Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: joey logano

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Ford EcoBoost 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Ford EcoBoost 400

    As the Florida sun faded to darkness at Homestead-Miami Speedway and a first-time champion was crowned, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the season’s final race, the Ford EcoBoost 400.

    Surprising: Although Stewart-Haas Racing has always touted its Hendrick Motorsports partnership, it was surprising to learn in more detail just how important that connection has been to the new NASCAR champion and the winning race team.

    Kevin Harvick, winning his first ever NASCAR Cup Championship, specifically and repeatedly paid homage to Hendrick Motorsports six-time champion Jimmie Johnson in his post-race and champion-clinching comments.

    “Jimmie Johnson was a huge help in just helping — he’d show up in the trailer after every practice and called and texted to Rodney (Childers, crew chief) and myself,” Harvick said. “You’ve got to remember, Jimmie and I have — we’ve known each other for a long time. We slept on those same couches at Hornaday’s house adjacent to each other in the game room.”

    “He’d go race his ASA cars, and I’d go race the trucks for the Spears bunch, so we spent a lot of time together as friends and have grown to be better friends as we’ve gone past the last few years for sure.”

    Tony Stewart, co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, echoed his driver’s comments about the HMS connection.

    “We’ve got a great partnership with Hendrick Motorsports, and like Kevin just mentioned, when you’ve got eight drivers that are sharing information, it’s a lot easier to race seven guys than it is to try to worry about racing 34 or 35 guys.”

    Not Surprising: Although they are three very different drivers, in age, size and style, they all had one thing in common after the final race was run. All three races were visibly despondent, from Ryan Newman, who finished the best of the three contenders in the second spot, to Denny Hamlin who finished seventh and Joey Logano who finished an even more disappointing sixteenth.

    “We had a couple pit stops that kind of put us back,” Newman said. “It is disappointing, don’t get me wrong, but there’s no point in being a sore loser. We came back for the entire season to make our best finish our last finish.”

    “The race did not go too well for us,” Hamlin said. “Obviously we had a championship-type car, championship-type effort, but those last breaks just didn’t go our way. We just struggled with restart speed.”

    “Obviously our race was not too good,” Logano said. “We knew what we had to do, we just didn’t execute from every angle it seems like. I hit the wall a bit early in the race and then we came down pit road, made a mistake and went to the tail end of the lead lap.”

    Surprising: Jeff Gordon and crew chief Alan Gustafson had a surprisingly testy exchange at the end of the race, all about whether or not to pit from the front of the pack for tires in the latter part of the race.

    Gordon was one of the few drivers who stayed out late in the race and when another caution came, he desperately pleaded for tires. Crew chief Gustafson argued against giving up track position but Gordon was insistent and down pit road he came.

    After starting mid-pack, the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet rallied back to finish tenth.

    Not Surprising: Who knew that Kyle Larson, officially named Sunoco Rookie of the Year, had his own bandwagon?

    “There was a lot of room on the Kyle Larson bandwagon on to start the season,” Larson said. “I think a lot of people chose Austin Dillon to win it, and I was pretty confident in myself and in my team that we could do it.”

    “I knew there would be some ups and downs, but I felt like we would be the top contender once we got halfway through the season, and we definitely were. We’ve gotten better throughout the season, and just is a huge honor to win this title with all the other names that have won it.”

    Surprising: During the race, NASCAR made a surprising announcement that Chad Knaus was called to the NASCAR hauler for disobeying a NASCAR directive. The issue, involving the team’s use of a wheel spacer, turned out to be much ado about nothing as confirmed by Robin Pemberton, Vice President for Competition.

    “We just had a discussion on pit road between our official and Chad and really it was just to discuss it,” Pemberton said. “It was really not a big deal. We were just trying to clarify what went on, that’s all.”

    “Everything is fine.”

    Not Surprising: Greg Biffle ended his difficult year with a blowout, of the unfortunate tire type. He was having a solid run when he blew a tire, hit the outside wall and had to go to the garage for repairs.

    Biffle finished 41st in the season finale and ended 14th in the championship standings.

    Surprising: The crew chiefs, teams and drivers that were racing together for the very last time sadly did not finish on the best of terms.

    “It had gotten dark, and the track was doing just what Trevor and Donnie expected,” team co-owner Eddie Wood said. “The track was coming to us, and Trevor was running some really good lap times. He had gotten in the lucky dog position, which would have gotten us back on the lead lap when the next caution came out.”

    “Unfortunately, that caution flag wound up being for us.”

    Carl Edwards and Jimmy Fennig also parted ways after the season finale, with Edwards going to Joe Gibbs Racing and Fennig ratcheting his time down on the box.

    “Jimmy Fennig is an unsung hero at Roush Racing,” Jack Roush, owner, said. “He doesn’t do things that create a personal image away from the driver or away from the sponsor or away from the team. He’s the trooper that’s back there doing everything that he can every day.”

    Probably one of the most dynamic driver/crew chief duos also did not finish off their relationship in quite the manner that they wanted.

    Dale Jr. and Steve Letarte raced one last time as driver and crew chief, finishing 14th in the Ford EcoBoost 400. The two summed up their feelings on Twitter as Letarte leaves for a television broadcasting career next season.

    “Me and Steve didn’t count on becoming such great friends,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “That’s just really been a bonus to the whole thing.”

    “I might not be talking to @DaleJr thru the headset any more but we will still be friends,” Letarte tweeted. “Taught me a bit about racing and a lot about life.”

    Not Surprising: Chevrolet had a big night at Homestead-Miami Speedway, with their driver winning the championship, six Chevy drivers in the top-ten, and securing their 12th consecutive manufacturer’s championship.

    “Winning the Manufacturers’ Championship is one of the goals we set at the beginning of every season,” Jim Campbell, U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports, said.

    Surprising: Matt Kenseth had a surprisingly good weekend, as the highest finishing Toyota and also winner of the Nationwide race.

    “It’s been a long time since I won a race in anything, so just happy for Kevin (Kidd, crew chief),” Kenseth said. “He’s been trying to get a win over here for a long time, and he’s going on to something different next year.”

    “Happy to send him off with a win here; that was pretty good.”

    Not Surprising: There was at least one drive ready for Daytona after his third place run in the season finale.

    “Yeah, it was a heck of a season, not just for me but for all of Team Penske,” Brad Keselowski said. “I’m kind of wishing it wasn’t over, but we still have some work to do to continue to work and get better.”

    “In some ways, I hate to see the season come to an end, and honestly I’m ready to be at Daytona next week for the 500. That’s probably not the most popular comment in the world, but sometimes I’m not the most popular guy.”

    Final Note: In a most unusual year with the brand new Chase format, it has been a pleasure to share the surprising and not so surprising moments of the season. So, sit back, enjoy the off-season and as Brad Keselowski said, see you in Daytona!

     

     

     

  • Kevin Harvick Doubles Down as Race Winner and NASCAR Champ

    Kevin Harvick Doubles Down as Race Winner and NASCAR Champ

    It’s not often that a driver can double down in NASCAR but Kevin Harvick did just that, winning the Ford EcoBoost 400 as well as the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship. This was Harvick’s 28th victory in 502 Cup races, his fifth victory of the season and his first victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    “Well, I just really don’t know what to even say about how much I appreciate this,” champion Harvick said in Victory Lane. “I’m just really excited. It’s really special for everybody.”

    “Been trying for 13 years,” Harvick continued. “I just have to thank Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson for helping me through this week. Jimmie was in my trailer as much as many of my teammates – doing all the things that it takes to tell me what I needed to do today.”

    For Harvick, the win and championship was indeed a family affair with wife DeLana and son Keelan in Victory Lane.

    “It is surreal,” DeLana Harvick said emotionally. “To come fight for this championship with one of the best group of guys I have ever been around…they did this. They deserve it. They are champions.”

    Harvick, a veteran of all three of NASCAR’s national series, is the third driver to win the Cup and Nationwide crowns, joining Bobby Labonte and Brad Keselowski in that achievement. He is also the 30th champion in the 66-year history of the Cup Series.

    Team owner Tony Stewart was also celebrating his driver’s win, especially significant after the difficult year personally that he has been through. While this was also the second championship for Stewart-Haas Racing, both Kevin Harvick and his crew chief Rodney Childers won championships for the first time ever.

    “It’s great,” Smoke said on ESPN SportsCenter. “That’s why we have a four-car team to make sure we have every opportunity we can to come to Homestead and have a chance to race for a Sprint Cup championship.”

    “This is an awesome night for our whole organization and Gene Haas and Kevin and Rodney Childers and everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing.”

    “This is an unbelievable evening.”

    Ryan Newman, who worked his way into the championship contender round with a last lap pass, finished the race in the runner-up position. This was Newman’s fifth top-10 finish at Homestead and his 16th top-10 finish in 2014, again confirming his consistency throughout the season.

    “These guys did a really good job,” Newman said. “We had a couple pit stops that kind of put us back, but the guys stepped it up the last couple pit stops and we gained a few spots; gave ourselves a shot.”

    “Luke (Lambert, crew chief), I thought made a great call on the two-tire stop, and we got some track position,” Newman continued. “And then when Jeff (Gordon) pitted, that kind of caught me by surprise and gave us the front row.”

    “In the end, I’m just so proud of our team. It is disappointing, don’t’ get me wrong, but there’s no point in being a sore loser.”

    Brad Keselowski, who had such a strong season, finished third in his self-proclaimed white deuce. This was his second top-10 finish in seven races at Homestead.

    “Yeah, it was a heck of a season, not just for me but for all of Team Penske,” Keselowski said. “Certainly a year that we’ll look back on with a lot of pride.”

    “I’m kind of wishing it wasn’t over, but we still have some work to do to continue to work and get better. We have to go back and work a little bit harder and find a little more speed and try to keep up with that.”

    Kyle Larson officially claimed the Sunoco Rookie of the Year title, having been in that position most of the season. He finished 13th in the race finale and was yet again the highest finishing rookie of the race.

    “We were really competitive all season long with the Target team and came really, really close to winning a couple of them,” Larson said. “There was a lot of room on the Kyle Larson bandwagon to start the season. I think a lot of people chose Austin Dillon to win it and I was pretty confident in myself and in my team that we could do it.”

    “I knew there would be some ups and downs but I felt like we would be the top contender once we got halfway through the season and we definitely were,” Larson continued. “Really proud of that, proud of the effort everybody has put in on these race cars. We’ve gotten better throughout the season and just is a huge honor to win this title with all the other names that have won it.”

    For Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano, who were also contending for the championship in addition to Harvick and Newman, it was all about the difficulties on the restarts and in the pits that led to their respective downfall.

    Hamlin finished seventh and Logano finished fourth, both unable to claim the championship crown.

    “I thought we had a better car than those guys, just I had a bad restart and lost position to the No. 4,” Hamlin said. “Darian (Grubb, crew chief) made the decision to leave us out there on tires trying to do something to get that track position back that I lost on the restart and it just didn’t work out for us.”

    “With all of those cautions, it just allowed all of those guys to close back up and it was kind of all she wrote for us,” Hamlin continued. “Sometimes the cautions fall your way and sometimes they don’t. We definitely gave ourselves a shot and things were looking really good for us, but those cautions just really, really hurt us.”

    “It was a heck of a race up there,” Logano said. “I screwed up and hit the wall early and we were able to recover then had the mistake on pit road, which didn’t give us enough time to recover from that.”

    “It is unfortunate,” Logano continued. “Execution was our strong point all year and we just didn’t do it tonight. For that reason, we finished fourth after I think we scored the most points this whole Chase.”

    Congratulations are also due to Chevrolet, who secured yet another manufacturer’s championship. This was their 12th consecutive championship and the 38th time overall that they have won it.

    “Winning the Manufacturers’ championship is one of the goals we set at the beginning of every season,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “This championship is the result of great teamwork by the owners, drivers, crew chiefs, crews and technical partners. Special thanks to the Chevrolet powertrain team, along with the engine shops at Hendrick Motorsports and Earnhardt-Childress Racing for delivering the right combination of power, fuel economy, and reliability throughout the entire season.”

    “Congratulations to everyone who has made this special achievement possible for Chevrolet.”

  • Brian France Talks Chase, Domestic Violence, Fights and Championship Finale

    Brian France Talks Chase, Domestic Violence, Fights and Championship Finale

    In a wide-ranging State of the Sport press conference, NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France discussed everything from the new Chase format, the sanctioning body’s domestic violence policies, fights in the sport, and the drivers who may be crowned champion this weekend.

    France started his State of the Sport remarks with his assessment of the new Chase format, which he deemed as “exceeding all expectations.”

    “The Chase has accomplished all of our goals and probably exceeded them,” France said. “The balance between winning and consistency was achieved. Depending on what happens on Sunday, this has the potential to be one of the most successful seasons in NASCAR history.”

    “It has our fans excited and the interest level of the sport heightened. That’s precisely what we wanted to achieve.”

    France did acknowledge that fans, especially some of the most hard-core in the sport, still may be adjusting to the whole new Chase format.

    “Even though the format is relatively simple, what we are all finding out is that the strategies associated with the new format are different,” France said. “They are unknown and they are unprecedented. That’s going to take a while for even the most hard-core fans to fully get accustomed to how the flow of the season goes, why the transfer races are so important and how consistency all plays out.”

    Because of the Chase’s perceived success, France advised that he expected “very modest to zero” changes in the Chase format for next season.

    “We reserve the right to make a modest adjustment but this is the season that I hoped for and it has done precisely what we hoped it would do,” France said. “It’s only year one but clearly we are on our way.”

    France also dealt with several questions focused on driver Kurt Busch’s domestic violence charges, especially in light of California Congresswoman’s Jackie Speier’s letter to the sanctioning body calling the incident horrifying and asking for action to be taken.

    “There is a heightened awareness of the issues of domestic abuse and violence. We expect our policies to reflect that,” France said. “We are watching that case carefully and it’s under review by law enforcement and others and they have not made a decision on that regarding Kurt.”

    “It’s a very sensitive topic today. Rightfully so,” France continued. “And so it’s not surprising that some members of Congress and other leaders might have some strong views on what we should and shouldn’t do.”

    “So, until they make some judgments on that investigation, it wouldn’t be right of us to just intervene before they’ve even gotten the investigation completed. So, that’s our position. We’ll respect their process. It’s in their hands.”

    “We’ll stay the course, let the investigation be completed and then we’ll react.”

    France also addressed another recent controversy in the sport, that of the fight between the teams of Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski after the Texas race.

    “We don’t think what happened in Texas, crew members getting into a fist fight is a good thing for NASCAR, no,” France said. “We realize that emotions sometimes will get you there and we reacted very harshly if you look at the scope of those penalties, and we should have.”

    “Anybody in our situation is always worried about escalation,” France continued. “The bottom line is we want the drivers to be able to express themselves. We don’t have dugouts or locker rooms per se. It’s not unusual for them to express themselves and have a heated conversation between them. We’re not going to change that. But when crew members and others who join in, that’s a different discussion and like I said, we dealt with that.”

    “Even the great ones, they faced similar stresses from time to time as they started to have success on the track,” France said. “Some of the drivers had a little more contact than necessary at times. That’s what we’re about. We expect tight, tight racing and that sometimes we will have some contact. It’s in our DNA.”

    “But, there is a line,” France continued. “Hard, tight racing is what we expect and what I’m sure we will see. If it’s over the line, that’s what we do. We look at those things from the control tower. Sometimes they even happen under caution.”

    “There is a line out there in all of this and we hope the drivers don’t put us in that position,” France said. “I don’t anticipate that and I do anticipate some really hard, tight racing. We respect that. Sometimes drivers thinks one or the other goes too far. That’s NASCAR. That’s what we do. That’s the whole point of what we try to get up every morning and create.”

    France also addressed the championship finale amongst Joey Logano, Ryan Newman, Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin, especially in light of one driver, Newman, being winless coming into the Homestead race.

    “Short of us making it a prerequisite that you have to win a race to qualify, I think it’s great,” France said. “We have three drivers who have won. And I do think that whoever emerges as the champion on Sunday needs to think about winning the race. I would be surprised if one of those four drivers would get out of here with a championship without the win.”

    “We’ve seen over the past years how those teams have elevated their games,” France continued. “We want to see drivers elevate their games. The reality is when you give drivers the opportunity to do something extraordinary, more times than not they do that.”

    “It’s all about a balance,” France said. “You don’t want a system that ignores consistency. I don’t care how you do it frankly. So, if Ryan Newman and Richard Childress are able to pull it off, that would be an achievement for anybody.”

    “The best team will win on Sunday.”

     

  • Hot 20 – How happy will you be after the smoke clears at Homestead?

    Hot 20 – How happy will you be after the smoke clears at Homestead?

    As the final four prepare to thunder to their fate at Homestead, not everyone is thrilled with the new format to determine the Cup champion. Again and again I read how appreciative some are for NASCAR allowing them to do other things on a Sunday afternoon than watch a sport they have abandoned. It would seem more than a few do not see the elimination format as one that might determine a true champion, or promote a style of racing they can support.

    Some might argue that Denny Hamlin should not even be in the mix considering his season long points total. The thing is, a win and an automatic berth into the Chase allowed him to take a couple of races off to mend, and he took advantage of it. You can’t fault a man for using the rules to his own advantage.

    You might find some fault in Joey Logano. Sure, he is not universally loved, but you cannot fault with what he has done on the track this season. Pick any format you like and Logano is a contender. No Chase, and Logano would trail Jeff Gordon by 29 points. The old Chase format has Logano ahead of Kevin Harvick by the same amount. Even my own format in setting up my Hot 20 all season, awarding a 25 point bonus for a win rather than just 3, has Logano within seven of Gordon over the course of the season.

    Hell, I even put together some stats for if we had a 31 race regular season, followed by a five race playoff format that was restricted to only the top 20 contenders. Logano, along with Harvick, Hamlin, and Ryan Newman, would still have their shot, but so would three others. The good news is that Brad Keselowski, Matt Kenseth, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. would still be realistically in contention. The bad news is that with the results from Talladega and Texas, Jeff Gordon would not.

    No format would satisfy everybody. There is no question the present system, from the win and in method of making the Chase, to the elimination rounds, to the final dash, has caused some excitement. While season long challengers like Gordon, Keselowski, and Earnhardt are no longer eligible, the loss of playoff favorites has not reduced the legitimacy of eventual champions in other sports. If Major League Baseball was truer to his roots, with its playoffs restricted to the champions of 4 eight team divisions, the San Francisco Giants would not have even been a contender. They would have finished behind the Dodgers and Cardinals in an expanded NL West, never mind becoming the World Series champions.

    As they say, it is what it is. Logano, Harvick, Newman, and Hamlin will each be driving to claim their first Cup championship. All are worthy, all are talented, and each should be acceptable as the 2014 champion as they would have claimed the prize under the rules of the day.

    That said, Jeff Gordon remains our hottest of the hot over the course of the entire season.

    BOLD = A contender for the championship

    Hot 20

    1 – Jeff Gordon – 4 Wins – 1305 Pts
    2 – Joey Logano – 5 Wins – 1298 Pts
    3 – Brad Keselowski – 5 Wins – 1248 Pts
    4 – Dale Earnhardt Jr – 4 Wins – 1233 Pts
    5 – Kevin Harvick – 4 Wins – 1214 Pts
    6 – Jimmie Johnson – 4 Wins – 1120 Pts
    7 – Carl Edwards – 2 Wins – 1093 Pts
    8 – Matt Kenseth – 0 Wins – 1093 Pts
    9 – Ryan Newman – 0 Wins – 1093 Pts
    10 – Kyle Larson – 0 Wins – 1049 Pts
    11 – Greg Biffle – 0 Wins – 997 Pts
    12 – Kyle Busch – 1 Win – 986 Pts
    13 – Jamie McMurray – 0 Wins – 975 Pts
    14 – Denny Hamlin – 1 Win – 971 Pts
    15 – Kasey Kahne – 1 Win – 956 Pts
    16 – Clint Bowyer – 0 Wins – 943 Pts
    17 – Austin Dillon – 0 Wins – 939 Pts
    18 – Paul Menard – 0 Wins – 904 Pts
    19 – Brian Vickers – 0 Wins – 900 Pts
    20 – Kurt Busch – 1 Win – 899 Pts

  • The Final Word – At Phoenix we Learned Being Liked and Respected can Earn Forgiveness

    The Final Word – At Phoenix we Learned Being Liked and Respected can Earn Forgiveness

    There are drivers you like and there are drivers you do not. If a driver should be a whiney revisionist weasel who does his best to avoid cashing the checks his mouth keeps on writing, I am not a fan. This is how I once viewed Kurt Busch, and it is how I presently see Brad Keselowski. For him to not make the Chase finale came as a welcome conclusion to the activities at Phoenix.

    I love Kevin Harvick. He does what he does and if you do not like it, you know where you can find him. At Phoenix, that would have been up front. He dominated the Harvick 500 from start to finish and every restart to win his fourth of the season to punch his ticket into the final four.

    I am not a fan of Denny Hamlin or Joey Logano. To be honest, I cannot tell you the deep dark reasoning behind it. I guess I just need some black hats out there on the range to go with the cowboys in white. They finished fifth and sixth respectively and had enough in the bank to go through to the final round themselves. Only tough luck has kept Hamlin from taking a championship in the past, while the 24-year old Logano is a legitimate contender no matter what measurement one wishes to use. One day, I might even get excited when they take the checkered flag.

    Jeff Gordon has been outstanding in 2014, robbed of something better by Keselowski at Texas. Ryan Newman, whose eight win season in 2003 was trumped by Matt Kenseth’s title run, used Kyle Larson’s car as a buffer on the final turn on Sunday to pick up the spot that got him in. In doing so, he also put Gordon out. Fan reaction to that move, and the end result in the Chase standings, I dare say, is much different than if it were Keselowski bouncing off Larson to end the dream for Gordon.

    By in large, it comes down to one driver being basically liked while the other is essentially not. It is not a universal feeling, granted, but by enough that it matters. While it might affect how many t-shirts he sells, being liked by the fans is not as important as being respected by your peers. They do not have to love you, but they need to have an appreciation for you that, despite his unquestionable talent, Keselowski still appears to have failed to earn.

    What the boy needs is charm and the cojones to meet head on any challenges that comes his way. Sure, he might get shaken like a rag doll from time to time, but he won’t get punched, unless someone has the cash to spend. With his talent in the car and his gift of the gab outside of it, he has the tools to jaw and charm his way through damn near anything. J.R. Ewing did it. So did Dale Earnhardt. Why not Brad? Heck, he could even continue to wear the black hat.

    Why was Brad driving the winning Nationwide car at Phoenix on Saturday? Why are any Cup guys running that circuit enough to claim 21 of 32 events this season, and nine of the past 10? Maybe NASCAR just wants to kill the circuit and this is what they have come up with. Chase Elliott has already claimed the season crown, winning three races in Texas, Darlington and Chicago against Cup talent. The lad turns 19 at the end of this month. We need to see more young talented drivers in this circuit like Chase Elliott, and less of the likes of Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski.

    To see either in more than one race at Homestead is likely, but neither will be in the running for a title in the season finales. What we will have will be four drivers, each seeking this first Cup championship, and come Sunday one of them will be successful. Nothing to not like there.

    CHASE CHAMPIONSHIP FOUR…
    1 – Kevin Harvick – 1 WIN – 4102 Points
    2 – Denny Hamlin – 4112 Pts
    3 – Joey Logano – 4111 Pts
    4 – Ryan Newman – 4103 Pts

    FOUR SHOWN THE DOOR…
    5 – Jeff Gordon – 4102 Pts
    6 – Matt Kenseth – 4100 Pts
    7 – Brad Keselowski – 4095 Pts
    8 – Carl Edwards – 4088 Pts

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500

    In the final race of the Eliminator Chase round, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 27th annual Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

    Surprising: Not only did Kevin Harvick take his No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet to Victory Lane at Phoenix but he also achieved perfection. Harvick scored a perfect 150.0 driver rating as a result of his race domination, in addition to winning his fourth of the season and his sixth at PIR.

    “That’s a good day,” Harvick said simply. “I’m really proud of the guys from Stewart-Haas Racing and Rodney (Childers, crew chief) for the group of guys that they put together over the off-season, and to see this team build throughout the year has been something that for me has been just — it’s just fueled life back into me to come to the racetrack and be a part of something like this.”

    Not Surprising: All of the manufacturers currently in the sport will have a shot at the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship this year. Joey Logano will be representing the Ford Camp, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman will fly the Chevrolet banner, and Denny Hamlin will carry the torch for Toyota Racing in the Homestead championship finale.

    “There are a lot of emotions, believe me,” Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford, said. “My hat’s off to all the Shell/Pennzoil guys on this team. They deserve to be in the final four. We proved it throughout this whole Chase and really this whole year, and I’m glad to be sitting here and going for it and have some fun next week.”

    “Just so proud of these guys, everybody, for fighting back, Luke Lambert, everybody at RCR and ECR, this Caterpillar team, they fight hard, there’s no doubt about that,” Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 31 Cat Mining Chevrolet, said after muscling his way into the Chase on the last lap. “I guess the only mistake I made all day was showing these guys what I’ll do on the last lap for when everything is on the line. We’re in this hunt. I’m proud of all my guys, and today was a lot of hard work, and in the end, the last lap was fun.”

    “Coming over here and racing this year has given me new life and a new perspective,” Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet said. “It’s like a dream. You lay it all out on paper and you say, this is what we want to do and we want to race for wins and championships, and all of a sudden you’re a week away from everything that you talk about and dream about and dream up and want it to be like, and here we are.”

    “We just kept working on it and getting our car better,” Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota said. “Probably our saving grace was we definitely didn’t have that strong of a car today but we had a strong car on restarts, and that kind of allowed us to be aggressive and pick up a handful of spots and then a caution would come out, we’d pit, get a little bit better tires, then the guys that stayed out would make up a few more spots, and next thing you know we ended up finishing in the top 5 somehow, some way.”

    “It was a battle.”

    Surprising: In spite of his disappointment in not advancing to the championship round, Jeff Gordon affirmed his support of the new Chase format, although with a bit of a caveat.

    “I like it. I do,” the driver of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet said. “I’m a little concerned where it could go with — just like last week we found out on pit road where the line is drawn and when you cross over that line, and I think that it could get to that on the racetrack, as well. I don’t necessarily know that it has gotten there yet, but it’s certainly possible.”

    “I think it’s incredibly intense,” Gordon continued. “This is the most interest we’ve had in this sport in a long time, so obviously it’s been good. I feel like the only disappointing thing or the only thing I don’t like right now is the fact that I’m not in it next week.”

    Not Surprising: Even though Halloween has passed, Carl Edwards was still looking for some tricks this weekend in order to pull of his dream of advancing to race for the championship. It was not meant to be, however, as the driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford finished 15th.

    “Yeah, we tried every trick that we could,” Edwards said. “We just didn’t have a lot of speed all weekend. The car actually drove pretty decently at the end. These guys dug deep and worked hard. I’ve never been a part of something like this where everybody just doesn’t give up. This means the world.”

    Surprising: After so many championship runs, it was surprising to see six-time champ Jimmie Johnson have such a bad day that all he was thinking about was getting home safely.

    “The root of our biggest problem was the fact that the alternator quit working and we had to keep changing batteries on pit road each caution,” the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Patriotic Chevrolet, said. “Then when I would go back out on the race track I would need to run with my fans off. I didn’t have my brake fans on and was racing hard to try to get a decent finish and evidently just got things too hot and the brakes failed.”

    “I felt a rotor explode on the front straightaway,” Johnson continued. “Luckily it did it there so I had time to throw it in third gear, slow it down some, stay wide into turn one and try not to have a bad angle of the impact of the wall because I was going to hit for sure. So, it was just bad day that kept getting worse. I hope to make it home safe and outside of that, we will see you in Homestead.”

    Not Surprising: While others were competing for championship rites, other drivers were running races with totally different agendas, including just finishing on the lead lap.

    “We were on the lead lap, which has been a struggle here lately,” Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet, said after finishing 22nd. “The GoDaddy car was good early on, but I think the track got tight later on. We finished decent, so I’ll take it. It’s always important to run well here because of GoDaddy so I’ll take it.”

    Surprising: With an investigation of domestic violence facing the driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet off track, it was surprising that Kurt Busch was able to pull off a seventh place finish at Phoenix, no doubt in part due to his owner’s confidence in him.

    “He’ll be in the car until someone else pulls him out,” Gene Haas, team owner, said. “I’m not pulling him out. I think we’re just going to let the police department do their job and try not to say anything that would compromise that. We want an unbiased investigation and we’ll see how it all plays out.”

    Not Surprising: In spite of being bumped out of the way by Chaser Ryan Newman on the last lap, Kyle Larson continued his winning ways as rookie of the race. The driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet finished 13th, with the next highest rookie finisher, Michael Annett, in the 26th position.

    Larson’s usual rookie nemesis Austin Dillon finished 38th after having a tire go down, causing a close encounter with the wall.

    Surprising: After several tough race weekends and in his next to the last NASCAR race of his career, Marcos Ambrose finished strong. In fact he finished top-10 for his Richard Petty Motorsports No. 9 Stanley Tools Ford team.

    “The track changed a lot, but Drew did a great job of making adjustments,” Ambrose said. “We really made the car a lot better all race. It was super-tight in the middle, but we made the right calls. It’s nice to get a good finish. The last few weeks have been a struggle and it’s nice to get back on track. It was a good day for our STANLEY team.”

    Not Surprising: Even those drivers not involved in the Chase competition are looking forward to the last race at Homestead, especially after testing there.

    “We’re looking forward to the race,” Dale Earnhardt, Jr. said. “We feel like we had a good car there last year and we just wanted to learn a few more things.”

    “We’re looking forward to the race.”

     

     

  • Hot 20 – Phoenix isn’t Tombstone, but it Might be Hard to Tell the Difference after Sunday

    Hot 20 – Phoenix isn’t Tombstone, but it Might be Hard to Tell the Difference after Sunday

    NASCAR sought unpredictability for its championship run, and they have it. If not for the Chase, Jeff Gordon would just need to hold off Joey Logano, 26 points back, over the next two races and the title would be his. If the Chase format had not changed from last year, Logano would be the man in charge, with Kevin Harvick 35 back with two to go. Not much drama, not terribly unpredictable, and to change that up is the sole reason NASCAR changed things up this season.

    Heading into Phoenix on Sunday, none of the eight remaining contenders are locked in. Logano, Denny Hamlin, and Ryan Newman look strong, but they are out of trouble by only 11 to 13 points. A bunch of things can happen to see that savings account get all used up. The other contenders are within six points either way of making it or losing their chance to race for all the marbles. At Homestead, the best finisher of the remaining four claims the crown, a track that historically is a good one for Carl Edwards, Harvick, Hamlin, and Gordon. Still, you got to be in the mix to contend, and you got to have a good final day to claim the prize.

    Jerks need not apply. If someone takes you out of the running, there are 38 cowboys (and one cowgirl) out there with nothing to lose at Miami. A simple “oops” can make one’s day while ruining somebody’s season. When a lad tries to fit his car in a hole it just does not fit without risking taking one or both of the leaders out, and tries to walk away from it later, somebody is bound to get a wee bit ticked off. Somebody might end up a tad bloodied. Somebody might find their bid for a title “accidently” wrecked. NASCAR wanted drama. NASCAR wanted unpredictability. NASCAR got it. While the O.K. Corral might be 200 miles away from the track in Phoenix, Keselowski might find himself facing a hell of a lot of Wyatt Earps out there this weekend.

    No matter how these “playoffs” end, the top two drivers throughout this season have been Gordon and Logano. It would be a shame if either fails to make it through Phoenix. It would be a damn shame if the third best fellow, Keselowski, also failed to make it through. Yup, a damn shame. Bad things befalling Bad Brad? Dramatic, yes, but unpredictable? Not so much. What remains to be seen is where, by whom, and when.

    *Drivers awarded 25 (instead of 3) bonus points for a win
    BOLD = Current Chase contender

    Hot 20

    1 – Jeff Gordon – 4 Wins – 1263 Points
    2 – Joey Logano – 5 – 1259
    3 – Brad Keselowski – 5 – 1208
    4 – Dale Earnhardt Jr – 4 – 1196
    5 – Kevin Harvick – 3 – 1144
    6 – Jimmie Johnson – 4 – 1115
    7 – Carl Edwards – 2 – 1064
    8 – Ryan Newman – 0 – 1060
    9 – Matt Kenseth – 0 – 1052
    10 – Kyle Larson – 0 – 1018
    11 – Kyle Busch – 1 – 976
    12 – Greg Biffle – 0 – 962
    13 – Jamie McMurray – 0 – 945
    14 – Clint Bowyer – 0 – 939
    15 – Austin Dillon – 0 – 933
    16 – Kasey Kahne – 1 – 933
    17 – Denny Hamlin – 1 – 931
    18 – Paul Menard – 0 – 883
    19 – Brian Vickers – 0 – 875
    20 – Kurt Busch – 1 – 862

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Texas

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Texas

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Joey Logano: Logano spun on lap 303 at Texas and lost ground, but recovered to finish 12th. He is tied for the lead in the points standings with Denny Hamlin.

    “I may be the Chase’s youngest driver,” Logano said, “but I can still set a good example for some of the veterans. I mean, I would never go after another driver—I’d just let my dad do it.

    “Was the post-race melee real, or was it staged? It looked fishy. I kind of expected Ashton Kutcher to appear and tell Brad Keselowski and Jeff Gordon that they had just been on MTV’s prank show ‘Punch’d.’”

    2. Jeff Gordon: Gordon led 49 laps and was poised to take the win before Clint Bowyer spun to bring out a caution with five laps to go. On the ensuing restart, Gordon was squeezed by Brad Keselowski, which punctured a rear tire on the No. 24. Gordon eventually finished 29th and is fourth in the points standings.

    “I’d like to apologize for my characterization of Keselowski,” Gordon said. “But only for its accuracy.

    “My quest for title number five took a hit. I’ll be extremely disappointed if I don’t get it, especially with a lot of big name drivers ineligible. My car is sponsored by the ‘Drive To End Hunger;’ I just don’t want the final race of the season to be a ‘drive to end hungry.’”

    3. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished 10th at Texas and now leads the Sprint Cup points standings, thanks to a shake-up in the final laps at Texas.

    “They say everything is bigger in Texas,” Hamlin said. “Apparently, that includes expletives utterted on the air.

    “Now, I’ll do anything at Phoenix to make sure I advance to the final round. Like some other drivers, I’ll gladly fight my way into the Championship round.”

    4. Ryan Newman: Newman finished 15th in the AAA Texas 500 and is now third in the points standings, two points behind Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin.

    “I just need to hold my position and I’m on to the next round,” Newman said. “Basically, that means I need to steer clear of the No. 2 car. I’ve got plenty of experience with that, because when Rusty Wallace was in that car, I avoided him like the plague.

    “I don’t know all the ins and outs of clinching scenarios for Phoenix. My goal is to go out and win. I may have an engineering degree, but someone else can do the math.”

    5. Carl Edwards: Edwards posted a ninth in the AAA Texas 500, earning his 13th top-10 of the year. He is fifth in the points standings, one behind fourth place.

    “What a scene after the race,” Edwards said. “That’s two fights in the last three races. I can’t wait to see what happens at Phoenix. They say the track there is an oval; I say it looks more like a ‘squared circle.’”

    6. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth started on the pole at Texas and finished 25th, a finish which severely damaged his hopes to advance. He is fifth in the points standings, one point behind Jeff Gordon in fourth.

    “I’ve only got Kevin Harvick after me,” Kenseth said. “That’s nothing compared to Brad Keselowski. There’s a lot a drivers that want to get in his face. I truly think Brad needs another spotter at Phoenix. By ‘another spotter,’ I mean ‘eyes in the back of his head.’”

    7. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski started 26th at Texas and finished third in the AAA Texas 500. On the races penultimate restart, Keselowski forced his way between Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. Contact punctured Gordon’s tire, and Keselowski also raised the ire of Kevin Harvick.

    “Depending on who you ask,” Keselowski said, “I’m either on a reign of terror or a reign of error.

    “But I won’t change how I race. I’m still going to do things my way, so don’t get in my way. Right now, I’m just focused on Phoenix International Raceway. You could say I have a ‘one track mind.’”

    8. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished second in the AAA Texas 500, placing himself in solid position to advance to the Chase For The Cup’s next round. Afterwards, Harvick was in the middle of a melee involving Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski.

    “I pushed Keselowski right into the middle of it,” Harvick said. “It may have been the most literal example of the saying, ‘When push comes to shove.’

    “Don’t tell anyone, but my push was a crafty ploy to create a feud between Keselowski and Gordon, two drivers who just happen to be the ones I’m battling for a spot in the Chase’s final round. Jimmy John’s is ‘freaky fast; ’ I’m ‘sneaky fast.’”

    9. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt finished sixth in the AAA Texas 500 as Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson won the race.

    “Formula 1 raced in Austin on Sunday,” Earnhardt said. “But their race couldn’t hold a candle to what happened at the NASCAR event. To Formula 1, we all say ‘Stay classy.’ To NASCAR, Formula 1 says the same thing, but with an open cockpit full of sarcasm.

    “There were more cheap shots at Texas than on dollar night at Whisky River. Only one thing could have made that Texas fracas better—if Dr. Jerry Punch could have handled post-race interviews.”

    10. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson held off Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick to win his third consecutive Texas fall race.

    “That’s two straight wins for Hendrick Motorsports drivers in the Eliminator round,” Johnson said. “Apparently, we’re trying to ‘eliminate’ Jeff Gordon from any chance of winning his fifth Cup.”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Texas AAA 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Texas AAA 500

    After remembering the passing of racer Jim Sauter with a moment of silence, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 10th annual AAA Texas 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway.

    Surprising: Brad Keselowski gave a whole new meaning to minding the gap after his on and off track real estate dispute with Jeff Gordon.

    “Today something happened,” Keselowski said after finishing third. “There was a gap. It closed up. By the time it closed up, I was committed, and I stayed in it. That almost won me the race.”

    “It hurt somebody else’s day. That’s a shame,” the driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford said. “But the reality is there was a gap.”

    “You know, I’m not Dale Earnhardt or Senna. I read how they raced, how great they were for this sport. They would sit here and tell you they would go for that same gap. I’m not them, but I’m inspired by that, and I’m going to race that way.”

    Not Surprising: Team Hendrick continued flawlessly executing their strategy in the Eliminator Round of the Chase, sending their Chase busting team members into Victory Lane as a sort of protection for their Chaser brethren Jeff Gordon, who did not quite make it there after his Keselowski encounter.

    Hendrick driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. became the Chase buster in Martinsville last weekend and this weekend it was another HMS Chase buster Jimmie Johnson who took his turn, honoring all Lowe’s employees who wear the red vest in his red No. 48.

    “We are back on track,” Johnson said after winning his fourth of the year and his fourth at Texas Motor Speedway. “Unfortunately we didn’t find this stuff a month or two ago, but that is the way racing goes.”

    With both HMS Chase busters in Victory Lane for the first two races in the Eliminator Round, the lone HMS Chaser Gordon has maintained his position in the top-4, a team feat especially impressive given Gordon’s 29th place run at Texas.

    Surprising: While tire troubles may be a common driver mantra, it is not often that there are complaints about the sheer lack of number of tires available, so much so that NASCAR actually permitted teams to get an extra set of tires during this particular race.

    “It’s kind of a sad situation when you run out of tires like that,” Newman, driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet said after finishing 15th. “I wish NASCAR had given us more tires. They gave us one set, but when they keep throwing cautions like that that were totally unnecessary, and there’s not debris on the race track and no reason to throw it. We need to keep racing. And it’s sad to see but that’s the way they’ve been playing it.”

    Not Surprising: If you think that Alexander had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, just ask the Toyota drivers how they were feeling after Texas.

    “We were a bag of everything today. Man we were so bad,” Kyle Busch said after his fourth place run. “I don’t know what happened to us from yesterday. We fought all day long.”

    “We had a bad car,” Denny Hamlin, who finished tenth, said, echoing the theme. “We made the best of it. Other guys made mistakes. We weren’t really that good. Luckily other guys had problems. That’s what happened.”

    “We went the wrong direction on adjustments during the middle part of the race,” Brian Vickers said after his 16th place run. “Billy Scott (crew chief) was able to get the car pretty good for the end of the race but with all those cautions we just got too tight.”

    “We were okay when we were up front and had track position, but we had a problem in the pits and lost our track position,” Matt Kenseth said after finishing 25th. “The way my car drove — I was kind of afraid of how it would be in traffic. We got most of our track position back, stayed out on tires and just couldn’t get by Kurt (Busch) there — and got to the back again having to get tires. Then we got caught up in a restart deal that was three-four wide which did some damage, and we could just never overcome it.”

    Surprising: Joey Logano was on a surprisingly odd salvage mission of his own, trying to make good after, of all things, a glue issue on pit road.

    “We were able to salvage something decent out of tonight,” the driver of the No. 22 AAA Insurance Ford said. “We were a top five car and possibly a winning car if scenarios played out right.”

    “I don’t know what happened with the glue on the pit stop and I haven’t gotten the full story yet but we had a hell of a time trying to put rear tires on the car,” Logano continued. “We lost all our track position with 30 to go and I came off the corner and the 9 hit me and popped my right rear and then we spun out. We put tires back on it and then just held on until the end and got something decent out of something that could have been way worse.”

    In spite of his sticky situation, Logano did emerge the point’s leader by virtue of his five wins for the season, which broke the points tie with Denny Hamlin, who has but one win to date.

    Not Surprising: After the two past races where Austin Dillon scored Rookie of the Race honors, Kyle Larson emerged victorious in that regard, finishing seventh to Dillon’s 21st place run.

    “I thought we practiced really well,” the driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet said. “When the race fired off, we weren’t very good. I thought we’d get better, but we didn’t. We got worse and worse and worse. We had a lot of late-race restarts to get up there to get a better finish.”

    “Disappointing day, but okay to finish seventh where we did. Hopefully we can get some better runs in the last races.”

    Surprising: In a somewhat surprisingly ironic twist, Kevin Harvick, who nudged along the Keselowski vs. Gordon post-race match up, did not want anything to do with retaliation, even after some harsh words for Matt Kenseth as a result of last weekend’s short track racing.

    “I just raced,” Harvick said after Texas was completed. “I thought my car was fast enough to win the race and be in contention. Doing something crazy at that point in the race, then I never saw him (Matt Kenseth) towards the end of the race, so it wasn’t really our game plan to get into that situation any further than we needed to.”

    “It’s like I said before the race, I know he didn’t do it on purpose, but in the end we still lost 33 points to the leader. We got to race as hard as we can to try to get that back.”

    Not Surprising: Even with a swapped out crew chief, Kurt Busch was able to pull off a top-10 finish in his No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet.

    “It was great to have a shot at the win,” Busch said after taking the checkered flag in the eighth position. “Tony Gibson (new Crew Chief), the engineers did a great job reading my balance, and I was trying to pick up on their changes. So, it was nice to go out there and execute.”

    “We used the last yellow to our advantage,” Busch continued. “The last two yellows for fresh tires, and worked our way from, I don’t know, 25th to eighth. All-in-all, a great first day. I love the team; I love the guys. We are going to be good. We just have to work out the details.”

    Surprising: Jamie McMurray could not wait for the sun to go down on him, as when the darkness descended he ascended to the fifth finishing spot.

    “We had an up and down day,” the driver of the No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet said. “Fortunately for us we were better when the sun went down. It was really slick at the beginning. We really struggled with the car, but when the sun went down the car started coming to us.”

    Not Surprising: There is no quit in the No. 99 Aflac Ford team, who finished the race ninth after battling from the rear.

    “We got super lucky there at the end and my guys never quit,” Carl Edwards said. “I am so proud of my guys. I have no idea where we are at in points but we certainly finished better than we should have tonight.”

    “It was a great night when for awhile it didn’t look like it was going to be,” Edwards continued. “We get to move on to Phoenix now and we will know what we have to do there. We will take it.”

    “My guys didn’t quit and I know they won’t quit and we are going to go next week and go for this thing.”

  • The Final Word – In Texas, the Racing is Just an Appetizer for the Excitement yet to Come

    The Final Word – In Texas, the Racing is Just an Appetizer for the Excitement yet to Come

    Jimmie Johnson was a factor from beginning to end in Texas, claiming his fourth victory of the season. Okay, enough about the damn race. All the real excitement took place after they waved the checkered flag.

    On a first attempt at a green-white-checkered restart, Johnson and Jeff Gordon started up front. A gap opened between the two and Brad Keselowski tried to punch his way through. There was some separation between the leaders, but not a hole big enough to fit a car, at least to begin with. As Gordon came down, Keselowski was there, but there still was not quite enough of a hole to fit a car through. The two hit, Brad slipped and scraped his way by, while Gordon wound up with a flat tire. Johnson won while Kevin Harvick managed to take the runner-up spot away from the third place Keselowski. As for Gordon, he went from second to finishing a lap down in 29th. Again, enough about the damn race.

    As the boys and girl lined up on pit road to head toward the garage, Gordon pulled up beside Keselowski. As the teams already seemed to be in a scrum, Gordon calmly walked around it all in order to chat with his rival. I say calmly, but appearances can be deceiving. Okay, there was some steam pouring out of Jeff’s helmet as he came around.

    As Keselowski emerged from his car, Gordon began jawing at him while Brad jawed right back, separated by some big boys from his crew. Just when it appeared that One Time might escape from the ruckus, Harvick came in from behind him, apparently said something about fighting his own fight, and pushed Brad back toward the maelstrom. It was enough to allow Gordon to grab Keselowski’s uniform, and the melee ensued. Brad had an escape strategy going for him, but that is when a Gordon crew man came from behind to commit him entirely before collaring the boy. Brad bent backwards and sunk beneath the waves. Both drivers got a little bloodied, but it all proved about as damaging as a pair of toddlers squaring off.
    There were punches thrown, but few if any, really connected. The boys got rough, the boys got loud, and the only person you could really feel sorry for was ESPN’s Jamie Little, who was caught on the fringes of it all. Mind you, a big lug with Paul Menard’s team placed a mitt over the wall to keep her stabilized and upright. Chivalry is alive in NASCAR, as she went on with her job and interviewed Bad Brad post-ruckus. She is a good one, and it is good to see she will be heading over to FOX for next season.

    So, is anyone at fault here? Gordon had every right to be upset as a great finish went into the tank big time. Keselowski tried a maneuver Dale Earnhardt would have attempted in a moment, only the Intimidator would have been in the middle of the expected activities that came afterward. All Harvick did was give Brad a little advice and a gentle push in a direction the boy did not seem eager to face on his own. It was rowdy, not terribly genteel, and totally inappropriate for the conclusion of a chess match, but with these type of personalities in this kind of situation, not overly unexpected. As for violence, it barely matched that of a rugby scrum.

    Yes, there are reports about the supposed mass brawl. No doubt, these folks have never seen a real one, never mind taking in a rough hockey game. Both men were cut up, though scraped up might be a more truthful observation. Brad might have been spitting blood, though it was hard to tell as he was rinsing his mouth out with a red liquid. Harvick’s shove was less aggressive than what I’ve seen DeLana “suffer” at the hands of a teasing Tony Stewart. One writer has stated that throwing a punch, connecting, and giving someone a bloody lip has no place in society. In a conference room, yes, but throw a beanball, spear a hockey player, or drive your car recklessly and you just might face a good, ole fashioned whopping. Even that did not happen in Texas. We saw some boys get rough, some got scraped up a bit, but nobody got whopped. Then again, some scribes obviously chose not to subscribe to the notion of actual facts getting in the way of a good story.

    We have a good storyline heading into Phoenix, where everybody is still in the running, either via a win or on points, and nobody is yet a sure thing. Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, and Ryan Newman have an edge, but early misfortune can still bite them. While Johnson’s previous four wins and an average finish of 6.3 finish in Arizona makes him the favorite going in, Hamlin, Gordon, Harvick, and Carl Edwards are the best amongst the Chasers.

    It should be one hell of an event, both on and off the track.
    1 – Joey Logano – 4072 Points – 13 Pts to the good
    2 – Denny Hamlin – 4072 – 13 Pts to the good
    3 – Ryan Newman – 4070 – 11 Pts to the good
    4 – Jeff Gordon – 4060 – 1 Pt to the good

    5 – Matt Kenseth – 4059 – 1 Pt out
    6 – Carl Edwards – 4059 – 1 Pt out
    7 – Brad Keselowski – 4055 – 5 Pts out
    8 – Kevin Harvick – 4054 – 6 Pts out