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  • The Final Word – Why Can’t NASCAR on TV Always be Like Sonoma?

    The Final Word – Why Can’t NASCAR on TV Always be Like Sonoma?

    It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Interesting race, a few surprises, great topography and scenery, and top notch announcing. What was not to like?

    If you were Carl Edwards, not much. He came on strong over the final quarter of the race at Sonoma to march off with his 23rd career victory, and his second of the season. It marked his first win on a road course, and it ended a string of five straight wins by Team Hendrick. Well, barely, considering that Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr were contenders all day to conclude things in the Top Three. Jamie McMurray and Paul Menard put some spark into their seasons with Top Fives. Jimmie Johnson had a Top Ten, for those who do not things to change too much from week to week.

    Matt Kenseth got the biggest surprise, when Junior bounced off a curb to clip him into the tire barrier. That tore the front end, radiator included, off his beast to leave him steaming. The driver, Kenseth, not the car. Didn’t I mention the radiator was no longer attached? 42nd was his fate.

    Junior also managed to lay a late touch on A.J. Allmendinger, who then spun to get hit by Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers to tear up his front end. A.J. went from a contender to finish 37th, and probably burned his Junior Nation t-shirt afterwards.

    Kevin Harvick had a car to beat, and beat it he did when he got squeezed into Clint Bowyer’s spun car. Happy wasn’t, as his hopes faded to leave him 20th on the day. Notice that Earnhardt had nothing to do with that one.

    Danica Patrick finished 18th, just ahead of Tony Stewart, ahead of Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Larson. That should give you some indication as to how lousy the day was for those boys.

    Now, I would truly love to be a big Danica supporter, but despite her experience, her quality equipment, her lucrative sponsorship, and a loyal fan base, she just does not matter most weeks. To find her on the charts, you usually start at about 25th and look a few spots either way. Sunday was a good day, for her. Even great open wheelers have had trouble making the transition, and while she was popular, she was not great. Still, at 32, I guess there is still time.

    Time to turn our attention to this Saturday night, where Kentucky hosts just its fourth Cup event. Kyle, Keselowski, and Kenseth have won the first trio and I would expect them somewhere near the front again this year. Also, do not be surprised to see a Mr. Gordon or a Mr. Johnson up there close, as they have been the past three years. They have not yet won there, but Saturday has not yet arrived, so that could change.

    Change, like Home Depot leaving Joe Gibbs Racing and that same owner possibly about to welcome Edwards to the fold. Yet, not all things change. Check out the top of our leader board.

    SWEET SIXTEEN
    1 – Jimmie Johnson – 3 WINS (560 Pts)
    2 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 2 (555)
    3 – Carl Edwards – 2 (509)
    4 – Joey Logano – 2 (483)
    5 – Kevin Harvick – 2 (472)
    6 – Jeff Gordon – 1 (580)
    7 – Brad Keselowski – 1 (512)
    8 – Kyle Busch – 1 (465)
    9 – Denny Hamlin – 1 (453)
    10 – Kurt Busch – 1 (347)
    11 – Matt Kenseth – 515 POINTS
    12 – Ryan Newman – 473
    13 – Kyle Larson – 470
    14 – Paul Menard – 459
    15 – Clint Bowyer – 452
    16 – Greg Biffle – 444

    CONTENDERS & PRETENDERS
    17 – Kasey Kahne – 429
    18 – Tony Stewart – 427
    19 – Austin Dillon – 427
    20 – Jamie McMurray – 425
    21 – Brian Vickers – 424
    22 – Marcos Ambrose – 407
    23 – Aric Almirola – 400
    24 – A.J. Allmendinger – 391
    25 – Casey Mears – 373
    26 – Martin Truex, Jr. – 360
    27 – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – 320
    28 – Danica Patrick – 299
    29 – Justin Allgaier – 280
    30 – Michael Annett – 249
    31 – David Gilliland – 232
    32 – Cole Whitt – 228

     

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Sonoma Toyota/Save Mart 350

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Sonoma Toyota/Save Mart 350

    With plenty of wine and whining on and off the track, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 26th Annual Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.

    Surprising: The winner of the race, his first ever at Sonoma and his second of the season, effectively locking him into the Chase, seemed surprisingly star-struck in Victory Lane.

    “It means a lot to me,” Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Aflac Ford for Roush Fenway Racing, said. “And then the real special part to me was to stand in Victory Lane at Sonoma and have Jeff Gordon come and give me a handshake as the second place finisher means a lot.”

    “I grew up watching Jeff Gordon and specifically watching how he drove this racetrack and all the successes he had here, so I mean, that’s really super,” Edwards continued. “It definitely meant a lot to have Jeff Gordon in my mirror.”

    “It’s something I’ll never forget.”

    With his victory, Edwards kept the consecutive new winner streak alive at Sonoma, being the eighth consecutive first time winner on that road course.

    Not Surprising: As Edwards paid tribute to him, Jeff Gordon seemed to get a kick out of it, which he could afford to do after posting a runner up finish to Edwards, as well as maintaining the point standing lead.

    “I’m starting to hear that a lot more,” Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Panasonic Chevrolet, said of Edwards comments about watching him race in his growing up years. “I hear things like he was born when I won my first championship or watching me as a kid.”

    “You know what, I love racing here,” Gordon continued. “I love being competitive, leading the points and having a shot winning races 22 years into my Cup career.”

    “We’re having fun.”

    Gordon scored his 14th career top-5 finish at Sonoma and his 12th top-10 finish for the season. He is now 20 spots ahead of six-time champ and teammate Jimmie Johnson in the point standings.

    Surprising: While Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s aggressiveness certainly played a role in this third place finish, he also credited his own road course education for helping to achieve his first ever top-10 finish at Sonoma.

    “This is a real technical track where the corners are lined up one after the other, and if you make a mistake in Turn 2, you really don’t clean it up until Turn 4,” the driver of the No. 88 Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet said. “So everything sort of has to line up and that takes a certain mentality and a certain understanding of road course racing that guys like myself don’t have coming from late models and oval tracks and stuff like that.”

    “You have to go to school,” Junior continued. “You have to study. You have to listen to people. You have to run as many laps as you can at practices and tests and stuff like that to adapt and understand. We were fast all weekend and just kind of put it together.”

    “Aside from holding a trophy, this is like a win for us.”

    Not Surprising: Kevin Harvick took to the California stage and starred yet again in his own version of ‘Groundhog Day’. On Lap 72, the driver of the No. 4 Outback / Budweiser Folds of Honor Chevrolet entered his pit stall in the fourth position and promptly lost spots after another miscommunication with his over-the-wall team.

    “We basically sat on the jack for about three seconds waiting on fuel and we didn’t need to,’’ Rodney Childers, Harvick’s crew chief said. “Bad, bad miscommunication or decision on some of the pit crew member’s part.’’

    After that bad pit stop, Harvick restarted further back in the field and then was collected in an accident to finish 20th.

    “All in all, we got to get it together,’’ Childers said. “The pit crew has worked really hard to get their pit stops better. We got that better and now we’re doing stuff like we did to take us out of the win.”

    “Everybody keeps saying that the pit crew is messing up,” Childers continued. “The pit crew is not actually messing up. We had a great pit stop, and we just sit there on the jack, waiting for the gas man to say it was full.”

    “If we wouldn’t have sat there and waited, we would have beat (Jeff Gordon) off pit road and he almost won the race,’’ Childers said. “We had a way, way, way better car than (Gordon) did.’’

    Surprising:  Austin Dillon, not Kyle Larson, was the highest finishing rookie of the race. Dillon, in his iconic No. 3 Dow Chevrolet, finished 17th while Larson, in his No. 42 Target Chevrolet, finished well behind in the 28th spot.

    With that finish, Larson slipped from eighth to tenth in the point standings and Dillon also slipped one notch from 17th to 18th in points.

    Not Surprising: Although Marcos Ambrose, known for his road course prowess, did not have the best of days, he echoed what many in the Ford camp were definitely thinking.

    “I’ll take eighth,” Ambrose said after crossing the finish line in his No. 9 DeWalt Ford. “We came here with a strategy because we had the fastest car for a couple of laps, but it would fade away really bad. We came with a really soft package and I was hanging onto it all day, too.”

    “We’re gonna keep working at this place to try and make ourselves better, but congratulations to Carl,” Ambrose continued. “He did a great job in the race and it’s great to see Ford back in Victory Lane.”

    Surprising: Clint Bowyer was the highest finishing Toyota and he had to make an incredible comeback after a flat tire and on-track incident with Jamie McMurray to finish in the tenth position in his No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota.

    We had a fast 5-hour ENERGY Camry this weekend,” Bowyer said. “We got ourselves in position and had a flat. It was going down and I was all over the place.”

    “Jamie (McMurray) just kind of finished me up and got me out of the way, I guess,” Bowyer continued. “Bad luck, man.”

    “The way our season has been, we’ve been the lap closer here lately and if they keep bringing cars like that to the race track, we’ll be just fine.”

    Not Surprising:   With her IndyCar experience, especially on the road courses, it was no surprise that Danica Patrick not only had a decent day at Sonoma but also scored her personal best with an 18th place finish.

    “I think we kind of salvaged something there,” the driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet said. “It would be good for a couple laps and then would just go away. We got lucky getting the Lucky Dog and then just pitted a couple of times for fresh tires and fuel and wound up 18th.”

    “It’s not the best day, but I think we keep improving.”

    It was Patrick’s best road course finish in the Sprint Cup as she bettered a 29th-place finish last year at Sonoma and a 20th-place result at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.

    Surprising: Even Kasey Kahne, the only Hendrick driver who has struggled this season, got into the act at Sonoma, finishing sixth and ensuring that all Hendrick Motorsports drivers were in the top-10 when the checkered flag flew. And he did so in spite of some contact mid-race with Casey Mears.

    The driver of the No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet even finished higher than Jimmie Johnson, who came in seventh after starting 22nd in his Lowe’s Chevrolet.

    Not Surprising: With NASCAR’s close association with those in uniform, it was not surprising that the sport paused to honor its five year association with the Armed Forces Foundation, particularly the Troops to the Track program, a year-round recreational group therapy program that honors service men and women, veterans and military families at races throughout the country.

    “Troops to the Track presented by Bank of America showcases NASCAR’s commitment to our nation’s military and we are proud of our joint effort the past five years to serve the military,” Patricia Driscoll, President of the Armed Forces Foundation, said. “Here at the Armed Forces Foundation, we constantly strive to ‘serve those who serve,’ and with the support from NASCAR and Bank of America, we will be able to provide more opportunities for service members and their families around the country to get away from the stresses of injuries and deployments while enjoying the patriotism of the NASCAR community.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • The Final Word – Great Father’s Day for Genevieve and Lydia’s Daddy at Michigan

    The Final Word – Great Father’s Day for Genevieve and Lydia’s Daddy at Michigan

    Sunday was a time for remembering our fathers. For those of us still fortunate enough to do so, it was a day to call the ole boy up or drop by for a visit. It was a time for fathers to spend some time with their children or, if one happens to be Jimmie Johnson, a time to kick butt at Michigan and then spend some quality time with the daughters.

    Correct me if I am wrong, but was it not just a few weeks ago some media clowns made up the story that we should all be wringing our hands in anguish as we wondered when, oh when, might Jimmie win a race? That was three wins ago. Soon, we should again be hearing how Johnson dominates all those other little darlin’s by winning all those titles, and what a nasty thing that is. Bite me. The only down side to Six Time’s day was that younger brothers Jarit and Jessie got to spend time with their dad while the older sibling was working his day job. It marked his first victory at Michigan in 25 tries.

    Good race, great race commentary on TNT, as we watched the boys and girl slip sliding away in the early going. Early was all Travis Kvapil got as Brian Vickers lost traction, went for a slide, and wound up fileting the right side of T.K.’s ride on the opening lap.

    Kasey Kahne and Reed Larson, who will be a dad when the big day rolls around next year, got tied up on the eighth lap. The odd man out was Martin Truex Jr, who needed three laps worth of repairs. At least all it will take to make the Chase is just a single ole win, probably. He sure is not going to do it on points. Kyle Busch, who has a win, was a solid 41st after his car developed some issues in the late going and needed a time out in the garage.

    It was a good day for some, with Paul Menard and Kahne both in the Top Five. The usual suspects did well enough, but that did not include the likes of Greg Biffle (20th), Carl Edwards (23rd), Denny Hamlin (29th) or Austin Dillon (30th). In fact, Dillon tumbles out of the Sweet Sixteen. Clint Bowyer moves up and, believe it or not, Tony Stewart is just seven behind Biffle for that final spot. Three SHR boys could make the Chase yet.

    Now, if the boy could only road race. Actually, Tony won at Sears Point twice, and a few years back so did Jimmie Johnson. Oh, did I mention Jeff Gordon has won there five times? As for those road course ringers some teams import, not a damn one has claimed this race in 25 attempts. I guess we know who’s their daddy.

     

    Driver                Wins – Points

    SWEET SIXTEEN
    1 – Jimmie Johnson – 3 – 522
    2 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr – 2 – 514
    3 – Joey Logano – 2 – 454
    4 – Kevin Harvick – 2 – 447
    5 – Jeff Gordon – 1 – 537
    6 – Brad Keselowski – 1 – 490
    7 – Carl Edwards – 1 – 462
    8 – Kyle Busch – 1 – 446
    9 – Denny Hamlin – 1 – 435
    10 – Kurt Busch – 1 – 315
    11 – Matt Kenseth – 0 – 513
    12 – Kyle Larson – 0 – 454
    13 – Ryan Newman – 0 – 440
    14 – Paul Menard – 0 – 420
    15 – Clint Bowyer – 0 – 417
    16 – Greg Biffle – 0 – 409

    CONTENTERS & PRETENDERS
    17 – Tony Stewart – 0 – 402
    18 – Austin Dillon – 0 – 400
    19 – Brian Vickers – 0 – 394
    20 – Kasey Kahne – 0 – 391
    21 – Jamie McMurray – 0 – 384
    22 – A.J. Allmendinger – 0 – 382
    23 – Aric Almirola – 0 – 379
    24 – Marcos Ambrose – 0 – 370
    25 – Casey Mears – 0 – 342
    26 – Martin Truex, Jr. – 0 – 331
    27 – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – 0 – 307
    28 – Danica Patrick – 0 – 273
    29 – Justin Allgaier – 0 – 269
    30 – Michael Annett – 0 – 235

    WISHING AND A HOPING
    31 – Cole Whitt – 0 – 211
    32 – David Gilliland – 0 – 209
    33 – David Ragan – 0 – 190
    34 – Reed Sorenson – 0 – 187

     

     

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Michigan Quicken Loans 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Michigan Quicken Loans 400

    While the luck of the Irish hills was bestowed on the driver who made his way to Victory Lane for the first time ever in Michigan, here is what was surprising and not so surprising in the 46th annual Quicken Loans 400.

    Surprising: While Kevin Harvick was certainly fast, coming in second in the race after a blistering pole run, he was even more than freakishly fast in the media center after the event.

    Harvick, who was clearly unhappy with his race finish, had just one comment and was asked just one question during his media availability, which went like this:

    “I mean, the car was fast, just wound up on the wrong side of all the strategy,” Harvick said. “We finished second, and that’s it.”

    QUESTION. “Kevin, six of the top eight were Hendrick engines. This is a pretty big track in terms of horsepower. How well positioned are the Hendricks right now?”

    “I think it’s pretty obvious. Self-explanatory. Good question,” Harvick answered and then exited the media center.

    Not Surprising: Race winner Jimmie Johnson scored a first, second, third, fifth and eighth all at once with his trip to Victory Lane at Michigan International Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Kobalt Tools Chevrolet checked MIS off his win list for the first time, moved up to second in the point standings thanks to his victory, scored his third win of the season solidifying his run for his seventh championship, and handed the fifth win in a row to boss Mr. Hendrick.

    Johnson is also now eighth on the all-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins list.

    “Well, this is a great win for a lot of reasons,” Rick Hendrick, team owner, said. “One for here in Michigan for Chevrolet, and being a Chevrolet dealer and racing Chevrolets, this means a lot to win this race. It’s good to see Jimmie win after leading so many laps here and close the deal because we’ve run out of gas, broke motors, blown tires. I think I remember a couple times coming off of 4 and losing it. For him to be able to finish it off today, it was really good.”

    “And again, to keep the streak going, get five, that’s great,” Hendrick continued. “This was a good race, and it just played out the way we needed it to play out. Everybody is really putting out a lot of effort right now, and it’s paying off.”

    Surprising: Although Kyle Larson, behind the wheel of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, spun early in the race, damaging the back end of his car, he was the envy of the field as that very damage gave him a bit of down force advantage that propelled him into an eighth place finish.

    “You know, the rear bumper, yeah, I’ve never had that happen before, and it happened so early in the race that I don’t know how it would have handled had I had a rear bumper,” Larson said. “Either way I think we would have had a really good car because we were good in practice, but it probably did help a little bit.”

    Larson was the highest finishing Rookie of the Year candidate yet again.

    Not Surprising: Paul Menard proved that Michigan was a track on which he could run well, winning the Nationwide race on Saturday and finishing fourth in the Cup race on Sunday.

    “Yeah, we had a really solid Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Chevy all weekend, from the time we unloaded,” Menard said. “I actually got to go to Victory Lane yesterday with my daughter and my dad was here today, so it was a good Father’s Day weekend for sure.”

    “The car, like I said, was fast all weekend. We needed some clean air at the end and the guys got me out front with some pit strategy and good pit stops and we came home with a top 5,” Menard continued. “So it was pretty good.”

    Surprising: There was more spinning in the Quicken Loans 400 than at the Olympic men’s figure skating championship. Spinners in the event included Brian Vickers, Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, David Ragan, Alex Bowman, Brett Moffit, Aric Almirola, and Denny Hamlin just to name a few.

    “It’s frustrating. I wish I knew — the car just came around going into (turn) three,” Brian Vickers said after spinning early in his No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota. “I was trying to back the corner up and was taking it easy and just got loose and it just came around from me.”

    “I saved it all the way up to the wall and I thought I had it saved and ultimately it just came around and I lost it,” Vickers continued. “I didn’t have that experience all weekend. The car was just really loose getting into (turn) three and that was it.”

    Not Surprising: Well, it was Michigan after all, so not surprisingly at least one driver deemed his day a ‘blue collar’ kind of day.

    “Yeah, we just didn’t have the speed really all weekend to be a front runner in the sense of contending to win based on speed,” Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford for Team Penske, said after finishing third. “But the guys did a great job with execution. I thought we executed really well.”

    “We had a lot of good restarts, pretty decent on pit road today,” Keselowski continued. “Solid strategy, just — I told somebody before, Joey Logano told us, we were talking before the race started, we needed a good blue collar day today, and that’s of what today was for us.”

    “We kind of trudged through it and came away with another top three effort, which is good but not great.”

    Surprising: Unlike most of his races recently, Kasey Kahne was actually able to battle back from adversity to finish top-five in his No. 5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet.

    ‘Yeah, it was tough,” Kahne said. “I was struggling for a while and then we got it and then we were on a good strategy there at the end. We were pretty competitive with the guys in front of us.”

    “Yes, we really needed that, especially where we started getting in Larson’s wreck there at the start of the race,” Kahne continued. “We kind of got going from there. We made a lot of adjustments. It took about an hour and a half to get our car right with different adjustments and things.”

    “It was a battle, it wasn’t easy today.”

    Not Surprising:   Two former Indy Car racers were just feeling ‘lucky’ in this week’s NASCAR race. Juan Pablo Montoya, making his NASCAR return, and Danica Patrick both partook in the ‘lucky dog’ experience, leading to a 17th place finish for Patrick and an 18th place finish for JPM.

    “We started the race really, really loose and we were not really expecting that based on practice,” Montoya, behind the wheel of the No. 12 SKF Ford for Team Penske, said. “It’s hard because we went from practice to the race without really changing that much and it was awful. We were kind of catching up and we did a good job.”

    “I got the lucky dog and we were getting better and then I think we went a little too far with the car at the end, but we’re learning and understanding a little more.”

    “We were pretty good,” Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet, said. “The guys did a good job on the adjustments, and it was fun to drive. The race seemed to go by quick.”

    “We needed a little bit of track position, but it was a good day for us,” Patrick continued. “Thanks to GoDaddy and everyone on my team, we continue to get better.”

    Surprising: At a track that they have owned in the past, Roush Fenway Racing had an incredibly bad day. RFR drivers Greg Biffle finished 20th, Carl Edwards 23rd and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. 27th.

    “That was a big struggle,” Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford, said. “It was pretty tough but we worked hard and didn’t quit.”

    “Fortunately we have a win to get us into the Chase, but we’ve just got to get better as a group,” Edwards continued. “That’s the way it is.”

    Not Surprising: After another run of bad luck, suffering damage from a Lap 8 accident that led to a 37th place finish, there is no other driver that is looking forward to Sonoma more than Martin Truex Jr.

    “When luck is not on your side, there’s not much you can do,” Truex, driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet, said. “I don’t know what to say right now.”

    “We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s disheartening because we felt that we had a potential top-10 car but didn’t get a chance to show it. When you have an accident that early it sure makes for a long day.”

    “I mean a very long day.”

    Truex is, however, the defending champ of the California road course where the Sprint Cup Series will battle next. The Toyota – Save Mart 350 race will be run on Sunday, June 22nd at 3:00 PM ET.

     

     

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Pocono

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Pocono

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Jimmie Johnson: In search of his third straight win, Johnson finished sixth at Pocono despite an accident on pit road with Marcos Ambrose that left the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet with right-side damage. Johnson now sits fourth in the points standings, 23 behind Jeff Gordon.

    “We failed at pulling off the ‘triple,’” Johnson said, “as did a certain horse. For this native of El Cajon, ‘California Chrome’ is what I call my trophy room. I’m a six-time Sprint Cup champion, so, in a sense, I’ve got two ‘triple crowns.’ That’s what is known as the ‘Jimmie Hat.’”

    2. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt passed Brad Keselowski with five laps to go and won the Pocono 400. It was Earnhardt’s second win this season and first at Pocono’s 2.5 mile tri-oval. He is now third in the points standings, 22 behind Jeff Gordon.

    “What was that on Keselowski’s grill?” Earnhardt said. “I’ll tell you. The same thing that’s littering the infield of any NASCAR track—white trash.

    “Now, that’s a tough fate to befall a former Sprint Cup title winner. I guess that’s what you call a ‘paper’ champion.”

    3. Jeff Gordon: Gordon finished eighth at Pocono and regained the Sprint Cup points lead as Matt Kenseth struggled to a 25th-place result. Gordon now leads Kenseth by 16 points.

    “That’s three straight wins for Hendrick Motorsports,” Gordon said, “and five total on the season. Some say Rick Hendrick’s deep pockets are the reason we’re so dominant. There may be some truth to that. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won because of a white piece of paper. But in most cases, a Hendrick win can be attributed to paper that is green.’”

    4. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished a disappointing 25th in the Pocono 400 and remained winless on the year. He dropped out of the top spot in the points standings and is now in second, 16 behind Jeff Gordon.

    “Pocono is just not one of my favorite tracks,” Kenseth said. “This ‘square’ doesn’t like triangles, and has a hard time finding ‘circles,’ namely ‘Victory.’”

    5. Joey Logano: Logano suffered his worst finish of the year, a 40th at Pocono, the result of engine failure with ten laps to go.

    “A hot dog wrapper? A grill?” Logano said. “Sounded like a perfect occasion for some Miller Lite. But it was not to be.

    “I’ll say it again. NASCAR is safer than the NFL. Why, you ask? Because men of color are just trying to break barriers, not other players.”

    6. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski led with five laps to go at Pocono, but lost the lead to Dale Earnhardt as Keselowski tried to clear a piece of debris from his grill. It was Keselowski’s second runner-up finish in a row, and left him fifth in the points standings, 50 out of first.

    “Done in by a piece of paper that surrounds a hot dog,” Keselowski said. “In the business, that’s called getting ‘Vanilla Iced,’ because we got served by a ‘white wrapper.’

    “I was trying to use Danica Patrick as a pick. Just call me ‘GoDaddy.com,’ because I was trying to exploit her.”

    7. Carl Edwards: Edwards was collected in a late crash initiated when Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch made contact. Edward’s day was done on lap 143, and he finished 41st. He is seventh in the points standings, 57 out of first.

    “Greg Biffle is set to sign an extension with Roush Fenway,” Edwards said. “Biffle’s never won a championship in his long tenure here. So, it’s no surprise he’s not ‘going places.’

    “Of course, my future here is a lot like a good back flip—up in the air. And speaking of ‘hang time,’ I don’t have any, because none of my teammates want to ‘hang’ with me.

    8. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 14th at Pocono, as Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won, joining Harvick, Joey Logano, and Jimmie Johnson in the two-win club.

    “I can certainly empathize with Brad Keselowski,” Harvick said. “I too know what a worthless white piece of paper is. In my case, it was several—when I ripped up my Richard Childress Racing contract.”

    9. Kyle Busch: Busch came home 12th at Pocono, posting a solid finish despite making contact with Kasey Kahne on lap 142 and losing considerable track position. Busch is sixth in the Sprint Cup points standings, 55 out of first.

    “Tough break there for Brad Keselowski,” Busch said. “If you’ve got trash all up in your grill, try some dental floss.”

    10. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin started on the pole at Pocono and brought home a fourth-place finish, leading the Joe Gibbs Racing charge. He is eighth in the Sprint Cup points standings, 78 out of first.

    “Is Carl Edwards headed to Joe Gibbs Racing?” Hamlin said. “On the surface, it seems ‘Cousin Carl’ would be a great addition to the team. But, let’s face it, I’m not the only with who feels no amount of ‘kinship’ with Edwards.”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Pocono 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Pocono 400

    Under surprisingly blue skies with no rain in sight, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 33rd annual Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway in the mountains of Pennsylvania.

    Surprising: It may have been his first ever win at Pocono Raceway and his second win of the season guaranteeing him an opportunity to run for the championship, but surprisingly Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was focused more after the race on how he was going to share the victory with Junior nation.

    In fact, the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet advised the media that he planned to head over to his Twitter account because he “took a picture of myself over at the pylon and I’ll tweet that out later once I get to my phone.”

    “I joined Twitter in February at Daytona and I underestimated just how enjoyable that could be,” the race winner continued. “The interaction is unlike any other, and I get as much out of it, I think, as the fans that are following me.”

    “It definitely has some sort of a small effect on your personality, to have that kind of support directly right at your fingertips, knowing everybody is behind you 100 percent every day.”

    “I’ve enjoyed it a lot and it’s wins like this that certainly make it a whole lot more fun for everybody.”

    Not Surprising: There is no doubt that Brad Keselowski must be hoping that NASCAR forget Air Titan and develop Trash Titan after having to choose between trying to get some trash off his grille and finishing the race or trying to win and blowing up in the process.

    To make matter worse, the driver of the No. 2 Redd’s Apple Ale Ford had not only been leading the race at the time of the trash, but had also dominated the race, leading 95 laps.

    “You know, we were just running really hot and the motor was going to blow up so I had to do something,” Keselowski said. “So, I tried to follow the 10 down in the corner to get the debris off and I just checked up too much. I thought I had more room than I did.”

    “I’m not sure I did enough to make a difference,” Keselowski continued. “But I made enough of a difference to lose the lead in the process. I thought I had enough of a cushion. When I got down in the corner, the car got sideways and I realized I had made a mistake. It was too little, too late.”

    “It was really a flawless day except for my mess up.”

    Surprising: At the conclusion of the Pocono 400, Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch shared something surprisingly snake-like in common. Kahne continued to be snake bit after crashing hard on lap 142 to finish 42nd, while third-place finisher Busch commented that he felt like he and his team were “shedding that new-team skin today and running up front.”

    In contrast to Busch’s shedding off of bad runs, the snake bit runs of Kasey Kahne continued. And the driver of the No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet was not happy about any of it as he emerged from the infield care center after his hard crash.

    “Well, I had just passed Kyle (Busch) and I caught (Ryan) Newman and I was passing him off Turn 3,” Kahne said. “We were side-by-side so Kyle was able to get a good draft down the straightaway. We got to Turn 1 and I was on the outside and then he knew if he didn’t clear me there, then I would pass him back because I just had.”

    “He just floored it and didn’t care there was someone out there and ran me right in the wall,” Kahne continued. “We both ended up wrecking. I think he wrecked a little bit, but I hit a good bit harder.”

    “Once we hit, my car just went hard right.”

    Not Surprising: Kyle Larson continued to prove himself to be a quick learner by winning the ARCA race at Pocono and also by mastering the art of shifting.

    “To be honest with you, I did miss a couple shifts,” the driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet said. “Yeah, just twice, which is a lot better than probably it would have been if I didn’t practice shifting a whole lot.”

    “But yeah, I mean, surprisingly there was only two times, when I was battling people and when I was pretty excited,” Larson continued. “I don’t know, I thought it was a good day.”

    It was indeed a good day as the rookie driver finished fifth, again scoring Sunoco Rookie of the Race honors, at a track where he had never been before.

    Surprising: ‘Home’ tracks were surprisingly good for Martin Truex Jr., who scored his second top-ten finish in two races, taking the checkered flag in ninth at Pocono this weekend and sixth at Dover last weekend. Since Truex is from southern New Jersey, he considers both tracks his ‘home’ turf.

    “We had top-10 cars all year but we were not able to finish races,” the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet said. “The last two weeks we finished the races and got some decent results. We’re gaining but still have a ways to get to where we want to be with our Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet.”

    “I made a mistake on one of the restarts and lost a bunch of track position,” Truex, a native of nearby Mayetta, N.J, continued. “But on the last restart I was in the right line and got a little lucky. Earlier in the race we were unlucky on the restarts.”

    “I guess what goes around comes around.”

    Not Surprising: Even champs make mistakes, but their true measure is demonstrated as to how they handle those errors. Both Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart made pit road mistakes, Johnson with a spin on pit road and Smoke with a speeding penalty, but both were able to rebound, finishing sixth and thirteenth respectively.

    “My car somehow pivoted around that right-front tire changer and carrier,” Johnson said. “From there, we just went to work and did what the No. 48 does best and grind it out.”

    “100 percent driver error,” Stewart said of his pit road speeding issue. “I got to where I blew through all the lights.”

    “Had an awesome Mobil 1 Chevy all day, so great race, just the driver screwed it up this week.”

    Surprising: David Ragan had a surprisingly good Tricky Triangle run, finishing 18th in his No. 34 Taco Bell Ford.

    “That was fun to be racing up there with those guys,” Ragan said. “Obviously it’s been a tough year for us so hopefully this can be a turning point for our Front Row Motorsports team.”

    “It was nice to have things go in our favor today and do what we know we’re capable of doing.”

    Not Surprising:   Denny Hamlin, after scoring the pole, went on to prepare for the upcoming charity poker event for the next race at Pocono.

    “It was a challenge,” Hamlin said of his fourth place run in the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota. “Those are the cards you are dealt and you have to deal with it.”

    “I think in today’s world, strategy plays more into it than wheeling the car,” Hamlin continued. “The driver was at the mercy with the air that he’s dealt and the car that’s under him.”

    “Those were the cards we had today.”

    Surprising: One of NASCAR’s intrepid beat reporters Dustin Long became the story this past weekend, after breaking his ankle during an interview with eventual race winner Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

    Junior bantered with Long in the media center after the race, telling Long to use the ramp and asking why he was so far away sitting at the furthest end of the media center from the dais.

    “I’m keeping my distance now,” Long replied.

    “I won’t push you again,” Junior bantered back.

    While Earnhardt Jr. did no such thing as Long tripped over one of the scales during the interview, the story took on a life of its own and will no doubt be one of the stories to remember in the 2014 season.

    Not Surprising: It was Jeff Gordon’s turn to snatch the points lead back from Matt Kenseth, after Kenseth stumbled early in the race to finish 25th in his Dollar General Toyota while Gordon brought his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet home in the 8th position.

    “It was a great effort, great race car again,” Gordon said. “I thought that was consistent all day long and the pit stops were fantastic.”

    Gordon now leads the winless Kenseth in the point standings by just 16 points.

  • The Final Word – Junior wins on the Pocono Merry-Go-Round

    The Final Word – Junior wins on the Pocono Merry-Go-Round

    Pocono has a great name, a long tri-cornered track, but visually the action there is not exactly stimulating. To paraphrase Stacy Musgraves, round and round they go, but trash on the grill really blows.

    Leading late in the race, Brad Keselowski had trash on his nose, sending the water temperature soaring. He attempted to use Danica Patrick’s car to help fling it off, but all he managed to do was break his momentum to allow Dale Earnhardt Jr. to sail by with five laps remaining. On a track where passing was something most did in the pits, it was all over.

    Junior won his second of the season, and 21st of his career, in his best showing since his high water mark of six wins a decade ago. Keselowski did not blow up, finished second, and was left wondering what could have been if he chanced it.

    Jimmie Johnson recovered from a pit road collision to finish sixth, one spot behind rookie Kyle Larson. A pit row penalty put Tony Stewart (13th) out of contention, while a flat did in Kevin Harvick (14th). Kasey Kahne (42nd) suffered a tremendous hit on the outside wall to leave him shaken and a bit stirred in regards to Kyle Busch (12th). These, along with Junior’s late race pass, pretty much completed the highlights of this one.

    The rest of the day was spent on a merry-go-round, as they went round and round and the only other action either took place coming off pit row or on re-starts. What you saw one lap you probably wound up seeing on the next one. Thank goodness the commentary of the TNT crew was interesting enough, as expected, to keep us listening even when there was not much to see. Even so, the trigger finger remained poised above the button on the PVR. At least it was when I wasn’t dozing off to take a quick nap here and there.

    Still, Junior won and isn’t that possibility the very reason why a bunch of us watch every week? Since May 6, 2006 that has been realized just four times, once in 2008, once in 2012, and now the duo this campaign. Not a lot, but enough for some to wonder if the 88 is the new 48. Yah, sure. Over that same span, while Junior has picked up his four, Johnson has claimed 47 triumphs. I might be wrong, but maybe it might be a wee bit early for that kind of wondering.

    I do wonder why races refuse to brand themselves, like the Daytona 500, the Southern 500, the Brickyard 400, and the like. Next up, the Motor City 400 in Michigan, at least that was the brand before they totally sold out to the sponsors 40 years ago. It is a shame it is a no-name, especially when you consider that 20 of the first 22 drivers who won the spring race there are Hall of Famers. A race with such a legacy should be known as something more than just a dozen sponsor names since 1976.

    Dale Earnhardt won the race twice in his career, as has his son. The legacy tops the leader board as they swing back into action this Sunday.

    SWEET SIXTEEN
    1 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 2 WINS – 476 POINTS
    2 – Jimmie Johnson – 2 WINS – 475
    3 – Joey Logano – 2 WINS – 418
    4 – Kevin Harvick – 2 WINS – 403
    5 – Jeff Gordon – 1 WIN – 498
    6 – Brad Keselowski – 1 WIN – 448
    7 – Kyle Busch – 1 WIN – 443
    8 – Carl Edwards – 1 WIN – 441
    9 – Denny Hamlin – 1 WIN – 420
    10 – Kurt Busch – 1 WIN – 283
    11 – Matt Kenseth – 482 POINTS
    12 – Kyle Larson – 417
    13 – Ryan Newman – 411
    14 – Brian Vickers – 392
    15 – Greg Biffle – 385
    16 – Austin Dillon – 385

    CONTENDERS & PRETENDERS
    17 – Clint Bowyer – 383
    18 – Paul Menard – 380
    19 – Tony Stewart – 368
    20 – Aric Almirola – 366
    21 – A.J. Allmendinger – 360
    22 – Jamie McMurray – 351
    23 – Kasey Kahne – 351
    24 – Marcos Ambrose – 351
    25 – Martin Truex, Jr. – 324
    26 – Casey Mears – 322
    27 – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – 290
    28 – Danica Patrick – 246
    29 – Justin Allgaier – 241
    30 – Michael Annett – 212

    PARTICIPANTS
    31 – Cole Whitt – 195
    32 – David Gilliland – 191
    33 – David Ragan – 184
    34 – Reed Sorenson – 175
    35 – Alex Bowman – 169

     

     

     

     

     

  • Dale Earnhardt Jr. Scores First Ever Pocono Win and Chase Berth to Boot

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. Scores First Ever Pocono Win and Chase Berth to Boot

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. may not have dominated the Pocono 400 race, but he was the one who took his No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet to Victory Lane after Brad Keselowski succumbed to trash on his grille and overheating issues.

    This was Junior’s first win at Pocono Raceway and the first time that he has scored multiple wins in one season since 2004, when he won six times. Now that he has two wins, Earnhardt Jr. is guaranteed a spot in the Chase for the Championship for 2014.

    “I’ve lost some in some strange ways, so it feels good to win one,” Dale Jr. said from Victory Lane. “We won the race and it goes in the books and helps us toward the Chase.”

    “I’ve never won here,” Junior continued. “I can mark this one off.”

    Steve Letarte, crew chief, shared his driver’s sentiments in the media center after the race.

    “It means the world to win races,” Letarte said. “We talk a lot about the Chase and points and they are important but when you’re little you just want to win.”

    “You appreciate the wins when they come,” Letarte continued. “I don’t think we had the best car, but Dale drove a great race and we had a little luck on our side at the end.”

    “This one fell our way and we’ll take it.”

    After running so well and leading 95 laps, Brad Keselowski was visibly disappointed with his runner up finish, for the most part blaming himself for the decision to try to get the trash off his grille.

    “First off, I’m really proud of the speed we had today,” Keselowski said. “But this one’s kind of on me and the circumstances.”

    “I was trying to do something for me and to help the car out, the driver of the No. 2 Redd’s Ford continued. “I knew it was going to break and I was going to get passed. So, I was trying to make whatever move I could do to help clean it off.”

    “I’m not sure I did enough to make a difference,” Keselowski said. “But I made enough of a difference to lose the lead in the process. I thought I had enough of a cushion. When I got down in the corner, the car got sideways and I realized I had made a mistake. It was too little too late.”

    “The team did a heck of a job; I just messed up a little bit there. We had a really, really good car. It was really a flawless day other than my mess-up there.”

    Kurt Busch, who started the race on the outside pole, finished third in his No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet. He was the highest finishing Stewart-Haas Racing driver as Tony Stewart finished 13th; Kevin Harvick finished 14th; and Danica Patrick finished 37th.

    “Nice solid day. Top five car and we cashed in on a top five finish,” Busch said. “We were able to hold the track position and it was a solid execution. It was a nice turning of the page so to speak and a congratulations for shedding that new team skin.”

    Kyle Larson, winner of the ARCA race the day before, finished fifth and was once again the top finishing rookie.

    “It was a lot better finish than I thought that we were going to get,” the driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet said. “I knew from the drop of the green that we were going to be pretty good. Today I had a lot of grip and I knew that was a good sign.”

    “We tried to put ourselves into position to get a better finish on that last restart and it all worked out,” Larson continued. “I’ll take a top five here at Pocono.”

    Denny Hamlin, who started from the pole position, ended up taking the checkered flag in fourth in his No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota.

    “We had great strategy, great pit stops,” Hamlin said. “Darian (Grubb, crew chief) and the guys really put a great FedEx Ground Toyota underneath me this evening. It’s a good run for us — two top-fives in a row for us this year all year and that’s not bad.”

    “We had great strategy and I’m proud of the Camry our FedEx Ground crew put under me this week.”

    While several of the cautions were due to debris on the track, as well as one bizarre caution for a grass fire in the infield in Turn 3, there was one very vicious wreck that occurred, involving the No. 5 of Kasey Kahne, the No. 18 of Kyle Busch and the No. 99 of Carl Edwards.

    “Well I had just passed Kyle (Busch) and I caught (Ryan) Newman I was passing him off Turn 3,” Kahne advised. “We were side-by-side so Kyle was able to get a good draft down the straightaway. We got to Turn 1 and I was on the outside and then he knew if he didn’t clear me there then I would pass him back because I just had.”

    “He just floored it and didn’t care there was someone out there and ran me right in the wall,” Kahne continued. “We both ended up wrecking. I think he wrecked a little bit, but I hit a good bit harder once we hit my car just went hard right.”

    “I’m not sure what happened,” Edwards said. “Somehow Kasey hit the wall.”

    “It’s just tough to run the whole race and miss the best part.”

    Thanks to Jeff Gordon’s eighth place finish and the trouble of Matt Kenseth, who ran into Jamie McMurray early, damaging his nose and finishing 25th, Gordon re-assumed the points lead which he had lost after the Dover race.

    The driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet is now sixteen points to the good of the driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota.

    “It was just kind of chaos,” Gordon said of his race. “I thought that we were consistent all day long and the pits tops were fantastic.”

    “It was a great effort, great race car again.”

    The full race results for the 33rd annual Pocono 400 are as follows:

    Fin Str Car Driver Team Lap Pts BPts Status TLd LLd
    1 8 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Chevrolet 160 47 4 Running 3 11
    2 3 2 Brad Keselowski Redd’s Ford 160 44 2 Running 4 95
    3 2 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 160 42 1 Running 1 5
    4 1 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 160 41 1 Running 2 4
    5 14 42 Kyle Larson # Target Chevrolet 160 40 1 Running 1 7
    6 20 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet 160 39 1 Running 2 5
    7 15 31 Ryan Newman Wix Filters Chevrolet 160 37 Running
    8 5 24 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet 160 37 1 Running 2 2
    9 17 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Chevrolet 160 35 Running
    10 18 1 Jamie McMurray Cushman/Cessna Chevrolet 160 34 Running
    11 19 15 Clint Bowyer RK Motors Charlotte Toyota 160 33 Running
    12 6 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Peanut Butter Toyota 160 32 Running
    13 12 14 Tony Stewart Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 160 32 1 Running 4 24
    14 4 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevrolet 160 30 Runnng
    15 28 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Zest Ford 160 29 Running
    16 13 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 160 28 Running
    17 11 3 Austin Dillon # Dow Chevrolet 160 27 Running
    18 32 34 David Ragan Taco Bell Ford 160 26 Running
    19 9 55 Brian Vickers Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 160 26 1 Running 1 1
    20 30 7 Michael Annett # Pilot Flying J Chevrolet 160 24 Running
    21 21 47 AJ Allmendinger Clorox Chevrolet 160 23 Running
    22 22 43 Aric Almirola Nathan’s Famous Ford 160 22 Running
    23 25 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 160 21 Running
    24 29 9 Marcos Ambrose Stanley Ford 160 20 Running
    25 26 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota 160 19 Running
    26 23 27 Paul Menard Moen/Menards Chevrolet 160 18 Running
    27 24 51 Justin Allgaier # BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet 160 18 1 Running 1 6
    28 35 38 David Gilliland Long John Silver’s Ford 160 16 Running
    29 33 32 Travis Kvapil Corvetteparts.net Ford 160 15 Running
    30 40 26 Cole Whitt # Burger King Toyota 159 14 Running
    31 34 23 Alex Bowman # Dr.Pepper Toyota 159 13 Running
    32 41 83 Ryan Truex # Burger King Toyota 159 12 Running
    33 31 40 Landon Cassill(i) Newtown Building Supplies Inc. Chevrolet 158 0 Running
    34 36 36 Reed Sorenson Theme Park Connection Chevrolet 158 10 Running
    35 37 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford 158 9 Running
    36 39 66 Timmy Hill Land Castle Title Toyota 158 8 Running
    37 16 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet 158 7 Running
    38 38 44 JJ Yeley(i) All City Leasing & Warehousing Chevrolet 157 0 Running
    39 42 33 Alex Kennedy Dream Factory Chevrolet 156 5 Running
    40 7 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 150 4 Engine
    41 10 99 Carl Edwards Kelloggs/Cheez-It Ford 143 3 Accident
    42 27 5 Kasey Kahne Great Clips Chevrolet 142 2 Accident
    43 43 77 Dave Blaney AmyRFochlerVtrnsLawAttrnyLLC/valor4vets.com Ford 142 1 Running

    # = Rookie, Fin = Finish, Str = Start, Pts = Total Points, BPs = Lap Leader Bns Pts, TLd = Times Led, LLd = Laps Led. (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

     

  • Kasey Kahne Trusting Teams Abilities to Get Over Slump

    Kasey Kahne Trusting Teams Abilities to Get Over Slump

    Sometimes, you’ve just had enough.

    Kasey Kahne, after being beaten and pounded with questions surrounding the lack of success that he’s had this season, vented some annoyance and anger during a media center appearance at Pocono Raceway this weekend.

    Kahne, 34, claims his team has struggled to put together a complete race, leading to the unfortunate finishes and a dismal 18th position in the championship standings.

    “I think there has been a touch of bad luck and then we just haven’t put together full races,” Kahne expressed during the media center appearance. “We’ve had great practices over the last month, maybe a little more than that. We’ve been really good in practice; great at times during the race, but we haven’t put together the full race.”

    Kahne’s prime example of not being able to finish races was at Charlotte Motor Speedway a few weeks ago.

    “At Charlotte we were really good in the All-Star race, the best car there, and so Jimmie and Chad (Knaus) saw that (and) started there the next week and then built that set-up from (our car),” Kahne further expressed. “They won and dominated the race and did a really good job.

    “We weren’t on the lead lap the whole night so it was hard to race. We were a lap down from the 50th mile on. So that made for a tough Charlotte. But I think we’re really close. We just need to put races together.”

    Teammates, including six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, Jimmie Johnson, are beginning to witness Kahne become even more distraught, however, Kahne suspects he’s handled himself perfectly through the ups-and-downs.

    “It’s been a bit frustrating at times, but I think I’ve handled it all pretty well. In my opinion I feel like I have,” Kahne explained. “Last Monday was probably the worst Monday I’ve had of the season after a bad result. We went from 17th to fifth and then just couldn’t hit on it from there. But we had a really fast car.”

    Kahne, also, doesn’t believe long-time crew chief Kenny Francis and him are becoming irritated with each other; he claims the team, as a whole, is trying to cure the problem.

    “We haven’t had too much between each other,” Kahne commented about his relationship with Francis. (Kenny and I) have our Tuesday’s we spend a couple of hours, we had lunch yesterday for a couple of hours. We are trying. We are working at it. We just need to hit on it; once we do hopefully we can run with it for a while.”

    Hendrick Motorsports, which consists of Johnson, Kahne, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr., have seen their competitors muscle into victory lane and to an eventual Chase berth this season – except for Kahne.

    Though, despite the Chase field almost completed, Kahne isn’t feeling pressured, he’s just focused and determined on the task at hand – winning on Sunday.

    “At Hendrick Motorsports, we all want to be in the Chase,” Kahne added. “(Everyone would) definitely be happy if we pulled it off and won a race.

    “Last time we were here (at Pocono) we won. So, I feel good about racing at Pocono. This is a track where I’ve run well in the past and with Hendrick race cars and engines it makes it a lot easier. We just need to put the whole 400 miles together. If we do that, we’ll have a shot to win.”

    Kahne, who’s been unable to hoist the Sprint Cup Series trophy at seasons-end, ended his remarks expressing that points are the focus, even in the new format.

    “I look at it as we need to score as many points as we can each week. We just have to do the best we can and hopefully as a group we figure it out and can start putting full races together.  If we can do that we will be in a good spot in a hurry because of the points system and the way that it is now.”

  • The Final Word – A NASCAR Supernova stars in Kansas

    The Final Word – A NASCAR Supernova stars in Kansas

    There are three major stars in NASCAR’s constellation of drivers. They are simply called Jimmie, Junior, and Jeff, and few could argue that this trio has shone the brightest. Jimmie Johnson has six championships, including five in a row. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the legacy of the legend, with 15 wins in his first five full seasons and four straight at Talladega. His track success might have cooled, but Junior Nation’s fervor has not. Jeff Gordon, the four time champion, won his third at Kansas, but his first since 2002, to all but lock his place in the Chase.

    Gordon led in points, even without a win, but Saturday night he put a lock on a race he dominated. Well, for all but one other entry, he was the undisputed leader of the pack. Kevin Harvick had designs to add to his win total, only to fall just short. While both drivers have been stellar thus far in the season, only the wreck at Talladega mars Gordon’s record in 2014. Harvick has been a factor in every race, winning two, but he has been up front only until misfortune bit him hard at Las Vegas, Bristol, California, and Texas.

    Winning is important, but it sure comes in handy to also be relevant week in and week out. Danica Patrick was just that the entire race, finishing seventh, while Tony Stewart was for a time before coming home 20th. One has a great track record, one does not, but both have driven SHR autos that have been providing sub-par results much of the year. Other than Harvick, one wonders how much are their woes car based. Just ask the fourth member of that stable, as Kurt Busch finished outside the Top Twenty for the ninth time in eleven attempts. If not for his win at Martinsville, which this season makes him relevant, being 28th in points would have otherwise left him an also ran a couple of points beyond the total of even Ms. Patrick.

    However, a win is the golden ticket this season to challenge for the championship. Joey Logano and Harvick have a couple, with Gordon, Junior, and the Brothers Busch among the seven with one to their credit. Seven more are within the Top 16 in points, but a single win and a spot in the Top 30 vaults one up the ladder. Who will be next?

    Before the World 600, the boys and girl have the All-Star race on their schedule this Saturday night at Charlotte. Nineteen are in, having won since the 2013 Daytona 500, by winning this race in the past, or by having been a Cup series champion. Three more will be added, with two coming from the top finishers from among the 23 car field that will run in the Showdown on Friday night. The other will come via a fan vote. If that goes the way I think it will, I would expect the All-Star race to include every driver mentioned above. Yes, even her.

    Who will win on Saturday night? That is easy. Every driver who has ever won the All-Star race since Darrell Waltrip claimed the Winston back in 1985 has or will be either a Cup champion, the winner of the Daytona 500, the World 600 or the night race at Bristol. No exceptions.

    A star won last Saturday night, and another should claim the prize in Charlotte this Saturday evening.

    Darrell Waltrip – All-Star 1985 – Daytona 500 1989 – World 600 1978-79, 1985, 1988-89 – Bristol 1979, 1981-83, 1986, 1989, 1992 – Champion 1981-82, 1985

    Bill Elliott – All-Star 1986 – Daytona 500 1985, 1987 – Champion 1988

    Dale Earnhardt – All-Star 1987, 1990, 1993 – Daytona 500 1998 – World 600 1986, 1992-93 – Champion 1980, 1986-87, 1990-91, 1993-94

    Terry Labonte – All-Star 1988, 1999 – Bristol 1984, 1995 – Champion 1984, 1996

    Rusty Wallace – All-Star 1989 – World 600 1990 – Bristol 1994, 1996, 2000 – Champion 1989

    Davey Allison – All-Star 1991-92 – Daytona 500 1992 – World 600 1991

    Geoffrey Bodine – All-Star 1994 – Daytona 500 1986

    Jeff Gordon – All-Star 1995, 1997, 2001 – Daytona 500 1997, 1999, 2005 – World 600 1994, 1997-98 – Bristol 2002 – Champion 1995, 1997-98, 2001

    Michael Waltrip – All-Star 1996 – Daytona 500 2001, 2003

    Mark Martin – All-Star 1998, 2005 – World 600 2002 – Bristol 1993, 1998

    Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – All-Star 2000 – Daytona 500 2004, 2014 – Bristol 2004

    Ryan Newman – All-Star 2002- Daytona 500 2008

    Jimmie Johnson – All-Star 2003, 2006, 2012-13 – Daytona 500  2006, 2013 – World 600 2003-05 – Champion 2006-10, 2013

    Matt Kenseth – All-Star 2004 – Daytona 500 2009, 2012 – World 600 2000 – Bristol 2005-06, 2013 – Champion 2003

    Kevin Harvick – All-Star 2007 – Daytona 500 2007 – World 600 2011, 2013

    Kasey Kahne – All-Star 2008 – World 600 2006, 2008, 2012

    Tony Stewart  All-Star 2009 – Bristol 2001 – Champion 2002, 2005, 2011

    Kurt Busch – All-Star 2010 – World 600 2010 – Bristol 2003 – Champion 2004

    Carl Edwards – All-Star 2011 – Bristol 2007-08

    Casey Mears – World 600 2007

    David Reutimann – World 600 2009

    Kyle Busch – Bristol 2009-10

    Jamie McMurray – Daytona 500 2010

    Trevor Bayne – Daytona 500 2011

    Brad Keselowski – Bristol 2011 – Champion 2012

    Denny Hamlin – Bristol 2012