Tag: las vegas motor speedway

Matty’s Picks 2013 – Race 31 Bank of America 500 – Charlotte Motor Speedway – October 12, 2013

The drivers of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series do not have to travel much further than their back yards to get to the track this week. A hometown race this week, and the only night race of the 2013 Chase for The Sprint Cup for the vast majority of teams this week. There have been 109 races at Charlotte Motor Speedway, everyone knows the history that has been made at the track, so I’ll spare the history for some statistics this week.

Jimmie Johnson leads the series with the most Chase race wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway with three, but none since his last win at Charlotte in October of 2009. The deepest in the field any eventual NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion has finished at the Chase race at Charlotte Motor Speedway was 25th all the way back in 2005 when Tony Stewart won his second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship, his first with the Chase setup. All but one of the nine Chase races at Charlotte have been won by Chase drivers, and the second starting position has produced more race winners than any other starting position with 17 eventual race winners starting outside the front row. So with these stats so far, we’ve not eliminated any potential race winners.

The one statistic very important to this week’s picks comes in the form of a particular manufacturer’s recent struggles at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Just one Ford driver (who is driving a Toyota now) has won a race at Charlotte in the last 22 Charlotte races, and that was Matt Kenseth in the 2011 Bank of America 500. So one driver in 11 years has been able to put Ford in Victory Lane, which is something to look at this week if you’re making fantasy picks.

The only night race of the 2013 Chase for the Sprint Cup, so enjoy not swapping back and forth between your NFL game and NASCAR this week…

Kansas Recap

Not a great week for me last week at Kansas Speedway as I went with the points leader, Matt Kenseth as my winner pick because he was undefeated on the low-banked intermediate tracks this season. He had won at Las Vegas in March, Kansas in April, Kentucky in June, and Chicago in September to open the 2013 Chase. Kenseth’s streak would end last week at Kansas has he was rather quiet for the majority of the race….but extended his streak of 5 straight races where he has led a lap. Kenseth finished 11th, his first finish outside the top 10 in over a month.

My Dark Horse was exactly that, a shot in the dark especially this season. The dark horse aspect was erased when Brad Keselowski qualified fourth and got to the front for 52 laps last week in Kansas. Crew Chief Paul Wolfe’s gamble with fuel would not pan out as the Miller Lite Ford ran out of fuel on lap 224, the gamble cost Keselowski two laps to the leader which he was able to make up one, but would finish 17th when the checkered flag flew.

Charlotte Picks

Winner Pick
There are many folks looking at the No.18 team this week, for one he has won two races on the high banked intermediate tracks this season, in dominating fashion at Texas in April and most recently at Atlanta on Labor Day weekend. The second reason why Rowdy Busch is circled on may fantasy rosters this week is the thought that he is due for a win at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Cup Series. Rewind to Memorial Day weekend this season…Kyle Busch was leading the Coca-Cola 600, in the middle of lap traffic when Fox Sports’ SkyCam over the frontstretch at Charlotte Motor Speedway came crashing to the race surface immediately in front of the No.18 car. The impact of the SkyCam resulted in radiator issues and an engine failure for Kyle who was positioned for his first ever Charlotte career win.

The loop statistics are great for a guy who has never won a race…he’s in the top three in all but one of the loop categories. The only one he is not inside the top three is Green Flag Passes, but Kyle has also qualified well over the years in North Carolina with a couple poles in the points races and an average start of 11.5. The practice sessions today and his win in the NASCAR Nationwide Series on Friday at Charlotte have added to my case for Kyle Busch on Saturday night. I am seeing a win out of this team on Saturday night and them jumping back into the Championship picture when we head to Talladega next week.

Dark Horse Pick
Martin Truex Jr. is going to be my longer play this week and here is why…Before Kansas last week and the race at Chicagoland to open the Chase, you had to go back all the way to Las Vegas back in March of 2012 for Truex’s last finish outside the top 15 on any of these intermediate track races. The stretch of 15-straight top 15 finishes is enhanced by the fact that he had two finishes outside the top 10 in the same stretch, both of which coming in the 2012 season.

Keep in mind Truex led 142 laps and finished 2nd at Texas back in April, also a 1.5-mile night race. Truex qualified 17th on Thursday, but went out for his qualifying run relatively early to some of the other drivers with similar practice speeds. On Friday, Truex was 3rd fastest in the first practice session and 5th in Happy Hour Friday evening, adding to the consistency we’ve seen all season from Truex on these intermediate tracks. He would like nothing more than to win one of these Chase races, so I’m throwing out the couple poor finishes in a row at Chicago and Kansas and going with Truex as a solid longer play this week.

That’s all for this week, so until we head to the biggest juggernaut of the 2013 Chase for the Sprint Cup….You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

October 12, 2013
Surprising and Not Surprising: Vegas Kobalt Tools 400

With rain in the desert setting the field and the Denny Hamlin fine all the talk, here is what else was surprising and not so surprising from the Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Surprising: The transformation surprisingly continued for Matt Kenseth, who moved from lame duck last year at Roush Fenway Racing to winner this year in just the third race of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing.

“Thank you Lord for putting me here,” Kenseth said simply as he took the checkered flag.

This was the driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota’s 25th career victory and the 101^st victory for his new owner Joe Gibbs. And it was Kenseth’s 41^st birthday to boot.

Not Surprising: It was a strong day for the Hendrick bunch, with one notable exception, Jeff Gordon, who brought up the rear with a disappointing 25^th finish in his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet.

Kasey Kahne, who had a strong No. 5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet, gave Kenseth a run for his money but could not close the deal, finishing second.

“I had the car to beat today,” Kahne said. “We lost, but it was still a great run for all of our guys.” 

Jimmie Johnson, behind the wheel of the No. 48 Lowes/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, finished sixth and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., driver of the No. 88 AMP Energy Orange Chevrolet, finished 7^th.

“I lost a couple of spots in that last restart, but it was fun to race that fast,” Johnson said. “We were flying.”

“We had a real good race,” Junior said. “I enjoyed the race track and the raceability of the track was a lot of fun. I had a blast really.”

Not surprisingly, Hendrick Motorsports is also strong in the point standings, with Johnson in the lead, Junior in third, Gordon dropping five spots to 13^th and Kahne moving up 17 spots to 14^th after the Vegas race.

Surprising: While every other driver complained of being loose, Rookie of the Year contender Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. surprisingly complained about being tight.

“I kept telling them to free it up and we would get tighter and tighter,” the driver of the No. 17 Zest Ford said. “That is why we gave up all our track position.”

“Every pit stop we made we got tighter and tighter,” Stenhouse, Jr. continued. “I couldn’t go on a restart.”

Stenhouse Jr. finished 18^th and is still in the lead in what he refers to as the ‘Ricky of the Year’ standings. He also led his first ever Cup lap after staying out while others headed to pit road.

Not Surprising: Stenhouse Jr.’s other half, Danica Patrick had ‘one of those days’ at the track. Not only did she struggle and finish 33^rd in her GoDaddy.com Chevrolet but her team also had a tire outside the box violation on Lap 123, necessitating a pass through penalty.

“That’s alright, guys,” Patrick said. “If we’re going to have these days, might as well have them all together.”

“It was a real tough day, no doubt.”

Surprising: While both Earnhardt Ganassi Racing cars had to start from the rear of the field due to engine changes, both rebounded surprisingly well.

Jamie McMurray, behind the wheel of the No. 1 McDonalds Chevrolet, finished 13^th and EGR teammate Juan Pablo Montoya in the No. 42 AXE Apollo Chevrolet finished 19^th.

Not Surprising: While Denny Hamlin paid the price for sharing his concerns publicly about the new Gen 6 car, many other drivers admitted to still trying to figure out their own race cars.

Top among that group, however, was Kyle Busch, who overcame a Lap 48 pit road speeding penalty to finish fourth in his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota.

“Man it was really unique,” Busch said. “When I was out front, I was fast as heck.”

“But behind others, then I was wrecking loose,” Busch continued. “All in all it was fun and today was the first part of figuring out the nuances of this race car.”

Surprising: In his 150th career start, Joey Logano, behind the wheel of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion, made an uncharacteristic mistake. Just like his former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch, Logano sped down pit road on his first pit stop.

Logano rebounded, just like Busch, to finish in the 12^th spot.

“I screwed up,” Logano said. “I went down a lap but never caught our break to go.”

“I felt like we had a top-five car but I made a dumb mistake.”

Not Surprising: Although not running a full-time season, NASCAR’s Iron Man Mark Martin continued to show his mettle, finishing 14^th in his No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine and moving one spot up to sixth place in the point standings.

“It was fun,” Martin said. “I didn’t get a good restart on the last one but other than that, it was a good solid day by this team and car.”

Surprising: There is a bit of surprising name up there in the top ten in points and he just so happens to drive for the King. Aric Almirola, driver of the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Farmland Ford Fusion, may have finished 16^th at Vegas but he remains right there in the tenth spot in the point standings.

“We probably had an 8^th – 12^th place car so I’m disappointed we finished 16^th,” Almirola said. “We didn’t have any major mistakes and I think points-wise we are still decent.”

Almirola tweeted this after the race, “Headed to one of my favorite tracks next week in top 10 in points. Proud of my team!”

Not Surprising: Finally, the determination and grit of the reigning champ Brad Keselowski came through yet again. Keselowski posted his first top-ten finish at Las Vegas and brought the Blue Deuce home in the third spot.

“Never give up,” Keselowski said. “Never give up. This team doesn’t and we didn’t today.”

The champ is taking that attitude right into Bristol next weekend. And he admitted he has no idea how the new Gen 6 car will react on the first short track of the season.

“That’s why you’ve got to watch,” Keselowski said simply.

March 12, 2013
Matty’s Picks 2013 – Vol. 3 Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Kobalt Tools 400 – March 10, 2013

We stay on the left coast again for the second straight week in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series as the series makes first and only visit of the season to the 1.5-mile tri-oval in the desert. An aging race surface, a green racetrack, and the first real look at how the new Gen6 car will perform on a more traditional 1.5-mile track, we head into another weekend with many unknowns surrounding the outcome of the 267 lap stanza on Sunday.

With a rare rain-out of both practice and qualifying yesterday, teams are scrambling to parlay the Intel they gained from Thursday’s 6-hour test session and apply it to their setups for Sunday Afternoon’s 16th Annual Kobalt Tools 400.

Per the NASCAR Rule Book, the field for Sunday has been set according to last season’s Owner Points, meaning The Champ, Brad Kesolowski will share the front row with last year’s bridesmaid, Clint Bowyer. As we saw last week in Phoenix, with the increased amount of downforce the Gen6 car is producing, tire wear is becoming the top story in this young season, and with a green racetrack in the desert again this week, handling and saving your equipment might be the key in driving to Victory Lane on Sunday.

Phoenix Recap

Well, I published my column last week before Denny Hamlin was forced to change engines and start from the rear of the field in last Sunday’s Subway Fresh Fit 500. I really hoped for the best in not updating my column on Sunday morning, and it truly paid off as the guy I looked at to win last Sunday, was also sent to the rear of the field, and he did not fare as well as Hamlin did in working his way up through the field.

With Hamlin coming off the back last week, the combination of excellent pit strategy and quick pit stops were the key for the No. 11 FedEx Office team in their first top-five of the 2013 season. A three-wide pass on the white flag lap in the dogleg section of PIR vaulted the No. 11 team to a third place finish after battling a loose racecar for the majority of the day.

Hamlin spoke after his podium finish and was fined $25,000 by NASCAR for his comments about the new Gen6 racecar, and NASCAR has not released exactly what sparked the $25,000 slap, but the only negative comments Hamlin made appear to be comparing the Gen6 car to the Generation Five cars:

” We learned a lot. I don’t want to be the pessimist, but it did not race as good as our generation five cars. This is more like what the generation five was at the beginning. The teams hadn’t figured out how to get the aero balance right. Right now, you just run single-file and you cannot get around the guy in front of you. You would have placed me in 20th-place with 30 (laps) to go, I would have stayed there — I wouldn’t have moved up. It’s just one of those things where track position is everything.”

My dark horse pick fared quite a bit worse at the flat-track in the desert last week, despite winning each of the three practice sessions and after starting the race from the pole position. Michael Waltrip Racing’s Mark Martin was the car to beat going based off practice speeds and after taking the Coors Light Pole Award, but after an extra pit stop on lap 63 for a vibration on the right side of the No. 55 AAron’s Dream Machine Toyota, Martin had to first gain back the lap he lost on the stop, as well as pass 20+ cars on the lead lap to end up in Victory Lane. Luckily, the caution would fly just a few laps later, and Martin would climb his way back to the lead lap, but would fall short in the end following the wild conclusion of the Subway Fresh Fit 500. A 21st place finish is what I got out of my Dark Horse last week, not the finish I’m looking for.

Vegas Picks

Just one time a year we visit the 1.5-miler in the desert, and it’s probably a good thing we only make one trip to Sin City, both for the sake of the difficulty in handling drivers are experiencing this week and also for the sake of The Champ’s liver….

Winner Pick

It’s very difficult not to look at Jimmie Johnson this week, as his impressiveness in the first few races each season is what kick-starts the No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet team. Johnson tops the list of active driver performances at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with four wins, five top fives, and six top tens in just eleven races at the 1.5-mile tri-oval. Historically speaking, Johnson has been a contender in each and every Intermediate Track race the past seven or so seasons, and the odds-makers have made Johnson the preliminary front-runner in giving him 5-1 odds at taking home the trophy tomorrow for his car sponsor, who like last week’s race winner, Carl Edwards, will also be driving for the race sponsor tomorrow afternoon. He had the second-best 10-lap average in Thursday’s test session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the second-best time by any Chevrolet, and the best run by any of the Hendrick Motorsports drivers. He’s starting inside the second row, so he doesn’t have far to go to get to the front.

Dark Horse Pick

Richard Childress Racing claimed two of the top-five spots in final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Happy Hour this afternoon, and the fifth-fastest 10-lap average went to RCR’s Paul Menard. Las Vegas Motor Speedway happens to be Menard’s second-best track in the past 2 years, averaging a finish just inside the top-10 at 9.5. At Las Vegas’ twin track, Kansas Speedway, which hosts two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races each year, Menard has boasted a finish inside the top 5 and the track happens to be his second-best track in his 10-year Sprint Cup Career. By definition, a long-shot is any driver with odds of winning of 20-1 or worse, and Menard currently sits at 100-1 to win the Kobalt Tools 400 on Sunday, so a Dark Horse is exactly what Paul Menard is for taking the home the trophy.

That’s all for this week, so until we roll on to the bull ring in the hills of Tennessee, you stay classy NASCAR NATION!

March 9, 2013
Travis Pastrana Still Embracing Learning Curve

With a solid team in Roush Fenway Racing and a full season ahead in NASCAR’s Nationwide Series, Travis Pastrana is still embracing the learning curve when it comes to stock car racing.

Unfortunately, Pastrana, behind the wheel of his most colorful No. 60 Roush Fenway Ford Mustang, did not even get a chance to go to school in the Dollar General 200 Advance at Phoenix International Raceway. He was involved in an early crash, relegating him to a 28^th place finish.

“They started crashing in front of me,” Pastrana said. “I thought I could get to the inside and I just wanted to try to get down, so once I got in the marbles the first lap and was loose, the second lap came in and I saw them crashing in front of me.”

“I kind of let off, but I just got in the marbles again, so unfortunately, it was a pretty useless day for learning.”

Pastrana qualified in the 12th position for the Nationwide race, with a speed of 131.200 mph and a time of 27.439 seconds. But that was not good enough to sustain him in race conditions, having to utilize his teammate’s set up instead.

“We knew that we had a good qualifying run compared to where we practiced,” Pastrana said. “We thought we were pretty good at the end of practice, but we were so far off from where Trevor (Bayne) was, so we went with Trevor’s stuff just to see if it would work.”

“I think we were on the right track, but there’s not a lot we could pick up because I didn’t get one single lap,” Pastrana continued. “The front wheel was busted out and the splitter was off the right-front tire.”

“We just drove around all day,” Pastrana said. “If you see the front tire, it’s folded over completely, so I don’t know how the car survived.”

“The team earned their money today.”

Although frustrated with the early crash and poor finish, Pastrana did learn at least one tidbit. After following teammate Bayne’s line on the track, he at least picked up some knowledge for the future about where to run for maximum speed.

“I knew where his line was and I knew where my line was,” Pastrana said. “So, just learning where you can run the car was good.”

“But with this car, we never knew because we never had a chance.”

Pastrana’s Phoenix run was especially tough since he had had a great outing at Daytona, finishing in the tenth position. The former extreme sport star turned NASCAR racer felt that he really learned a great deal about restrictor plate racing, again with a little help from teammate and former Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne.

“Daytona was awesome,” Pastrana said “A top-10 finish was exactly what we had hoped for.”

“I knew we had a great car coming into the race,” Pastrana continued. “Trevor pushed me around a few laps.”

“I kind of gained confidence and really just started pushing a little bit and started to be pushed more and those guys gained confidence with me.”

Unfortunately, Pastrana’s confidence was short-lived in the waning laps of the race, with the horrific crash that sent debris raining into the stands as well as all over the track.

“We were running three-wide and I didn’t know what to do,” Pastrana said. “All hell broke loose like it always does.”

“But I still learned a lot.”

Pastrana also broke the news in Phoenix that he will have some learning to do off the track as well, which may involve entirely new skills sets such as diaper changing. He and his wife announced that they are expecting their first child.

“It’s just really exciting,” Pastrana said. “I got married about a year-and-a-half ago and having a kid is going to be awesome.”

Will Pastrana teach his youngster about all of his daredevil ways, including racing in its many forms?

“I definitely feel for my parents now with everything I’ve put them through,” Pastrana said. “But we’ll encourage whatever we have – a boy or girl – to follow their passion.”

“But I’m hoping their passion is golf, maybe.”

As Pastrana leaves Phoenix, now 15^th in the point standings, he is no doubt looking forward to more learning at the next venue, Las Vegas Motor Speedway. But he is also anticipating going to another track as well, the Monster Mile, later in the season.

“For me, my hometown track was always Dover,” Pastrana said. “I’ve never gotten to drive anything around Dover and they say it’s like dropping into a roller coaster every corner and jumping coming out.”

“It doesn’t look like a jump when you’re watching,” Pastrana continued. “But all the drivers say it is.”

“I’m looking forward to that.”

March 3, 2013
Surprising and Not Surprising: Kobalt Tools 400

[media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”259″][/media-credit]Under a gloriously sunny sky and with an amazing flyover complements of the United States Air Force Thunderbirds, the green flag flew on the Kobalt Tools 400. Here is what was surprising and not surprising from Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Surprising: Since the reigning champ is primarily known for heating up over the summer or in the Chase, it was surprising to see Tony Stewart capture the checkered flag this early in the season.

This was also Smoke’s first ever win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a track that he felt definitely owed him one after a pit miscue cost him the victory last year.

“I don’t know that it’s important this early but we only get one shot at Vegas,” the driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet said. “It was real hard leaving here last year. It’s nice to come here and have a car that was bad to the bone.”

It was also surprising that Steve Addington, Stewart’s new crew chief, won his first ever Cup race with a driver not named Busch. And although known for his calm, relaxed nature, Addington definitely felt the pressure of calling the race on his shoulders.

“I take it very personal every time that car goes on the race track,” Addington said. “I felt a ton of pressure on myself to get a win and I’m glad that’s under our belt.”

“The stars lined up and we won this race at Vegas.”

Not Surprising: With the penalty appeal scheduled to be heard during the upcoming week, it was not surprising to see Jimmie Johnson attempt to get the best finish and most points possible. The driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet scored the runner up spot in the race bearing his sponsor’s name.

Johnson had an eventful race weekend, crashing in the first lap of final practice, as well as having to go to the rear of the field in a backup car for the start of the race. So, although he wanted the win, he seemed satisfied with his second place run.

“Tony could just get through the gears better,” Johnson said of his final run with Smoke. “With everything we went through this weekend, I’ll take it.”

Surprising: Greg Biffle, behind the wheel of the No. 16 3M/Meguiars Ford, scored his third third place finish of the season. But even more surprising, the Biff is now the official points leader, with the chance to be the only driver to win a championship in all three of NASCAR’s top tier series.

“It certainly has started off to be a good season for us so far,” Biffle said. “We’re super excited about it but there again, we want to win like the 14 car did today so we’re going to keep our heads down and keep working hard.”

Not Surprising: With one half of the Stewart-Haas Race team in Victory Lane, it was no surprise that his teammate would not be far behind. Ryan Newman, in his No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet for SHR, scored a top-5 finish as well.

“It was a hard fought day,” Newman said. “We struggled a bit in the pits but we got lucky on the last restart. It was an awesome day for Stewart-Haas.”

Surprising: As good as Jimmie Johnson was for Hendrick Motorsports, it was surprising to see four-time champion Jeff Gordon struggle so mightily. Gordon fought tight conditions most of the race, complaining that his car was plowing mightily.

Gordon did manage to bring his anniversary celebrating No. 24 Dupont 20 Years Chevrolet home in the twelfth position.

“Well, we weren’t very good,” Alan Gustafson, Gordon’s crew chief, said simply. “We struggled but we ended up with an okay finish. Sometimes you have to do that and we did it.”

“You’re never happy with 12^th, but there was a point in time during the day when I would have been happy to finish 20^th,” Gustafson continued. “So, it was okay.”

Not Surprising: In spite of the fact that the two are teammates, it was not surprising to see sparks fly yet again between the Roushketeers Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards. The two tangled on the restart in the waning laps of the race.

Carl Edwards, in the No. 99 Alfac Ford, saw it this way.

“Matt spun his tires just a little bit on the restart and I went down to the apron,” Edwards said. “He gave me a ton of room but we just got all bunched up over there.”

Kenseth, behind the wheel of the brightly colored No. 17 Zest Ford, just seemed confused by it all.

“I honestly don’t really know what happened,” Kenseth said. “Carl just laid back and got by me three-wide and then it just didn’t seem like there was a lot of room getting into turn one.”

“And then I did get clear behind him and he just stopped in the middle of the corner.”

Edwards was able to finish well in the fifth position, while Kenseth finished 22^nd in contrast.

Surprising: With their driver under the weather, it was surprising to see the No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet score an eighth place finish.

“Jamie (McMurray) showed up this morning and he was sick,” crew chief Kevin ‘Bono’ Manion, said “For him to come through like he did for us today was really big.”

“Going into this race, we felt really strong about our McDonald’s Chevrolet,” Manion continued. “All in all, it was a good day.”

Not Surprising: In spite of leading more laps than he did all last season and scoring a top-10 finish, it was not surprising to find a frustrated Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at the end of the race.

“I think we should have run better than that,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet said. “We are just a little bit disappointed.”

“We were fast and I knew before the end of the race we were going to have to free my car up and I never let Steve (Letarte) do it,” Junior said. “It was more my fault than anything really. I didn’t give him enough information I guess.”

Surprising: Fresh faced youngster Trevor Bayne had a surprisingly good run in his No. 21 Motorcaft/Quick Lane Ford for the famed Wood Brothers.

“A top-10 feels like a win to us,” Bayne said simply. “We hadn’t had a top-10 since Daytona and it feels good to be back at it.”

Not Surprising: Unfortunately, it was not surprising that the Dodges again struggled early in this 2012 season. Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, finished 32^nd and his teammate AJ Allmendinger fared even worse, finishing 37^th in his No. 22 Pennzoil Dodge.

“We had a pretty decent Dodge Charger and we were going to give Tony a run for his money,” Keselowski said. “The fuel pump broke. It just wasn’t meant to be.”

“Man, this is not the start to the season any of us were expecting,” Allmendinger said. “Just when I knew we could make something solid, we started having fuel pressure issues.”

“We came into the garage and changed some things,” ‘Dinger continued. “My guys busted their butts but we’re not sure yet what the cause was.”

“But you know the guys back at the Penske shop will figure it out.”

March 12, 2012

Tony Stewart Smokes The Competition in Las Vegas

[media-credit id=22 align=”alignright” width=”200″][/media-credit]Last year, Stewart dominated and came close to winning, but found himself at the bad end of a penalty late in the race. This year, he dominated once again and was able to close the deal, holding Jimmie Johnson off coming to the checkered flag.

“I don’t know if we had the dominate car today, but we were so strong on the restarts,” he says. “I had to go. I knew that when Matt and Greg had better tires than us, I knew we’d be able to hold them off for a little bit. I didn’t know we could hold them off till the end.”

The win marks the first for Stewart at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, now leaving him with only two tracks on NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule he hasn’t won at – Darlington and Kentucky. It also marks the first win for Stewart with new crew chief Steve Addington.

“We talked three times before the race,” Stewart says of Addington. “He is very thorough with us, he explains the changes, he wants your input. He’s been very good at getting to know these guys.”

Addington says that for him, it allowed him to take a lot of pressure off of himself.

“He kept telling me to relax and have fun and we’re going to win our races,” he says. “But I take it very personal every time that race goes on the track. I put more on than I thought I would with them winning the championship, for me. Everybody at Stewart-Haas has been great, doing what I asked, asking me what I wanted done. It’s just been about me putting pressure on myself.”

With 34 laps to go, Stewart made a daring three-wide pass on the restart to get by Brad Keselowski and take the lead. Stewart would lose the lead after coming down pit road for a splash of gas, but was able to get the lead back with on a later restart with 17 laps to go. He never looked back, holding on to the lead through the final two restarts.

“That’s what made today special,” he says. “We didn’t have to hold off the challenge once; we had to hold them off multiple times. It makes me feel like I’ve earned my keep.”

Jimmie Johnson came home second after having to start at the back of the field with a back-up car due to a wreck in practice.

“With everything we went through this weekend, we’ll take it,” he says. “But man, I want to win. We had a little more speed, but tony could get away on the restarts and through the gears. We’ll have to see what we’re doing, what I’m doing wrong.”

Greg Biffle would score a third place finish after making his way through the Roush-Fenway scramble on the backstretch after the restart. On the restart, Matt Kenseth spun the tires, which caused Carl Edwards to make a move on the inside of Matt on the apron to make it three wide. The group made it through turn one, before Kenseth made contact with Kasey Kahne, causing him to get into the wall.

“I just got down in there, Carl was on the top digging,” Biffle says. “I was just trying to ease up, giving him room – I didn’t see what happened back there.”

“Matt spun his tires just a little bit on the restart,” Edwards explains. “I went down on the apron, he gave us a lot of room. We just got all bunched up back there.”

“Carl just laid back and got by me three-wide,” Kenseth says. “They got by me through the middle of the corner and then they just got up in front of me and stopped.”

Ryan Newman finished fourth, followed by Edwards. Clint Bowyer finished sixth, followed by Paul Menard, Jamie McMurray and Trevor Bayne. Dale Earnhardt Jr. would round out of top 10 after leading the first 40 laps of the race.

“The racecar was really tight,” Earnhardt Jr. says. “I knew by the end of the race, it was going to be a really, really tight race track and we needed to free the car up. I didn’t give Stevie enough information throughout the day to tell him how tight it was. I didn’t keep up my end and gave up a lot of spots at the end of the race.”

Pole sitter Kasey Kahne finished 19^th after struggling with the handling of the car during the second half of the race.

Greg Biffle now leads the points, 10 points over Kevin Harvick. Denny Hamlin sits third in points, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth.

Unofficial Race Results
Kobalt Tools 400, Las Vegas Motor Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=3
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	–	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	48
2	–	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	43
3	–	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	42
4	–	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	40
5	–	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	39
6	–	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	39
7	–	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	37
8	–	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	36
9	–	21	Trevor Bayne	Ford	0
10	–	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	35
11	–	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	34
12	–	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	33
13	–	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	31
14	–	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	30
15	–	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	29
16	–	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	28
17	–	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	27
18	–	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	26
19	–	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	25
20	–	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	24
21	–	34	David Ragan	Ford	24
22	–	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	23
23	–	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	21
24	–	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	20
25	–	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	19
26	–	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	18
27	–	13	Casey Mears	Ford	17
28	–	30	David Stremme	Toyota	16
29	–	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	15
30	–	32	Ken Schrader	Ford	14
31	–	10	David Reutimann	Chevrolet	13
32	–	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	13
33	–	38	David Gilliland	Ford	11
34	–	33	Brendan Gaughan	Chevrolet	10
35	–	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	9
36	–	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	8
37	–	22	A.J. Allmendinger	Dodge	8
38	–	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	6
39	–	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	5
40	–	26	Josh Wise *	Ford	4
41	–	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	0
42	–	37	Timmy Hill*	Ford	2
43	–	249	J.J. Yeley	Toyota	1

March 11, 2012

Jeff Gordon Celebrates 20 Years of Racing with Dupont

[media-credit name=”sambass.com” align=”alignright” width=”169″][/media-credit]Jeff Gordon has been racing in NASCAR for 20 years now and has kept a solid partnership with sponsor, Dupont, through that time. To honor that partnership, Gordon is running a special paint scheme this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“I’m very proud of it –that’s for sure,” Gordon said. “Just the fact that I’ve been driving in this series for 20 years is one thing, but to know that we’ve had a sponsor be there with us the entire way as well as Pepsi. We’ve obviously put a great combination together that’s worked out very well for us as well as the business for DuPont and other sponsors. It’s something that we’re definitely very, very proud of. I think it’s awesome that they’re celebrating in the way that they are this year by the 20th anniversary paint scheme and logo and we’re going to have a lot of fun.”

Gordon added that he still remembers when he first signed with Rick Hendrick and Hendrick Motorsports and they were going to talk to Dupont about being an associate sponsor. That meeting turned into Dupont becoming a full-time sponsor and seeing four championships and over 80 career victories.

In his career in NASCAR, Gordon has seen a lot of changes in the sport, with this year marking the biggest change with the electronic fuel injection.

“This car was probably the biggest number one change or anything that I’ve ever had to deal with was just completely adapting over to a new car with a splitter, bump stops — completely different aero package,” he added. “Some of the highlights that stick out in the mind throughout the years is just aero in general, mainly just aerodynamics and tires have been the biggest change. I look back to some shots of the car from ’94 and ’95 on the race track and our air dam is this high off the ground in the corners and the skirts on the right side aren’t sealed off. I just think, ‘Gosh, just think how fast we would have gone if we would have known what we know now.’”

Gordon went on to say that he remembered when big sway bars and big rear springs came into effect.

“It used to that you would use all the mechanical grip of the springs and the shocks to make the cars last over a long run and the cars gave up a lot of speed throughout a run so you could manage that,” he continued. “The way we set the cars up were more about tire management and now it’s just all about aerodynamics. I remember that time when it came and that definitely took me a while to adapt to that. We finally did adapt to it and then we won the championship in 2001.”

One of the places that Gordon says hasn’t seen a lot of change is Martinsville, and that’s one track that he has had a lot of success at.

“I feel like Martinsville is that one place that I can go to every time and give good information back to the team to keep us fast throughout the race,” he said. “To me, of all the tracks, the least amount of changes and that’s where experience can really pay off.”

At Martinsville in his career, he has seven wins, 25 top fives and 31 top 10s in 38 starts.

Most recently, Gordon’s life has changed outside of racing with the birth of his two kids, Ella and Leo. Gordon is glad to have had both his children at the current age of 41, instead of when he was younger.

“I got married the first time very young and if I had children at 25 or 26, I don’t think I would have been ready for it,” he explained. “I don’t know if I would have been able to stay as focused on my career. Or one would have suffered more than the other and so I think now I’m able to balance it out, I feel like, pretty well and enjoy both.”

Gordon hasn’t had it all easy off the track either, as with the divorce from Brooke Sealy. However, he says he’s fortunate to have had things go the way they have.

“In my life I have been so fortunate that when things didn’t go exactly as planned, I’ve been very fortunate to bounce back,” he said. “I was fortunate enough to meet my wife Ingrid that she and I at that time wanted to have children. We felt like it was the right time in our lives. There’s no doubt that I’m very thankful it happened when it did and that it happened with her.”

In looking back at everything, Gordon says that he feels fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with the different people he has worked with.

“I’ve just been a part of great teams that have allowed me to be consistent with having that type of success,” he said. “To me, you always hear that success breeds success — to me, as things started going well on the track it allowed me to start thinking about things off the track and trying to come up with the best plan if things go this way. You hope that they go in a positive way and for me they have.”

Gordon will start the race this weekend at Las Vegas in the 16^th position while teammate Kasey Kahne leads the field to the green flag.

March 10, 2012
Subway Fresh Fit 500 Review: A Sign of Things to Come

[media-credit name=”Simon Scoggins” align=”alignright” width=”238″][/media-credit]Denny Hamlin started the race in 13th position and by Lap 20 he was in the Top-5. He worked his way up to third position by Lap 33, after caution was thrown for Clint Bowyer blowing a tire. He hovered in the Top-5 until Lap 247 when caution was thrown for David Reutimann blowing an engine. When leader Martin Truex Jr. pitted for tires and fuel, this allowed Hamlin to get the lead on the restart.

It looked as if the race would come down to Brad Keselowski and Hamlin battling for the lead, until Keselowski locked up his brakes going into turn four, shortly after the restart on Lap 253. This forced Keselowski to drop back to sixth position and give Hamlin the lead of the race. Hamlin faced heat from a hard-charging Kevin Harvick in the last 50 laps of the race, until he ran out of fuel on the final lap, allowing Hamlin to drive to victory lane for the first time in 39 Sprint Cup Series races.

We haven’t seen Hamlin in this competitive form since 2010 when he won eight races and finished second in points standings behind five-time champion Jimmie Johnson. Hamlin admitted last season that Johnson defeating him for the championship title is something that has never left his mind. He sought assistance from a sports psychologist in 2011 to help him be mentally prepared and competitive for this season, and it evidently worked. Hamlin is now leading the championship standings by six points over Greg Biffle heading to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Although we are still early in the season, I expect to see Hamlin continue to be at the top of the standings this year.

Harvick Keeps Up Momentum

Kevin Harvick started in the eighth position and was leading the race by Lap 20. After a caution on Lap 56 for debris, he lost the lead to Johnson on pit road and dropped back to 4th position. Harvick hovered in the Top-5 until Lap 151, when he moved up to second position and put himself in contention for the lead once again. On Lap 165 a three-wide battle for the lead played out between Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., and Harvick – with Harvick coming out on top.

Harvick lost the lead once again when Truex did not pit under caution and received the lead of the race, placing Harvick in second position on the restart. Eventually Truex was forced to pit, allowing Hamlin to take over the race lead using pit strategy. Despite running out of fuel on the last lap, Harvick was able to coast around the track to finish the race in second position. With his second place finish at Phoenix and seventh place finish at Daytona, Harvick is now third in the championship standings.

Edwards’ Disappointing Day in Phoenix

Carl Edwards started the race in 24th position and didn’t gain much ground in the race. As Edwards was attempting to make a late race charge, gaining sixth positions among leaders, when he made contact with Ryan Newman with 65 laps to go. The contact caused right front fender damage to the No. 99 car and ended Edwards’ chance of a decent finish. Edwards finished the race in 17th position and dropped from the top 10 in points standings.

This is not the Edwards we are used to seeing, after finishing in second place in the championship battle last season, with a tie breaker used to determine the winner. On the up-side, Edwards has time to make up ground before he has to worry about the championship battle for this season.

[media-credit name=”Simon Scoggins” align=”alignright” width=”262″][/media-credit]Stewart Struggles with EFI System

Reigning champion Tony Stewart got a rude lesson in this year’s new electronic fuel injection Sunday at PIR. With about 60 laps left in the Subway Fresh Fit 500, Stewart was running 13th and shut off his engine during a caution period to save fuel. Normally when drivers do this, the engine will fire back up easily on command. But this time the engine in Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet wouldn’t re-fire despite repeated attempts. Stewart fell two laps down until his crew finally got the car started, and Stewart finished in 22nd position. Stewart’s season hasn’t started off to his liking, after finishing 16th in the Daytona 500 and currently sitting 15th in points standings.

NASCAR Safety Improvement

NASCAR has announced that pace cars with flashing lights will now trail jet-drying trucks during caution periods. The safety workers operating the jet dryers will wear firesuits and helmets for added protection. During the Daytona 500, Juan Pablo Montoya’s Chevrolet suffered a broken part that caused the car to careen into one of the drying trucks, setting off an explosion that delayed the race for more than two hours for track clean up.

March 5, 2012
IndyCar Needs a Change in Safety, Sooner Than Later

“It’s incredible that no more than just one driver was hurt,” Mario Andretti said Monday on CNN. “Dan’s situation was a very freakish thing where his car flew right up into the catch fencing. The track is very well equipped, it is one of a few tracks to have SAFER walls all the way around, but he just missed the top of it. It was so unfortunate.”

The IZOD IndyCar Series veteran added that there needs to be nothing done. This coming after an accident that happened at Las Vegas Motor Speedway sending three cars airborne, taking out another 12 cars and killing Dan Wheldon.

However, even before the race started, there was concerns from the drivers about the type of racing that was about to take place.

Will Power, who was one of the cars that went airborne, told his father Bob before the race that somebody was going to get killed out there, as according to Australia’s Daily Telegraph.

“All it takes is one mistake by one driver and it could be huge consequences,” Ryan Hunter-Reay had said before the race. “This should be a nail-biter for the fans, and it’s going to be insane for the drivers.

“To be in the middle of the field might not be the best situation early on,” Paul Tracy had added. “There is the potential for a big wreck, so we hope to stay out of that.”

IndyCar’s website had it predicted it would be a wild race with James Hinchcliffe saying in a video that, “The hot spot is every inch of the 1.5 miles. It’s such a grippy track. A place like Kentucky there are bumps and the cars move around a little bit. Here, they aren’t doing that and we are race car drivers and will take every inch that we are given and you have just eliminated the entire margin. The racing is so close and when something goes around it can really go wrong.”

As predicted, the race was crazy early on and as a result, the unthinkable happened. Two wheels touched between cars, which sent Hinchcliffe flying. Drivers behind tried to react and avoid harm but couldn’t, making contact, sending Wheldon and Power both flying from the bottom of the track to the outside wall. Wheldon’s car missed the outside retaining wall, as the top of the cockpit with the driver is exposed hit the catchfence. As a result, Wheldon was pronounced dead two hours later due to head injuries.

The drivers knew right away that it was ugly and what had been hinted of before the race just driving through the debris.

“It was just a chain reaction, and everybody slowed down, got bunched up again and there were more crashes that started behind it,” Scott Dixon told Sports Illustrated. “It’s unfortunate because everybody knew it was going to happen. You could see it from Lap 2 people were driving nuts. It doesn’t even matter the speeds – you can’t touch with these cars.”

“It was like a movie scene which they try to make as gnarly as possible,” Danica Patrick, who was running her last IndyCar race before moving to NASCAR, said. “It was debris everywhere across the whole track. You could smell the smoke. You could see the billowing smoke on the back straight from the car. There was a chunk of fire that we were driving around. You could see cars scattered.”

This wasn’t a surprise at all to anybody as the warnings were there before the race even started. Many drivers had warned series officials, including this year’s champion Dario Franchitti.

“You know I love hard racing, but that to me is not really what it’s about,” he said after the accident. “I said before we even tested here that this was not a suitable track for us, and we’ve seen it today. You can’t get away from anybody. There’s no way to differentiate yourself as a car or a driver. People get frustrated and go four-wide and you saw what happened.”

For NASCAR, the track is fine as if they rub fenders, it’s just known as minor contact and everybody can continue. Though for IndyCar, there are no fenders there so they rub wheels. The rubbing of wheels creates a dangerous situation as the touch sends another car wrecking, and probably after taking flight.

As Tracy noted on CNN, “The IndyCars now, they spec the cars to where they want cars to run a bit more in the pack like NASCAR, and these cars are not designed to run and bang wheels with each other at 220mph. Our wheels are exposed, NASCAR are closed body cars like street cars, so once you have two cars touch each other, you don’t have any control of what can happen.”

The current aerodynamics brings forth the pack racing and with speeds exceeding 220 mph, drivers don’t have the time to react. If they do react, due to being in a freight train format, the person behind them may not. As many have repeated, the increased field size of Las Vegas from a normal field under 20 cars to 34 cars increased the risk.

If IndyCar wants to keep with the current aerodynamics, the oval pack racing that is seen needs to go. However, this doesn’t mean to remove all oval tracks, like Iowa and Indy, should not be removed as they’re not as fast and you see drivers have the ability to get spread out.

The dismissal of oval tracks is just a start, though. Wheldon’s death was more due to the open cockpit contact with the catch fence.

One suggestion is closed cockpits as Ryan Briscoe tweeted, “I’d like to see future IndyCar/Open Wheelers with closed cockpits one day, like modern Le Mans LMP1 cars have today.” The only problem would be debris and dirt making it hard to see, however a simple solution of tear-offs could solve that.

The other solution is maybe to look at changing the catch fence design.

“Even with the new technologies that have come about in the last 10 years, nothing has changed when it comes to the catch fencing,”Tracy explained to Sirius Speedway. “We saw it with Carl Edwards at Talladega, and we saw it again Sunday with Dan. When cars get into the fencing, it acts like a spider web. It grabs them and tears them to pieces.”

Whether you take suggestions given or others come about, change is needed. Dan Wheldon dying along with Will Power suffering back pain, J.R. Hildebrand suffering from a severely-bruised sternum and Pippa Mann with a severely burned finger is too much. A repeat of what happened would be horrendous as images and descriptions of Sunday already go too far.

“It was like driving through a war zone,” Briscoe said after the wreck. “We all predicted something like this would happen.”

That prediction factor is what haunts IndyCar racing now because as more people learn the details, they seem to find themselves blaming IndyCar’s head brass. For them instead of IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard taking care of a problem, they see an image of him liking the style of racing.

“I was watching practice and it was unbelievable,” Bernard told Sports Illustrated after practice. “Three wide at more than 220mph.”

Once again, practice on Thursday showed more warnings, yet nothing done. That’s how the situation is read. That’s why you may see big names leave IndyCar.

“I’ve warned him to give up for awhile,” F1 Champion Jody Shecter said of son Tomas. “Hopefully this will knock some sense into him and realize there is more to life. It really isn’t worth it.”

Tracy says he’s reconsidering after seeing Wheldon die before his eyes and after hearing concerns from his family.

Power, who broke his back at Infinion Raceway, a road course, in 2009 “has taken time off to collect his thoughts and reconsider his future” as per Australia’s Daily Telegraph. His father, Bob, said he’d be okay with a change.

“It wouldn’t worry me if he walked away and tried something else,” Bob Power said. “I would like him to have a go at Formula 1 or something like that, because it is a hell of a lot safer than running around ovals in IndyCar. I would much rather him run on road circuits because ovals are a worry.”

The concern was there from the start and are still there. Easily people are going to blame the head brass as stated, but there’s of course another side to the coin.

In 2000, the drivers chose to boycott the race at Texas Motor Speedway due to concerns after feeling dizziness in practice.

Many could question why they didn’t choose to boycott this race. Was it due to fears of what might have been said if they did? If so, does that overcome the fear of risk and safety? Easily nope, so many should also look to the drivers as to why they still ran the race.

Looking back at Las Vegas no matter the opinion of what happened and how, only hope of change for the future can help us in looking back at what happened.

“This is a huge tragedy for IndyCar but I hope that out of the tragedy comes some good in terms of improving more in safety,” Tracy said. “Like when Greg Moore died and Dale Earnhardt Sr., and now Dan Wheldon. The innovations that came out from that in terms of improving driver safety need to be kicked up a notch. We hope that is what will happen.”

October 19, 2011
Dan Wheldon Dies in Crash at IndyCar Season Finale at Las Vegas

Following a wreck on lap 12 of the IZOD IndyCar Series Season Finale race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, 33-year-old Dan Wheldon has died due to injuries sustained in the crash.

“IndyCar is sad to announce that Dan Wheldon passed away from unsurvivable injuries,” IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Dan and his family. INDYCAR, its drivers and teams have decided to end the race. We will run a five-lap salute in honor of Dan.”

Following the press conference of the announcement, the 19 cars that were not involved did five-laps around the track in a 3-wide formation.

The incident happened on lap 12, which saw three cars catch air and involve a total of 15 cars. Multiple replays show the top of Wheldon’s cockpit hitting the catch fence, breaking the hoop.

“I saw two cars touch each other up in front of me and then I tried to slow down, couldn’t slow down,” Paul Tracy told ESPN. “Then Dan’s car, from what I saw in the videos, came over my back wheel and over top of me. Just a horrendous accident.”

“The debris we all had to drive through the lap later, it looked like a war scene from Terminator or something,” Ryan Briscoe added. “I mean, there were just pieces of metal and car on fire in the middle of the track with no car attached to it and just debris everywhere.”

Will Power was transported to hospital following the incident, complaining of back pain, though has since been released. Pippa Mann and JR Hildebrand were also transported to hospital. They both will be kept overnight for observation.

Wheldon was the 2005 IndyCar Series Champion and won theIndianapolis500 twice, including this year’s running. This past season, Wheldon had been running a part-time schedule due to no ride while also testing the new IndyCar for next season.

Wheldon was expected to join Andretti Autosport to compete full-time next season. He leaves behind his wife Suzi and two children.

As a result of the race being canceled, Dario Franchitti wins his fourth IndyCar Series Championship.

October 17, 2011