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  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Texas Samsung Mobile 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Texas Samsung Mobile 500

    [media-credit name=”(c) CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”279″][/media-credit]With the honors of hosting the first night race of the 2011 season, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

    Surprising:  Although Matt Kenseth was dominant for most of the race, when the checkered flag flew for him, the usually stoic driver of the No. 17 Crown Royal Black Ford for Roush Fenway Racing was surprisingly emotional.

    “After two years, I didn’t know if I’d be back here,” Kenseth said in Victory Lane. “I’ve been so blessed in my life with a beautiful family, a great team and I do what I love for a living.”

    “I haven’t had something like this for a long, long time,” Kenseth continued. “I have lost a lot of close ones at this track. It feels good to be able to close it out.”

    Kenseth’s win ended a 76-race drought dating back to his win on February 22, 2009 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. This was Kenseth’s 19th career win.

    Not Surprising:  From his 29th starting position, it was not surprising that Kevin Harvick just could not continue his consecutive win streak this weekend at Texas.  The driver of the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet was entangled in a pit road problem early in the race from which he never recovered, finishing 20th.

    “Our first two pits stops pretty much ruined our day,” Harvick said. “The 00 and 20 wrecked in front of us trying to leave pit road, so we had to stop, back up and move around them.”

    Surprising: Speaking of those pit road incidents, it was surprising just how influential pit road problems were during this race. On the first stop with everyone in the pits, it looked more like bumper cars than the usually smoothly choreographed tire changes and refueling.

    Both David Reutimann and Joey Logano sustained damage on pit road due to collisions and Dave Blaney got his No. 36 Accell Construction Chevrolet completely turned in the wrong direction due to a spin into his pit stall.

    One of the costliest pit road problems, however, was the too fast entering speeding penalty that was assessed to Tony Stewart late in the race.

    “Sorry, I knew I did it,” Stewart told his crew after being advised of the penalty on lap 276 of the race. Prior to the penalty, Stewart had overcome a collision in the pits at lap 11 to lead twice in the race for a total of 12 laps.

    “You know, it took almost the whole race to crack the top-10, so to be in the position we were in there at the end, I guess is a good thing,” Stewart said. “But when you’re in that position and you can’t capitalize, it’s pretty frustrating. Speeding on pit road didn’t exactly help the cause either.”

    Not Surprising:  Just as in the Nationwide race, the race was relatively clean and green. The only major crash again involved Martin Truex, Jr., who for the second week in a row hit the wall hard. This time instead of Kasey Kahne buffering his hit as at Martinsville, Truex, Jr. took innocent bystanders Mark Martin and Regan Smith with him for a wild TMS ride.

    “I’m OK,” Mark Martin, driver of the No. GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, said. “I didn’t see the pile up in front of us. Just racing.”

    “Unfortunate deal for the NAPA Toyota,” Truex, Jr. said. “We were struggling but we were running our butts off.  Once you make mistakes and you get desperate, you just get yourself in trouble.  It sucks having this two weeks in a row.”

    Surprising: Texas Motor Speedway may just be the surprising turning point for young Roush Fenway driver David Ragan. After qualifying well and being in position to even win in several of the past races, Ragan, who started the Samsung Mobile 500 from the pole position, finally got a good finish.

    Ragan brought his No. 6 UPS Freight Ford to the checkered flag in the seventh position. His top-ten finish also moved him up to 17th in the point standings.

    Not Surprising:  Just as the Fords were strong all day at Texas Motor Speedway, claiming five of the ten finishing spots, Carl Edwards in his No. 99 Scotts Ford proved his ‘Iron Man’ status yet again.

    Edwards overcame stomach problems to finish in the third position and claim the points lead in the process. The driver blamed his physical ailments on a new rice and bean dish that his mother had cooked for him prior to the race.

    “I’m all hopped up on Pepto Bismol,” Edwards said in the media center after the race. “I hate to throw my mom under the bus but she cooked something last night that I don’t think was too good.”

    Surprising:  Behind the wheel of the No. 9 Stanley Ford, Marcos Ambrose had one of his best oval track efforts in his career, finishing sixth. This was the second top-ten finish on a mile and a half track this season for the Richard Petty Motorsports ace from down under.

    “I’m very proud of the Stanley boys for putting together this result,” Ambrose said. “We’re starting to really click on these intermediate ovals. It’s great to be running out in the front of the pack and it gives us a lot of confidence moving forward,”

    Not Surprising: Dale Jr. had yet another consistent run and finish. The driver of the No. 88 Amp Energy/National Guard Chevrolet gained the most positions in the race and finished in seventh.

    Most impressive is his continuing climb in the point standings, this time gaining another two positions to claim the sixth spot as a result of his top-ten finish. Junior is no doubt looking forward to next weekend’s race at Talladega Super Speedway, where he is not only wildly popular but also has outstanding plate racing skills.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Martinsville Goody’s Fast Relief 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Martinsville Goody’s Fast Relief 500

    [media-credit name=”Brad Kepel ” align=”alignright” width=”277″][/media-credit]
    Martin Truex Jr. crashes into Kasey Kahne at Martinsville
    At Martinsville’s version of the ‘paper clip’, NASCAR’s elite made their own history at one of the most storied tracks on the circuit.  Greg Biffle and Jamie McMurray both made their 300th starts of their careers and iron man Mark Martin made his 800th start of his career.

    Here is what was surprising and not surprising in the Goody’s Fast Relief 500:

    Surprising:  It’s not often when the duel for the second place finish is one of the most surprising, and exciting, moments of the entire race. But this second place competition just happened to be between NASCAR’s most popular driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and one of the sport’s rowdiest drivers Kyle Busch. Junior prevailed by the slightest of margins, less than 0.020 of a second.

    Both the driver of the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet and the No. 18 Pedigree Toyota had great points days, with Junior climbing four spots to eighth and Busch taking the points lead.

    Not Surprising:  Now officially able to relinquish his former nicknames of ‘Happy’ and the ‘Bakersfield Basher’, Kevin Harvick, this week in his No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet, can most decisively claim the nickname ‘The Closer.’ Harvick is the first repeat winner of the season and has now won back to back races in decisive passes late in the race.

    “Just an awesome day,” Harvick said. “I didn’t think we had the car to do that. I had a lot of fun racing with Dale Jr. and I hate to be the bad guy, but we’re in it to win it.”

    Surprising: The two dominant drivers of past Martinsville races were not the ones battling for the lead this year.  With 34 laps to go, Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet, made an uncharacteristic mistake, entering the pits too fast. He was forced to the tail end of the field, finishing in the 11th position.

    Denny Hamlin, oft the master of Martinsville, was one of the first to get to pit road, which bit him late in the race. The driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota had to take a wave around on Lap 473, relegating him to a 12th place finish.

    Not Surprising: To no one’s surprise, four-time Cup champion and seven time Martinsville winner Jeff Gordon had a strong day, finishing fifth in the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet. With his good run, Gordon also surpassed the ‘King’ Richard Petty and took the fourth spot in the all-time laps led category.

    “We did have a great day,” Gordon said. “We weren’t great at the beginning but we worked our way up. It was an awesome day to drive to fifth there at the end.”

    Surprising: The number of changing lanes before reaching the start finish line penalties, affectionately known as the ‘David Ragan faux pas’ after his Daytona mistake cost him the win, was definitely surprising. Penalized were Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin, and Tony Stewart.

    It took Kenseth almost half the race to right his wrong. At the end of the day, Kenseth was able to salvage a sixth place finish in his No. 17 Crown Royal Ford.

    Martin was also able to redeem himself, finishing 10th in his No. 5 Quaker State/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet. Martin is now officially the eighth driver to reach the level of 800 starts in his racing career.

    The driver who came out on the short end of the changing lanes penalty stick was Tony Stewart. The driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet finished a miserable 34th, several laps down.

    Not Surprising:  Short tracks usually equal short tempers and that was definitely the case at Martinsville.  Several drivers were unhappy with one another for the bumping, beating and grinding that occurred during the hard racing.

    Most notably was Paul Menard, who had been leading the charge for his new Richard Childress Racing team, only to get into it with Robby Gordon.

    Menard said that Gordon brake-checked him “out of apparent retaliation,” putting a hole in the radiator of the No. 27 NIBCO/Menards Chevrolet. Menard finished 38th, falling six spots to 13th in the point standings.

    Another byproduct of the hard racing that had tempers flaring was the usually unflappable Aussie Marcos Ambrose, who was definitely angry with Michael McDowell.

    “I don’t know what McDowell was thinking,” Ambrose said. “I got stuck on the outside and lost 20 positions just trying to get to the bottom and he just jacked me up and put me in the fence around lap 100. It was uncalled for and made for a very long day.”

    Surprising:  At a short track like Martinsville, big wrecks are not the norm. But there was a monster of a hard hit when Martin Truex, Jr. lost his brakes and pummeled himself into the wall, taking innocent bystander Kasey Kahne with him.

    The hit was so intense that the race had to be red flagged while repairs were made to the safer barrier. Thankfully the drivers of both the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota and the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota were able to walk away from the incident.

    “I thought, oh man, this is going to hurt,” Truex said of the wreck. “Thanks to NASCAR and everybody who built the SAFER barriers. Ten years ago, I wouldn’t be standing here.”

    Not Surprising: As loud as the Truex/Kahne wreck was, in contrast the quietest mover in the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 was Juan Pablo Montoya. The driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet started in the 27th position and, without fanfare, worked his way towards the front to finish fourth. JPM is also quietly working his way up the leader board, advancing one position to seventh in the point standings.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Daytona 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Daytona 500

    The kickoff race for NASCAR, the Daytona 500, is always one of the biggest and most prestigious races of the season. Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 53rd running of the Great American Race, the Daytona 500:

    [media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”250″][/media-credit]Surprising:  In a race that set the record for lead changes, different leaders, and cautions, the biggest surprise to all, including himself, was Trevor Bayne, channeling his inner David Pearson in the famed Wood Brothers No. 21 car, to take the checkered flag.  Bayne is the second youngest race winner, accomplishing the feat on the second green, white, checkered, even while running low on gas.

    Bayne is the tenth different Ford driver to win the Daytona 500.  This was the youngster’s first win in only his second Cup Series start.

    Not Surprising:  Carl Edwards, exhibiting great patience, came in the second spot. Edwards, however, took solace in “how nice a guy Trevor is” as he savored his runner up status.

    “I don’t know if you guys noticed, but it was pretty wild out there today,” Edwards said. “But I was there at the end and that’s what I had to do.”

    Surprising: It was indeed surprising that there were no Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, or Richard Childress Racing representatives in the top five finishing order. The story instead was one of the underdog teams, with the Wood Brothers, Front Row Motorsports and JTG Daugherty instead in the top five.

    Not Surprising:   Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had a great day, leading laps and staying competitive.  Unfortunately, as has happened to Junior all too often, he was caught up in a tussle on the final laps, pushing him back to a 24th place finish.

    Surprising:   Incredibly surprising was the amount of deal making prior to the race, as well as throughout the race itself. Crew chiefs and spotters were exchanging frequency numbers, and probably cell phone numbers, in the garage area so that they could communicate and work together during the race.  Even on the spotter’s stand, it was “like the New York Stock Exchange,” according to Darrell Waltrip, with deals aplenty being made.

    Not Surprising:  All of this deal-making seemed to wreak some degree of havoc on the track, including some tandem drivers causing each other to wreck. Some of the drivers, crew chiefs, and spotters seemed almost lax on their primary responsibilities as they focused instead on coordinating with other drivers and teams.

    The best example of this confusion was a radio exchange between Kyle Busch and defending Daytona 500 champion Jamie McMurray, who thought they would be working together until McMurray remembered that he had a deal with his teammate Juan Pablo Montoya.

    Surprising:  One of the biggest surprises was the expiration of Team Childress engines. Kevin Harvick was the first to lose his engine, early in the race on lap 22. At about lap 96, teammate Jeff Burton lost his engine.

    “We had just a 10 to 15 more degree oil temp that what we have been running,” Harvick said. “We never blow motors. Everybody at ECR does a great job.”

    “We are asking a lot out of the engines here for sure,” Burton said. “I am disappointed. Exceptionally disappointed. But I am really proud of everybody.”

    Not Surprising:  Daytona, infamous for the big one, had one of course.  Early in the race on lap 29, Michael Waltrip, former Daytona 500 winner, got into the back of his teammate David Reutimann and the big one was on.  Fourteen cars were involved in the crash, including the three Hendrick cars of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Mark Martin. Other drivers involved were Joe Nemechek, Andy Lally, Brian Vickers, Marcos Ambrose, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, A J Allmendinger, and David Gilliland.

    “Our chances to win the Daytona 500 are over,” Jeff Gordon said after the wreck. “It is such a bummer. We had such a fast race car, such a great race team.”

    Surprising:  While it is the Daytona 500 and this is the first race of the season, the crowd on hand was healthy and the excitement in the air was palpable.  Hopefully the start is a harbinger for what is in store for NASCAR for the rest of the season.

    Not Surprising:  Probably the most moving moment of the race occurred on lap 3, when the track went silent, except for the roar of the engines. The crowd stood as one, holding up three fingers in memory of the Intimidator.  There is no doubt Dale Earnhardt would have like that.

  • AJ Allmendinger Reflects on the Duels, Daytona 500, and Earnhardt’s Legacy

    AJ Allmendinger Reflects on the Duels, Daytona 500, and Earnhardt’s Legacy

    A J Allmendinger, still battling flu-like symptoms which he has experienced most of the weekend, took a moment outside his motor home to reflect on his Gatorade Duel race, the upcoming Daytona 500, and the tenth anniversary of the death of Dale Earnhardt.

    [media-credit name=”Al Bello/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”215″][/media-credit]”The day of the duel race was better than I thought,” Allmendinger said.  “When I woke up, I didn’t think I was racing because I was so sick.”

    Allmendinger credits the “kind ladies of the medical center” with getting him back in shape enough to race.  “They gave me some fluids and gave me some IVs,” Allmendinger said.  “That got me through the day.”

    Getting through the day and not crashing his car was Allmendinger’s major focus during his duel race.

    “Overall, I thought it was OK,” Allmendinger said.  “First things first, we didn’t wreck the car. You don’t want to wreck your primary in the duels when really all it means is starting position.”

    “I felt like we had a chance to win the race,” Allmendinger continued.  “Me and Jimmie (Johnson) got hooked up and anytime you get hooked up with a five-time champ, you hopefully make friends.  I thought we worked really well together.”

    “There is a couple of things that we need to work on a little bit,” Allmendinger said. “Overall I thought it was good and we put ourselves in position to at least have a chance to win it.  Seventh isn’t terrible.”

    “I feel like the Fords are working really hard on keeping the engines cool,” Allmendinger continued.  “Watching the second duel, we learned a few things we need to do.  But overall it was good.”

    Allmendinger’s duel finish places him 13th in the running of Sunday’s Great American Race, the Daytona 500.  The Richard Petty Motorsports ace also acknowledges that with the two car tandem racing,  this years’ Daytona 500 will definitely be different from any others.

    “I wouldn’t say it’s any better or worse.  It is just different,” Allmendinger said.  “In one way, it saves you from having to run three or four wide the whole race, which as a driver is a lot better.”

    “Now it’s just strategy,” Allmendinger said. “You’ve got to find a friend and if you can find someone you can work with, you can consistently work with, I feel like maybe it’s easier to work with that one guy all race.”

    Allmendinger admitted that going into Sunday’s race, he did not know who he might be working with, contrary to several other drivers who already have their plans in place.

    “I think there may be some people who have already plotted out who they are going to work with,” Allmendinger said.  “But sometimes plans don’t work out.”

    Allmendinger said that this definitely was the case in his Gatorade duel race, as he had planned to work with Mark Martin but instead got hooked up with Jimmie Johnson.  Martin, however, starts right behind Allmendinger in the Daytona 500, so he is hoping that some partnership will develop.

    “Since Mark starts behind me in the 500, maybe there is some way we can hook up like we planned,” Allmendinger said.  “The quicker you find somebody that you work with and work well with, the better off you’ll be.”

    Allmendinger admitted that not only has he been working on this new two-by-two style of racing in practice, but he has also been focusing on how to make the swap from lead car to pusher, or vice versa.

    “Yes, that is something that I worked with in testing and all the practices,” Allmendinger said of the swap.  “I felt like that was something that me and Jimmie (Johnson) were really quick at.”

    “But at the same point, you saw certain guys that didn’t have to change over,” Allmendinger said.  “That comes back to the cooling and having to figure out what we had to do to make our stuff cool even better.”

    In addition to the partner racing and the swap, Allmendinger stated that it will be essential for all of the racers on the track for the Daytona 500 to respect the closing rates, as well as respecting each other.

    “If they understand the closing rates and how big they are,  they give you room and understand this is the way we got to race, than it is OK and we run three-wide pushing each other,” Allmendinger said.  “It’s that one guy that tries to make the block and everything goes wrong.”

    Along with every driver in the Daytona 500, Allmendinger will indeed be looking for his best dance partner.  He also hopes that he will get to work with his new teammate, Marcos Ambrose, in the No. 9 for Richard Petty Motorsports.

    “Marcos (Ambrose) brings something new to the race team,” Allmendinger said.  “He’s really cool and he is fun to work with.  He definitely brings a different style.”

    Unfortunately, Allmendinger’s Aussie teammate starts toward the back of the pack in the Daytona 500.  Ambrose will take the green flag in the 35th position.

    Allmendinger also thinks that the key to the Daytona 500 will be making good decisions, in addition to finding the right partners with whom to dance.

    “We just have to go out there and make good decisions,” Allmendinger said.  “Last year, we were really fast and I got spun and we had a bad finish because of it. “We just have to be smart.”

    “Of course, we want to go out there and win the race,” Allmendinger continued. “But if we come out in the top 15, it’s a good weekend.”

    As is everyone at the track this week, Allmendinger also reflected on the tenth anniversary of the death of NASCAR icon Dale Earnhardt.

    “I never got to meet Dale but I grew up watching NASCAR and I remember that day,” Allmendinger said.  “I was at home watching the race with my parents.”

    “When it happened, I knew it was a big deal,” Allmendinger continued.  “But at that point I was only racing go karts, so I really didn’t know the significance.”

    “There have been a lot of good things that came about because of it,” Allmendinger acknowledged, noting the enhanced safety features in racing.  “But there is a huge void in the sport that honestly will probably never be filled.”

    “I just wish I had the opportunity to meet him.  I think the coolest thing is the fact that he was always known as the Intimidator and that was his persona on the track.  But to hear all the stories about the things he did off the race track that were never in the press and that he did out of the kindness of his heart, just shows how cool the guy was.”  ”

    “There’s not any more words you can say about what the sport is missing,” Allmendinger continued. “There are certain things that have been made better but they sure are overshadowed by how much he is missed being in the sport.”

    “Hopefully, just like with any death, you celebrate the good things about the life and the good things that have come out of it,” Allmendinger said. “I just feel bad for Junior that he has to answer all the questions and live up to that.  Hopefully, we will put on a good race and have good things to remember.”