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Your Guide to the 2016 NASCAR Season – Driver, Crew Chief Changes & More

As the beginning of a new year of racing approaches, it’s often difficult to keep up with the off-season changes. Drivers move to different teams, crew chiefs come and go, new sponsors are announced and more. To aid your transition into the 2016 NASCAR season, I’ve compiled a list of the major changes.

Tony Stewart – No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet

Stewart, who announced that 2016 will be his last season driving in the Sprint Cup Series, will end his career with a new crew chief. Mike Bugarewicz, the former race engineer for Kevin Harvick’s car, will be on top of the pit box in Stewart’s final season. He replaces Chad Johnston who is moving to the crew chief position for Kyle Larson.

Kyle Larson – No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Chevrolet

Chad Johnston moves from Stewart-Haas Racing to become Larson’s new crew chief, replacing Chris Heroy. Johnston was most recently crew chief for Tony Stewart.

Brian Scott – No. 9 – Richard Petty Motorsports Ford

Scott will replace Sam Hornish Jr. as he heads to Richard Petty Motorsports to drive the No. 9 RPM Ford. He will be paired with crew chief Chris Heroy (Larson’s former crew chief). Scott has 17 previous Cup starts but this will be his first full-time Sprint Cup season. He will be competing for Rookie of the Year.

Danica Patrick – No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet

Patrick will have a different crew chief in 2016 as Billy Scott moves from Michael Waltrip Racing who closed their doors at the end of the 2015 season. He replaces Daniel Knost who was promoted to a senior leadership position within the company. This is Patrick’s third crew chief in as many seasons. Nature’s Bakery will join Patrick as a new primary sponsor.

Clint Bowyer – HScott Motorsports Chevrolet

Bowyer will move to HScott Motorsports for one season before moving to Stewart-Haas Racing in 2017 to replace Tony Stewart after his final season. 5-Hour Energy will make the move with Bowyer as primary sponsor for 24 races in 2016.

Justin Allgaier – No. 7 – JR Motorsports Chevrolet

Allgaier will move to the XFINITY Series in 2016 with JR Motorsports. He competed for the last two years in the Cup Series with HScott Motorsports but lost his ride when the organization added Clint Bowyer to their lineup. He has three wins in the XFINITY Series.

Greg Biffle – No. 16 – Roush Fenway Racing Ford

Biffle will also be the recipient of a new crew chief, veteran Brian Pattie. Pattie replaces Matt Puccia who had been with Biffle since mid-2011.

Sam Hornish Jr. – Unknown

Hornish previously drove the No. 9 Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports but Brian Scott takes over driving duties in 2016. Hornish has not announced his future plans.

AJ Allmendinger – No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet

Allmendinger will have a new competition director as Ernie Cope moves to JTG Daugherty Racing. Cope’s most recent position was as crew chief for Chase Elliott in the XFINITY Series in 2015. Allmendinger will also have a new crew chief, Randall Burnett. Burnett was an engineer on Kyle Larson’s car this past season.

Chris Buescher – No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford

After winning the 2015 XFINITY Series championship, Buescher is moving to the Sprint Cup Series in 2016. He had six Cup starts for FRM last year with a best finish of 20th place at Auto Club Speedway. Buescher will be in the running for Rookie of the Year.

Darian Grubb – Vehicle Production Director – Hendrick Motorsports

Hendrick Motorsports recently named Grubb to the newly created position of vehicle production director where he will oversee every facet of race car manufacturing for the organization. Grubb was formerly employed by HMS in 2003 in various capacities including race engineer and crew chief before leaving to join Tony Stewart at SHR in 2009. He moved to Joe Gibbs Racing and in 2012-2014 worked with Denny Hamlin. In 2015, he was the crew chief for Carl Edwards. He has 23 Sprint Cup victories as a crew chief.

Ryan Blaney – No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford

Blaney will run a full schedule in the No. 21 in 2016. It will be the first time since 2008 that Wood Brothers Racing has run a full-time schedule in the Sprint Cup Series. Blaney has 18 Cup starts with a best finish of fourth at Talladega in 2015. Because he has not run for Sprint Cup points in his career, Blaney will be eligible to compete for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year award.

Denny Hamlin – No. 11 – Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Hamlin will have a new crew chief in 2016 as Mike Wheeler, who has been Hamlin’s race engineer for much of his career, takes over the position. Wheeler also served as crew chief in 2015 for the No. 20 car in the XFINITY Series. He replaces Dave Rogers who will move to the pit box for Carl Edwards.

Carl Edwards – No. 19 – Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

As noted above, Edwards will have a new crew chief in 2016 with Dave Rogers taking over the job, replacing Darian Grubb. Rogers is an experienced leader having worked previously with Kyle Busch as well as Hamlin with 15 Sprint Cup victories.

Jeffrey Earnhardt – Go FAS Racing – No. 32 Ford

Earnhardt recently signed a multi-year deal with Go FAS Racing to drive in the Sprint Cup Series beginning in 2016. He will run the majority of the races for the No. 32 team while Bobby Labonte will drive for several events. Earnhardt made his Cup debut at Richmond in 2015 and also competed at Loudon. He will be eligible for the Rookie of the Year award.

Chase Elliott – No. 24 – Hendrick Motorsports

Elliott moves into the No. 24 ride in 2016 after Jeff Gordon’s departure in 2015. He captured the XFINITY Series championship in 2014, the youngest driver, at age 18, to win a NASCAR national series title, and finished second last year. Elliott made five Cup starts last year in preparation for this season and will be competing for Rookie of the Year honors in 2016.

Furniture Row Racing – Will change manufacturers from Chevrolet to Toyota in 2016

After running only Chevrolets since their debut in 2005, Furniture Row Racing has entered into a partnership with Toyota and will field the No. 78 Toyota of Martin Truex Jr. in 2016. Toyota Racing Development will build the engines and Furniture Row Racing will also benefit from a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing.

January 5, 2016
Surprising and Not Surprising: Ford EcoBoost 400

With rain interfering one last time and delaying the race start for over an hour, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the season finale, the 17th annual Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Surprising: The last race of the year at Homestead was surprisingly filled with a series of firsts and lasts. Kyle Busch, of course, scored a host of firsts with his trip to Victory Lane, winning his own first championship as well as winning the first championship in the Cup Series for his manufacturer Toyota.

There were, however, an even greater number of lasts in the race, including the last race for Jeff Gordon, the final run for Sam Hornish Jr. under the auspices of Richard Petty Motorsports, the final race for Michael Waltrip Racing as a company, the finale for Go Daddy as sponsor or Danica Patrick’s car, and the final race for Justin Allgaier with HScott Motorsports.

And while Jeff Gordon basked in the accolades of his last trip around the track behind the wheel, others such as Clint Bowyer bemoaned his last run after crashing and finishing dead last.

“I don’t know what the hell happened to our car,” Bowyer said. “My car got loose. I couldn’t catch it. I hate to have it end this way.”

“Unfortunately, it’s over.”

Not Surprising: It may have been his first Sprint Cup championship, but Kyle Busch was already a champion coming into his final race, having secured the Truck championship as owner, with Erik Jones behind the wheel.

“I don’t know how you top this, but I’d sure like to see,” Busch said. “I wouldn’t do it without everyone that surrounds me, my wife, my family, my friends, my employees at KBM, Joe (Gibbs), J.D. (Gibbs), the team at JGR, Adam (Stevens, crew chief).”

“You surround yourself with good people in business and in sports and it sometimes will more than likely pay it back.”

“You know, this is pretty special.”

Surprising: There were no baby steps involved this season for Martin Truex Jr., who finished 12th in the race but fourth in the championship standings, his highest finish to date.

“Super proud of our season and really proud to come this far to come from 24th in points last year to fourth this year is a pretty big step,” Truex said. “I don’t think most people realize just how big of a deal it is and how hard it was for us to get that far.”

“You never know what the future holds, but excited already about next year, and I think we’ll be back here in mid-December testing already for next year. Not a whole lot of rest, and looking forward to spending a week or so down here relaxing and having a few beers, catching a few fish, and really just let it all soak in what we’ve been able to accomplish, and really proud of everybody on our team.”

Not Surprising: While he did not win the race, Kevin Harvick scored his own record of sorts, finishing in the second place for the 13th time for the season. Harvick became the 10th Cup driver to score double-digit runner-up finishes in a single season and his was the first since Bobby Allison in 1972.

“The 18 car, he just had the speed all night, for the most part,” Harvick said. “You know, as the night went, I just couldn’t find anywhere that would make the car run better. The higher I would run, the looser it would get. I’d get on the seams and then it would push the front and slide the back. Just never could find anything.”

“I know we’re disappointed about finishing second tonight, but it’s kind of the theme of the year, finishing second. Unfortunately it’s just one short, but all in all, it’s been a great couple years, and couldn’t be prouder of our bunch of guys.”

Surprising: While one Kyle was in Victory Lane, another Kyle, Larson that is, was bemoaning a bit the chance that he had to get his first Cup victory. The driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet was stung by the final caution after riding the wall to a fifth place finish.

“I think I was 1 water bottle away from my first cup win,” Larson tweeted after the race. “Congratulations to Kyle Busch, such an amazing comeback story you had this year!”

Not Surprising: Team Penske finished the season strong, with a third and fourth place finish for Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano respectively.

“I was really proud of my team tonight, really happy with what they were able to give me and we were able to take a run at it, we just didn’t quite have enough at the end on that final restart to hold those guys off.” Keselowski said after the race. “We were really strong and we just didn’t have enough to close it at the end.”

“Unfortunately, we didn’t win and that’s what we wanted to do,” teammate Logano said. “We had a fast Shell/Pennzoil Ford that led a lot of laps, so I’m proud of the laps we led. We had a few good runs and made an adjustment that just took it out of the track and by the time we got it back we lost too much track position. We had a bad pit stop under green and lost more there, so it was too little, too late. We couldn’t redeem ourselves after a couple mistakes tonight.”

Surprising: While Brett Moffitt reveled in winning the 2015 Sunoco Rookie of the Year title, he also revealed that his 2016 future driving plans are a bit up in the air at present.

“Throughout the season, Front Row has given me a great home, and it’s a great place to be, and thankful for this opportunity and being able to bring home the Rookie of the Year title,” Moffitt said. “Right now my slate is empty.”

“I mean, we’re working hard, but it’s hard to secure the funding to be able to run in any of the top three series. If anything would come forward, I’d be more than willing to work with any series, whether it was truck, XFINITY or another Cup ride.”

Not Surprising: One young up and coming driver no doubt summed it all up as he raced with one of his idols for the last time.

“I was a big fan of Jeff Gordon growing up,” Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford, said. “You’re obviously honored to be in his last race with him. I got to race around him a little bit at the beginning of the race. I was having trouble passing him. I was trying to be as nice as I could and let him race his own deal.”

“But that was fun racing hard with him there.”

Surprisingly, that concludes the 2015 race season, which seems to have gone by in the blink of an eye. Enjoy the off-season, Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Holidays and here’s to a great 2016!

November 23, 2015
Surprising and Not Surprising: Talladega CampingWorld.com 500

In the final race of the Contender round and with the elimination of four more drivers, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Surprising: There were four surprising words at the end of this Talladega race and they were, “Let’s go to the videotape.” After what many thought was the one attempt at the green, the true attempt then ensued with another wreck and so much confusion that the sanctioning body had to indeed go to the videotape to determine the race winner.

Once the videotape was reviewed, the sanctioning body crowned Joey Logano the victor. This was the driver’s third consecutive race win, moving him into the next round of the championship in dominant style.

“I saw the lights come on when I was still in the lead and I thought we had it,” the driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford said. “It is all about how the timing loops are and the camera to make sure that is what happened.”

“It is such a crazy race. To pull it into victory lane here at Talladega is so cool.”

Not Surprising: Fans of NASCAR’s most popular driver were standing by their man in spite of his failure to win and move into the next round of championship contention. And they were no doubt as proud of how their driver handled that failure as the driver was himself of his team and its performance.

“I just wanted to go out there, whatever happened, put forth a good account of myself, my team,” the driver of the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet said after finishing runner-up. “I’m real proud of what we did today. So I can feel good about that.”

“I’m more proud of the drive I had today than the two wins this year. The two wins came a lot easier than this second place did.”

This was Junior’s 16th top-10 finish in 32 races at Talladega and his 19th top-10 finish for the season.

Surprising: Not many drivers can say that they had fun at Talladega, but four-time champ Jeff Gordon did just that, finishing third.

“I actually had a lot of fun out there,” the driver of the No. 24 3M Chevrolet said. “We had an awesome 3M Chevrolet and it was so much fun battling up front even if we got shuffled back a little bit.”

“Oh my gosh. That was intense. That was wild. That was crazy,” Gordon continued. “I loved my race car today. I had a lot of fun out there. It is fun having a race car that strong. I am so proud of this race team. They never quit, they never give up and I can’t believe we are going to round three. I said all along that if we got to round three, we have an excellent shot to get to Homestead.”

Not Surprising: Not wanting to be ‘that guy’ had a major impact on the race for Greg Biffle. The driver of the No. 16 Cheez-It Ford was leading the race when the caution flag flew and he had to head to the pits for fear of running out in front of the field.

“We were gonna make it if it went green for sure,” Matt Puccia, Biffle’s crew chief said. “We were gonna make it to the end, but we just didn’t need that. I guess the 1 car blew up down the back and oiled the track down. It’s just a shame.”

“We could have possibly made it, but I just didn’t want to be that guy who was gonna wreck the whole field if we didn’t get it going on the restart. It’s unfortunate.”

Surprising: Forget speeding penalties, the most popular penalty at Talladega was the ‘crewmember(s) over the wall too soon’ penalty.

There were four of those penalties, including one for Dale Earnhardt Jr., that no doubt impacted his race results. There were also three of the ‘too many crewmember(s) in contact with pit service area’ penalties as well.

And even more surprising were the number of cautions, which were just three for eighteen laps.

Not Surprising: Michael Waltrip, a driver who may be rusty but always good on plate tracks, scored a top-15 at one of his favorite tracks.

“Our plan today was to get in the pack and stay in the middle of the pack – do the best we could to lead and do the best we could to get to the front so we could celebrate Maxwell House and Toyota sponsoring me in the race,” Waltrip said. “We got up towards the front a few times and finished 13th. I’m proud of my guys and really thankful for the opportunity to race again.”

Surprising: Martin Truex Jr. likened his Talladega run to some time at a local playground.

“I felt like I was on the seesaw today,” the driver of the No. 778 Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet said. “My head was under the back of it. It’s crazy how fast things can change and how much is out of your control.”

“We were sitting out there riding a lap down for about 100 laps thinking that we were going to need an act of God to get back on the lead lap and have a fighting chance. We kept fighting and fighting, and had a good sequence of green-flag stops to establish ourselves in that front single-file line ahead of the guys we were racing.”

“Then we got lucky and got a caution. Once we were back in the game, we felt good about it. But it was still nerve-wracking down to the end.”

Not Surprising: The Busch brothers played their own game, one of follow the leader right into the next round of the Chase with Kurt finishing tenth and Kyle finishing eleventh.

“That’s what we pretty much planned all day today was to just race and whatever happened, happened,” Kyle Busch said. “It was crazy the way it always happens here, but I guess that’s what does always happen here. However, it was or is, it’s good if we’re in and we’re moving in. That’s what this team needs and what we need – I guess the farthest I’ve ever gone before.”

“I love all the adjectives and adverbs on how the point system works. Escapes, survived, yeah, we are in position now,” Kurt Busch said. “You’ve got the top eight guys and you’ve got to do really good things in these last four races to win the championship. I feel really good about our Haas Automation Chevrolet team and the way that we have worked through both rounds of this Chase thus far. We’ve got more for them. We will keep going.”

Surprising: Two drivers that were hoping for good runs most likely cannot wait to put Talladega behind them.

During his qualifying attempt, Justin Allgaier was wrecked when the car of Clint Bowyer went reverse instead of forward, causing him to have to start at the back of the pack. The driver of the No. 51 Auto Owners Insurance Chevrolet then ended the race weekend with an engine failure.

Ryan Blaney, who usually runs so well at superspeedways, also had a challenging day with his engine expiring as well.

“We had a good car and we were just starting to make our way toward the front then we lost oil pressure and, unfortunately, it gave up on us,” Blaney said in the garage after retiring. “These guys worked really hard to give me a fast race car and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion was going to be really good today. It was a lot of fun out there for sure. Plate races are always a lot of fun. We’ll go to

Not Surprising: While weird things traditionally happen at Talladega, some of the weirdest occurred at this race, from Denny Hamlin’s roof flap popping out to the very controversial finish at the end of the race with a late race big one and as some would say, the second attempt at a green, white, checkered finish.

Three of the four drivers who failed to move on in the Chase aside from Dale Earnhardt Jr. had some pointed words to share after the race.

When asked about the final restart, Ryan Newman said, ““Which one? The final, final restart? Or, the one where we were only going to have one and not anymore? And then the No. 4 (Kevin Harvick) causing the crash. Which one do you want me to talk about?”

“Well, at the end, the 4 (Kevin Harvick) knew he was blew up and we had the first attempt, but I guess they said it wasn’t an attempt, although they threw the green, so it seems like we attempted the start and there was a wreck,” Matt Kenseth said. “So then they tried it again and the 4 knew he was blew up, so he said he was going to stay in his lane, so the 6 (Trevor Bayne) then went up and outside and he clipped him and caused a wreck because he knew he’d make the Chase that way, so it’s – I got wrecked out two weeks in a row from people doing what they had to do to make the Chase, but call it what you want.”

“4 (Kevin Harvick) could only run about 30 miles per hour so I think he saw people coming and he knew he was going to be 30th, last car on the lead lap so caused the wreck,” Hamlin said. “That’s not here nor there. We had a self-inflicted day, took us four times to get our roof fixed. It’s unfortunate, I feel like I’ve done all I could possibly do to advance in a three-race season. I feel like we could have won next week. I really can’t spin any positive on it right now.”

“It’s tough, we’ll just move on to next year.”

October 25, 2015
The Final Word – Post-race Kyle kissed the Bricks at Indianapolis, the rest could just kiss his…

All we have heard all summer long is how great Kyle is at winning, how wonderful Kyle has been in making a comeback. Kyle, Kyle, Kyle. It is enough to make one channel their inner Jan Brady.

What a wonderful race Kevin Harvick had. He led all those laps, yet the best he gets in the end was third. Joey Logano, he had a wonderful day going for him, but with about 10 to go, Kyle decided the race was his and won his first Brickyard 400.

Okay, three wins in a row. Four of the past five, all in just the past nine events; 33rd of his career. Over those last five events, Busch has managed to pick up an average of 30 points per race on the driver sitting in 30th place in the standings, and today sits just 23 behind Justin Allgaier as he moves closer to being Chase eligible and making those wins count toward the standings. My bold prediction is that he will rocket from 32nd to at least second in the season standings come next Sunday at Pocono.

Busch is having a season just as unbelievable as that of Tony Stewart. I mean, who can believe the crap Smoke has been putting up with this season? He starts fourth at Indianapolis, was up front the first half of the day, yet the heaping helping he was left with was not exactly a steaming pile of hospitality. Strategy gone bad, they said. Stewart pits when some thought he should have maintained track position. Shortly after, he pits again, giving up even more. He finished 28th, a spot behind Danica Patrick, who had a Top 15 day, was eighth when they re-started with eight to go.

Jeff Gordon was in his final Brickyard, but he lost control trying to avoid a spinning Clint Bowyer. Contact with the outside wall left him limping to 42nd. Still, he is in no danger of dropping out of the Top 16 just yet. Bowyer has that final transfer spot, sitting 30 points ahead of Aric Almirola. He appeared to be driving a metallic pinata as Bowyer gained 32 positions on him.

Mind you, after Pocono, when the four Busch wins trump whatever points he might have, as long as he sits amongst the Top 30, Bowyer will slip back to 17th. In reality, he goes into next weekend down by 20 to Kasey Kahne and Paul Menard, and 25 behind Ryan Newman, for the spot that will matter at the end of the day.

As for Kyle, he has never won at Pocono. Of course, he had never won a Cup event at Indianapolis before, either. Busch is a husband, a new dad and appears to have returned a more mature version of his former self. Maybe even a more talented version, if that can be possible. Some might not like it, but the way things are going, they might have to be content with kissing his…championship ring at the end of the season.

July 27, 2015
The Final Word – Kyle turns it up, turns it left, and turns it right at Sonoma like a FOX on the run

Win and you are in, or so the saying goes. Well, not if it is only your fifth race, 16 events into the season. However, running together a string of 10 straight Top Fifteens or better is easier than taking one of these contests, and Kyle Busch checked that off his “to do” list at Sonoma Sunday.

A late caution allowed him to swing in for fresh tires that he used to maximum effect as he got by Jimmie Johnson then held off Clint Bowyer and his brother for the victory. It marked his 30th Cup decision, but he now needs to get himself in the Top 30 in the season standings. He currently sits 136 points distant behind Cole Whitt for that final eligible spot where wins matter. Whitt, who has an average finish of just beyond 27th, was 22nd on Sunday, so Busch gained 25 points on the day.

Brother Kurt was second, and one does wonder just how hard he was trying to break his sibling’s heart. I am sure I know what Kurt would say, but he did not seem terribly broken up by the outcome. Bowyer jumped 25 points ahead of Carl Edwards, in points, but without a win that does not matter. Where it does matter, Clint is just a point behind the equally winless Aric Almirola, and five in arrears of Ryan Newman for the final two Chase places.

Albert Hammond was prophetic when he sang “It doesn’t rain in California,” so we saw none. What we did see was Casey Mears coming to a halt after a rear tire and attached axle housing broke free and outpaced him down the track. We saw Martin Truex Jr. force David Ragan wide into the dirt, but a small nudge later and it was Truex heading into the tires along the fence. Later, Edwards tried to avoid going off the track, nudged Ragan, and both of them found the fence. Carl was literally left sitting in 40th place.

Jeff Gordon came in to have a spring rubber removed. That takes time, and it is quicker for a crewman to toss it over the car and over the wall. Too bad NASCAR has a thing about that, so instead of re-starting 26th, he was 28th, but 36th on the track at the end of the longest line. Sixteenth was his fate. Matt Kenseth had a flat that turned into a departing carcass, but no caution, as he hit the pits and his day did the same, landing him in 21st. A.J. Allmendinger was strong early, but a fuel pressure problem crippled his day to leave him 37th.

Some seem to do well no matter what. Kevin Harvick was fourth, which is not a surprise, except for the disastrous pit stop that saw the jack come down before his left rear was even placed on the car. The end of hope for some, a beginning of a challenge for others, it would seem.

Ten races are left before the Chase positions are decided, with six of the 16 current position holders still winless, facing various degrees of vulnerability. With Kyle’s win, 32 drivers are still in the hunt, including Justin Allgaier, himself just a point behind Whitt in the rankings. A win at Daytona next Sunday would sure be sweet.

Last weekend marked the end of the NASCAR season on FOX, with Larry McReynolds leaving the announce booth in favor of Jeff Gordon when they return next February. That ends a 15-year partnership with Mike and Darrell. Personally, I think the wrong guy is leaving to join Michael Waltrip and Chris Myers down in the studio, but I do not make these Boogity-Boogity-Boogity decisions. Next week, NBC arrives back on the scene with Rick Allen, Steve Letarte and Jeff Burton doing the honors.

At Daytona, we wait to see if we have a repeat winner or a new kid in the mix. We will see how the battle settles between Newman, Almirola and Bowyer for the final spots on points. We will watch how Kyle does in relation to Whitt and Allgaier. We will listen and watch, and no doubt evaluate, the new television crew. Finally, it is Daytona in the summer. What else do you need to tune in?

June 29, 2015
The Final Word – A Michigan Nickname is “Water Wonderland”…No Kidding

Rain. Just bloody lovely. Who, outside of California, really needed the wet stuff all that bad? When Alfred, Lord Tennyson said, “Bright and fierce and fickle is the South, And dark and true and tender is the North,” he obviously was not talking about the rains of Michigan. Those black clouds still managed to tease one driver into dreams of winning delights, just before breaking his heart.

Three laps. That proved the difference between Kyle Larson having a great finish at Michigan and having the rain hold off, his car run low of fuel, and him having to hand it over to Kurt Busch. For Busch, he led for the final three under green, the final three under caution, and was the man of the hour when the red and checkered flags followed. Larson wound up 17th and left hoping to yet win his way into the Chase, Busch was left in a rain-soaked celebration for his second triumph of the season. Of course, if there was one who knew just how fickle life could be, that would be Mr. Busch.

It could have been different. When brother Kyle lost control of his car early in the race, he just missed his sibling as his auto hit the fence to end his day dead last. To make a playoff run, he now needs to run an average of 17 points per race better than Justin Allgaier over the next eleven, as well as win one of them. It still can be done, but finishing two of his four runs thus far this season outside the Top 35 just won’t cut it.

All in all, it was a miserable day, with rain coming early, coming often, and ending it more than 120 miles early. Kevin Harvick had the best car, but when he pulled out minus about three lug nuts on a front tire, his return to the pits dashed all hopes for this day, leaving him 29th. That was ten spots behind Jimmie Johnson, as our season leader needed to pit for a fender needing repair and that took him out of the hunt for the day. As for Greg Biffle, somebody told him to drive it like he stole it. Why in hell would he steal that piece of crap? He finished 36th.

Not all was gloom and doom. A pair of Juniors did well, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Martin Truex Jr. coming home second and third, just ahead of Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski. At least the Penske Fords could run. It was a good day for Trevor Bayne, as he more than helped his bid to stick in the Top Thirty by finishing ninth. His was a Ford that also got there in the end. A pair of XFINITY drivers had decent days, with Ty Dillon (14th) and Ryan Blaney (20th) doing better than most.

Rain last Sunday, no race this weekend, no rain in California. The latest figures I read show 54-million people, most of whom are in California, are suffering drought conditions. Mind you, it is not so bad in the San Francisco area, where NASCAR visits Sonoma June 28th, with reservoirs sitting at over 90 percent capacity and they are still receiving three-quarters of their normal rainfall.

So, if it rains through the next race yet misses much of the rest of the state, that would not just be fickle. It would be downright cruel.

June 15, 2015
The Final Word – Dover and the FedEx 400 Benefiting Jimmie Johnson

Jimmie Johnson. Four wins in 2015. Ten wins at Dover. Seventy-four wins over the course of his career, just two shy of Dale Earnhardt’s total. Six championships. Gee, I wonder if he might ever make the Hall of Fame?

He becomes only the fifth driver in NASCAR history to claim such dominance at a single track. Mind you, we’ve long been placing his name alongside such drivers as…

-Richard Petty (Daytona – 10, Martinsville – 15, North Wilkesboro – 15, Richmond – 13, Rockingham – 11)

-David Pearson (Darlington – 10)

-Darrell Waltrip (Bristol – 12, Martinsville – 11, North Wilkesboro – 10)

-Dale Earnhardt (Talladega – 10)…not counting the nine each he won at Atlanta, Bristol, and Darlington.

Kevin Harvick was the runner-up and with two wins he holds the same position amongst the season leaders. Kyle Larson was third, but like the fourth place Aric Almirola, a win is what they need to be in the Chase. Martin Truex Jr. was sixth, but with a 140-point advantage over Clint Bowyer in the standings, he is still very good to go. Bowyer is 17th on the season and ninth on Sunday. The rest of the day’s Top Ten, Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard and Jeff Gordon, remain solidly in the Top Sixteen, at least for now.

For some, this day was in the pits, or at least that is where great days went to die. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Danica Patrick were in the Top-Fifteen, but were left wondering if not for pit penalties just what kind of day they might have had. Same for the 19th place Carl Edwards.

Truex was amongst two that dominated early while Denny Hamlin led 118 laps including the opening 41 circuits. After a wreck caused by Bowyer that also caught Kurt Busch, Hamlin finished 21st, Busch 31st.

As for brother Kyle, he looked strong the entire race, or at least the 90 percent he ran. With 25 to go, he and Brian Scott wrecked, leaving the younger Busch 36th. After missing so much of the season due to his Daytona injuries, he will need to win at least once and make up the 168 gap between himself and the 30th ranked Justin Allgaier over the next 13 events to make the playoff hunt. That is a gain of 13 per race. On Sunday, he gained just seven points on the 42nd placed Allgaier. It still can be done.

Landon Cassill was 23rd on the day. The 26-year-old has been making the news, though off the track. After the World 600, he ran the 14-miles from the track to the Hall of Fame…on foot. Last Wednesday, he became Beckham Bear Alan Cassill’s dad. Pretty sweet.

What is better, Cup action or IndyCar? Whatever you believe, it is not worth choking your fiancé over. It was a lovely domestic scene in Indiana as both were hitting the suds all day, then with he making dinner and her listening to the action from Indianapolis, the topic reared its ugly head. It appears that both are fine, but he does need a lawyer. No word as to whether the engagement is off or not.

Dover had its moments and a few surprises. Actually, not a bad way to spend your Sunday afternoon. As for Pocono next weekend, Earnhardt comes in after sweeping 2014 while each of his Hendrick teammates has claimed the previous three. Gordon has six in total, Johnson three, but Hamlin could spoil the party having four of his own. Now, if only Bowyer will let him get to the finish.

June 1, 2015
Surprising and Not Surprising: Food City 500 in Support of Steve Byrnes

With all of NASCAR nation standing up for Steve Byrnes and others battling cancer, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 55^th annual Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Surprising: With the day race stretching into night because of the Bristol rain drops, it was all about windows for NASCAR and the race winner. NASCAR made difficult decisions all day, focusing on windows in the weather to successfully get the entire race in, and then some due to the green-white-checkered finish.

And Matt Kenseth, along with crew chief Jason Ratcliff, took advantage of their window of opportunity to capture the checkered flag, ending a 51 race drought and taking Toyota back to Victory Lane. And with that win, Kenseth and team No. 20 have also opened their window on the opportunity to race for the Chase.

“Matt, he did a phenomenal job, as always, especially here at Bristol,” Ratcliff said. “This place is unbelievable. I get out of breath just watching him go around here. Great night, obviously.”

“To get a win under our belt and we can look at the season a little differently now, knowing that we’re in the Chase, so I’m really excited,” Ratcliff continued. “I think we’ve turned the corner, and we’ve got a great season ahead of us.”

Not Surprising: As appropriate, tributes to Jeff Gordon as he runs his last season of Cup competition continue to pour in. But he received one of the biggest gifts in his career to date, that of having his children Ella and Leo, give the command to the drivers, and their papa, to start the engines for the Bristol racing.

“Highlight for me,” Gordon said of his children giving the command. “The day couldn’t be bad after that. That was so, so cool, and they nailed it. I’m just so, so proud of them.”

“I’m just so thankful to Bristol Motor Speedway and Marcus and Bruton and all those folks. To do that, to invite them to do that means so much to me, and they just had a blast preparing for it, just practicing in the car on the way to school.”

“So funny, and Leo, he had to put his little engine rev in there at the end, which I thought just kind of put it over the top. As soon as the red flag came, I went back to the bus and rewound it and watched it with them, and they were just beaming. It was awesome.”

Gordon battled back after a loose wheel in the race caused him to lose a lap, finishing third in his No. 24 3M Chevrolet after a hard fought day to night race.

Surprising: There was whole lot of surprising hurting going on prior to and during the race. Denny Hamlin decided to remove himself from the No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota due to back pain and neck spasms, while Kurt Busch’s crew chief Tony Gibson had to absent the pit box due to recurring kidney stones.

Young up and coming racer Erik Jones took over driving responsibilities for Hamlin, while Stewart Haas Racing’s team engineer John Klausmeyer took over crew chief duties for the No. 41 team, with an assist from Vice president of Competition Greg Zipadelli.

“Watching race in my motorcoach is agonizing!” Gibson tweeted during the race. “Just released from the Bristol ER with a kidney stone. @GZipadelli @johnklax have crew chief duty.”

“We had the wild thing happen with Denny,” Coach Joe Gibbs said after the race. “He had a spasm with his neck and shooting pain. We wound up flying Erik over here. He got here with five minutes to go, went and got in the car, first time in a Cup car, and we put him in that situation. And then he just — I thought he handled everything really well.”

After all that hurting going on, Jones, whose arms were sore due to the steering wheel being too close, managed a respectable 26^th place finish, while Kurt Busch finished 15^th in his No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet.

Not Surprising: In spite of some frustrations early on in the race, Jimmie Johnson rode the wave of momentum from his Texas win into the rainy banks of Bristol to finish runner up.

“Yeah, the first half of the race or first third of the race I was behind the 24 and we just worked our way up through the field and things went pretty smoothly,” Johnson said. “I had a very fast race car and felt like we were going to have a strong night.”

“And then one of the restarts midway through the race, the 41, I don’t know what happened, but he lost control, got into me. I went into the outside wall in Turn 3, and a caution came out. We had a fair amount of damage to the right-rear quarter panel. We weren’t as good as we were at the start of the race but still very competitive.”

“Chad (Knaus, crew chief) called for two late in the race. That picked us up a few more spots, and then I think the last two restarts I was in the outside lane and that helped me out quite a bit. Wild night, but glad to get it in.”

Surprising: It was a strange case of teammate-palooza at Bristol, with teammates who normally look out for one another, wrecking each other instead. Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano got into each other in the early part of the race before the rains came, as did Hendrick teammates Kasey Kahne and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. later in the race.

“I just really hate that I tore up my teammate in the process,” Keselowski said after his contact with teammate Logano. “That’s really a bummer. I felt like I had a pretty normal line and it just flew crazy sideways on me. It’s a bummer for everybody at Team Penske to tear up both cars that way.”

Not Surprising: Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. was on a high, loving the high banks of Bristol as well as his highest finish of the season to date, bringing his Zestfully clean car home in the fourth place position.

“I knew when we came back here, it didn’t matter how we ran anywhere else, that we could have a decent car,” Stenhouse said. “I wish we could get it to translate to other racetracks, but I think it’s the high bank is what really helps us get our car to turn here and being able to run the top.”

“We struggled in practice. When the line moved up to the top, we gained like 10 or 15 spots on the leaderboard in practice just because it moved to the top, and I could make some better speed up there.”

Surprising: There was some NASCAR second guessing going on, even amongst those drivers who finished in the top-ten at Bristol, including Danica Patrick, who finished ninth and Austin Dillon, who finished tenth.

“It was a bummer that we got a long run when I got the lucky dog,” Patrick said. “It was just so frustrating. There was a big accident after the rain. I should have got the lucky dog and I missed it all. I was in control enough to stay on the track instead of take the pit road. So I come around and I got on the apron and it was like it was still wet and the back-end just kind of slid around. I was like ‘ah well just restart it’. They said you are part of the accident you don’t get the lucky dog. I thought that was total crap.”

“Then another time Jimmie (Johnson) gets the lucky dog and he goes and passes everybody and he is in front of me after getting the lucky dog. And I’m the lucky dog. I know it’s hard because it’s Bristol and everything happens very quickly here, but there were definitely quite a few mistakes by NASCAR just in making sure everything was right before we went green.”

“We came out with a top 10 in the GoDaddy car. It looks terrible. I had to walk around it just to see what it looked like, but it’s Bristol baby.”

“We worked hard all night and stayed in the top 10 all night,” Dillon said, echoing Patrick in frustration. “We get in a save fuel mode when we get a certain amount of heat and I guess it was dumping fuel and we just ran out of fuel. Then when we were trying to pull up there we might have finished ninth or eighth, but NASCAR held us back.”

“I don’t know why. Because Danica (Patrick) moved around and she was the lucky dog and I was trying to follow her. I don’t know. Not happy.”

Not Surprising: Streaks are unfortunately made to be broken as both Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex, Jr. can attest. Both drivers had their top-five and top-ten finishing streaks come to an end at the track known as the Coliseum.

Harvick in particular had no place to run to and no place to hide, slamming into David Ragan’s car after melee in front of them occurred.

“I’m sorry guys,” Harvick said on the radio after the crash. “I just couldn’t stop.”

“Today, nothing went our way,” Truex said. “We had a pretty good car that could run in the top-10. But the loose wheel incident was a costly deal that was very difficult to overcome. We just didn’t get the cautions when we needed them.”

Truex, Jr., in his No. 78 Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet, finished 29^th while Harvick, behind the wheel of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s/Budweiser Chevrolet finished 38^th.

Surprising: David Ragan had perhaps the best quote of the day/night race, saying “Sometimes when you race back there with the squirrels, you find a nut sometimes,” after getting wrecked out of the race and finishing 41^st in his No. 18 Snickers Xtreme Toyota.

“That’s just Bristol. You’re racing hard and the 26 (Jeb Burton) was a little slower and I know Jimmie (Johnson) is probably a little impatient trying to get back to the front,” Ragan continued. “I see he just touched him there and as soon as my spotter said they were wrecking, I’m all into the 48 (Johnson).”

“That’s just one of those things you have at short track racing and all in all it’s just Bristol – wrong place at the wrong time.”

Not Surprising: Justin Allgaier finally felt like he earned some respect with his career best NASCAR Sprint Cup Series finish of eighth place in his No. 51 Auto-Owners Chevrolet.

“You know, it just seems like the first time I came here I felt like it was my kind of race track,” Allgaier said. “I just felt comfortable and have been fortunate enough over the years to have some good runs here.”

“But at the same time, the Cup series is definitely an extreme challenge. It’s not been easy to break our way up through the pack but tonight we felt like that was a big step in doing that and getting respect by racing around a lot of these guys,” Allgaier continued. “We need to do that on a weekly basis so when you can do that here at a place you run good at, hopefully you can take that momentum and go somewhere else that you don’t run good at and use that same momentum.”

April 21, 2015
The Final Word – Harvick Once Again the Best in Phoenix but Fontana is Johnson Country

Phoenix got somewhat exciting near the end. Kevin Harvick was the star of this show, with the likes of Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray in supporting roles. Two straight this season, four straight at Phoenix, a lock on a Chase spot (you would think) and 30 career victories as he defends his Cup championship. It is good being Kevin Harvick.

Not so good being Tony Stewart. Take some orange paper, write a number 14 on it, then crumple it all up and toss it on the floor. That is pretty much how Stewart’s car looked when it finally stopped along the wall. Thirty-ninth on the day, 35th in the standings. It is not good being Tony Stewart, at least after four Cup races.

It was good being Dale Earnhardt Jr. Top Fives at Daytona, Atlanta and Las Vegas was good. A blown tire and a sharp slap to the wall to finish 43rd was not.

It was good, finally, to be Kurt Busch. In the words of Mike Joy, he went from suspension to redemption, as he finished fourth in his return.

Danica Patrick had another day outside the Top 25. Sure, her team-mates with the law firm of Stewart-Harvick-and Busch may all have won championships, but none of them have a cook book coming out. Game, set and match, losers.

One day, one race, 43 teams. I guess that is a bit too much even for Will Ferrell.

The best on the day amongst the lesser lights was Justin Allgaier. The 29th ranked driver from last season was 18th at Phoenix. Among the brighter bulbs who went dim were Junior, Brian Vickers, Sam Hornish Jr. and Smoke, all of whom wound up amongst the bottom five.

The great thing about FOX Sports taking over coverage is all the extra time it has given me. No truck racing, no practices, no qualifying to sit through. Now, if I only don’t blow it all on watching curling on TSN.

What does Junior’s puppy at Martin Truex Jr’s motorcoach have in common with Junior’s car last Sunday out on the track? That is where both suddenly went to crap.

Someone stole the No. 44. Now a lawyer wants it. Apparently, there is a claim that team owner John Cohen owes some money, so when the counsel for the other party heard Cohen claim the car was worth $250,000 he thought he would claim a piece. Insert your favorite lawyer joke here, I guess.

The western swing wraps up this Sunday in Fontana, California, where the mending Kyle Busch will see an end to his two race dominance of that track. Maybe that will work in favor of five time race winner Jimmie Johnson, or allow Kyle Larson to build on his runner-up performance in his one and only start there. Will it be exciting? It depends on who you like and where they are racing. Then again, who watches live events anymore? Hit record and watch the action at your own pace, maybe catch an inning or two of a ball game in the meantime, or shovel some snow, if you live in the northeast, then return to the track. Hey, it is a multi-task world.

March 16, 2015
The Final Word – Sprint Cup’s next irrelevant driver to earn respectability shall be…

Recently, a story by Chad Robb listed the top ten organizations in Cup. Not surprisingly, those ten organizations represented all but one of last season’s top 28 teams. Hendrick, Penske, Gibbs, Stewart-Haas, Ganassi, Childress, Roush-Fenway, Waltrip, and Petty were all there.

Also included, and 10th on the list, was a single car operation. For the past six seasons, Barney Visser’s Furniture Row operation has been a top 28 entry. Mind you, they did drop back from being 10th in 2013 when Kurt Busch was behind the wheel to 24th with Martin Truex Jr. The only miss was the Germain Racing No. 13 driven by Casey Mears, that was 26th in 2014, two steps back of where they were a year prior. Yet, they were seen, they challenged, they mattered.

Twenty-eight teams that belong on the track, based on results, fan base, and the ability to generate sponsorship dollars, as we enter a new campaign. Yes, Danica Patrick is 28th best. Three top 10s and 735 points might not be up to the expectations of some, but she represents the line between the haves and the have nots.

Some may criticize her on-track results, but when it comes to producing dollars, be it from fan support, sponsorship, endorsements, and media appearances, few can top her. So, unless that dries up or her production completely falls off the table, or she improves, Patrick will continue to represent our Mendoza line for NASCAR. That leaves 15 entries each week that struggle for respectability. Which team might make the leap in 2015?

Based simply on the number of arrows in the quiver, one might suspect Bob Jenkins and Front Row Motorsports to be the best bets to emerge. They come into 2015 with three bullets, the No. 32, No. 33 and the No. 38 Chevrolets to be piloted by David Ragan, Cole Whitt and David Gilliland, who had the pole last summer at Daytona, but a 17th at Pocono was the lone result inside the top 20. Whitt did that three times while driving for B.K. Racing, while Ragan had four, including a top 10 at Martinsville. Not much to write home about, I agree, but this trio were 30th, 31st, and 32nd a year ago in the drivers’ standings. The bad news is that each would need to pick up about 200 more points on the season to be considered relevant. That might be just too much ground to make up, at least this season.

It has been years since the Wood Brothers ran anything close to a full schedule. Might they be a contender should they show interest in coming back? Not really, not yet. Even if they had run for points, all they would have collected in a dozen starts last year with Trevor Bayne would have been 143. Over a full schedule, they would have been hard pressed to crack the top 35. So, no.

Maybe the one to watch is the driver who finished just behind Patrick, albeit by a whopping 99 points. In Harry Scott’s No. 51 Chevy, Justin Allgaier managed to crack the top 20, 10 times, though he did miss the cut at Talladega in October before rebounding for his best showings of the season. Allgaier claimed a pair of 15th place results late in the year at Charlotte and Homestead. Last season was the organization’s first big push at a 36-race schedule, and those Hendrick engines gave them some reason for optimism.

Last season, Allgaier’s average finish was 25.9, compared to Patrick’s 23.7. Just a tick better than 25th is what is needed to claim a 700 point season. While Casey, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, and Danica attempt to improve matters in 2015, they might check out the rear view. Justin Allgaier might be looking to join them, if not take their seat, at the adult’s table during this upcoming season’s party.

January 19, 2015