Tag: Kevin Harvick

NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Pocono

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Earnhardt used a no-tire pit stop to take the lead and subdued the challenge of Kevin Harvick down the stretch to win the GoBowling.Com 400 at Pocono. The victory completed Earnhardt’s season sweep at the “Tricky Triangle” and was his third win of the year.

“That’s the first season sweep at Pocono since Denny Hamlin’s in 2006,” Earnhardt said. “Normally, I would celebrate with a broom, but I can’t. I developed an aversion to brooms when I discovered that Teresa Earnhardt rode them.

“The fans of Junior Nation will certainly party. I’m not sure they’re that into bowling, though. They couldn’t tell you anything about PBA, but they sure know a lot about PBR.”

2. Jeff Gordon: Gordon led a race-high 63 laps at Pocono but fell victim to lack of track position and some untimely cautions, finishing sixth. He remains atop the Sprint Cup points standings with a 17-point lead over Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“Junior’s No. 88 car had the name ‘Michael Baker’ all over it,” Gordon said. “That had to be a new experience for Earnhardt. It’s not often people see the No. 88 car and have to ask, ‘Who is that?’”

3. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski survived an unlucky day at Pocono, salvaging a 23rd-place finish, one lap down to the leaders. Keselowski damaged the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford with after contact with Kurt Busch on lap two, then was an unwilling participant in the lap 117 “Big One.”

“Thanks, Kurt Busch,” Keselowski said. “Just like the last race at Pocono, I had a run-in with a ‘piece of trash.’”

4. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson suffered two blown tires, the last of which sent him into the wall, ending his day at Pocono on lap 111. He finished 39th, 49 laps down.

“We’ve had our share of tires issues this season,” Johnson said. “It’s not a big deal to us. That’s called ‘underinflating’ the severity of an issue, just the opposite of what Goodyear thinks.

“We’ve finished 39th or worse in three of the last five races. But don’t count us out once the Chase starts. Chad Knaus has a lot of things up his sleeve, including a sandbag of tricks.”

5. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth was collected in a lap 117 pileup triggered when Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin got loose, causing Brian Vickers to check up and create mayhem behind him. Thirteen cars were involved in the accident and Kenseth finished 38th.

“It was the GoBowling.Com 400,” Kenseth said, “and I’d like to pin the blame on Hamlin. But congratulations go to Dale Earnhardt Jr. He deserves to celebrate, not in Victory Lane, but in Victory Alley.”

6. Joey Logano: Logano led 30 laps and posted a strong third-place finish at Pocono, earning his eighth top-five of the year. He is seventh in the points standings, 124 behind Jeff Gordon.

“Richard Petty was the grand marshal for the GoBowling.Com 400,” Logano said. “In the Poconos, they call that being the ‘King Of The Mountain.’

“I’ve always had a ton of respect for Petty. Now I’ve got even more after realizing he raced against Morgan Shepherd for over 20 years and lived to tell about it.”

7. Carl Edwards: Edwards finished a disappointing 29th at Pocono as Dale Earnhardt Jr. raced to the win. He is eighth in the points standings, 139 out of first.

“I’m going to blame this on a preoccupation with thoughts of where I’ll be driving next year,” Edwards said. “As was evident at Pocono, my mind was racing, but I wasn’t.”

8. Ryan Newman: Once again, Newman was solid for Richard Childress Racing, taking eighth in the GoBowling.Com 400.

“It was an otherwise tough day for RCR,” Newman said. “Austin Dillon finished 15th while Paul Menard finished 33rd, under Tony Stewart’s No. 14 after that big wreck on lap 117. I hear it’s no fun looking up and seeing Stewart on top of you. But at least Tony was awake.”

9. Kevin Harvick: Harvick chased Dale Earnhardt Jr. for three laps after the final restart at Pocono, but couldn’t get around the No. 88 car. Harvick settled for second, his fourth runner-up finish of the year.

“After a pit road speeding penalty and damage from the lap 117 wreck,” Harvick said, “I was ‘Happy’ to be in that position.”

10. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer finished fourth in the GoBowling.Com 400, boosting his Chase For The Cup chances with five races left until the playoffs. He stands ninth in the Sprint Cup points standings, 140 out of first.

“No team needs a win more than Michael Waltrip Racing,” Bowyer said. “I think all we need is a lively pep talk from Michael. And I think that should work. Everybody knows Michael makes a great cheerleader.”

August 4, 2014
Surprising and Not Surprising: Pocono GoBowling.com 400

From the impact of crew chief suspensions inspired by the No. 11 Denny Hamlin penalty to the forecasted rain that never reared its ugly head, here is what else was surprising and not surprising in the 41^st Annual GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway.

Surprising: They may have swept Pocono for the first time since Denny Hamlin did it in 2006 and also scored their third victory of the season, but what Dale Earnhardt Jr. and crew chief Steve Letarte were most eloquent about after the race was their praise for the positive impact of team owner Rick Hendrick on their lives.

“I just told him thanks for believing in me and making my life better,” Dale Jr. said of the call he made to Mr. H. in Victory Lane. “He has that effect on all the people that work for him. He makes everybody’s life better.”

“He put me with Steve and I think that Steve was in a place where he was looking for something new and I was definitely needing something new, and it worked out,” Earnhardt Jr. continued. “I was, it was a touch and go there for a while, but we have worked, we have done some good things together and we have continued to get better and we finally are realizing that potential and doing the things on the racetrack that we dreamed about doing when we first started working together.”

“Mr. Hendrick has helped me become a better person, put me around people that influence me to be a better person, so just want him to know that I appreciate it.”

“He’s the kind of guy that through the low times in your life you can lean on and you don’t worry about talking to him about it,” crew chief Steve Letarte said of Mr. H, in support of his driver’s opinion. “He’s given me a tremendous amount of advice without probably ever even knowing it. He’s just that kind of guy.”

“People don’t work at Hendrick Motorsports because we win races, people work at Hendrick Motorsports because they want to work for Rick Hendrick and that’s a big difference.”

Not Surprising: Jeff Gordon may not have won the race in spite of leading 63 laps, but he did achieve two career milestones as a result of his sixth place run in the GoBowling.com 400. The driver of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet broke the 24,000 career laps led mark and also achieved the milestone of leading 1,000 laps at Pocono Raceway.

“I’m really happy with the way our car performed,” Gordon said. “It’s just so awesome and encouraging and has got my confidence sky high. And I just can’t wait to get to the next race.”

Surprising: Tony Stewart and Paul Menard had a close encounter of the on-top-of-each-other-yet-again kind after a multi-car pileup on Lap 118.

“I told Tony the last time we did that was about two years ago at Talladega,” Menard, driver of the No. 27 Certainteed/Menards Chevrolet, said. “So, we have got to stop doing that.”

“Yeah, I tend to end up on Paul (Menard) a lot,” Stewart said, followed by a quick clarifying statement. “Car wise, our cars tend to end up on top of each other for some reason.”

“I think that is the second time I’ve landed on top of him,” Smoke continued. “This time at least we weren’t’ looking windshield in at each other.”

Not Surprising: For at least one driver, who officially locked himself into the Chase with his second place Pocono finish, there were lessons to be learned at the Tricky Triangle.

Kevin Harvick described his team’s biggest lesson learned as the ability to scramble after suffering damage in the multi-car wreck that sent their car into a drain and then the wall.

“Well, I think today was very important,” the driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Chevrolet said. “We didn’t have the car that we wanted, I felt like we had a top three car today, we were going to need track position and things were not really going well.”

“They were able to fix the car after we wrecked it,” Harvick continued. “So that’s what we talked about as we came back from the break was just scrambling, being able to scramble and get a finish of some sort to get something out of a day.”

“That’s what you’re going to have to do the last 10 weeks and today we were able to accomplish that and hopefully this is a good sign of things to come.”

Surprising: Danica Patrick and Jimmie Johnson had one surprising thing in common at Pocono. Both of their races were pretty much ruined by tire issues, which coincided with hitting the wall issues as well.

Six-time champ Johnson had his tires go down twice, once early in the race and the second time on lap 113, sending him into the wall.

Patrick actually hit the outside wall first on lap 14, which resulted in a severe tire rub. Just one lap later, her right-rear tire failed as she was trying to make her way to pit road.

Johnson finished 39^th and Patrick ended her day in the 30^th spot.

“Unfortunately, we had some trouble early and were able to really rally back and get ourselves in the top-five,” the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet said. “So disappointed for sure, but really unclear as to what happened going into Turn 2. The car went straight down into the Tunnel Turn.”

“I feel so badly that I started the problems when I hit the fence there in Turn 2,” the driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet said. “I just wish I would have been smart enough to bring our GoDaddy Chevy to pit lane as soon as it happened, but sometimes tire rubs seem worse than what they are, so I stayed out there and we lost the tire.”

“I’m really disappointed, and I know all the guys are, too.”

Not Surprising: After scoring the pole with a new Pocono track record of 183.438 mph and 49.063 seconds, it was not surprising for rookie Kyle Larson to yet again score Rookie of the Race honors with his 12^th place race run.

NASCAR Camping World Truck race winner and Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Austin Dillon finished in the 15^th position as the next highest rookie runner.

Surprising: While Kyle Busch is quite often the dominant Toyota, the driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing, exited early with some sort of engine issue and Clint Bowyer instead led the charge in his No. 15 RK Motors Charlotte Toyota Camry, finishing 4^th.

“We had a good car all weekend and we unloaded good,” Bowyer said. “I’m proud of (Brian) Pattie (crew chief) and all these guys that work so hard.”

“It’s the work during the week, day in and day out, that makes the difference when you come to these weekends and it’s good to be getting a good finish.”

Not Surprising: Denny Hamlin, sans his regular crew chief Darian Grubb, deemed his substitute crew chief Mike Wheeler good after a top-10 finish at the Tricky Triangle.

“You know, he (Mike Wheeler) did a really good job,” the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota said. “He called the race nice. Good communication and we were on the same strategy as far as what I was thinking and what he was thinking so that was good.”

“So really pretty seamless for the most part.”

Surprising: Matt Kenseth’s predictions of Pocono not being the best track for him came true when he finished a disappointing 38^th after having his car destroyed in the Pocono version of the ‘Big One.’

“It’s never been a wonderful track for me,” Kenseth said prophetically prior to the race. And after the race, he simply said. “We just got all collected.”

Not Surprising: There was at least one driver that was ready to accept his 15^th place finish and head on to the road course at Watkins Glen for next weekend’s race.

“If you had asked me at the start of the day would I take a top-15 finish, I would have said yes but it was just a little frustrating there at the end,” Marcos Ambrose, driver of the No. 9 DeWalt Ford Said. “We had some issues and I probably let a few spots go, but we’ll keep digging and keep working on it.”

“It’s frustrating for all of us to not be as competitive at these downforce tracks as we want, but we’ve got a good one next week coming up and hopefully we can get rolling there.”

August 4, 2014

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Wins and Sweeps at Pocono Raceway

In 2006 it was Denny Hamlin. This time around, it was Dale Earnhardt Jr. who won for the second time this year at Pocono Raceway, effectively sweeping the season. Earnhardt picked up his third win of the season and his 22nd career victory in NASCAR’s most elite series. The last time he swept a race was in 2002 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Earnhardt credited the win to a team effort led by crew chief Steve Letarte saying, “Steve did a great job, really, with his strategy to get in that position. We’re not in that position just on car alone. We had a fast car and I drove a good race, but Steve’s strategy gave us a chance to win.”

Letarte cited the work the team has done since their first visit to the track earlier this season.

“I feel we unloaded a better car for the second Pocono than we did the first Pocono,” he said. “You cannot ever assume a winning car is going to be good enough the next week. While we were excited to win (in June) and we’ll take it, there was room for improvement, so we worked very hard between that race and this race.”

Coming in second in the GoBowling.com 400 was Kevin Harvick who definitely had his fair share of battles today, and third was Joey Logano.

The dominant car of the race was Jeff Gordon. After leading a race-high 63 laps, the No. 88 team strategy bested Gordon, and ultimately left the five-time Brickyard winner to finish a disheartening sixth place. Fortunately for Gordon and his fans, he was able to maintain the regular season points lead.

The race started when there was nearly a caution on lap one when Brad Keselowski almost lost his car after Kurt Busch attempted a pass of the No. 2 car. Fortunately, the race continued on smoothly until Jimmie Johnson encountered his first problem of the day.

The first caution of the day came when debris was reported on the track after Johnson brushed the wall and as soon as he went down, a tire blew. The 48 team went a lap down but almost immediately regained it when yet another caution came out.

Danica Patrick brought out the second caution while running in 10th as she clipped the wall which resulted in a blown tire.

Another two cautions were brought out and Kyle Busch’s day ended early when he encountered engine issues. After that, the race remained relatively quiet, despite the fact that there were three different pit strategies going on by the time that Johnson hit the wall and ruined his day.

On the restart, Denny Hamlin got a little loose which caused a 13 car accident that was reminiscent of what you would expect to see on a superspeedway like Talladega or Daytona. Cars that ran so well earlier in the day suddenly found themselves behind the wall. Drivers like Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, and Carl Edwards found themselves out of the running.

Another driver involved in the accident was race runner-up Kevin Harvick.

Under this caution, eventual race winner Earnhardt chose to pit, making it so he would only have to pit once more and only for a splash of gas when the time arose.

When the race restarted on lap 126 drivers were wary of gas, and it turns out that that wouldn’t be an issue, as the race went on to have two more cautions. On the first one, Earnhardt was able to take the lead for the first time and after the second caution, he was able to hold off a hard charging Harvick with three laps to go, and take the win.

The fourth place finisher was Clint Bowyer who ran strongly throughout the entirety of the race and fifth place went to Greg Biffle.

Jeff Gordon retains the points lead by 17 over second place Dale Earnhardt Jr. Brad Keselowski (-70) is third followed by Matt Kenseth (-89) and Ryan Newman (-115).

Complete Results for the GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway:

Position	Car No.	Driver
1	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2	4	Kevin Harvick
3	22	Joey Logano
4	15	Clint Bowyer
5	16	Greg Biffle
6	24	Jeff Gordon
7	1	Jamie McMurray
8	31	Ryan Newman
9	11	Denny Hamlin
10	5	Kasey Kahne
11	42	Kyle Larson
12	13	Casey Mears
13	41	Kurt Busch
14	9	Marcos Ambrose
15	3	Austin Dillon
16	51	Justin Allgaier
17	38	David Gilliland
18	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
19	34	David Ragan
20	83	Ryan Truex
21	26	Cole Whitt
22	7	Michael Annett
23	2	Brad Keselowski
24	98	Josh Wise
25	32	Travis Kvapil
26	37	Dave Blaney
27	36	Reed Sorenson
28	33	Alex Kennedy
29	99	Carl Edwards
30	10	Danica Patrick
31	23	Alex Bowman
32	78	Martin Truex Jr.
33	27	Paul Menard
34	47	AJ Allmendinger
35	43	Aric Almirola
36	14	Tony Stewart
37	55	Brain Vickers
38	20	Matt Kenseth
39	48	Jimmie Johnson
40	66	Joe Nemechek
41	40	Landon Cassill
42	18	Kyle Busch
43	93	Johnny Sauter

August 3, 2014

Rookie Kyle Larson Wins First Career Pole at Tricky Triangle

Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender and Drive4Diversity grad Kyle Larson scored his first career pole behind the wheel of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet at one of the most demanding tracks on the circuit, Pocono Raceway.

Larson took the pole in knock out qualifying with a track record speed of 183.438 mph and 49.063 seconds, qualifying him for the Sprint Unlimited. He joins rival Austin Dillon, who scored his first pole at the Daytona 500 to open the season, in rookie pole runs.

“It’s great to get my first real pole,” Larson said. “I got the pole at Richmond but that was due to qualifying rain and we were quickest in practice. This time we got to beat the rain and actually earn the pole.”

“It was an exciting third round and I had some butterflies actually going into it,” Larson continued. “I was definitely nervous. I felt like I hit all three corners as good as I could. I barely edged out Joey and he has been fast in qualifying.”

“It feels really good and allows me the confidence for Sunday.”

Right behind the rookie were the Penske duo of Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski, with speeds of 183.408 mph and 182.700 mph respectively. Logano has 17 top-ten starts and Keselowski is right behind him with 16 top-ten starts for the season.

“My Shell Pennzoil Ford is really fast,” the driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford said after qualifying. “We unload today and we were loose but the car had a lot of speed in it. We definitely made some good adjustments and in qualifying trim we were decent.”

“The first lap was really good and we tried to keep up with the cycle of tires and fuel,” Logano continued. “We ran the third session really hard and I felt like we nailed the balance and all three corners.”

“I was pretty confident that that was going to be the pole and then we got beat,” Logano said. “This is our sixth front row start of the season, which is good but second sucks. It’s still something to be proud of so we have two fast race cars. I thought my lap was damn near perfect but we got beat.”

Penske teammate Brad Keselowski echoed many of Logano’s sentiments in his shortened media availability due to his travel to Iowa for the Nationwide race.

“Third is a respectable effort,” the driver of the No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford said. “I always want the pole but we had to make an extra run there in the second session and that took us away from having a legitimate run with Kyle.”

“Strong effort. You can win from third and we’re happy with that and we’ll move on.”

As to his heading off to the Midwest after his qualifying at Pocono, Keselowski said that someone had to do that race and so he elected to make the trip.

“I enjoy Iowa,” Keselowski said. “The track has been good to me. Someone had to run it, either Joey or me. So, when we sat down at the start of the year to figure out who was going to start where, this was one that I thought would be good.”

Kurt Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet, and most recent race winner at the Brickyard Jeff Gordon, in the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet, rounded out the top-five in qualifying.

“I had a good turns one and two,” Busch said. “Just got in there and got a little bit too low and got the car out of the track and then had to peddle it all the way from the center out.”

“Still a good lap. The guys have done a good job and just have to get it right for race trim now.”

Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Danica Patrick qualified in the sixth through tenth positions for the 41^st Annual GoBowling.com 400. The rest of the starting grid is as follows:

Pos		Driver	Sponsor	Make
1	42	Kyle Larson	Target	Chevrolet
2	22	Joey Logano	Shell Pennzoil	Ford
3	2	Brad Keselowski	Alliance Truck Parts	Ford
4	41	Kurt Busch	Haas Automation	Chevrolet
5	24	Jeff Gordon	Axalta	Chevrolet
6	4	Kevin Harvick	Mobil 1	Chevrolet
7	18	Kyle Busch	M&M’s	Toyota
8	1	Jamie McMurray	Bad Boy Buggies	Chevrolet
9	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Michael Baker International	Chevrolet
10	10	Danica Patrick	GoDaddy	Chevrolet
11	3	Austin Dillon	American Ethanol	Chevrolet
12	5	Kasey Kahne	Farmers Insurance	Chevrolet
13	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Office	Toyota
14	15	Clint Bowyer	RK Motors Charlotte	Toyota
15	55	Brian Vickers	Aaron’s Dream Machine	Toyota
16	14	Tony Stewart	Code 3 Associates/Mobil 1	Chevrolet
17	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe’s	Chevrolet
18	20	Matt Kenseth	Dollar General	Toyota
19	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row	Chevrolet
20	47	AJ Allmendinger	Scott Products	Chevrolet
21	31	Ryan Newman	Quicken Loans	Chevrolet
22	51	Justin Allgaier	AccuDoc Solutions	Chevrolet
23	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford EcoBoost	Ford
24	13	Casey Mears	GEICO	Chevrolet
25	16	Greg Biffle	3M	Ford
26	99	Carl Edwards	Fastenal	Ford
27	9	Marcos Ambrose	DeWalt	Ford
28	43	Aric Almirola	GoBowling.com	Ford
29	27	Paul Menard	CertainTeed/Menards	Chevrolet
30	38	David Gilliland	Long John Silver’s	Ford
31	98	Josh Wise	Phil Parsons Racing	Chevrolet
32	40	Landon Cassill	Newton Building Supplies	Chevrolet
33	26	Cole Whitt	Toyota of Scranton	Toyota
34	32	Travis Kvapil	FAS Lane Racing	Ford
35	36	Reed Sorenson	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet
36	23	Alex Bowman	Dr. Pepper	Toyota
37	83	Ryan Truex	Burger King	Toyota
38	7	Michael Annett	Pilot Flying J	Chevrolet
39	34	David Ragan	A&W Root Beer Float	Ford
40	37	Dave Blaney	Accell Construction	Chevrolet
41	66	Joe Nemechek	Land Castle Title	Toyota
42	33	Alex Kennedy	Little Joe’s Autos	Chevrolet
43	93	Johnny Sauter	Dr. Pepper	Toyota

August 1, 2014

Statistical Breakdown: 2014 Brickyard 400

As an avid NASCAR fan, I love NASCAR statistics. I mean really love them. Beyond the typical top fives, top 10s, poles and other statistics you can easily find on most NASCAR-related websites, there is a smorgasbord of statistics available that you probably never knew existed. This information is compiled from loop data that NASCAR has accumulated since 2005 when they began using computerized scoring loops to improve the accuracy of scoring during races.

The driver rating is probably the best indicator of a driver’s overall performance. A perfect score is 150.0. It’s based on a formula that takes into account a variety of statistics such as finishing order, average running position, average speed and fastest lap. Bonus points are also a consideration. This is one of the tools that team owners and drivers can use to evaluate and improve their success on the track.

I’ve listed below the latest numbers generated from the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Average Running Position

Highest Average Running Position: Kasey Kahne – 4th

Lowest Average Running Position: Alex Bowman – 41^st

Passing Breakdown

Highest Percent of Quality Passes: (A quality pass is made when a driver passes a car running in the top 15 under green flag conditions). Brian Vickers: 50 percent

Highest Number of Quality Passes: Austin Dillon and Brian Vickers with 39 each.

Highest Number of Passes made under green flag conditions: Marcos Ambrose: 108

Lowest Number of Passes made under green flag conditions: Alex Bowman: 18

Highest Number of Times Passed under green flag conditions: Ryan Newman: 115

Lowest Number of Times Passed under green flag conditions: Alex Bowman: 13

Highest Differential between green flag passes and green flag times passed: Aric Almirola: 35

Lowest Differential between green flag passes and green flag times passed: Clint Bowyer: 25

Laps Breakdown

Highest Number of Fastest Laps: Jeff Gordon: 52

Highest Number of Laps in the Top 15: Kevin Harvick: 153

Driver Rating (A perfect driver rating is 150.0.)

Highest Driver Rating: Jeff Gordon: 138.4

Lowest Driver Rating; Alex Bowman: 24.8

August 1, 2014
Why the Brickyard 400 Could be Just as Boring as Last Year’s Race

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is one of the most coveted race tracks in the world. It has been the host of one of NASCAR’s most prestigious events since 1994. While some great NASCAR races have been held there, many fans, including myself, were frustrated by last year’s “yawn-fest” of a race.

I am usually quite lenient on the dullness of races and I try to find some exciting aspect to it. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any redeeming entertainment value to last year’s Brickyard 400. Sure, there’s prestige for the winner and there’s the mystique of The Brickyard history. However, does that mean the fans were truly entertained? No it doesn’t.

According to Racing Reference, the race had 20 lead changes which sounds great, except for one major issue; the race truly didn’t have 20 lead changes. In fact, I believe there were no legitimate lead changes at all. In other words, all of the lead changes came during green flag pit stops. And it wasn’t even lead changes that were scarce; passing in general looked to be almost impossible.

I’d love to tell you that that type of racing at The Brickyard won’t be seen this year, but I don’t see that happening. As you may have noticed, the new-and-improved Generation 6 car is faster than ever, and it wouldn’t surprise too many people if the track record at Indianapolis is broken again.

Track records are great, but that increase in speed can lead to difficulties in passing, which is why I believe we will see a repeat of 2013. In fact, it would come as no surprise if we saw another Hendrick versus Stewart-Haas battle, only this time it would be either Jeff Gordon versus Kevin Harvick or Jimmie Johnson versus Harvick. It’s quite possible that Brad Keselowski could do very well there. But I believe Hendrick horsepower will shine.

Beyond the simple fact that the higher speed, the less passing, the track is a general flat track, therefore lending itself to be a one groove surface. As a result, follow the leader racing becomes a common practice due to no second groove to work its way in. The single-groove syndrome is why other tracks, including Phoenix International Raceway, have switched to a progressive banking to therefore offer options across the track.

NASCAR has tried to improve things with taking away the minimum ride height rule; however that hasn’t changed the racing that much, just added a bonus for the teams. It may be why there will be teams struggling who haven’t in the past, but it won’t help the actual racing product at the end of the day.

So with that said my advice to you if you’re watching the race is to stock up on energy drinks so you can stay awake during what could be a terribly boring race. Here’s to hoping I’m dead wrong.

July 22, 2014
Surprising and Not Surprising: Camping World RV Sales 301

From the granite state where the ‘lobstah’ rules, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 22^nd Annual Camping World RV Sales 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Surprising: Team Penske had an interesting day, with one driver taking the broom while the other driver went boom. Brad Keselowski, this week behind the wheel of the No. 2 Redd’s Ford, took his broom to Victory Lane, sweeping both the Nationwide and Cup races and scoring his first lobster trophy at New Hampshire.

“I don’t want this moment to go away so quick,” Keselowski said. “This was just such a phenomenal weekend, and these don’t happen that often, and that’s what makes it special, and you try to appreciate them and enjoy them and hope that there’s more but not count on it, because these are big deals, winning races at the Sprint Cup level, sweeping a weekend, and it’s all possible because of the hard work and effort from everyone at Team Penske.”

His Penske teammate Joey Logano, however, went boom in his No. 22 AutoTrader.com Ford, colliding with Morgan Shepherd and wrecking out to finish 40^th.

“I got taken out by the slowest car out there,” Logano said after his collision with Shepherd. “You would think there would be some courtesy to the leaders. We were in second place. He gets out of the way on the straightaway and then goes into the corner and slides right up into the lane I was in.”

“Whatever. It is just dumb that it happened,” Logano continued. “I feel like that should be stuff that shouldn’t happen at this level of racing.”

Not Surprising: Right behind Keselowski, who was so dominant in this race, were the dueling Kyles, Kyle Busch, who came in second for the third consecutive time at New Hampshire, and Kyle Larson, who scored the highest rookie honors after finishing third for his fourth career top-five finish.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a rivalry,” Kyle Larson said of his race with Kyle Busch. “We just somehow are always finishing by each other. It seems like I’m usually one spot behind him (laughing), but it’ll change soon. It’ll change soon.”

Surprising: Jimmie Johnson, who has scored the lobster in Victory Lane at New Hampshire three times previously, hit the road surprisingly early after crashing out of the race on Lap 11 because of tire issues.

“The first one (tire) I was able to drive the car all the way through Turns 1 and 2,” Johnson said. “I knew I had a flat and then got down the back and came in.”

“The other one just blew on the straight as soon as I hit the brakes,” Johnson continued. “I’m not sure what caused it. I’m sure there will be a lot of speculation and I’m sure finger pointing back to the teams or our team. But we saw some issues here especially with that particular tire the last couple of days. We will try to dig in and learn more, but I can promise you one thing is wasn’t low tire pressure. I’ve been out here for two days running around and haven’t had a flat.”

“But on the bright side…I get to start vacation early,” Johnson later posted on his Facebook page.

Not Surprising: Matt Kenseth, who took the checkered flag in the fourth position, finally seemed pleased with the direction that his Joe Gibbs No. 20 team was headed.

“Overall, it was a good day for our Dollar General Camry,” Kenseth said. “I thought we really gained on it. Denny (Hamlin) and them guys really helped us a lot this week. I felt like all three cars were top-five race cars today. I feel like we’re definitely moving in the right direction.”

“I felt like we were definitely in the ball game today.”

Surprising: This season, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is such a competitor that even a 10^th place finish, especially after qualifying 28^th, was completely disappointing to him.

“That was frustrating, the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet, said. “That was the hardest I’ve ever worked for a 10th place finish. It’s been a real frustrating weekend to be honest. The guys worked real hard. Steve (Letarte, crew chief) and the engineers did their best to try to get the car more competitive. Just to be lacking that much speed against a lot of those guys, I had to drive so perfect every lap.”

“That was really frustrating,” Junior continued. “I wish we were better. We are going to have to come back here and run better than that to have a shot in the Chase. We will keep working.”

“10th place I’m really disappointed, but I remember when we used to like these.”

Not Surprising: NHMS was once again just a gas, gas, gas, with both Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick running out of fuel and finishing 26^th and 30^th respectively.

“We knew we were very close,” the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, said. “That pick-up is in the right side and so I was scuffing my tires and think I just took enough fuel out of the pick-up and I could never get any back in there.”

“I tried. I think if we would have gone green, we would have been fine,” Gordon continued. “I think it was really just because under caution it wouldn’t pick-up the amount of fuel that was in there.”

“We got to go for it so I thought it was a great call even if we did come up short.”

DeLana Harvick was not as positive about the fuel mileage rolling of the dice for her husband as Gordon seemed to be. She tweeted this after the race.

“Came out on the bullshittiness side of interesting today..#fuelmileage. Ready for a week off with my boys!”

Surprising: Martin Truex Jr. was the biggest mover, at least at the end of the race, gaining ten positions on the green-white-checkered restart and moving from 22^nd to finish 12^th at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

“The biggest reason we gained 12 positions on the final restart is that we had fresh tires and got in the right lane,” explained Truex. “We never had good restarts all day, but once we settled in and had a decent car we made a move at the end. You have to keep fighting — you never know what can happen.”

“That was a good call to come in for two tires during that last caution.”

Not Surprising: It is always tough to get back into a race car after being out for some time and even someone as adept at New Hampshire as Jeff Burton was no exception. Burton took the wheel of the No. 66 Let’s Go Places Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing and finished a disappointing 20^th at a track in which he has so often dominated in the past.

“We had a good car — we just never got track position,” Burton said. “And then Danica (Patrick) got into me there — I think Tony (Stewart) was working the outside and I think she just thought Tony was on the outside. Got the right side tore up.”

“After that, we never turned. We tried to fix it with changes, but we couldn’t fix it because it was all aero,” Burton continued. “I’m really disappointed with the outcome. Three-quarters of the way through the race I thought we’re doing pretty good.”

Surprising: A local hero racer Eddie MacDonald of Rowley, Massachusetts, made his Sprint Cup Series debut and finished the race in the 35^th spot. This also marked a milestone for the driver of the tryandrozene.com Ford as he completed all five of the sport’s top series.

“This is what I always dreamed of, being able to run in the Sprint Cup Race,” MacDonald said. “It meant the world for me to be able to do that and have my whole family here.”

“Our goal was just to stay up there, stay out of trouble and run as many laps as we could,” MacDonald continued. “Thankfully, we were able to stay out of trouble and get a fair finish.”

Not Surprising: TNT was given a fond farewell as they ended their partnership with NASCAR of 32 years.

“There is no question that the folks at Turner have been fantastic partners for the past 32 years, and we can’t thank them enough for everything they’ve done to grow the sport during that time frame,” Brian France, NASCAR chairman and chief executive officer, said. “Their dedication to producing first-class, innovative NASCAR broadcasts has never wavered.”

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will enjoy a weekend off next week and will resume with the race on Sunday, July 27^th at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

July 14, 2014
The Hot 20 – Elder Gents and Past Winners Lead the Way to New Hampshire

If you want to make the Chase, maybe one should win at New Hampshire. Out of 43 drivers entered and scheduled to make up the field at Loudon this Sunday, a whopping 16 of them have won at New Hampshire. They include the only four-time winner, 47-year old Jeff Burton, slated to drive the 66 Toyota of Jay Robinson. Along side will be his team mate, 50-year-old Joe Nemechek and a winner there in 1999, driving the 87. Kids. The oldest driver at Loudon has never won there in 14 attempts, going back to 1993. At the age of 72, Morgan Shepherd will be there in Joe Falk’s 33 Chevy.

Among our hot 20, based on points and super-sizing the winner’s bonus from 3 to 25 points, a dozen have had the post-race bubbly shower here before. Jeff Gordon is our king of the hill and while both he and Jimmie Johnson both have three wins at Loudon, neither really do not need another one. In reality, a win means a Chase spot, and they are both in. Same goes for Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Denny Hamlin. Matt Kenseth probably does not need one and Ryan Newman is still sitting pretty, but the same can not be said for Clint Bowyer, Greg Biffle, Brian Vickers or Kasey Kahne. Kurt Busch is not even in out Hot 20 but he has a win, though the same cannot be said for Tony Stewart.

As much as I think this system best showcases which drivers have actually been the most relevant during the season, I doubt NASCAR will adopt it. If I thought I had that much influence, you would never see ESPN’s current crew call another race, but I do not. Plus, giving a Chase spot to a New Hampshire winner would mean adios to the likes of Dale Earnhardt Jr, Brad Keselowski, and Carl Edwards, none of whom have won there. The kids, Austin Dillon and Kyle Larson, obviously have not. Take the free pass for last Sunday’s Daytona win, and Aric Almirola drops from 10th in the official rankings, drops from 19th on my list, down to 21st and with little hope of making the Chase. Of course, my method eliminates the Chase, and I have a feeling that Brian France would not be terribly receptive to that argument.

I think it a shame that wins put Almirola and Kurt Busch into a Chase place at the expense of Biffle and Vickers. Still, you cannot ignore the excitement that a single victory can bring to the driver, his team, or the fans. Winning is not easy, so maybe the reward is justified. Maybe.

That said, here is a look at my Hot 20 as they prepare for battle in New Hampshire this Sunday.

Ps – Driver – Pts – Wins
1 – Jeff Gordon – 673 – 1
2 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 668 – 2
3 – Jimmie Johnson – 662 – 3
4 – Brad Keselowski – 630 – 2
5 – Joey Logano – 590 – 2
6 – Carl Edwards – 587 – 2
7 – Matt Kenseth – 580 – 0
8 – Kevin Harvick – 558 – 2
9 – Kyle Busch – 546 – 1
10 – Ryan Newman – 534 – 0
11 – Paul Menard – 516 – 0
12 – Denny Hamlin – 515 – 1
13 – Clint Bowyer – 509 – 0
14 – Austin Dillon – 494 – 0
15 – Greg Biffle – 490 – 0
16 – Brian Vickers – 484 – 0
17 – Kyle Larson – 482 – 0
18 – Kasey Kahne – 482 – 0
19 – Aric Almirola – 474 – 1
20 – Marcos Ambrose – 472 – 0

July 10, 2014
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Daytona

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Jeff Gordon: Gordon overcame damage in an early wreck at Daytona and finished 12th, maintaining the points lead. He leads Dale Earnhardt Jr. by 27, as Hendrick drivers occupy the top three spots.

“It was all about survival,” Gordon said, “and I survived. ‘It’s called survival, only the strong can survive.’ And that may be the first and last time a NASCAR driver quotes Grand Master Flash.

“And speaking of NASCAR and rappers, I haven’t seen 50 Cent around lately. That may be because Erin Andrews told him to kiss off.”

2. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson was caught in a lap 20 wreck that ended his day with a 42nd-place finish, his worst of the year. He is third in the points standings, 55 out of first.

“What a day for Aric Almirola,” Johnson said. “Richard Petty made the 43 car famous; Almirola made it relevant, at least on Sunday. That makes Aric ‘King’ for a day. And he’ll be in the news consistently for the coming week. So, that makes Aric a loyal subject.”

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Earnhardt finished 14th at Daytona, the top finisher among Hendrick Motorsports cars. He is second in the Sprint Cup points standings, 27 behind Jeff Gordon.

“I was looking for the Daytona sweep,” Earnhardt said. “Unfortunately, there wasn’t a broom in sight—only mops.

“That’s probably one of the wettest weeks of racing at Daytona. The rain affected everything: practice, qualifying, and the race. But it was business as usual for Junior Nation in the Daytona infield—-their alcohol consumption dictates that they’re never dry.”

4. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished a lap down in 18th in the Coke Zero 400. Kesekowski’s No. 2 Chevy was one of 25 cars affected by a lap 97 pile-up that forced a red flag.

“I’m not sure who started that mess,” Keselowski said, “but I’d like to punch them. Hopefully, should I open up a can of whoop ass, somebody else will bleed, and not me.”

5. Carl Edwards: Edwards found trouble early at Daytona, becoming one of several cars involved in a lap 20 wreck started when Roush Fenway teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got loose. Edwards eventually finished 37th, 46 laps down.

“Tony Stewart was not happy with Stenhouse,” Edwards said. “He called him an ‘idiot.’ Trust me, you don’t want to be in Tony Stewart’s doghouse. It’s way too crowded in there.”

6. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth took 20th at Daytona in a race won by Aric Almirola’s No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports car. Kenseth, still winless on the year, is fifth in the points standings, 71 out of first.

“What a win for Almirola,” Kenseth said. “It’s always wide open when there’s a restrictor plate race. And when they say ‘anybody’ can win, what they really mean is a ‘nobody’ can win.”

7. Joey Logano: Logano finished 17th in a crash-filled Coke Zero 400 that left only 17 cars on the lead lap. He is now sixth in the points standings, 105 out of first.

“My teammate Brad Keselowski had the cut on his hand glued together,” Logano said. “And I believe it’s made him a better driver, because now he’s even more skilled at operating a ‘stick shift.’

“My car was leaving a trail of debris late in the race. As a result, I was black-flagged. That’s similar to my dad being black-listed.”

8. Kyle Busch: Busch finished 28th after being collected in lap 97’s “Big One,” which involved no less than 25 cars and left Busch’s No. 18 Toyota upside down.

“Jeremy Mayfield would call that a ‘roofie,’” Busch said, “or a ‘downer.’ Luckily, the tow truck was there quickly to turn me over. Mayfield would call that an ‘upper.’

“It was certainly a wild ride, and reminded me of that fateful day in Iredell County, North Carolina back in May of 2011. In that case, it wasn’t the ‘Big One’ that forced me into the grass on the side of the road, but a State Trooper.”

9. Aric Almirola: Almirola captured the rain-shortened Coke Zero 400, placing the No. 43 car in winner’s circle for the first time since 1999. The win came almost 30 years to the day of Richard Petty’s 200th and final NASCAR victory.

“It was a great day for ‘The King,’” Almirola said. “And Prince, too, because we’re gonna party like it’s 1999.

“I won $377,176 in prize money. I think I could win another weather-shortened race, or be a big-time player at the strip club, because with that kind of cash, you can really ‘make it rain.’”

10. Kevin Harvick: Harvick suffered damage in the first of two “Big Ones” in the Coke Zero 400. He eventually finished 39th after completing just 46 laps.

“Haas Automation became an official sponsor of Ferrari’s Formula 1 through the 2015 season,” Harvick said. “Gene Haas is an astute business man, and the timing of this deal is perfect. Before forming a partnership with Ferrari’s ‘Prancing Horse,’ he got into business with Tony Stewart’s ‘Ranting Donkey.’”

July 7, 2014
The Final Word – Rains delayed and shortened the race, but there were still fireworks at Daytona

Holy crap, what was that? If nothing else, the Firecracker 400 in Daytona sure was not predictable. A few yards short of a competition caution, many of the favorites were removed or seriously hampered when all hell broke loose. Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart got involved in a non-romantic triangle that involved some of the circuit’s best. Just past the half-way mark, they took care of a bunch of others with an even bigger demo derby. Greg Biffle caught up to Kasey Kahne, who in turn kissed Joey Logano, which commenced a wrecking orgy. In the end, half of the field was gone and those running up front were folks we usually expect to see running near the back.

Aric Almirola was not favored to return the iconic 43 that Richard Petty won his 200th win the Independence Day weekend thirty years ago, but he did. The rains that delayed the action for a day, and delayed it again early on Sunday, returned to finally put a wash to the proceedings prior to the three-quarter mark. The man in front was the 30-year old Tampa, Florida native, recording his first Cup victory in 125 starts. That goes with his single Nationwide win from 2007 and his two truck series triumphs back in 2010. Better yet, that car is all but entered into the Chase, with eight races to run before they settle on the 16 championship contenders.

Brian Vickers is not in a Chase place, yet finished second. Ditto for Casey Mears, in fourth. Danica Patrick and Marcos Ambrose had Top Ten days. Michael McDowell , who is not even in the Top 30 in points, was seventh on Sunday with Alex Bowman finishing 13th. Even part-timer Terry Labonte, the former two-time champ, was 11th. For some, it was worth the wait to run this thing.

For others, not so much, as barely half the field managed a hundred laps. Our list of likely Chasers who wound up in scrap metal included Jimmie Johnson (42nd), Kevin Harvick (39th), Carl Edwards (37th), Kyle Busch (28th), and Ryan Newman (24th). It is too early yet to get all tight ended about the chances of Kahne, Biffle, and Kyle Larson after they all finished outside the Top 25, but they could have done without this Daytona experience. On the other hand, Stewart and Jamie McMurray might be puckering up a little as both dropped points they could ill afford to lose. It has become even more likely than ever that without a win they will be running the final ten just for fun.

Almirola is the 11th driver to win this season, so as long as no more than five more drivers win their first of the season over the course of the next eight, he and the others will be in the Chase. Matt Kenseth is 90 points to the good in the Top 16, so he is secure as they sit right now. Newman also is strong, but things start to get tight after that. Still, anyone in the Top 20 can still dream of making it in on points, but the next dozen will need a win to even hope of making it.

Next Sunday it is New Hampshire. Sadly, that marks the final race broadcast on TNT before the ESPN gong show returns to test our love of the televised version of the sport. Adam, Wally, and Kyle, thanks for showing us how the job should be done.

Loudon could be the place where some winless drivers can show us how it should be done. Newman and Stewart each have three wins there. Clint Bowyer has a couple, and Biffle, Kenseth, Vickers, and Kahne also know where to find Victory Lane. Now, as long as other former New Hampshire winners, such as Johnson, Gordon, Harvick, Logano, Denny Hamlin, or one of the Busch brothers do not get greedy…

SWEET SIXTEEN
1 – Jimmie Johnson – 3 WINS – 596 POINTS
2 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 2 – 624
3 – Brad Keselowski – 2 – 586
4 – Joey Logano – 2 – 546
5 – Carl Edwards – 2 – 543
6 – Kevin Harvick – 2 – 514
7 – Jeff Gordon – 1 – 651
8 – Kyle Busch – 1 – 524
9 – Denny Hamlin – 1 – 493
10 – Aric Almirola – 1 – 452
11 – Kurt Busch – 1 – 422
12 – Matt Kenseth – 0 – 580
13 – Ryan Newman – 0 – 534
14 – Paul Menard – 0 – 516
15 – Clint Bowyer – 0 – 509
16 – Austin Dillon – 0 – 494

CONTENDERS & PRETENDERS
17 – Greg Biffle – 0 – 490
18 – Brian Vickers – 0 – 484
19 – Kyle Larson – 0 – 482
20 – Kasey Kahne – 0 – 482
21 – Marcos Ambrose – 0 – 472
22 – Tony Stewart – 0 – 465
23 – Jamie McMurray – 0 – 447
24 – Casey Mears – 0 – 438
25 – A.J. Allmendinger – 0 – 414
26 – Martin Truex, Jr. – 0 – 414
27 – Danica Patrick – 0 – 358
28 – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – 0 – 342
29 – Justin Allgaier – 0 – 319
30 – Michael Annett – 0 – 299
31 – David Gilliland – 0 – 256
32 – Cole Whitt – 0 – 254

July 7, 2014