Tag: Juan Pablo Montoya

Grading the Sprint Cup Rides – 2013 Third Term Report

Hot 20 over the past 10 – Montoya soon to be rid of fenders, NAPA soon to be rid of Michael Waltrip

The Final Word goes to Jimmie Johnson…again

He is one of the greatest drivers of all time. Jimmie Johnson’s name has long been among such icons as Tony Stewart, Darrell Waltrip, Cale Yarborough, David Pearson, and Lee Petty. By the time he was done his run of five, he had even surpassed Jeff Gordon and now only Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty have claimed more titles. He is the best driver of his era, he has the best crew chief in Chad Knaus, drives for the best team owned by Rick Hendrick and, with the departure of NAPA, you could argue that Lowe’s is even the best sponsor in NASCAR. Is it any wonder Johnson has six Cup championships to his credit?

There are those who do not like to see one guy win so much. If I am watching greatness, if I am watching what has become an historic championship dynasty, I believe I am fortunate to be a witness to it. No one had before won five straight crowns and only two legends have won more titles over their career. Some may forget that Matt Kenseth, the race and season runner up, Kurt Busch, Bobby Labonte, Dale Jarrett, or even 2012 winner Brad Keselowski are former champs. No one with even a passing interest in the sport could ever say the same about Jimmie Johnson even years from today. Love him or not, Johnson is the Celtics, Yankees, Canadiens, and Eskimos (remember, I am Canadian) of his sport. Chad Knaus is their Red Auerbach, Joe McCarthy, Toe Blake, and Hugh Campbell. By the way, is Six Time a real athlete? If Donovan McNabb, who is ten months younger than Johnson, would like to challenge the driver to wind sprints, be my guest.

Johnson finished ninth on Sunday, while ten of the 13 Chasers finished among the Top 13 on the day. The race marked the likely final run in the Cup career of Juan Pablo Montoya (18th at Homestead) while Mark Martin (882 races) and Ken Schrader (763) seem to be done at this level. Still, something tells me that you can be sure to see them racing something somewhere yet.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr was 22nd on Sunday and named the circuit’s top rookie. His competition, and girlfriend, Danica Patrick was two spots better at Homestead. That did not happen often enough. The boy had 25 Top 20’s in 2013, the girl had 9.

Rating Homestead – 7/10 – Only late in the game was one fully secure in the probability Johnson would lay claim to the crown. Kenseth threatened to win the race to maximize his points day, and it was up to the newly named Six Time to avoid disaster. Denny Hamlin ended a horrid season with a victory, Junior mattered in this race and season, and we learned not to get too close to a burning tire. Now, if I could mute the announcers while maintaining the ambient sound, my television experience could be truly enhanced.

No change in the announce booth for 2014. Same goes for the schedule, though some off season tinkering with the car hopefully might equate into more successful passing. Change is coming on the track, as ten full-time rides will have different hands on the wheel. One ride is gone (#56) to be replaced by two new full-time entries (#41 and #95), with two changing numbers (#29 becomes either #3 or #33, and #39 becomes #4). All this, and we still have about a hundred days before they fire up at Daytona.

Enjoy the winter!

November 19, 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
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
Surprising and Not Surprising: Talladega Camping World RV Sales 500

In a race where the spotters sound like auctioneers as they guide their drivers around the track and where anything from chess-like strategy to last lap mayhem can happen, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 45^th annual Camping World RV Sales 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Surprising: While many drivers and crew chiefs alike assessed the race as ‘uneventful’, with only three cautions, no major multi-car wrecks and primarily single-file racing in the last laps, a few drivers at least might take exception to that viewpoint.

In one international incident, Marcos Ambrose lost control of his vehicle on lap 78 and took out Juan Pablo Montoya in the process.

“The Target Chevrolet was pretty good to be honest,” Montoya said. “We were running two-wide so it was comfortable.”

“We started running three-wide and the spotter told me ‘get out’ and I backed up going into the tri-oval and the next thing I know, I just saw out the corner of my eye somebody coming towards me and that was it.”

Even more dramatic, however, was the white flag lap crash where Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made contact with Austin Dillon, driver the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet for Stewart Haas Racing, sending the latter airborne.

“The No. 17 had a little bit of a run and I tried to go with him and came back across and hooked me,” Dillon said. “What a wild ride.”

“Who needs skydiving?”

Not Surprising: There are times at a race track when even the trophy is not the most important thing in Victory Lane and not surprisingly, this was the case for the lucky winner who wound up in Victory Lane.

Jamie McMurray, driver of the No. 1 Cessna Auburn University Chevrolet, not only ended his 108-race winless streak but, as he had always dreamed, he celebrated in Victory Lane with his family, including wife Christy and his two children Carter and Hazel.

“Well, that was — I mean, that’s top two or three moments of my life, to get to experience that with them,” McMurray said. “I don’t know if you guys heard, but I rent a space from Matt Kenseth to keep my go-karts and stuff in at his shop.”

“So I was out in the front where they have some office space, and he’s got pictures hanging inside and there was a picture of Matt and Katie and Grace and Kaylin, and I think it was Dover Victory Lane, and I remember seeing how excited Kaylin was,” McMurray continued. “I went home and told Christy, I hope that we get to have that moment.”

“That’s really special — especially having a little boy who is into Lightning McQueen and racing in general,” McMurray said. “Yeah, to get to have that with my family is really cool.”

This was McMurray’s first win of the season, his second victory at Talladega, and his seventh victory in 398 Cup races.

Surprising: Dale Earnhardt Jr. was surprisingly upbeat in spite of not having his dream of snagging that elusive first win of the season come true. The driver of the No. 88 Mountain Dew/Xbox One Chevrolet was a bridesmaid in the runner up position yet again.

“It wasn’t the best run in the world,” Dale Junior said. “It wasn’t what I dreamed it would be, all those last few laps.”

“But it was a good enough run I think to get up to his (McMurray’s) quarter panel and get beside him.”

“Really happy with the way the car ran and it was good to run up front, good to lead,” Earnhardt Jr. continued. “We’ve really struggled this season with being competitive, and to drive up through there and do that like we did today, and it felt great.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. scored his 14^th top-10 finish in 28 races at ‘Dega and posted his 18^th top-10 finish of the 2013 season.

Not Surprising: In spite of a punishing Truck race the night before, Kyle Busch not surprisingly proved again that he was the redemption story of the race weekend. The driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Halloween Toyota bounced back after missing his pit box to get his lap back and finish fifth.

And although he had some harsh words on his radio after getting blocked out of his pit box by none other than race winner Jamie McMurray, Busch was giving all the glory to God at the end of the race.

“Our M&M’s Halloween Camry ran great all day,” said Busch, who earned his fourth top-five finish in 18 starts at Talladega, including his April 2008 win at the 2.66-mile oval. “It was fun to finish one of these things.”

“It’s God’s grace that allows us to finish one of these, and we appreciate it today, especially coming home with another top-five.”

Busch also redeemed himself in the point standings, moving up two positions to reclaim the third spot, just 26 points behind the leader.

Surprising: Talladega proved a surprising dichotomy for the two primary Rookie of the Year contenders. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished third while his primary ROTY competitor Danica Patrick finished 33^rd after having a pit road calamity.

“I thought the racing was great all day,” Stenhouse, driver of the No. 17 Nationwide Insurance Ford, said. “We were two, three, and four wide for a long time.”

“For our Nationwide Insurance team we were solid all day, in the top-10 a lot of the day and led a few laps, which was good for us.”

On the other hand, while Danica Patrick had been also running toward the front of the pack, her good day was ruined by an error on pit road during a green flag stop where she missed her pit stall and then incurred a speeding penalty to boot.

“We just didn’t communicate well on that final pit stop,” the driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Breast Cancer Awareness Chevrolet said. “We were on the high side and couldn’t get down to where we needed to be to pit.”

“It’s disappointing and none of us feel good about it.”

Not Surprising: David Ragan and David Gilliland, both of whom have proven that they can drive at the superspeedways as evidenced by their one, two finish in the spring race at ‘Dega, not surprisingly fared well again in the fall affair.

Ragan, behind the wheel of the No. 34 SaferCar.gov Ford, finished sixth, with his teammate Gilliland, driving the No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford, right behind him in the seventh spot.

“We had a chance to win the race, took the white flag in seventh or eighth and kind of had a good plan,” Ragan said. “But the caution came out so we got a top-10 finish and that’s a good thing for our Front Row Motorsports team.”

“David and I worked together for a good part of the race and we were in position,” Gilliland said. “And then the caution came out on the last lap.”

“Thankfully, we weren’t part of it and we were able to get a top-10 finish and a clean car to take home.”

Surprising: Paul Menard, driver of the No. 27 Menards Duracell Chevrolet, surprisingly bettered his Talladega statistics by finishing fourth. This was Menard’s only finish inside the top-10 at Talladega in fifteen starts there other than a runner-up finish in 2008.

“At the start of the race, we took off and the car drove really good,” Menard said. “We drove to the front and kind of hung out in the top-10 all day long.”

“We could make the middle groove work to gain spots and then get to the outside,” Menard continued. “Ultimately the outside lane kind of won out over the long run.”

Not Surprising: Channeling his best Ricky Bobby from the movie ‘Talladega Nights”, Kurt Busch exemplified the notion that ‘if you’re not first, you’re last’ or at least 18^th, which is where he finished in his No. 78 Wonder Bread car.

“Restrictor plate racing is all about being in the right place at the right time,” Busch said. “We were in the right place for the majority of the race, but when it counted at the end, we weren’t there.”

“It’s disappointing because our Wonder Bread Chevy was fast and to finish 18th didn’t do us justice,” Busch continued. “I tried to make something happen, but couldn’t get there.”

Busch fell two spots in the Chase standings, from seventh to ninth, now 61 points behind the leader.

Surprising: At a track where handling usually does not matter, Matt Kenseth surprisingly struggled with an ill handling race car that set him back tremendously during the midsection of the race. Kenseth never quite fully recovered, finishing 20^th and losing the championship points lead to Jimmie Johnson.

“It was really bizarre — typically, handling is a non-issue here and we just got so loose I couldn’t even hang on to it,” the driver of the No. 20 Let’s Do This Home Depot Toyota said. “I pretty much had to run in the back for two runs which was disappointing.”

“We finally got it fixed that last run, but we only had 20 laps to get back up there,” Kenseth continued. “I really needed to be up there like we were early and feel like I was controlling the race more — the lanes and the runs and all that and I could never get back to there.”

Not Surprising: While Jimmie Johnson may also have not had the race that he envisioned, his 13^th place finish was better than Kenseth’s run. And after surviving Talladega, which was his goal, the five-time champ now has Martinsville, one of his best tracks, in his sights.

“You know I feel that the races forward now are up to where the competitors go earn it,” the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet said. “You don’t have this luck issue that can take place at plate tracks.”

“So I am happy to have the points lead and we went through a lot of work to get there,” Johnson continued. “We just go racing from here.”

“Martinsville has been good to us in the past, but we’ve got to go there and race,” Johnson said. “We will make sure that we get buttoned up and ready to go to that paperclip and see what we can do.”

“It’s just going to be a dogfight to the end.”

October 21, 2013
Jamie McMurray Celebrating a Pretty Good Year

Last year at season end in Las Vegas, as he helped during championship week to unveil the new Chevrolet, Jamie McMurray pronounced his year miserable.

But this season, the driver of the No. 1 LiftMaster Chevrolet, is celebrating a pretty good year so far, especially after a top-five run at New Hampshire and an honor for his crew chief to boot.

“Other than getting tangled up on Lap 40, it really was a good race,” McMurray said. “We just really had a good car, had good pit strategy, and had good pit stops.”

“It was truly hard to pass there, but we were able to pass a few cars and then had good track position at the end.”

McMurray’s crew chief Kevin Manion also received the MOOG Problem Solver award, recognizing the team’s comeback after a spin out early in the race. In fact, McMurray and Manion’s No. 1 Chevrolet improved by a race-high 0.331 seconds in earning its second top-five finish in three races.

“Jamie and Kevin were running as strong as they have all year in the second half,” Tim Nelson, Federal-Mogul Motorsports Director, said. “You could tell that Jamie loved the setup of their MOOG-equipped chassis, and Kevin and the Earnhardt-Ganassi crew were nearly flawless on pit road.”

With this success, McMurray has indeed expressed satisfaction in his pretty good year to date. And he even thinks this year has been better than when he won several of the major races on the circuit, including the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard race.

“Yeah, it’s been good,” McMurray said. “I think our cars have been even better than what they were in 2010 when we won some big races.”

“We haven’t been able to execute as well as we need to,” McMurray continued. “But the speed of our cars has been good so yeah, they’ve done a really nice job obviously with this Generation 6 car.”

“We were able to hit on a few things that really worked well for us at a variety of different tracks.”

McMurray is hoping to continue his pretty good year at Dover International Speedway this race weekend. While he has had some success at the Monster Mile, he also knows that the ‘monster’ is always lurking and ready to pounce.

“So Dover, I really enjoy coming here but at the same time, this is a track that if your car is not right, it’s miserable,” McMurray said. “You can’t get out of the way and for a mile track, the lap times are really fast.”

“So, it’s easy to go a lap down if you get off,” McMurray continued. “But at the same time if your car is good, it’s a really fun track to race on.”

As he celebrates a pretty good year in 2013, he is also looking forward to some of the changes to come for Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing, including the young up-and-comer Kyle Larson joining the team in the seat vacated by Juan Pablo Montoya.

“It will be new with Kyle (Larson) but Kyle’s been racing for a long time, even though he’s young,” McMurray said. “I already know Kyle so I’m looking forward to that.”

“It will be interesting to look at how Kyle approaches things, which will be different than what someone who has been around a long time has,” McMurray continued. “Sometimes you get fresh ideas and see another perspective on things.”

“Kyle’s actually getting to come to our organization at a really good time,” McMurray said. “It would have been a challenge for him a couple years ago because our cars were not really good.”

“But I think our cars are really good right now so he is fortunate to be coming on at a really good time for the company.”

As with most drivers not in the Chase, McMurray has just one thing on his mind as he ends up his self-proclaimed pretty good year.

“Just trying to win a race before the year is over,” McMurray said. “We’ve had really good cars and we have a couple of really good tracks like Charlotte coming up.”

“I also feel good about Dover,” McMurray said. “I thought we had the best car here in the spring and then a part fell off someone’s car and went through our radiator.”

“So, we had a really crummy spring race.”

“I think Charlotte will be a good track for us too,” McMurray said. “We ran really well there the last few times.”

“And Martinsville has always been a really good track for me too,” McMurray continued. “So, I feel like we have a few really good tracks coming up for us.”

So, will McMurray feel differently than he did in Vegas last year about this season when the checkered flag flies in Homestead?

“Last year, we were just terrible,” McMurray said. “We ran the last ten races just trying all kinds of off-the-wall stuff.”

“We never really hit on anything,” McMurray continued. “So, Vegas last year was just a bad season and when you end not running well, it makes for a long off-season.”

“But this year, our cars have been a lot better,” McMurray said. “I feel good about the last few races that we have left.”

“Certainly, this year has been a lot better than the last.”

September 28, 2013

This grading system is pretty basic. Top 10’s, with extra consideration given for wins and Top 5’s, can help you earn an A+. Keep it in the Top 20 each race and that is worth a B. Just by finishing 30^th each time out and that would still get you a C-. Less than that is a failure; a failure to compete, a failure to get noticed.

Grade: A

The top students have been to joy to have in class, even though Jimmie did cost himself an A+ by playing hookey in the weeks leading to the Chase. We are hopeful Kyle continues his stellar work through the final part of the year, though he has had trouble in the past. Matt has really hit the books as of late, and could wind up class valedictorian if he continues his progress. Carl once again is near the head of the class, but time will tell if can charge to the front to finally be number one.

CAR	DRIVER	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	TOP 20	TOP 30
48	Jimmie JOHNSON	4	11	17	21	25
18	Kyle BUSCH	4	13	17	20	22
20	Matt KENSETH	7	8	15	21	24
99	Carl EDWARDS	2	8	14	24	26

Grade: A-

Kevin has been in the top half of the class pretty much the entire year and only twice has the dog eaten his homework. Clint is usually a very popular boy, but for some reason I detect that many of his classmates do not want him to wind up at the head of the class this year.

CAR	DRIVER	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	TOP 20	TOP 30
29	Kevin HARVICK	2	7	14	25	25
15	Clint BOWYER	0	8	14	24	26

Grade: B+

Kurt, who usually does not play well with others, has some cheering for him. It will be interesting how he works with his new friends when class resumes next year. Kasey had some trouble last week, as did little Joey a week earlier. Dale is once again a very popular boy while Ryan has had some issues to work through, but seems to have replaced former friends with some new ones for next year. Martin has had some problems as well due to the company he keeps, and I am not sure how that will work out. Greg remains a solid student, with Mark helping Tony since he hurt his leg. Meanwhile, Jeff needed some help near the end of the term, though I am not sure it will be enough for him to realize his dreams by the end of the school year.

CAR	DRIVER	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	TOP 20	TOP 30
78	Kurt BUSCH	0	9	14	20	23
5	Kasey KAHNE	2	8	11	18	20
22	Joey LOGANO	1	8	14	19	23
88	Dale EARNHARDT, Jr	0	5	15	21	24
39	Ryan NEWMAN	1	6	13	21	22
56	Martin TRUEX, Jr	1	6	12	21	23
16	Greg BIFFLE	1	4	11	23	24
14	Tony STEWART	1	5	10	19	27
24	Jeff GORDON	0	5	13	21	22

Grade: B

It has been a disappointing year for some students. Brad has stumbled a bit since being last year’s valedictorian. Juan Pablo plans to transfer out of our school next year, returning to where he had previously enjoyed very good grades. His friend Jamie will remain with us, and has hopes of improving his status next year. Mark has been busy, first helping Brian earlier this year and now Tony. I am expecting good things when Brian returns full-time next year. Along with Paul, they might not make the honor roll this year, but these boys have done enough work to show they belong here.

Grade: B-

Aric has shown signs that we might expect better things ahead for him. Jeff, as always, was expecting more. As he leaves us a year early, we will miss this well spoken young man.

CAR	DRIVER	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	TOP 20	TOP 30
43	Aric ALMIROLA	0	1	5	22	24
31	Jeff BURTON	0	2	6	17	23

Grade: C+

Marcos and Ricky have been okay, though not great. They both manage to get their work done, but I still would like to see better things from them before the year is out.

CAR	DRIVER	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	TOP 20	TOP 30
9	Marcos AMBROSE	0	0	5	19	23
17	Ricky STENHOUSE, Jr	0	0	2	20	25

Grade: C

I do not know what to say about Denny. I know he was hurt earlier in the year, but he has not been his old self since he returned. It appears he would just as soon end the year, go on vacation, and start afresh next year.

CAR	DRIVER	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	TOP 20	TOP 30
11	Denny HAMLIN	0	3	6	12	19

Grade: C-

Casey is not quite ready to compete with the big boys just yet, but I have been pleased with his progress. I am interested to see how he might do next year. I will miss Bobby, though he has had another disappointing year. Some seem happy with Danica’s progress, but I feel we should expect more by this time. She is blessed with so much more than a lot of the other students. David did succeed on the subject of Alabama geography, with some help from his close friend, the other David, but neither are quite there yet. As for A.J., who sometimes goes by Regan or Austin or, just last week, by Michael, might make some real progress once he figures out who he really is.

CAR	DRIVER	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	TOP 20	TOP 30
13	Casey MEARS	0	0	1	9	23
47	Bobby LABONTE	0	0	1	8	21
10	Danica PATRICK	0	0	1	6	23
34	David RAGAN	1	1	1	4	21
38	David GILLILAND	0	1	1	5	20
51	A.J. ALLMENDINGER	0	0	2	7	18

Grade: F

To be honest, I am not sure why these boys are even in my class. Both Dave and Travis, I am sure, would do so much better at Nationwide High. What can you say about J.J. (other than he enjoyed Daytona seven months ago), David S. (who just isn’t the same boy the past two weeks), David R. or Timmy? No, really. What can you say about them? Well, I’ve seen worse. I feel bad for Trevor, as I think if he would attend class more often he might be able to pull in a better grade than this. However, to be fair, of the nine assignments he has done, none have been much to write home about. As for Landon, things just don’t seem to work out. He and Tony R. have done most of the assignments for Austin, which is too bad as the young fellow has done so much better on the two he has written on his own. There are other students who drop in from time to time, but I have reserved my remarks for those who have tried to attend class at least nine times this year. God bless Scott, Michael, Joe, and Mike, but if the school board ever considers reducing class size, they make a good argument. To be honest, they usually do not stick around long enough to become a nuisance. The sad thing is, all four have ability but you never get to see it.

CAR	DRIVER	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	TOP 20	TOP 30
7	Dave BLANEY	0	0	0	2	18
93	Travis KVAPIL	0	0	0	4	15
36	J.J. YELEY	0	0	1	2	14
30	David STREMME	0	0	0	4	13
83	David REUTIMANN	0	0	0	1	14
32	Timmy HILL	0	0	0	2	12
21	Trevor BAYNE	0	0	0	4	8
40	Landon CASSILL	0	0	0	4	8
33	Austin DILLON	0	0	0	2	12
95	Scott SPEED	0	0	1	1	3
98	Michael MCDOWELL	0	0	1	1	2
87	Joe NEMECHEK	0	0	0	0	3
19	Mike BLISS	0	0	0	0	1

September 24, 2013

Brad KESELOWSKI

Juan Pablo MONTOYA

Jamie MCMURRAY

Brian VICKERS

Paul MENARD

So, what have we learned lately? Well, if one cheats, one must not do so in a fashion that allows them to be quickly caught. Caught by everybody. Caught on scanners, radios, and in full view of millions at the track and watching on television. Nothing good can ever come from that. That is, if one decides that they must cheat in the first place.

Since February, 2001 NAPA and Michael Waltrip have been synonymous in NASCAR. That comes to an abrupt end at the conclusion of this year when the company terminates its association with MWR, and it is all due to the events at Richmond. It is a very high price to pay and as much as I did not condone that team’s actions, as much as I applaud NASCAR’s reaction to them, I hate to have seen it come to this. I understand why the team did what it did. I understand why the fans reacted as they did, with those actions affecting two drivers who have become sentimental favorites. I understand why NAPA did what they did, being sensitive to public perception. However, it gives me no joy to read about it. The price has been paid. It is time to move on.

Juan Pablo Montoya is moving on. After seven seasons and two victories in NASCAR’s Cup series, he returns to the open wheeled racing in which he thrived between 1999 and 2006. Over the course of those eight campaigns, he won 18 races, claimed the CART championship as well as the Grand Prix of Monaco in claiming seven Formula One events. Ironically, while he joins the Penske organization in IndyCar, he has run only one race in that circuit, winning the 2000 Indianapolis 500. We look forward to his return to the track in St. Petersburg, Florida in late March.

Matt Kenseth returns to the track this Sunday at Loudon, New Hampshire. Unlike the other five drivers among our hottest half dozen, which includes the Busch Brothers, Ryan Newman, Kevin Harvick, and Jeff Gordon, Kenseth has never won at Loudon in 27 attempts. Then again, he has never won six races in a season before, either, and that Joe Gibbs car of his might be just what he needs to break that streak in New Hampshire.

Name	Points	Pos	LW	Rank	W	T5	T10
Kyle Busch	354	1	1	(2)	2	4	6
Kurt Busch	339	2	2	(6)	0	5	7
Ryan Newman	328	3	5	(8)	1	4	6
Matt Kenseth	327	4	3	(1)	2	3	5
Kevin Harvick	326	5	6	(4)	0	3	5
Jeff Gordon	312	6	8	(7)	0	1	7
Jamie McMurray	310	7	4	(15)	0	1	2
Carl Edwards	304	8	11	(5)	1	2	4
Greg Biffle	299	9	13	(11)	0	0	3
Kasey Kahne	293	10	10	(10)	1	3	4
Brad Keselowski	293	11	15	(14)	0	2	4
Joey Logano	280	12	7	(12)	1	3	6
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	279	13	9	(13)	0	1	5
Jimmie Johnson	271	14	14	(3)	1	3	5
Juan Pablo Montoya	269	15	12	(20)	0	2	4
Paul Menard	261	16	17	(16)	0	2	3
Marcos Ambrose	256	17	16	(21	0	0	2
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	247	18	20	(19)	0	0	2
Clint Bowyer	245	19	18	(9)	0	2	4
Aric Almirola	239	20	21	(18)	0	1	1
Jeff Burton	230	21	22	(22)	0	1	2
Martin Truex, Jr.	227	22	19	(17)	0	2	3

September 19, 2013

Surprising and Not Surprising: Geico 400 at Chicagoland

After a wild week of penalties, shakeups to the Chase line up, and a lengthy rain delay to boot, here is what else was surprising and not surprising in the first race of the Chase, the Geico 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.

Surprising: While it was surprising that the race was run in its entirety, albeit into the wee hours of the night, the biggest surprise was the impact of the change from day to night on the engines, forcing two of the Chasers right into the basement of the standings as a result.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 Time Warner Cable Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, and Joey Logano, behind the wheel of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford for Penske Racing, both had catastrophic engine failures, finishing 35^th and 37^th respectively.

Even more devastating, Logano lost six positions in the standings to the 12^th spot and Junior lost four positions falling to the newly formed 13^th Chase position. Both are not only in the basement spots in the standings but also over 50 points behind leader Matt Kenseth.

“I’m pretty angry,” Logano said after dropping out of the race. “That was such a fast race car but unfortunately the motor blew up.”

“It is a bummer to have it in the Chase when you are running for a championship,” Logano continued. “It just wasn’t our day I guess.”

“I’m not really sure if it was motor or transmission, but it has got us sitting on the sidelines,” Junior said. “Something broke there in the motor.”

“It’s tough,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It’s going to be really hard to win a championship this far behind.”

Not Surprising: Coach and team owner Joe Gibbs not surprisingly reacted as a proud papa when it came time to visit one of his drivers in Victory Lane and the other in the runner up role.

JGR racer Matt Kenseth scored his first ever win at Chicagoland and his career best sixth win for the season while Kyle Busch missed the weekend sweep by just one position, bringing his JGR Toyota home in the second spot.

“We won the race tonight,” Gibbs said. “We were one and two there.”

“My wife probably said it best, she said it’s like having babies, they’re all great,” Gibbs continued. “That’s the way you feel about it.”

Surprising: Two future Stewart Haas Racing teammates and yes, lame duck Chase contenders both, had a surprisingly good battle going between the two of them late in the race, with Kevin Harvick finishing third and Kurt Busch finishing fourth.

“Yeah we had a lot of fun,” the driver of the No. 29 Budweiser Designate a Driver Chevrolet, said. “Came up a couple short, but a good day.”

“Yeah, we had a battle with Harvick and we brought our Chevy home in fourth,” Kurt Busch said. “Top fives are what it’s all about in the Chase so one down and nine to go.”

Not Surprising: He’s back……After a four-week downward spiral of twentieth place finishes or worse, Jimmie Johnson and team No. 48 got their mojo back, finishing top-five and representing the Hendrick Motorsports in the third position in the Chase standings, just eleven points behind the leader.

Even more impressive, although not surprising, the No. 48 bunch had to overcome two problematic episodes on pit road to regain their forward momentum.

“From a jack failing to a call on pit road for a lug nut that was not supposedly on, and a variety of issues, it was a great comeback,” Johnson said. “We wanted to finish better of course, but we’re very proud of all the hard work from Hendrick Motorsports, Chad Knaus, and this No. 48 Lowe’s race team.”

“We’re off to a good start.”

Surprising: Apparently a little off-track action was all that was needed to score another surprising top-10 finish, at least for Rookie of the Year contender Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

“We started the race and thought we were in big trouble,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “Luckily after the rain delay, it kind of helped our car turn a little bit better and we were able to get an eighth place finish.”

“Yes, we went to Sonic,” Stenhouse Jr. continued, describing his drive-through rain delay adventure. “Gave me a little bit of energy.”

“Took a nap and really played it out well.”

Not Surprising: For someone who came to the Chase party a bit late and who also may have been up a bit past his veteran bedtime, Jeff Gordon was not only wired after his sixth place finish, but he looked like he could actually run another race or two.

“Well, that was an incredible accomplishment,” the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, said after his top ten finish which propelled him into the seventh spot in the Chase standings. “It just shows how much fight this team has in them.”

“Can’t wait to get to this next race,” Gordon continued. “Where is it? Loudon? We’re ready!”

Surprising: Although not in the Chase, the reigning champ had a surprisingly good run, scoring the highest finish for the Ford Camp at Chicagoland. Brad Keselowski, driver of the Blue Deuce, took the checkered flag in the seventh position.

“I think we were probably a top-five car,” Keselowski said. “I don’t know if I had anything for the 20 or 18.”

“It was hard to tell because we never got a shot to find out.”

Not Surprising: In addition to Logano’s engine failure, the other Ford Chasers did not fare well either. Carl Edwards, in the No. 99 Fastenal Ford, finished 11^th and Greg Biffle, behind the wheel of the No. 16 Post-It Ford Fusion, finished 16^th.

“There are a couple of things I wish I could take back,” Edwards said. “We were just missing something at this style of race track.”

“That was a rough night,” Biffle said. “We had major issues.”

“That wasn’t our best night.”

Surprising: Young up and coming driver Cole Whitt had a surprisingly fiery Cup debut for Swan Racing. His No. 30 Swan Racing/Lean 1 Toyota, had an engine failure that resulted in quite the fire ball.

“It just jumped out of gear on the front stretch and blew up,” Whitt said. “It’s not the debut I was looking for at Swan Racing but I look forward to continuing to work with them.”

Not Surprising: After a cut tire resulted in a 32^nd place finish, it was not surprising that Juan Pablo Montoya announced that he would be ending his NASCAR career at the end of the 2013 season and heading back to the IndyCar Series.

Montoya will be racing for the Captain, Roger Penske, joining teammates Will Power and Helio Castroneves back in the open wheel ranks.

“I’m really excited,” JPM said. “If you really dream of any ideal position for a driver, and you could say, you could race for Penske, I think that would be No. 1.”

“And you know ‑‑ when I heard and it was announced that I wasn’t going to be in the 42 car next year, my No. 1 choice was going to be in a winning car,” Montoya continued. “I really want to be in a winning car.”

Surprising: In spite of spinning twice, Justin Allgaier loved every minute of his 27^th place run in his Cup debut with Phoenix Racing in the No. 51 Brandt Chevrolet.

“There have been a lot of drivers who have come through and raced in the sport’s top tier,” Allgaier said. “For me, it’s a cool feeling to know my name will go on that list of drivers to run a Sprint Cup Series race.”

“There are so many names of guys that I looked up to and respected,” Allgaier continued. “I’m excited to get there.”

Not Surprising: In spite of the rain delay, with the red flag lasting five hours, ten minutes and 21 seconds, at least one driver recognized that the fans were the real heroes at Chicagoland Speedway.

“Matt (Borland, crew chief) and the guys were able to discuss strategy with the break we had, and they made some good adjustments once we went back racing,” Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet said. “I’m glad we were able to get the whole race in.”

“And I’ve got to thank the fans that stuck it out to see the finish.”

September 17, 2013
Surprising and Not Surprising: Atlanta Advocare 500

In one of the closest races to the Chase, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 54^th running of the Advocare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Surprising: While many drivers felt that the Atlanta race would be critical, Kyle Busch surprisingly found his race win to be positively pivotal after clinching a spot in the coveted Chase.

“Well, it started a little ugly,” the driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota said. “I was a little ill on the radio, I’m sure, but I can’t say enough about Dave Rogers (crew chief) right here and the team that he’s assembled around us.”

“I think if you can pin a championship night on one race, I think tonight was the night,” Busch continued. “We certainly had a lot to do and a lot to overcome, and I think that Dave and these guys stuck with me.”

“For as bad as I may have been talking, they certainly never gave up,” Busch said. “The Lord was with us and blessed us today with a great night.”

This was Busch’s 38^th win in 318 Cup Series races, his fourth victory of the season and his second checkered flag at Atlanta. This was also the 250^th win for Toyota and the 100^th win for Kyle Busch in a Toyota across the three national series.

Not Surprising: There were two very disappointed drivers following closely on the heels of race winner Kyle Busch.

And although they disagreed on a few issues post-race, they did agree on two things, that they were disappointed with the finish and that they had to overcome adversity, one with a pit road problem and the other related to his fractured wrist.

“We’re both mad because we didn’t win,” Truex Jr. said after finishing third in his No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota said.

“Yeah, we both agree that sucks,” Logano, who finished second behind the wheel of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, said.

“We overcame a loose wheel early in the race and cycled ourselves back to the lead after all of that,” Logano said. “I just needed 30 laps of green flag to get all the way up there to the front.”

“The cast just inside my hand here got all soft,” Truex Jr. said after the race. “I think maybe it’s just gotten wet from sweat or something and softened up, so we’ll have to look into that.”

Surprising: There were some angry drivers after the race at Atlanta, which surprisingly occurred at this mile and a half track instead of a short track.

Denny Hamlin was one angry bird, from altercations with other drivers to anger at NASCAR. Four-time champ Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards were also at odds with one another after some hard racing and contact.

“Our night was ruined because of a penalty putting us two laps down that we couldn’t overcome,” Hamlin, who finished 38^th in his No. 11 SportClips Toyota, said. “We got wrecked by the No. 27 (Paul Menard), blew the tire, blew the fender off and blew another engine.”

Hamlin was also angry with his teammate Kyle Busch, at one point hollering over his radio ““Tell Kyle if he would f****** let me go, he’d learn how to drive this track and not be an idiot.”

“We’re just getting kicked in the nuts every weekend by something and I just can’t catch a break,” Hamlin said after the race.

Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards also had their angry moments, both during and after the race.

“He just slide-jobbed me and I thought it was really out of character for him and I didn’t understand what was going on there,” Edwards said, after finishing 18^th in his No. 99 Subway Ford. “I did everything I could not to wreck us both.”

“I’ve never seen him drive me like that,” Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet said of his battle with Edwards. “It was pretty wild.”

“He didn’t like that I slid him early in the race,” Gordon, who finished sixth to keep his Chase hopes alive, continued. “We went into (Turn) 1 and he took my line away to keep me behind him and I was a lot better than him and I just dove inside.”

“I came up a little bit too short on him,” Gordon said. “And that was my fault.”

“But he decided he was going to give me back, I guess, and he did all night,” Gordon continued. “I tried to have a regular conversation and that didn’t seem to be possible with him.”

“We don’t agree on what happened and finally he got frustrated enough with the conversation that he just walked away,” Edwards said of Gordon. “That might have been smart.”

Not Surprising: Even though he has signed with another race team for 2014, Kurt Busch not surprisingly continues to impress. The driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Beautyrest Chevrolet motored from tenth to second on one of the restarts, and went on to finish the race in fourth, climbing into the tenth spot in the Chase standings.

“I noticed the 78 and I was like okay, they’re having a decent day,” Kyle Busch said of brother Kurt. “Then he was in my mirror and I’m like did everybody wreck?”

“The kid was wheeling it, I guess,” Kyle Busch continued. “That was pretty impressive.”

Brother Kurt Busch agreed, saying simply, “I can’t tell you what I did right, but it all went right.”

Surprising: For the third week in a row, five-time champion Jimmie Johnson struggled and at one point during the race had even lost the points lead.

Johnson was involved in the first true caution, following the competition yellow, when the field stacked up on a restart, collecting teammate Kasey Kahne, Jeff Burton and Mark Martin in addition to himself.

The driver of the No. 48 Lowes Dover White Chevrolet next hit the tire carcass from the Paul Menard vehicle, sustaining further damage, and went on later in the race to spin out.

Although Johnson finished 28^th, he still managed to hold serve over Clint Bowyer in the point standings by 28, ironically the same number of points as his finishing order.

Not Surprising: Clint Bowyer, behind the wheel of the No. 15 RKMotorsCharlotte.com Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing not surprisingly decided that he would just go have an adult beverage after his experimental engine expired, resulting in a 39^th place finish.

“Well, it certainly sucks,” Bowyer said. “That was a super big bummer right there.”

“I wanted to go for the win,” Bowyer continued. “It was ours to lose and we found a way to lose.”

“I’m going to go have a beer.”

Surprising: Kevin Harvick, was surprisingly conflicted, happy with securing his role in the Chase, but not so happy with his race car.

“Obviously we’re happy to be in the Chase, but our day wasn’t very good,” the driver of the No. 29 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet said. “Our car was just terribly tight all night long and drove nothing like it did in practice.”

We’ll work on that.”

Not Surprising: Although Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished eighth, he was most grateful to leave Atlanta in one piece and in good Chase contention, hanging tough in the seventh spot in the point standings.

““I was real thankful the car was as good as it was,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Race2Achieve.org Chevrolet said. “We have struggled here and not ran great here the last several trips.”

“All in all I’m real pleased with the way the car performed and the job the guys did.”

Surprising: After finding out this week that he would no longer be driving for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing in NASCAR, being replaced by young up and coming driver Kyle Larson, Juan Pablo Montoya has surprisingly been reacting like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders.

Montoya’s performance has also picked up since then as well, demonstrated by his seventh place finish at Atlanta in his No. 42 Target Chevrolet.

“It was a good night,” Montoya said. “The guys made great changes and the car was good at the end.”

“Happy that we were able to bring home another top-10 finish for Target tonight.”

Not Surprising: So often, the outcome of any race is outside the control of the man or woman behind the wheel. So, not surprisingly after engine troubles, reigning champ Brad Keselowski felt out of control, especially regarding his chances to make the Chase.

“Some things you can’t control and this was one of those days,” Keselowski said after finishing 35^th in his Blue Deuce. “It just broke.”

“There’s only so much you can control,” Keselowski continued glumly. “Maybe this was control, and maybe it wasn’t.”

“I don’t know until the guys take (the engine) apart and look at it.”

September 2, 2013
Surprising and Not Surprising: IRWIN Tools Bristol Night Race

From NASCAR children National Anthem singing to cars colliding and tempers flaring, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 53^rd annual IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Surprising: Disappointment surprisingly abounded atop the Chase leaderboard, with both point’s leader Jimmie Johnson finishing worse than 36^th for the second week in a row and second place Chaser Clint Bowyer being spun out while in the lead, finishing 14^th.

“This racing stuff happens,” Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Dover White Chevrolet said after finishing 36^th. “Luckily, we had a big point’s lead that we can kind of deal with right now.”

“We’ve locked into the Chase and certainly want to clean things up,” Johnson continued. “We’ll keep after it and be back again next week.”

Having once had been in the lead by over 70 plus points, Johnson is now just 18 points ahead of the second place driver Clint Bowyer.

“I felt like we had a shot at winning and then I got spun out by a lapper, of all things,” Bowyer said after the race. “It hit that left-front tire, and the car never turned the center (of the corners) as good the rest of the night.”

“I’m really just disappointed … because we had a really good car,” Bowyer continued. “Absolutely nothing went our way all night.”

Not Surprising: Although he has been a bit quiet over the last month or two, the resurgence of Matt Kenseth at Joe Gibbs Racing continued, with the driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota rolling right into Bristol’s Victory Lane for the fifth time this season.

This was Kenseth’s 29^th win in 496 Cup Series races and his third victory in 28 races at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“The last month and a half, two months has been a little bit more of a, I hate to say reality check,” Kenseth said. “We’ve struggled just a little bit more, haven’t quite had the speed so it was really, really encouraging this weekend to get to the track and be really fast.”

“It’s a huge win for us,” Kenseth continued. “The Bristol night race is one of the biggest races of the year.”

“I’m glad we were able to pull it off.”

Surprising: The driver of the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet seemed surprisingly befuddled at the end of the race in spite of finishing runner up under the Bristol lights.

“I didn’t get it done,” Kasey Kahne said dejectedly. “We ended up second and it was a good point’s day but I didn’t figure out how to win the race.”

“I don’t know, I just don’t know,” Kahne continued. “I think at the end of the day I just don’t wreck people.”

This was Kahne’s ninth top-10 finish in 20 races at Bristol and his 11^th top-10 finish of the season. He also moved up three positions in the Chase standings to the eighth spot.

Not Surprising: Joey Logano, riding the wave of momentum from last week’s race win at Michigan, not surprisingly proved, at least in his own mind, that he has the mettle to make it into the Chase.

The driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford finished fifth and moved up three spots in the points to the tenth position.

“We came from the back three times to get a top-five finish,” Logano said. “They can’t put us down and can’t keep us down.”

“We deserve to make this Chase and if we keep doing this on days that they’re trying to put us down, we deserve it.”

Surprising: Although admittedly hoping that the leaders would wreck each other so he could score the win, Juan Pablo Montoya surprisingly credited his third place finish to, of all things, a speeding penalty.

“I got caught speeding there with like 170 to go or something and that kind of hurt us,” the driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet said. “But I’ll tell you the truth, I think it helped us because if it would have played right, we probably would have run out of gas.”

“It made it more interesting,” Montoya continued. “I really cooked the front tires there at the end but it was fun.”

This was JPM’s fourth top-10 finish in 14 races at the Bristol Motor Speedway.

Not Surprising: Well, it was Bristol after all so, to no one’s surprise, there were a few tempers flaring, especially after a late race wreck took out many of the best cars, including some Chase contenders.

Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick, who do have a history with one another, had a rather vigorous discussion on pit road after the wreck when Harvick pulled into Hamlin’s pit stall and Hamlin gave him a shove out of the box.

As a result, Harvick jumped out of his car and beat a path to the door of Hamlin’s car to have a few words about the incident.

“I just saw the No. 11 shoot across the track,” Harvick said. “He said the No. 56 got into him and so I just wanted to know what happened.”

“He just told me his version of it,” the driver of the No. 29 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet said. “It’s all good.”

“It’s Bristol racing.”

Harvick finish 34^th but maintained his fourth spot in the point’s standings while Hamlin finish 28^th, well out of Chase contention in 25^th in the point’s standings.

Surprising: In spite of some greetings from Smoke’s recovery bed, the Stewart-Haas Racing team had a surprisingly tough day. Mark Martin, subbing for the ailing Stewart, finished 20^th with Ryan Newman right behind him in 21^st and Danica Patrick in 26^th.

“We had some tough luck and a few things that we could’ve done better, but we were pretty fast at the end,” Martin said. “That’s why I go home feeling good about it because we were able to improve the car and get it competitive.”

“This one is behind us and hopefully we’ll move ahead from here.”

“I really don’t know what happened there,” Newman, behind the wheel of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet, said. “A couple of guys around us made contact and that triggered a big mess.”

“Our Quicken Loans Chevrolet was damaged pretty significantly; it was a handful to drive those last 50 laps with,” Newman continued. “I basically tried to just stay out of everyone’s way and bring the car to the finish.”

“There is nothing you can do about getting into the wall and having damage,” Patrick said. “We came back as best as we could and made the car as good as it was at the end.”

“We will take it and move on.”

Not Surprising: In spite of finishing top-10, Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Axalta Coating Systems Chevrolet, could only talk about opportunities lost at Bristol, especially after gaining just one position in the standings to the 13^th spot.

“I think we were better than that,” Gordon said of his seventh place finish. “I don’t know if we had enough for Matt but we fought hard and gave it our best effort.”

“Gained points on 10^th but not as much as we could have,” Gordon continued. “But we gained something.”

Surprising: While the Truex brothers were excited to be racing against one another yet again, both Ryan Truex, making his Cup debut, and Martin Truex, Jr. had surprisingly difficult days.

Young Ryan Truex spun and hit the wall, retiring his No. 51 Seawatch Chevrolet after 39 laps to finish 42^nd in his first ever Cup effort.

Brother Martin had a very hard crash late in the race, causing him to finish 35^th in his No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota. Although maintaining his wild card status thanks to his win, Truex Jr. also suffered in the point standings, losing two positions to 14^th.

“We ran up towards the front all night,” Truex Jr. said. “Just disappointed.”

“They start wrecking and you’re an innocent victim,” Truex Jr. continued. “We didn’t deserve that tonight.”

Not Surprising: Another brother duo, this one with the surname Busch, had eventful days at Bristol as well, with Kyle Busch having to start from the rear of the field to finish 11^th and Kurt Busch suffering wheel hub issues resulting in a 31^st place run.

“Yeah, I guess we had a right-rear hub fail where the studs pulled through or they weren’t tightened,” the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing/Sealy Chevrolet said. “We just rode around.”

Kurt Busch lost three positions in the point’s standings, falling to the 12^th spot. Kyle Busch remains in the fifth spot in the standings, 82 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson.

Surprising: There was a surprising first-of-the season engine failure at Roush Fenway Racing and it happened to none other than the race lap leader Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford.

“I didn’t have any warning,” Edwards said. “The car was almost perfect and the engine ran awesome until it broke.”

“The engine ran great until it blew up, so if we run like that the rest of the year, it’s going to be awesome.”

Not Surprising: Marcos Ambrose finished top-10 for two weeks in a row and he said that the devil made him do it.

“That’s two top-10s in two weeks and we’ve got to take that,” the driver of No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion said. “Yeah, I guess a little bit of the Tasmanian Devil comes out in me at this track.”

“This is a really aggressive track and you’ve got to be aggressive all night,” Ambrose continued. “You’ve got to gnaw on that steering wheel and I just like getting up on the wheel like that.”

“These are good nights to test your mettle and see what kind of man or lady you are out there and get after it.”

The Cup Series will head next to Atlanta for the next to the last race before the Chase begins.

August 26, 2013