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Tag: Kevin Harvick

  • Hot 20 heading into Michigan are led by the hot trio from Hendrick

    Hot 20 heading into Michigan are led by the hot trio from Hendrick

    Free enterprise is a great concept, though in the presence of a monopoly it does not work worth crap. If one outfit gains near total dominance over any industry, there is no competition. Standard Oil, AT&T, Microsoft, U.S. Steel, and even Western Union have been accused of holding monopolies at some point in their history. Maybe you could add Hendrick Motorsports to that list.

    Actually, such an accusation would be ridiculous. The company has just four entries in any 43 car field each week. However, the results they manage to compile certainly illustrates their dominance in the Cup series. The top three drivers to this point in the season, using our system of determining excellence, are all from Hendrick. Two of those drivers have ten season championships already to their credit. Jimmie Johnson has led higher than 21% of the laps run over the first 14 events, with the trio combining to take more than a third of those races.

    Very dominant, but not a monopoly. SHR’s Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski of Penske Racing have both had their time in front, and combined with Johnson the trio has led more than half of the laps run to date. When you include Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth, and Kyle Busch in the mix, you have eight drivers with four organizations who have led more than 83% of the laps this season. Now, that is dominance. It kind of makes you wonder what the other 35 folks are doing. My guess is that they are busy looking at the back bumpers of those other fellows.

    Sunday might bring more of the same, as Earnhardt, Gordon, Kenseth, Ky. Busch, and Logano have all won there before. Interestingly, while Jimmie Johnson has not in 24 attempts, Greg Biffle has four on that track, including the race last spring. Maybe it is time for the Biff to join in the fun, running closer to the headlights than their tail lights.

    (No chase, and wins are worth 25 points instead of 3)

    Driver – Points – Wins
    1 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 520  – 2
    2 – Jeff Gordon – 520  – 1
    3 – Jimmie Johnson – 519 – 2
    4 – Matt Kenseth – 482
    5 – Brad Keselowski – 470 – 1
    6 – Kyle Busch – 465 – 1
    7 – Carl Edwards – 463 – 1
    8 – Joey Logano – 462 – 2
    9 – Kevin Harvick – 447 – 2
    10 – Denny Hamlin – 444 – 1
    11 – Kyle Larson – 417
    12 – Ryan Newman – 411
    13 – Brian Vickers – 392
    14 – Greg Biffle – 385
    15 – Austin Dillon – 385
    16 – Clint Bowyer – 383
    17 – Paul Menard – 380
    18 – Tony Stewart – 368
    19 – Aric Almirola – 366
    20 – A.J. Allmendinger – 360

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

     

     

     

     

     

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

     

  • Denny Hamlin Looking Forward to Race Day with Pocono Pole Run

    Denny Hamlin Looking Forward to Race Day with Pocono Pole Run

    Denny Hamlin, four-time winner at the ‘Tricky Triangle’, scored the pole for the 33rd annual Pocono 400 with a fast lap of 181. 415 mph and a time of 49.610 seconds. Hamlin broke Jimmie Johnson’s previous track record of 180.654 mph and 49.819 seconds set in August 2013.

    This is Hamlin’s 19th pole in 304 Cup races, his second pole of the season and his third pole at Pocono Raceway. Hamlin’s previous two Pocono poles resulted in victories.

    “It was really good throughout each session,” the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota said. “We were not a pole winning car after practice or really I didn’t think throughout the first round. We just kept getting our car three to four tenths better every time we ran it. A little bit of that was repetition and me getting better and Darian (Grubb, crew chief) made good adjustments throughout each session.”

    “Really it all worked out for us for a pole run. I’m very proud to have that especially at a race track here where track position is going to be premium,” Hamlin continued. “I’m looking forward to Sunday now.”

    As at most tracks, Hamlin acknowledged that the first pit stall was one of the most important perks of having that pole run, however, shared a caveat that the first pit stall was better under the yellow flag than the green at Pocono.

    “The number one pit stop is really good on yellow flag stops but it hurts you a little bit on the green flag stops simply because you don’t have the momentum exiting pit road,” Hamlin said. “But we’ll take it as most of the stops we will be doing will be on yellow flag positions. As tough as passing is, it’s better to be up front than battle through the traffic.”

    Hamlin also credited his qualifying success with the fact that he felt the track was beginning to age a bit, thanks to the temperature changes and the weather. And for Hamlin, that edge could be just the ticket to another ‘w’ under his belt.

    “As the track is wearing in, we’re starting to get our edge back,” Hamlin said. “Typically when you have a car that can get the pole, it tells me we have all the parts and pieces in the car to be successful here.”

    Kurt Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet, qualified in the runner up spot by just two one thousandths of a second. Busch qualified second with a speed of 181.408 mph and a time of 49.612 seconds and scored his fifth top ten start of the season.

    “It was a great run for our Haas Automation Chevy,” Busch said. “We came here with a new approach and to try to get our front ends to settle into the race track a little better. This track can lead to finding some comfort with how smooth it is from the repave.”

    “I was really surprised we had the speed for the pole,” Busch continued. “It’s great to be able to cash in on our first attempt to try a little something different.”

    “It’s just nice to confirm a change on the car and see it go in the right direction.”

    The third position in qualifying was secured by Brad Keselowski, with a speed of 181.316 mph and a time of 49.637 seconds. This was Keselowski’s second top-10 start at Pocono and the thirteenth pole for Team Penske in 2014.

    “We were just all really close on speed,” the driver of the No. 2 Redd’s Ford said. “I didn’t think Denny was that quick but I knew by the second round that Kurt was. We put up a decent lap but just a tiny bit short. On a two and a half mile track, that’s pretty dang close.”

    “I’m proud of the efforts qualifying each and every week,” Keselowski said. “It’s certainly helpful and I’m sure we will get a great pit stall which is always important to us.”

    Kevin Harvick, in the No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet, and Jeff Gordon, driving the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet rounded out the top five in qualifying, with speeds of 180.832 and 180.513 mph respectively.

    All of the manufacturers were well represented in Pocono qualifying, with Kyle Busch’s Toyota in the sixth spot and then the Ford of Logano, the Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the Toyota of Brian Vickers and the Ford of Carl Edwards completing the top ten.

    With just 0.562 seconds separating the tenth place qualifier, Carl Edwards, in that tenth spot in his No. 99 Kellogg’s/Cheez-It Ford, summed it up best.

    “That was some pretty tight competition there,” Edwards said. “The track, the cars run really well here so if you make one small mistake it is really amplified because there is so much time on the throttle.”

    “That is a tough qualifying session.”

    2014 NSCS Pocono 400 Starting Lineup

    Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
    1 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 49.61 181.415
    2 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 49.612 181.408
    3 2 Brad Keselowski Redd’s Ford 49.637 181.316
    4 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevrolet 49.77 180.832
    5 24 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet 49.858 180.513
    6 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Peanut Butter Toyota 49.873 180.458
    7 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 50.048 179.827
    8 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Chevrolet 50.121 179.565
    9 55 Brian Vickers Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 50.126 179.548
    10 99 Carl Edwards Kelloggs/Cheez-It Ford 50.172 179.383
    11 3 Austin Dillon # Dow Chevrolet 50.188 179.326
    12 14 Tony Stewart Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 50.244 179.126
    13 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 50.207 179.258
    14 42 Kyle Larson # Target Chevrolet 50.215 179.229
    15 31 Ryan Newman Wix Filters Chevrolet 50.259 179.072
    16 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet 50.265 179.051
    17 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Chevrolet 50.286 178.976
    18 1 Jamie McMurray Cushman/Cessna Chevrolet 50.302 178.919
    19 15 Clint Bowyer RK Motors Charlotte Toyota 50.342 178.777
    20 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet 50.37 178.678
    21 47 AJ Allmendinger Clorox Chevrolet 50.48 178.288
    22 43 Aric Almirola Nathan’s Famous Ford 50.521 178.144
    23 27 Paul Menard Moen/Menards Chevrolet 50.553 178.031
    24 51 Justin Allgaier # BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet 50.765 177.288
    25 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 50.549 178.045
    26 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota 50.571 177.968
    27 5 Kasey Kahne Great Clips Chevrolet 50.588 177.908
    28 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Zest Ford 50.61 177.83
    29 9 Marcos Ambrose Stanley Ford 50.801 177.162
    30 7 Michael Annett # Pilot Flying J Chevrolet 51.047 176.308
    31 40 Landon Cassill(i) Newtown Building Supplies Inc. Chevrolet 51.129 176.025
    32 34 David Ragan Taco Bell Ford 51.159 175.922
    33 32 Travis Kvapil Corvetteparts.net Ford 51.175 175.867
    34 23 Alex Bowman # Dr.Pepper Toyota 51.231 175.675
    35 38 David Gilliland Long John Silver’s Ford 51.249 175.613
    36 36 Reed Sorenson Theme Park Connection Chevrolet 51.441 174.958
    37 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford Owner Points
    38 44 JJ Yeley(i) All City Leasing & Warehousing Chevrolet Owner Points
    39 66 Timmy Hill Land Castle Title Toyota Owner Points
    40 26 Cole Whitt # Burger King Toyota Owner Points
    41 83 Ryan Truex # Burger King Toyota Owner Points
    42 33 Alex Kennedy Dream Factory Chevrolet Owner Points
    43 77 Dave Blaney AmyFchlrVtrnsLwAttrnyLLC/valor4vets.cm Frd Owner Points

    (i) Ineligible for Driver Points in this Series, # Denotes Rookie

    Source: Timing and Scoring provided by NASCAR Media/NASCAR Statistics

    – See more at: http://www.catchfence.com/2014/sprintcup/06/06/2014-nscs-pocono-400-starting-lineup/#sthash.GStwOJND.dpuf

     

  • Hot 20 – The season’s best driver does not always claim the Cup championship

    Hot 20 – The season’s best driver does not always claim the Cup championship

    There is something about having a single win and getting into the Chase. It gives everyone a chance, one that for some would have pretty much been gone in the wind. Kurt Busch is having about as much luck as Danica Patrick right now, but he has his win. If Danica could just get one, somehow, somewhere, she also could launch herself amongst our contenders. It is that simple. Heck, even Josh Wise could make some noise if he could win, and work his way into the Top 30. Everyone in the Top 36, in fact, still has hope, and that might be a good thing. If not, then the debate as to who will be our new champion would be down to talking about no more than nine or ten drivers.

    Using today’s point system, but giving the winner 25 points instead of just 3, the Hendrick duo of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson rise to the top. Yet, should Matt Kenseth take the prize at Pocono on Sunday he would take over the top rung no matter what the other two boys did. Winning has its privileges, and while it is not as generous or as forgiving as the official method, this does offer a truer reflection of who is hot and who is not.

    If you are a sponsor of Carl Edwards, Joey Logano, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, or Kevin Harvick, you should be pleased. At the one-third mark of the season, those drivers and the aforementioned trio have been the most relevant each week, with a nod to Denny Hamlin. He remains close even after having to take an extra week off. Yes, that win does help.

    Being the best over the course of the season has never ensured a driver of a championship, no matter what points system or method has been used in the past. Jimmie Johnson (2004), Ryan Newman (2003), Jeff Gordon (1996), Rusty Wallace (1994), Bill Elliott (1985), Darrell Waltrip (1984), and David Pearson (1973) are just the most recent examples. Come to think of it, I wonder how we would look at Newman today had his 8 wins trumped the single victory of Kenseth in determining the crown that season? How would our perceptions have changed in regards to the likes of Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Terry Labonte, and Benny Parsons?

    While we will watch each week to see if a win can salvage somebody’s season, to witness which 16 will be eligible for the title, and who gets eliminated from contention over the final ten events, we should try and remember the drivers who gave us cause to watch each and every week. Here are the hot 20 who have done just that this season.

    (Win bonus increased from 3 points to 25)

    Driver – Points (Wins)
    1 Jeff Gordon – 483 (1)
    2 Jimmie Johnson – 480 (2)
    3 Matt Kenseth – 463
    4 Carl Edwards – 460 (1)
    5 Joey Logano – 458 – (2)
    6 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 451 (1)
    7 Kyle Busch – 433 (1)
    8 Brad Keselowski – 426 (1)
    9 Kevin Harvick – 417 (2)
    10 Denny Hamlin – 401 (1)
    11 Kyle Larson – 377
    12 Ryan Newman – 374
    13 Brian Vickers – 366
    14 Paul Menard – 362
    15 Austin Dillon – 358
    16 Greg Biffle – 357
    17 Clint Bowyer – 350
    18 Kasey Kahne – 349
    19 Aric Almirola – 344
    20 A.J. Allmendinger – 337

     

     

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Monster Mile FedEx 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Monster Mile FedEx 400

    With Miles the Monster rearing his ugly head in more ways than one, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 45th annual FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway.

    Surprising: The winning crew chief, usually the one of the most up-tight people in the garage area as even he admits, must have been inspired by Pharrell’s ‘Happy’ song that played pre-race at the Monster Mile.

    Chad Knaus, crew chief for two-time 2014 winner, nine-time Dover winner, and six-time champ Jimmie Johnson, was surprisingly animated in expressing his happiness in the media center after the race.

    “Quite honestly I’m at the best point in my life,” Knaus said. “I’ve been very fortunate to have been in this sport for a long time.”

    “I’ve seen it grow and change, and it’s been a weird circuitous route to get to where we are now, but quite honestly, I’ve never been happier in my life – with my personal life, my performance at the racetrack, what we’ve got going on, and Jimmie has helped a lot with that,” Knaus continued. “So has Mr. Hendrick as far as making me understand that I’ve got to take time away from the facility and understand that there’s life outside of motorsports.”

    “I’ve tried for a long time to deny that fact, but I’m really, really enjoying it all the way around,” Knaus said. “It’s fun. It’s busy as ever, but we’re in a good spot right now.”

    “Everything is great.”

    Not Surprising: Clint Bowyer did his best impression of Miley Cyrus’ ‘Wrecking Ball’, at least in the minds of Joe Gibbs Racing, hitting Kyle Busch and knocking him out of the race early on and then getting into Matt Kenseth on the last restart, after Kenseth spun his tires a bit.

    “It was a day alright,” Bowyer said. “I hated to be in that situation with the 18 (Kyle Busch). It’s one of those deals where I thought I was clear and obviously wasn’t and ruined his day and certainly didn’t help mine.”

    “I had a pretty good run at him (Matt Kenseth) and he was still spinning when I hit him and I knocked him into the wall and I was like, ‘Not another (Joe) Gibbs (Racing) car.’ But what a day. Frustrating day.”

    Bowyer did swing back, however, scoring a fourth place finish in his No. 15 Cherry5-hrEnergySpecialOpsWarriorFnd Toyota.

    Surprising: For only the third time in the past few years, including Martinsville and Daytona, the track itself became part of the headline as a piece of concrete two to three inches deep and six to eight inches wide dislodged, damaging Jamie McMurray’s car as well as the Monster Mile walkway.

    The red flag was displayed for 22 minutes and 22 seconds as NASCAR and the track officials made repairs to the hole in the concrete as well as the shattered area of the walkway.

    “We have equipment and we have product at every facility,” Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s Vice President of Competition and Racing Operations, said. “It is an epoxy type filler that we use, and it’s basically the same filler that’s used any time we make a repair at the track, whether it be asphalt or concrete.”

    “The track doesn’t want things like this to happen any more than we do or the competitors do,” Pemberton continued. “You always have to be ready for the emergencies and everybody wants to have the same perfect race day as they can.”

    Not Surprising: Jamie McMurray was not the only one impacted by unexpected objects encountered on the race track. Martin Truex Jr.’s car was hit by a bird in practice on Friday at the Monster Mile, causing damage to the left headlight area.

    For once, however, the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet, was able to overcome the adversity, scoring his best finish to date in 2014 in the sixth position.

    “All in all, it was a good day,” Truex said. “You can just feel that we’re heading in the right direction.”

    “And all the dumb luck we’ve had didn’t bite us today,” the New Jersey native said. “Dover has been good to me over the years and it was also a great feeling to bring home a strong effort at what I consider my home track.”

    Surprising: Brett Moffitt made his debut in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Jay Robinson Racing and scored a very respectable 22nd place finish in the No. 66 Land Castle Title Toyota. The 21 year old, who tests for Michael Waltrip Racing and Toyota Racing Development, combined that relationship with the Robinson team for the opportunity.

    “Hopefully this will open up more opportunities,” Moffitt said. “Obviously I hope this leads to more races…it’s just about having the right people beside you telling you, ‘Look man, you can do this, just keep digging.’”

    “That’s what I’ve been doing.”

    Not Surprising: Starting at the back of the pack due to an engine change did not deter this young driver one bit. Kyle Larson, behind the wheel of the No. 42 Cottonelle Chevrolet, weaved and bobbed his way through the field to finish as the highest placed rookie yet again.

    Larson finished eleventh and is nineteen points ahead of Austin Dillon in the Rookie of the Year standings to date.

    Surprising: Team Penske had what looked like a good race weekend at the Monster Mile, with Brad Keselowski starting from the pole position and Joey Logano starting third. Both drivers finished the race in the top-10, with Keselowski in the runner up position and Logano in eighth but were surprisingly disappointed after the race, especially about their performance in the pits.

    “Yeah, we just had an up-and-down day,” the driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford said. “I started up front and faded to the back pretty early in the race. We just weren’t where we needed to be in the car.”

    “I thought we were going to get a crack at Jimmie (Johnson) and then that last caution came out and we just kind of whiffed on pit road, came out way behind.”

    “I drove back up there, and with the help of the restart got up to second but we just never could really get in front of him.”

    “We weren’t very good today,” the driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford said. “Some runs we were and some runs we weren’t. We had a tough day on pit road in the beginning.”

    “We were chasing the car all day and that is what screwed us up.”

    Not Surprising:   Team Penske was not the only one having trouble in the pits. Kevin Harvick, who has been vocal in the media about his disappointment in his team’s performance, struggled yet again.

    The driver of the No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet had eight stops on pit road, for a total average of 42.074 seconds. Harvick and company finished 17th one lap down, after starting the race in the eighth position.

    Surprising: In spite of his difficulties, including getting hit by the No. 47 of AJ Allmendinger, crashing hard into the wall, and being in the garage for an extended period for repairs, Greg Biffle and his Pit Bulls were able to keep their streak of completing every race going, the longest in the sport since 2011.

    “I didn’t really know what happened,” the driver of the No. 16 3M Ford said. “I just knew that the No. 47 got into us pretty hard and turned us into the fence. They were racing hard back there and he stuck it into a hole that maybe there wasn’t room for, I guess and he slid off the bottom, got his right-rear caught by the No. 17 and up into us.”

    “It was a chain reaction,” Biffle continued. “This place is tight and fast and when you get racing that hard back there on a restart, stuff like that is going to happen.”

    Not Surprising: Although four-time champ Jeff Gordon seemingly had a good car early on, he faded late in the race to finish 15th, which not surprisingly handed the points lead off to third place finisher Matt Kenseth.

    Kenseth now leads by just two points over Gordon, with Carl Edwards third, Jimmie Johnson fourth and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. rounding out the top five in the point standings after the Monster Mile.

  • The Final Word – Dover is over and now to Pocono where Jimmie has not won for an entire year!

    The Final Word – Dover is over and now to Pocono where Jimmie has not won for an entire year!

    Even a ball player could appreciate Jimmie Johnson’s average at Dover, having gone 9 for 25 for a sweet .360 average. Sunday, Johnson led much of the way to lock down his second of the season. Brad Keselowski, who has a win, finished second while Matt Kenseth, who does not, was third. That fact should not be cause to worry at the moment, as Kenseth still has more points than anyone, even without a victory to his credit. If this keeps up, he might not need one.

    Tony Stewart needs a win to make the Chase, but a seventh place result was as good as it got. Kevin Harvick has two wins, but a flat as they came to green after a caution removed him from the lead and contention. Kurt Busch, who has a win and precious little else, was one back of Harvick, in 18th. As for Danica Patrick, if 25th is a decent day, she was better than decent by two positions.

    Some teams you expect to be better, some not. Not much is expected from the BK Racing trio of Cole Whitt (27th), Ryan Truex (32nd), and Alex Bowman (40th) and we were not surprised. We thought Roush would be running better, but Carl Edwards (14th) was as good as it got for those boys as circumstances left Greg Biffle (38th) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr (41st) all torn up. Hendrick may have won, but Penske had the better average with Keselowski and Joey Logano both in the Top Ten.

    When is all clear not all clear? Ask Clint Bowyer or, better yet, ask Kyle Busch. Seeking the weekend Dover three-peat, Busch was charging to the outside of Bowyer, but that is not what his spotter told him. It was clear to us that Rowdy was looking to the outside, only to wind up squeezed into the fence and out of the race. He had definite evil intentions aimed at his rival, but the guy he really should have wanted was high up in the grandstands. Oops.

    When is debris not really debris? It is not if you run over a chunk of concrete and reduce it in size by blasting it to chunks and dust. Ask Jamie McMurray, who was the beneficiary of the gift of masonry Ryan Newman kicked up just in front of him from the newly formed pothole. McMurray clobbered it but good to split his splitter and send him fence-ward. Interestingly enough, he was 16th at the time, yet finished 13th.

    While I shall miss FOX, I believe TNT’s coverage of NASCAR is the superior. Should we discover Pocono to be boring, yet we continue to watch primarily due to the entertainment provided by the announcers, then we have found folks who know how to do their job.

    Why don’t the New York Yankees play three of four games a month against minor league teams on national television? The reason is that would be stupid, but enough about Kyle Busch.

    As long as there are less than 16 race winners, wins lock you into the Chase while being the best in points will still get you there. Welcome to a world where Kurt Busch can lead Matt Kenseth in the standings, where a single victory trumps having more points than anybody else. That means that by this time next week, anyone from the top 36 could find themselves in the Chase by simply winning this Sunday at Pocono. Nothing to it.

     

    SWEET SIXTEEN
    1 Jimmie Johnson – 2 WINS – 436 Points
    2 Joey Logano – 2 WINS – 414
    3 Kevin Harvick – 2 WINS – 373
    4 Jeff Gordon -1 WIN – 461
    5 Carl Edwards -1 WIN – 438
    6 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 1 WIN – 429
    7 Kyle Busch – 1 WIN – 411
    8 Brad Keselowski – 1 WIN – 404
    9 Denny Hamlin – 1 WIN – 379
    10 Kurt Busch – 1 WIN – 241
    11 Matt Kenseth – 463 POINTS
    12 Kyle Larson – 377
    13 Ryan Newman – 374
    14 Brian Vickers – 366
    15 Paul Menard – 362
    16 Austin Dillon – 358

    CONTENDERS AND PRETENDERS
    17 Greg Biffle – 357
    18 Clint Bowyer – 350
    19 Kasey Kahne – 349
    20 Aric Almirola – 344
    21 A.J. Allmendinger – 337
    22 Tony Stewart – 336
    23 Marcos Ambrose – 331
    24 Jamie McMurray – 317
    25 Casey Mears – 301
    26 Martin Truex, Jr. – 289
    27 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – 261
    28 Danica Patrick – 239
    29 Justin Allgaier – 223
    30 Michael Annett – 188

    PARTICIPANTS
    31 Cole Whitt – 181
    32 David Gilliland – 175
    33 Reed Sorenson – 165
    34 David Ragan – 158
    35 Alex Bowman – 156
    36 Josh Wise – 149

     

  • The Hot 20 – It ain’t over till Johnson wins again at Dover

    The Hot 20 – It ain’t over till Johnson wins again at Dover

    Jimmie Johnson won last week. The odds are that Johnson will win again this week. Nothing is for sure, but a 33% winning rate anywhere is astronomical and Six Time has done it eight times in 24 attempts in Delaware. At least we will not have to hear his name dropped in the ongoing non-story as to “when, oh when might he win again?”

    No, now it will be Matt Kenseth the focal point of these nonsensical hand wringers. We have 14 races to the Chase, 14 more bids for victory to make it. Me thinks it a bit too early to worry about such things, especially when it comes to the former champ. Never in the modern era has more than 16 drivers won prior to race number 27, and considering Kenseth has the second highest point total even without a win he is just fine, for now. Those outside the Top 16, well, they might have cause for worry.

    Just what in the world is wrong at Stewart-Haas? Sure, Kevin Harvick has a couple of wins and does well, as long as the car stays together. Kurt Busch has a win, but without it he would be buried in the depths with Tony Stewart and Danica Patrick. We might view Patrick’s body of work and toss her under the bus as just not being good enough, but you cannot do that for Stewart or Busch. Now, if you want to start wailing as to Smoke’s woes and his need for a victory, go right ahead. He will need one. For that matter, what about Clint Bowyer, Jamie McMurray, and Martin Truex Jr? I think it is pretty clear now that none of them can make the Chase on points alone.

    I have some sad news to bring to your attention. Soon we will say goodbye to the FOX guys after Dover, as TNT takes over for a six race run before surrendering the coverage to ESPN in late July. Enjoy Chris, Michael, Darrell, Mike, Larry, Jeff and all those infield boys and girls while you can. Savor Adam, Wally, and Kyle when they come our way from June to mid-July. Soon enough it will be back to Allen, Brad, and Rusty, but at least it will be for only one more excruciating season.

    By leaving the points alone, other than giving 22 bonus points per win, we see that Jeff Gordon remains our top driver over the season, with Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards in the mix. However, if all goes according to the script at Dover, I would expect the guy in seventh to move up the ladder significantly by the time the weekend comes to a close.

    Driver – Points – Wins
    1 Jeff Gordon – 454 – 1
    2 Kyle Busch – 430 – 1
    3 Carl Edwards – 430 – 1
    4 Joey Logano – 422 – 2
    5 Matt Kenseth – 421
    6 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 416 – 1
    7 Jimmie Johnson – 410 – 1
    8 Kevin Harvick – 389 – 2
    9 Brad Keselowski – 383 – 1
    10 Brian Vickers – 365
    11 Denny Hamlin – 362 – 1
    12 Ryan Newman – 361
    13 Greg Biffle – 351
    14 Kyle Larson – 344
    15 Austin Dillon – 334
    16 Paul Menard – 328
    17 Kasey Kahne – 324
    18 A.J. Allmendinger – 314
    19 Aric Almirola – 312
    20 Clint Bowyer – 309

  • The Final Word – A Racing Junky’s Sunday, from Monaco to Indianapolis to Charlotte

    The Final Word – A Racing Junky’s Sunday, from Monaco to Indianapolis to Charlotte

    It is the greatest day on the motorsports calender. We begin in southern Europe, head over to the Midwest United States, then back to stock car’s heartland in the southeast. Using my vast wealth, I guess I could have dropped by to visit Prince Albert before firing up my Star Trek transporter to take in the action in the New World, but I could not help but notice that I have a fair sized television screen, a nice comfy couch, with a refrigerator and a washroom just feet away. I did not even have to wear pants…though I did. Welcome to how I spent my Sunday.

    The first stop on the world tour was Monaco, where they have been racing on the two-mile layout in Monte Carlo since 1929. My first impression was that they must be out of their damn minds. No room, lots of turns and elevation changes. The next thing that strikes you is the opulence to remind us of all those things some have that most of us do not. Anyone else notice the yachts? Then there were the sponsors, and as I watched I wondered what products I might be able to afford or want. I did notice Johnnie Walker.

    Visually it was stunning, but as for racing, it was more like stunt driving. It was all Mercedes as Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton led from the very start, with Rosberg taking his second straight Monaco victory as Hamilton held off a late charging Daniel Ricciardo with Red Bull. It was not my kind of racing, but it sure was one hell of a ride. If NASCAR could only put forth that kind of stimulating visual spectacular each and every week, they would never again have to worry about television ratings.

    An even older tradition continued as the Indianapolis 500 continued a competition that began in 1911. Twenty-seven-year-old Marco Andretti, still winless after eight attempts on this track, was considered the favorite going in, ahead of three-time winner Helio Castroneves. Former NASCAR full-timer Juan Pablo Montoya was also given a shot, at 8-to-1, but most fender fans were wondering how 30-to-1 driver Kurt Busch would do as he attempted the double, running both Indianapolis and Charlotte. Two hundred thousand were in the stands to watch 83-year old Jim Nabors who returned to sing “Back Home Again in Indiana” for the final time, and somewhere a bottle of milk was being chilled for the winner of the world’s biggest single day sports event. That turned out to be Florida’s Ryan Hunter-Reay, who passed Castroneves for the victory, with Andretti settling for third. Montoya brought it home in fifth, while Busch finished sixth.

    Oh, but Busch was not finished, not on this day. He was off to Charlotte, North Carolina and the Coca Cola 600 as the 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup champ had not even completed half of his on-track work just yet. Well, according to his engine, he actually was. It only lasted 400 miles before going up in smoke, same as that of teammate Danica Patrick. The trio who dominated much of the event finished on top, with Jimmie Johnson claiming his first of the season and 67th of his Cup career, ahead of Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth. It was an interesting race, an enjoyable race, but no surprises loomed at the end of the night. So concluded a memorable Memorial Day for televised racing.

    As they reset for next Sunday’s action in Dover, Joey Logano and Harvick continue to lead the way atop the Cup standings with a couple of wins apiece. 12 races in and still more than 30 drivers have a shot at the Chase, and all it would take is a visit to Victory Lane this upcoming weekend.

    SWEET SIXTEEN
    1 Joey Logano – 2 WINS – 378 Pts
    2 Kevin Harvick – 2 WINS – 345
    3 Jeff Gordon – 1 WIN – 432
    4 Kyle Busch -1 WIN – 408
    5 Carl Edwards – 1 WIN –  408
    6 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 1 WIN – 394
    7 Jimmie Johnson – 1 WIN – 388
    8 Brad Keselowski – 1 WIN – 361
    9 Denny Hamlin – 1 WIN – 340
    10 Kurt Busch – 1 WIN – 215
    11 Matt Kenseth – 421 POINTS
    12 Brian Vickers – 365
    13 Ryan Newman – 361
    14 Greg Biffle – 351
    15 Kyle Larson – 344
    16 Austin Dillon – 334

    CONTENTERS & PRETENDERS
    17 Paul Menard – 328
    18 Kasey Kahne – 324
    19 A.J. Allmendinger – 314
    20 Aric Almirola – 312
    21 Clint Bowyer – 309
    22 Marcos Ambrose – 303
    23 Tony Stewart – 299
    24 Jamie McMurray – 286
    25 Casey Mears – 282
    26 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – 258
    27 Martin Truex, Jr. – 251
    28 Danica Patrick – 218
    29 Justin Allgaier – 205
    30 Michael Annett – 179

    PARTICIPANTS
    31 Cole Whitt – 164
    32 David Gilliland – 160
    33 Alex Bowman – 152
    34 David Ragan – 150
    35 Reed Sorenson – 145
    36 Josh Wise – 133

     

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Coca Cola 600

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Coca Cola 600

    With military tributes abounding and NASCAR patriotism at its best, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 55th annual running of the sport’s longest race, the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    Surprising: In a sport where man so often is at the mercy of machine, the competitive spirit of the drivers surprisingly triumphed over whatever difficulties they were facing in their race cars.

    One such example of perseverance was Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, who triumphed over back spasms that were so severe that he missed final practice to finish the longest race of the season in the seventh spot.

    “It was tough,” Gordon said after the race. “I was aching in there. There was one time when I got on the brakes into (Turn) 1 and it triggered something. I didn’t know what was going to happen after that, but it settled down.”

    “I’m happy that I got through it. It tells me a lot about what kind of threshold I have and I just want to show this team the kind of commitment I have to them because of what they have shown me this year.”

    The driver who triumphed most mightily over his race machines, however, was Kurt Busch, who raced his heart out in the Indianapolis 500, finishing sixth in his rookie effort, and then went on to race in the Coke 600, only to have his engine give up the ghost on Lap 271.

    “To feel the stock car right after driving the Indy car was a day I’ll never forget,” the driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Made in America Chevrolet, said. “I can’t let the mood here with the car dampen what happened up at Indy today. That was very special.”

    “Andretti Autosport gave me a top-five car to try and win the 500 with, and these Stewart-Haas guys gave me a good car too,” Busch continued. “The motor just went, sometimes that happens. All in all I gave it my all.”

    Not Surprising: For Hendrick Motorsports, with their headquarters just up the road from the speedway, there truly is no place like home. And for race winner, Jimmie Johnson, and his team owner Rick Hendrick, Charlotte Motor Speedway is like coming home.

    “I think, number one, Charlotte is kind of home,” Mr. H said after the race. “Won my first NASCAR race here with Sr. in ’83 in the Nationwide or Busch Series. It’s a special place, all the families here.”

    “Winning a race, Jimmie and Chad have been so close this year, and several situations got away,” Mr. Hendrick continued. “To get this one behind us is great.”

    This home track win was Johnson’s first of the season, his 67th victory in 44 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races and his seventh win at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Patriotic Chevrolet also broke the tie with NASCAR Hall of Famers Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip as the all-time series points wins leader at Charlotte.

    Surprising: Danica Patrick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. had surprisingly much in common in the Coke 600, starting out strong and then both going down for the count with engine issues. Junior finished 19th and Patrick finished an even more disappointing 39th.

    “We had a little bit of an engine issue or something cropping up,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Superman Chevrolet said. “But it was very fast. I was very happy with the speed.”

    “We were able to at least finish 19th,” Junior continued. “We could have blowed up and finished in the back. You’re going to have some bad weeks and you’ve got to be able to roll with them. This was one of them and we just have to look at the positives and try not to dwell too much on what happened.”

    “Yeah, it’s really unfortunate,” Patrick said, echoing the words of Dale Earnhardt Jr. “We started off great and started to get tighter and tighter. We couldn’t really figure out how to fix it.”

    “We had a good plan, then dropped a cylinder and lost power, then got rear-ended,” the driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet continued. “That was our day. We’ll just remember the good stuff that happened here at Charlotte and at Kansas last race and build on that for Dover.”

    Not Surprising: Kevin Harvick did not close and was not fast in the pits so therefore it was not surprising that he also was not happy after the race, even though he finished second.

    “We shot ourselves in the foot again,” the driver of the No. 4 Budweiser Folds of Honor Chevrolet said. “We left two wheels loose and played catch up the rest of the night.”

    “We’re just shooting ourselves in the foot on pit road,” Harvick continued. “We have to clean that up because we obviously can’t win races with the fastest car if we make mistakes continuously on pit road. It’s frustrating.”

    Surprising: Jamie Mac is back, backing up his All Star race win with a top-five finish in his No. 1 Cessna Chevrolet.

    “Our car was fast enough that even when we went to the back, we were able to recover and get back to the top-five, which was great,” McMurray said. “We’ve had such good cars all year long and have not been able to capitalize because of tire issues or just some bad luck.”

    “So I’m excited we won last week. We ran really good again this week. Just an all-around good night.”

    Not Surprising: Carl Edwards, one of Ford’s best pitch men, credited his manufacturer’s fuel mileage for getting him a fourth place finish and scoring top honors for Ford in the race.

    “That’s Ford fuel mileage right here,” the driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford Fusion said. “You talk about Fords getting great fuel mileage and they did today.”

    “Our car finished fourth and that was probably as good as we deserved to finish,” Edwards continued. “We did have a good run.”

    Surprising: This time, rookie Austin Dillon actually finished ahead of ROTY competitor Kyle Larson to tighten up that rookie recognition battle. Dillon scored the 16th finishing spot while Larson finished two behind in 18th.

    “I’m proud of everyone’s effort on this No. 3 Cheerios Chevrolet team this weekend,” Dillon said. “It was not a bad finish considering all of the challenges we battled during the race.”

    Not Surprising:  Pleased but not satisfied was the theme for the top-finishing Toyota drivers. Matt Kenseth finished third in his No. 20 Home Depot Husky Toyota and Brian Vickers had a great run, finishing sixth in his No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota.

    “I thought we had a top-five car — a lot of it was definitely an improvement,” Kenseth said. “Just needed a little more and couldn’t quite run with the 48 (Jimmie Johnson) and the 4 (Kevin Harvick) and a couple of them other cars. Overall, it was a good night for our Home Depot Husky Tools Camry — we just have to get just a little better.”

    “Our Camry was good all night,” Vickers said. “We were really close to top-five and probably close to a win, we just needed a little more speed.”

    “The guys did a great job and just really proud of them,” Vickers continued. “Pleased but not satisfied.”

    Surprising: Paul Menard had a surprisingly good run in his No. 27 Serta/Menards Chevrolet at Charlotte, finishing in the eighth spot after starting 21st.

    “We had a great finish tonight in Charlotte considering where we started,” Menard said. “It was a hard fought race the for No. 27 Serta/Menards team, but with some strategy and adjustments we were able salvage what could have been a tough night.”

    “This race in Charlotte is a tough one, but we finished strong.”

    Not Surprising: Ryan Newman, behind the wheel of the No. 31 Quicken Loans Chevrolet, epitomized the spirit of the weekend as he never quit and never gave up in spite of cutting down a tire on Lap 293 and finishing 15th in the Coca Cola 600.

    “This Quicken Loans team persevered this weekend,” Newman declared. “We had quite a bit to overcome, but we never gave up.”

    “We started from the back after an issue in qualifying and had a Chevrolet good enough to race all the way up to ninth position before we had a tire cut down on a restart,” Newman continued. “I have to hand it to this team; we never gave up through all the adversity.”

    “I will never stop fighting and nor will my crew, we’ll be fine.”

    The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series moves on next weekend to pay a visit to Miles the Monster in the 45th Annual FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware.