Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: Jimmy Spencer

  • The Final Word – A Lack of Love at Daytona

    The Final Word – A Lack of Love at Daytona

    We have just gotten the season underway, and already we got guys torqued. I mean, some got downright ornery.

    Take the Sprint Unlimited race last Saturday. Joey Logano seemed just a flying fist of fate away from being all gums, no teeth. In fact, the best save of the day came when one of his crew grabbed his driver by the scruff of the neck and dragged his butt out of harm’s way. Down to the final couple of laps, Logano was driving up Kevin Harvick’s exhaust when that battered car tagged the wall. That was enough for a post-race discussion, but when Joey decided to stick his mug into Harv’s face to drop the f-bomb, he was suddenly hauled away. In doing so, he avoided a possible sock-it-to-me moment.

    Oh, by the way, Matt Kenseth won the race, ahead of Martin Truex Jr. and Carl Edwards.

    The next day, NASCAR’s wacky method to determine the front row for the Daytona 500 came into play. Instead of just finding out who is the fastest, we now include cars actually racing during qualifying, blocking to maintain position and to interfere with another’s time, along with jockeying on pit road as to who goes when to take advantage of what. The result is a nonsensical farce just to provide some kind of show for the fans. If you do not believe me, ask Clint Bowyer. He ignored his crew chief’s pleas to leave his smoking wreck to yell at Reed Sorenson, who had tried to block, which caused one hell of a mess. By being taken out early, the best Bowyer could do was record the 41st best qualifying time.

    Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson survived it all to take the front row spots in the Daytona 500. On Thursday, the duels will decided the other 41 positions.

    So, Bowyer is not happy. After getting out of his car to jaw with Sorenson, a rule violation, he could wind up even unhappier. The fact he called the new qualifying format idiotic, saying “It’s NASCAR’s fault for putting us out here in the middle of this crap for nothing,” it is doubtful he has endeared himself to the powers that be. However, among the drivers, he is not alone in that observation.

    If Kurt Busch’s ex is some kind of trained assassin, she must truly suck at her job if Busch can assault her, and live. The judge must think so, too, according to his ruling, ordering that Kurt stay away from her. If she is fearful of mean ole Kurt, she must be scared crapless of Jimmy Spencer.

    Having to go home is a fear for a few on Thursday, but with Carl Edwards securing a spot last weekend in his new entry, all the familiar faces are locked in. Almost. 13 are in, with Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson on the front row. Aric Almirola, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Edwards and Jamie McMurray are in through their qualifying times. Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano get a pass from their 2014 owner’s points, with Tony Stewart in as the most current past champion.

    On Thursday, a Top 15 finish in one of the duel races locks a driver into the Daytona 500. If that driver already has a secure spot, the pass goes to the driver with the most 2014 owner’s points not already in the field. The six with the fewest owner’s points need to race their way in Thursday, with Ryan Blaney, Reed Sorenson, Michael Annett, Cole Whitt, Justin Marks and Ron Hornaday currently on the outside looking in. Those they are hoping to leap over include, in order, Michael McDowell, currently on the bubble, Johnny Sauter, Ty Dillon, Mike Wallace, Bobby Labonte, with Josh Wise the most secure of the bunch. Of course, if any of those bubble boys finish 15th or better in their Thursday race, they lock themselves into Sunday’s field. Simply put, for those high in 2014 owner’s points, it is less crucial to do well on Thursday. For those who are not, Thursday could mean everything.

    Fans of Dale Earnhardt Jr have to love the fact that the next available spot would go to their guy, who has the best total in 2014 owner’s points among those not yet locked in. There is a chance, a very small chance, that Junior could fail to make the field. For that to happen, he would need to miss the Top 15 in his duel, as well as see every one of the 13 drivers currently locked in to finish their race 16th or worse. If just one of them finishes 15th or better, Earnhardt is in, and his fans have to love that.

    Thursday they run the duels, Friday the trucks (except in Canada), Saturday the junior league, and Sunday it is the Daytona 500. What is not to love?

  • The Final Word – Charlotte was a Happy Place, Though it Made Junior Sad, and Some Mad at Brad

    The Final Word – Charlotte was a Happy Place, Though it Made Junior Sad, and Some Mad at Brad

    Charlotte in the night and what a web it wove. Essentially, you could sum up the action by first pointing out that Kevin Harvick once again had a dominant car. The difference this time is that he won the darn thing, the Closer closed, and the Happy boy is now locked into the Chase right through to the Arizona 500.

    Secondly, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had bad vibrations, bad enough to snap his shifter. It was not as bad as Kansas, but finishing 20th a race after coming home 39th is not what the lad was looking for. For either he or Jimmie Johnson to make the Chase, Kasey Kahne cannot. Harvick and Joey Logano are locked into the next round after Talladega, while the other five contenders are close to it, barring very bad things. Of course, Talladega is where very bad things are known to happen.

    Very bad. Some think that describes Brad Keselowski and the boys seemed to be lining up to kick the crap out of him. A come to Jesus meeting seemed to be in order, where one’s feelings were not the only things destined to be hurt. In hearing Brad tell it, all I heard was that everyone else started the problems by attempting to pay him back for things he had already done.

    With around 60 laps to go, Brad went either looking for an off ramp or he deliberately swung way wide on a restart to deliberately block Matt Kenseth and force him into scraping the wall. He then did a little tap-tapping on Denny Hamlin in his bid to move forward, causing an anxious moment or two late in the race.

    Somewhere in there, or so Keselowski says, Hamlin tried to retaliate, so as the race ended Brad tried to perform a P.I.T. maneuver on Hamlin’s auto. Then, he claimed Kenseth had torn off his right front, which seemed perfectly fine when it hit Matt’s parked car post-race on pit road. At the time, Kenseth had already taken off his restraining devices, making it truly a stupid move. Unfortunately for Bradley Aaron, he also caught Tony Stewart, even though he claimed it must have been Kenseth who hit him. As Brad backed up, Stewart put his own in reverse and made damn sure Keselowski’s front end was indeed torn up, causing the boy to get out of Dodge but quick.

    By the time he parked, Hamlin was hunting him down. There was pushing and yelling, but the two never seemed to get together. Brad was directed to his hauler, but hauled himself out to walk off into the night between the trailers. That is where Kenseth caught up to him, and they did get together. Another big crowd gathered, more pushing and yelling ensued, as the post-race action got more exciting than anything we had just seen out on the track.

    In the end, Brad gave his side of the story, NASCAR was going to ponder what took place, and no doubt nothing of consequence will come out of it. Do you remember how I recently mentioned that after initially not being much of a fan I was starting to warm toward Keselowski? Not today. The boy seems on the verge of becoming what Kurt Busch had once been, a malady that seems curable only by a treatment made popular by a certain Dr. James (Jimmy) Spencer.

    What we learned is that the next time Keselowski causes one of those racing deals, that block will result in him being sent into the wall. The next time he says what happened, I will want to see what really did happen, as ole Brad seems to ignore a few facts in his summation of events. I do not like his chances of advancing to the next round of the Chase, as I think he just lost a few friends from his Facebook list.

    Talladega is next, and sometimes things just happen at Talladega.

    The eight who rate…
    1 – Joey Logano – 1 WIN – 3088 POINTS – Locked in
    3 – Kevin Harvick – 1 – 3081 – Locked in
    2 – Kyle Busch – 0 – 3082 – 26 Points to the good
    4 – Ryan Newman – 0 – 3077 – 21 Points to the good
    5 – Carl Edwards – 0 – 3076 – 20 Points to the good
    6 – Jeff Gordon – 0 – 3074 – 18 Points to the good
    7 – Denny Hamlin – 0 – 3073 – 17 Points to the good
    8 – Kasey Kahne – 0 – 3057 – 1 Point to the good

    Four who need to do more…
    9 – Matt Kenseth – 0 – 3056 POINTS – 1 Point out
    10 – Brad Keselowski – 0 – 3038 – 19 Points out
    11 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 0 – 3031 – 26 Points out
    12 – Jimmie Johnson – 0 – 3031 – 26 Points out

  • Round One Could Be Costly to Childress

    Round One Could Be Costly to Childress

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”246″][/media-credit]I have been around NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series since it was known as the Grand National Series and I’ve never seen or heard about anything that compares to what happened in Joliet this weekend. We’re used to seeing drivers get physical with each other after a race ends, but owners? I cannot imagine Joe Gibbs, Jack Roush, or Rick Hendrick throwing punches, but then again, I couldn’t have pictured Richard Childress doing that either. But he did, and it wasn’t a very wise thing to do.

    From all reports, the event happened as Kyle Busch was walking to either his transporter or motor home. I’ve heard both. It’s not clear whether Busch said anything to Childress, but Childress took off his watch, got Busch in a headlock, and punched him four times. Busch did not resist, knowing that if he did anything in that situation, he would break his probation agreement. He also knew that trying to stay out of Kevin Harvick’s way at the end of the race at Darlington did him no good. He still got punished because he hit Harvick’s car and knocked it into the pit wall while trying to get away. That wasn’t going to happen this time. Busch walked away for all the eyewitness accounts I’ve heard.

    Childress will get the usual $25-30,000 fine and probation from NASCAR according to most of the media experts, but I’m not so sure it will be that lenient. Car owners are held to a higher standard than competitors. NASCAR considers them businessmen and leaders of their respective teams. Back in the old days, the sanctioning body might have looked the other way in a situation like this, but I don’t think they will today. I can’t recall a real fist fight except for Jimmy Spencer punching Kurt Busch through his car window a few years ago (why is it always a Busch?). I do remember standing beside Matt Kenseth when Jeff Gordon, wearing his helmet, pushed him at Bristol. I’ve seen crew members hold back drivers so they wouldn’t get at each other, but never a punch thrown.

    It doesn’t matter if Busch said anything to him or not, but a 65-year old man should have sense enough to take whatever a person less than half his age can dish out. Childress as out of line and that’s why NASCAR restricted his movements on Sunday. I look for a heavy penalty for the legendary car owner.

    NASCAR promises a full statement and the penalty on Monday. Whatever it is, it won’t set well with fans who have generally taken Childress’ side in the skirmish. Just like they took Harvick’s side in the altercation at Darlington. Busch has his fans, but the loudest cheers come when he falls out of a race or gets passed on the track. I guess he should take solace in that it used to be Jeff Gordon getting that treatment, but this time, the blame falls on Richard Childress. And NASCAR agrees. Prepare for the worst.