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Ricky Stenhouse Jr. grabs top five finish after rough night in Daytona

[media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”215″][/media-credit]After suffering one of the worst slumps in his career since his rookie year back in 2010, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. continued his upward swing on Friday night at Daytona.

Stenhouse finished second in the Subway Jalapeno 250 in his No. 6 NOS Energy Drink Ford Mustang. It was his third straight top 11 finish after finishing no better than 25th in the three races before that. Finally having a night where everything went right and the team looked like the defending champions they are.

“It’s pretty cool,” Stenhouse said afterwards. “A couple years ago, I think our rookie season, we were third coming to the line when [Dale Earnhardt] Junior won. That was really exciting.”

Stenhouse’s night wasn’t exactly smooth though even though it started off with an inherited pole when Austin Dillon failed inspection. When the green flag flew Stenhouse would run up front and find drafting partners in Danica Patrick and Joe Nemechek.

But on lap 76 he spun Brad Sweet off turn four. The two had been tandem drafting when it became a case of bump drafting gone bad, Stenhouse anticipating Sweet making different move and getting him loose. Sweet would be done for the night, Stenhouse continued on but found more trouble on lap 82. This time it was contact with Jeffery Earnhardt going down the backstretch.

Earnhardt was not pleased and gave Stenhouse the one finger salute the next lap around. According to Earnhardt the shot that Stenhouse gave him in turns one and two was too aggressive and then going down the backstretch he hit him even harder. The contact sent Earnhardt around and collected Patrick.

“We ran up on him pretty quick,” said Stenhouse about the accident. “The 31 [Justin Allgaier] we were working together there, and the 15 [Earnhardt] was in front of us. I tried to get to the inside of him there going in one and he chopped us.

“I kind of pushed him out, trying to get him in front so I could hook back up with the 33 [Kevin Harvick] and then just caught him a little hard there. I hit him a couple of times in one and two, and then kind of thought he would drag the brake a little bit, but, then again, I probably should have known a little better.

“He didn’t practice that in practice – two car drafting – and he’s not out here with us every week, so I probably should have thought a little bit better before I did that.”

There wasn’t too much time for Stenhouse to dwell, he still had a shot to win the race. On the green-white-checkered finish Stenhouse pushed eventual winner Kurt Busch to the lead. Except, that was all he could do because the tandem of Austin Dillon and Michael Annett quickly closed from behind and ruined any chance Stenhouse had of making a move on Busch.

“Restarting 11th with a green-white-checkered and I got a really good restart, shot up the middle and it just kind of seemed like they parted,” recalled Stenhouse. “The 1 [Busch] was coming back and I knew he was fast and we were able to push all night. I felt like we had one of the best cars that could push, so getting hooked up with him I knew he would make the right decisions to get to the front, so I just pushed as hard as I could and there at the end I never even looked out the windshield.

“I was just making sure I was pushing him and looked in the mirror to see where the 3 [Dillon] and the 43 [Annett] were coming, and tried to block them. I was hoping they weren’t going to have as big of a run on us so that I could try to make a pass for the lead.”

It was Stenhouse’s first top five since he won at Iowa in May. After stumbling out of the point lead and into third, the finish will go a long way towards fighting back. Maybe Daytona will again end up being the turning point for Stenhouse’s season, just as it did in 2010, which saved is career.

Now with 16 races down and 17 to go in the season, Stenhouse still sits third in points. But he’s closed to within 18 points of the leaders heading into New Hampshire next weekend.

“For our first time with NOS Energy on the car, I think they’re happy,” Stenhouse said. “We got a very good run out of it and we’re gonna get back to winning here pretty soon.”

July 7, 2012
Matty’s Picks 2012 – Vol. 18 Daytona International Speedway – Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola – July 7, 2012

The 2012 Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola marks the traditional halfway point in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, and this season is shaping up to be nothing less than exciting. Thirteen different drivers have visited Victory Lane in the first 17 points races (Tony Stewart, Brad Kesolowski, Jimmie Johnson, and Denny Hamlin being the repeat winners thus far) making this season a complete craps shoot in picking winners. I’ve had a blast watching the drama each week, and am looking forward to what the second half of this 2012 season will bring. It will be a mad dash to The Chase, and an even bigger fiasco to claim the Champion’s trophy.

The site for Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola needs no introduction. It’s the same 2.5 mile superspeedway we’ve grown so accustomed to, but it’s the racing style which has changed the face of Daytona International Speedway (or Juan Montoya if you remember February’s Daytona 500). Sorry but I had to throw a jet-dryer comment in here. The thing that shocks me still about the whole jet-dryer incident in February is Tide received 2-3 hours of free advertising from the jet fuel cleanup, and still they do not show up as a primary sponsor in the Sprint Cup Series. Come on Tide! Get back into NASCAR!

That’s my rant for this week, on to Kentucky’s Recap…

Kentucky Recap

It was another so so weekend in the Bluegrass State last week, as has been the story of my season here with Matty’s Picks. I guess the only thing to do is keep on trucking towards the top, and eventually I will end up with the 1-2 punch I’ve been searching for all season.

My Winner Pick was the defending champion of the Quaker State 400, and Kyle Busch looked like he would make it back-to-back wins in Sparta early on. Rowdy wasted no time in showing he was the guy to beat in the No. 18 M&M’s Red, White & Blue Toyota by taking the point position on the opening lap. He was the alpha male for 116 laps in the first half of the race, but minor contact with the wall on lap 130 would cause the No. 18 to slip out of the top 5. The contact was the first of a slew of issues that fell upon the M&M’s camp throughout the remaining 80 laps. During the final third of the Quaker State 400, Kyle Busch would experience a broken rear shock, an empty fuel tank, and a flat tire, but still managed to climb from 18th on the final green flag run to finish 10th.

A tough night it was for my Dark Horse last week in Kentucky… From the start of the race, Kurt Bush fought a car that was at its worse for the entire weekend. Making the connection from practice to race conditions has been a struggle for the No. 51 Chevrolet all season and this disconnect was violently apparent last week in Kentucky. Busch’s car was so bad in the early stages of the Quaker State 400, he slipped from his 14th-place starting spot to 22nd in just the first 15 laps. The crew continued to throw adjustments to the Phoenix Racing Chevy all night, until the straw that broke the camel’s back fell on lap 206 when Ryan Newman lost an engine and covered the racing surface in oil. Busch fell victim to the oil and slapped the outside wall, successfully ending my hopes of a 1-2 punch by the Busch Brothers. Kurt Busch managed to limp his damaged chariot home in 19th.

Daytona Picks

As I glance over practice speeds for the 54th Annual Coke Zero 400, I see one thing… I HAVE NO IDEA WHO TO PICK THIS WEEK! The cars look to be so evenly matched this week, it’s tough to pinpoint two guys who appear to be on the road to victory.

Winner Pick

It’s Jamie McMurray that I am rolling the dice with this week. He’s got some history behind him this week in the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/NRA Museum Chevrolet, and some solid practice speeds to boot. In the first of two practice sessions at Daytona yesterday, McMurray had the best 10 Consecutive Lap Average at a speed of 196.909mph. He’s also claimed victory 4-times in his career at Daytona or Talladega, but has had a rather ‘lumpy’ start to his 2012 campaign.

McMurray hasn’t finished better than 7th this year, and you’ve got to look all the way back to March’s Food City 500 to pick up that stat. McMurray sits just inside the top 20 in points and desperately needs a win to have an shot at one of the two ‘Wild Card’ bids for the 2012 Chase for the Sprint Cup. Being fastest in final practice will certainly turn some heads around the garage area this weekend.

Dark Horse Pick

There aren’t too many dark horses when it comes to racing on Superspeedways because quite honestly, anything can happen. I like the way Chevy’s engines have performed thus far this year, and with temperatures expected to hover around 90 degrees around race time Saturday night, performing well under the heat is pivotal to claiming victory. Having help from teammates is also an important part of taking the checkered at Daytona.

A guy that has both of these this weekend in Florida is Paul Menard. Looking at his last 3 races at Daytona, he’s finished 6th, 9th, and 8th respectively. Last year’s racing at Daytona and Talladega gave fans the two-car tango, and Menard rode the coat tails of teammate Kevin Harvick to his solid top-10 finishes. This February’s Daytona 500 was a hybrid of the two-car tango and pack racing, and Menard managed to work his way from 37th to finish in the top-10 following ‘the fire heard round the world’. Keep an eye on Menard on Saturday night as he might just have a shot at taking home is second career victory.

That’s all for this week, so until we hit New England… You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

July 6, 2012
Matty’s Picks 2012 – Vol. 17 Kentucky Speedway – Quaker State 400 – June 30, 2012

For the second time in Kentucky Speedway’s brief 12-year history, the big guns of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will set their sights on the 1.5-mile, D-shaped demon. My forecast for the weekend, ‘it’s going to be HOT!’ Temperatures are slated to reach triple-digits all weekend in the Bluegrass State, and the heat will only add to the slickness of the racing surface in Sparta.

It was a year ago that I had the privilege (or punishment) of covering the Inaugural Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway, and amidst the traffic issues, inclement weather and irritated race fans, I managed to have a good time. Jerry Carroll and now Bruton Smith have erected an absolutely magnificent facility in Northern Kentucky, and should be extremely proud to have been mentioned atop the list of sold-out races in 2011.

Sonoma Recap

I had a decent weekend last week in wine country, but did not have as good of a weekend as I would have liked. I’m supposedly a ‘Road Course Specialist’ so one would assume I could come up with some a decent finish in Sonoma.

My Winner Pick last week was the guy that 95% of the entire NASCAR community had pegged to win the Toyota/Save Mart 350, but fell short in his effort to win from his second Coors Light Pole in as many weeks. Marcos Ambrose was the guy to beat going into last week’s 110 lap stanza, but Ambrose battled an ill-handling chariot early in his quest to make it two road course victories in a row for the Stanley team. Ambrose shuffled his way back to a race-low 16th position and rallied to start 13th before the green-white-checkered finish.

Ambrose’s work with just two laps to work with showed me why I made the call to go with him last week. The Aussie was able to rebound from the ill handling racecar he had early on to finish 8th last week, earning me a much-needed top 10 in Sonoma.

My Dark Horse was another driver with a roller-coaster of a day last week in wine country…

Jeff Gordon started his day on the outside of the front row and quickly took advantage of Ambrose’s misfortune early on. Gordon snagged the lead on lap 12, and amidst his tenure leading the 2012 Toyota/Save Mart 350, managed to surpass 23,000 career laps led, the most among active drivers and ranking seventh on the all-time list. The No. 24 Chevrolet remained in the top 5 until lap 71 when his Impala sputtered on-track, a telling sign of an empty fuel cell. He was able to limp his car to pit road where he received a full tank of fuel and four tires, arming him for a run for the checkered. As the race shook out, drivers came to pit road, gained positions and following the green-white-checkered, the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet was shown 6th on the final leaderboard, giving me a double top-10 week last Sunday.

Kentucky Picks

With just one year of history to pull from in the Bluegrass State, it is tough to identify a guy who is ‘Good at Kentucky’. I’m going to do my best this week and pray for a win…

Winner Pick

Kyle Busch is where my money is going this week. He absolutely dominated the weekend last year in Sparta (winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ race after starting dead last, finishing second in the Nationwide race after finishing dead last, and by dominating the Inaugural Quaker State 400 from the pole) and is hungry to solidify his spot in The Chase for the Sprint Cup with a win on Saturday night. As I glance at current practice speeds from Kentucky, he had been shown third fastest in the first hour, but has slipped to 9th currently.

Here’s what Busch had to say about returning to Kentucky as the Inaugural Race Winner:

“I think it’s cool. You look at some of the new venues we’ve been to over the years and Jeff Gordon got to win a number of inaugural races, like the Brickyard, Fontana, and Kansas. He was always the guy who was known to figure out places the fastest, but we were able to be the ones to do that last year at Kentucky. There aren’t many opportunities these days to go to a new venue, so for us being able to win the first race there was extra special and, to put that M&M’s car in victory lane. We’d love to be able to come back there with our Red, White, and Blue M&M’s car and still keep us as the only winners there thus far in Sprint Cup.”

Dark Horse Pick

Why not make it an all Busch weekend this week and pick the No. 51 Finch Racing Chevy to win or bring home a top-5 this week? His Phoenix Construction Services Impala held together last week to finish 3rd in Sonoma, and barring suspension from NASCAR this week, I think Kurt Busch has a decent shot at a strong finish this week. As a glance at the practice speeds, its looking like KuBu has a decent car and is working on primarily race-trim, with the go-or-go homers soaking up a good portion of positions 10-20 on the practice leader board. He finished 9th last year in the inaugural race at Kentucky Speedway, driving for Penske Racing.

That’s all for this week, so until we throw the restrictor plates on once again this year…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

June 29, 2012
Surprising and Not Surprising: Sonoma Toyota Save Mart 350

[media-credit name=”Credit: By Ezra Shaw, Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”213″][/media-credit]From the land of wine, as well as left and right turns, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma.

Surprising: The most surprising thing about the first road course race of the season was just how surprised the winner of the race was in Victory Lane. In fact, he was so surprised that he forgot his car, which was out of gas, and walked to Victory Lane.

“What the hell am I doing here,” Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, said. “I’m not a road racer!”

“Never in a million years did I think I could come here and be the best of the best,” Bowyer continued. “This is a dream come true. It was meant to be.”

This was Bowyer’s first victory for the 2012 season and his first victory at Sonoma.

Not Surprising: The second and third place finishers definitely had a mutual admiration society going on for each other after racing each other cleanly, particularly during the final green, white, checkered laps.

Tony Stewart, in his No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, finished second while Kurt Busch, in the No. 51 Phoenix Construction Chevrolet, finished third.

“I’m a little choked up,” Kurt Busch said after battling for the lead in spite of an injured race car. “I’m just glad we brought it home third.”

“If I was smarter, I would have let Tony Stewart go a lap, a half-a-lap ahead,” Busch continued. “Maybe he could have got to Bowyer for a big finale.”

“What everyone probably didn’t see was that something was wrong with his car,” Smoke said of Kurt Busch in the No. 51. “Something in the rear-end was breaking and he was driving the wheel s off that thing.”

“I don’t know how he kept it on the race track,” Stewart continued. “He did a really good job of keeping that thing going.”

Stewart scored his ninth top-10 finish at Sonoma and his third straight top-3 finish. Kurt Busch posted his fifth top-10 finish in 12 races at Sonoma.

Surprising: The seemingly strongest two cars on the road course had surprising struggles to contend with before finishing in the top-10.

The fastest qualifier, Marcos Ambrose, struggled in race trim, yet finished eighth, while outside pole sitter Jeff Gordon ran out of gas, losing track time and position to finish sixth.

“We really missed it,” the driver of the No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion said. “We missed it bad and we did good to recover and get a top-10 out of it.”

“We had no speed in the car and we paid the price, “Ambrose continued. “I just feel bad for my Stanley team. It was just terrible.”

“We went about a half-of a lap too far,” Jeff Gordon said. “It never fails, you run out just as you pass pit entrance.”

“We were lucky to get back to pit road and get it fueled up,” the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet continued. “Luckily, we had enough laps to slowly work our way up into the top-10.”

Not Surprising: Since Dale Earnhardt, Jr., by his own admission, is not the biggest lover of road course racing, it was not surprising that last week’s Michigan race winner struggled at Sonoma. The driver of the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard Chevrolet finished 23^rd after a late race accident.

“I’m just mad because we didn’t run better,” Junior said. “We weren’t good all weekend.”

“I mean I ain’t the best road course racer out there, but I can damn sure do better than that,” Dale Jr. continued. “We’ve just got to do a better job.”

Surprising: Joe Gibbs Racing teammates were surprisingly playing a different sport with one another. Late in the race, young Joey Logano, behind the wheel of his No. 20 Home Depot Toyota, tangled with not only Kyle Busch but also Denny Hamlin.

“He really overshot the corner and got into us,” Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota, said of his teammate Logano. “Once you drive that extra 50 feet in, there’s nothing you can do to take it back.”

“We were the bowling pins and he was the bowling ball.”

Hamlin got the worst of the bowling tournament, finishing 35^th, while teammate Kyle Busch, in the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, finished 17^th. ‘Bowling ball’ Logano managed to finish in the tenth spot.

Not Surprising: While he has not been regularly driving a stock car, it was not surprising that Brian Vickers was able to parlay some of his Le Mans racing experience to his NASCAR performance at Sonoma.

Piloting the No. 55 RKMotorsCharlotte.com Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, Vickers kept both his nose and his car clean to finish fourth.

“It was great to run LeMans and then come here,” Vickers said. “I learned a lot about road racing.”

“Everyone at MWR is putting great cars on the track,” Vickers continued. “They’ve all made it possible for me to take the RKMotors car and put it in the top-five.”

Surprising: Casey Mears, behind the wheel of the NO. 13 GEICO Ford Fusion had a surprisingly good go of it at Sonoma, finishing top-15.

“We had a good car all weekend,” Mears said. “”It was a solid day for us. I am proud of what everybody did here and we will just keep improving.”

Not Surprising: To no one’s surprise, two Roushketeers ended up atop the leader board in the point standings.

Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Ford EcoBoost Ford and NASCAR’s newest free agent, finished 13^th at Sonoma but still leads his teammate Greg Biffle, who finished 7^th in his 3M/US Stationary Ford, by 11 points in the standings.

“We had a decent day,” Biffle said. “But we were just too loose all day.”

“We need to work on our road course program a little bit.”

June 27, 2012
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Sonoma

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson posted his eighth top-5 finish of the year with a fifth in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma. He is fourth in the standings, 25 out of first.

“Clint Bowyer was solid in the 5-Hour Energy Toyota,” Johnson said. “But does that necessarily make him a contender for the Sprint Cup title? What’s more impressive? Doing it five times, or for ‘5-Hours?’

“There’s a lot of drivers, Bowyer included, who have a single victory this year. They’re just a drop in the bucket. If five-straight Cup titles is a ‘reign,’ then one win is merely a drop of reign.”

2. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth held on to the Sprint Cup points lead with a 13^th at Sonoma. With ten races left until the Chase For The Cup, he leads Greg Biffle by 11.

“As you know,” Kenseth said, “I’m leaving Roush Fenway Racing at season’s end. However, I’m not at liberty to discuss my contract situation. And that’s sad, because the one time I have something to talk about, I’m not able to.

“In any case, when I do sign a new contract, it will be the first time I’ve been paid for my autograph in ages.”

3. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: After snapping a 143-race winless streak with a victory at Michigan on June 17^th, Earnhardt followed with a disappointing 23^rd in the Toyota/Save Mart 350. Earnhardt was running 13th when he spun on the final lap. He is now third in the point standings, 14 out of first.

“I can’t be too upset for not winning at Sonoma,” Earnhardt said. “No, not because I just won at Michigan, but because Junior Nation would never forgive me for drinking wine.”

4. Tony Stewart: Stewart passed Kurt Busch with one lap to go to take the runner-up spot at Sonoma. Stewart chased Clint Bowyer to the checkered flags, but finished .829 behind, and is now eighth in the point standings, 74 out of first.

“The hard part was getting around Busch,” Stewart said. “He’s never easy to overtake, unless it’s in a test of mental stability. I know Kurt is struggling to find sponsorship, but I think now is the time for Planter’s to get back into sport. What better sponsor for Busch than ‘nuts?’”

5. Greg Biffle: Biffle’s No. 16 3M Fusion was the first Ford across the line at Sonoma, finishing seventh for his ninth top 10 of the year. He remained third in the point standings, and trails Matt Kenseth by 17.

“I’m just happy I didn’t have a confrontation with Boris Said,” Biffle said. “I surely don’t want to wake with ‘Said Head’ almost as much as I don’t want to wake up with a ‘Said Head.’ His fans are crazy, and not even my type.

“But I finished seventh, while Boris finished 29^th. And Boris, of all people, knows a ‘whuppin’’ when he sees one.”

6. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer dominated at Sonoma, leading 71 of 112 laps for his first win of the year. Bowyer pulled away from Kurt Busch on the green-white-checkered finish, and held off Tony Stewart down the stretch. Bowyer is ninth in the point standings, 84 out of first.

“I’m proud to give Michael Waltrip Racing its first win,” Bowyer said. “You can best believe Michael won’t stop talking about this, ever. Now I can say I’ve won one for the ‘gabber.’

7. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin suffered difficult day at Sonoma, spinning on lap 94 after contact with Joe Gibbs teammate Joey Logano, and finishing 35^th after a DNF due to suspension failure. Hamlin tumbled three places to eighth in the point standings, 73 out of first.

“Logano wrecked me,” Hamlin said. “By the way, he’s still in negotiations for a new contract with JGR. If he’s back with Gibbs, that will be two of us resigned—Joey re-signed to a new contract, and me resigned to being his teammate for longer.”

8. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex led 15 laps in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 before fading to finish 22^nd. He remained seventh in the Sprint Cup point standings, 68 out of first.

“First,” Truex said, “Dale Earnhardt, Jr. wins at Michigan. Then, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. gets a ride at Roush Fenway Racing. It appears I’ll be the final ‘Junior’ to achieve glory in NASCAR. As ‘Junior’s’ go, they should start calling me ‘Martin Truex, III.’”

9. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 16^th in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 after running out of gas midway through the race, costing him several positions. Harvick and the No. 29 Rheem team salvaged a decent finish thanks to the Lucky Dog free pass on lap 83. He now sits sixth in the point standings, 64 out of first.

“This is shaping up to be a forgettable season,” Harvick said. “Of course, when I say this could be the worst nine months of my life, I guess I should clarify that it’s me talking and not my pregnant wife DeLana.”

10. Jeff Gordon: Despite running out of gas on lap 73, Gordon battled back to record a sixth-place finish at Sonoma. NASCAR’s all-time road course win leader posted his second consecutive sixth-place result as he tries to make a move towards a berth in the Chase.

“I hear Matt Kenseth is leaving Roush Fenway Racing at season’s end,” Gordon said. “It’s unclear whether Matt is leaving under his own accord or was pushed out. Knowing Matt as I do, I’m almost positive he was pushed.”

June 27, 2012
Kurt Busch: ‘I really wanted to deliver for my guys today’

[media-credit name=”Credit: By Ezra Shaw, Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”242″][/media-credit]The last few weeks have been tough on Kurt Busch. From struggles with performance, saying the wrong things and getting suspended, he finally had a nice Sunday drive with no controversy.

Busch came home third in his No. 51 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet. The bare red and white machine battled with the much better funded Michael Waltrip and Tony Stewart Racing teams and held its own. For Busch, it was bittersweet. A well-earned finish but a case of what could have been, too.

“It was just a full weekend of road racing,” said Busch afterwards. “It was a solid day yesterday and even better day today. To have a nice, steady pace and to have smooth pit strategy from my Phoenix Racing guys reminded me a lot of last year and I thought I could deliver for them. We were in contention. We made it all the way to the final restart and today with all those long green flag runs, I thought the race would play into our favor.”

The No. 51 Chevrolet was better suited for the longer runs, which he certainly showed. The defending race winner gave it his best shot as he led two laps and remained firmly in the top five for the second half of the event. Slowly chipping away, making a run at what would have been an improbably victory.

“I just kept thinking, ‘He’s a dirt late model racer from the Midwest; there’s no way he’s going to be able to run the road course,’” Busch said of winner Clint Bowyer. “And he did. He did great. That car and our car, I think we separated ourselves from the pack today.”

Then came the one moment in 112 laps that Busch would love to have back. One moment that took him from contender to third. While making a run on Bowyer for the lead late in the race, Busch hit the inside tire barrier in turn 11.

The contact seemed much harder than in years past. Instead of the tires giving away, they stayed put. Busch’s machine suffered damage in the front and ended up breaking a bar in the rear of the car. Suddenly his 51 was slightly swinging back and forth, right before the final restart of the day.

It ended up being the difference. Busch couldn’t do anything with Bowyer and he lost the spot to Tony Stewart. Afterwards Busch found that the sets of tires that sit on the inside of turn 11 were bolted down, no longer as giving as they had been in the past.

“Today we came home third,” he said. “Chevrolet and Monster Energy and Tag Heuer, our three big brands with us this year – I’m a bit choked up. I just made a little mistake their in turn 11. Those tires have never been bolted down, ever and I clipped a set of tires and it broke the front suspension and the rear panhard bar and I couldn’t compete for the win after that; so a mistake there.

“But if we pulled into Victory Lane with all-red car and no sponsor, here in California, I thought it was team tiger blood with Charlie Sheen around.”

Busch backed up his solid eighth place finish on Saturday in the Nationwide Series race at Road America. Driving for little brother Kyle’s team, Busch flexed his muscle and sharpened his road course skills. Along with his Sonoma win last season Busch won at Watkins Glen in the NNS while subbing for then injured teammate Brad Keselowski.

This time around he nearly did it again. And it would have been a whole bigger for Busch, who was clearly choked up.

“When you show up and you’re a third of the budget and you almost bring it to Victory Lane, you can’t say that one guy does it out here,” Busch said. “It takes a full team effort. But I really want to deliver for my guys today, and being that close and make one mistake, it’s a tough game. That’s why it’s Sprint Cup.”

Not to mention the team that has stuck behind him through the thick and the thin. Sunday’s finish was the first top five for Busch in 2012, they remain 27th in points heading into Kentucky.

“They bring the best out in me,” said Busch of his Phoenix team. “This is a no nonsense group for a bunch of racers. The way this program feels is we are a bunch of boy scouts where we have to support each other and teach each other things and everybody has three jobs on this team.

“Yeah, the closest family atmosphere I’ve ever had to racing with Kyle and my dad. We are not blood brothers or anything and cut fingers and tough and go team tiger blood or anything, but it’s really a neat group. Nick’s [Harrison, crew chief] leadership is just so much fun just to follow him and be a part of.”

June 24, 2012
Surprising and Not Surprising: Michigan Quicken Loans 400

[media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”237″][/media-credit]From blistering speeds to blistering tires, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 44^th annual Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

Surprising: After the repaving, days of tire testing and several practices resulted in pervasive tire blistering throughout the garage, it was surprising the praise shared for Goodyear when they made the very difficult call to switch up the tires for the race.

And although known for his sometimes hard-hitting rhetoric, second place finisher Tony Stewart had nothing but cheers for team Goodyear.

“I think we need to give 100 percent credit to Goodyear for this weekend,” the driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet said. “I mean, what they had to do Friday night was a really hard decision to make.”

“It was for the betterment of all of us as drivers and teams and for the sport,” Smoke continued. “So every one of us need to walk through the garage and stop at Goodyear and shake every one of their guys’ hands.”

Not Surprising: While Junior nation paced and held their collective breaths during the final laps of the Quicken Loans 400, no one was more anxious than team owner Rick Hendrick.

“That was the longest 18 laps of my life,” Hendrick said of the waning laps before Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finally took that checkered flag, ending his four-year winless drought. “I was doing laps around my couch, trying to end this race, man.”

“I was too nervous to stand still,” Hendrick continued. “Linda and I were just watching it and saying ‘Come on, no problems.’ I was so afraid there was going to be a caution or something was going to happen.”

“I thought Dale had a real shot at Pocono,” Hendrick said. “But this is like a huge load off our backs.”

Surprising: While his teammate basked in the glory of Victory Lane, Jeff Gordon celebrated a top-10 finish, as well as a surprising career milestone. The driver of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet scored the 400^th top-10 finish of his Cup career.

With his sixth place run, Gordon became the second youngest driver to achieve that milestone. This was also his fifth top-6 finish at Michigan International Speedway in the last seven races at that track.

“It was not easy,” Gordon said, especially after having to move up from his 28^th starting spot. “We had a really good race car today.”

“I’m just glad we had a solid day,” Gordon continued. “It’s something to build on.”

Not Surprising: Always understated and never surprising Matt Kenseth had another solid run, finishing third in his No. 17 EcoBoost Ford. Kenseth also held onto the points lead, lording just four points over second place contender Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

“We were pretty good in the beginning of the race and got shuffled back and it was tough to work traffic today,” Kenseth said. “They got the setup good on the last two runs and had good pit stops.”

“We were able to stand on the gas and work our way up there to third.”

Surprising: One of the hottest drivers on the circuit surprisingly went from Victory Lane in Pocono and in the Michigan Nationwide race to hitting the wall and ending his Michigan Cup race with a DNF.

“It was just the restarts,” Joey Logano said. “The slower lapped car – we all waved around and we’re all trying to turn down underneath him.”

“I thought I had it saved and over-corrected and went in the wall,” Logano continued. “It’s a little frustrating.”

“We’ll go back out there next week and win that one.”

Not Surprising: NASCAR is a family so, to no one’s surprise, several teams and crew members came to the aid of a driver in trouble. After wrecking, Denny Hamlin tried to drive to pit road only to be engulfed in flames in the race car.

“There’s a lot of good safety stuff, but I’ve got to thank all of the crew guys that hauled ass over there and got me out,” the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota said. “It was just a tough day.”

“I thought we had a car that could run top-three or four at times, but just didn’t have a great day and on fire is not a good way to end it.”

Surprising: Rough times surprisingly continued to plague the Busch brothers, from Pocono to the Irish hills of Michigan. Kurt Busch, who sat out of his car at Pocono due to a verbal altercation with a media member, wrecked on lap two of the Michigan race.

Brother Kyle fared none better, experiencing engine failure for the third weekend in a row.

Kurt Busch finished 30^th and Kyle Busch finished 32^nd. With the engine failure, Kyle Busch managed to hold on to 12^th in the point standings, but barely remained in Chase contention.

Not Surprising: Jimmie Johnson, along with his lucky horseshoe, continued to triumph over adversity. The driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet managed yet again to pull off another top-5 finish.

“Man, we were coming,” Johnson said. “We were really flying.”

“And then I blistered the right rear again and had to just hang on,” Johnson continued. “And then I ran out of fuel going into Turn 3 and coasted around and made it to the finish.”

“It was a tough day; but a good finish, so we’ll take that.”

Surprising: EGR racer Juan Pablo Montoya had a surprisingly good run at Michigan, finishing eighth.

“It was good,” the driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet said of his top-10 run. “I will tell you the truth, yesterday when they changed tires, I was really worried.”

“I called my dad to wish him a Happy Father’s Day and he said, ‘How is the car?’ I said, ‘If it handles the way it handled yesterday we are going to get lapped every 20 laps.”

“Our team has a lot of potential and we showed a little bit of what we can do,” JPM continued. “I think we still have a lot of work to do, but I’m happy, really happy.”

Not Surprising: As the fastest racer in NASCAR, Marcos Ambrose not only scored the pole with a new track record, but also finished ninth in his No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion.

“We will take the top-10 but we had a great car today and we lost a little bit of track position and it hurt us there,” Ambrose said. “I am proud of my Stanley team. We led some laps and looked good up there.”

“It was a strong day for us, not quite what we wanted, but we will take it and move along to Sonoma.”

June 19, 2012
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Pocono

[media-credit id=26 align=”alignright” width=”237″][/media-credit]Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson finished fourth at Pocono, posting his 10^th top-10 result of the year. He remained fifth in the Spring Cup point standings, 30 out of first.

“Pit road speeding penalties were the story at Pocono,” Johnson said. “I got nabbed twice myself. There are so many speed traps on pit road, I apparently wasn’t the only ‘5-timer’ at Pocono.

“I got ‘busted twice.’ And I’m so good, they’ll be saying that again at my Hall of Fame induction ceremony.”

2. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished seventh in the Pocono 400, and, with the struggles of Roush Fenway teammate Greg Biffle, is the new points leader. Kenseth holds a ten-point lead over Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

“It’s one thing to lead the point standings now,” Kenseth said. “It’s another to lead at season’s end. And, as The Fixx once eloquently stated, let’s hope ‘One Thing Leads To Another.’”

3. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt led 36 laps at Pocono, second only to Joey Logano’s 49, but settled for an eighth-place finish, his third-straight top 10 and seventh in the last eight races. Earnhardt improved one place in the Sprint Cup point standings and trails Matt Kenseth by 10.

“We had the car to win the race,” Earnhardt said, “but, as a 143-race winless streak would seem to suggest, not the driver.

“We had to play it safe and pit for fuel late in the race. I know Junior Nation wanted me to go for the win, but if they could just picture alcohol in the place of fuel, I think they’d understand.”

4. Greg Biffle: Biffle led 19 early laps in the Pocono 400 before mechanical issues dropped him to a finish of 24^th, his worst result of the season. After leading the point standings for 11 consecutive weeks, Biffle fell to third, and now trails Matt Kenseth by 10.

“Up until Pocono,” Biffle said, “our engines have been pretty reliable. Usually, when there’s talk of ‘mechanical issues’ around here, it’s a comment on Kenseth’s personality.”

5. Denny Hamlin: Perennial Pocono favorite Hamlin started and finished fifth in the Pocono 400, as Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano took the victory. Hamlin is fourth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 19 out of first.

“Logano ran a heck of a race,” Hamlin said. “He was awesome. So awesome, in fact, that Joey was the only driver his father confronted after the race.”

6. Kevin Harvick: Karvick finished 14^th at Pocono, one of several drivers slowed by a record 22 pit road speeding penalties administered by NASCAR during Sunday’s race. Harvick moved up one place in the point standings to sixth, 53 out of first.

“I was one of several drivers penalized for speeding on pit lane,” Harvick said. “I have to question NASCAR’s methods. Normally, when you say ‘speed trap’ in NASCAR circles, everyone assumes you’re talking about a member of the Mayfield clan getting busted for buying meth from an undercover cop. Not anymore.

“Obviously, the timing mechanisms at Pocono need reviewing. That would make everyone happy. In other words, it’s time to ‘calibrate, good times.’”

7. Tony Stewart: Stewart broke a streak of two consecutive 25^th-place finishes with a strong third in the Pocono 400, his fifth top 5 of the year. He remained eighth in the point standings, where he trails leader Matt Kenseth by 75.

“As you know,” Stewart said, “Kyle Busch won my charity Prelude To A Dream race at Eldora Speedway. So, Kyle’s name is ‘dirt’ while his brother Kurt’s name is ‘mud.’”

8. Kyle Busch: Busch finished 30^th after a blown engine ended his day on lap 76. He fell three places to 12^th in the Sprint Cup point standings, 21 ahead of Paul Menard in 13^th.

“Off all people,” Busch said, “I was one who didn’t get a speeding penalty.

“It’s old news that my brother Kurt was sent home for the weekend. Funny thing is, ‘home’ doesn’t want him around either.”

9. Carl Edwards: Edwards was caught up in a lap 1 incident at Pocono that left him at the back of the field. But the No. 99 Kellogg’s/Cheez It team battled back, and Edwards bagged a solid 11^th, and improved one spot to 11^th in the point standings.

“I bringing up the rear in the point standings among Roush Fenway drivers,” Edwards said. “My teammates, Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle, are still quite supportive. They greatly appreciate the distance I’ve put between us.”

10. Joey Logano: Logano started on pole and led a race-high 49 laps at Pocono, but needed a late pass of Mark Martin to capture his first win since 2009. In a contract year, Logano made a strong case for Joe Gibbs Racing to resign NASCAR’s youngest Sprint Cup driver.

“How about that bump I gave Martin before I slipped past him?” Logano said. “I kicked the old guard old school. If Mark’s upset, I’m sure I could get a note from my father excusing me.

“My win should go a long way in getting a new deal with JGR. I’m expecting to get paid. Soon, there will be more ‘bread’ in ‘Sliced Bread.’”

June 13, 2012
Tuesday is Judgment Day for Busch

[media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”248″][/media-credit]After the race at Pocono, we crowned winner Joey Logano, quieting some noise from those who thought he wasn’t fit for the Cup series. However, one question still hangs in the air, one that may be resolved this Tuesday.

The Kurt Busch saga is a train wreck none of us can stop watching. Once we think it’s lost momentum, something happens to cause more damage. This race wasn’t as exciting, though; Busch was suspended from all NASCAR sanctioned events this weekend, which restrained him from running in Pocono. David Reutimann filled his spot and garnered a 21st-place finish.

James Finch, the owner of Busch’s #51, stated after the suspension that Tuesday was when him and the controversial driver would “sit down and have a Come-To-Jesus talk.” That day is almost here, and some are wondering if there is a future for the elder Busch.

I’m not sure why there is much speculation about what Finch should do. If I were him, Kurt would’ve been gone a while ago.

If you are unfamiliar with the story, Kurt Busch has been known as the Radio Sweetheart for his constant shouting during races and his temper. Last weekend at Dover, he threatened a reporter after the Nationwide race and received a suspension. One of his famous outbursts happened last year at Homestead, where he berated an interviewer and was caught on camera.

There is no doubt he has an issue, something personal, that he needs to deal with, but it has gone too far. Finch has to let Kurt go. The deal between the owner and driver was a handshake one, no contracts involved.

“I hired him for his foot, not his mouth,” is what Finch first stated when the two came together. Well, it seems like enough is enough, not just for the team owner, but the crew, too. Many pit road members have stated how they’re tired of the constant shouting and attacks to the organization. For a tiny team like Finch’s, keeping the workers they have is very crucial.

There are many drivers that could be seated into the #51 after this year, where that Handshake deal is up. But, after Tuesday, will it be open earlier than planned?

June 11, 2012
Surprising and Not Surprising: FedEx 400 Autism Speaks

[media-credit id=26 align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]While it was not surprising that the Monster Mile lived up to its reputation, with a major wreck in the early laps of the FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks, here are some of the other surprises at the Monster Mile in Dover, Delaware.

Surprising: It was surprising just how serious race winner Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Madagascar Chevrolet, was able to be about his record-setting run at the Monster Mile as he sported his rainbow-colored Madagascar wig in Victory Lane.

Johnson not only led 289 of the 400 laps for his seventh Monster Mile win, but he also tied the record of Richard Petty and Bobby Allison for most ever career wins at Dover International Speedway.

“I’m just proud of this hair,” Johnson said. “The hair really brought some speed to the team.”

“I’m never one that paid attention to stats,” Johnson said of his record-setting run. “I truthfully never thought I would be a guy that would build up any cool stats and here I am with some pretty cool stats, with legends of our sport and guys that I’ve looked up to.”

“I’m very proud of the effort and I know it’s hard to give you a serious answer with this hair on right now, but am very proud of the seven wins here and to be in that elite company.”

Not Surprising: Kevin Harvick, behind the wheel of the No. 29 Jimmy Johns Chevrolet, was also happy in spite of have some pit road miscues and not quite closing the deal on the race win. Harvick came in second, his 10^th top-10 finish in 23 races at the Monster Mile.

“Yeah, we had a solid race,” Harvick said. “I made a mistake on pit road there and got us back to about 20^th.”

“The car was good enough to be able to drive back through the pack.”

Surprising: It was surprising that the two drivers named Jeff, both Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton, had strong race cars but continuing bad luck runs.

Jeff Gordon, who has struggled all year in his No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet, was leading the race when he felt a tire going down. Jeff Burton on the other had had an engine fail in his No. 31 BB&T Chevrolet.

“We definitely had a loose left rear,” Jeff Gordon said. “It didn’t go on right to begin with and the left-rear tire-changer knew that.”

“And so when I started to complain about it, we knew that there might be an issue and there was,” Gordon continued. “So, in some ways we got fortunate today. I could have stayed out there and wrecked because it wasn’t really vibrating. It was getting real loose.”

“Well, first of all, we had a good car today,” Jeff Burton said. “We had a solid top-10 car easy.”

“We broke an engine here, but it just is what it is,” Burton continued. “The monkey is on us right now.”

Not Surprising: The equation of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. plus a Hendrick Motorsports race car equals consistency continued at the Monster Mile. The driver of the No. 88 AMP Energy/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet had yet another top five run, finishing fourth and moving to third in the point standings, just ten points out of the top spot.

“We had a good car,” Junior said. “We had good speed.”

“We are getting close and finishing good when we are not winning,” Junior continued. “It was a good day for us, a good points day.”

Surprising: It was surprising to see Kyle Busch out of the race, suffering engine failure in his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota. Busch finished an uncharacteristic 202 of the scheduled 400 laps and finished 29^th.

“Unfortunately, we had a valve spring break in the engine, which hit the pistons,” Busch said. “It’s real unfortunate.”

“I hate it that we give a post-race interview this way, rather than finishing.”

Not Surprising: It was not surprising, however, to see the other Busch, big brother Kurt, self-destruct yet again. Kurt Busch incurred two pit road penalties and then also had an engine failure, finishing 24^th in the No. 51 Phoenix Construction Services Chevrolet.

Worse yet, after the race, Busch was suspended for the upcoming race weekend at Pocono due to a verbal altercation with one of the NASCAR media corps, Bob Pockrass of Sporting News. His probation was also extended until the end of the year.

“I accept NASCAR’s decision,” Busch said. “I put them in a box, they had to take action and it’s my fault for putting them in this position.”

“I apologize for the comments I made to Bob Pockrass.”

Surprising: It was surprising that ‘Concrete’ Carl most certainly did not live up to his reputation at the Monster Mile. Edwards, driving the No. 99 Subway Ford, hit the wall on Lap 165, finishing 26^th.

“Our front right tire went flat,” Edwards said. “I don’t know exactly why.”

“This is such a fun race track and the car was so good,” Edwards continued. “I am really frustrated our day got cut short.”

Not Surprising: Teammate Matt Kenseth had another solid run in his No. 17 Best Buy Ford to no one’s surprise. Kenseth finished third, posting his 18^th top-10 finish in 27 races at Dover, and now sits just one point out of the top spot in the point standings.

“Yeah, our finish was really good,” Kenseth said. “Our end result, can’t really complain about that.”

“I am happy to come home third with a car that didn’t drive the way we wanted it to.”

Surprising: For the first time in a Sprint Cup car at the Monster Mile, Aric Almirola had a surprisingly good run. The driver of the No. 43 Jani-King/Smithfield Ford Fusion finished the race in the sixth position.

“I would say that is pretty respectable for our first time here,” Almirola said. “It was a great day for everybody on this Jani-King Smithfield Ford.”

“I am proud of everybody and we had a really good run.”

Not Surprising: It was not surprising that the biggest winners of the Monster Mile weekend were all of the children with autism and their families who got to not only attend the race but do so in a special area of the grandstands conducive to dealing with their challenges and where they could meet some of their NASCAR heroes.

“I know that I really appreciate what Dover International Speedway and the Autism Speaks group does to host all the families for this event,” Jamie McMurray, driver of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet and an autism spokesman, said. “I am just glad that I can do something to help this cause.”

June 7, 2012