too happy in spite of his tenth place finish.

“Not being able to race the way we want to race is frustrating,” Burton said. “Every time we would get in the pack, our water pressure would get real high.”

“We didn’t want to push water and that wasn’t a lot of fun,” Burton continued. “But we caught a lucky break when the caution came out and fortunately that helped us a lot.”

Surprising: Kurt Busch, channeling his inner Ricky Bobby, had a surprisingly good run in his No. 51 Talladega Nights ME car. In fact, it was even surprisingly pleasant to listen to his radio chatter as he rattled off strings of dialogue from the movie.

Unfortunately, Busch was caught up in one of the late race crashes, relegating him to a 20^th place finish.

“It was a good effort all day by the team,” Busch said. “It’s pretty disappointing to come to one of the places we have circled on the schedule, run well all day, and then have it end like this.”

“But that’s a part of it.”

Not Surprising: Fresh off his second place finish in the Nationwide race, it was not surprising to see Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota, finish in the runner up spot in the Cup race.

“For me, whatever Talladega and Daytona is, it’s a restrictor plate race,” Busch said. “That’s what we all know going into the weekend.”

“Some of us love coming here, some of us dread it,” Busch continued. “You don’t have control of your own destiny, I don’t feel like.”

Surprising: When asked if he preferred the pack racing to the tandem drafting, Tony Stewart had a surprisingly ‘interesting’ idea for what he thought might just make the racing even better.

“I think we ought to make it a figure eight,” the driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet said. “If we could make it a figure eight, it would be perfect here.”

“We can stop at the half way mark, take a break and turn around and go backwards the rest of the way,” Smoke continued. “Then with ten to go, we split the field in half and half go the regular direction and half of them go backwards.”

Not Surprising: NASCAR’s most popular driver gained a new moniker, ‘Mr. Consistent’, that is not at all surprising given the good start to his season. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had another solid run, finishing ninth in his No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet.

“This is definitely the most consistent we’ve ever been, or I’ve ever been,” Junior said. “I have a great team and they give me great cars.”

“It worked out and we ended up getting a finish, and not tore up and on the hook,” Junior continued. “I hope we can go to Darlington and keep our consistency going.”

May 7, 2012