Tag: Kurt Busch

Surprising and Not Surprising: Martinsville STP 500

With no practice due to a rainy weekend, the Cup drivers unleashed their pent up aggression on the short track of Martinsville. Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 65^th running of the STP 500.

Surprising: The closest that Hendrick Motorsports got to Victory Lane at Martinsville was the motor and chassis as Kurt Busch surprisingly took his No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet to the checkered flag.

The win also marked significant milestones for driver and crew chief as this was Busch’s 25^th Cup win and his crew chief Daniel Knost’s first win as a crew chief.

Busch’s 83 start winless drought finally came to a close, with his last victory prior to this at the Monster Mile in the fall race of 2011.

“Every time you come to Martinsville you draw a line through it; like there’s no way I’ll be able to challenge those Hendrick guys,” Busch said. “The Stewart-Haas team gave me a team to do it.”

“It’s an unbelievable feeling to deliver.”

Not Surprising: While Brad Keselowski had some harsh words to say about the race winner, sarcastically ‘thanking Kurt’ after tangling with him early in the race and finishing 38^th, he kept his sense of humor when he took to Twitter after the race.

“I’m here,” Keselowski tweeted when a follower said that he would probably not be on social media for a while. “Laughing at all the hate tweets. #freeEntertainment.”

With that difficult finish, the driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford dropped three spots to seventh in the point standings.

Surprising: Dale Earnhardt Jr. was surprisingly disappointed with not getting a clock, even though he finished third in his No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet and took the points lead away from Carl Edwards.

“Well, it was up and down,” Junior said of his race. “We ran out of tire there just trying to get by those lap guys that were giving me the top in the corner and I don’t need to be up there running.”

“That cost us a little bit.”

Junior and girlfriend Amy Reimann did, however, console themselves with a Martinsville hot dog as his “reward” for finishing third, tweeting a picture of the celebration from the plane.

This was Earnhardt Jr.’s 16th top-10 finish in 29 races at the track known as the ‘Paper Clip.’

Not Surprising: Martinsville made for some interesting milestones, including another new winner for the season and a record number of lead changes.

Kurt Busch became the sixth different winner in six races to date and there were a record 33 lead changes among 12 drivers, the most ever at Martinsville. The previous record for lead changes was 31, set in April of 2011.

Surprising: They may have been driving with heavy hearts due to the death of Miss Lynda Petty, the King’s late wife, but the two Richard Petty Motorsports drivers pulled off great finishes, with Marcos Ambrose in fifth and Aric Almirola in eighth.

In fact, this was only the fourth time that the two RPM teammates have finished in the top-10 together, but the second time in six races this season.

““We’ve had a really tough week. We lost Miss Lynda.” Ambrose, driver of the No. 9 DeWalt Ford said. “We really wanted to win for them bad out there, but we’ll take a top five.”

“I’m really proud of all the guys at Richard Petty Motorsports,” Almirola, driver of the No. 43 STP Ford, said. “If we keep running like this, we’ll get to Victory Lane.”

Not Surprising: The highest finishing Ford was Joey Logano, who deemed his drive in the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford “a battle.”

“This race is really hard, but we finished where we deserved to finish,” Logano said after finishing fourth. “That’s where we ran and that’s about all we had.”

“I wish we had a little more.”

Surprising: “That’s all I had,” are words that are eerily similar to Logano’s but are not typically heard from six-time champion Jimmie Johnson. But that was his summary of the race as well at one of his strongest tracks.

“I’d been loose in the final third of the race and was hanging on there,” Johnson, who finished runner up in his No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, said. “When (Kurt Busch) got back by me, I was hopefully that he’d wear his stuff out and I could get back by him. He did but I couldn’t hold him off.”

“I started to get looser and looser,” Johnson continued. “I ran the rear tires off the car.”

“That’s all I had.”

This was Johnson’s 22^nd top-10 finish in 25 races at Martinsville Speedway and his fourth top-10 finish in the 2014 season.

Not Surprising: While most drivers are focused on the wins, Jamie McMurray was thinking about points and shaking his head.

McMurray, behind the wheel of the No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet, was involved in an on-track incident with Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Lap 199 that caused him to finish 42^nd and falling eleven spots in the point standings to 23^rd.

“I thought the No. 88 would be a little more patient with me. I had gotten by him in lap traffic. Then he got on my inside. When he got into me it was like it couldn’t get off and spun me around and just got into the wall there,” Jamie Mac said. “Really unfortunate had a good car, every race we’ve had good cars.”

“You just wish you weren’t racing for points because that is the hardest part to swallow is the point’s loss,” McMurray continued. “It’s fun to run well but that is what you will think about for the next five days.”

Surprising: After missing the previous race week due to metal in his eye and after vowing to make a comeback and win at a track where he has the third-best driver rating, it was most surprising to see Denny Hamlin finish a disappointing 19^th.

The driver of the No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota had ignition issues and then was just plain slow during the race.

“Just a frustrating day, especially when you know that this is a race track that I feel like I can make up a difference here and there,” Hamlin said. “We were a football field and then some away from the right set up today.”

Not Surprising: Austin Dillon, behind the wheel of the No. 3 Dow Chevrolet was the highest finishing rookie, finishing 15^th at the very demanding short track.

“I had some good runs there in my truck but it was totally different in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car,” Dillon said. “It’s one of those races where you have to fight to stay in it.”

“Things were definitely wild there.”

The Cup Series will move from the short track of Martinsville to the track in Texas where everything is big for the Duck Commander 500.

March 30, 2014
Sprint Cup Series: Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?

It seems like after the fifth race, you start to get a solid perspective of who has the hot hand and who is currently falling flat. Although we haven’t had a driver win twice yet, there are a few drivers whose consistency has rewarded them. On the contrary, some of the sport’s top drivers have been falling flat due to their lackluster performances of 2014.

With that said, here are three drivers to keep an eye on, and three that need to pick it up a little.

Hot: Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

After winning the Daytona 500 for the second time, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been on a hot streak like no other. He nearly won two of the first three races, and has not finished outside the top 24. His three top-fives and three top-10s, coupled with an average finish of 8.2, all but cement Earnhardt as a very consistent driver in 2014.

Not: Kevin Harvick

Despite dominating the race at Phoenix, Kevin Harvick’s average finish has been plummeting faster than a comet. Harvick placed 41st at Las Vegas, struggled to a 39th place finish at Bristol, and last week at Auto Club Speedway, he came home 36th after continuously suffering tire problems. Even though Harvick’s not so hot streak isn’t good for his average finish (which currently stands at 26.0), he has already virtually made the chase thanks to NASCAR’s new rules. If he performs like this during the chase, though, you can be sure he’ll be eliminated in the first round.

Hot: Carl Edwards

Carl Edwards has ridden the consistency train all the way in 2014, gathering a win at Bristol, two top-fives, and four top-10s. Edwards seemed to fly under the radar, silently gathering top-10 after top-10, until his win at Bristol bought him to the forefront of the discussion. After finishing 17th in the Great American Race, Edwards hasn’t had a finish outside of the top ten. His under the radar consistency will make him Roush Fenway Racing’s best chance to win the title.

Not: Kurt Busch

The elder Busch brother seemed to finally get back on track in 2014, after pit strategy allowed him to take a third place finish at Auto Club for his first top-five of the year. Before that however, Busch’s performance has been mediocre at best. A 21st at Daytona, 39th at Phoenix, 26th at Las Vegas, and 35th place finish at Bristol mirror that of Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick. At this point in time, it seems as if all four Stewart-Haas cars have been struggling this season. The good news for Kurt Busch is that he could finish poorly in the next 15 races, then finally break out and win and be in the chase.

Hot: Brad Keselowski

If you’re still wondering if Brad Keselowski is a one hit wonder, you haven’t watched a single lap of the 2014 season. Keselowski started off the season with a bang, finishing third in the Daytona 500. Afterwards, he’s finished in the top-five three times, which leads all drivers. He also ranks fifth in laps led with 147, and he seems to be the first driver to perfect the new knockout qualifying system. As a matter of fact, Keselowski is one of just three drivers to make the final round every week, and he hasn’t qualified outside of the first row since the format started in Phoenix. Keselowski’s solid consistency, coupled with his willingness to win, make him an early threat for the championship.

Not: Greg Biffle

While Carl Edwards looks to be a championship hopeful for Roush Fenway Racing, you can’t say the same for his teammate Greg Biffle. Biffle has finished outside the top 15 in three of the last four races, including a 40th place showing at Auto Club. Fortunately for Biffle, he could always win at Michigan to cement his spot in the 16-driver chase.

As with any sport, you’re always going to have guys on hot streaks and guys on cold streaks. And although it is interesting to dissect a driver’s recent performance, the new chase rules mean that any one of the “not hot” drivers on this list could make the chase. As a matter of fact, one already has. This is just one of the reasons why fans aren’t very happy with the new chase, even though they’ve said time and time again that they want winning to mean more. Early on this season looking at the new format, they’ve definitely got what they asked for.

March 26, 2014
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: California

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Carl Edwards: Edwards took tenth in the Auto Club 400 on a wild day in Fontana. Edwards now leads the Sprint Cup points standings by one over Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

“It was an eventful day in Fontana,” Edwards said. “You had lead changes, exploding tires, malfunctioning lights, and Muppets. Of course, the only thing unusual about that in NASCAR is the Muppets.

“Tires played a huge role in Sunday’s race. I think a lot of cars were running on underinflated tires, and that caused the excessive tire wear. Unfortunately for them, they didn’t ‘air’ on the side of caution.”

2. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt finished 12th in the Auto Club 400, his second straight race outside of the top 10 after three top-2 finishes to start the season. He trails Carl Edwards by one in the points standings.

“Despite my fans’ high opinion of me,” Earnhardt said, “I’m no god. So, it was only a matter of time before I ‘came back down to Earth.’In fact, the only thing ‘hole-y’ at Auto Club Speedway last weekend were the tires.”

3. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski led 38 laps early at California and was poised for a likely top-5 finish before a flat left rear tire sent him down in the order. He finished 26th, and is now third in the points standings, four behind Carl Edwards.

“It was a frustrating day,” Keselowski said. “Not only did tires hurt us, NASCAR had another problem with lights. It’s a situation similar to that of NASCAR’s ‘Driver For Diversity’ program—they just can’t seem to get the ‘color’ right.”

4. Jeff Gordon: Gordon had the lead with two laps to go, but Clint Bowyer’s spin ruined his plan to finish on old tires. After frantic pit stops, Gordon lost track position and finished 13th. He is third in the points standings, two out of first.

“Bowyer cost me the race,” Gordon said. “I’d go so far as to say his spin was intentional. And movie gurus in Hollywood even noticed. Which leads to the tie-in for next Bruce Willis blockbuster: ‘Old Habits Die Hard.’”

5. Kyle Busch: Busch jumped to the lead on a green-white-checkered finish at Auto Club Speedway and took the win, his second straight win at California. Busch is now 7th in the points standings, 28 behind Carl Edwards.

“Kyle Larson almost stole the win,” Busch said. “That would have been a case of ‘Larson’y.’

“Tire problems were the story of the day. But we didn’t have any. Maybe that’s because we ran Goodyear’s recommended pounds per square inch inflation level. I’m glad we did, because I’m ‘pumped.’”

6. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson had the race in hand before blowing a tire seven laps from the finish, leading to a wild finish that Kyle Busch capped off for the win. Johnson finished 24th and is now eighth in the points standings, 21 out of first.

“We weren’t the only ones that suffered tire problems,” Johnson said. “Chad Knaus can certainly relate to our tire issues—they’re both ‘balding.’

“It was a crazy day in Fontana. ‘Gonzo’ the Muppet gave the order to start the engines. But what good is he to me? Sure, he can tell me how to get to Sesame Street, but I need to know how to get to Victory Lane.”

7. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth started on pole at California and finished fourth, while teammate Kyle Busch took the win. Kenseth is now fourth in the points standings, seven out of first.

“Is it me,” Kenseth said, “or is Michael Waltrip’s pre-race crowd surfing growing old? It was like the Sixth Sense out there—he sees dead people. Guess what, Michael? That wasn’t Donna Summer. You know why? Because she wouldn’t be caught dead at a NASCAR race.”

8. Tony Stewart: Stewart posted his second consecutive top-5 result, finishing fifth in the Auto Club 400.

“I was battling Kurt Busch for the lead on the final lap,” Stewart said. “The next thing I know, Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson went right by us. Eventually, Kurt finished third and I finished fifth. It was just like old times in the NASCAR hauler for the two of us—there was someone ‘separating’ us.”

9. Ryan Newman: Newman led three laps and finished 20th at California. He is seventh in the point standings, 36 out of first.

“Kyle Busch may be ‘Hell On Wheels,’” Newman said, “but that track is ‘Hell On Tires.’ Fontana’s surface is more abrasive than my relationship with Rusty Wallace.

“Michael Waltrip tried to chat me up on his pre-race walk through pit row. He wasn’t looking for the bathroom, but I told him where it was anyway. Michael just the opposite of a Goodyear tire—he’s ‘full of it.’”

10. Kyle Larson: Rookie sensation Kyle Larson finished second at California, nearly completing the weekend sweep after winning the Nationwide race on Saturday.

“I may have just clinched NASCAR’s Rookie Of The Year award,” Larson said. “I may be a rookie, but I certainly belong here with the big boys. I earned my seat in the car on merit. You hear me, Austin Dillon? The only thing my grandfather gave me was DNA.”

March 25, 2014
Stewart-Haas Racing Gets Back On Track At Fontana

Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) reassured their dominance in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on Sunday at Fontana after team owner, Tony Stewart finished fifth and first-year SHR driver Kurt Busch placed third. While the team didn’t cross the finish line first, the top five runs for Busch and Stewart may be all the momentum the entire team needs heading to Martinsville Speedway and beyond.

Busch and Stewart gained track position late in the going at Fontana, to try and win the race – as with the new system a win almost guarantees you a ticket into the Chase. However, on the ensuing green white-checkered shootout their two tire strategy couldn’t hold off the four tires of Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson, they were eventually passed and barley hung onto their top five positions.

“It was sketchy not knowing what was going to happen with two versus four (tires) but I was glad Chad (Johnston) made the right cal again two weeks in a row.” Stewart explained after climbing from his No. 14 Chevrolet SS.

Despite not scoring the win, as they anticipated by gambling, the entire organization has some positive to look back on heading forward.

“I was glad that we had two SHR (Stewart-Haas Racing) cars there in contention at the end.” Stewart furthered commented. “We hadn’t been a top-five car all day so really proud of these guys.”

The top five is the second straight for Stewart, while this is the first one on the season for the ‘Outlaw’ Busch – and a much needed one.

“It was an awesome finish racing your boss Tony Stewart for a win.” Busch told reporters after climbing from his No. 41 Chevrolet SS. “A little like happy, but sad, one of us should have brought it (the win) home for Stewart-Hass Racing and it just didn’t pan out with the four tires versus two.

While most attention followed Stewart and Busch’s runs, Danica Patrick had a quiet, but impressive, 14^th place finish, her season-best placing. And while it’s not an astonishing run, it’s still a confidence booster heading to a track she did fairly well at last season.

“It seems like some of our most trying weekends end up with our better results.” Patrick expressed following her career-best result at Fontana. “We will take it and we will know that there is so much more potential for those weekends where we feel like we are running a lot better.”

While most of the SHR camp had success at the tricky California track, Kevin Harvick had his struggles. He finished 36^th after having what seemed like a multitude of tire issues – which was common for many drivers throughout the event. However, the two dismal finishes at Bristol and Fontana don’t affect Harvick greatly, as he’s already (pretty much) locked himself into the Chase after winning in Phoenix.

“It’s kind of the same story as the last few weeks.” Harvick explained following the disappointing finish. “We’ll have a really strong run going, and something happens and we don’t get the finish that we deserve. It’s really frustrating.”

The SHR team prepares now for the catastrophic Martinsville Speedway where they are hoping to build off the impressive run at Fontana, and hopefully turn it into a victory.

March 24, 2014
Surprising and Not Surprising: Fontana Auto Club 400

From the unique race command from Muppet star Gonzo to Denny Hamlin’s pre-race trip to the hospital for a sinus infection and vision problems, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the Auto Club 400 in Fontana, California.

Surprising: There are not many drivers who, after winning a thrilling race in green-white-checkered fashion, can combine ‘Days of Thunder’ with faith-filled references right out of ‘Talladega Nights’. But Kyle Busch surprisingly managed to pull it all together in his Victory Lane remarks.

“Man oh man. The first thing that comes to mind when the caution came out with just a few laps to go — that was total Rowdy Burns ‘Days of Thunder’ right there,” the driver of the No. 18 No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry said. “There’s a couple laps to go — I’m not pitting.”

“Everybody has to pit, Cole (Trickle), we’re coming down for four tires because there’s a green-white-checkered coming,” Busch continued. “I knew four tires was going to win the race, so I’m glad Dave (Rogers, crew chief) called that.”

“I was able to keep Kyle Larson behind me. Man, what a shoe that boy is,” Busch continued. “If he drove it in further than I did, Jesus must have told him to stop.”

“I just can’t believe it. I thank the Lord for putting ourselves here and getting us locked in the Chase.”

This was Busch’s 29^th win in 334 Cup races but his first victory of the 2014 season. This was his third victory and 12^th top-10 finish at Auto Club Speedway.

Not Surprising: What double file restarts and shortening up the length of the race has done for Pocono Raceway, the rough, aged racing surface with multiple grooves and huge bumps has done the same, if not more, for Auto Club Speedway.

In fact, it seemed like just a few years ago when the track was criticized for boring racing and the grandstands were empty. This Cup race yielded some of the most exciting racing to date, with six and seven cars abreast, in front of a packed house, most of whom barely sat down for the entirety of the show.

Surprising: Kyle Larson went from thinking he was pretty much going to have a tough day to finishing as the highest running rookie, in P2 no less. This stellar finish came on the heels of his Nationwide victory over none other than Cup race winner Kyle Busch.

“I thought we were in trouble or not be able to get to the front,” the driver of the No. 42 said after the race. “I don’t know where everybody went on that last restart.”

“It went through my mind then that I might sweep the weekend,” Larson continued. “That last run, we got good enough to charge to the front. What a weekend.”

Not Surprising: Sam Hornish’s new mantra should be ‘have helmet, will drive.’ Originally, the currently unspoken for driver was on standby to drive for Matt Kenseth in the event that his wife Katie went into labor with their third child.

In the end, however, Hornish ended up substitute driving for Denny Hamlin, finishing a respectable 17th in the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota. This was his best finish since his 13^th place run in 2012 at Martinsville.

Surprising: The normally cool, calm and collected Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 43 Farmland Ford Fusion, had some surprisingly harsh words for competitor No 33 car driver Brian Scott after their accident brought out the fourth caution of the race.

“The 33 was obviously a dart without feathers and coming across the race track,” Almirola said. “Man, he came from all the way at the bottom of the race track and ran into me.”

“He’s not even racing this series for points,” Almirola continued. “He’s out there having fun because his daddy gets to pay for it and he wrecked us.”

Not Surprising: After tires blew out in practice as well as the race, the debate not surprisingly was on as far as what exactly led to so many tire issues, especially in the left rear.

Brad Keselowski, a driver that suffered particular tire problems in practice and the race, weighed in after the race to share his perspective.

“There were a lot of reasons why we blew a tire today or two or five over the weekend and the field did,’’ Keselowski said after finishing 26th. “I don’t know what to really say about it. As a driver you are left between the choice of driving your car to the limit and blowing a tire out or being a wuss and saving it.”

NASCAR’s most popular driver weighed in with a whole different take on the tire situation.

“I don’t think there is anything wrong with the tire OR the way we choose 2 use them,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. tweeted after the race. “My bet is it’s the bumps on the backstretch.”

“Those are more like jumps and ramps.”

NASCAR representative Vice President for Competition Robin Pemberton shared the more official perspective, saying that some teams were running tires with air pressures as low as 14 pounds, whereas Goodyear had commended tire pressures at 22 pounds for the race weekend.

And finally, Goodyear, echoing Pemberton’s assessment, advised that the problems were not tire-related but more team-related due to the very aggressive set ups.

“Every left-side tire that we’ve seen gone down or had issues with is kind of the same characteristics as (Saturday),’’ Greg Stucker, Director of Race Tire Sales for Goodyear, said. “The common denominator being aggressive on air pressure.”

“You’re in race conditions, so everybody is running a little bit harder.”

Surprising: For the second straight race, NASCAR official human error came into play. This weekend, a NASCAR official actually got his uniform stuck in the fence and he literally could not move to flip the pit road light switch to green.

Because of this error, Brad Keselowski, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer did not pit because there was a red light instead of a green light.

All three drivers went on to suffer less than ideal finishes, with Jeff Gordon finishing the best of the bunch in 13^th, Bowyer in 16^th and Keselowski in 26^th.

“We can’t seem to catch a break,” Bowyer said. “We lead for a while, we came back after confusion with the lights on pit road and were in contention to win at the end.”

“However, we started feeling a vibration with about four to go and it just didn’t make it,” Bowyer continued. “It just stinks for this team.”

Not Surprising: Bosses sometimes do influence the workplace even at the track. One of NASCAR’s most notable bosses, team owner Rick Hendrick, played the encourager role with driver Jeff Gordon, who started from the back not once but twice, passing at least 70 plus cars.

Kurt Busch, who finished third, was also quite emotional about racing with his boss Tony Stewart. “The amount of emotions running well today and we were face and then to race your boss for the win,” Busch said. “Neither one of us got the win but it was a genuine moment for us to race.”

The Cup Series heads next to Martinsville Speedway for the STP 500.

March 24, 2014

The Final Word – An all-Kyle finish at Fontana, as Bowyer spins his way to a Top 20

Tires, man. That was the story of the race at Fontana. If one was conservative in their set up, like those owned by Joe Gibbs, all was well. If not…well, they blew it.

California was not like Indianapolis a few years ago, when they could not keep the rubber inflated no matter what they tried. This time, if they messed around with air pressure and camber, they risked ill fortunate. The team of Kyle Busch did not, and that is a big reason why Rowdy claimed his 29^th career victory in extending his streak of claiming at least one win in a season to ten. Busch held off rookie Kyle Larson as both broke from the field during the green-white-check finish to get by Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart with one to go.

It was great racing, with the tire situation just adding to the excitement. As long as a driver did not fall multiple laps off the pace, chances were good they could come back from any miscue. However, one needed time, and when Jimmie Johnson blew a tire with seven to go, his time was up as one of the day’s most dominant cars finished 24^th.

Johnson lost a tire, kept the beast under control, and kept the race green. That allowed Jeff Gordon, who seemed to be nursing some ailing Goodyears of his own, to take his long-run auto onwards toward that checkered flag. Then, Ryan Newman blew a tire, but made it back without caution. Same for Bard Keselowski. Ditto for Marcos Ambrose. Even Clint Bowyer managed to save his car as Gordon charged toward the white flag. Then it slightly accelerated and it appeared Bowyer’s front wheels turned hard left, and the resulting slide caused caution to come out, forcing a green-white-checker.

There are those who might have seen it and thought maybe Bowyer had deliberately spun the car. That he had it saved but then touched the gas and cranked the wheel to make sure that he did not. That he purposely went for the yellow when others did not. According to Bowyer’s Twitter comment, that is not true.

“Love how “some” idiots on here think I really wanted to give up a much needed good run to screw you over.”

Of course, the idiots knew that his good run as over once the tire went flat. What the idiots are accusing Bowyer of is deliberately bringing out the caution so that he might be better able to recover from his flat. Johnson did not, and finished 24^th. Keselowski settled for 26^th. Ambrose was 30^th. As for Honest Clint…due to the caution he was able to salvage a 16^th place finish. That spin might have cost Gordon a victory, but it saved Bowyer at least 15 positions on the track. Then again, maybe the fans are wrong, maybe the car just got away from him, though the video sure looked suspicious. It is not as if Bowyer has done anything like this before. Or lied about it afterwards. Of course not.

While Gordon was strong on the long runs, everyone knew he would not be over a two lap dash. He wound up 13^th. Dale Earnhardt Jr was 12^th, and with Keselowski faltering at the end, Junior remains in second over-all in the standings a single point behind the tenth place Carl Edwards.

It is a good thing that a single win almost buys one a ticket to the Chase. Almost. One needs to finish in the top thirty to keep it valid, and right now Kevin Harvick sits 25^th after finishing outside the Top 35 for a third straight event. Danica was running around 20^th or beyond for most of the Fontana race, but in the end she brought it home for a season best 14^th.

As for Denny Hamlin, the guy could use a break. He had to miss five events last year due to a crash at this track, and this year he did not even get to run. A sinus infection that affected his vision took him out of the seat, and replaced by Sam Hornish Jr, who ran 17^th. Yet, despite being AWOL, Hamlin remains 12^th in the driver standings.

Great entertainment Sunday, great action on Saturday, where Kyle Larson beat out Kevin Harvick in a fight that also involved Kyle Busch, with Joey Logano fourth. Four Cup guys. The best Nationwide drivers were Elliott Sadler and Chase Elliott, finishing fifth and sixth. Both are within a dozen points of top spot in the standings, behind fellow Top Ten finishers Trevor Bayne, Regan Smith, and Ty Dillon.

Next Sunday, we turn to the short track at Martinsville, where the Cup boys have been stopping by since 1949. Jeff Gordon has been running there since 1993, 42 races, and more than half of those have been won by either Gordon himself (with 8, including last fall), Johnson (8), Hamlin (4), or Stewart (3). If they keep trying, they might eventually match the King’s tally of 15.

Here are our Sweet Sixteen as we head over to Virginia…

	Driver	Races	Win	Points
1	Carl Edwards	5	1	186
2	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	5	1	185
3	Brad Keselowski	5	1	182
4	Kyle Busch	5	1	158
5	Kevin Harvick	5	1	97
6	Jeff Gordon	5	0	184
7	Matt Kenseth	5	0	179
8	Jimmie Johnson	5	0	165
9	Ryan Newman	5	0	150
10	Austin Dillon	5	0	150
11	Joey Logano	5	0	146
12	Denny Hamlin	4	0	140
13	Jamie McMurray	5	0	138
14	Brian Vickers	5	0	137
15	Paul Menard	5	0	134
16	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	5	0	132

March 24, 2014

Surprising and Not Surprising: Bristol Food City 500

Just as in the Daytona 500, starting in day and ending at night due to extensive rain delays, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 54^th annual Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Surprising: Creating his own ‘March Madness’, the leader of the Stewart-Haas Racing team rebounded from having to use a provisional to get into the race to finishing in the top five.

“To start 37th and end up fourth today, I’m pretty excited about that,” Tony Stewart said. “I’m really excited for Chad Johnston (crew chief) and everybody on this Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 team.”

“We had a long way to go from Friday when we weren’t very good, and every day we just got better and better. So, I’m really proud of this team.”

Not Surprising: With a gladiator’s sword as the prize for the victor, it was appropriate that the race ended as a survival of the fittest contest. And the survivor of this race was indeed fit, as demonstrated by his back flip on a wet start finish line in the track known as ‘the Last Great Coliseum.’

Carl Edwards, behind the wheel of the No. 99 Kellogg’s / Frosted Flakes Ford, scored his first win of the 2014 season, making him the fourth different driver to win in the season and qualifying him for the Chase. This was Edwards’s third victory and eighth top-10 finish at Bristol.

“I just can’t believe it,” Edwards said. “We were terrible on Saturday, so I’m just glad we turned it around.”

“We had no clue we were going to win this race.”

Surprising: While typically the action ensues when the green flag flies, in this race most of the intense crashing took place when the caution flag came out. There were two instances where the yellow flew yet two drivers were struck from the rear at fairly high rates of speed.

The first incident occurred when Timmy Hill drilled Matt Kenseth from behind and the second occurred when Brad Keselowski was unable to slow down and hit Jamie McMurray in the rear.

One of the more bizarre incidents occurred on pit road under caution when Danica Patrick attempted to pull out of her pit stall, got sideways and drilled Clint Bowyer’s machine.

“It was an eventful night,” Patrick said. “I lost first and second gear and then finally third gear. That’s why I hit Clint (Bowyer) in the pits.”

“It wouldn’t go so I dipped the clutch and got sideways, and when it was about to spin around, I lifted, it caught and then it went straight and it wouldn’t stop.”

“So, I hit him,” Patrick said. “I apologized to his crew after the race.”

Not Surprising: Kyle and Kurt Busch had an ‘O Brother Where Art Thou’ moment on lap 394 when Kyle spun out after losing his car in the marbles and big brother Kurt hit the wall trying to avoid him. As a result of that damage, Kurt Busch had to go back behind the wall to repair the right front suspension.

Kurt Busch finished 35^th and brother Kyle finished 29^th.

“Had a moment of brightness but it went downhill from there,” Kyle Busch tweeted after the race. “Really thankful no one hit me when I was sideways.”

Surprising: While the streak of top five finishes sadly ended for NASCAR’s most popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., another streak surprisingly was born.

Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon scored his fourth consecutive top-10 finish, which the four-time champ has never been done before in his career to start the season.

Not Surprising: Bristol is one of the most physically demanding tracks so it was no wonder that Joey Logano was feeling the need to improve his upper body workout regimen. Logano lost his power steering prior to the rain delay but soldiered on to finish 20^th in his No. 22 Shell Pennzoil For.

“I was already huffing and puffing pretty hard trying to get the thing to turn,” Logano said. “It was intermittent for a while once we restarted and then it just went away.”

Surprising: Jimmie Johnson and his crew chief Chad Knaus must have remained in previous race Las Vega mode, gambling with taking left sides only early in the race and then cutting a right front tire down as a result.

The tread on the No. 48 Kobalt Tools Chevrolet unwound, which forced him to the pits, losing several laps to the leader.

“The tire still had air in it,” Johnson said. “It didn’t wear it out.”

“Something made it come apart.”

Not Surprising: It was only a matter of time for these two drivers to have a bit of a break out in the Sprint Cup Series, both posting their career best finishes.

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., behind the wheel of his No. 17 Nationwide Insurance Ford, finished second, bettering his previous career high finish in third at Talladega in October 2013. And Aric Almirola, in his No. 43 Smithfield Ford Petty blue machine, finished third, bettering his previous career best at Homestead in 2010.

“It helps our confidence for sure,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “We’re just slowly working and getting better and better.”

“It was a good night for us,” Almirola said after the race was finally concluded. “It seemed like our car got better and better.”

“I’m really proud of everybody on our team because they gave me a really good car.”

Surprising: A strange new hashtag on Twitter was surprisingly born after one of the most bizarre equipment malfunctions occurred. As a result, rookie driver Alex Bowman tweeted “#badluckbowman is getting freaking ridiculous. Solid top 20 car and the battery literally fell out. Now I get to ride around all day.”

And with that tweet, the young Rookie of the Year contender picked up ad additional ten thousand followers of his Twitter handle @AlexBRacing.

Not Surprising: Speaking of rookie contenders, young Kyle Larson, piloting the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, finished top-10 and also was the highest finishing rookie of the race.

“We had a really good run today,” Larson said. “Started off in 20^th and got to the top ten pretty easily there in the beginning.”

“Ran in second and third for a long time,” Larson continued. “Pretty much stayed in the top ten for the whole race and inched our way up to the front.”

The Cup Series heads back across country next week for the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.

March 17, 2014
Kurt Busch leads first practice at Bristol

Bristol, TN (March 14, 2014) – The first practice on Friday for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Food City 500 was interesting to say the least. Several drivers had trouble and found the wall during the first session – the only practice session before qualifying.

Danica Patrick was the first to find the wall when her No. 10 Go Daddy Chevrolet got loose coming off the corner and bounced off the outside wall, then made contact with Swan Racing rookie driver, Parker Kligerman, who was on his first lap of practice. Patrick’s Stewart-Hass Race team immediately brought out the back-up car. Patrick was 34^th fastest at the end of practice.

Kligerman spent much of practice behind the wall, but did manage to complete eight laps before it was over. It is crucial that Kligerman have a qualifying effort this weekend, as this is the weekend that NASCAR reverts to this season’s owner’s points standings to determine provisional starting spots. Kligerman ended up 43^rd fastest in the early session.

Another rookie of the year contender, Justin Allgaier, also made contact with the outside wall in his No. 51 SEM Products Chevrolet. Allgaier was on his first lap of practice, and did not return to the track for the rest of the session.

Drivers who had trouble in practice was not limited to drivers of lesser experience. Kyle Busch and Greg Biffle, arguably two if the most talented drivers in the garage area, also spun and made significant contact with the wall. Busch and Biffle both pulled out back-up cars. Busch ended up 19^th, with Biffle only managing a 28^th place lap in the early session.

Stewart-Hass Racing driver, Kurt Busch did not have any major issues in practice session number one. Busch ran 36 laps, and posted a fast lap of 129.789 mph to place him atop the charts. Busch has an impressive record at Bristol, with 5 wins and 14 top-5’s in 26 starts.

Rounding out the top-5 in practice session number one were – Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, and Marcos Ambrose.

March 14, 2014

Hot 20 – Earnhardt and Keselowski near perfect heading to Bristol

When you can tout an average finish of 1.67, as in the case of Dale Earnhardt Jr, or Brad Keselowski’s 2.33 you know you are doing something right. Each has a win, with Junior having a pair of runner up finishes compared to the two third place runs put in by the 2012 champion. While Kevin Harvick won at Phoenix, his 41^st place result at Las Vegas drops him in our search for the most noteworthy driver of the year.

Bristol is a place Earnhardt has won only once in 28 starts, and that was back in 2004. While he has recorded a top ten only half the time there, his average finish of 11.5 is second best amongst active drivers, only behind the 9.9 of five time winner Kyle Busch. While the chances are you will not see him crossing the line first on Sunday, odds are he will not be far behind. In his last ten starts there, Junior has come home between six and 16^th. Maybe still on top come next week, but so much for a near perfect pace.

Keselowski, on the other hand, once won a pair back-to-back at Bristol and was third in the spring race last season. However, he has also finished 30^th two of his last five, so it is anybody’s guess if he will experience feast or famine. As for Kyle Busch, he won half of the ten raced at Bristol between 2007 and 2011 and while he has had the odd off day, his last three show results of sixth, second, and 11^th.

Kurt Busch has not added to his five wins there since 2006, but maybe this is where he can get back on track this season. Jeff Gordon also has won five Bristol events, though none since 2002. Matt Kenseth can be hot and cold in the bowl as well, but he could up his tally to four Bristol wins by matching his result from last fall. Unless the doctor calls and he winds up heading back to North Carolina before race time to welcome the arrival of the latest addition to his family.

As we hunt down our season’s top driver, we give 22 additional points to the winner of each race and punt the Chase. I would expect either Kyle or Matt to move up into third place after this weekend, with both our leaders still atop the ladder when the smoke clears Sunday at Bristol.

Fin	Driver	Points	Wins
1	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	155	1
2	Brad Keselowski	154	1
3	Jimmie Johnson	117	0
4	Joey Logano	116	0
5	Jeff Gordon	115	0
6	Carl Edwards	105	0
7	Kevin Harvick	105	1
8	Kyle Busch	105	0
9	Matt Kenseth	105	0
10	Denny Hamlin	101	0
11	Ryan Newman	97	0
12	Jamie McMurray	93	0
13	Greg Biffle	86	0
14	Austin Dillon	84	0
15	Kasey Kahne	83	0
16	Casey Mears	80	0
17	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	80	0
18	Paul Menard	76	0
19	Marcos Ambrose	69	0
20	Brian Vickers	64	0

March 13, 2014

Surprising and Not Surprising: Kobalt 400

From the Team Penske pole repeat to the Most Interesting Man’s command to start the engines, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 17^th annual Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Surprising: Boy, is he ever back…in so many surprising ways. With his crew chief Paul Wolfe back on top of the pit box after being out one race for the birth of his baby, driver Brad Keselowski sailed on past the out-of-gas Dale Earnhardt Jr. to make his way right back to Victory Lane.

The driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford also went back to back for the race weekend, becoming the first driver to sweep both the Nationwide and Cup races at Las Vegas in the same weekend since 2000 when Jeff Burton did it.

Finally, Keselowski himself noted after crossing the finish line that he was back in the Chase, having scored the first win for Team Penske of the young 2014 season. He is also back in the point standings, just one point shy of the top spot.

Not Surprising: Dale Earnhardt, Jr. joined fellow competitor Martin Truex Jr. in trying to look on the bright side of life after finishes that did not quite live up to their expectations.

“We knew we were a lap short,” Junior said after finishing second on fumes. “We tried to save as much as we could.”

“We took a gamble and didn’t win the race, but it still worked in our favor to run second,” the driver of the No. 88 Mountain Dew Kickstart Chevrolet continued. “It sucks to lose like that, but we can’t let that be a negative. The only way to be productive is to be positive.”

“We have got to look at the positives in today and keep working toward our goal of winning some more races.”

“We were better than 14th, no question about that,” Martin Truex Jr. said. “We ran in the top-10 for most of the race but lost track position at the end.”

“On the bright side this was our best performance as a team, much better than last week at Phoenix,” the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet said. “We had good pit stops all day and I really like the gains we made this weekend.”

Adding to their bright sides was the fact that Martin Truex Jr. made his 300^th career start and Dale Jr. became only the second driver, next to the King, to begin a race year with three top-2 finishes in a row.

Surprising: Danica Patrick was the best of the Stewart Haas crew, finishing 21^st. Teammates Kurt Busch finished 26; Tony Stewart 33^rd and Kevin Harvick 41^st with a wheel hub issue putting him 30 laps down.

“Obviously you always want more, but I’m happy with it, especially after what we’ve gone through the last two weeks,” Patrick said. “It’s a good day and gives us something to build on going to Bristol.”

Driver and team owner summed up the surprisingly poor overall team performance with three words, “Something wasn’t right.” In fact, Stewart asked that his car at least not be touched after the race so it could return to North Carolina for diagnosis of its troubles.

Not Surprising: With a sense of urgency, given his wife was due with their first child at any minute, Paul Menard drove right up to the third spot in his No. 27 Quaker State/Menards Chevrolet. And not surprisingly given his record there, this ended up as Menard’s third top-10 finish in eight races in SinCity.

“It’s big for sure,” Menard said. “This Quaker State/Menards Chevy was hauling ass on long runs. Had a lot of those today and it kind of played in our favor.”

“And now I want to get home as soon as possible.”

Surprising: For the first time back on the race track since announcing his departure from full-time racing and his soon-to-be broadcast career and for his first time behind the wheel of a Toyota Camry, Jeff Burton had a surprisingly good run.

In fact, the driver of the No. 66 Let’s Go Places Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing brought it home top-20, finishing in the 17^th spot.

“That was a lot of fun,” Burton said. “That was a good day for the No. 66 guys. Chad (Walter, crew chief) and the guys were a pleasure to work with this weekend.”

Not Surprising: While Carl Edwards was pleased with his top-5 finish in his No. 99 Aflac Ford, he could not help but mourn the passing of William Clay Ford, Sr., the grandson of Henry Ford.

“We’re all thinking of the Ford family,” Edwards said. “For Brad in a Ford to win both of those races (Nationwide and Cup), I think it says a lot.”

NASCAR echoed Edwards’ sentiments with Brian France, NASCAR Chairman and CEO, issuing these words, “He will be remembered as a man of style, for both the automobiles he built and the life he led. He was a giant….who forever will be missed.”

Surprising: With the new Chase system focusing on race wins, it was surprising to hear at least one driver talk about a good points day after the Kobalt 400.

“It was a good effort for the team and it was a good points day,” Ryan Newman said after finishing seventh in his No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet. “If we keep running like that, we’ll put it in the top five and if we do that we’ll win.”

Not Surprising: That Austin Dillon is just good so it was not surprising that he not only had a good finish in 16^th, the highest finishing rookie, but as a result, he now sits as the highest rookie in the point standings. In fact, Austin Dillon is 13^th in the point standings, ahead of the likes of Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch.

Surprising: While Kyle Busch is usually a favorite with the kids due to the M&Ms candy on his car, he felt more like a kid’s toy, in this case a yoyo, after a grueling day in his home town.

“We had a really up and down day with our M&M’s Peanut Camry,” Busch said. “We started off getting blocked in the pits and had to come from the back.”

“The car was too loose on the first run and we tightened it up and it was really fast for a while,” Busch continued. “But, we kept adjusting on it to try and help the tight in the center of the corner and it was just getting looser and looser, especially on the last run. Just disappointing when we looked like we had a good car earlier in the race.”

Not Surprising: With three top-ten finishes to his name, Jeff Gordon is one happy camper so far this season. And to finish top-ten at Las Vegas, admittedly one of his struggles tracks, he was almost giddy.

“I knew today was going to be one of the most challenging races that we were going to have, possibly all year long,” Gordon said. “And so, I feel like this team did an incredible job. I think we were much better than ninth, but at the same time, this I think is one of my worst tracks right now.”

“We’re off to a fantastic start. We’re very motivated by that. We’re excited.”

March 10, 2014