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  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Kansas

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Kansas

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson finished third in the STP 400 at Kansas and lengthened his lead in the Sprint Cup point standings. He now leads Hendrick teammate Kasey Kahne by 37.

    “That’s a heck of a cushion after eight races,” Johnson said. “If there were debris cautions in the point standings, NASCAR would fly one now

    “Brad Keselowski swears his team did nothing wrong. He gives new meaning to the term ‘defending’ champ. Penske is appealing their punishment, but NASCAR probably won’t change their mind. That ship has sailed, or better yet, that ship has been ‘docked.’”

    2. Kasey Kahne: Kahne posted his fifth top 5 of the year, taking the runner-up spot in the STP 400 at Kansas Motor Speedway. He leaped five places in the point standings to second, where he trails Jimmie Johnson by 37.

    “I just couldn’t make the pass on Matt Kenseth,” Kahne said. “He’s like the NASCAR rule book to Penske Racing—there’s just no getting around it.”

    3. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski closed an eventful week with a sixth in the STP 400, overcoming early damage to claim his seventh top-10 finish of the year. Earlier in the week, the No. 2 Miller Lite team was docked 25 points for an unapproved part in Texas.

    “As you may have seen,” Keselowski said, “my rear bumper cover flew off near the end of the race. That’s not the only time my car’s rear end has been ‘uncovered’ lately.

    “I’m sure NASCAR has heard enough me lately. It’s not often NASCAR quotes David Gilliland, but they’d like me to ‘shut up and race.’”

    4. Greg Biffle: Biffle finished 19th at Kansas on a tough day for Roush Fenway Racing, as the team failed to produce a top-10 finish. Biffle fell one spot to fourth in the point standings, and now trails Jimmie Johnson by 47.

    “Roger Penske said the team was working in a ‘gray area’ of the rule book,” Biffle said. “Apparently, that’s another area in which NASCAR lacks ‘color.’”

    5. Kyle Busch: Busch struggled in the STP 400, spinning twice, the second of which sent him into the wall and sliding into the path of Joey Logano’s No. 22 Penske Ford, which slammed Busch’s Toyota. Both cars were done for the day, and Busch finished 38th, his worst finish this season since a 34th at Daytona.

    “Logano has a ‘nose’ for Joe Gibbs Racing cars,” Busch said. “That’s in stark contrast to his ‘tail’ for NASCAR inspectors.”

    6. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt finished 16th at Kansas, his third consecutive finish outside the top 10. After taking the points lead after a runner-up finish at California, Earnhardt is now tied for fifth, 35 out of first.

    “That last caution ruined our chances,” Earnhardt said. “I hate flag waving, unless it’s green, checkered, or done by my fanatical fan base. But I’m not one to complain. I don’t need some two-bit driver to tell me to ‘shut up and race.’”

    7. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth won his second race of the year, capturing the STP 400 after a timely caution flag gave him the lead with about 40 laps to go. He held off Kasey Kahne down the stretch, and is now eighth in the point standings, 59 out of first.

    “Thank goodness for Brad Keselowski’s rear bumper flying off,” Matt Kenseth. “And I commend Keselowski for his defiance. NASCAR throws the book at him, and he throws back! He’s one tough customer. If he were a professional wrestler, he would hail from ‘Parts Unknown.’”

    8. Carl Edwards: Edwards led 19 laps at Kansas but fell a lap down after an untimely caution and finished 17th. He fell one spot to sixth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 49 out of first.

    “I’m no stranger to having a muscular physique, Edwards said. “And I’m no stranger to losing points due to a failed inspection. You could say I’ve been ‘sculpted’ and ‘busted.’”

    9. Paul Menard: Menard led the Richard Childress Racing charge at Kansas, finishing 10th while teammate Kevin Harvick came home 12th. Menard is now 10th in the point standings, 71 out of the lead.

    “Harvick has an average finish of 16th this season,” Menard said. “On a related note, Jimmy John’s has introduced a new topping for their sandwiches in Kevin’s honor—-it’s called the ‘medi-okra.’”

    10. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer posted his fourth top-5 result of the season with a fifth in the STP 400. He is ninth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 64 out of first.

    “David Gilliland did what many of us have wanted to,” Bowyer said. “No, not put Danica in her place, but talk dirty to her.

    “As you may have heard, I just opened the Clint Bowyer Autoplex in Emporia, Kansas. It’s been a dream of mine to own my own car dealership. Let that be a lesson to the youngsters: if you chase your dreams, you may catch them. And, if you chase Jeff Gordon, you may not.”

  • The Good, Bad & The Ugly For JGR at Kansas

    The Good, Bad & The Ugly For JGR at Kansas

    Joe Gibbs Racing had a very up and down day at Kansas with one car getting sprayed by champagne while the other three sat in the garage torn up. They fielded a fourth car for this race and that was the No.81 driven by NASCAR Nationwide Series championship contender, Elliott Sadler. Here is a rundown of how the day went for all four drivers and for most of them, it wasn’t pretty.

    Kyle Busch #18

    Kyle rocketed up to 3rd early in the event and he looked fast. What looked like a promising race for last week’s winners quickly took a turn for the worse just five laps into the race. The rear end went around on Busch coming out of turn 2 sending the car skidding sideways down the backstretch. Kyle got away with no damage and restarted at the back of the pack. He fought his way back through the field with a visibly loose car and was looking fast again until lap 105 when things went very, very wrong. The No.18 went spinning for the second time but Kyle was unable to escape this incident unharmed. He slid down the track directly into the path of former teammate, Joey Logano and the two slammed into each other in a savage collision ending both of their days in an instant. The Kansas curse continues for Busch who has never finished better than 7th at this track. This weekend, Kyle wrecked two Sprint Cup cars and a Camping World Series truck and posted DNF’s in both races. He walked away very frustrated finishing 38th in the STP 400 falling to 7th in the standings.

    Elliott Sadler #81

    Elliott started the race in 24th and dropped back rapidly. For the first 80 laps or so, he struggled with the car falling back into the 30’s. Remember, this is Sadler’s first appearance driving the Gen-6 so I would imagine that it was very difficult for him to get a feel for these wicked fast machines. On lap 85, his day was cut short when he lost control in turn 4 sending his ALERT Energy Gum Toyota Camry into the wall tail first. He brought the car back to the garage with the rear end all crunched and the crew opted not to make repairs considering he wasn’t running for points. With their day over, No.81 posted a disappointing 40th place finish. Sadler will get a chance at redemption in his next shot at driving the #81 when NASCAR visits Talladega.

    Brian Vickers #11

    Brian was coming off a solid top 10 at Texas and hoped to make some noise at Kansas in a substitution role for Denny Hamlin. He started 16th and like Sadler, Brian struggled with the handling of his race car causing him to drop back into the 20’s. We didn’t hear much about Vickers until lap 175 but it was for all the wrong reasons. The No.11 smacked the wall off of turn 2 sending Brian spinning down the back stretch. He was able to keep it from nosing into the inside wall and continued the race. The suspension was damaged though and his ill handling car became even more uncontrollable. NASCAR warned the team to pick up the speed or they would be parked but the No.11 was able to soldier on and finish the race. Brian Vickers limped the car home 31st, 10 laps behind the leader in what may be his final start in the No.11 pending what doctors tell Hamlin this week.

    Matt Kenseth #20

    After reading the race summaries from the other three, a fan who didn’t know any better would look at Matt and wonder what happened to ruin his day. On the contrary, Kenseth had what I would call a fairly decent race. He started on pole and led the first 100 laps or so before falling back due to varying race strategies. With 52 to go, Matt reclaimed the top spot and never looked back. Well, I shouldn’t say he never looked back considering Kasey Kahne filled up his rear view mirror harassing Kenseth for the final 20 laps or so. The two battled hard a lot like they did at Las Vegas with Kenseth prevailing in the end winning his 26th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race. He’s now won the last two events at Kansas and finds himself 8th in the standings.

    Even with the victory, it was certainly a tough day for Joe Gibbs Racing who lost half their fleet before even half the race was completed. “The Coach” probably didn’t know what to think when he walked back to the garage covered in confetti only to see his other three cars sitting there severely damaged. Everyone looked at Matt to join JGR and become a mentor to the other drivers in the stable and he’s done more than that so far winning two races and out-performing his teammates on a regular basis. The 2003 NSCS champ looks posed to be in contention for the Cup this year and who knows how many more wins he’ll rack up before the season is done.

  • Crunching The Numbers: Kansas

    Crunching The Numbers: Kansas

    After a trip to the Lone Star State for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and a visit to “The Rock” for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series last weekend, both series join up this weekend in America’s Heartland for a weekend of racing at Kansas Speedway. After being reconfigured in 2012, the track has become super fast and should provide two great races for the race fans in the Midwest.

    Sprint Cup Series

    The Sprint Cup Series will make its 15th appearance at Kansas this Sunday, but only the second race since last year’s reconfiguration. With new track records being set last fall on the new track and the Gen6 making its Kansas debut, this race should be a good one to keep an eye on to see just what will happen when the STP 400 goes green on Sunday.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Jimmie Johnson 13 2 5 11 3 547 10.6 8.0
    Greg Biffle 13 2 7 9 1 346 15.2 9.5
    Brad Keselowski 6 1 2 3 0 17 17.0 9.8
    Carl Edwards 11 0 4 8 0 72 18.5 10.8
    Jeff Gordon 14 2 8 10 0 208 11.6 11.0
    Tony Stewart 14 2 6 9 0 152 18.1 11.7
    Kevin Harvick 14 0 1 6 0 83 19.9 12.9
    Clint Bowyer 9 0 1 4 0 48 15.2 14.0
    Kasey Kahne 11 0 2 5 3 78 11.0 15.0
    Mark Martin 14 1 2 5 1 212 16.4 15.3

    Who To Watch: As is the case at the majority of tracks the Sprint Cup Series visits, Jimmie Johnson is at the top of the board once again with two wins, five top fives, 11 top tens, three poles, an average start of 10.6, and an average finish of 8.0 in 13 starts. However, Johnson does have some competition in the Ford camp with drivers Greg Biffle, Brad Keselowski, and Carl Edwards having average finishes of 9.5, 9.8, and 10.8, respectively. Biffle also has two wins at the track with Keselowski taking the win once. Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart also join Johnson and Biffle in the two win club at Kansas. One last driver to keep an eye on would be Dale Earnhardt Jr, due to the fact that this race would be his first start on the reconfigured track after missing last year’s race with a concussion that all started in a wreck while tire testing on this very track last summer.

    Camping World Truck Series

    The Camping World Truck Series’ 13th race at Kansas will feature the series debut on the new reconfiguration, as the track was reconfigured after the series lone race at the track last spring. This should level the playing field for the Trucks, as all of the teams will be trying to get a handle on the new track for the first time.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Kyle Busch 1 0 0 1 0 0 11.0 6.0
    James Buescher 4 1 2 2 0 104 7.8 8.2
    Ty Dillon 1 0 0 1 0 0 5.0 9.0
    Johnny Sauter 4 1 2 3 0 112 8.0 9.0
    Todd Bodine 9 1 4 6 0 108 16.3 9.4
    Joey Coulter 2 0 1 1 0 1 7.5 9.5
    Ron Hornaday Jr 8 1 3 5 3 265 8.0 9.8
    Miguel Paludo 2 0 0 1 0 1 14.0 11.5
    Brendan Gaughan 8 0 1 5 0 17 21.6 12.2
    Dakoda Armstrong 1 0 0 0 0 1 20.0 15.0

    Who To Watch: With a top ten finish in his lone start at the track, Kyle Busch is at the top of the heap as far as stats at Kansas. Four former winners at Kansas, James Buescher, Johnny Sauter, Todd Bodine, and Ron Hornaday join Busch as ones to watch in the SFP 250 on Saturday. Also, keep an eye on Ty Dillon, who also has a top ten start and finish in one start at the track.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Texas NRA 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Texas NRA 500

    From the agonizing delays in pre-race tech to the broom in Victory Lane, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 17th annual NRA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

    Surprising:  While it might have taken a surprising twenty years of trying, Norm Miller and Interstate Batteries, thanks to their driver Kyle Busch, finally made it to Victory Lane. This was Busch’s 26th win in 300 Cup Series races and surprisingly his first win at Texas Motor Speedway in the Cup Series.

    “For Interstate Batteries and Norm Miller to be in Victory Lane in Texas – there’s nothing better than putting him right here,” Busch said. “This feels good.”

    In addition to the sweep at Texas, winning the Nationwide and Cup races, Busch and company also had a surprisingly stellar night in the pits. In fact, for eight pit stops, the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota team led the way statistically with the least amount of time on pit road.

    “We had a great racecar, and we worked really hard all weekend, but without that pit crew – they’re the best in the business,” Busch said. “They know when it’s crunch time.”

    Not Surprising:  When a racer fails to win, especially after coming so close, it is not surprising that the end result is bitterness and disappointment. But for Martin Truex, Jr., the runner up run was almost unbearable, especially after losing the lead in the pits.

    “Shoulda, coulda, woulda,” the driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota said. “I’m just disappointed.”

    “The race was over when we got beat out of the pits,” Truex Jr. continued. “We’ve had a tough season and we had a car capable of winning.”

    “I’m just tired of finishing second,” Truex Jr. said. “This is getting old. It sucks.”

    Truex’s day got even worse when it was determined that his car flunked post-race inspection, being too low in the front. Any possible penalties issued by the sanctioning body may come early in the week.

    Surprising:  There was a surprising amount of drama prior to and after the race for team Penske. Both Keselowski and Logano had difficulty in pre-race tech, so much so that Logano almost did not make it out on the track for the start of the race.

    Yet both Penske drivers managed to score top-ten finishes in spite of it all, with Logano in fifth and Keselowski in ninth.

    “Shoot, I wasn’t even in the car yet,” Logano said. “It was a little too close for my comfort.”

    “If you would have told me I would have finished fifth today, I would have given you a hug.”

    Keselowski, however, had some harsh words for the sanctioning body after the race as a result of having to change the rear-end housing prior to the race.

    “The things I’ve seen over the last seven days have me questioning everything I believe in and I’m not happy about it,” the driver of the Blue Deuce said. “You have no (expletive) idea what’s going on.”

    “I feel like we’ve been targeted over the last seven days more than I’ve ever seen a team targeted,” Keselowski continued. “We’re not going to take it.”

    As with Truex Jr., NASCAR will most likely assess penalties later in the week.

    Not Surprising:  Roush Fenway Racing traditionally does well at Texas Motor Speedway, so it was not surprising to see both Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle have good runs, finishing third and fourth respectively. Both RFR drivers, however, faced some significant obstacles along the way to both finish top-five.

    Edwards had a mechanical issue with a cracked tailpipe and then had difficulties with his seat belts coming undone.

    “That’s a gift for us,” the driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford said after the race. “I know Martin (Truex, Jr.) is not happy with second, but I’m real happy with third.”

    Biffle also struggled, from starting towards the back with a 35th qualifying spot to a speeding penalty on lap 224 for too fast entering the pits.

    “It was a tough night,” Biffle said. “Our car definitely wasn’t as good as it was last year, but we battled back.”

    Surprising:  Dale Earnhardt Jr. suffered his worst finish of the season in 29th after having an eventful evening. Junior struggled with seeing his pit sign, asking at one point for a deer spotlight on it, and then headed to the pits with a dead battery.

    That started the perfect storm of other issues, since without the engine running the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet sped and incurred a penalty. With that poor finish, Dale Jr. dropped three positions in the point standings, down to the sixth spot.

    “It has been rough but we had a really good car tonight,” Junior said. “Eventually things will turn back around for us.”

    Not Surprising:   While this driver may have surprised a military veteran prior to the race, Aric Almirola has been steadily gaining momentum on the track, so much so that his seventh place finish was not at all surprising.

    And with that good finish, the young driver gained two spots in the point standings, up to the 14th position.

    “We had a great car,” the driver of the No. 43 Petty race car said. “Todd Parrott and these guys gave me a great Eckrich Ford Fusion and I felt really good about it.”

    “It was a great day, a great points day for us.”

    Surprising:  While not surprising to see mechanical failures in a race as grueling as Texas, it was surprising to see two of the stronger cars in the race succumb to those issues. Both Kurt Busch, in the No. 78 Furniture Row/Serta Chevrolet, and Jeff Gordon, in the No. 24 Cromax Pro Chevrolet, had difficulties, resulting in 37th and 38th place finishes respectively.

    “I’m not sure maybe a burned wheel bearing or something,” Gordon said. “We’ll learn about what happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

    “When you’re running solidly in the top-five and then to have a parts failure knock you out of contention, it’s frustrating,” Kurt Busch said. “We had a part on the fuel injection system break.”

    “What’s done is done and we have to put tonight behind us and focus on getting these problems rectified sooner than later.”

    Not Surprising:  While many drivers had difficulty in the pits, from a fire in Matt Kenseth’s pit to Tony Stewart’s newest perpendicular approach to his pit stall, it was not surprising that the most basic issue, that of pit box color, tripped up at least two drivers on pit road.

    Juan Pablo Montoya, who sports the traditional red and white colors, got a bit confused when he tried to pit in Dave Blaney’s stall, which also just so happened to be red and white for the evening.

    Montoya finished 20th and Blaney ended up in the 25th spot in the race.

    Surprising:  While both rookies, sporting similar cowboy hats and boots, had surprisingly challenging days at Texas, Danica Patrick again beat out her boyfriend Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the rookie battle on the track.

    Patrick finished 28th while Stenhouse Jr., after cutting down a left-rear tire and spinning, finished 40th.

    “It was a tough night,” Patrick said. “The car was just kind of all over the place.”

    “It’s kind of tough to go straight when you lose a left-rear tire,” Stenhouse, Jr. said. “I felt like our car was pretty good, but it was just a tough break.”

    Not Surprising:  With Denny Hamlin at the track and on the pit box and a fast No. 11 FedEx Office/March of Dimes Toyota, it was certainly not surprising to see Brian Vickers, who is literally competing for a ride with each race, finish eighth.

    “It feels great,” Vickers said of his top-ten run. “We’re pleased but I wanted to win.”

    “I guess that’s what we are here for.”

     

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Texas

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Texas

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson took sixth in the NRA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday night and held on to the lead in the Sprint Cup point standings. He leads Brad Keselowski by nine points.

    “I think leaving Texas with the points lead is important,” Johnson said, “and a good sign that I’ll win my sixth Sprint Cup championship. Just call me ‘number 1 with a bullet.’”

    2. Kyle Busch: Busch completed the sweep at Texas, following his Friday Nationwide win with a Saturday triumph in the NRA 500. Busch beat Martin Truex, Jr. out of the pits on the race’s final caution and led the final 16 laps.

    “I led 171 laps on Saturday night,” Busch said, “or as they’re called at Texas Motor Speedway, ‘rounds.’

    “With Denny Hamlin out with a back injury, and Matt Kenseth his typical hum-drum self, Joe Gibbs Racing is truly in a Lone Star ‘state.’”

    3. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished ninth in the NRA 500 after scrambling to change the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge’s rear-end housing, which NASCAR had deemed illegal. After the race, Keselowski lashed out at NASCAR, claiming his team had been unfairly targeted in the garage area.

    “NASCAR can kiss my rear-end housing,” Keselowski said. “I apologize for my rant, but what better place than the NRA 500 to go ballistic on NASCAR. And what better place for NASCAR to wield its itchy trigger finger when it comes to accessing inspections.”

    4. Kasey Kahne: Kahne just missed his fifth top-10 finish of the year with an 11th in the NRA 500. He is seventh in the point standings, 37 out of first.

    “I’m not sure the NRA will be back as a sponsor for a race,” Kahne said. “But Mark Martin’s got a plan. Since he’s real tight with the rap community, he thinks there should be the ‘NWA 500.’ Of course, that’s pending NASCAR approval, as well as the construction of a track in Compton, California.”

    5. Joey Logano: Logano nearly missed the start of Saturday’s race, arriving late to the grid after a NASCAR inspection forced the No. 22 team to change the car’s rear-end housing. After starting at the back of the field, Logano worked his way to a fifth-place finish, and moved up two places to ninth in the point standings.

    “Starting at the back of the field?” Logano said. “That’s the real ‘rear-end housing.’

    “Luckily, though, the lengthy inspection process afforded me ample time to catch up on some reading, particularly some dated copies of Denny Hamlin Magazine. They’re called ‘back issues.’”

    6. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer finished 15th in the NRA 500, as Michael Waltrip Racing teammate Martin Truex, Jr. took the runner-up spot. Bowyer remained eighth in the point standings, and trails Jimmie Johnson by 61.

    “I support the 2nd Amendment,” Bowyer said. “And, I also support the ‘5th’ Amendment—5-Hour Energy shots for everyone!”

    7. Greg Biffle: A strong run at Texas for Roush Fenway Racing saw Biffle finish fourth, one spot behind teammate Carl Edwards. Biffle is now fourth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 30 out of first.

    “Did someone at Hendrick Motorsports rat out Penske Racing?” Biffle said. “Conspiracy theories abound, with many saying someone at Hendrick pointed NASCAR in the direction of the Penske car’s rear housings. And when Rick Hendrick says ‘jump,’ NASCAR asks the same thing as they do of the height of Penske rear-end housings—‘how high?’”

    8. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt lost battery power while running third on Saturday night, but didn’t realize it was a battery issue until later. Instead of switching to backup power, Earnhardt pitted, and after an unfortunate series of events, Earnhardt was penalized twice. He finished 29th, four laps down.

    “Luckily,” Earnhardt said, “I only shot myself in the foot. Unfortunately, I thought the problem was something else, and not the battery. That’s called ‘getting jumped’ to a conclusion.”

    9. Carl Edwards: Edwards posted his fourth top-5 result of the season with a third in the NRA 500. He improved two places to fifth in the point standings, and now trails Jimmie Johnson by 35.

    “I felt right at home at TMS,” Edwards said. “As NASCAR’s resident fitness freak, I feel quite comfortable showing my ‘guns.’ And what about these super fans here in Texas, all decked out in their sleeveless shirts. Obviously, they support the right to bare arms.”

    10. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished 12th at Texas as Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch won from the pole. Kenseth is now 11th in the point standings, 65 out of first.

    “We had a mishap in the pits in which a crew member’s foot caught fire,” Kenseth said. “God bless his sole, we extinguished it before any damage was done.”

  • Sprint Cup Drivers Invading the Nationwide Series; Is it Okay?

    Sprint Cup Drivers Invading the Nationwide Series; Is it Okay?

    Recently, I’ve had a few discussions with race fans via Twitter regarding the amount of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) drivers racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS). This is a debate that is certainty not new to NASCAR and in fact, it is the reason officials decided to mandate that each driver must declare at the start of each season which division they wish to be given points toward the championship in. The point was to let Nationwide regulars win the Nationwide title and to hopefully discourage some Cup drivers to double dip. Well, 16 of the drivers that raced in the NNS event at Texas are also participating in the Cup race so those rules obviously haven’t discouraged them.

    Should NASCAR put further rules in place to either limit or completely stop these drivers that love to pull double duty? If they decided to implement such rules regarding this issue, there really isn’t much they can do that isn’t beyond reason. They could simply tell Cup drivers that they are not allowed to race in any division other than the NSCS and that would eradicate the “problem” instantly. I put the word problem in quotations because I don’t personally see it as an issue whiles a large contingent of race fans do. I look at it this way, what better way for the Nationwide regulars to learn than to be racing the best guys in the sport? The reason why fans are getting so incensed by the Cup guys this year unlike 2012 is because Kyle Busch has won 4 out of the last 5 races aggravating a bunch of people. Sure, no one likes to see one guy dominate but if you eliminate the Cup guys, you will probably have a Nationwide guy  like Austin Dillon dominate instead.

    I don’t have a problem with our superstars racing on the Nationwide side but I do have a slight issue with Cup teams fielding Nationwide teams just so they can put Cup guys in them. I think it’s a waste for the best teams in NASCAR to field Nationwide cars and not even give the guys trying to work their way up a chance to drive them. I have to give major kudos to Jack Roush because if you look at his driver lineup at Texas, you would see that they were all up and comers instead of Cup guys. I’d love to see a JGR team fielding Parker Kligerman and Alex Bowman instead of Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth. NSCS drivers double dipping may good for ticket sales except for when Kyle Busch has wins almost every race in dominating fashion. Here is a solution; put Busch in Robby Benton’s #99 and we’ll see if he can parlay that into a victory. He will still be fast but at least the Nationwide regulars might have a fighting chance against these titans of the sport and a small team would get the opportunity to have some major talent wheel their racecar.

    I’d love it if NASCAR told all the Cup guys that they were only permitted to drive cars for teams that don’t run in the NSCS. NASCAR can still let the Cup teams field Nationwide ones but only allow them to hire Nationwide regulars as their drivers. I know that this is a crazy idea that in reality would never happen but it’s cool to think about the possibility of it. Anyway, back to reality….. Denying Cup drivers the right to race in NNS isn’t right in my opinion. When a Nationwide regular wins a race these days, they get noticed a lot more than they would if they weren’t racing against Busch, Keselowski and Harvick. It gives a NNS victory more credibility when you beat the best the sport has to offer.

    The only reason why this issue has even been brought back up is because Kyle Busch is back to his old form and winning races left and right. The people against Cup drivers racing in Nationwide say that in F1 and Indycar, you don’t see the superstars racing in Indy lights in GP2. That is a very good point but how many people truly watch those forms of racing? Indy Lights only has about 9 drivers and is on the verge of collapse. Spice the field up with Franchitti and Hinchcliffe and I guarantee you that it will help.

    You can’t tell these guys what they can and can’t race in. NASCAR tried a long time ago to tell drivers that they couldn’t race in anything that wasn’t NASCAR sanctioned and it caused a lot of trouble. In fact, they indirectly took the 1950 title from Lee Petty after taking 809pts way from him part-way through the year for breaking the rule. They also permanently banned future HOF’er Curtis Turner for the same infraction as Petty. The fact of the matter is that these guys are racers and they love to race. They don’t care if it’s Nationwide, a USAC Sprint car or some Late Model event in the middle of nowhere. All they want to do is drive and you can’t blame them for that; it’s in their blood.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Fontana Auto Club 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Fontana Auto Club 400

    From three-wide racing to the splitter-challenging bumps, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 17th annual Auto Club 400 in Fontana, California.

    Surprising:  While the Busch brothers are more often than not in the spotlight for disagreements on and off the track, this past weekend the younger Busch sailed past the trouble right into victory lane while the older brother also snagged a top-five finish.

    This was Kyle Busch’s first victory of the year, his 25th Cup win, and the first victory for Joe Gibbs Racing at Auto Club Speedway. He is now tied with Matt Kenseth, Jim Paschal and Joe Weatherly for 24th in all-time victories.

    “What a great day,” Kyle Busch said. “It’s been three years in the making.”

    “Being right here in California, we finally get the win for Toyota and Joe Gibbs at a track where he has never won at,” Busch continued. “Coach, I drove my butt off for you.”

    Brother Kurt Busch overcame an incident of slipping in oil early in the race and a pit road speeding penalty to score a fifth place finish, the first time ever that Furniture Row Racing has scored back to back top-five finishes.

    “Just real ecstatic,” Kurt Busch said. “Persevering, digging hard, and bringing it right back up to the front when it counts, that is what it’s all about.”

    Not Surprising:  Crew chief Steve Letarte continued to live up to his moniker as ‘Magic Man’ and his driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr. continued to be ‘Mr. Consistent’, overcoming their own pit road struggles to finish second. This was Junior’s sixth top-10 finish at Auto Club and his fifth top-10 finish in 2013.

    And much to the delight of NASCAR Junior nation, their driver now also leads the point standings.

    “We just stick together,” Junior said. “We were pretty good at closing races, something I never really was good at for years, and now we’re doing it as good as anybody.”

    “Just riding the wave,” Dale Junior continued. “Just real happy with how things are going for our team.”

    Surprising:  For a two-mile oval track, Auto Club Speedway generated just as much, if not more, drama than its short-track counterparts, from the Logano versus Hamlin feud to the Logano versus Stewart post race tussle.

    Unfortunately, the short-track racing on the final laps led to not only heated tempers but also a significant injury to Denny Hamlin, who ended up with a fractured back after a hard hit into the wall.

    “He shouldn’t have done what he did last week,” Logano said of his incident with Hamlin after the race. “So, that’s what he gets.”

    “I had to throw the block there,” Logano said of his tussle with Tony Stewart that led to a confrontation, some punches and some expletive-laced comments from Smoke after the race. “That was a race for the lead.”

    “So I was just trying to protect the spot I had.”

    Logano finished the race in the third position after adjustments were made to the finishing order. Stewart finished in 22nd and Hamlin finished 25th.

    Not Surprising:  It seems, unfortunately, that these race cars just find those non-SAFER barrier protected walls at so many different tracks on the circuit. It happened previously at Watkins Glen to Jeff Gordon, resulting in a back injury, and again this weekend at Auto Club Speedway for Denny Hamlin, resulting in another back injury.

    As soon as he hit the non-SAFER barrier wall, Hamlin knew he was ‘in trouble.’

    “The position I was in, I couldn’t breathe at all,” Hamlin said. “Literally, when I felt a pop, I couldn’t move at all.”

    “That’s why I rushed out and just laid flat on the ground to start breathing again.”

    Surprising:  Brad Keselowski, who had been riding a streak of consecutive top-five finishes, looked to be in the position to continue it, however, fell victim to a pit road speeding penalty and then to overheating issues late in the race.

    The reigning champ had to drive from the back of the field several times, including at the beginning of the race due to an engine change and on lap 92 after the speeding violation. He finished a disappointing 23rd and fell to second in the point standings.

    “I think we went from the back to the front three times today, which really showed the speed we had in the Miller Lite Ford,” Keselowski said. “We’re still good in points position after a tough day though.”

    Not Surprising:   Roush Fenway Racing had a pretty good day in California, with both Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards finishing in the top-five in the race and in the point standings. Even rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr. logged all of the laps and had his fifth finish of 20th or better for the season.

    “Man that was just an unbelievable race,” Edwards said. “It was a really good show.”

    “We were pretty good at the end,” Biffle said. “Overall, a top-five finish for us is a great day.”

    This was Edwards’ third top-five finish and Biffle’s second top-10 finish in five starts in 2013.

    Surprising:  Although both were able to rebound, it was a bit surprising to see how mightily California natives and teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson struggled on their home turf. Both were mired back in the pack for much of the race but managed in the end to finish 11th and 12th respectively.

    The bright spot for four-time champion Jeff Gordon is that it was the first time in the 2013 season that he finished higher than his starting spot.

    Not Surprising:  At a track where she had never been in a Cup car before, Danica Patrick remained in learning mode, struggling in qualifying and for most of the weekend but completing all the laps for a 26th place finish.

    “We just had a tough Friday and Saturday and we regrouped for Sunday and put a new setup on the Go Daddy Chevrolet and stayed optimistic,” Patrick said. “The car started off a bit loose, but once we dialed that in, it was decent.”

    “So I felt better at the end of the race than I did in qualifying,” Patrick continued. “We all want better than 26th and that’s what we had today and it will be better next time.”

    Surprising:  After team owner Tony Stewart’s incident with Joey Logano in the waning laps, Stewart Haas racer Ryan Newman became the star of the team, finishing with a top-ten at Auto Club Speedway. But he too had to overcome some adversity in the form of a pit road violation to score that 10th place finish.

    “The guys on this WIX Filters team did a great job today,” Newman said. “They kept making the adjustments we needed.”

    “I put us in a bad spot at the end with the speeding penalty,” Newman continued. “But fortunately we were able to rally back from that to finish 10th.”

    “I can’t say enough about everyone on this team.”

    This was Newman’s third top-10 finish, much to the delight of all Outback Bloomin’ Onion fans.

    Not Surprising:  The ‘quiet man’ Paul Menard continued his stealth moves on the track, finishing eighth in his No. 27 Menards/Certainteed Chevrolet.

    Menard is also in the eighth place in the point standings, again quietly representing Richard Childress Racing as the lone ranger in the top twelve at present.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: California

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: California

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt posted his third top-5 result of the year with the runner-up in the Auto Club 400 and took over the top spot in the Sprint Cup point standings. He leads Brad Keselowski by 12.

    “I’m keeping this in perspective,” Earnhardt said. “We’re only making one t-shirt design commemorating this moment. Sales will be brisk, and much like me atop the rankings, they should be gone in a week.”

    2. Kyle Busch: Busch avoided the Denny Hamlin-Joey Logano disaster in front of him on the last lap and drove to the win in the Auto Club 400. Busch is now sixth in the point standings, 36 out of first.

    “For those that don’t think I know how to avoid controversy,” Busch said, “take that. I went right around it. Thanks are in order to my former teammate Logano. In this case, he gave me a going-away present.”

    3. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson finished 12th at California as the Joey Logano-Denny Hamlin wreck unfolded in front of him on the final lap. Johnson remained third in the point standings, and trails Hendrick teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr. by 16.

    “Obviously,” Johnson said, “Logano and Hamlin have some history. And Tony Stewart and Logano have some ‘language.’ And I’m sure all three will be summoned to the NASCAR hauler for social studies.”

    4. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski struggled late at Fontana 1.5-mile oval, finishing a disappointing 23rd in the Auto Club 400. He dropped out of the lead in the point standings and is now second, 12 behind Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

    “Joey Logano is quickly becoming the most-hated driver in NASCAR,” Keselowski said. “It seems that everybody wants a piece of ‘Sliced Bread.’ I have millions of followers on Twitter. Logano has only one follower—-controversy.”

    5. Carl Edwards: Edwards finished fourth in the Auto Club 400, earning his third top-5 finish of the year. He improved three places in the point standings to fourth, 35 out of first.

    “I hear Kyle Busch is scheduled to appear on Anger Management with Charlie Sheen,” Edwards said. “I’ll tell you who needs anger management—-Tim Richmond, because he’s not alive today to hang out with Sheen. Let’s hope Sheen doesn’t pressure Busch into snorting cocaine off the hood of the No. 18 Toyota. That would be called an ‘engine blow.’”

    6. Greg Biffle: Biffle’s No. 16 Fusion was one of three Fords in the top 10 at California, recording a sixth in the Auto Club 400. He is now fourth in the point standings, 35 out of first.

    “I think Tony Stewart was wrong to go after Joey Logano,” Biffle said. “How dare he attack someone nearly 1/2 his age, and nearly 1/3 his weight.”

    7. Paul Menard: Menard led the Richard Childress Racing charge at California, finishing eighth as teammates Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton finished outside the top 10.

    “Ho hum,” Menard said. “Another NASCAR ‘fight’ in which no meaningful punches were landed. Punches in NASCAR fights are like spoilers—they catch air.”

    8. Joey Logano: Logano led 41 laps at California, but not the last one, as he and former teammate Denny Hamlin scrapped in Turn 4, sending Hamlin hard into the inside wall while Kyle Busch slipped by for the win. Logano survived to finish third, his first top-5 of the year.

    “Don’t forget,” Logano said, “I also tangled with Tony Stewart after the race. He claimed I blocked him on the restart. And I guess if Tony Stewart says you blocked, then you blocked. I may only be only 22, but Stewart seems to be the immature one. That’s why I tossed a water bottle at him—I was giving him a ‘baby’ shower.”

    9. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished 25th in the Auto Club 400 after his last-lap tangle with Joey Logano that send Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota hard into the infield wall. He suffered a compression fracture of his L1 vertebrae.

    “Mark my words,” Hamlin said, “I’ll be ‘back.’ And once I return, Logano should ‘brace’ for retaliation.”

    10. Kurt Busch: With brother Kyle scoring a dramatic win, Kurt took fifth in the Auto Club 400, his second top-5 result of the season.

    “I can relate to what Joey Logano must be feeling,” Busch said. “I know exactly what it’s like to be attacked by Tony Stewart. My advice is to turn the other cheek. Why? Because you have two of them, just like that ‘ass.’”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Bristol Food City 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Bristol Food City 500

    From the intro songs to the beating and the banging that comes with short-track racing, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 53rd annual Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    Surprising:  Hendrick Motorsports’ Kasey Kahne is a Bristol victory virgin no more. The driver of the No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet scored his first ever win in nineteen races at Thunder Valley and his first win of the young 2013 season.

    “This is a big win,” Kahne said. “The whole team was flawless.”

    “I feel like for myself it’s a big accomplishment to win here,” Kahne continued. “We’ve prepared pretty hard this year and it feels good to win.”

    Not Surprising:  Both Busch brothers earned their stripes as ‘come back kids’, overcoming adversity to finish in the top five.

    Kyle Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota, overcame a speeding penalty to finish second and Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Beautyrest Chevrolet, contended with a loose wheel, as well as some damage to his race car, to battle back to a fourth place finish.

    This was Kyle Busch’s second top-10 finish in 2013 and Kurt Busch’s best finish of the 2013 season, as well as his best finish so far with Furniture Row Racing.

    “I need to stop getting penalties and stay up front all race,” Kyle Busch said. “I wish there was more to have there. But it’s a good day I guess.”

    “Considering how much we had to battle back from adversity today, the finish was even more gratifying” Kurt Busch said. “We battled hard and the poor No. 78 car – she’s used up.”

    Kyle Busch is now in the top ten in points and Kurt Busch vaulted from 29th to 16th in the point standings.

    Surprising:  While Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth have had issues between one another in the past, they had a surprisingly tough encounter on the track at Bristol. With Gordon in the lead and Kenseth right behind, Gordon blew a tire, hit the wall and Kenseth plowed into him from behind after his throttle apparently stuck.

    “As soon as I got into the banking, I felt the tire go,” the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet said. “I really hate that for Kenseth.”

    “There was not a lot either of us could do,” the driver of the No. 20 Home Depot/Husky Toyota said. “It will take a lot of Husky tools to fix that thing.”

    “We had a great car but we didn’t make it to the end.”

    Not Surprising:  Yes, it was Bristol and there were some temper flare ups, especially between Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano, who do have a history with one another.

    Hamlin, who had had an eventful week deciding not to appeal his $25,000 fine from NASCAR, got a bit peeved with Joey Logano and ended up turning his former teammate and sending him spinning.

    The driver of the No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota, finished 23rd and Logano, driving the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, finished 17th.

    “Really, you’ve got to control your car and he slid up in front of me,” Hamlin said. “I meant to run into him but didn’t mean to spin him out.”

    “We finished bad. He finished bad,” Hamlin continued. “It’s even.”

    “That’s a freaking genius behind the wheel of the 11 car – probably the worst teammate I ever had, so I learned that now,” Logano said. “He decided to run in the back of me, so whatever.”

    “I have a scorecard and I’m not putting up with that,” Logano continued. “What goes around comes around.”

    And yes, the disagreement spilled over into Twitter-world, first with Logano tweeting, “Hey @dennyhamlin great job protecting that genius brain of yours by keeping your helmet on” and Hamlin responding, “Last time I checked he had my cell and direct message button to choose from if he’s got a problem. Otherwise hush little child.”

    Surprising:  It was a surprisingly difficult day for the drivers of the cereal cars, with Jeff Burton, driver of the No. 31 Cheerios Chevrolet, and Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Kellogg’s/Frosted Flake Ford Fusion, involved in an early wreck.

    Burton finished 32nd while Edwards soldiered on, in spite of being ill most of the race and reportedly throwing up in his car, to finish 18th.

    “I have to thank the infield medical folks and folks with NASCAR medical,” Edwards said. “They really helped me out a lot today.”

    “That’s the most miserable race I’ve ever been through, but there was a little bit of satisfaction to come back and finish 18th.”

    Not Surprising:   Brad Keselowski, who finished third in the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion and now leads in the point standings, was not satisfied in the least.

    “We weren’t close at the start but at the end, the car was pretty good,” Keselowski said. “The 2 team did a great job adjusting on the car during the race. “

    “We’ve been so damn close and just haven’t sealed the deal.”

    Surprising:  In spite of bringing out the first caution with a flat tire, spin and a wreck, Tony Stewart still managed to keep his sense of humor throughout the rest of the race.

    On lap 254 with only half of the race completed, Stewart radioed in to his ailing crew chief Steve Addington to say, “The good news is that it’s halfway over.”

    Addington, who was battling the flu, replied simply, “Don’t make me laugh too hard right now.”

    Not Surprising:  While he may not have been stellar, he has been consistent so far in the 2013 season. Fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished sixth and is just nine points behind Keselowski, sitting second in the point standings.

    The driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet solely credits the consistent performance to crew chief Steve Letarte, who Earnhardt Jr. referred to after the race as ‘magic man.’

    “I have to give all the credit to Steve Letarte,” Junior said. “He made a couple, two, three great pit calls there at the end and gave us the opportunity to get some guys on old tires and beat a few guys that we probably weren’t going to beat.”

    “Great call by him.”

    Surprising:  There were some surprising names in the top ten when the checkered flag waved at Bristol, including Brian Vickers, Paul Menard and Jamie McMurray.

    “Honestly after today, it felt like a win,” Vickers, driver of the No. 55 RK Motors Toyota, said. “We had some damage but got that fixed and we got back to the top 10.”

    Not Surprising:  In spite of a stellar Daytona, Danica Patrick has continued to struggle at the tracks following the season kick off. The driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, finished 28th at Bristol, several laps down.

    “We just never really got it completely freed up like we needed to,” Patrick said. “It was better later in the race, but by then the damage was done.”

    Patrick is looking forward to the next race at Fontana, in spite of never having driven a Cup car at that track before.

    “There are a lot of things that I have to work on at this point in time,” Patrick said. “The most important thing is to find a decent balance to start off the race so that we don’t drop back.”

     

     

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Bristol

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Bristol

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished third at Bristol and snatched the points lead from Jimmie Johnson, who finished 22nd, two laps down. Keselowski now leads Dale Earnhardt, Jr. by nine.

    “I finished the race sandwiched between the two Busch brothers,” Keselowski said, “which is like being between a rock and a hard head. Many have often said that a ‘championship’ might someday come between the Busch brothers. Thanks to me, it just did.”

    2. Kasey Kahne: Kahne wrested the lead from Brad Keselowski on a lap 460 restart and pulled away for the win in the Food City 500, Kahne’s first win at Bristol.

    “The No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet was amazing,” Kahne said, “and just a hair better than everyone else. In honor of the track they call the ‘Bull Ring’ and in honor of my current favorite sponsor, I plan to get a ‘bull cut.’”

    3. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt posted his fourth top-10 finish of the year with a sixth at Bristol. He moved up one spot to second in the Sprint Cup point standings and now trails Brad Keselowski by nine.

    “They call this a ‘promising’ start,” Earnhardt said, “mostly because I can’t ‘promise’ it will continue.”

    4. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson hammered the wall with 46 laps to go at Bristol and limped home to a 22nd in the Food City 500. He tumbled from the top of the Sprint Cup point standings and is now in third, 15 behind Brad Keselowski.

    “Like Joey Logano,” Johnson said, “I hit the wall on Sunday. Unlike Logano, I didn’t go talk to one after the race. This Logano-Denny Hamlin feud could potentially come to a head, but I doubt it. Their threats were much like Bristol’s seats on Sunday—empty.”

    5. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin was headed for a likely top-5 finish at Bristol, but cut a tire with eight laps to go and scraped the wall continuously as he struggled to a 23rd-place finish. Afterwards, Hamlin was accosted by former teammate Joey Logano, who was spun into the wall by Hamlin earlier.

    “Look at this,” Hamlin said. “Just four races in, and Logano’s dying to get back in a Toyota.

    “I’m not in the least bit afraid of Logano. They call him ‘Sliced Bread,’ but there’s certainly no yeast in that bread, because Logano’s never ‘risen’ to anything, much less a challenge.”

    6. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer finished fifth in the Food City 500, posting his first top-5 of the year. He improved five spots in the point standings to fourth, and now trails Brad Keselowski by 38.

    “’It’s Bristol! They’re fighting!’ I famously quoted after the race,” Bowyer said. “That makes me the ‘ring announcer.’”

    7. Kyle Busch: Busch registered his second straight top-5 finish with a runner-up at Bristol. He jumped seven spots in the point standings to 10th, and is now 51 out of first.

    “No one enjoyed my spirited battle with Brad Keselowski more than me,” Busch said. “Brad famously called me an ‘ass’ once at Bristol; in case he’d forgotten, I gave him a good look at it on Sunday.”

    8. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth was running second when leader Jeff Gordon blew a tire and collected Kenseth’s No. 20 Chevrolet, eliminating them both from the race. Kenseth finished 35th and is now 63 out of the lead in the points standings.

    “Take it from Clint Bowyer,” Kenseth said. “’Following’ Jeff Gordon can only lead to bad things for both teams in the garage.”

    9. Carl Edwards: Edwards struggled in the Food City 500, finishing one lap down in 18th. He is now seventh in the point standings, 42 out of first.

    “I was ill for most of the race,” Edwards said. “I said ‘Aflac’ several times during the race, but it had nothing to do with supplemental insurance. At least for a day, the Aflac mascot was no longer a duck, but a ‘yak.’”

    10. Greg Biffle: Biffle finished 11th at Bristol, posting Roush Fenway’s top finish. He is now fifth in the point standings, 40 out of first.

    “There are power couples,” Biffle said, “like Danica Patrick and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. And there are power couples, like Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn. I find it refreshing that Woods has gone public with a relationship, this time on purpose.”