Tag: joey logano

The Top 20 Sprint Cup Drivers entering 2014

This was pretty tough to put together. Honestly, anybody in the top 10 outside of first could be ranked in any order, and so many teams are so good it’s tough to put them in order.

One thing I’ve noticed is that the good drivers keep getting better. In 2005, Tony Stewart won the championship with five top-fives and seven top-10s, with no wins during the Chase. Eight years later, Jimmie Johnson wins the championship with two wins, seven top-fives, and nine top-10s, with all 10 races in the Chase being top-15 finishes. While the quality of racing may not be as good as it was in 2005, nobody can argue the competition has become more fierce.

Remember though, that this list is my opinion. You are allowed to disagree and give me yours in the comment section below.

I ranked this using Chase Results, overall season stats, off-season changes and my opinion on the driver. This is not my predictions for final 2014 points, only who is the best going into the season. I do not count Nationwide Series results unless the driver raced for points in that series last season; this is why Kyle Busch isn’t first and Larson and Dillon are where they are.

Honorable Mention: AJ Allmendinger

What a comeback year for the 32 year old driver from California. After losing the ride of a lifetime in 2012 after failing a drug test, he gets rehired by Penske Racing to run a few IndyCar and Nationwide Series races and over performs. He won both of his Nationwide races last season and might have won the Indy 500 if it were not for a broken seat belt. Then he gets hired by JTG-Daugherty and gives them the best runs in that car since Marcos Ambrose ran it, with a shot to win Watkins Glen in particular. All of this without mentioning his top-15 runs helping to put the tiny James Finch team in the top-10 in Sprint Cup owner points in the early portion of the 2013 season.

20: Jamie McMurray

The 2010 Daytona 500 champion enters 2014 as the veteran driver of Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR). Outside of Loudon and his Talladega win, he really didn’t do much in the Chase. He can make the 2014 Chase, but his two main problems are constituency and he needs to turn top-20s into top-10s, and top-10s into top-fives.

19. Carl Edwards

My, how the mighty have fallen. After tying with Tony Stewart for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship in points in 2011 (losing on tiebreaker), he missed the Chase in 2012 and had the single worst point finish of any Chaser in history. (Nobody has finished worse than 12th before, Edwards finished 13th).

18. Greg Biffle

Biffle is the quietest guy in the Cup Series. I almost completely forgot about him when making this ranking. If he wants to move from 10th in points to top five, he needs to do better than 16th or worse in three Chase races.

17. Kyle Larson

This guy has a lot of talent, as has been said before. He’s a huge question mark this season. Is it too early? Can CGR compete with other teams? “The Knife” could have a typical rookie season, be incredibly successful or be like Danica Patrick and finish 27th in points.

16. Kasey Kahne

Next year’s champion? Every single year I see people say this will be Kahne’s season, almost more so than a certain driver in a bright yellow Toyota. In reality, almost every season he struggles to make the Chase. Then if he does make the Chase, he usually doesn’t do much or is too inconsistent to do much. Last season in particular, I think his big hurdle is that when it gets down to it, he can’t close and get the win. Just look at his awesome duels with Kenseth all throughout 2013 and who ended up going to Victory Lane in every one of them.

15. Ryan Newman

It was a roller coaster season for the “Ogre from South Bend.” First he loses his ride, then that very week he wins at his home track in Indianapolis. Then he gets screwed out of the Chase due to Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) shenanigans, but was put in it anyway. Now he’s with a new Richard Childress Racing (RCR) where the only returning driver is Paul Menard. It’s going to be interesting to see what Newman will do in the No. 31 compared to Jeff Burton, who did a lot of nothing over the past two years.

14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Here’s my crazy prediction for this season – Stenhouse will contend for the Chase and win a couple of races. He’s got a year under his belt now and he has his old Nationwide championship winning crew chief now. He scored all three of his top-10s in the last 11 races of the season. I think he’s also going to continue being way ahead of Danica Patrick. When she said that she wanted to be the one among the two who got the first victory, I really doubt I was the only one who out and out belly laughed.

13. Denny Hamlin

Everything since 2010 Homestead has been downhill for Hamlin. Yes he won five races in 2012, but only one of those was in the Chase. Winning races is good and all, but at this point in Hamlin’s career, you need to be competing for championships year in and year out. Even if he wasn’t knocked out of action at Auto Club Speedway, I really doubt he would have competed for one in 2013. The only reason he’s this high on the list is because of four top-10s in the final six races along with a win at Homestead.

12. Joey Logano

Logano finally buckled down and made the Chase last season, even though he was too inconsistent to do much. He didn’t make many friends last season at all, but he finally grew as a driver and is starting to live up to his potential while breaking the 22 car curse. A great thing going for him is his teammate. Say what you will about Brad Keselowski, but it isn’t like Logano had a former champion to help him out back with Gibbs.

11. Clint Bowyer

This team might have very well won the championship or at least could have been a contender before Richmond. It took a lot of momentum from MWR as a whole and Bowyer’s team might have suffered the most with them being in the center of the controversy. He may change things in 2014 but he enters it at an all time low.

10. Austin Dillon

Dillon is the favorite to win Rookie of the Year (ROTY) and the Nationwide Series championship. Yes, he didn’t win a race last season in Nationwide, but that’s primarily because of Sprint Cup drivers winning 26 races last year (28 if you count AJ Allmendinger, which I don’t.) He’s going to have enormous pressure coming into this season, as would any driver stepping into that No. 3 Chevy.

9. Kurt Busch

He took a tiny team into the Chase and gave all of the bigger teams a run for their money. Now he’s finally back in a car with the best equipment in the business and with a championship winning team in Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR). Don’t call it a comeback, because he never really left.

8. Brad Keselowski

The 2012 Champ started off 2013 wrong and it just kept getting worse and worse. Part of the problem has to have been Roush-Yates engines not being ready to support two more full time teams, as the Fords in general struggled this year.

7. Tony Stewart

Okay, he might be a strange choice to be in the top 10, but let me explain. I think he’s one of the best pure drivers in NASCAR, and I think he’s going to enter this season ready to make up for lost time.

6. Jeff Gordon

Just missing out on a top five spot in 2013, Gordon’s Chase personified his career the past few years. He’ll do consistently well, even winning a race, before something happens, in this case, a wreck at Texas on lap 75. If you don’t count that, he’s in the top 15 in every single race from Bristol onward.

5. Matt Kenseth

Yes, I know I’m going to get a lot of hate mail for this. It seems really strange having the runner-up in points who won seven races last year, only fifth, but I think the runner-up hangover is just too strong to get over. Bowyer couldn’t, Edwards couldn’t, and it’s still affecting Hamlin four years later. I don’t see how he’s going to be that different.

4. Kyle Busch

The 18 team are the Dallas Cowboys of NASCAR. They either fail to make the playoffs against all odds, or they do and choke away the championship either way. And like Dallas, it’s really sad to see it happen, because outside of the play-offs they are supremely talented and always a threat every week. You also either love them or hate them. There is very little middle ground.

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

I think Earnhardt’s big problem this year is the new crew chief search. That will always distract a driver when it happens to them, in some way. It’s a shame too, because he and Letarte finally started clicking together this season, the final eight races in particular.

2. Kevin Harvick

The only problem Harvick might have next season is that SHR is spreading itself a bit thin. Otherwise, he has all the momentum and now he’s in absolute top of the line equipment, not the RCR stuff that only he can win with.

1. Jimmie Johnson

Who were you expecting to be up here? If Jimmie wins nine races and the championship this season, he’ll match Earnhardt Sr. in wins and championships in roughly five less full-time seasons. And the scary thing is that I think nobody in the entire sport would be shocked if he has that kind of season. Case in point: his worst finish in the Chase was a 13th at Talladega, the place where luck takes priority over talent or equipment. Other than that, he had seven top-fives, a sixth at Kansas and a ninth at Homestead, where he was more concerned with finishing the race rather than getting the best result possible. Can anybody stop Johnson? Possibly but I wouldn’t bet on it.

January 17, 2014
Looking Back at NASCAR’s 2013
Looking back at the 2013 season, NASCAR had the usual ups and downs but this year would be different. NASCAR unveiled its new GEN-6 car to mixed reviews and fans waiting to see what this new car would bring to actual racing.

It started with the horrific wreck during the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) season opener at Daytona International Speedway (DIS). Unfortunately, we watched the same scene played out at most restrictor plate tracks like Daytona, only this time when the “big one” happened the fence didn’t hold and fans were hurt, some seriously. Everyone waited and listened the rest of the day for updates on those injured and looked back in amazement that the car of Kyle Larson, which had hit the fence, was destroyed, yet he walked away.

The next day at the Daytona 500 we all waited and watched, held our breath and prayed that the scene the day before would not repeat itself and thankfully it didn’t. The 55th running of the Daytona 500 went off without any major issues with Jimmie Johnson in his 400th start taking the prize. That perhaps was a sign of the year to come.

It was the fifth race of the season in Fontana, California that Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin got together with six laps to go and ended up wrecking each other. Denny Hamlin suffered a compression fracture in his back that most thought would sideline the driver for the season. But Hamlin worked hard at his recovery and was able to return to race at Talladega.

Talladega was a rainy day and eventually the race was red flagged due to the rain. The red flag was three hours and 36 minutes long and darkness had started to fall but with the rain stopped, NASCAR made the decision to go ahead and race. A late race caution bunched the field up with 20 to go. By this time the skies were even darker and the “big one” happened sending Kurt Busch flipping and landing on top of Ryan Newman’s car. In all 14 cars were involved and Newman went on to criticize NASCAR for continuing the race in the dark.

It was at Iowa Speedway where Tony Stewart crashed hard into a car that spun in front of him. Stewart was taken to the hospital where it was determined by doctors that he had broken both his tibia and fibula in his lower right leg. Stewart would be sidelined for the rest of the season, after undergoing several surgeries and then physical therapy, so that he would be ready for the 2014 season.

There was a lot of hype over Danica Patrick joining the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) for the 2013 season. There was a lot of expectation put on her but she was still a rookie and ended up with a best finish of 8th, her only top-10 finish, which came in the Daytona 500 where she had also won the pole. Her boyfriend, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, competed with Patrick for Rookie of the Year in which Stenhouse took home the prize.

Jamie McMurray won at Talladega, his second at that track, and his seventh win overall in his NSCS career. The win snapped a 108 winless streak for McMurray.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. would see the 2013 season close without a win. But it was a consistent season overall and he ended up fifth in the series standings.

We had the announcement that Mark Martin had decided to retire along with Ken Schrader. Martin ended a long career with NASCAR starting in 1981 in North Wilkesboro and giving him a career with 40 wins, 453 top 10′s and 56 poles. Schrader started his career in 1984 in Nashville and went on to have four wins, 184 top 10′s, and 23 poles. NASCAR will not be the same without these drivers and they will both be missed in 2014.

To everyone’s astonishment we also had what was dubbed “Spingate” which was Michael Waltrip Racing’s (MWR) attempt to manipulate the chase for the championship. This not only marred MWR but their reputation was further damaged by Clint Bowyer who is believed to have spun to cause a caution in order to get a teammate into the chase. These issues actually made NASCAR add a 13th spot to the chase, to the benefit of Jeff Gordon being that 13th driver. This put another mark on NASCAR for adding the 13th spot but with the chase outcome in question, it was the only course of action NASCAR could see to attempt to right what MWR had attempted to change. The biggest loser in that whole deal was Martin Truex Jr. who had done no wrong but paid a penalty all the same.

Matt Kenseth probably had one of his best years of his career and in the end was truly the only driver in contention with Johnson to take home the big prize. Kevin Harvick, having a good run of his own, was unable to catch Kenseth and Johnson. Kenseth did everything he could and came out strong at the end but it was Johnson who would bring home the 2013 Sprint Cup Series trophy, the sixth of his career, making him at the moment the only driver with the chance to tie or surpass Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt’s seven championships.

When we look back on the year there were tragedies as well.

On June 12th 2013 on a Wednesday night we heard of a serious crash at Bridgeport Speedway involving former NASCAR driver Jason Leffler in a Sprint car. We would find out later that Jason “LEFturn” Leffler had died from the injuries that he sustained in the accident. He left behind one son, five year old Charlie. The biggest tragedy of all is learning that if Sprint cars used the same neck restraints as NASCAR does, he may have survived the accident.

It was May 16th that I learned of the death of my friend, Richard Leroy Trickle, aka Dick Trickle; he had taken his own life after years of struggling with chronic pain. He had raced in NASCAR becoming the oldest Rookie of the Year at age 48 in 1989. He was best known for his career in the Midwest. Known best as “the White Knight,” it is estimated that he ran well over 2,200 races in his Midwest short track career and his many loyal fans will remember not how he died, but how he lived. He will be remembered wearing snakeskin boots, a cigarette in one hand, and a cup of coffee or barley pop (beer) in the other, signing autographs and even going down to his knees to be eye level with children who wanted an autograph.

With a new season beginning, questions remain to be answered.
- What will the 2014 NASCAR season bring?
- Which rookie will come out on top, maybe Kyle Larson or perhaps Parker Kligerman?
- Who will win their first race this season?
- Will Austin Dillon, driving the number three, live up to the expectations of fans that are waiting to see if he will do the number three proud?
- Who will take it all? Matt Kenseth or maybe it will be Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s breakout year, or will it be Jimmie Johnson again, tying that seventh championship.
- What new rivalries will form, and what old rivalries will manage to put it behind them?
Hopefully in 2014 there will be no injuries or tragedies as we’ve seen this year. Perhaps it will be NASCAR’s best year yet. We won’t have to wait long as it’s right around the corner!
December 30, 2013
Denny Hamlin’s Homestead Victory Both Ironic and Symbolic

“He said he was coming for me. I usually don’t see him so he’s usually not a factor.”

Those were the words of Denny Hamlin this past March following the Cup race at Bristol. He was referring to Joey Logano who was irate after getting spun by Hamlin while running second in the race. Those strong words uttered by Hamlin would come back to haunt him just one week later.

As fate would have it, the ex-teammates and new rivals were locked into an epic battle for the win at Auto Club Speedway just seven days after their Bristol conflict. After nearly crashing each other with six to go, the gloves came off and the battle for the win was on. Logano led the race as Hamlin stalked him with a fire in his eyes and the pedal through the floor.

Coming to the white flag, Hamlin gave the No. 22 a shot in the rear and moved alongside. Logano responded by running him up the track, trying desperately to slow his momentum. The two roared out of turn two and neither lifted. They slammed doors down the backstretch as the pair approached the checkered flag.

In the final corner, Hamlin seemed to have the advantage but a second place result would not suffice for Logano who was still seething over the Bristol incident. He mashed the gas and implemented the philosophy, “eight tires are better than four” in a final attempt to steal the win. The result … Logano slammed the outside wall as Hamlin spun head-on into a part of the inside wall that was not protected by safer barriers.

Over the radio, he screamed in agony; “my back! My back!” He was loaded onto a stretcher as Logano drove down pit road, flipped the bird to the horrified crew and said in a post-race interview, “that’s what he gets.”

To be fair, he was just involved in a brawl with Tony Stewart on pit road and knew nothing regarding Hamlin’s condition at the time.

Hamlin suffered a compression fracture in his lower back and had to sit out the next six weeks due to the crash. The animosity between these former teammates could not be understated following their clash at 200mph and neither have mended their relationship since that day. When Hamlin returned, he ripped off back-to-back finishes of second and sixth but suddenly, the wheels fell off his chase aspirations. He crashed heavily multiple times during the year injuring his hand at Bristol and even going airborne in the July event at Daytona.

Arriving at Homestead was a relief for the beaten and battered Hamlin as he could see an end to this nightmare of a season. After an enthralling late-race duel for the win with Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hamlin captured the checkered flag and ended his year celebrating in victory lane. The irony of his Homestead triumph is obvious but how about what it symbolizes? To me, this win was an unspoken statement by Hamlin showing that the championship caliber driver that we knew before the injury was still in there somewhere.

I’ll admit that I started to question whether we’d ever see Hamlin racing at his full potential ever again. I was concerned that the spinal fracture would change him as a driver much like Formula 1 racer Felipe Massa who after nearly winning the 2008 championship, hasn’t won a single race since after suffering a head injury early in 2009. We can’t ignore that Hamlin’s results were also hindered by the fact that he became the JGR Guinea pig for experimental setups to test for his teammates who were both in title contention this year.

When a team is down in the dumps like the No. 11 was, the best time to win is in the final race of the year. It’s the most overlooked win of the season but to the team, they are able to ride that high through the entire winter which is crucial as they prepare for 2014. In the last four Homestead events excluding 2013 obviously, the winner went on to be the championship runner-up the following year twice.

You can do whatever you want in an attempt to motivate a race team but there’s no stronger medicine than victory lane champagne.

November 20, 2013
Surprising and Not Surprising: Homestead Ford EcoBoost 400

With the crowning of just one last champion to join Matt Crafton, Truck Series Champion, and Austin Dillon, Nationwide Series Champion, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the final race of the season, the Ford EcoBoost 400, at Florida’s Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Surprising: For someone used to winning championships, especially after his sixth, Jimmie Johnson was surprisingly emotional in Victory Lane, especially as he remembered his grandmother who had passed away and when he saw his wife and daughter Genevieve appear to congratulate him.

“I know there was an angel, at least one, but maybe four angles riding on this car,” the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet said. “My Grandmother passed away a month or so ago, and I am without grandparents now which is a sad thing.”

“But, I know my Grandma and my other grandparents were helping me guide this car around this car around the track,” Johnson continued. “This one is for her.”

“She was my biggest fan.”

Johnson became most emotional when he talked about his wife and mother of his two children Chandra.

“She is the strongest woman on the planet,” Johnson said. “She makes me who I am, and makes me a better man.”

“She does a fantastic job raising these kids and keeping me in line; I am her third kid,” Johnson continued. “I am so thankful to have her as wife.”

“We are going to have a lot of fun and enjoy this moment.”

Johnson finished the Homestead race in the ninth position, which put him 19 points ahead of Kenseth for the Sprint Cup championship. This was the 11th championship for Hendrick Motorsports and makes Johnson only one of three competitors, including Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt, to win six or more championships.

Not Surprising: There were at least two drivers, the second and third place finishers at Homestead-Miami Speedway, that along with many fans have one simple wish – that the season would not end.

“For me, when you’re running good, you kind of don’t want the season to end in a way,” Matt Kenseth, runner up in the last race and in the championship, said. “You want to keep going to the track.”

“To me as I get older, the seasons go faster and faster honestly,” Kenseth, driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota, continued. “It was more fun this season so in a way, you don’t want it to end.”

Third place finisher Dale Earnhardt Jr. could not agree with Kenseth more.

“Ever since I started working with Steve (Letarte, crew chief) and that whole team, I hadn’t wanted the year to end,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet said. “We seem to get better as the season goes.”

“You would just love to go to another race next week.”

Surprising: After a surprisingly tough season of injury, recovery and struggles, Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, scored his first victory in the last race of the year. This was Hamlin’s second win in nine races at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“It was just an amazing drive,” Hamlin said. “Just proud of Darian (Grubb, crew chief) and this whole team for giving me a race-winning car.”

“It just gives us huge momentum,” Hamlin continued. “We started kicking things into gear about two months ago and then last week with a horrific effort and that kind of gets your spirits down, but then to come here to Miami and back it up with a win — this is something we can think about for the entire winter.”

Not Surprising: The reigning champ of 2012, Brad Keselowski, was the highest finishing Ford, bringing the Blue Deuce to the checkered flag in the sixth position.

“We definitely had the car on the short runs, but just weren’t close on the long runs,” Keselowski said of his last race of the season. “If we could have got the long run speed to go with the short run speed, we would have killed them tonight, but we just didn’t have that.”

Even with a solid top-ten finish, Keselowski could not help but reflect on the championship year that ended when Jimmie Johnson hoisted the champion’s trophy.

“A champion is forever,” Keselowski said thoughtfully. “It might not be reining, but you’re still a champion forever.”

“I’m proud of that.”

Surprising: Kevin Harvick is looking forward to a surprisingly new adventure with now former team owner Richard Childress.

“I think Martinsville brought a lot of things to a head and we were able to talk about a lot of things,” Harvick said of the controversy between him and Childress. “Really this was the way I would want to leave with everybody shaking hands and happy that we have been together and been successful together.”

“I can’t wait for our first hunt together as friends,” Harvick continued. “That will be good times.”

Harvick, in his last race with the ‘ole two niner’ finished tenth at Homestead and third in the championship points, 34 points behind six-time winner Jimmie Johnson.

Not Surprising: In his first year with Penske Racing and with an eighth place finish in the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford at Homestead, Joey Logano pronounced his year good.

“I’m more impressed with our year,” Logano said. “We did a good job this year and learned a lot about each other, and learned a lot about where we could have done a better job in races and where we need to improve next year and where to work on our cars during the off-season.”

“I had a lot of fun this year and this was my best season personally,” Logano continued. “We’ve got areas we need to improve and we’ll do it.”

Logano also had a significant moment off the track to top off the 2013 season as he got engaged as well.

Surprising: One of the most surprising moments of the race occurred when Paul Menard, who had sustained damage during a wild restart, came to pit road in flames. The right rear tire then exploded sending parts and pieces flying throughout pit road.

Thankfully no one, including the driver of the No. 27 MOEN/Menards Chevrolet, was injured. Menard, who at times was in the top-five running order, finished 39^th.

“That was pretty wild,” Menard said. “We were having a great day.”

“On that restart, everybody kind of checked up and we got some right rear damage and had a flat tire,” Menard continued. “I guess a bunch of rubber got wrapped up underneath around the axle I guess.”

“Came in a couple of times trying to fix the damage and try to get the rubber off,” Menard said. “We didn’t get it all and I guess it just caught fire.”

“I didn’t really know it until there was a little bit of spark coming in the car and landed on the window net, thought that was kind of weird,” Menard continued. “About a lap later they said I was on fire; I lost my brakes, then the damn wheel blew right off (the car).”

Not Surprising: Even four-time champions can make a mistake or two and Jeff Gordon did just that, spinning his wheels on a restart, with almost catastrophic results for at least one of the championship contenders.

“Yeah, I was trying to get some momentum and he (Denny Hamlin) checked up and it just messed the whole thing up and I got wheel spin,” Gordon said. “That is the second time this year I have done that right in front of Matt (Kenseth) and he has drove right into the back of me and about wrecked us both.”

“The last thing I would want to do in front of Matt is that, but you can’t run into the guy you know,” Gordon continued. “It was a bad unfortunate situation and it just trickles on back from there.”

“It could have been even worse.”

Surprising: Danica Patrick had a surprisingly good run for the last race of the season and in fact was the highest finishing rookie in 20^th. This was Patrick’s eighth top-20 of her rookie 2013 season.

“It’s one thing to have the yellow stripe on the car,” Patrick said. “It’s another thing with all the things being a rookie signifies, which a lot is, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing.’

So I think that’s what I’m most pleased about is, now I’ve done the whole season, I’ve gone to every track and learned a lot about a lot of things — not just cars but about the team — and it just makes me more prepared for the future.”

Not Surprising: Even with Patrick finishing ahead of him, boyfriend Ricky Stenhouse Jr. still scored the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year honors.

“It means a lot, looking at all the other names that have won this award,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “It definitely wasn’t the season that we wanted, but we slowly but surely got better throughout the season.”

“I was proud of what we did throughout the season, of getting better, qualifying better, having runs up front, and leading laps throughout the year,” the driver of the No. 17 Ford EcoBoost Ford said. “Thought we had a chance at winning some races there, at least being in contention.”

“I was proud of those moments.”

This concludes the Surprising and Not Surprising column for the 2013 season. Thanks for all the reads and comments, have a great holiday season, and cheers to an exciting 2014 season, coming in just 100 days at Daytona!

November 17, 2013
The Final Word – Down to one question: Can Johnson avoid disaster at Homestead?

The fat lady is on stage, the band is ready, the curtain has gone up. All we need now is a nod from the conductor for her to sing her song. Jimmie Johnson finished third at Phoenix. Matt Kenseth had problems, came home 23rd, and the gap between the two leaders is now 28 points. With only 48 left on the table at Homestead, Five Time needs to finish 23rd or better to amend his nickname yet again.

It is not that Phoenix did not have its drama. It did, but it came in dribbles. When Joey Logano nudged Johnson with his fender on the opening lap, some gasped. When Carl Edwards did the same later on, and Jimmie’s car danced toward the wall, they gasped some more. Then they relaxed. While Johnson could move his way to the front, Kenseth had troubles keeping up. 21 cars finished on the lead lap; Kenseth was not amongst them.

What Matt needed was the kind of day Kevin Harvick had. Even if that took place, Kenseth would still be sitting a point back. For Harvick, it marked his fourth win of the season, gave him a six point advantage for the day on Johnson, but left him a distant 34 points back in third place. While Harvick has been averaging a 7th place finish in the nine Chase events, Kenseth has produced an 8th place pace. As for Johnson, his average finish has been 4.7, aided by a 5.8 average start. Only a disaster down in Florida will stop this juggernaut from reclaiming its title.

Rating Phoenix – 6.5/10 – The reason we have announcers for televised events is to enhance the action, to inform and, if need be, to entertain. Phoenix provided such great camera views that the action was enhanced when the seven desk personnel did not say a thing. With Kenseth having his problems, the drama was somewhat diminished, but the action was there for all to see. Yes, sometimes less can indeed be more.

Jimmie Johnson has never won at Homestead in a dozen attempts. His finishes there the past two runs have been 36th last year, 32nd the year before. A repeat of 2012 would truly be a disaster for our leader and Kenseth would win the crown by finishing 7th, while Harvick would need a win. Not impossible and that is why the fat lady has not yet sung her song. However, if I were a betting man… Enjoy your week.

November 13, 2013
Surprising and Not Surprising: Phoenix Advocare 500

After welcoming a serviceman home in honor of Veteran’s Day and with all eyes on the Chase contenders, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 26^th annual Advocare 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Surprising: Drivers leaving their teams at the end of the 2013 season had surprisingly good finishes, with the best of course being race winner Kevin Harvick, who will leave Richard Childress Racing to go to Stewart Haas Racing in 2014.

“We challenge each other,” Kevin Harvick said of his RCR relationship. “There’s no better way to go out than to do what we’ve done this year.”

“I think as we move forward will probably make us closer as friends.”

And along with Harvick, Kurt Busch, another driver in transition who will be leaving Furniture Row Racing to join Harvick as Stewart Haas Racing teammate, finished fifth.

The top ten was filled with other racers leaving their teams after the checkered flag flies next weekend at Homestead Miami Speedway, including Juan Pablo Montoya, who finished sixth and is heading to the IndyCar Racing Series; Martin Truex Jr., who is leaving Michael Waltrip Racing for Furniture Row Racing and finished eighth; and Ryan Newman, who finished tenth and will head from Stewart Haas Racing to Richard Childress Racing in the New Year.

Not Surprising: With championship points on the line all around, there were a few mea culpas issued not surprisingly after the race end.

Carl Edwards, who had a scary moment of close racing and contact with championship contender Jimmie Johnson, could not apologize to him more. Edwards first apologized over his radio after the contact and then met Johnson on pit road after the race to declare mea culpa yet again.

“Yeah, I definitely did not mean to hit him,” Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford, said of his Johnson close encounter. “He did a heckuva job saving it and I’m just glad he saved it.”

“I did not want to be part of the championship in that manner.”

Edwards himself almost had the race won but ran out of gas to finish a disappointing 21^st.

The other mea culpa, which had definite championship implications, came from Jason Ratcliff, crew chief for Matt Kenseth. Ratcliff and the team struggled all day with the handling of the car and in the pits, finishing 23^rd in the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota and falling 28 points behind the Chase leader.

“I apologize for giving you something like that,” Ratcliff said to Kenseth. “I apologize for a really poor job of executing.”

“I apologize to all of you,” Ratcliff continued. “Just a bad job on my part.”

Surprising: While Phoenix usually generates some exciting racing, there was a surprising amount of strategy that played out throughout the race, with cars staying out, pitting, and taking all kinds of tire combinations. In fact, there was so much confusion for one driver that it almost made his head spin.

“There was a lot of strategy and it confused the heck out of me,” Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford said after finishing ninth. “At times we were leading the race and at times we were 24^th.”

“Overall, it was a weird race because you didn’t know where you were at and you just passed the cars in front of you,” Logano continued. “It was too confusing for me.”

Not Surprising: Jimmie Johnson channeled his inner dirt track racer to bring home yet another top-ten finish, his 17^th in 21 races at Phoenix International Raceway. To be precise, Johnson finished third in his No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet.

“I knew I had a great race car,” Johnson said. “But I really had to fall back on my dirt driving skills racing out here in the desert all the years that I did.”

“I knew I could get through traffic and I knew I was in good shape relative to the championship battle,” Johnson continued. “I’m in a position I want to be in and now we just need to go to Florida and have another good day.”

Surprising: Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet is a basement dweller in the point standings no more, thanks to his second place finish in the Valley of the Sun. Kahne advance from the 13^th position in the Chase to the 12^th spot after posting his seventh top-10 at Phoenix International Raceway.

“We got our car really good about Lap 150,” Kahne said. “I got a little loose in the last restart but just felt good about our Farmers Insurance Chevrolet.”

“We made some big gains and I got a nice second-place finish.”

Not Surprising: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. not only maintained his strong lead in the Rookie of the Year battle over girlfriend and competitor Danica Patrick but actually gained ground after his 12^th place finish and her 27^th place finish.

“It was a tough day all around,” Patrick said after starting 32^nd, battling a loose race car and getting caught in a major-league wreck with Cole Whitt, David Reutimann and Justin Allgaier. “We started out pretty loose and got down a lap early.”

“Then obviously we got caught up in the accident,” Patrick continued. “It’s disappointing, but the GoDaddy guys did a good job of fixing it as best they could so we could finish.”

Surprising: It will be a surprisingly different Vegas experience for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Usually the sport’s most popular driver picks up that award at the Myers Brother Luncheon and heads on home, however, this year, he will have a major speaking role as he is fifth in the point standings after finishing fourth at Phoenix in spite of a loose wheel.

“We had a fast car,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet said. “I thought Steve Letarte (crew chief) could get some good strategy to get us back up into the top-10, top-five and I was real happy with the way we were able to rebound.”

This was Junior’s third top-5 finish in the past four races.

Not Surprising: Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet achieved another milestone after his 14^th place finish at Phoenix. Gordon led his 400^th lap in 2013, which marks the 20^th consecutive year that he has led at least 400 laps.

Surprising: Phoenix proved to be the tale of the two Davids, with David Gilliland having a good run, at one point running top-10, and teammate David Ragan having engine troubles yet again.

Gilliland finished 24^th and moved up to 25^th in the point standings while Ragan finished 35^th and fell to 28^th in points.

“That was probably the best car we had all year,” Gilliland said. “We had some brake issues at one point, but overall it was a great car and a good points day.”

Not Surprising: Greg Biffle had an eventful day at Phoenix as he had to start from the back of the field due to a transmission change in his No. 16 3M Scotch Ford.

Nevertheless, Biffle was able to run in the top-10 with the help of some strategy from atop the pit box and finished 13^th in the race.

Biffle also moved up one place in the championship standings to the seventh spot.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will head south to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Ford Ecoboost 400 season finale where the 2013 champion will be determined.

November 11, 2013

Hot 20 over the Chase Eight – Good just isn’t good enough when great is what it takes in the Chase

Average a Top Ten finish and you are doing good. Very good. Yet, good is not good enough when it comes to the Chase. Such is the case when there are those who are running great.

Over the past eight Chase events, Jimmie Johnson is averaging better than a fifth place finish. Matt Kenseth has a couple of wins and an average result of just over sixth place. Mere mortals can not compete against that, at least not until someone develops clay feet and returns to earth. If there is any Kryptonite out there, it better turn up at Phoenix and/or Homestead if it is going to do any good for those who have been, well, just good.

Kevin Harvick has been damn good in the Chase. In fact, he would be considered great if not for those other two boys. Dale Earnhardt Jr has done better than a tenth place average. If not for that damn engine blowing up in Chicago.

Ordinarily, during the opening 26 races of the season, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, and Clint Bowyer would have been very pleased. If this had been their first eight, and not their last, they would have thought themselves walking in tall cotton. Even Jamie McMurray and Jeff Burton, both outside the ten best in the Chase events, would have had cause for optimism. Unfortunately for them, this is the time of year when good just is not good enough. Not even very good cuts the mustard.

So, unless bad things happen to good…er…great people at the top of the leader board, there are just two names being considered for etching onto the trophy. Then again, if Junior, Kyle, and Jeff can find themselves outside the Top 30 in a race, there is always a chance that great over eight might not be good enough, either. That is why we will be watching the action from Phoenix on Sunday and why Harvick is still optimistic he could yet leave Homestead, well, happy.

	Driver	Wins	T-5	T-10	Points	Ave. Finish	Best	Worst
1	Jimmie Johnson	2	6	7	330	4.87	1	13
2	Matt Kenseth	2	5	6	320	6.12	1 (x2)	20
3	Kevin Harvick	1	2	6	296	7.75	1	20
4	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	0	3	6	280	9.75	2	35
5	Kyle Busch	0	5	5	278	10.12	2	34
6	Jeff Gordon	1	3	5	273	11.00	1	38
7	Clint Bowyer	0	1	5	273	10.50	3	17
8	Greg Biffle	0	1	3	266	11.12	3	16 (x2)
9	Joey Logano	0	3	3	248	13.62	3 (x2)	37
10	Brad Keselowski	1	2	4	248	14.00	1	37
11	Kurt Busch	0	2	2	246	13.37	2	21
12	Jamie McMurray	1	2	3	245	14.00	1	31
13	Martin Truex, Jr.	0	0	2	231	15.25	8	22
14	Jeff Burton	0	0	1	230	15.62	8	24
15	Ryan Newman	0	0	5	224	16.62	8 (x2)	38
16	Carl Edwards	0	1	3	220	17.00	5	37
17	Paul Menard	0	1	2	218	16.75	4	24
18	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	0	1	2	211	17.75	3	31
19	Kasey Kahne	0	2	2	209	18.37	2	37
20	Denny Hamlin	0	0	3	204	18.62	7 (x2)	38

November 6, 2013

NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Texas

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson led 255 of 334 laps in a dominant win at Texas, his sixth win of the year. Johnson now leads Matt Kenseth, who finished fourth, by seven points in the Sprint Cup points standings.

“I had the same seven-point lead after Texas last November,” Johnson said, “and didn’t win the championship. I’m hoping this is one time when I don’t repeat.”

2. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished fourth in the AAA Texas 500, slowed by a pit road speeding penalty midway through the race. Jimmie Johnson won and took a seven-point lead in the points standings.

“I’m neither throwing in the towel,” Kenseth said, “nor am I waving the white flag. Ask anyone, except Carl Edwards, and they’ll tell you there’s no surrender in me.”

3. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt took the runner-up spot at Texas, following Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson across the line. It was Earnhardt’s third second-place finish of the Chase.

“There have been a lot of great drivers who have never won a Cup,” Earnhardt said. “Hopefully, I can put myself in that category some day.”

4. Jeff Gordon: One week after victory at Martinsville, disaster struck for Gordon at Texas, as a blown tire on lap 74 sent him into the wall. He eventually finished 38th, 187 laps down, and tumbled to sixth in the points, 69 out of first.

“Are you sure this is the AAA 500 and not the NRA 500?” Gordon said. “Because my championship hopes are ‘shot.’”

5 .Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished eighth at Texas and is now third in the points standings, 40 out of first.

“Will I be happier at Stewart-Haas Racing?” Harvick said. “Well, as Richard Childress has clearly stated, it’s all relative.”

6. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer came home tenth in the AAA Texas 500, posting his 18th top 10 of the year. He is seventh in the Sprint Cup points standings, 69 out of first.

“This race in Texas wasn’t sponsored by the NRA,” Bowyer said. “In hindsight, maybe the race in Richmond should have been sponsored by the NRA, because there was a second amendment made to the Chase field afterwards.”

7. Kyle Busch: Busch, who won at Texas in April, finished 13th on Sunday in the AAA 500. Like many drivers, Busch’s day was hindered by a blown tire suffered early in the race.

“The blown tire put me in a hole early,” Busch said. “I felt much like a North Carolina state trooper chasing me, because I was playing catch up.”

8. Greg Biffle: Biffle finished 12th at Texas, leading one lap after starting 18th. He is eighth in the points standings, 73 behind Jimmie Johnson.

“I apologized to Johnson for my actions at Martinsville,” Biffle said. “It was only the second most controversial ‘spin’ move in NASCAR this year. Maybe I shouldn’t have grabbed Jimmie from behind, but that’s where I always seem to find myself.”

9. Joey Logano: Logano finished third in the AAA Texas 500, posting his first top-5 result since a fourth at Kansas in early October.

“It felt good to run with the big dogs,” Logano said, “instead of from them.”

10. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski led 30 laps and finished sixth in the AAA Texas 500 at Texas, one day after winning the Nationwide Series race.

“I may not repeat as champion,” Keselowski said, “but the future is bright for this 29-year-old. I see nothing but clear, sunny skies ahead, because the ‘reign’ is over.”

November 5, 2013
Surprising and Not Surprising: AAA Texas 500

As the race for the six shooters and black cowboy hat moved from afternoon into evening, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the ninth annual AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Surprising: Although no one could argue about the strength of Jimmie Johnson’s performance and victory at Texas, when it came time to discuss the Chase and the battle with Matt Kenseth, now seven points behind Johnson, there were some fighting words involved.

“I have been watching a lot of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fighting lately, and you’ll fall into a rhythm and think that somebody has got the fight won, and it doesn’t end that way,” Johnson said. “That’s how this is going to be.”

“Matt didn’t have maybe the best day and still finished fourth,” Johnson continued. “This thing is going to go to the last lap at Homestead.”

“I think this is just going to be a dog fight there,” Rick Hendrick, Johnson’s team owner, said. “I think it’s going to be the last lap at Homestead because the teams are that close.”

“It’s going to be a war,” Coach Joe Gibbs, Kenseth’s team owner, said. “And I just hope we all survive.”

Not Surprising: Dale Earnhardt Jr. acknowledged Jimmie Johnson’s dominance best, telling his crew chief Steve Letarte that his car won even though he finished second for the third time to his five-time champion teammate.

“He (Johnson) was in a class of his own,” Dale Junior said. “We were joking that he won the DP but we were first in the GT class.”

“They were super-fast and I was super, super impressed with those guys’ car,” Earnhardt Jr. continued. “I’m happy to have a good effort and looking forward to the last couple of races.”

“Hopefully we will get us a win,” Junior said. “We keep getting close.”

Surprising: Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion, went from hero, sitting on the pole, to zero, getting knocked out of the race at Texas due to engine failure. Yet even in his disappointment, Edwards surprisingly was still able to pull off a plug for his erstwhile sponsor.

“I think a valve spring broke,” Edwards said. “We don’t usually have a lot of engine trouble.”

“We had such a great weekend going,” Edwards continued. “Aflac has coverage for just about everything but I don’t think they cover sick engines which is too bad.”

Edwards was not the only one with a sick engine as Ford mate David Ragan also lost one, as did Timmy Hill and Bobby Labonte.

Not Surprising: While speeding penalties are costly enough to the average driver, they were especially costly to two of the Chase competitors, particularly Matt Kenseth, whose penalty no doubt cost him the point’s lead, and Kyle Busch, who battled not only the speeding penalty but also an early crash to finish 13^th.

“We were just being too aggressive,” Kenseth said. “That speeding penalty got us behind — we definitely didn’t need that.”

“If I wouldn’t have messed up, maybe we could have ran second.”

“Kyle (Busch) feels horrible because he sped on pit road late in the race,” Dave Rogers, crew chief of the No. 18 Snickers Toyota, said. “He was giving us all he had to give us the best possible finish and we took a little bit more that what was there.”

“This is a team and we’ve got his back.”

Surprising: While Texas provided a surprising venue to showcase the strength of Penske Racing, with two top-ten finishes, both drivers, however, acknowledged that neither of them had what it took to be stronger than team 48.

“From the start of the race, we moved our way forward,” Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 AAA Ford said. “Overall we can’t be disappointed with a third place finish but the 48 car was just ridiculously fast.”

“I thought we had decent speed,” Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, said. “We were leading at one point and the yellow flag came and we pitted and came out ninth, which ended our shot of being able to derail Jimmie if there even was one.”

“His car was so much faster than the field,” Keselowski continued. “It was pretty embarrassing to be quite honest.”

Not Surprising: The pattern of inconsistency for team No. 24 and driver Jeff Gordon continued, with the win at Martinsville last weekend being negated by the hard hit into the wall after a tire went down at Texas.

“I hit the wall hard,” Gordon said “I just know the left front went down as I was going down the front straightaway.”

Gordon finished 38^th, close to 200 laps down, his worst finish since Watkins Glen.

Surprising: Parker Kligerman made a surprisingly good debut in the Sprint Cup Series for Swan Racing, finishing top-20.

“Although 18^th doesn’t sound that great, for a rookie and this team, it’s a great finish and it’s one of the best finishes for these guys,” Kligerman said. “It was a long tough race but the team persevered and everyone fought hard.”

Not Surprising: Since Greg Biffle never, ever forgets, his love tap of Jimmie Johnson in the waning laps of the Texas race was not the least bit surprising. It did not, however, help him to feel at all better even though he finished twelfth in the race when the checkered flag flew.

“That was a tough one,” Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion, said. “The car wasn’t very good in traffic.”

“We didn’t get it until it seemed like about 20 to go or whatever that last stop was,” Biffle continued. “We just weren’t where we wanted to be.”

Surprising: While most, if not all eyes were on the Chase race between Johnson and Kenseth, there were other drivers in the field who literally paid no heed as they were marching to the beat of their own drummers.

“We actually made a lot of gains throughout the weekend,” Danica Patrick, drive of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet said after finishing 25^th. “We never quite got it, but we certainly made progress.”

“I’m excited to get to Phoenix next week,” Patrick continued. “GoDaddy is based out there, so it’s a big race for us.”

With her 25^th place finish, Patrick also gained three spots in the point standings to 25^th as well.

Not Surprising: Problems continued on and off the track for Juan Pablo Montoya as he winds up his NASCAR career and prepares to return to the IndyCar Series.

Montoya brought out one of the few race cautions on track due to a tire issue, which was a shredded right front tire according to Crew Chief Chris ‘Shine’ Heroy. JPM was able to soldier on to finish in the 20th place at Texas Motor Speedway.

But off track, Montoya also has problems as Forbes reported that he is in trouble with the US taxman. The IRS is alleging that the driver owes $2.7 million in additional taxes and penalties due to some interesting and complicated deductions, many of which were made prior to his coming to NASCAR and to the United States to live with his family.

Montoya has just two more races in the NASCAR Series and then will return to IndyCar racing but this time to drive for Roger Penske and serve as teammate to Penske driver Helio Castroneves.

Surprising: After a challenging season of his own, Kasey Kahne actually surprised himself with a top-five finish at Texas Motor Speedway.

“We had a pretty good Time Warner Chevy today,” Kahne said. “We were seventh to tenth most of the race and we worked our way to fifth there at the end.”

“I’m glad we were able to have kind of a flawless race and race all day and make a little bit of ground up at the end.”

Not Surprising: Kurt Busch’s quest to finish off his season with Furniture Row Racing with outstanding performances is proving most difficult.

“Nothing good to say about this race,” Busch, driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet said. “That’s all we had and it was a struggle all weekend.”

“We definitely need a turnaround in the final two races because it has been too good of a year to end on a struggling note.”

November 4, 2013
Ford’s Logano Leads Saturday’s First Cup Practice

Ford Racing NSCS Notes & Quotes:
Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 Advance (Martinsville Speedway)
Saturday, October 26, 2013

Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Fusion, recorded the fastest single-lap speed in Saturday’s first practice session at Martinsville Speedway in preparation for tomorrow’s Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500. Logano spoke about being at the top of the chart before heading out for happy hour.

JOEY LOGANO – No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Fusion – YOU’RE FASTEST IN THE FIRST PRACTICE SO HOW IS YOUR CAR? “Not too bad. The car is pretty decent, but this second practice we want to work on getting a little bit more long-run speed and making some longer runs to make sure it’s there. We just tested some parts and pieces because it’s just so cold out there today that it’s not really realistic yet. The guys did a good job. They built this car brand new and did a nice job because it’s really light. So far it’s all paying off. I feel like I’ve got a car that’s good, but I’ve just got to figure out how to beat the 48 still.”

HOW BENEFICIAL WAS THE TEST YOU HAD HERE A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO? “It helped us a ton. I think it was probably the most successful test we had for sure.”

YOU START SIXTH, BUT WOULD YOU RATHER BE ON THE INSIDE? “I’d rather be on the inside. When Kyle went out there at the end and beat me I was pretty mad about it. I didn’t want to be sixth because I wanted to start on the inside, but we’ll just try to find a hole and get down as quick as we can. That’s all you can do.”

YOU MENTIONED THE 48. DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE SOMETHING FOR HIM TOMORROW? “Yes. I thought yesterday when we unloaded my car was really fast, so I was like, ‘We’ve got a good shot at winning this thing.’ If everything goes right and if there’s a late-race caution here, we’ve all seen what that brings with two tires, four tires and what people will do to try to get track position. At that point it really just depends what lane you line up in, so you never know.”

October 26, 2013