Tag: joey logano

NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Phoenix

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Kyle Busch: Busch passed Ryan Blaney late at Phoenix to win the TicketGuardian 500 to complete the weekend sweep at ISM Raceway.

“Richard Petty’s 200 wins is on my radar,” Busch said. “And I plan on smashing that record and staking my claim as the best NASCAR driver in history. I won’t call myself the ‘King,’ and my name’s not Richard, but people already see me as the biggest ‘Dick’ in NASCAR.”

2. Joey Logano: Logano finished 10th at Phoenix and is now second in the Monster Energy Cup points standings.

“Kyle Busch is one win away from matching Richard Petty’s 200 wins,” Logano said. “I think this is a great promotional opportunity for Goody’s Powders, because Kyle has traditionally been one of NASCAR’s biggest headaches.”

3. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished second at Phoenix as Joe Gibbs Racing took three of the top five spots, with Kyle Busch winning.

“Hats off to Kyle Busch,” Truex said. “He won the Xfinity race on Saturday, and capped the weekend with Sunday’s win, giving him the sweep. It seems like every week Kyle is a threat to pull off the sweep. The last time a broom was this prominent in NASCAR, Teresa Earnhardt was riding it.”

4. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin took fifth in the TicketGuardian 500 at Phoenix.

“I score a hole-in-one on the golf course last week,” Hamlin said. “It was on a par 3, and the club I used was a tire iron.”

5. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished ninth at Phoenix and is third is the points standings, nine out of first.

“How about that Daniel Suarez-Michael McDowell altercation on Friday during qualifying?” Harvick said. “Those guys were heated! I guess starting 27th on the grid was a big deal to them.”

6. Kurt Busch: Busch finished seventh at Phoenix.

“My Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Daniel Suarez took down Michael McDowell with a body slam,” Busch said. “I think McDowell deserved a right hand to the chin. How do I know? Because of all the drivers in NASCAR, I know what a punchable face looks like.”

7. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 19th at Phoenix, hampered by an early tire issue that left him unable to contend for the win.

“I blew a tire and slammed the wall during Stage 1,” Keselowski said. “That really caused some issues with the front end. So, for the second time this season, I had a problem with ‘bodily functions.’”

8. Kyle Larson: Larson finished sixth at Phoenix, earning his second top 10 of the season.

“NASCAR moved our year-end awards banquet from Las Vegas to Nashville,” Larson said. “That’s surprising, because I’ve always heard you can get more bang for your buck in Las Vegas.”

9. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: Stenhouse finished 13th at Phoenix.

“Hailie Deegan is an up-and-coming 17-year-old female driver,” Stenhouse said. “Her aim is to be better than Danica Patrick. Someone should ask Danica what she thinks about this, but it won’t be me, because I’m afraid to pop the question.”

10. Aric Almirola: Almirola finished fourth at Phoenix, the top finish among Stewart-Haas Racing drivers.

“Stewart-Haas is winless so far this year,” Almirola said, “but it’s no time to panic. Maybe a short pep talk would be helpful, like these words from Tony Stewart, NASCAR’s poet laureate, ‘You mo fo’s need to find your mo jo’s.’”

March 12, 2019
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Las Vegas

Note: the quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Joey Logano — Logano dashed to the win at Las Vegas, holding off Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski for his first Cup win in Vegas.

“I knew Brad was going to make a run,” Logano said. “He’s so good at making those race-winning passes. I saw him in my mirror and though, ‘Uh oh.’ Anytime you look in the mirror and see Brad Keselowski, it’s bad news, especially if you’re Brad Keselowski.”

2. Brad Keselowski — Keselowski, looking for his second straight win, finished second at Las Vegas to Penske teammate Joey Logano.

“That’s right,” Keselowski said. “I finished second. So, for the second consecutive week, I ‘went No. 2’ in my car.”

3. Kyle Busch — Busch’s quest for a weekend sweep ended with a third in the Pennzoil 400.

“I blew any chance of winning when I was caught speeding on pit lane,” Busch said. “I’ll tell you this, though, the penalty for breaking the 45 miles per hour speed limit is much less severe when it happens on pit lane as opposed to a highway in Iredell County, North Carolina.”

4. Denny Hamlin — Hamlin finished 10th at Las Vegas.

“Other than those for the ends of stages,” Hamlin said, “there wasn’t a single caution during the race. And that made for a very boring race. Just ask television viewers. The TV ratings are in, and Sunday’s race rolled ‘snake eyes.’”

5. Kevin Harvick — Harvick led a race-high 88 laps and finished fourth in the Pennzoil 400.

“We dominated Stage 1,” Harvick said. “After that, the handling just went south. And with NASCAR’s new rules package, my battle with my steering wheel may have been the best action of the day in Vegas.”

6. Martin Truex Jr. — Truex finished eighth at Las Vegas, recording his second top-10 of the year. He is eighth in the Monster Energy Cup points standings.

“I’m not sure if NASCAR’s new rules package made that much of a difference,” Truex said. “But it’s a start. Now what the rules need is just some fine-tuning, or small adjustments. That’s why NASCAR should bring in the Mayfield family, because they can ‘tweak’ anything.”

7. Kurt Busch — Busch finished fifth at Las Vegas and is 10th in the points standings.

“I’m a Las Vegas native,” Busch said. “So it’s always hard to leave this place. When I leave Vegas, it’s like I leave a little piece of me behind, which was also the case when I had ear-reduction surgery in 2006.”

8. Kyle Larson — Larson took 12th in the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas and is now sixth in the Monster Energy Cup points standings.

“Those guys from Hendrick Motorsports are at it again,” Larson said. “They’re ‘playing games.’ Only this time, it’s in the casino.”

9. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. — Stenhouse finished eighth at Las Vegas, posting his first top-10 of the year.

“Erik Jones and I had a heated battle for position at one point in the race,” Stenhouse said. “Over the radio, he told me to ‘stop being a dumb ass.’ I responded by saying, ‘I dated Danica Patrick. You can use real profanity.’”

10. Erik Jones — Jones finished 13th in the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas.

“My Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch just signed a contract extension,” Jones said. “Kyle’s had some big wins in his illustrious career, but this is his latest ‘signature’ win.”

March 7, 2019
Joey Logano Cashes Out the Jackpot, Wins at Vegas

Joey Logano wins the first west coast race in the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

“I said we’re going to do donuts on that giant infield logo after the race, and we were able to do it,” Logano shared after winning for the first time in his career at Las Vegas.

With over 3,300 green flag passes and 47 green flag passes for the lead, NASCAR’s new aero package saw much more competitive racing. The leaders could not get further than a couple seconds out front before being reeled back in, and a lot of draft was being manipulated. Logano shared that it really was more of a mental game.

“What a great race. Brad and I were so evenly matched, and you just can’t drive away (with the lead). In the last five or six laps, Brad was catching me so quick, and I got stuck behind a lapped car. Man, it was so close. Lots of fun – my heart’s still running hard.”

Teammate Brad Keselowski put on a couple late run charges, even coming to the checkered flag. Out of Turn 4, he came up one spot short of going back to back to win two of the first three races of the season. Team Penske finished 1-2.

“It was a good battle,” Keselowski said. “We were both running really hard on the top. It seemed to come down to what the lapped cars were going to do. The lapped cars screwed the leader, and the second-place guy got a really good run. It happened over and over again. First, Joey got hosed by a lapped car, and I got by him. Then I got hosed by a lapped car, and he got by me. But it was definitely a good event.”

Kyle Busch was able to recover from a pit road speeding penalty and a six second deficit to the leaders to pass Kevin Harvick for third. Time ran out and Busch was three spots short of the weekend sweep across all three NASCAR touring series.

“I certainly screwed up our day coming to pit road,” Busch said disappointed after a green flag pit road speeding penalty during Stage 2. “Trying to make up time and just ruined it for us.”

Stage 1 winner Harvick finished fourth with Kurt Busch utilizing some late race pit road strategy rounded out the top five. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Aric Almirola, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott and Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin completed the top 10.

Harvick Begins His West Coast Swing in Stage One

Harvick and Hamlin started side by side on the front row at the initial start of the race. Landon Cassill and Ty Dillon moved to the rear of the field after both a gear change and an engine change. Hamlin, inside, pulled out to a brief lead on the back stretch, but Harvick marched his way through Turns 3 and 4 to lead the first lap as the crossed the start finish line. Harvick ended up leading virtually all the laps, aside from the green flag pit stops cycle. Daniel Hemric started in the fifth position, but quickly dropped through the field and lost a lap deeper into the stage.

Unique penalties were handed out during green flag pit stops. Austin Dillon, who was running inside the top five most of the first stage was caught with too many crew members over the wall. The call came from NASCAR after two crew members retrieving tires from the tire changers fell over the wall after reaching too far for a tire. Kyle Larson, who also was running in the top 10, had a penalty with too many crew members over the wall. For his pit stop, the crew member also responsible for retrieving a tire swept their hand over the pit stall and made contact with pit surface. After some social media controversy, FOX Sports Bob Pockrass posted on Twitter the rule that states the following.

This rule was added this year. Specifically says can’t contact the pit road … #nascar ⁦@NASCARONFOX⁩ pic.twitter.com/Ii2kzXa1nu
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) March 3, 2019

Ryan Blaney had an extra unscheduled pit stop for a tire that lost a valve stem on his original pit stop.

During the green flag pit stops, Joey Logano led for six laps before his pit stop. Daniel Suarez led his first career laps on a 1.5 mile oval before taking two tires to gain some track position. Harvick reclaimed the lead and led the final 19 laps to the green-checkered flag that signifies the end of the stage.

Team Penske Working Together During Stage Two

Keselowski led the field to the green on the restart, but because he elected to take two tires, he was quickly overtaken by Kyle Busch and Joey Logano, and the two battled for the lead for most of the stage.

Blaney visited pit road early, and quickly caught the leaders. At this time, he was three laps down and passed the leaders to get one of his laps back the old school way. Logano saw his speed, and the No. 22 team elected to pit for fresh tires. That brought all the lead lap cars to the pits.

As Busch came to pit road, he locked up the brakes and sped during the first segment. He immediately served his penalty per instructions from his crew chief before his car got up to full speed.

“There’s no f****** way…” Kyle dejectedly stated over the radio, knowing he had gone too fast during the first section.

William Byron played a similar strategy as Suarez in the first stage and led for 21 laps before his pit stop. Logano reclaimed the lead for the final 11 laps to win Stage 2.

Team Penske Puts on a Show in the Final Stage

A variety of strategies shuffled the running order as the green flag flew for the start of the final stage, including Kurt Busch staying out during the stage caution. Eventually, the two drivers that showed strength in the early parts of the final stage were Logano and Harvick. The two were at the front during the stage before the last set of pit stops.

The biggest trouble Harvick had was on pit road. Throughout the day, his team constantly gave him fast pit stops, but Harvick’s car had no traction as he left his pit stall. Comparing to the others, Harvick kept spinning his tires before being able to leave pit road.

After final pit stops, it became a four-way battle for the lead between Logano, Keselowski, Harvick and Kyle Busch. Keselowski was able to briefly get by Logano to lead a couple laps before Logano reclaimed the lead and won the second stage. Harvick closed the gap to start becoming involved, and Kyle Busch fought from over a six second deficit. However, time ran out for everyone as Logano crossed the line first after a close battle with teammate Keselowski.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series continues their west coast swing next weekend in Phoenix, Arizona at ISM Raceway, Sunday, March 10 at 3:30 p.m. ET.

March 7, 2019
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Atlanta

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski fought off the effects of a stomach bug to win the race at Atlanta.

“The race was called the ‘Folds Of Honor Quik Trip 500,” Keselowski said. “Trust me, with this stomach issue, I made a lot a ‘Quik Trips.’”

2. Kyle Busch: Busch finished sixth at Atlanta after starting at the back of the field.

“Give Brad Keselowski credit for toughing out the win despite his tummy troubles,” Busch said. “It must be contagious, because now I want the chance to prove that I can win with an illness. In other words, Brad Keselowski makes me sick.”

3. Kevin Harvick: Harvick led 45 laps in Atlanta and finished fourth.

“The surface at Atlanta Motor Speedway is quite abrasive,” Harvick said. “It really does a number on your tires. A fan suggested I discuss these particular issues on a web site devoted to extreme tire wear issues called ‘Grindr.’ Well, it turns out this site is not devoted to tires at all.”

4. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex caught race-leader Brad Keselowski with two laps to go at Atlanta but couldn’t make the pass as Keselowski took the checkered flag.

“Ricky Stenhouse Jr. really held me up,” Truex said. “And I’m beyond frustrated. He was a lap down. Of course, it’s not the first time Ricky has held someone back. Danica Patrick dumped him and upgraded to Aaron Rodgers!”

5. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished 11th at Atlanta one week after winning the Daytona 500.

“Despite finishing outside the top 10,” Hamlin said, “I’m still atop the Monster Energy Cup points standings. So basically, ‘My Win At Daytona Has Kept Relevant,’ which may very well be the title of Trevor Bayne’s autobiography.”

6. Kyle Larson: Larson led a race-high 142 laps, but a late pit lane speeding penalty spoiled his chances for the win. He finished 12th and is fourth in the Monster Energy Cup points standings.

“I got caught going too fast entering pit lane,” Larson said. “So, I was ‘too fast entering.’ I hear Brad Keselowski’s trouble was ‘too fast exiting.’”

7. Joey Logano: Logano struggled to a 23rd at Atlanta as Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski captured the win, his 60th for Penske.

“I’m really proud of Brad,” Logano said. “That was a gutsy effort. I bet Brad was exhausted afterwards. In fact, I’m sure his first words were, ‘I’m pooped.’”

8. Erik Jones: Jones took seventh at Atlanta and has two top-10 finishes to start the season. He is seventh in the Monster Energy Cup points standings.

“As a teammate to Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and now Martin Truex Jr.,” Jones said, “I’m low man on the totem pole here at Joe Gibbs Racing. But Joe Gibbs does a great job pretending I’m an equal. So Joe wins the Oscar for ‘best supporting actor.’”

9. Kurt Busch: Busch finished third in the Folds Of Honor Quik Trip 500 at Atlanta.

“I think everyone is happy with NASCAR’s new rules package,” Busch said. “And if you’d like to quote me saying ‘Impressive package,’ please do so in context.”

10. Aric Almirola: Almirola started on the pole and finished eighth at Atlanta.

“I got busted for speeding on pit road,” Almirola said. “I had to question NASCAR officials’ judgment on this, so I did. And they answered, ‘Those are the breaks.’ Or they may have answered, ‘Those are the brakes.’ I guess both are good answers.”

February 25, 2019
McDowell remarks about Ford drivers could have consequences

Joey Logano was pushing Michael McDowell prior to a wreck on Lap 191 that took out over half the field and separated them apart on the race track.

As Sunday’s Daytona 500 headed into overtime, Logano, who had one of the fastest cars in the race, was looking for a push in an attempt to get by the Joe Gibbs Racing teammates of Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch.

Logano assumed McDowell would be willing to push him, but McDowell elected to go with Kyle Busch.

However, McDowell hesitated, which allowed Hamlin to cruise to his second Daytona 500 victory in four years. Logano wound up fourth and McDowell fifth.

Logano went over to talk to McDowell, but it was not an entirely productive conversation.

“I was just surprised by the situation and what happened,” Logano said of his chat with McDowell. “I thought that was going to be the plan (working together). At that point he wasn’t going to win, he’d have to pass Kyle.

“He’s racing, too, I guess, and we can’t win these things alone. We’ve proven that quite often but we did what we could do.”

McDowell said he went with the driver who he felt had the best chance of getting to the front.

“The No. 18 (Busch) had a big run, a lot of momentum and Joey had a lot of damage,” he said. “Joey wasn’t going to win the race. I wanted to put myself in the best spot to win the race, and the Fords weren’t that friendly to me this weekend.”

McDowell said of Logano: “I just told him that my team doesn’t pay me to push Joey Logano to a win. That’s not what I get paid to do.

“At 200 miles-per-hour, I made a split-second decision on what was the fastest car and who had the best shot of winning the race and that’s where I went.”

McDowell’s fifth-place finish was just the second top-five of his Monster Energy Cup Series career. All seven of his career top-10s have also come on restrictor plate tracks. His decision not to work with Logano and his remarks about the other Ford drivers could come back to bite him at the remainder of the plate tracks this season. Perhaps they will be even less willing to work with him.

McDowell, 34, started racing at the Cup level in 2008 for Michael Waltrip Racing. He has been behind the wheel full-time since the 2017 season.

February 19, 2019
Daytona 500 Finish Shows Manufacturer Solidarity Can Be Detrimental

Following Sunday’s Daytona 500, Joey Logano and Michael McDowell had a brief exchange on pit road where Logano explained that he believed that had the two linked up, Ford driver to fellow Ford driver, they could have contended for the win instead of Logano finishing fourth and McDowell finishing fifth.

“Typically you kind of expect manufacturers to work together like the Toyotas do or the Chevys do, and just was expecting that, as well, in that moment coming to the checkered flag. I was very surprised by his decision,” said Logano. But according to McDowell, not only did he feel that Logano would have slowed them down due to damage on his rear end, he was adamant that he had to look out for himself in the final run to the finish.

“My team doesn’t pay me to push Joey Logano to the win, it’s as simple as that,” said McDowell. “At 200 mph, I made a split-second decision about who had the fastest car, and that’s where I went. I wanted to put myself in the best spot to win the race, and the Fords weren’t that friendly to me this weekend.”

Although manufacturer solidarity is usually prevalent on the superspeedways as well as other situations when in the hunt for a manufacturer’s championship, sometimes it’s been shown to be a liability for drivers in search of a win, especially in the case of McDowell, who has never won a Cup race in 286 starts. This is in comparison to Logano, who along with winning the 2015 500, also won the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship last season.

Late in the going of any race, it should always be every driver for themselves regardless of team or manufacturer loyalty. Sure, it may be a few extra bucks in bonuses after the race should a manufacturer sweep a position, but putting manufacturer goals ahead of driver goals essentially robs the the fans and the drivers who are participating. Last October at Talladega the race was dominated by the Stewart-Haas Racing Fords, who at times were several seconds ahead of the rest of the field before SHR driver Aric Almirola took the checkered flag.

Of course, in terms of team loyalty, it’s common and in some cases expected for Hendrick Motorsports drivers to help each other out or for Team Penske drivers to give each other a push. Given the circumstances surrounding the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas entering this year’s Daytona 500, it’s only fitting that they finished 1-2-3 at the checkered flag.

But when it counts late in the going, the overall goal is for a driver to go for the win regardless of team loyalties. Even then, manufacturer loyalties shouldn’t have as much clout as team loyalties, because much like the Owner’s Championship, the Manufacturer’s Championship is nothing more than a paper title in order to get a few extra bucks.

Obviously a few extra bucks goes a long way in an organization’s daily operations, but when the goal of racing becomes more of a battle for cash instead of the ultimate battle for a win, then it’s obvious that the racing isn’t fun anymore.

McDowell’s point was valid and true: His team doesn’t pay him to push Logano or any other Ford driver to the win. He’s there to race and succeed, which is and should be the ultimate goal of any race car driver.

February 18, 2019

Harvick and Logano win Duels at Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.— Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano won the Gander RV Duels at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday night to set the starting lineup for the 61st annual Daytona 500 on Sunday.

Duel 1:

William Byron led the field to the green flag and led the first 15 laps until green flag pit stops arrived.

Byron fell back to sixth after the green flag pit stops cycled though with Kevin Harvick taking the lead and never letting it go.

Harvick led the final 44 laps of the first Duel for the second Duel victory of his 18-year career.

There was only one caution which was for the 18 of Kyle Busch getting turned around by Jimmie Johnson. Busch was none too pleased with the contact between him and the seven time champ.

“I don’t want to (expletive) hear it,” Busch told to his team when he got told what Johnson radioed to his team during the race. “Use his damn eyeballs. It’s twice he’s done the same thing in two (expletive) races.”

After the race, unlike the Clash from Sunday, Johnson took full blame for the wreck.

“I firmly believe the Clash was a racing incident. This one was a mistake on my behalf. Everybody makes mistakes.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Paul Menard, Matt DiBenedetto and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top five.

Parker Kilgerman beat Ryan Truex by one position to get one of the final two open team places in the 61st running of the Great American Race.

Duel 2

Joey Logano needed to lead just one lap and that was the last one. Logano did just that to win his first career Daytona qualifying race.

Logano led the final and most important of the 60 laps run in the second duel after he crafted a brilliant plan to go from fourth to first, on the final lap.

“You have the whole race to think about making a move, and we were all out there just waiting,” Logano said. “Everyone behind me really wanted to go, and I just knew that I had to wait. The later you can do it, the less the risk if it doesn’t work. I got a good run from the 12 (Ryan Blaney) behind me and went to the bottom and got a good run.”

Alex Bowman started out with the pole for the second consecutive year as he led the field in the first duel, just like a season ago. Like Byron, Bowman led the first 11 laps before his first green flag pitstop of the season, relinquishing the lead to Clint Bowyer. Bowyer then, took his turn to head to pit road for his only stop of the race and he took his No. 14 Rush Truck Centers to pitlane.

That gave the lead to Brendan Gaughan in the 62 who is one of the four teams without a charter. Gaughan, who runs Daytona and usually Talladega in the Cup Series, led six laps before giving the lead back to Bowyer but Gaughan did hold off Joey Gase to get the final spot in the 500.

Bowyer led two times for 41 laps but couldn’t get the job done and will start the 500 in sixth place.

Aric Almirola, Denny Hamlin and Kurt Busch rounded out the top five.

Brendan Gaughan raced his way in which means that Ryan Truex and Joey Gase will be leaving Daytona without racing in the Great American Race.

The 61st running of the Daytona 500 is on Sunday, Feb. 18th, at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

Daytona 500 Starting Lineup:

Starting Position	Driver	Team
1.	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports
2.	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports
3.	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing
4.	Joey Logano	Team Penske
5.	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing
6.	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing
7.	Paul Menard	Wood Brothers Racing
8.	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing
9.	Matt DiBenedetto	Leavine Family Racing
10.	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing
11.	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing
12.	Kurt Busch	Chip Ganassi Racing
13	Bubba Wallace	Richard Petty Motorsports
14.	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske
15.	Chris Buescher	JTG Daugherty Racing
16.	Jamie McMurray	Spire Motorsports
17.	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports
18.	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports
19.	Ryan Newman	Roush Fenway Racing
20.	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing
21.	Ryan Preece	JTG Daugherty Racing
22.	Ty Dillon	Germain Racing
23.	Daniel Suarez	Stewart-Haas Racing
24.	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports
25.	Parker Kligerman*	Gaunt Brothers Racing
26.	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing
27.	Landon Cassill	Starcom Racing
28.	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing
29.	Daniel Hemric	Richard Childress Racing
30.	Brendan Gaughan*	Beard Motorsports
31.	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing
32.	Corey LaJoie	GO FAS Racing
33.	Matt Tifft	Front Row Motorsports
34.	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports
35.	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske
36.	Ross Chastain	Premium Motorsports
37.	Cody Ware	Rick Ware Racing
38.	BJ McLeod	Petty Ware Racing
39.	Tyler Reddick*	Richard Childress Racing
40.	Casey Mears*	Germain Racing

February 14, 2019

Hot 20 of the NASCAR season that was

Another season has come and gone, along with a few more drivers and fans, to be honest. However, there are some things I have noticed that are on the positive side, though not all would agree.

I like stage racing. I was not sure to start with, but I like it now. It helps chronicle who mattered early and it informs us as to who mattered throughout. It even tells us who won, and it rewards that winner is a meaningful way.

As a traditionalist, I was dead set against the playoffs. I have changed my mind. Logically, it makes no sense to have the pretenders still on the same competitive field as the contenders. Yet, it has not much affected the action, other than for one understandably upset Matt Kenseth. In this snowflake influenced world of ours, sometimes vengeance can still be had.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was not missed on the track due to his excellence in the NBC broadcast booth alongside Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte, Rick Allen and a very stout track-side team. They were entertaining, informative, and sounded like they were excited being there. That is all it takes, but it took a long, long time for some to figure that out. I am not sure FOX has yet.

NASCAR boss man Brian France left the scene in August after being tagged with charges of aggravated driving while intoxicated and criminal possession of a controlled substance. Replaced by his uncle, I think most think that was a positive step. At least Jim France bothers to show up at the track every week.

The France family is looking to fold its 13 track International Speedway Corp., which includes Darlington, Daytona, Martinsville and Talladega, into a merger with NASCAR itself. One can speculate as to the reasons, be it to lay out “a more unified strategic approach”, as Jim France says, or to package it all up for sale. Time will tell.

Sometime over the past decade, the “How bad have you got it” mantra went out the window, along with the fans they were asking. Most of the races this season had a dip in ratings, with at least 26 being seen as having their worst of the past decade, if not of all time. Most of the celebrities are gone, we produce fewer gear heads these days, and the good ole boys and girls like Bo, Luke, and Daisy have been replaced in society by those who know more about tissues than issues.

It appears Jamie McMurray is leaving the driver’s seat, at least on a full-time basis. Kurt Busch could be his replacement with Chip Ganassi. Kenseth is set to step back from even doing that after spelling off Trevor Bayne. Ryan Newman will take their place at Roush-Fenway, with newcomer Daniel Hemric taking his former ride with Richard Childress. Furniture Row is now gone, as Martin Truex Jr. heads over to Joe Gibbs, bumping Daniel Suarez possibly over to replace the elder Busch at Stewart-Haas. A.J. Allmendinger will be without a ride, giving up his seat to rookie Ryan Preece. Kasey Kahne has called it a career, and the 17-year combination of Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus comes to an end.

Changes. Some we like, some we will not, at least to start with. Will fans come back in droves? Nope. Why should they? Give them a reason, give them entertainment, give them a reason to care.

All they have to do is figure out what that is. Over the course of the past decade, they have not.

1. JOEY LOGANO – 5040 POINTS (3 Wins)
This is not “fake news.” Logano is a deserving, even if not an overly popular, champion.

2. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 5035 POINTS (4 Wins)
If we could ignore the facts for our own biases…but we can not. Now he is off to join the Coach.

3. KEVIN HARVICK – 5034 POINTS (8 Wins)
If he could win all those he dominated for a period of time, he would have gone double figures.

4. KYLE BUSCH – 5033 POINTS (8 Wins)
Great seasons can be spoiled by the uncertainty of a playoff. Case in point…

5. ARIC ALMIROLA – 2354 POINTS (1 Win)
Not everyone is moving on. Then again, he was one of those movers not so long ago.

6. CHASE ELLIOTT – 2350 POINTS (3 Wins)
The future of Hendrick has already arrived.

7. KURT BUSCH – 2350 POINTS (1 Win)
If he wants to race Indy, his rumored new boss might have a few options open to him.

8. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 2343 POINTS (3 Wins)
“I’m going to say it again. I did not intentionally spin out that driver, Mr. Suarez.”

9. KYLE LARSON – 2299 POINTS
If your business is named “Hi-Line”, I have a marketing opportunity for you.

10. RYAN BLANEY – 2298 POINTS (1 Win)
Like Chase, he is one of the positives NASCAR can showcase for the future.

11. DENNY HAMLIN – 2285 POINTS
As with Johnson, a years-long streak of wins in a season comes to an end.

12. CLINT BOWYER – 2272 POINTS (2 Wins)
Light-hearted and funny. Plus, if you ever find yourself in a ditch, he has connections.

13. AUSTIN DILLON – 2245 POINTS (1 Win)
That win was nice, but the iconic number was not so iconic after Daytona.

14. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 2242 POINTS
The marriage with Chad lasted longer than a vast majority of Hollywood relationships.

15. ERIK JONES – 2220 POINTS (1 Win)
At 22, That Jones Boy is making Joe Gibbs feel pretty good about the future.

16. ALEX BOWMAN – 2204 POINTS
Driving a car once driven by an Earnhardt is not an easy act to follow.

17. RYAN NEWMAN – 769 POINTS
Off to become one of the guys over at the House that Jack built. Maybe even his bodyguard.

18. RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – 701 POINTS
After five years, the storyline changed in 2018, along with a downturn in performance

19. PAUL MENARD – 692 POINTS
Will be around as long as a certain home improvement company markets its wares on a stock car.

20. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 683 POINTS
If this marks the end of the line, he finishes it up among those who mattered.

November 21, 2018
Joey Logano nearly found himself out of NASCAR. Now, he’s a champion

Joey Logano nearly found himself out of NASCAR after he failed to meet the unrealistic expectations that were thrown on him earlier in his career. Now, he is a Monster Energy Series champion.

Logano started his Cup career behind the wheel of the famed No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing machine that had won 33 races and two championships with Tony Stewart behind the wheel.

Sure, Logano won a couple of races, but his first four seasons were at the best substandard, especially considering the unrealistic expectations that were thrown on him. Everyone thought this kid was going to be a championship contender from the get-go, but that was not the case. His average points finish in his first four Cup seasons was 19th. Ex-driver Kyle Petty even said before a TNT broadcast (I believe it was in 2012) that Logano could potentially end up like Casey Atwood, whose two wins in the 2000 Busch Series (now Xfinity Series) season were good enough to earn him a full-time ride in the Cup Series in 2001 when he was just 20 years of age.. Unfortunately, the move turned out to be horrendous. Atwood accumulated one top five and three top 10s in two full-time seasons with Evernham Motorsports, finishing a dismal 35th in points in 2002. Atwood’s career went nowhere after that.

When it was announced in June 2012 that Matt Kenseth was going to leave Roush Fenway Racing at the end of the year, Logano became the odd-man out, and many people believed that Logano would end up like Atwood. However, one man with an eye for talent, and years of success in building championship winning race teams across multiple forms of auto racing, took a chance on Logano — Roger Penske.

JGR tried to keep Logano and add a fourth Cup team if sponsorship could be found. Ultimately, their final offer was a part-time Cup ride and a full-time Nationwide (now Xfinity) Series ride, for which Logano had no interest.

As the saying goes, “The rest is history.”

The 2013 season was a massive turnaround for Logano. He won at Michigan, qualified for the Chase (now The Playoffs) for the first time in his career, and led a then-career-high 323 laps. Moreover, Logano accumulated 11 top fives and 19 top 10s, compared to just two top fives and 12 top 10s in his final season with Gibbs.

When Logano was just 16-years-old driving in the X-1R Pro Cup Series, all-time great Mark Martin dubbed him (as the greatest thing since) “Sliced Bread.” However, it was not until the 2014 season that Logano started to live up to that name.

Logano won five races and qualified for the Championship Four to battle for the title at Homestead. Unfortunately, a series of unavoidable pit road blunders cost Logano a shot at his first championship.

Logano added six wins in 2015 but failed to advance to the final four after he was wrecked intentionally by Matt Kenseth at Martinsville, in the semifinal round of the playoffs. He returned to the Championship Four in 2016 but finished as the series runner-up.

2017, however, was a disastrous season for Logano. He won at Richmond, but the win was “encumbered” due to a rules infraction, meaning Logano was not allowed to use the win to make the Playoffs. He failed to win another race and missed the postseason for the first time since 2013.

But since the incident with Kenseth, it appeared that Logano had lost some of his aggressive edge, perhaps wary of how his competitors would react. But with a championship berth on the line, vintage Logano came out to party, booting then-defending series champion Martin Truex Jr. out of the way at Martinsville, where he ironically lost his shot at a title in 2015, on the final turn, to win. In retrospect, it was the best decision Logano has ever made.

In the penultimate race of the season, Logano crashed at Phoenix, finishing 37th. Had Truex won at Martinsville, Logano would have missed the cut for the Championship Four, and would likely be thinking today and throughout the entire offseason “What If.” Moreover, Logano and Truex finished one-two at Homestead, meaning Truex would have won back-to-back titles.

But that’s not what happened. Logano went from a cautious driver back to the fearless one that made him a winner. There was a time that Logano allowed many drivers to push him around, but somewhere along the line, someone told Logano to fight back, and he has done that.

Not everyone likes it, and Logano knows that. He also doesn’t care because he has the hardware to show for it.

Penske does as well. He had never won a Cup Series title as an owner until he brought along two ultra-aggressive drivers with a plethora of talent — Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano. Now, both are champions. How about that?

November 21, 2018
The Final Word – Logano wins at Homestead as my television suddenly went black

As a journalist, I can say this. Joey Logano is a very talented driver, an aggressive driver who knows what he has to do and has the desire and the ability to pull it off. He is a very deserving Cup champion. I say that as a journalist.

However, in these days of “fake news”, I should mention that I write this as a columnist. A true journalist, of whom there are very few these days, observe and chronicle events impartially and objectively, without bias or partisanship, giving you information based on only what they see and not on how they feel.

I am a fan who writes a column, complete with my observations, my opinions and even my emotions on the subject. So, as a journalist, I applaud and recognize the talents of our new champion. As a fan, I must say I am just a bit disappointed. I mean, Joey Logano? You got to be freaking’ kidding me. Him?

I did not see the post-race interviews or celebration. They did not interest me. I did not feel satisfied with the outcome of the race. Martin Truex Jr.? I only wish. Kevin Harvick? He is my man. Kyle Busch? The man is a top-drawer talent, a sure Hall of Famer one day. Logano? One day I may come to embrace him, to love him as a fan, to celebrate his deeds. Sadly, that day has not yet arrived.

Every one of our four championship contenders was right there in the mix until the last half dozen laps or so. Busch started on the front row, but it was Harvick the top dog after the opening stage. In the second, Harvick was again the man, even though Kyle Larson managed to beat him at the line to claim the stage. When they came back on the track after pit stops, Logano was up front, followed by Harvick, Busch, and Truex in that order. The best was going up against the best. They survived, they thrived, as the four contenders led the way ahead of the 35 pretenders.

With 48 laps to declare a champion, Truex had gotten by Logano. Green flag stops saw Harvick the best of those who stopped, but Busch had not and led his closest rival by 22 seconds, with Logano right behind Harvick running fifth. Daniel Suarez got sent for a skid and after more pit action it was Busch still ahead. With 17 laps to run, Busch had the lead exiting the pits but Truex took off as the action returned to green. He looked gone, but looks can be deceiving. Just four laps later, with the Jaws-theme playing in our heads, Logano tracked the defending champion down. He made the pass, and it was he who disappeared into the sunset to claim the 2018 Cup championship. He had the talent and the horses to seal the deal.

Truex was second. Harvick finished third. Busch concluded his season in fourth. However, it was the 28-year-old from Middletown, Connecticut making up for his 2016 runner-up season. It was his third win of the year and the 21st of his Cup career. It was freaking Joey Logano.

Like it or not, it was a well-deserved victory. It matters not that I did not like it. An objective observer would wish to celebrate. However, few fans are that objective. Me included.

November 19, 2018

Tag: joey logano

Harvick Begins His West Coast Swing in Stage One

Team Penske Working Together During Stage Two

Team Penske Puts on a Show in the Final Stage