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Tag: Kasey Kahne

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Phoenix

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Phoenix

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Carl Edwards: Edwards chased Kasey Kahne to the finish at Phoenix, but had to settle for the runner-up spot in the Kobalt Tools 500. Edwards remained on top in the Sprint Cup point standings and will take a three-point lead over Tony Stewart to Homestead.

    “I would say the Sprint Cup championship is mine too lose,” Edwards said. “That would be inaccurate. It’s not mine to lose; it’s Jimmie Johnson’s. Jimmie had a great run; unfortunately, it’s slowed to a ‘walk.’

    “I could win the Cup without a single victory in the Chase. If that happens, I expect NASCAR to react quickly, and hire meth-head Jeremy Mayfield as a consultant, his job being to ‘tweak’ the Chase points system.”

    2. Tony Stewart: Stewart led 160 of 312 laps at Phoenix, but had to pit for fuel with 18 laps to go. He worked his way back to the front and finished third, right behind points leader Carl Edwards in second, to stay three points behind. The Sprint Cup championship will be decided next Sunday at Homestead.

    “You’ve got me,” Stewart said, “with four wins in the Chase, against Edwards, with not a single win in the Chase. How am I not in the lead, and how am I three points down? How has Edwards pulled that off. I’m mystified. In any case, the Chase For The Cup comes down to ‘Smoke’ versus ‘Smoke And Mirrors.’

    3. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished an uninspired 19th at Phoenix, and remained third in the point standings, 51 behind Carl Edwards.

    “I’m out of the running for the Cup,” Harvick said. “That’s no surprise, because I’ve been driving like it for nine races.

    “But with nothing to race for, I can finally take care of some unfinished business. That would be wrecking Kyle Busch and finally gaining vengeance for the incident in Darlington. Alas, no one cares anymore, especially Busch.”

    4. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson came home 14th at Phoenix and improved one spot to fifth in the point standings. He now trails Carl Edwards by 68.

    “I’m finally giving up the crown,” Johnson said. “So, expect a ‘reign-out’ at Homestead. To Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards, I say ‘May the best man win.’ But since I’ve been eliminated from Cup contention, that won’t happen. So, ‘May the next best man win.’”

    5. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 18th in the Kobalt Tools 500, his third straight finish outside the top 17. He improved one spot to fourth in the point standings and is now 68 out of first.

    “Expect me to be a fixture in the Chase for years to come,” Keselowski said. “I like what we’re doing at Penske Racing. Despite my young age of 27, I feel like my presence alone has raised the maturity level immensely at Penske. Between Busch and I, it seems he’s the ‘baby’ of the duo.”

    6. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth started on the pole at Phoenix and was dominant early before Brian Vickers wrecked him on lap 177. Kenseth finished 34th and is now sixth in the point standings, 70 out of first.

    “Somebody give Vickers at mirror,” Kenseth said, “because he better ‘watch himself’ at Homestead.”

    7. Kurt Busch: Busch led 57 laps at Phoenix but ran into trouble on lap 279 when came down pit road for a splash of fuel but was tagged for speeding. Forced to serve a pass-through penalty, Busch’s chances at the win were done, and he eventually finished 22nd, one lap down.

    “I was ‘officially’ eliminated from Cup contention twice in one race,” Busch said. “Of course, there’s no one to blame but myself, so I’ll blame everyone but myself.”

    8. Kasey Kahne: Kahne captured his first win since 2009, snapping an 81-race winless streak by outrunning Carl Edwards to the line at Phoenix.

    “I’ll hate to see Red Bull out of NASCAR,” Kahne said. “That’s a sentiment shared by everyone in the garage, except for Matt Kenseth. Brian Vickers will soon drive off into the sunset. And when I say ‘into’ the sunset, I mean it literally, because Vickers will probably hit it.”

    9. Jeff Gordon: Snake bitten first by handling problems, then brake issues, Gordon finished 32nd at Phoenix and was officially eliminated from Sprint Cup title contention. He is now 11th in the point standings, 112 out of first.

    “It’s been a season I’d like to forget,” Gordon said. “Unfortunately, at my age, and even as a four-time champion, now the ‘seasons to forget’ far outnumber the ‘season’s to remember.’”

    10. Kyle Busch: Busch started from the back at Phoenix after an engine change, but his slide continued when his engine blew on lap 188. Busch finished 36th and is 12th in the point standings, 135 out of first.

    “We suspected we may have engine troubles,” Busch said. “And we were right. Like my sponsor, my engine gave up on me.

    “I may be last in the standings, but I can also be ‘first,’ to admit that my anger issues need addressing. I think it wise that I should ‘seek counseling’ for my issues, before my issues force me to ‘seek counsel.’”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Kobalt Tools 500

    With NASCAR traveling to the ‘Valley of the Sun’ for the next to the last race of the season, it was no surprise that the reconfigured race track was soaked instead with liquid sunshine. Yet, the track dried, veteran racer Adrian Fernandez uttered the four most famous words in racing, and the green flag waved as scheduled.

    [media-credit id=40 align=”alignright” width=”221″][/media-credit]Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 24th running of the Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

    Surprising:  While it was no surprise that PIR was new and improved, with brand new pavement as well as a new track layout, it was surprising to see the new faces that showed up in Victory Lane this weekend.

    From the Nationwide race with Sam Hornish Jr. scoring his first ever NASCAR win to young Ryan Blaney, son of Dave Blaney, notching the ‘W’ in the K&N Pro Series West finale, PIR definitely had some fresh-faced winners.

    But most surprising was Cup winner Kasey Kahne, scoring his first win since 2009, his first victory of the 2011 season, and his first victory ever at Phoenix International Raceway. Kahne’s victory came in his next to the last ride in his No. 4 Red Bull Toyota.

    “It feels great to get a win for Red Bull and get a win in the 4 car,” Kahne said. “To win a race at this level, as competitive as everything is right now, for myself, to see how happy all the pit crew guys were, the guys preparing the race cars at Red Bull, it was pretty cool.”

    “Makes you feel pretty good to be a part of that.”

    Not Surprising:  To no one’s surprise, Carl Edwards, behind the wheel of the No. 99 Aflac Ford, and his championship Chase nemesis Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, stalked each other all race long, finishing second and third respectively.

    And not surprisingly, thanks to that close finish, the championship will be decided at the final race of the season in Homestead, Florida. Edwards is currently just three points ahead of Smoke going into Ford Championship weekend, one of the closest margins between first and second in the Chase in NASCAR Sprint Cup history.

    “As far as I’m concerned, it’s a dead heat going in there,” Stewart said of the upcoming Homestead weekend. “We just got to do our job like we’ve been doing.”

    “I’m still pumped up,” Smoke continued. “I want to go to Homestead tomorrow and start. I want tomorrow to be Friday. I’m excited about it and ready to go.”

    “Yeah, Homestead is going to be a lot of fun,” Edwards said. “I really enjoy racing there.”

    “The cool thing about Homestead, you’re going to be able to move around, pass, and not get hung up as badly in traffic as you can at other racetracks,” Edwards continued. “I don’t think there’s a better place to go than Homestead to fight for this championship.”

    Surprising:  After Phoenix, with only those two drivers remaining in contention for the championship, it is indeed surprising that five-time champion Jimmie Johnson will not be six-time champ.

    Johnson, behind the wheel this weekend of a black No. 48 Lowe’s Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, finished 14th in the race and sits currently in the fifth position in points, 68 points out of first and officially out of contention.

    “Yeah, I’m definitely disappointed that we won’t be able to go to Homestead and race for our sixth, but that’s motorsports,” Johnson said. “It’s a very tough business.”

    “What we did over the last five years was absolutely spectacular,” Johnson continued. “What we did over the last five years is abnormal. Now we’ll get a taste of normalcy.”

    Also surprisingly, Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammates, especially Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. also had difficulty in the ‘Valley of the Sun.’ The driver of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet fared especially poorly, struggling with brake problems to finish 32nd.

    “We weren’t good when we got here,” Gordon said. “We were fighting and battling but then the brake problem happened and that pretty much ruined our day.”

    Dale Earnhardt, Jr., in the No. 88 Retro Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard, also struggled and finished 24th.

    “We pitted and got caught with the caution and lost a couple of laps and just never got a chance to get it back,” Junior said. “We missed it. We didn’t hit it.”

    Not Surprising:  As bad as Hendrick Motorsports team members fared, it was no surprise that the other half of the Stewart Haas Racing duo fared well. Ryan Newman, with his No. 39 US Army Veteran’s Day Tribute car covered with pictures of vets, finished top-five yet again.

    “The guys on the US Army Chevrolet, with the Veteran’s Day special paint scheme, that was an amazing comeback for us to come from 30th to fifth,” Newman said. “I’m really proud of that.”

    Surprising:  Although the two tangled at Martinsville, it was surprising to see the feud continue between Brian Vickers, soon to be out of work with his No. 83 Red Bull Toyota team exiting the sport next week, and Matt Kenseth, race pole sitter, who was looking for a good run in his No. 17 Crown Royal Ford.

    “My two year old could watch that and know it was intentional,” Kenseth said of his wreck with Vickers. “It was real pre-meditated.”

    “I don’t understand what happened,” Vickers said of his Kenseth encounter. “He just stopped on the straight-away.”

    “He wrecked me at Martinsville,” Vickers continued. “He got wrecked here. He just lifted halfway down the back stretch. I’ll count that one.”

    Kenseth finished a miserable34th, dropping two positions to sixth in the point standings. Vickers soldiered on for a 23rd place finish, languishing in the 25th position in the points.

    Not Surprising:  Having had the most miserable week leading up to the race, from being parked to losing his sponsor for the last two races, it was not surprising that Kyle Busch’s most miserable weekend continued.

    Busch had to start the race from the back of the field due to engine troubles caused by human error. He managed to work his way up through the pack, only to have the engine of his No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota expire on Lap 214.

    “It’s just devastating,” Busch said. “To go through turmoil like this, all you can do is group together and pull through it and try to persevere and move on.”

    “Catastrophic engine failure,” Busch continued. “It’s terrible to have one in a weekend, let alone two in a weekend.”

    “It’s certainly a tough few weeks and all we can do is look forward to next week at Homestead.”

    Surprising:  It was surprising to see another crew swap during the race, this time for AJ Allmendinger, whose pit crew let him down during a stop, most likely costing the driver of the No. 43 Wix Filters Ford, a race win.

    Allmendinger’s crew was swapped out for the crew of David Ragan, another Ford driver who was not in the hunt, helping the Dinger to a top-five finish.

    “We were losing four or five spots on a stop,” Allmendinger said. “You can’t do that and win a race and those guys are pretty good.”

    “Thanks to the 6 guys, our Ford teammates coming over and pitting the last two stops,” Dinger said. “They did a good job.”

    Not Surprising:  To no one’s surprise, Allmendinger’s Richard Petty Motorsports teammate Marcos Ambrose also had a good run at PIR. The driver of the No. 9 DeWalt Ford finished a respectable eighth.

    “We had a good car today,” the Aussie said. “We were solid all day long. It bodes even better for the first half of next season.”

    Surprising:  Since Jeff Burton has had a fairly difficult 2011 season, it was a bit surprising to see the driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Global Mining Chevrolet end up with a fourth place finish. The top-five finishing driver hopes that the turnaround will continue right into the 2012 season.

    “The Caterpillar Chevrolet was good, really, all day,” Burton said. “When things are tough, you find out what people are made of. My group has just kept digging and kept their heads up.”

    “Nobody has quit on this team, not once,” Burton continued. “I’m real proud of that.”

    “We’ve run really well the last month and hopefully we will build some momentum going into next year.”

    Not Surprising:  With no ride secured for next year, it was not surprising to see David Reutimann, ousted driver of the No. 00 TUMS Toyota Camry for Michael Waltrip Racing, drive his guts out for a seventh place finish in the next to the last race of the season.

    “We qualified in the top-10 and we were able to stay up there all day long,” Rooty said. “I’m proud of the crew guys for the job they did today. They really stuck with me.”

    “This is a great group of guys, probably one of the best in the garage and they’ve been with me a long time,” Reutimann continued. “We have one more week together and I want to go out on a high note at Homestead.”

     

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: AAA Texas 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: AAA Texas 500

    When the green flag flew on the seventh annual running of the AAA Texas 500, it seemed almost as an afterthought to a difficult week, with the passing of patriarch Russ Wallace, the plane crash injuring Rick and Linda Hendrick, and of course the parking of Kyle Busch after his detrimental on-track actions during the Truck race.

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”272″][/media-credit]Yet, when the checkered flag finally flew at Texas Motor Speedway, there were some surprising, as well as not so surprising, moments from the third to the last race of the 2011 season.

    Surprising:  After back to back wins, it was surprising to see that even Smoke was a bit overcome, albeit by the intensity of the race, emotion and the heat of Victory Lane.

    “This is for the Wallace family,” Stewart said after getting out of his car. “And for Mr. Hendrick and his wife. And I had a buddy that passed away when we were at Charlotte and I didn’t want to forget him.”

    Yet even with splashing some water on his face, Smoke still had to take a seat in Victory Lane, while those around him fanned him with their Stetson hats to allow him to catch his breath.

    Tony Stewart, however, bounced back quickly. He then donned the traditional black hat and took some shots with the guns in celebration of scoring his 43rd career victory, his fourth win of the season, and his second victory at Texas.

    Stewart also re-affirmed that his sights are firmly set on winning that coveted Cup championship. With his race win, Smoke is now just three points behind leader Carl Edwards.

    “I don’t think we have to say anything,” Stewart said, unlike last week where he talked some smack in Victory Lane. “Our performance speaks for itself.”

    “Do not count us out of this thing,” Stewart said. “We did everything we needed to do today.”

    Not Surprising:  Roush Fenway Racing did not disappoint or surprise at the mile-and-a-half track where they have been so dominant all season. RFR had three of their drivers in the top five, with Carl Edwards in second, Matt Kenseth in fourth, and pole sitter Greg Biffle in fifth.

    The team combined to lead 124 laps at Texas Motor Speedway, with Edwards leading 14, Kenseth leading 87 and Biffle leading 23. Even David Ragan, whose future remains uncertain, finished in the 12th position.

    “I’m proud of our guys today,” Edwards, behind the wheel of the No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion said. “We wanted to beat Tony and pad the lead, but we are still the point’s leader.”

    This was Edwards’ sixth top-10 finish in 14 races at Texas Motor Speedway. It is his 24th top-10 finish to date in the 2011 season.

    Greg Biffle, behind the wheel of the No. 16 Ford Fusion, started from the pole to bring his car home for a top-five finish.

    “We had a pretty good car,” Biffle said. “The last pit stop, I slid through the box and that probably cost me a third-place finish or a couple of spots anyway. We fought hard and came back.”

    “It’s hard to be disappointed when you run in the top five,” teammate Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion, said. “I wish we could have performed a little better, but that’s all we had.”

    “This has always been a pretty good track for our organization.”

    Surprising:  It was a bit surprising to see how current Michael Waltrip Racing driver Martin Truex, Jr. did, finishing eighth in his No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, in spite of the big changes announced for the MWR organization prior to the race.

    “I am really proud of my entire NAPA team today,” Truex Jr. said. “The NAPA Know How pit crew was on it.”

    “We are moving in the right direction and I appreciate all the work MWR is doing to get us in contention.”

    Not Surprising:  After learning that he was no longer a member of the MWR team after the 2011 season, it was no surprise that the woes on the track continued for driver David Reutimann.  The driver of the No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine finished 22nd.

    “It was very difficult,” team owner Michael Waltrip said of his decision to let Reutimann go. “I love David. He’s a great man and he’s always been there to do anything I needed him to do.”

    “I know it was hard for David to get the news,” Waltrip continued. “I’m thankful that he drove for me for so long.”

    Surprising:  After such a Cinderella run, Brad Keselowski’s championship hopes have all but gone up in smoke. The driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge had a very difficult day at Texas, finishing 24th.

    “Just a tough night,” Keselowski said. “We couldn’t get the speed out of our car that we needed and fought all day for track position.”

    “We lost the handling on the car right in the middle part of the race and adjustments were made to make it better and it just made it worse,” Keselowski continued. “It was unfortunate.”

    Not Surprising:   One driver who continues to make noise, however, was AJ Allmendinger, who scored another top-10 in his No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion for Richard Petty Motorsports.

    “That was probably the most comfortable I’ve ever felt on a mile-and-a-half, especially one like this,” Dinger said. “It was fun.”

    “From the start we were just passing cars and making good adjustments,” Allmendinger continued. “It was a good fight to 10th but overall, and more importantly, that’s something to build on.”

    Surprising:  It was a bit surprising to see that Brian Vickers’ intense driving style carried over from Martinsville to Texas. On lap 201, the driver of the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota assisted with bringing out the second caution by tussling with Juan Pablo Montoya and Geoffrey Bodine.

    “Stupid Vickers ran over a lapped car,” came over JPM’s radio, summing up yet another tough day at the office for ‘The Sheriff’, who finished 21st.

    Not Surprising:  Kasey Kahne continued his string of top-10 finishes, scoring the third spot in his No. 4 Red Bull Toyota. This was Kahne’s fourth top-10 in 15 races at Texas Motor Speedway.

    “We were really close,” Kahne said of his almost-winning run. “I wanted to win really bad today.”

    “It was a great race for us,” Kahne continued. “This has been our best time the whole season.”

    Surprising:  Taking the wheel of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry from sidelined Kyle Busch, Michael McDowell surprisingly was not able to capitalize on his prime opportunity. Even with Busch looking on atop the pit box, McDowell could not get his car dialed in and finished 33rd.

    “We obviously were hoping for more and were hoping for a big day,” McDowell said. “But that wasn’t meant to be.”

    “Gave it all I had and we just struggled pretty much all day long.”

    Not Surprising:  McDowell was not the only JGR driver to struggle at Texas Motor Speedway. Joey Logano, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota, blew an engine on Lap 262, and Denny Hamlin, behind the wheel of the No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, struggled all day, finishing 20th.

    “We just fought an ill-handling car all day,” Hamlin said. “It’s probably one of the worst that we’ve had in a long time.”

    “We’ll have to go back to the shop and look at it,” Dave Rogers, crew chief for the No. 18, said of the entire team’s performance. “This tire at this track is pretty tricky. You have to dare to lean on it and it’s not comfortable getting in the corner.”

    “We have to look at it for sure.”

    Surprising:  Although not mathematically eliminated, it still seems surprising to think that, without some sort of miracle, Jimmie Johnson will not be on the championship banquet stage this year. With his struggling performance at Texas, including a spin through the grass on Lap 240, the driver of the No. 48 MyLowes Chevrolet, managed to finish fourteenth and is now back 55 points to the Chase leader.

    “I fought a loose race car all night long and I lost it,” Johnson said. “And I think sliding through the grass did some damage.”

    “It didn’t really drive good after that.”

    Not Surprising:  With a sixth place run in his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, it was not surprising that it felt like a win to driver Jeff Gordon.

    “We moved up right away,” Gordon said. “I thought we had a car that could compete for the win but when the sun went down, it changed for us and we lost a little bit there at the end.”

    “Compared to the way we ran here earlier in the year, it is almost like a win for us.”

     

  • Underdogs of the Good Sam Club 500

    Underdogs of the Good Sam Club 500

    The Red Bull Racing team of Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne need to be recognized for their effort on Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway. Kahne started 26th, Vickers 30th, and used the two-car tandem to push their way into the top-five within 10 laps. They had troubles with the two-car tandem on Lap 159, when Kahne spun across the nose of Vickers race car to bring out the caution.

    [media-credit name=”Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]However, with 50 laps to go, the pair had already hooked back up and was heading to the front. Unfortunately they just couldn’t catch the RCR duo of Clint Bowyer and RCR, but still came home with fifth (Vickers) and sixth (Kahne) place finishes.

    Red Bull will be leaving the team at season’s end, with no word yet on if the team will continue on. Kahne will be taking his business over to Hendrick Motorsports where he will drive the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet. Vickers has yet to announce what his plans are for the 2012 season.

    Dave Blaney’s third place finish at Talladega became Tommy Baldwin’s Racing’s best finish yet at the Cup level. This isn’t the first time Blaney has run well at restrictor plate tracks. He also was a front-runner in the Daytona 500 and the spring race at Talladega this year, but didn’t get the finishes he deserved. This is a big step for a small organization, with a short history in the sport. Team owner Tommy Baldwin hopes this is just the beginning for improvement in preparation of the 2012 season.

    Underdogs Landon Cassill and Casey Mears had strong race cars at Talladega and were front-runners all race long. Before the first lap of the race was even complete, Mear’s No. 13 GEICO Camry had moved from its 42nd starting position into 26th. On Lap 3, Mears paired up with Cassill, who qualified 38th, to race to the front. They spent most of the race in the Top 10 and eyed the lead on multiple occasions.  This continued until Lap 174 when Cassill was collected in a turn two crash involving Bobby Labonte and Kurt Busch. This separated the pair and forced Mears to find another dancing partner.  They eventually found each other at the end of the race to finish in 16th (Cassill) and 17th (Mears)position.

  • Matty’s Picks: Vol. 23 – Talladega – October 23, 2011

    Matty’s Picks: Vol. 23 – Talladega – October 23, 2011

    Let’s roll the dice again this weekend and head to the Yellowhammer State (no clue as to what that means) for the second and final time of this 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

    Now, I will tell you that the Matty’s Picks columns have been rather lengthy the past 10 weeks or so, and one of the SpeedwayMedia.com editors (Uncle Role Model) let me know about it in the Media Center at Charlotte Motor Speedway last week. So the days of my quirky facts and less than insightful information are over…party pooper.

    Not acting like a tough guy or anything (in all seriousness), there are only a few things that have given me the chills and made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. A brief recap of some of those moments is as follows; the first is even the thought of a needle coming towards my skin, the second was walking into Notre Dame Stadium for the first time just a month ago, and the third was standing in the first row on the front stretch at Talladega Superspeedway while a pack of 43, 750HP stock cars took the wind out of my lungs as they flew by at 200MPH. Talladega is just one of those tracks that all NASCAR fans must visit to truly take in the speed, the talent, and the tailgate that Dega has to offer.

    It’s a tough week to pick a winner because of the fact that ANYTHING can happen in 188 laps at Talladega. Avoiding “The Big One” at the 2.66-mile tri-oval is key, and as of late, finding a partner that is willing to push you to victory and not try anything crazy coming thru the tri-oval on the final lap is the last piece of the puzzle on the way to Victory Lane in Alabama.

    Charlotte Recap

    Let me start by saying that I had the time of my life last weekend in North Carolina. I was blown away by the organization and execution of the race weekend. It was the most well organized, thoroughly staffed, and most hospitable race environments I have ever been a part of. NASCAR race organizers should be required to attend a race weekend in Charlotte before they even think about hosting a Sprint Cup Series race. (Cough, Kentucky…)

    I will start with the bad news first this week in my recap section.

    My Dark Horse pick for last Saturday’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway was 5-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion, Jimmie Johnson. Johnson ran in the Top-10 for the majority of the laps Saturday night, before he was involved with an incident after racing Ryan Newman and Kevin Harvick for position.

    The No. 48 Lowe’s/Chevy 100 Year Anniversary Chevrolet was shown in the 7th position when I heard one of the loudest cheers (besides Jr. taking the lead at Bristol), that I’ve ever heard in my life. I was standing in Turn 4 at Charlotte Motor Speedway when the crowed erupted, and as I turned to watch the giant HD video board to see that my Winner Pick had plowed the wall coming out of Turn 2.

    Johnson finished the race scored in 34th, netting me nothing to brag about and spoke following his on-track incident, “That one stung for sure,” Johnson said. “I’m just thankful to have such safe race cars, safe walls. Everything did its job. That was a pretty big impact. It’s just unfortunate that we wrecked. We got into Turn 1, and the (No.) 39 was real tight on my outside, and it pulled me around the corner. From there on, I was just kind of hanging on.”

    I said last week that I was more confident in my Dark Horse pick than my Winner Pick, and for good reason. Kasey Kahne’s driver rating going into last weekend’s Bank of America 500 spoke for itself. He was fourth in overall driver rating at Charlotte Motor Speedway at 94.5, and had 7 Top-5’s including 4 wins at the 1.5-mile quad oval.

    Three practice sessions later, it seemed like Kahne had the car to beat last weekend, winning two of the three practice sessions. Kahne ran very well all night except for when he pitted JUST before the caution flew, catching him a lap down to the leaders about midway through the race. He opted to take the wave around, putting him back on the lead lap, and keeping my hopes alive for a solid finish.

    It was pretty fun watching Kasey Kahne work his way back through the field and back into the Top-5 with around 50 laps remaining.

    Kahne was able to race his way all the way back to fourth, netting me a Top-5 Dark Horse pick (my first since Brad Keselowski finished 3rd way back in August at Michigan).

    “We had a great Red Bull Toyota. The guys did an awesome job. It was just a fine line of being really good or a little off. We kind of went over it throughout the race…we had to fight back. It was just kind of being in the wrong spot at the wrong time. We had a really good car and it was another positive race for us.”

    Talladega Picks

    Picking anyone at a Superspeedway makes me very nervous. I could go through miles and miles of statistics, driver ratings, rants, gut feelings, but really it all comes down to having a bit of luck on your side to win at Talladega. On top of having Lady Luck in your corner, the 2-car draft has created a very team-oriented style of racing at Talladega and Daytona. So having someone who will not get selfish at the end of the race and settle for second is a key to victory at a restrictor plate race.

    This week will be an all or nothing version of Matty’s Picks as I will be picking a pair of teammates to drive to the front on lap 188 Sunday afternoon.

    There is just a hint of strategy this week in making my picks, because a you know it’s a two-car dance at Talladega. Many times it turns out that the two-car pushes are teammates.

    Yesterday, many teams were at Talladega Superspeedway for testing of the new Electronic Fuel Injection system that will make its debut next season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The two fastest cars on the track…Richard Childress racing teammates.

    Winner Pick

    My Winner Pick this week is “The Closer”, for his “Where did he come from?” racing style over the course of the 2011 Sprint Cup Season. Kevin Harvick won the spring race last April at Talladega, one of his four wins at either Daytona or Dega.

    In 60 starts at the two Superspeedways, Kevin Harvick has 15 Top-5’s, 26 Top-10’s, and a slew of come from the rear of the pack to finish strong’s. Harvick currently sits just 5 points behind points-leader Carl Edwards, and is looking for a win to separate himself from the rest of the field for the Sprint Cup. Watch for Harvick to receive some help by way of Paul Menard in taking the checkered on Sunday.

    Dark Horse Pick

    With the two-car tango, any driver who plans on winning the Good Sam Club 500 on Sunday will have to have some help from behind.

    Paul Menard and Kevin Harvick had the two fastest cars on the racetrack yesterday during the EFI testing at Talladega Superspeedway. The tandem ran over 90 laps together, and to me it was practice for Sunday.

    Menard’s history at Talladega is less than impressive with just one finish in the Top-5 after 10 starts at the 2.66-mile monster. His record at Superspeedways in general have been subpar, with an average finish of 21.2 at Dega and Daytona.

    To me, the advantage lies in the testing session yesterday as drivers and crew chiefs alike had their chances to work the bugs out and get a bit more comfortable with the two-car tango. Watch for Menard and Harvick to hook up early and run the majority of the 188 laps on Sunday glued to each other’s bumpers.

    That’s all for this week, as always check me out on Twitter @ML_B_Lo for some less than insightful NASCAR news.

    Until Next Time…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

  • Non-Chasers Excel in Bank Of America 500

    Non-Chasers Excel in Bank Of America 500

    Kasey Kahne

    For the third week in a row, Kasey Kahne has finished in the top-5 among the Chase contenders.  At the beginning of the race, Kahne did not have a great race car.  He complained of “rear-end up and front-end down” handling issues.  After green flag pit stops with 139 laps to go, the No. 4 crew made adjustments to correct the issues.  “Oh yea, it’s going now” Kahne replied to the crew after exiting pit road.  After pit stops, Kahne was in ninth position and was the fastest car on the track.  On the fifth caution of the night, Kahne’s Red Bull crew was able to get him out of the pits in third position, securing him a finish of fourth position.  Kahne won the Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race award for the Bank of America 500.  Given to the winner of the race, or the next highest finishing driver with the Mobil 1 decal on their race car.  Kasey moved up one spot in standings to 15th position.

    Marcos Ambrose

    Richard Petty Motorsports driver Marcos Ambrose was destined to do well at Charlotte Motor Speedway, having ten top-10 career finishes at intermediate tracks coming into this race.  Ambrose celebrated his fifth top-5 of the season at Charlotte Motor Speedway Saturday night.  Ambrose qualified his Stanley Tools Ford in 12th position and was a front runner throughout the race.  Although there were a few late-race cautions, Ambrose was able to hold his position and stay at the head of the field.  Marcos finished the race in fifth position, his third straight top-10 of the season.  The crew chief of the No. 9 car, Todd Parrott, received the Moog Problem Solver of the Race award.  Given to the crew chief that improves the most from the first half of the race to the second half, utilizing the 40 best laps times(improving 0.155 seconds).  Marcos moved two spots up in the points standings, to 18th position


    AJ Allmendinger

    Although AJ Allmendinger battled handling issues during the race, he was able to keep his Best Buy Ford in the top-10 throughout the night.  On Lap 127 Allmendinger pitted to try and correct these handling issues, but couldn’t quite seem to get it fixed.  AJ remained in the top-10 until just after Lap 200, when he fell to 12th position.  The team remained patient, pitting again under Lap 238 to make more adjustments.  With 100 laps to go, Allmendinger’s No. 43 car came to life, allowing him to finish the race in seventh position.  This marks AJ’s eighth top-10 of the season.  Leaving Charlotte, he rests in 14th position in points standings.

  • Matty’s Picks: ‘Straight from The Beast of the Southeast!’ Vol. 22 – Kansas – Charlotte – October 15, 2011

    Matty’s Picks: ‘Straight from The Beast of the Southeast!’ Vol. 22 – Kansas – Charlotte – October 15, 2011

    This weekend marks my first trip to Charlotte Motor Speedway for a race weekend. I had the privilege of touring the track three years ago as a part of my trip to the Tar Heel State to watch my beloved Mountaineers take down the North Carolina Tar Heels in a thrilling 31-30 shootout in the 2008 Meineke Car Care Bowl. Since my tour of the track in December 2008, I have been itching to make it to a race weekend at the historic 1.5-mile quad oval, and it’s almost a dream come true for me this weekend.

    [media-credit name=”charlottemotorspeedway.com” align=”alignright” width=”254″][/media-credit]This Saturday’s Bank of America 500 will be run under the lights in front of 140,000+ fans at the first modern superspeedway to install and host night racing. Until 1998, when lights were installed at Daytona International Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway was the largest track in the world to host night racing.

    It may be the history behind the track, or the battle for the Sprint Cup that has begun to heat up ever so slightly, or it may be the 4-day “vacation” I get by heading to Charlotte this weekend that has me so amped up for this weekend’s race. It might be the fact that this will be the first race this fall that I will watch with undivided attention, but I really think I might be most excited to see the monstrosity that is the HD video board that stretches 200 feet down the backstretch at Charlotte Motor Speedway. After following all the tweets this spring about the video board, I am overly excited to see how massive this thing is.

    It was announced in September of last year that CMS would partner with Panasonic to install the World’s largest HD video board at the track. The 9 million LED’s that make up the video board measures 200 feet by 80 feet, probably the best place in the World for a Call of Duty: Black Ops match.

    I had mixed results following this spring’s trip to The Beast of the Southeast, but I did manage pick the winner of May’s Sprint Cup All-Star Race, as well as the runner-up in the Coke 600. I look forward to seeing the cars in action this week, and hope that my keen eye will help me make some power picks this week for my first trip to Charlotte.

    Kansas Recap

    I won’t spend too much time this week recapping my finishes in Kansas, due to my eagerness to get to some racetracks that do not encourage three-hour naps on Sunday afternoon. The Bank of America 500 this Saturday marks the start of my amplified interest-level in The Chase schedule.

    My Winner Pick for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 was the driver of NASCAR’s “Blue Deuce”. Brad Keselowski had won the June race at Kansas Speedway, he won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on Saturday at Kansas, and he was a shoe-in for the race win on Sunday.

    He started the race 15th, and made his way into the top-10 early. Fast forwarding through the 200 laps of napping, Keselowski hit the point at lap 207. He also was shown on top of the leaderboard at lap 241, but was passed for the lead by eventual race-winner, Jimmie Johnson on lap 245. Bad Brad brought his No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger home in third and spoke on pit road after the race: “Everybody was a little close; we were just closer, but the Miller Lite Dodge was good. Proud of the effort. Kind of an up-and-down day. We got up to be a second- or third-place car mid part of the race, then kind of fell off a little bit, but came back. Third-place day, that’s good, that’s what you’ve got to do. Really, we want to win races like Jimmie (Johnson), but we’re making the best we can out of it. If he stumbles, we’ll be there.”

    Despite being second-fastest in Sprint Cup Final Practice at Kansas Speedway, David Ragan brought me no help as a Dark Horse pick last week.

    Ragan started 13th on Sunday, but quickly fell through the field ending up a lap down to the leaders for the majority of the 267 lap race. The long green-flag runs that occurred at Kansas last week, allowed little time for adjustments throughout the race. Track-position was as good as gold last week, and Ragan couldn’t find any to improve his finish.

    “We just weren’t lucky today. We missed getting the lucky dog a couple of times and the chips just didn’t fall our way. When you’re back there 10th to 20th you need a couple lucky breaks and we just didn’t get them. We could have gotten a top 10 out of it, but it just wasn’t our day.”

    When it was all said and done, Ragan finished 20th and lent me no help in improving my average finish for my Dark Horse picks.

    Charlotte Picks

    Despite a busy day of media availabilities, Nationwide Series qualifying, two Sprint Cup practice sessions, and even a car wash, I’ve found a bit of time to make a couple picks this Friday Afternoon. My winner pick in the other points race this year at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Carl Edwards did not fare too well in his attempt to sweep the SpeedWeeks races this May.

    After winning the Sprint Cup All-Star race here in May, Carl decided to give his Ford Fusion little bodywork on the infield grass. Let’s just say the car was fast enough the way it was and it really had an affect on the 16th place finish he picked up in the Coke 600.

    As for my Dark Horse for the Coke 600, David Ragan scored me my highest finish for any of my 21 Dark Horse picks this season – not too shabby.

    Dark Horse Pick

    I will start with my Dark Horse this week because there should be no other guy in anyone’s discussions of which non-Chase driver could win the Bank of America 500 tomorrow night. Kasey Kahne is fourth among all active drivers with a driver rating of 94.5, behind Jimmie Johnson (112.8), Kyle Busch (106.5), and Joey Logano (96.5) at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    Kahne became the first driver to be “Voted-Into” the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series All-Star Race in May of 2008, and come home a winner. He then went on to win the Coke 600 the following week, successfully sweeping the May races here at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2008.

    Kahne was the fastest car on the track after his 31 practice laps yesterday, and is shown second on the speed charts in this first of two practice sessions as I look out the window of the Media Center here on the infield. He has three wins here at The Beast of the Southeast, but hasn’t won here since his 2088 Coke 600 Victory.

    Kahne felt good about his car following his qualifying lap last night during Bojangle’s Pole Night: “We were really good in practice today in qualifying and in race trim. We didn’t go quite as fast tonight as we would have liked to. I think in the race it should be really good. We just need to keep up with the track and keep up with keeping the track position and things throughout the race. We’ll have a good shot.”

    Kasey Kahne is eager to leave Red Bull Racing on a high note, and a win in the Bank of America 500 Saturday Night would do just that. Be ready for some fireworks centered around the No. 4 car tomorrow night.

    Winner Pick

    One of the keys to victory here at Charlotte Motor Speedway is keeping up with the ever changing track conditions as the sun settles behind the grandstands and the lights come on. The track temperature can really plummet when the sun goes down, and crew chiefs and drivers must be ready to go for when night falls.

    One crew chief that will always put his driver in the best possible equipment to cross the Finish Line (the pink colored one this week here at Charlotte) first is Chad Knaus. Across his nine seasons as Crew Chief for the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, Knaus has scooped up 52 victories with Ole’ Five-Time, six of them coming right here at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    He is the best amongst all drivers in the Driver’s Rating category at 112.8, and averages a finish of 10.8 here at Charlotte. He hasn’t won here since the fall race of the 2009 season, but he is coming of a big win last week at Kansas.

    I think the comment before the race two weeks ago at Dover International Speedway really put a fire in the belly’s of the No. 48 team, and that is not the guy you want to piss off. With an average finish of 3.7 in the last 5 races of the Sprint Cup Series’ schedule, Johnson is about to come alive.

    Johnson sits 10th on the speed charts here after the first practice session of the day and spoke earlier this week about his feelings about Charlotte: “I think we’re going to be a threat (at Charlotte Motor Speedway). When I look back to Chicago, Kentucky, and Kansas obviously, our 1.5-mile stuff has been coming along pretty good over the last two or three months. So I feel good about it. Charlotte, with that asphalt that’s down, it is its own environment and it’s really tough to get your car right from the start of the race to the end of the race. So I feel like directionally we’re going the right way; but until I get on the track this week and understand where the grip level is and what our issues are, it’s hard to build too much confidence.”

    That’s all for this week, be sure to follow me on Twitter all night tonight and tomorrow for up to the minute action @ML_B_Lo and OnPitRoad.com for the long story.

    Until Next Week….You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!!!!

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Kansas Hollywood Casino 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Kansas Hollywood Casino 400

    With the wind whipping as is so typical in the land of Toto and Aunty Em, the fourth race in the Chase, the 11th Annual Hollywood Casino 400, was run at the 1.5 mile paved tri-oval that is Kansas Speedway.  Here is what was surprising and not so surprising from the 267 laps, 400.5 mile race.

    [media-credit id=2 align=”alignright” width=”231″][/media-credit]Surprising:  It has been a bit surprising just how much the race winner has seemingly been toying with not only the media, but the race fans. At the beginning of the Chase, five-time champion Jimmie Johnson had fallen from eighth to tenth in the point standings, particularly due to his 18th place finish at Loudon.

    At that point, many media pundits had begun to write off the chances for a sixth consecutive championship, especially since the tension seemed to be mounting between the driver of the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet and his crew chief Chad Knaus.

    Yet Jimmie Johnson again proved that he still has what it takes by scoring his 55th career victory and his 20th career victory in the Chase, the latter being the most ever, tying him with Rusty Wallace for eighth on the all-time wins list.

    And, yes, ‘old five time’ has yet again made his way toward the top of the leader board, up two positions to third, just four points out of the coveted top spot.

    “I told you not to count him out,” Hendrick Motorsport teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr. said. “I think the media made a big deal out of the runs he was having and they were a long ways out of the lead in the points.”

    “But that’s a great race team,” Junior continued. “You don’t win five in a row on luck, you know? You don’t just trip over the championship trophy; you do it because you’re great.”

    “And they’ll win the championship this year if anybody doesn’t get going.”

    Not Surprising:  Although most often it is the female fan base flirting with this driver, Kasey Kahne, behind the wheel of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota for the remaining races of the season before heading to Hendrick Motorsports next year, continues to flirt with a race win.

    To no one’s surprise, Kahne finished second, scoring his third top-10 finish in nine races at Kansas, as well as his 10th top-10 finish in 2011.

    “The biggest thing to me would be to leave on a good note,” Kahne said. “There are a lot of people there working really hard and unsure about maybe their future and where they’re going to work next year, and they’re still putting everything they have into our race cars each week.”

    “That’s pretty awesome on their part.”

    Surprising:  In addition to the wind, there was also a good deal of smoke, of all sorts, in Kansas City. The driver known as ‘Smoke’, was instead the cause of some, smoking his tires on a pit stop, causing him to not only slide wildly through his box but also lose eight positions on the track.

    Tony Stewart, piloting his No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, finished the race in the 15th position and fell four positions to seventh in the Chase standings.

    ‘Smoke’ immediately admitted his error, telling his team that his foot had accidentally hit the accelerator when he was trying to brake. But the uncharacteristic error caused the driver to come out as the last car on the lead lap, relegating him to a less-than-stellar finish.

    Another surprising bit of smoke at Kansas was the one that erupted on lap 265 when four-time champ Jeff Gordon’s engine expired. The driver of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet, who looked strong all race long, finished 34th, dropping him to tenth in the point standings, 47 points out of first.

    “I started seeing smoke inside the car,” Gordon said. “We had a really bad restart and got shuffled back.”

    “Our day was pretty much over and we were going to finish maybe 15th or something,” Gordon continued. “I started to smell burning oil and saw the oil temp start to come up.”

    “I felt like it was just a matter of time before it blew up.”

    Not Surprising:  Although actually gaining one position in the point standings, from tenth to ninth, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., driver of the HMS No. 88 National Guard/Amp Energy Chevrolet, to no one’s surprise now seems to be focusing more on race wins than a championship.

    “I just want to win a race,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It’s a goal of mine right now to just go out there and win.”

    “Man, if we could do that, that would really, no matter what happened in the Chase, I think we’d be real happy with our season.”

    Surprising:  While loose and tight are most often descriptors for action on the track, it is surprising that those words also apply to Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch.

    On one hand, the driver of the No. 2 Blue Deuce seems to be looser than loose, finishing third in the Kansas race. This was Keselowski’s second top-10 finish in four races at Kansas Speedway.

    And that top-5 finish moved the driver up two spots to fourth in the Chase, just eleven points behind the leader.

    “This year, it seems like as a group, we’re just clicking,” Keselowski said. “We’re doing a good job of maximizing our day and taking care of everything that’s in our control.”

    “I’m really proud of our team for doing that.”

    On the flip side, Keselowski’s teammate Kurt Busch just seems tight, tight, tight behind the wheel of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Dodge. Busch managed to finish 13th, but still lost two spots in the Chase standings to the sixth position.

    “We got behind in qualifying and had to start 17th,” Busch said. “We ran from 15th to 20th most of the day and caught a break; we got the lucky dog to get back on the lead lap.”

    “We were still a top-10 car when the green-white-checker came out but just couldn’t hold on to a top 10,” Busch continued. “The fresher tires got us.”

    Not Surprising:   There were at least two ‘come back kids’ that surprised no one. The first was the driver of the No. 99 Alfac Ford, Carl Edwards, who rallied from a too-aggressive set up prior to the race, relegating him to needing to be the ‘lucky dog’ to finish fifth.

    With that top-five finish, Edwards scored the points lead, just one point over second place Kevin Harvick.

    “I cannot believe we finished fifth,” Edwards said. “It feels like a win.”

    “That’s the best we’ve done with the worst,” Edwards continued. “I just cannot believe from the way the day started to finish like that is spectacular.”

    The other ‘comeback kid’ was Greg Biffle. Although not in the Chase, the driver of the No. 16 Sherwin-Williams Ford and pole sitter for the race, rallied back from a pit road speeding penalty to finish eighth.

    “Our car wasn’t that good,” Biffle said. “I don’t know what happened with the speeding on pit road.”

    “That was stupid,” Biffle said. “My car just wasn’t that good in traffic, which is where I got hurt there at the end.”

    Surprising:  There was a surprising rash of drivers missing driver introductions prior to the Hollywood Casino 400. A.J. Allmendinger, David Reutimann and Reed Sorenson all had to move to the back of the field for the start of the race due to their absence at the pre-race intros.

    Allmendinger, driver of the No. 43 Best Buy Ford, finished the best of the group at 25th. Reutimann, behind the wheel of the No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota, finished 35th and Sorenson, who had lost his Turner Motorsports Nationwide ride, finished 38th in his No. 7 SPEED Energy/MAPEI/Menards Dodge Cup ride.

    Not Surprising:  With his career decided, it was not surprising that the driver of the No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing finished top-10. Prior to the race festivities, Bowyer confirmed that he will move in 2012 to the Michael Waltrip Racing stables.

    “All in all, it wasn’t a bad day,” Bowyer said. “That’s the last time I’ll be able to run here with these cars.”

    “Hopefully, we’ll get one next time.”

    Surprising:  Hendrick Motorsports is surprisingly close to scoring a record of its own thanks to driver Johnson taking the checkered flag. HMS is just shy of their 200th win, which would put them squarely behind Richard Petty Motorsports with 268 all-time wins.

    Not Surprising: To no one’s surprise, again thanks to Johnson’s win, Chevrolet clinched their 35th Cup manufacturer’s championship, assuming a Chevrolet will start each of the final six races.

  • Kahne Continues Momentum as Non-Chase Driver

    Kahne Continues Momentum as Non-Chase Driver

    Kasey Kahne has been the highest finishing non-chase driver for the second week in a row.  He finished fourth at Dover International Speedway and kept his momentum going heading to Kansas.  Kahne finished second to future teammate Jimmie Johnson in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, giving Red Bull Racing their best finish of the season.

    [media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”208″][/media-credit]An incident on pit road on lap 21 set Kahne back from his fifth-place starting position. Under the first caution, Kahne pitted for two tires, only to have the jack break.  Then as he was attempting to leave his pit, he was blocked in by the No. 48 car.  The No. 4 team decided last minute to take four tires, restarting back in 40th position.

    From there, Kahne raced his way from 40th position to sixth position, getting himself back into contention late in the race.  Kahne gave up his position to pit when the fifth caution came out with 28 laps to go.  Crew chief Kenny Francis made the call to pit for four tires and a splash of fuel, to restart the race in 12th position.  Kahne quickly raced to fifth after the restart and found himself in second place with 10 laps to go.

    With two laps to go the final caution came out, eliminating Johnson’s two second lead.  Kahne was able to clear a group of cars on the green-white-checkered restart, but came up short finishing the race in second position.

    On the restart Brad gave me a good push, and I had a shot at Jimmie,” said Kahne. “I just couldn’t really get to him. I thought maybe getting to (Turn) 3 I would go high, and he kind of entered into the middle and then just crept his way to the top and just really didn’t have a shot there at him. But I think we had a good Red Bull car. The guys did a nice job today.”

    At the end of the season, Red Bull will be leaving the team with no word yet whether they will continue as a one car operation.  Kahne will be leaving the team to start his new ride with Hendrick Motorsports, extending through the 2015 season.

  • Kurt Busch King of the Concrete with Win at Monster Mile

    Kurt Busch King of the Concrete with Win at Monster Mile

    Kurt Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Dodge, conquered the concrete track at Dover for the first time ever to score his second win of the season.  This was his 24th victory in 393 Cup Series races.

    [media-credit id=26 align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]“It was just a perfect execution today with making the car better during the race,”  Busch said. “I can’t be happier right now.”

    “To win a Sprint Cup race in the Chase, that’s what it’s all about,” Busch said. “We had everything go wrong last week and everything go right this week.”

    Busch’s race win puts him firmly in fourth place in the point standings.

    “This is the playoffs,” Busch said. “I feel like we’re right in the mix. You just have to cover up those bad days.”

    Busch’s crew chief echoed his driver’s sentiments, making the right calls at the right time. And Penske Racing’s team leadership, including the Director of Competition, could not have been more pleased.

    “We had to put a good bit of wedge in it and finally found a direction with the tire pressure,” Steve Addington, Busch’s crew chief said. “Then it came to life. We finally got us another win with this No. 22 car.”

    “This is definitely awesome,” Travis Geisler, Director of Competition for Penske Racing, said. “We knew that the No. 22 was a good car. To win in the Chase is awesome.”

    Busch was trailed by two other Chase contenders, Jimmie Johnson, in the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet, who finished as runner up and Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Aflac Ford, who overcame a pit road speeding penalty to finish third.

    Johnson scored his 14th top-10 finish in 20 races at the Monster Mile. It was his 19th top-10 finish of the season.

    “Obviously it was a great day for us to lead that many laps and having great stops on pit road,” Johnson said of his runner up finish. “I wish that we could be one stop better.”

    “But all in all, it was exactly what we needed,” Johnson continued. “Mission accomplished.”

    With his second place finish, Johnson is now fifth in the point standings, just 13 points out of the lead. With that, Johnson couldn’t help but poke a little fun in the media center, especially since many had pronounced him out of contention for the championship.

    “Are we out of this?” Johnson asked coyly. “Last week we were considered done.”

    Edwards posted his 11th top-10 finish in 15 races at Dover International Speedway. For Edwards, however, who won the Nationwide race at Dover the day before the Cup race, this was a hard fought battle back to the front after his mistake on pit road.

    “It was a great day other than that feeling I had when I ruined it on pit road,” Edwards said. “That’s about as small as you can feel in a race car.”

    “We talked about it before the race on pit road but I just blasted right through it,” Edwards continued. “As frustrated as I am with myself, I’m grateful for the gift I was given, especially with my guys sticking beside me.”

    “That was fun.”

    After Busch, Johnson and Edwards, Matt Kenseth was the next highest Chase finisher. The driver of the No. 17 Crown Royal Ford, finished fifth.

    “We got lucky,” Kenseth said. “The last restart was good but the one before that was no good.”

    “As good as everybody is these days and as equal as everybody is, it’s important to get a good finish every week,” Kenseth continued. “You need to be in the top five to be able to stay in the hunt.”

    Kevin Harvick, this week sporting a pink No. 29 Rheem Chasing the Cure Chevrolet, assumed the points lead with his top-10 finish. He is, however, tied with Carl Edwards, but has a higher number of wins so is the highest seed.

    “Obviously, we circled this one as a place to come to overcome some things,” Harvick said. “We had to put two tires on there at the end to protect the track position side of it.”

    Harvick admitted that the competition is so equal. In fact, only 15 points currently separate the top eight in the point standings.

    “The competition level is so even,” Harvick said. “You’re going to have to be consistent and solid and keeping yourself in contention until the last couple of races.”

    There were four non-Chasers who finished in the top ten at the Monster Mile. Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, finished fourth; A.J. Allmendinger, behind the wheel of the No. 43 Best Buy Ford, finished seventh; Clint Bowyer, in the No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet, finished eighth; and Marcos Ambrose, in the No. 9 Stanley Ford, finished ninth.

    “We weren’t quite good enough to win,” Allmendinger said. “It was a solid day. Obviously, we want to try to win, but at least we were there all day.”

    “We’ve been bashed up pretty good the last month so it’s just good to come back with a solid day,” Ambrose said. “I’m proud of my team. They’ve stood by me after a tough month and I’m looking forward to getting to Kansas.”

     

    Unofficial Race Results
    AAA 400, Dover International Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=29
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 2 22 Kurt Busch Dodge 47
    2 6 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 44
    3 4 99 Carl Edwards Ford 42
    4 9 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota 40
    5 18 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 40
    6 5 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 39
    7 7 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 38
    8 27 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 36
    9 12 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 35
    10 22 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 35
    11 13 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 34
    12 34 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 32
    13 14 0 David Reutimann Toyota 31
    14 30 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 30
    15 23 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 29
    16 3 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 28
    17 16 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 27
    18 11 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 26
    19 17 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 25
    20 15 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 25
    21 19 6 David Ragan Ford 23
    22 24 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 22
    23 20 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 21
    24 21 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 20
    25 28 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 19
    26 8 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 18
    27 10 16 Greg Biffle Ford 17
    28 36 34 David Gilliland Ford 16
    29 33 20 Joey Logano Toyota 15
    30 1 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 15
    31 25 51 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 0
    32 41 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 12
    33 37 71 Andy Lally * Ford 11
    34 43 38 J.J. Yeley Ford 10
    35 39 13 Casey Mears Toyota 9
    36 40 32 Mike Bliss Ford 0
    37 26 37 Josh Wise Ford 0
    38 38 7 Reed Sorenson Dodge 0
    39 42 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0
    40 35 66 Michael McDowell Toyota 5
    41 31 30 David Stremme Chevrolet 3
    42 29 46 Scott Speed Ford 0
    43 32 55 Travis Kvapil Ford 0