Tag: Juan Pablo Montoya

Surprising and Not Surprising: Phoenix Subway Fresh Fit 500

In the Valley of the Sun, surprisingly dotted by a few sprinkles at race start, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 9^th Annual Subway Fresh Fit 500 from Phoenix International Raceway.

Surprising: There was a surprising amount of frustration from many of the drivers finishing in the top five in the second race of the young NASCAR season.

Second place finisher Jimmie Johnson was frustrated because of what he perceived as a not so kosher restart on the green-white-checker finish.

“The leader’s not supposed to slow down before you take off,” the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet said. “If you get away with it, it works great.”

“But if it had been me, my Twitter inbox would have been full.”

The third place race finisher, Denny Hamlin, was also frustrated but for a different reason, lack of passing. This frustration was, however, a bit surprising since he came from the back of the field due to an engine change and also achieved a bonsai pass on the apron to secure his top-five finish.

“It was so hard to pass,” the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota said. “Aero tight is a huge, huge deal.”

“I hate to be Denny Downer, but I just didn’t pass that many cars today.”

The final surprisingly frustrated driver was none other than Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who finished in the fifth position at a track where he has been known to struggle. Junior was frustrated because of a pit stop where he was boxed in and lost positions, in his mind costing him the race win.

“Well I hate to be frustrated at Phoenix, but I think we are,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet said. “We feel like we could have finished better than fifth, maybe won the race.”

“Just didn’t get the breaks on pit road.”

Not Surprising: Just as Denny Hamlin had done before, it was not surprising to see another driver follow suit, calling his own race win after an excruciating Speedweeks in Daytona.

Ending a 70 winless drought, Carl Edwards back flipped his way right into Victory Lane, achieving his 20^th Cup career win. Edwards was especially proud to do the honors with his sponsor Subway on the car and sponsoring the race.

“I feel good,” the driver of the No. 99 Subway Ford said. “It’s tough to go that long without winning.”

“I’ll be eating Subway all week.”

Surprising: After struggling mightily last year, the driver of the No. 31 Cheerios Chevrolet had a surprisingly good day. Jeff Burton finally put it all together for an entire race to score a top-10 finish, even with some crew chief adversity.

“Over the last 60 or so laps, we consistently had the fastest car in the field,” Burton said. “It was great to top it off with a top-10 finish, especially after all the adversity the team faced early in the day when Luke (Lambert, crew chief) flew home to be with his wife who is pregnant.”

“I appreciate the entire Cheerios team pulling together.”

Not Surprising: In spite of all the pre-race hype and race promotion, there was no retaliation whatsoever between arch rivals from last year’s Phoenix race, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer. In fact, both not only shared a few pre-race chuckles but also raced each other cleanly to top-10 finishes, with Bowyer finishing 6^th and Gordon 9^th.

The duo, who were not even speaking at the end of last season, had similar pronouncements about their 2013 Phoenix race finish.

“All in all it was a decent day for our 5-Hour Energy Toyota,” Bowyer said.

“It was a solid top-10,” Gordon said. “All-in-all that was pretty solid.”

Surprising: Perhaps more heartbreaking than surprising is the incredibly poor start that Martin Truex Jr. has gotten off to in the 2013 season.

Truex Jr. finished 24^th in the Daytona 500 and barely got started in the Phoenix race, stalling on pit road with a gear and axle problem, relegating him to a 36^th place finish.

“I don’t even know what to say,” Truex Jr. tweeted after the race. “Never seen that happen in all my days. Had a fast @napafilters car too.”

Not Surprising: On his return to the NASCAR scene, A.J. Allmendinger had a great day in the Valley of the Sun. The ‘Dinger finished 11^th behind the wheel of the No. 51 Guy Roofing Chevrolet for Phoenix Racing.

“Everyone on the team kept fighting hard and worked their asses off,” Allmendinger shared via Twitter on his way out of the track.

Surprising: There was a surprising car, one with a big red Target on the hood, that just so happened to be at the front of the pack for much of the race. Juan Pablo Montoya drove his No. 42 Target Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet to a 12^th place finish and was most proud.

“It was a good points day,” JPM declared.

Not Surprising: Although she had an historic outing at Daytona as the first woman to sit on the pole and lead a green flag lap, it was not surprising that Phoenix was a major dose of reality for Rookie of the Year candidate Danica Patrick. The driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet blew a tire, hit the wall hard and then was hit on the driver’s side by David Ragan’s car.

“I blew a right front with no real warning,” Patrick said. “It was a little unexpected.”

“Thank God for SAFER barriers.”

Surprising: The Busch mother and brothers had a surprisingly trying weekend. Mama Busch was involved in a golf car accident and brothers Busch both started from the back of the field, Kyle for an engine change and Kurt for a wreck in qualifying.

Both brothers were involved in on-track spins, in fact spinning in tandem at one point during the race.

Although Kyle Busch finished a disappointing 23^rd and brother Kurt finished even worse in the 27^th position, Mrs. Busch was reportedly a little banged up but back at the track and “in good spirits.”

Not Surprising: Reigning champ Brad Keselowski had a blast at Phoenix, especially during the green-white-checkered finish. The driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion energetically shoved the winner into the first turn, hoping to get a run for the win, but had to settle for a fourth place finish.

“Those guys fought hard and we fought hard and there was a lot of desire,” Keselowski said. “It’s early in the season, but I feel like there’s a lot of passion and that’s a good thing.”

“That’s how it’s supposed to be, right?” Keselowski continued. “That was cool.”

March 6, 2013
Surprising and Not Surprising: Daytona 500

In the double nickel running of the Great American Race, with the first female ever to start from the pole, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 2013 Daytona 500.

Surprising: While drivers, crew chiefs, and teams scrambled through Speedweeks into the Daytona 500, surprisingly, the busiest people in Daytona were once again the track workers.

Just as in previous years, from the infamous pot hole in 2010 to the jet dryer flame out last year, the track crew was again called upon to work their miracles.

This time, however, their skills were put to the test the day before the big race after a horrific crash at the finish of the Nationwide race, shearing young driver Kyle Larson’s car in thirds and sending his engine, tire and other car parts into the crowd.

The track workers not only had to tend to the injured fans but also had to make major repairs to the catch fence itself, working tirelessly into the early morning to ensure that the Great American Race would go on without a hitch the next day.

“You try to prepare for as much as you can,” Kerry Tharp, NASCAR spokesperson, said. “You also take away and learn from every incident.”

Not Surprising: With the ‘one team, one shop’ philosophy prevalent throughout the Hendrick Motorsports organization, it was not surprising to see the 48/88 team finish 1/2 at the Daytona 500.

“I was waiting for the run,” two-time Daytona 500 winner and five-time champ Jimmie Johnson said. “The 88 got a big shove and was coming up the inside.”

“I moved down to defend that and we were able to get a one-two for Hendrick Motorsports,” Johnson continued. “For the 48/88 shop so very happy. There are a lot of people put a lot of effort into these cars and I want to thank them all.”

Surprising: While she may have been forging a new path as the first woman on the pole and the first to lead a green flag lap at Daytona, rookie Danica Patrick surprisingly seemed to have more in common with veteran four-time champion Jeff Gordon.

Both the rookie and the veteran had no friends in the final laps of the race, both getting freight-trained to finish 8^th and 20^th respectively.

“I kept asking what was working,” Patrick said. “You needed a hole and you needed people to help you out.”

“I had a little bit of help here today here and there,” Patrick continued. “I had a feeling I was going to get freight-trained.”

“It’s a really tough race,” Jeff Gordon said. “We lost track position and it didn’t seem like we were ever going to get it back.”

“Then we finally did and those last two restarts just didn’t go very well.”

Not Surprising: With a driver rating of 96.5, second best at Daytona, and a good Speedweeks, finishing fourth in the Sprint Unlimited and fifth-fastest in time trials, the driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet had high expectations for the big race.

So it was no surprise that Tony Stewart was absolutely smoked after being taken out early in the race, finishing 41^st.

“The hell with the season, I wanted to win the Daytona 500,” Stewart said. “I was happy with our car, just waiting for it to all get sorted out again.”

“I don’t know what started it, but we just got caught up in another wreck.”

Surprising: At a track known for white knuckle racing and passes galore on every lap, it was surprising just how difficult the drivers found it to pass, especially on the bottom of the track. In fact, a portion of the race was surprisingly run in the single file formation.

Veteran driver Mark Martin summed it up best.

“One of the things that made it hard to pass was nobody would get organized on the bottom,” Martin said. “The top groove was the preferred groove.”

“The problem was that the car on the inside of the frontline wasn’t the fastest car,” Martin continued. “If you would have had the fastest car in the field on the inside, you would have had a whale of a race there at the end.”

Not Surprising: For two years in a row, team owner Chip Ganassi has been lamenting the performance of his race team. Unfortunately, the bad run continued at the 2013 Daytona 500 with drivers Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya, finishing 32^nd and 39^th respectively.

Both were in a significant wreck early in the running of the Great American Race.

“You could see it coming,” Montoya said. “They were all checked up and I thought, ‘Somebody isn’t going to check and screw up.”

“And then they did.”

Surprising: Things also went surprisingly awry for two out of the three Joe Gibbs racers. The defending Daytona 500 winner and newest member of the JGR team Matt Kenseth looking incredibly strong, leading many laps during the race until mechanical problems did him in.

And then almost immediately afterwards, teammate Kyle Busch also had mechanical failure, leaving teammate Denny Hamlin to be the lone top 15 finisher.

“It’s really unfortunate,” Busch said. “We were running 1-2-3 and it felt like we were dropping like flies.”

“Something inside the motor broke that’s not supposed to break,” Busch continued. “It’s a little devastating.”

Not Surprising: Since the Daytona 500 can make dreams come true (just ask Trevor Bayne), it was not surprising that there was a Cinderella story and his name was Michael McDowell.

With an underfunded team but a sponsor filled with faith, the driver of the No. 98 K-LOVE Ford finished ninth in the Great American Race.

“We had a fast car,” McDowell said. “This was a great run and a great effort. For us, an under-funded team to come here to Daytona and get a top-10 finish is pretty cool.”

Surprising:

While it may have been no surprise that blooming onions would be on tap for Monday at Outback due to Ryan Newman’s top five finish, it was surprising that kids got to eat at Golden Corral thanks to J.J. Yeley’s top-ten finish in the Daytona 500.

“After a long, hard-fought day at day at Daytona, we were able to log a top-ten finish for our first outing with our new team and Golden Corral on board,” Yeley said. “The best part of it all is making lots of kids happy when they eat for free as part of J.J.’s Monday.”

Not Surprising: Brad Keselowski, champion and NASCAR Ironman, proved he was both yet again, muscling his damaged No. 2 Miller Lite Ford around the track to finish fourth.

“You want to make excuses for not being successful you could do that or you can go out there and put it all on the line and try to win,” Keselowski said. “You just drive it.”

February 27, 2013
2013 Sprint Cup Team Preview: Earnhardt Ganassi Racing

PHOTO CREDIT: Chris Graythen/Getty Images

A new week means a new round of 2013 Sprint Cup team previews and today we will be previewing the 2013 efforts of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, which will be fielding the No.1 Chevrolet SS, driven by Jamie McMurray and the No.42 Chevrolet SS, driven by Juan Pablo Montoya.

After a tumultuous 2012 season in which neither Jamie McMurray nor Juan Pablo Montoya won a race or made it into the Chase for the Sprint Cup and finished a dismal 21st and 22nd in points, respectively, the team will undergo two big changes heading into the 2013 season, but will remain virtually intact otherwise.

The first change will be under the hood of the Chevrolet SS cars that Earnhardt Ganassi Racing will field. The team will switch from Earnhardt Childress Racing engines, which was a joint venture between Earnhardt Ganassi Racing and Richard Childress Racing, to engines provided by Hendrick Motorsports.

The second change will be on the sponsorship side. Bass Pro Shops, which sponsored Jamie McMurray from 2010 through 2012, will be moving over to Stewart Haas Racing to become primary sponsor for Tony Stewart. Reports indicate that McDonalds will step up and become full time primary sponsor for McMurray in 2013. Target will return as primary sponsor for Juan Pablo Montoya in 2013.

Both McMurray and Montoya have the skills to win races, but only time will tell if these changes will help these drivers get back into their winning form that we saw back in 2010.

January 15, 2013
Clint Bowyer ‘Happy to be Second’

[media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”227″][/media-credit]While it may have been Clint Bowyer’s first season ever with Michael Waltrip Racing, it was the best season of his career.

And the driver of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota couldn’t be happier, finishing second in the Chase standings, just 39 points behind champion Brad Keselowski and a mere one point ahead of third place finisher and five time champ Jimmie Johnson.

“Can you believe I beat Jimmie Johnson?” Bowyer said in the media session following his runner up speech at the banquet. “It was a whopping one point.”

“That’s like winning.”

Bowyer most likely never dreamed that he would finish the year so strongly, especially after leaving Richard Childress Racing at the end of 2011 and signing with new team Michael Waltrip Racing.

“Those were nerve-racking times in the winter last year,” Bower said. “I had lost my ride at RCR and walked into a new program with a lot of unknowns.”

“But I had a lot of confidence in what was going on,” Bowyer continued. “They paired me with Brian Pattie (crew chief) and a lot of good people and that’s what it takes to be successful.”

Bowyer made the Chase with three victories in the year, including wins at Sonoma, Richmond and Charlotte. He also scored ten top-5 and 23 top-10 finishes for the 2012 season.

Bowyer’s first win was one of his sweetest, coming at the road course of Sonoma, where he had never won before. He dominated that race, leading 71 or the 112 laps.

“It was awesome,” Bowyer said of that first victory for MWR.”I run well at Sonoma.”

“It’s one of those tracks where I’m comfortable from the very first laps I run,” Bowyer continued. “It just came effortless.”

“You’re at the top of the board in practice and, if you’re not, you knew just what kind of adjustment you needed to put you at the top of the board,” Bowyer continued. “I’ve just always been able to find good speed there.”

“I’ve learned to enjoy those road courses.”

Bowyer has also learned to enjoy fuel mileage racing, winning his next two races at Richmond and Charlotte by saving gas and playing that strategy.

At Richmond, Bowyer recovered from a spin midway through the race due to a cut tire in a close encounter with Juan Pablo Montoya, saved fuel at the end, and went on to Victory Lane. This win put Bowyer in the sixth position to start the run for the championship.

“Thank you, Juan Pablo, for wrecking me and then winning me the race,” Bowyer said exuberantly. “It’s a good way to bounce back headed into the Chase after the bad race last weekend in Atlanta.”

Bowyer’s third win, also in fuel conservation mode, came at Charlotte in October. The driver actually ran out of gas during his burnout celebration and walked with team owner Michael Waltrip to Victory Lane.

For Bowyer, these three wins, as well as finishing second in the Chase were the capstones for his successful season.

“My season highlights were all about winning,” Bowyer said. “Winning on my worst race tracks, a mile and a half and a road course.”

“That says a lot about what we’ve got going on as a race team.”

Unfortunately for Bowyer, however, there were also some lowlights of the season that have, according to the driver, almost overshadowed all of the accomplishments. And those lowlights involve fellow competitor and four-time champion Jeff Gordon.

Interestingly, Gordon and Bowyer have had an interesting relationship throughout the season, clashing on the track but yet also having good runs together at the same time.

When Bowyer won at Sonoma, he spied a picture of Jeff Gordon, five-time Sonoma winner, in the media center after the race, and noted how much bigger that made his win there.

“I looked up and Jeff Gordon was there on the wall, won this race many times, he’s a champion of this sport and I just beat him,” Bowyer said. “You have no idea…I’m a young racer from Kansas.”

“You don’t forget stuff like that.”

Bowyer’s Richmond race was also intertwined with Gordon’s in that, while Bowyer stood in Victory Circle, Gordon scored his own brand of victory with Bowyer, beating out Kyle Busch for the final spot in the Chase.

But it was the altercation with Jeff Gordon at Phoenix, the next to the last race of the season and in the Chase, that has consumed all of the attention, much to Bowyer’s chagrin.

At that race, with Gordon intentionally crashing Bowyer late in the race, leading to a melee in the pits, and Bowyer’s now infamous run to catch Gordon, the spotlight shifted from accomplishment and finishing second place to the newest rivalry in the sport.

“It’s a bad thing,” Bowyer said. “I want to get this behind me because I’ve had such a great year.”

“And I hated that happened at the end of the year because that’s all you guys in the media wanted to talk about,” Bowyer continued. “That’s the story, but that’s what sucked for me, knowing how good of a year we had, how much pride we had, and because of a stupid thing there, that’s what we’re talking about, not how we ran in the Chase and in the season.”

Does Bowyer think that the Phoenix altercation with Gordon cost him the championship? Although still smarting from it all, Bowyer definitely acknowledged that there were other factors that led to his second place Chase standing finish.

“No, we got behind at Talladega and never really bounced back,” Bowyer said. “I knew that was going to be a hard one to overcome, especially as hard as Jimmie and Brad were running.”

“But, look at the way we ran in the Chase,” Bowyer continued. “A bad race was sixth, you know.”

“When you’re running like that, it’s pretty rare,” Bowyer said. “And if we can continue to build on that like I think we can, it gives me a lot of confidence and a lot of pride.”

And that pride and sense of accomplishment is what Bowyer fully intends to focus on for the remainder of 2012, the offseason, and into the New Year.

“When we made the Chase, my realistic goal was to be in the top five,” Bowyer said. “To exceed that…you can’t ask for more.”

“I’m with a group that I can really enjoy,” Bowyer continued. “Anytime you’ve had success the way we’ve had success, you’re bound to have fun and build confidence within yourself.”

“I feel like this year I ran the way I was capable of running and it was super-cool to be a part of it.”

December 5, 2012
Surprising and Not Surprising: Talladega Good Sam 500

[media-credit name=”Credit: Sean Gardner/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”230″][/media-credit]With Chase race four at Talladega delivering on its reputation as the ‘wild card’ and ‘game changer’ in the championship battle, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 44^th running of the Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500.

Surprising: Manhandling a very free race car and making a miracle save or two did not prevent this driver from being the loneliest, but no doubt happiest, man at Talladega Super Speedway. Matt Kenseth survived the last lap ‘big one’ to score his first ever win at the track.

Kenseth, in a very pink No. 17 Ford EcoBoost/National Breast Cancer Foundation Ford, notched his 23^rd victory in 466 Cup races. This was his second win and 17^th top-10 finish for the 2012 season.

Kenseth’s spotter Mike Calinoff described his driver’s lonely but lucky status best with his radio call on the final lap of the race.

“They’re wrecking behind you,” Calinoff said. “The whole field is wrecking.”

“There isn’t anyone who isn’t wrecked.”

“I looked behind me and saw nothing,” Kenseth said, echoing his spotter’s words. “Being in front of it all was the best place to be.”

Not Surprising: Although making the Chase, albeit barely, and admittedly not having the best of racing luck with him for much of the season, this driver was thrilled that things finally went his way at unpredictable ‘Dega.

“For a change, I finally came out on the good side of it,” Jeff Gordon, who finished second in his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, said. “I really have no idea how we all made it to the white flag because it was three, four wide.”

“I got hit by the No. 18 and somehow that turned me down on the apron and I just put it back to the floor and drove by every car.”

“I came out of that second behind the No. 17,” Gordon said. “That is like a win.”

This was Gordon’s 19^th top-10 finish in 40 races at Talladega and his 15^th top-10 finish for the season.

Surprising: It was a surprisingly humble and contrite Tony Stewart that greeted the media after causing the twenty-four car pileup and flipping end over end in his own No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet amidst the melee.

“I just screwed up,” Smoke said. “I turned down across, I think it was Michael (Waltrip) and crashed the whole field.”

“It was my fault blocking to try to stay where I was at,” Stewart continued. “So, I take 100% of the blame.”

Not Surprising: Not surprisingly, the theme for the day for the point’s leader Brad Keselowski was simple. He just wanted to survive Talladega and come out intact on the other end.

Keselowski, in his now familiar Blue Deuce, did indeed survive, finishing seventh in spite of being caught in the pile up. He now has a 14 points advantage over second place Chase contender Jimmie Johnson.

“We were four-wide for about two and a half straight laps and it was just a matter of time before you are wrecked,” Keselowski said. “It happens but that’s just Talladega.”

“That’s pretty big,’ Keselowski said of his points lead. “I just feel lucky to survive Talladega.”

Keselowski was so happy to have survived that he tweeted the following entrepreneurial thought after the race.

“Someone needs to make a t-shirt that says, “I survived Talladega,” @keselowski said. “Guaranteed at least 43 customers.”

Surprising: NASCAR’s biggest loser at Talladega was surprisingly one of Dega’s darlings, as well as fan favorite Dale Earnhardt, Jr. The driver of the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew Paint 88/National Guard Chevrolet finished a disappointing 20^th, dropping four positions in the Chase standings to 11^th, all as a result of the ‘big one.’

And even more surprising, NASCAR’s most popular driver had some pretty harsh words to share after the race, particularly for the style of racing at Talladega and the longevity of the sport in light of it.

“Yeah, I took a lot of hard shots,” Junior said. “If this is what we did every week, I wouldn’t be doing it.”

“I would find another job.”

“The way we are going ain’t the right direction,” Dale Earnhardt, Jr. said. “I don’t care what anybody says for the good of the sport; I mean it’s good for the here and now and it will get people talking today, but for the long run that is not going to help the sport the way that race ended and the way the racing is.”

“It’s not going to be productive for years to come.”

Not Surprising: With over half the field involved in the last lap crash, it was not surprising that several drivers, including some of the Chase contenders, were a bit confused as to where exactly they finished. There was so much confusion that crew chiefs gathered around the NASCAR hauler to see indeed where their driver ended up officially.

“Everybody just merged together and we were all in a big wad at that point,” Jimmie Johnson, piloting the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, said. “Fortunately my car I could still drive to the finish so I passed a couple of guys that were sitting there on the bottom trying to get going themselves.”

“I guess I finished 17^th,” Johnson said. “I don’t know.”

Teammate Kasey Kahne, in the No. 5 Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet, also was a bit confused as to his finishing spot.

“You are kind of along for the ride once it starts,” Kahne said. “We ended up making it back to the line; a few cars passed us so we might be a little better than 13^th.

Finally, Richard Petty Motorsports driver Marcos Ambrose, piloting the No. 9 DeWalt Ford, was confused but willing to forget about it in the end.

“We had a strong day,” Ambrose said. “I thought I missed the wreck but at least I didn’t cause it.”

“I have no idea where I finished, but we’ll just go on to the next one and forget about this.”

Johnson did indeed finish 17^thas he predicted, Kahne finished 12^th,a bit better than he thought, and Ambrose ended up in 27^th, a finish he most likely will want to forget.

Surprising: Kyle Busch became a surprisingly ‘lucky dog’ at Talladega. The driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota was not only the official ‘lucky dog’, getting his lap back after a speeding penalty, but was also a ‘lucky dog’ in navigating his way through the major 24 car pile up to finish third.

“Our day was pretty good,” Busch said. “I got busted for speeding, so that was my fault and we had to battle through that.”

“That was probably one of the most tense parts of the race for me was having to race for the ‘lucky dog’ to get back on the lead lap.”

“But all in all, our guys had some good pit stops and we gained some spots,” Busch continued. “I’m just glad and thankful that I was able to get through with no damage and make it through unscathed.”

Not Surprising: The two drivers who will apparently swap their rides for the next race, with Kurt Busch going to the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team and Regan Smith taking over the No. 51 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet, had polar opposite finishes to their last race in their former rides.

Regan Smith ended his tenure at Furniture Row with a 5^th place finish, his best ever at a restrictor plate track, while Kurt Busch finished 39^th after being parked by NASCAR for not heeding their command to stop his race car after his wreck.

“This is the way my life works,” Kurt Busch said. “I am leading, I wreck, I run out of gas and now I’m in trouble.”

“This year has been a great year to test me in every way.”

“What a wild ending,” Smith said. “We restarted the green-white checkered in 28^th, picked up a bunch of spots on the first lap and then came the wreck.”

“Somehow I was able to drive it to the checkered flag with a fifth-place finish.”

Surprising: Rather than having a ‘Talladega Nights’ flashback, Greg Biffle was having another movie moment instead.

“It was like Days of Thunder, coming through the smoke and the grass,” the driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion said. “A car flew over the top of my car as I turned to the bottom and missed guys by three inches.”

“It was the craziest thing I’ve ever been involved in in my life.”

Biffle had his own crazy moment in the race, making an amazing save after being turned sideways in the draft. He finished the race in sixth, gaining two positions in the point standings to ninth.

Not Surprising: The difficult season for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing continued in agonizing style at Talladega for both of their drivers. Jamie McMurray, former Daytona 500 winner and driver of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Allstate Chevrolet, finished 34^th after leading 38 laps of the race.

Teammate Juan Pablo Montoya finished 38^th in his No. 42 Target/Gillette Chevrolet after an engine failure on lap 156.

“We were running right up there in the lead pack the majority of the day and then something happened to the motor,” JPM said. “The car started smoking and I felt like it was going to let go at any minute.”

“We just can’t catch a break.”

“The Bass Pro Shops Chevy ran great all day,” McMurray said. “It was great to get back up there and lead some laps.”

“I wish the outcome had turned out differently,” McMurray continued. “The guys did a great job and I felt like we had the car to beat.”

October 9, 2012
Surprising and Not Surprising: Pure Michigan 400

[media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”217″][/media-credit]From the older pole sitter Mark Martin, celebrating thirty years of racing at MIS, to Kid Rock giving the command, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 43^rd annual Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

Surprising: It was surprising that the race winner, standing in Victory Lane in the Irish hills of Michigan, had another city, Las Vegas, on his mind.

Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford, capitalized on the Jimmie Johnson’s engine woes to score his second victory of the season and his third at Michigan International Speedway.

He is now 20 points ahead of his teammate Matt Kenseth in the point standings and has a Vegas-style championship celebration on his mind.

“It’s an important win,” Biffle said. “We have been working really hard to get back into Victory Lane.”

“We are going to make a run at the title,” Biff continued. “I know they don’t talk about us a lot, but they will when we get to Vegas.”

Biffle’s win also catapulted Roush Fenway Racing to its 12^th win at MIS, breaking a tie with the Wood Brothers for most wins at that race track.

Not Surprising: For the second week in a row, Brad Keselowski was the enthusiastic runner-up, heading quickly to Victory Lane to congratulate the race winner.

“He just did a great job,” Keselowski said of Biffle. “He had a fast car and passed me legit and I couldn’t keep up with him.”

“I tell you what, it felt good to be racing up there at my home track here at Michigan,” The driver of the Blue Deuce continued. “It’s an honor to race with guys like Greg and be door-to-door.”

“I feel like the best is yet to come.”

This was Keselowski’s second top-10 finish in seven races at Michigan and his best finish at his home track. He has now finished 1^st, 8^th, 5^th, 9^th, 4^th, 2^nd and 2^nd in the last seven races.

Surprising: Mr. Hendrick found himself in a surprising role, that of referee between two of his drivers, veteran Jeff Gordon and the sport’s most popular Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

The two tangled on the track after a restart, which led to consternation from the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet and confusion from Junior and company.

“He took me four-wide and then he slid up in front of me,” Gordon said after the race. “I didn’t think it was very smart what he did.”

“I didn’t feel like I did anything wrong,” Earnhardt, Jr. said. “I thought there was plenty of room.”

Not Surprising: Marcos Ambrose, winner of last week’s race at the Glen, continued riding the wave of momentum on his mission to try for a Chase berth. Ambrose, in the No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion, finished fifth and currently sits 17^th in points with one win.

“It was a really strong day,” Ambrose said. “We came off a win and sometimes you struggle to keep that mojo going.”

“It’s great to run top five, but winning is what it’s all about now for us.”

Surprising: While races can sometimes be full of challenges and surprises, Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet, sure had his hands full in the Irish hills.

Kahne was caught up in the one of the major wrecks of the day, yet was still able to overcome to finish third, his eighth top-10 finish in 18 races at MIS.

“Man, there was a lot that went on for us,” Kahne said. “Slid through the grass and thought it destroyed my car.”

“Fortunately it just pushed the right fender in,” Kahne continued. “The guys were able to pop it up out and we came back to third.”

“Solid day, solid recovery.”

Not Surprising: In spite of a wreck that could have been devastating, with his car practically impaled, the ever effervescent Mark Martin had only praise for his team after getting out of his fiery, destroyed race car.

“I just want to thank all the race fans,” the driver of the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota said. “Michael Waltrip gave me a chance to drive an awesome race car.”

“I’m glad I’m OK too and I’m glad I got to drive this thing.”

Martin was rewarded for his efforts with a deal announcement that he will drive 22 races for MWR in 2013.

Surprising: With an engine shop that is usually the gold standard, it was surprising that drivers were in defense mode of the Hendrick motors after four failures during the race.

Tony Stewart was one of those drivers affected by a broken valve spring in his No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet, relegating him to a 32^nd place finish. This was Stewart’s first DNF in 42 races.

“It’s not something that’s the norm,” Smoke said. “I appreciate everybody at the Hendrick engine department.”

“We have the best engine department in the world, definitely in the series, and they did everything they could,” Stewart continued. “It was just a bad day.”

Not Surprising: In spite of his teammate’s engine troubles and his own flu-like symptoms, Ryan Newman said hello to an eighth place finish at MIS. This was also his eighth top-10 finish for the season, keeping him in potential Chase contention in the wild card spot.

“I’m better,” Newman said after stepping out of the car. “I think adrenaline took over for the most part.”

“Finishing eighth, I think we’re proud of that.”

Surprising: Traditionally at a track like Michigan, four-wide racing is the norm. But surprisingly, MIS may have become the new Bristol, thanks to the beating and banging on the track and the feuds developing in the aftermath.

One such duo that tangled at MIS was Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, and young Joey Logano, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet.

“He came down on me twice,” Logano said of Montoya. The youngster soldiered on after a hard hit to the wall to finish 31^st.

“Well anything that could go wrong today did,” JPM, who finished 26^th, said. “It was a rough day.”

Not Surprising: Sam Hornish Jr. continued to show just how badly he wants to retain the seat of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger. After finishing second in the Nationwide race in Montreal, Hornish returned to MIS and worked his way up from the back of the field to finish 12^th in the Cup race.

“Not a bad day,” Hornish Jr. said. “I felt like it was pretty good from the point that we started in the back and worked our way up and by the midpoint of the race, we were running in the top five.”

“We just got off on our strategy and that kept us from getting the finish that we wanted.”

“Hopefully I get the opportunity to be here in the Cup Series.”

August 22, 2012
Pure Michigan 400 Review: Bizzare Day at Michigan

[media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”232″][/media-credit]As the 43^rd Annual Pure Michigan 400 came to a close, the race was anyone’s game with some of the top names in the sport racing for the lead position. Brad Keselowski held the lead with 10 laps to go, as five-time champion Jimmie Johnson was putting the pressure on him. Keselowski’s No. 2 Miller Light Dodge got loose one lap later and Johnson was able to sneak by him to take over the lead. Greg Biffle, who was running third with ten to go, was able to pass Keselowski for second as Johnson took over the lead.

It looked as if Johnson would drive on to win his fourth race of the season, until his engine expired with 6 laps remaining – making that the third Hendrick Motorsports engine with problems this weekend. The race would finish under green-white-checkered as Biffle held off a hard-charging Keselowski to win for the second time this season and third time at MIS. Kasey Kahne finished in third position, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Marcos Ambrose rounding out the top five.

“It was a wild race. We struggled with our car throughout the weekend, worked real hard on it overnight,” said Biffle after the race. “My car was super good at the beginning of the race when the track was green. Once I got on restarts and in traffic, I wasn’t that good.

“We just kept working on it, trying different things. But, we were so good out front. I knew once we got out front we’d be tough to beat. I know that a lot of people don’t expect us to win the championship, and don’t think we can compete for the title. But, we will be a factor when it comes down to Homestead.”

This moves the No. 16 team to the points lead, with 20 points over Roush Fenway Racing teammate Matt Kenseth. Earnhardt moves to third position in standings, with his teammate Johnson dropping three positions to fourth. Keselowski rounds out the top five, 47 points behind the leader.

Cautions Breed Cautions

First caution of the day occurred on Lap 6 when Aric Almirola and David Gilliland got together on the front stretch. Unfortunately for the rest of the field, this was just the start of the cautions for the day.

[media-credit name=”Wesley Hitt/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”221″][/media-credit]Mark Martin started the race from the pole position and ended his day with a bizarre crash on Lap 64. Juan Pablo Montoya and Bobby Labonte were racing in front of Martin in an attempt to stay on the lead lap, when the two got together coming out of Turn 4. Martin dove low to try and avoid the incident, but sent his car spinning down pit road. His car then crashed into an opening of the pit wall just in front of the No. 5 team’s pit stall. Crew members dove to safety as debris flew from the pit stall and the No. 55 Toyota.

“That was a pretty freak angle that I got at that,” Martin said. “I’m not sure what you could do. It could have been really bad if I would have got in that hole a little deeper where it caught me in the door instead of in the crush area back there. It’s hard to keep up with what exactly is going to be happening there. I was hoping that I was going to miss the pit wall completely and not tear the car up, but then I saw that the angle I was going that I was going to hit the end of pit wall.”

Luckily, Martin was able to walk away from the incident safely, along with the crews on pit road. If the car would have hit any closer to the driver’s door than it did, Martin may not have been so lucky. Martin will continue driving part-time for Michael Waltrip Racing in 2013, with 22 Sprint Cup races on his schedule.

Drivers were having a tough time getting their cars to stick to the track in Turn 4 on Sunday, including Watkins Glen winner, Marcos Ambrose. On Lap 77 his Stanley Tools Ford got loose and slid up the track and tapped the No. 78 sending him into the Turn 4 wall. Regan Smith was able to continue, but finished the race in 29th position, 47 laps down.

The numerous amounts of cautions continue on Lap 90 when Joey Logano blew a right front tire due to a fender rub he sustained a few laps earlier. Two laps earlier the No. 42 of Juan Pablo Montoya got into Logano and forced him into the outside wall, causing the fender rub. Montoya finished in 26th position, Logano in 31st place.

On Lap 135 Kurt Busch’s bad luck continued as he appeared to break something in the right front of his No. 51 Toyota and slammed into the wall. This brought out a caution and changed up pit strategy as 11 cars did not pit, including Earnhardt who assumed the race lead. Earnhardt led the field for a total of 25 laps after starting in the back of the field due to wrecking his car in final practice on Saturday.

The last crash-induced caution occurred when Trevor Bayne blew his right front tire on Lap 182, causing him to finish in 24th position.

Chase for the Sprint Cup

With only three races left until the Chase for the Sprint Cup, all eyes are on drivers like Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin who are riding the line for falling out of the top ten in points. Kahne is only 33 points away from jumping into the top ten and continues to hold one of the wild cards that will allow him access into the Chase. If he races his way into the Chase and Hamlin or Stewart were to drop out of the top ten, this would give the wild card slot to one of them. As of now, Kahne and Ryan Newman hold these cards.

Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Marcos Ambrose, and Joey Logano still have a shot to steal the wild card away from Newman, as they all hold one win this season. The wild card option goes to the drivers outside of the top ten who have the most wins this season; so far the only driver with more than one win outside of the top ten is Kahne.

August 20, 2012
Surprising and Not Surprising: Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen

[media-credit id=24 align=”alignright” width=”224″][/media-credit]In spite of a few drops of rain and much discussion about oil on the track in the waning laps, here is what else was surprising and not surprising for the 27^th annual Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen.

Surprising: Although this two-time winner at the Glen was far from home, in fact about as far away as one can possibly be, he felt right at home, relishing his triumph with his family from down under in Victory Lane.

Australian Marcos Ambrose, driving the No. 9 Stanley Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports, scored his first victory of the season and his second win in 141 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

“My kids haven’t shared this in America and it’s a special thing to win a NASCAR race, especially a Sprint Cup race, so it’s fantastic,” Ambrose said of having his children with him in Victory Lane and the media center post-race. “I’ve got my in-laws sitting in the back here too.”

Although Ambrose was surrounded by family, his thoughts were with his family who could not be with him to celebrate.

“My dad is in the hospital right now, so I hope this makes him feel better and gets him going,” Ambrose continued. “It’s a tough life when you’re racing , especially I’m from Australia and my immediate family is down home and I feel a long way away a lot of days.”

“It’s great to have my family here and great to let them celebrate with me,” Ambrose said. “These days don’t come around every day.”

Not Surprising: Ever the hard core racer, it was no surprise to see Brad Keselowski so completely jazzed with his runner up finish after beating and banging with Ambrose all the way to the checkered flag.

This was the second top-10 finish in three races at Watkins Glen International for the driver of the Miller Lite Blue Deuce for Penske Racing. It was also Keselowski’s 12^th top-10 finish of the season.

“That’s what racing is supposed to be right there; a little bit of bumping and rubbing but none of that intentional wrecking BS,” Keselowski said. “It came down to just running a whole lap against Marcos.”

“I got in the oil and we’d slip up,” Keselowski continued. “He’d get by me and then he’d get in the oil and I’d get by him.”

“It’s great to race against guys like Marcos that you can run on, lean on and don’t lose their cool,” Keselowski said. “I think that’s the way racing should be.”

Surprising: They may be teammates and even share a Hendrick Motorsports garage, but Jimmie Johnson took advantage of his teammate Dale Junior’s slip up to not only finish third in the race, but also snatch the points lead away from him.

“I just got in the corner and made a mistake and that was pretty much all there was to it,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet said. “I was just overdriving the car.”

“It was a bad ugly finish at the end.”

Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Cortez Silver Chevrolet, deemed the finish “chaotic” as well.

“But I’m glad we got back to the finish line and finished third,” Johnson continued. “Very solid day for this Lowe’s team.”

“I’m excited to be leading the points.”

Not Surprising: In spite of one Earnhardt Ganassi Racing driver sitting on the pole and the other re-signing with the team, both EGR drivers had yet another rough day at the race track.

Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, secured his second pole in a row, last week at Pocono and this week at the Glen. Mechanical troubles, however, sidelined JPM, relegating him to a 33^rd place finish.

“I think it was the lower control arm,” Montoya said. “We got the last two poles and I did think we had a car to win today.”

“It was looking really good; everything looked like it was going according to the plan,” Montoya continued. “All of a sudden I hit a curb and the car went completely left on me.”

Teammate Jamie McMurray, fresh off inking his signature on his new contract with the team, also struggled. Jamie Mac hit the Armco barrier so hard that it left its impression on the driver’s side door of his No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet.

“It just happened all of a sudden,” McMurray said. “The tire blew out and we hit the guardrail pretty hard.”

Surprising: While the Queen may have had her James Bond moment at the Olympics, there was one such moment at the Glen, with the wild card spots being definitely ‘shaken, not stirred.’

The two drivers whose Chase chances were most shaken were both Kyle Busch and four-time champion Jeff Gordon.

Busch, behind the wheel of his No. 18 M&Ms Toyota, looked like he would notch another win until he tangled with Brad Keselowski and got shuffled back to seventh at the race end. That win would have moved Busch into the second wild-card spot in the Chase.

“I’ve got nothing good to say,” was Busch’s only post-race comment. He later posted on Facebook, “Can it get any worse?”

The other driver shaken in the Chase was Jeff Gordon, behind the wheel of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet. He too was headed for at least a top-10 finish until he slid in oil and wrecked on the last lap, finishing 21^st.

Gordon lost two spots in the Chase standings, falling to 15^th.

“I’m pretty bummed,” Gordon said after the race. “We didn’t have the day I thought we were going to have.”

Not Surprising: While brother Kyle struggled at the Glen, so too did big brother Kurt Busch. Busch, driving the No. 51 Phoenix Racing Construction Services Chevrolet, had a mechanical problem, blew a tire, and headed to the garage.

“These guys work way too hard for these mechanical things to happen,” Busch said. “Sometimes these things just add up and we are just on the wrong side of the eight-ball.”

Surprising: For the second race in a row, Denny Hamlin suffered problems on the track that entailed another quick exit from his No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota.

“I have a thing with wrecks and fires here lately,” Hamlin said. “I was fine until once again I started feeling the heat and looked down and saw the fire at my feet.”

“Once I got fire on me, I decided to stop at the nearest fire station,” Hamlin continued. “It’s unfortunate but an overall bad weekend for us.”

Not Surprising: Regan Smith, driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Farm American Chevrolet, had another top 10 finish for himself and the team. Smith, who finished ninth at Pocono last weekend, replicated it again at the Glen.

This was also his first career top-10 finish on a road course.

“I am happy to come away with a top-10,” Smith said. “I am very proud of this team and very excited about what we’ve been able to accomplish recently.”

“We’re on the right track and that’s encouraging.”

Surprising: Something that is surprisingly not heard often was heard at the road course this weekend. Veteran driver Jeff Burton was black flagged for failing to maintain minimum speed.

“Once again, bad luck found us, this time it was in the form of a fuel pump issue,” the driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet said. Burton soldiered on to finish 30^th.

Not Surprising: Michael Waltrip Racing teammates Clint Bowyer and Martin Truex Jr. conquered nerves and dodged bullets respectively to both finish in the top-10 on the road course.

“That was some slick racing the last few laps,” Bowyer, behind the wheel of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota, said. “We were sliding everywhere.”

“It was kind of fun, but it was pretty nerve-wracking.”

“Man, it was rough,” teammate Truex, Jr., driving the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, said after running out of gas with 25 laps to go. “Those kinds of days when you make mistakes, you’ve got to battle back.”

“We dodged a big bullet be being able to come back through the field like that.”

Surprising: Tony Stewart, driving the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, made a surprising and uncharacteristic error on a road course, spinning on lap 71 after being second in the race running order.

Smoke backed into the Armco barrier, significantly shortening up the car. He went on to rally after repairs from 29^th to finish 19^th.

“Sorry guys,” Stewart said. “I gave it away there.”

Not Surprising: On the flip side, Stewart Haas Racing teammate Ryan Newman said a big hello to the wild card spot in the Chase. The driver of the No. 39 US Army Chevrolet finished 11^th to move up to 13^th in the point standings, just 49 points out of the 10^th position.

“In the end, it was a good day for us in the points, which was what we needed to make the Chase,” Newman said. “That’s our mission and we’re going to have to fight it out these next four races.”

“Just like our Army Strong soldiers, we’re a determined bunch and we’re not going to give up.”

August 15, 2012

Juan Pablo Montoya Vrooms to Pocono Cup Pole

[media-credit name=”Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”219″][/media-credit]Driving the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, complete with his face adorning the box of the Kellogg’s Vroom Cereal box, Juan Pablo Montoya scored the Coors Light pole for the 39^th annual Pennsylvania 400.

JPM qualified with a speed of 176.043 mph and a time of 51.124 seconds, winning his first pole in 12 races at Pocono. This was Montoya’s eighth pole in 202 NASCAR Cup Series races and he is now locked into the 2013 Shootout at Daytona.

“That was huge,” Montoya said. “Well to be honest to you I’m not sure if I’m more shocked that I’m on the pole right now or that I’m on the pole in Pocono.”

“This is a big boost for everybody on the Target team,” JPM continued. “We know we’re working hard but to actually get out there and get a pole, I just went through the hauler and they’re all happy and laughing.”

“We really needed something like this as a company,” Montoya said. “This is big for us.”

JPM admitted that he and his team played the strategy card in qualifying, particularly when it came to the unpredictable Pocono weather.

“We looked at the weather and we said it looks like it’s going to rain,” Montoya said. “And if it’s going to rain, we’ll go qualifying runs in the morning. And we did.”

“Do we have the fastest car out there?” Montoya continued. “No, but qualifying is the same as racing.”

“You’ve got to make the right calls and do whatever it takes to get it done,” JPM said. “And that’s what we did.”

Montoya spent time after his qualifying run in the ESPN booth, analyzing the time trials of his competitors. And he admitted that was just a tad bit stressful as he watched others try to unseat his P1 position.

“When the 48 went out and he was dead even with me, I thought I’m dead,” Montoya said. “Can you believe this last freaking car is going to be beat me?”

“But then he missed it and the smile started coming back.”

Both dad to be Denny Hamlin, behind the wheel of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, and Paul Menard, driver of the No. 27 Menards/Serta Chevrolet, credited going early in the qualifying run, along with some favorable cloud cover, with their second and third place time trials respectively.

Hamlin scored his 12^th top-10 for the season and his 12^th in 14 races at Pocono. Menard posted his fourth top-10 start at Pocono and his fourth in 21 races for the season.

“I’d like to say it was a good run but I’m a little bit disappointed in our run,” Hamlin said. “I think we reaped the benefits of going out early but knowing we were over a quarter second ahead going into the last corner and just missed it.”

“At least we are going to have a good qualifying spot.”

Menard had a bit more of a dicey time getting his P3 qualifying position. He had a problem during practice and had to go to a backup car.

“I wasn’t expecting to qualify in the top three in a backup car,” Menard said. “Obviously that shows the hard work and preparation of the 27 guys and everybody at RCR.”

“We had a good primary car and had a radiator hose that blew out of it and hit the wall,” Menard continued. “We had to pull out the backup car but luckily had two hours to get it ready between practices.”

“It was pretty good right off the truck,” Menard said. “It was the same car we tested with for two days here so we have some good data on it.”

“One of the biggest things that helped us was going out early,” Menard continued. “Standing on pit road, it was cloudy then and the cars that went before us, the sun came out I think.”

“A little bit of luck and a lot of hard work.”

Kasey Kahne, in the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet, was the highest qualifying Hendrick Motorsports driver in the fourth position. Marcos Ambrose, in the No. 9 Stanley Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports rounded out the top five in qualifying at Pocono.

There was one driver, Stephen Leicht, who failed to qualify.

Starting Lineup
Pennsylvania 400, Pocono Raceway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=21
===========================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===========================================
1	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	176.043	51.124
2	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	175.795	51.196
3	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	175.627	51.245
4	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	175.439	51.3
5	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	175.432	51.302
6	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	175.339	51.329
7	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	175.169	51.379
8	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	175.131	51.39
9	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	175.097	51.4
10	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	175.067	51.409
11	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	175.036	51.418
12	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	174.964	51.439
13	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	174.805	51.486
14	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	174.795	51.489
15	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	174.618	51.541
16	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	174.561	51.558
17	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	174.432	51.596
18	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	174.419	51.6
19	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	174.314	51.631
20	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	174.277	51.642
21	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	174.213	51.661
22	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	174.162	51.676
23	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	173.92	51.748
24	10	David Reutimann	Chevrolet	173.571	51.852
25	22	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	173.524	51.866
26	38	David Gilliland	Ford	173.41	51.9
27	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	173.3	51.933
28	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	173.197	51.964
29	13	Casey Mears	Ford	172.864	52.064
30	119	Mike Bliss	Toyota	172.619	52.138
31	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	172.371	52.213
32	34	David Ragan	Ford	172.038	52.314
33	23	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	171.917	52.351
34	26	Josh Wise*	Ford	171.913	52.352
35	37	J.J. Yeley	Chevrolet	171.808	52.384
36	30	David Stremme	Toyota	171.638	52.436
37	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	171.246	52.556
38	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	170.804	52.692
39	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	170.658	52.737
40	191	Reed Sorenson	Ford	170.581	52.761
41	32	Jason White+	Ford	167.876	53.611
42	36	Tony Raines+	Chevrolet	–	–
43	98	Mike Skinner	Ford	170.516	52.781

August 4, 2012

Surprising and Not Surprising: Lenox Industrial Tools 301

[media-credit name=”Kirk Schroll” align=”alignright” width=”242″][/media-credit]While not surprising that conversation still swirled around A.J. Allmendinger and his failed drug test, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 20^th running of the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Surprising: Race winning crew chiefs do not usually look at getting a manicure as part of their post-race celebratory plans. But Kenny Francis, crew chief for the winning No. 5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet driven by Kasey Kahne, may have to do just that.

“I bit off all my fingernails,” Francis said, after watching the battle between his driver and a hard-charging Denny Hamlin. “At least I have two weeks for them to grow back.”

“Yeah, from the pit box, we had a pretty good car all day,” Francis continued. “Fortunately we were able to finish it off and outrun him to the finish.”

This was the No. 5 team’s second victory for car owner Linda Hendrick and the first ever trip to Victory Lane for driver Kasey Kahne at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Not Surprising: As in all relationships, one of the biggest issues causing trouble is the failure to communicate. Not surprisingly, a failure to communicate, in this case between driver and crew chief, actually cost the No. 11 team a chance to win at the ‘Magic Mile’.

“We made our bed by taking those four tires,” Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota, said. “Darian (Grubb, crew chief) wanted to take two (tires) – I told him I just needed tires and that was it.”

“He took it that I needed four tires,” Hamlin continued. “It was just a little miscommunication that turned into a second-place finish.”

Hamlin, who started from the third spot, was the highest finishing Toyota driver and led five times for a race-high 150 laps of the 301 mile race.

Surprising: It was a matter of surprising seconds that both helped and hurt one race team at New Hampshire this weekend. Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, scored the pole position for the race by just 0.003 seconds.

Timing, however, came back to bite him when he sped by seconds on pit road and never really recovered. Busch, after leading 65 laps, finished the race in the 16^th position.

“It was a tough day for the Interstate Batteries Toyota,” Dave Rogers, crew chief, said. “We got caught speeding the first run there – that wasn’t Kyle’s fault.”

“We calculate the RPM we’re supposed to run,” Rogers continued. “Gave Kyle the wrong number and he sped and that got us behind from the beginning.”

“Then we were trying to play catch-up all day long.”

Not Surprising: When it comes to flat, shorter tracks, it is not surprising that talk turns to tire wear. And some drivers, particularly four-time champion Jeff Gordon, had some thoughts to share on this issue after the race.

“Yeah, I’m really disappointed in today,” Gordon, who finished sixth in the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet, said. “This tire, I tell you, Goodyear has got to go back to the drawing board.”

“They came here with a new tire and it is not a very good tire,” Gordon continued. “I think they know it and I’m hoping that they can come up with something a little bit better than this.”

Surprising: At a track where he once was dominant, and in fact led every lap for one race, it was surprising to see Jeff Burton run so poorly. The driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet had problems on pit road, went down a lap and finished 21^st.

“We had a pit road incident early in the race that really set us back,” Burton said. “We had a top-12 car throughout the day, but couldn’t get a caution when we needed it.”

“The speed was there but those long green-flag runs hurt us trying to get that lap back.”

Not Surprising: Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who should definitely be known as ‘Mr. Consistent’, kept up his stretch of consecutive laps finished and pulled off another good run at New Hampshire.

The driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet finished fourth in the race and is now just 16 points behind Chase standing leader Matt Kenseth.

“We’re running strong,” Dale Junior said. “I’m really happy with how many points we’re gaining every week and what we’re doing consistently.”

“We’ve found speed and improved.”

Surprising: One driver who desperately needed a good run to stay in championship contention had a surprisingly difficult day. Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford Fusion, finished 18^th and remained stuck in the 11 position in points, with no wins to his credit.

Edwards finished so poorly that another surprise occurred after the race. Crew chief Bob Osborne was replaced by Chad Norris, who has been with Roush Fenway Racing since 2005 and has led the team’s research and development efforts since 2011.

“Our commitment to winning a championship with the No. 99 in 2012 has not waivered,” Jack Roush, team owner said. “I’m committed to providing the resources to Carl and to his team to do that.”

“This restructuring of Bob’s role and the introduction of Chad Norris as the crew chief for the No. 99 will put us in the best possible position for these final seven races before the Chase begins.”

Not Surprising: No one could blame new father Kevin Harvick for not only focusing on the race but also having baby Keelan on his mind. The driver of the No. 29 Rheem Chevrolet finished eighth after battling handling issues throughout the race.

“I’m really proud of the entire Rheem crew and the effort they put in today, but we couldn’t figure out the right set up to get out front,” Harvick said. “We finished about where we should have.”

“I’m looking forward to the off weekend,” Harvick continued. “It couldn’t have come at a better time and it will be great to spend time at home with my wife and newborn son.”

Surprising: It is not often when you hear a driver admit to struggling mightily with a particular issue on his race car. But Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M/Post-It Ford Fusion did just that, in spite of finishing ninth and being the highest Ford finisher of the New Hampshire race.

“I’m a terrible driver when it comes to taking care of the brakes,” Biff said. “It’s got to be me because we’ve done everything under the sun, but about halfway through I lost my brakes and that’s about all I could do.”

“Off the green, it would come back and haul like crazy, but then I just had to keep giving it up,” Biffle continued. “It was just a case of brakes.”

Not Surprising: Michael Waltrip Racing continues to be synonymous with good runs, with all three of the team cars in the top-15 in the running order.

Clint Bowyer, driving the No. 15 5-hour Energy Toyota, was up on the wheel and finished third, while Martin Truex Jr. finished 11^th and Brian Vickers finished 15^th.

“All in all, it was a good weekend for our 5-hour Energy Toyota,” Bowyer said. “It was a good way to get things turned around.”

“After the last two weeks of getting wrecked, it felt good to get a good finish.”

Surprising: Although it was hot at the track where the driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet has won before, Tony Stewart surprisingly struggled, finishing 12^th in contrast to his second place finish last year.

“We just had no grip out there,” Stewart said. “Steve (Addington, crew chief) made one last change there at the end, and it definitely helped.”

“We were finally able to make up some ground.”

Not Surprising: There was no magic for the Earnhardt Ganassi Race team at the ‘Magic Mile’. Jamie McMurray, behind the wheel of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Allstate Chevrolet, finished 20^th and his teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, driving the N. 42 Degree Chevrolet, finished 25^th.

“To tell you the truth, today was rough,” Montoya said. “We struggled all weekend.”

“Today was a tough day for our Bass Pro Shops team,” McMurray reiterated. “We battled some handling issues early on in the race but we never gave up and brought home a lead lap finish.”

The Sprint Cup Series has its last off weekend next week before the dash to the end of the season. The next race on the schedule will be on July 29^th at the Brickyard.

July 18, 2012