Tag: mark martin

Grading the Sprint Cup Rides – 2013 Third Term Report

Crunching The Numbers: Michigan

This grading system is pretty basic. Top 10’s, with extra consideration given for wins and Top 5’s, can help you earn an A+. Keep it in the Top 20 each race and that is worth a B. Just by finishing 30^th each time out and that would still get you a C-. Less than that is a failure; a failure to compete, a failure to get noticed.

Grade: A

The top students have been to joy to have in class, even though Jimmie did cost himself an A+ by playing hookey in the weeks leading to the Chase. We are hopeful Kyle continues his stellar work through the final part of the year, though he has had trouble in the past. Matt has really hit the books as of late, and could wind up class valedictorian if he continues his progress. Carl once again is near the head of the class, but time will tell if can charge to the front to finally be number one.

CAR	DRIVER	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	TOP 20	TOP 30
48	Jimmie JOHNSON	4	11	17	21	25
18	Kyle BUSCH	4	13	17	20	22
20	Matt KENSETH	7	8	15	21	24
99	Carl EDWARDS	2	8	14	24	26

Grade: A-

Kevin has been in the top half of the class pretty much the entire year and only twice has the dog eaten his homework. Clint is usually a very popular boy, but for some reason I detect that many of his classmates do not want him to wind up at the head of the class this year.

CAR	DRIVER	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	TOP 20	TOP 30
29	Kevin HARVICK	2	7	14	25	25
15	Clint BOWYER	0	8	14	24	26

Grade: B+

Kurt, who usually does not play well with others, has some cheering for him. It will be interesting how he works with his new friends when class resumes next year. Kasey had some trouble last week, as did little Joey a week earlier. Dale is once again a very popular boy while Ryan has had some issues to work through, but seems to have replaced former friends with some new ones for next year. Martin has had some problems as well due to the company he keeps, and I am not sure how that will work out. Greg remains a solid student, with Mark helping Tony since he hurt his leg. Meanwhile, Jeff needed some help near the end of the term, though I am not sure it will be enough for him to realize his dreams by the end of the school year.

CAR	DRIVER	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	TOP 20	TOP 30
78	Kurt BUSCH	0	9	14	20	23
5	Kasey KAHNE	2	8	11	18	20
22	Joey LOGANO	1	8	14	19	23
88	Dale EARNHARDT, Jr	0	5	15	21	24
39	Ryan NEWMAN	1	6	13	21	22
56	Martin TRUEX, Jr	1	6	12	21	23
16	Greg BIFFLE	1	4	11	23	24
14	Tony STEWART	1	5	10	19	27
24	Jeff GORDON	0	5	13	21	22

Grade: B

It has been a disappointing year for some students. Brad has stumbled a bit since being last year’s valedictorian. Juan Pablo plans to transfer out of our school next year, returning to where he had previously enjoyed very good grades. His friend Jamie will remain with us, and has hopes of improving his status next year. Mark has been busy, first helping Brian earlier this year and now Tony. I am expecting good things when Brian returns full-time next year. Along with Paul, they might not make the honor roll this year, but these boys have done enough work to show they belong here.

Grade: B-

Aric has shown signs that we might expect better things ahead for him. Jeff, as always, was expecting more. As he leaves us a year early, we will miss this well spoken young man.

CAR	DRIVER	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	TOP 20	TOP 30
43	Aric ALMIROLA	0	1	5	22	24
31	Jeff BURTON	0	2	6	17	23

Grade: C+

Marcos and Ricky have been okay, though not great. They both manage to get their work done, but I still would like to see better things from them before the year is out.

CAR	DRIVER	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	TOP 20	TOP 30
9	Marcos AMBROSE	0	0	5	19	23
17	Ricky STENHOUSE, Jr	0	0	2	20	25

Grade: C

I do not know what to say about Denny. I know he was hurt earlier in the year, but he has not been his old self since he returned. It appears he would just as soon end the year, go on vacation, and start afresh next year.

CAR	DRIVER	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	TOP 20	TOP 30
11	Denny HAMLIN	0	3	6	12	19

Grade: C-

Casey is not quite ready to compete with the big boys just yet, but I have been pleased with his progress. I am interested to see how he might do next year. I will miss Bobby, though he has had another disappointing year. Some seem happy with Danica’s progress, but I feel we should expect more by this time. She is blessed with so much more than a lot of the other students. David did succeed on the subject of Alabama geography, with some help from his close friend, the other David, but neither are quite there yet. As for A.J., who sometimes goes by Regan or Austin or, just last week, by Michael, might make some real progress once he figures out who he really is.

CAR	DRIVER	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	TOP 20	TOP 30
13	Casey MEARS	0	0	1	9	23
47	Bobby LABONTE	0	0	1	8	21
10	Danica PATRICK	0	0	1	6	23
34	David RAGAN	1	1	1	4	21
38	David GILLILAND	0	1	1	5	20
51	A.J. ALLMENDINGER	0	0	2	7	18

Grade: F

To be honest, I am not sure why these boys are even in my class. Both Dave and Travis, I am sure, would do so much better at Nationwide High. What can you say about J.J. (other than he enjoyed Daytona seven months ago), David S. (who just isn’t the same boy the past two weeks), David R. or Timmy? No, really. What can you say about them? Well, I’ve seen worse. I feel bad for Trevor, as I think if he would attend class more often he might be able to pull in a better grade than this. However, to be fair, of the nine assignments he has done, none have been much to write home about. As for Landon, things just don’t seem to work out. He and Tony R. have done most of the assignments for Austin, which is too bad as the young fellow has done so much better on the two he has written on his own. There are other students who drop in from time to time, but I have reserved my remarks for those who have tried to attend class at least nine times this year. God bless Scott, Michael, Joe, and Mike, but if the school board ever considers reducing class size, they make a good argument. To be honest, they usually do not stick around long enough to become a nuisance. The sad thing is, all four have ability but you never get to see it.

CAR	DRIVER	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	TOP 20	TOP 30
7	Dave BLANEY	0	0	0	2	18
93	Travis KVAPIL	0	0	0	4	15
36	J.J. YELEY	0	0	1	2	14
30	David STREMME	0	0	0	4	13
83	David REUTIMANN	0	0	0	1	14
32	Timmy HILL	0	0	0	2	12
21	Trevor BAYNE	0	0	0	4	8
40	Landon CASSILL	0	0	0	4	8
33	Austin DILLON	0	0	0	2	12
95	Scott SPEED	0	0	1	1	3
98	Michael MCDOWELL	0	0	1	1	2
87	Joe NEMECHEK	0	0	0	0	3
19	Mike BLISS	0	0	0	0	1

September 24, 2013

Surprising and Not Surprising: New Hampshire Sylvania 300

With a little bit of magic as well as mayhem, especially on pit road, here is what else was surprising and not so surprising in the 17^th annual running of the Sylvania 300 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Surprising: With no wins and a 20^th best driver rating at the Magic Mile, one driver who just so happened to be celebrating his 500^th career start, defied the odds, scoring his second win in two Chase races.

Victor Matt Kenseth also became only the third driver to win back to back in the Chase, joining Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle in that accomplishment.

“For me to win at New Hampshire, first of all, is more than a stretch and more than a dream,” the driver of the No. 20 Home Depot/Husky Toyota said. “This is probably one of my worst places.”

“That just shows you how good this whole team is,” Kenseth continued. “I didn’t even know there was a Victory Lane here.”

“It honestly doesn’t really seem real that we won yet.”

Not Surprising: As has happened for most of the season, restarts played a pivotal role for several drivers at the Magic Mile, including those drivers that finished second and third.

For Kyle Busch, who finished runner up yet again to teammate Kenseth, the final restart was what did him in, however, Greg Biffle, who finished third, credited a good restart with his top-five finish.

“Those last couple restarts just making some spots, I spun my tires too much,” Busch said. “But just frustrating sometimes when you feel like you’re getting beat on restarts too much.”

“Other than that, second.”

“There at the end, we just drove — we just kept gaining positions,” Biffle said. “I gained like four or five spots on a couple restarts in a row and got up in the top six, and then that final restart the outside lane really got going good.”

“I’m excited about finishing third,” Biffle continued. “Our car was competitive, and we’re happy about the whole weekend.”

Kyle Busch posted his eighth top-10 finish in 18 races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Biffle posted his ninth top-10 finish in 23 races at the Magic Mile.

Biffle was NASCAR’s biggest mover, gaining six places in the point standings as he leap frogged to the fifth position, while Busch held serve in P2, just 14 points behind Kenseth.

Surprising: For all the bad luck that the No. 24 team has had throughout the regular season, this time the driver was the one that caused the poor finish.

Jeff Gordon, four-time champion, made a critical error in getting just far enough out of his pit box to have to back up, losing precious time and costing him vital track position, as well as a 15^th place finish.

“I’m highly disappointed in myself,” Gordon said. “I just came in and slid through.”

“I carried a little bit more speed in there and crossed the splitter over the line by an inch and that’s all it takes to make a difference between a chance at winning and finishing 15^th.”

Not Surprising: After getting booted out of the Chase through no fault of his own, as well as losing his NAPA sponsorship, Martin Truex Jr. had something to prove. And he did just that, leading 98 laps and bringing his No. 56 NAPA Toyota to a top-ten finish at the Magic Mile.

We had a good car the first half of the race,” Truex Jr. said. “That last set of tires was just terrible for us.”

“We obviously made some huge gains in the right direction,” Truex Jr. continued. “Just weren’t good enough to be there when it counted.”

Surprising: Kasey Kahne took a surprisingly hard hit into the wall and ended up appearing to be confused, unable to hear the questions, or perhaps just really disappointed in his 37^th place finish.

“I seriously don’t really remember how it happened,” the driver of the No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet said. “I hit the inside wall but I’m not sure how I got there.”

Not Surprising: The Cinderella slipper lost just a little bit of its luster after yet another issue on pit road. So, it was not surprising that the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet was just a tad upset and pretty disappointed at the race end.

“We didn’t hit it right on the adjustments today,” Busch said. “While we aren’t pleased with where we finished (13^th), we fought for every position.”

“We know we can do much better.”

Surprising: Who knew someone would be so happy to be on the rebound? But Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was just that, finishing sixth after a disastrous first Chase race.

“Just real happy to be able to rebound from earlier,” the driver of the No. 88 Time Warner Cable Chevrolet said. “Glad we were able to get a decent finish.”

Not Surprising: Testing apparently paid off for one five-time champion Jimmie Johnson, who finished a strong fourth, now just 18 points behind leader Kenseth. And the driver of the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet pronounced himself pleased with his team’s flat track program.

“It took a lot of hard work to get the end result, but we’ve got a nice race car for these flat tracks,” Johnson said. “I’m looking forward to Phoenix now.”

“It’s good to have a good run here knowing we can go to Phoenix and be competitive too.”

Surprising: After an early spin on lap 38 to bring out the second caution of the race, Jamie McMurray had a surprising bounce back to finish fifth. The driver of the No. 1 Linksys Chevrolet for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing gave the Chevrolet brand one of the two top-fives when the checkered flag flew.

“Yeah, are car was really good even after the crash,” McMurray said. “Just a fun day racing.”

Not Surprising: Veteran driver Jeff Burton has literally ‘owned’ the New Hampshire Motor Speedway over the years, often in dominating fashion leading laps and heading straight to Victory Lane.

So, it was not surprising that the driver of the No. 31 Cheerios Chevrolet SS had another good run at the Magic Mile. Burton was the fourth Chevrolet driver to finish top-10, scoring an eighth place at his ‘favorite’ track.

Surprising: In spite of Stewart-Haas Racing scoring the pole with Ryan Newman with a new track record, it was surprisingly not a stellar day for the team. Newman ended up finishing 16^th, while teammates Mark Martin and Danica Patrick finished 23^rd and 27^th respectively.

“I still don’t understand what happened with the car,” Newman said. “It just never drove the same after we won the pole on Friday afternoon.”

“Even in practice on Saturday. Glad we got back up to 16th after the deal on pit road, but I don’t know,” Newman continued. “We’ll head to Dover and see what we can get.”

“It’s disappointing for sure,” Patrick said after making her second start at the Magic Mile. “The car just never felt ‘in’ the track today.”

“It was a frustrating day,” Martin said. “We just could never get track position.”

“It wasn’t the ideal race.”

Not Surprising: Landon Cassill, driver of the No. 40 Moonshine Attitude Attire Chevrolet, not surprisingly had the best response via Twitter to the race after finishing 34th.

“Tough day today,” Cassill tweeted. “We had a decent car but got trapped on pit road when the caution came out.”

“That’s the way the pickle squirts as my mom says.”

September 23, 2013
Surprising and Not Surprising: Richmond Federated Auto Parts 400

With everything on the line as far as Chase berths, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 56^th annual Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

Surprising: The very technology that attracts fans to the sport because of how up close and personal they can be with their drivers and teams, including in-car audio and race scanners, was surprisingly what doomed Michael Waltrip Racing at Richmond.

After the race, the in-car audio and video of Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota, seemingly indicated that his late race spin, which sent his teammate Martin Truex, Jr. into the Chase, may not have been so accidental.

To complicate matters, the audio of the race scanner chatter between MWR driver Brian Vickers and his spotter Ty Norris also seemed to indicate some shenanigans about pitting to allow Truex Jr. into the Chase as well.

In a surprising Monday after the race weekend press conference, NASCAR announced significant penalties to address these issues which they deemed detrimental to the sport, including points penalties, the largest monetary fine ever imposed, and the indefinite suspension of key MWR leader Ty Norris.

Even more surprising, because of the reduction in the points, Martin Truex Jr. was moved out of the Chase and Ryan Newman was placed into the Chase.

“Based upon our review of Saturday night’s race at Richmond, it is our determination that the MWR organization attempted to manipulate the outcome of the race,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition. “As the sport’s sanctioning body, it is our responsibility to ensure there is a fair and level playing field for all of our competitors and this action today reflects our commitment to that.”

Not Surprising: While the major issues with MWR may have been surprising, it was not surprising that the last race of the regular season yet again involved a restart controversy. And this time it involved the ultimate race winner Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Frosted Flakes Ford.

“What happened on that last restart is Paul (Menard) had two tires,” Edwards said. “I knew he was going to be at a big disadvantage with grip.”

“He took off and I waited until he went to go,” Edwards continued. “As we were going, his car actually touched my door.”

“I heard his engine speed up and he spun the tires,” Edwards said. “At that point, I really had no choice.”

Edwards scored his 21^st win in the Cup Series, his second victory of the season and his first win at Richmond. He is now seeded fifth in the Chase, just nine points behind the leader.

Surprising: Jimmie Johnson, fresh off the birth of his second daughter Lydia, continued his slump, finishing outside the top 25 for the fourth straight race. Johnson’s previous worst slump was three straight finishes of 36^th or worse in August 2004.

Johnson endured mechanical problems and a late-race spin to finish 40^th at Richmond in his No. 48 Lowes/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet. In spite of his struggles, he is still seeded second in the Chase, just three points behind the leader.

“Yeah, that was a tough night,” Johnson said. “Just a bummer we ended the regular season like we did.”

“We will go to Chicago and get this Chase started off on the right foot.”

Not Surprising: The current lame duck drivers had positive results when it came time to decide the Chase, with one making history, one solidly in, and the third catapulting in thanks to the MWR penalties.

Kurt Busch, current driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Beautyrest Chevrolet who will be moving to Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014, made history by finishing second at Richmond and taking his one-car team into the Chase. He is seeded 10^th in the Chase standings at present, 15 points behind the leader.

“It’s an amazing feeling to go up against these big teams and to put a little lone Chevrolet from Colorado into the Chase against the big boys,” Busch said. “This feels incredible.”

Kevin Harvick, who has run consistently all season and will also move to Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014 along with Kurt Busch, closed the deal on his Chase berth, finishing the race in 11^th and taking the fourth seed position in the Chase, just nine out of first.

“We’re as good as we’ve ever been over the years,” the driver of the No 29 Budweiser Chevrolet said. “Hopefully we can take our team and get better over the next few weeks.”

Ryan Newman, the other lame duck driver, who just confirmed that he will be leaving Stewart-Haas Racing for Richard Childress Racing in 2014, ended up in the Chase after NASCAR levied its decision regarding Martin Truex Jr.

“I am proud that NASCAR took a stand with respect to what went on Saturday night at Richmond,” Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet, said. “I know it was a tough decision to make.”

“With that being said, myself, Matt Borland (crew chief) and this entire No. 39 team are looking forward to competing for the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.”

Surprising: Roush Fenway had a surprisingly good night at and after the Richmond race, locking up two of its drivers in the Chase and having its rookie driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. score a top-10 finish.

This was the tenth time in ten seasons that Roush Fenway Racing has placed multiple teams into playoff contention. The event also marked the seventh time that RFR driver Carl Edwards made the Chase in his career.

Roush Fenway Racing has achieved another milestone, that of placing five of ten entries inside the Chase since 2005, including both Carl Edwards and teammate Greg Biffle.

“As I look at the racetracks in front of us in the Chase, I think that we’ve got more momentum than we’ve ever had as we look at it going forward,” team owner Jack Roush declared.

Not Surprising: The ever understated Matt Kenseth not only made the Chase with his ‘new’ team Joe Gibbs Racing but is seeded in the top dog position of P1, with all the other contenders literally chasing him for the championship.

Kenseth, behind the wheel of the No. 20 Home Depot Husky Toyota, finished sixth at Richmond.

“We ended up finishing the night decent,” Kenseth said. “The last couple cautions fell our way and the last restart fell our way.”

“I feel good going to Chicago – it will be alright.”

Surprising: Considered a short track, it was surprising that there was not one caution caused by anything other than debris or a single car incident at RIR under the lights.

In fact, the first one hundred laps of the race were completely caution free and there were only five yellow flags for a total of 29 laps.

Not Surprising: The disappointment, not surprisingly, of two past champions was absolutely palpable after seeing their Chase hopes disappear.

Both reigning champ Brad Keselowski and four-time champion Jeff Gordon failed to make the Chase for 2013. Keselowski finished in 17^th and Gordon finished 8^th in the final race before the Chase.

“I don’t really have any emotions right now,” Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford. “We weren’t good enough to make it and we didn’t.”

“That is the reality.”

“It’s disappointing to miss it that close,” Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, said after barely missing the Chase. “I love the effort this team put in.”

Surprising: Two drivers who made it into the Chase were surprisingly disappointed after their Richmond run. Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 American Heritage Chocolate Toyota, and Kasey Kahne, behind the wheel of the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet, were both unhappy after their 19^th and 14^th place finishes respectively.

“We made it I guess,” Busch said. “We’ll just have to work and lay all the pieces out and see what needs to be better.”

“So I’m not pleased with where we’re at,” Kahne said. “But I’m still very confident and feel that going into the Chase it’s a clean sheet of paper for everybody, and we’re going to be where we need to.”

“People can speculate and wonder all week long, but I really look forward to getting to Chicago and showing people what this team has in it.”

Not Surprising: Ironman Mark Martin, substitute driver for the recuperating Tony Stewart, not surprisingly brought home the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet for his first-ever top-10 performance in that race car.

“Really proud of all the guys on this Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 team,” Martin said. “They improved the car throughout the race and made some great calls.”

“We got our first top-10 together,” Martin continued. “We’ll take that and build on it.”

September 10, 2013
More driver changes announced, several still unknown

This past week the NASCAR silly season still had a full head of steam. The major announcement this week was from Richard Childress Racing. RCR announced that Jeff Burton would not return as the driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet. Burton cited the fact that, “…. There was a lot of funding that wasn’t in place.” Later that same day, the team announced that Caterpillar would return for the 2014 season, though the number of races for the sponsor was not announced.

It is widely rumored, though not made official by anyone, that Ryan Newman could be a possible replacement for Burton. Newman has sponsorship agreements with several companies that he could bring to RCR to fill out the remainder of the season for the No. 31. When Newman is able to make an announcement it should put several rumors to rest and allow the rest of the dominoes to fall in this silly season.

JTG-Daugherty recently announced that AJ Allmendinger will replace Bobby Labonte next season in the No. 47 Bush Beans Toyota. Allmendinger was asked to drive the car at several races earlier in the season to help assess the teams problems. He performed very well in the car, and has performed well for several other teams this season. Labonte was to finish the season splitting time with Allmendinger, but the former series champion broke three ribs in a bicycling injury. Allmendinger is driving the No. 47 at Richmond.

Reed Sorensen has replaced Scott Speed in the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Ford. Sorensen will compete at Richmond and most of the remainder of the season with the exception of Dover and Phoenix. The team has said they are talking to several drivers to fill the seat for 2014.

Also announced Friday at Richmond, Cole Whitt will replace David Stremme as driver of the No. 30 Swan Racing Toyota. Stremme that he did not “know what the hell is going on” and that he thought he was going to Chicago. Stremme would not comment on whether he still had any ownership in the team.

In addition to Newman, Burton and Stremme we also still do not know the plans for Juan Pablo Montoya or Mark Martin. We do know that Montoya visited Furniture Row Racing in Denver on Tuesday. Neither entity has commented on the results of that visit.

It has truly been one of the silliest silly seasons in recent history. Each time an announcement is made, it sets off a series of events in the its wake. Once the Chase field is set, expect more announcements within the week.

September 6, 2013
Surprising and Not Surprising: Atlanta Advocare 500

In one of the closest races to the Chase, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 54^th running of the Advocare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Surprising: While many drivers felt that the Atlanta race would be critical, Kyle Busch surprisingly found his race win to be positively pivotal after clinching a spot in the coveted Chase.

“Well, it started a little ugly,” the driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota said. “I was a little ill on the radio, I’m sure, but I can’t say enough about Dave Rogers (crew chief) right here and the team that he’s assembled around us.”

“I think if you can pin a championship night on one race, I think tonight was the night,” Busch continued. “We certainly had a lot to do and a lot to overcome, and I think that Dave and these guys stuck with me.”

“For as bad as I may have been talking, they certainly never gave up,” Busch said. “The Lord was with us and blessed us today with a great night.”

This was Busch’s 38^th win in 318 Cup Series races, his fourth victory of the season and his second checkered flag at Atlanta. This was also the 250^th win for Toyota and the 100^th win for Kyle Busch in a Toyota across the three national series.

Not Surprising: There were two very disappointed drivers following closely on the heels of race winner Kyle Busch.

And although they disagreed on a few issues post-race, they did agree on two things, that they were disappointed with the finish and that they had to overcome adversity, one with a pit road problem and the other related to his fractured wrist.

“We’re both mad because we didn’t win,” Truex Jr. said after finishing third in his No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota said.

“Yeah, we both agree that sucks,” Logano, who finished second behind the wheel of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, said.

“We overcame a loose wheel early in the race and cycled ourselves back to the lead after all of that,” Logano said. “I just needed 30 laps of green flag to get all the way up there to the front.”

“The cast just inside my hand here got all soft,” Truex Jr. said after the race. “I think maybe it’s just gotten wet from sweat or something and softened up, so we’ll have to look into that.”

Surprising: There were some angry drivers after the race at Atlanta, which surprisingly occurred at this mile and a half track instead of a short track.

Denny Hamlin was one angry bird, from altercations with other drivers to anger at NASCAR. Four-time champ Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards were also at odds with one another after some hard racing and contact.

“Our night was ruined because of a penalty putting us two laps down that we couldn’t overcome,” Hamlin, who finished 38^th in his No. 11 SportClips Toyota, said. “We got wrecked by the No. 27 (Paul Menard), blew the tire, blew the fender off and blew another engine.”

Hamlin was also angry with his teammate Kyle Busch, at one point hollering over his radio ““Tell Kyle if he would f****** let me go, he’d learn how to drive this track and not be an idiot.”

“We’re just getting kicked in the nuts every weekend by something and I just can’t catch a break,” Hamlin said after the race.

Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards also had their angry moments, both during and after the race.

“He just slide-jobbed me and I thought it was really out of character for him and I didn’t understand what was going on there,” Edwards said, after finishing 18^th in his No. 99 Subway Ford. “I did everything I could not to wreck us both.”

“I’ve never seen him drive me like that,” Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet said of his battle with Edwards. “It was pretty wild.”

“He didn’t like that I slid him early in the race,” Gordon, who finished sixth to keep his Chase hopes alive, continued. “We went into (Turn) 1 and he took my line away to keep me behind him and I was a lot better than him and I just dove inside.”

“I came up a little bit too short on him,” Gordon said. “And that was my fault.”

“But he decided he was going to give me back, I guess, and he did all night,” Gordon continued. “I tried to have a regular conversation and that didn’t seem to be possible with him.”

“We don’t agree on what happened and finally he got frustrated enough with the conversation that he just walked away,” Edwards said of Gordon. “That might have been smart.”

Not Surprising: Even though he has signed with another race team for 2014, Kurt Busch not surprisingly continues to impress. The driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Beautyrest Chevrolet motored from tenth to second on one of the restarts, and went on to finish the race in fourth, climbing into the tenth spot in the Chase standings.

“I noticed the 78 and I was like okay, they’re having a decent day,” Kyle Busch said of brother Kurt. “Then he was in my mirror and I’m like did everybody wreck?”

“The kid was wheeling it, I guess,” Kyle Busch continued. “That was pretty impressive.”

Brother Kurt Busch agreed, saying simply, “I can’t tell you what I did right, but it all went right.”

Surprising: For the third week in a row, five-time champion Jimmie Johnson struggled and at one point during the race had even lost the points lead.

Johnson was involved in the first true caution, following the competition yellow, when the field stacked up on a restart, collecting teammate Kasey Kahne, Jeff Burton and Mark Martin in addition to himself.

The driver of the No. 48 Lowes Dover White Chevrolet next hit the tire carcass from the Paul Menard vehicle, sustaining further damage, and went on later in the race to spin out.

Although Johnson finished 28^th, he still managed to hold serve over Clint Bowyer in the point standings by 28, ironically the same number of points as his finishing order.

Not Surprising: Clint Bowyer, behind the wheel of the No. 15 RKMotorsCharlotte.com Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing not surprisingly decided that he would just go have an adult beverage after his experimental engine expired, resulting in a 39^th place finish.

“Well, it certainly sucks,” Bowyer said. “That was a super big bummer right there.”

“I wanted to go for the win,” Bowyer continued. “It was ours to lose and we found a way to lose.”

“I’m going to go have a beer.”

Surprising: Kevin Harvick, was surprisingly conflicted, happy with securing his role in the Chase, but not so happy with his race car.

“Obviously we’re happy to be in the Chase, but our day wasn’t very good,” the driver of the No. 29 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet said. “Our car was just terribly tight all night long and drove nothing like it did in practice.”

We’ll work on that.”

Not Surprising: Although Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished eighth, he was most grateful to leave Atlanta in one piece and in good Chase contention, hanging tough in the seventh spot in the point standings.

““I was real thankful the car was as good as it was,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Race2Achieve.org Chevrolet said. “We have struggled here and not ran great here the last several trips.”

“All in all I’m real pleased with the way the car performed and the job the guys did.”

Surprising: After finding out this week that he would no longer be driving for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing in NASCAR, being replaced by young up and coming driver Kyle Larson, Juan Pablo Montoya has surprisingly been reacting like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders.

Montoya’s performance has also picked up since then as well, demonstrated by his seventh place finish at Atlanta in his No. 42 Target Chevrolet.

“It was a good night,” Montoya said. “The guys made great changes and the car was good at the end.”

“Happy that we were able to bring home another top-10 finish for Target tonight.”

Not Surprising: So often, the outcome of any race is outside the control of the man or woman behind the wheel. So, not surprisingly after engine troubles, reigning champ Brad Keselowski felt out of control, especially regarding his chances to make the Chase.

“Some things you can’t control and this was one of those days,” Keselowski said after finishing 35^th in his Blue Deuce. “It just broke.”

“There’s only so much you can control,” Keselowski continued glumly. “Maybe this was control, and maybe it wasn’t.”

“I don’t know until the guys take (the engine) apart and look at it.”

September 2, 2013
Ryan Truex Feeling Fortunate and Lucky After Bristol Debut

While Ryan Truex’s Sprint Cup Series debut might not have turned out exactly as he had hoped, the 21 year old development driver for Richard Petty Motorsports and past K&N Series Champion left Bristol feeling ‘fortunate and lucky’ to be where he is at currently in the sport today.

First and foremost, the youngest racing Truex feels lucky to be able to get back in a race car after a dirt bike accident over the Easter holiday left him injured with a broken collar bone.

“I went to the doctor and we hoped it would heal on its own,” Truex said. “We went six weeks and it hadn’t healed so then we had to have surgery.”

“I have a plate and twelve screws in there,” Truex continued. “It’s fine now but it wasn’t fun at the time.”

“I had to go through the surgery plus the physical therapy, which was twelve weeks from the time I had surgery to the time I was cleared to race.”

“And that didn’t include the six weeks of hoping that it would heal on its own,” Truex said. “It’s been a challenge and I’m apparently now banned from dirt bikes.”

Truex also feels fortunate and lucky to have signed with Richard Petty Motorsports as a development driver and to have been able to maintain a relationship with Phoenix Racing that allowed him to make his Cup debut in the No. 51 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“Before I signed with Richard Petty Motorsports, I was supposed to drive the No. 51 in Richmond and Dover,” Truex said. “And then I went and got hurt and messed those plans up.”

“Phoenix Racing was able to plug me into their schedule later in the year and Bristol was the first opening,” Truex continued. “So, that was the first one we chose being a half mile and I was approved for it by NASCAR to run in the Cup Series.”

After being out recuperating from his injury, the opportunity to be back behind the wheel of a race car, especially in the Cup Series at one of the most noted tracks on the circuit in a race under the lights was not only exciting but a bit overwhelming for the young up and coming driver.

“It was really cool but a little intimidating being in a field with guys like Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson, all those guys who have proven themselves in the Cup Series,” Truex said. “And that was my first race since the Daytona Truck race so it had been about six months since I had raced anything.”

“The week before, I practiced and qualified Marcos Ambrose’s Nationwide car so I had a little seat time in something but other than that, that was the first weekend back in a race car and the first time in the Gen 6 car at all,” Truex continued. “So, it was a bit of a curve ball for me and it was a steep learning curve.”

Truex did indeed have challenges in his Cup debut, struggling with his car race, hitting the wall and finishing 42^nd in the Bristol Irwin Tools Night Race.

“We qualified really well and I was really happy with that,” Truex said. “We practiced pretty good and I thought we were a top-20 car at least.”

“In the race, we started off the first few laps and did alright but for some reason our car was just really, really loose and I ended up getting up out of the groove,” Truex continued. “I got up in the marbles and got freight trained.”

“Once I gathered it back up and got the junk off my tires, we started riding and were way back,” Truex said. “I was biding my time and then we started to get really, really tight and, being a rookie, I didn’t realize the problem at the time but it turns out that we ran over some debris and we had a cut in the left front tire.”

“It was slowly going down and then it blew out and ended our night.”

Fortunately, the rookie driver did not re-injure his collar bone although his older brother Martin Truex Jr. did not fare so well. After Martin’s hard hit late in the race at Bristol, an MRI showed that he had broken his right wrist and will have to wear a special cast for the rest of the racing season.

Although Ryan’s Cup debut race night was shortened by the blown tire and wreck into the wall, the younger Truex did learn some lessons from the evening and even got some advice and counsel from some of the biggest names in the sports.

“The biggest lesson for me is that I just need to be out there every weekend,” Truex said. “Since I stepped up from the K&N Series to Nationwide in 2011, I’ve been running part-time, once or twice a month at the most.”

“Last year, I had seven races with Joe Gibbs Racing, plus a couple of other races with some other teams, which added up to about eleven races for the year,” Truex continued. “That’s been the biggest challenge for me is just having some repetition in my racing and going out every weekend in my race car and be familiar with it.”

“One of the people that I talked to before driver intros standing in the tunnel at Bristol was Jeff Burton,” Truex said. “I thought that was really cool.”

“Mark Martin came up to my car and talked to me for a few minutes and told me what to expect and what to do,” Truex continued. “So, there were a couple of guys that I respect who talked to me and I thought that was awesome.”

“I grew up watching them race so for them to come over and give me words of advice was really cool.”

Another of Truex’s idols has been Richard Petty and the young driver feels especially fortunate and lucky to be invited into the fold of the ‘King’ and a part of Richard Petty Motorsports.

“It’s a huge deal for me to be with Richard Petty Motorsports,” Truex said. “In the past few years, I’ve been jumping around between teams and had some one-off deals, but since I’ve left Michael Waltrip Racing, I’ve never really had a true home.”

“So, they’ve taken under their wing and committed to developing me as a driver in the Cup Series,” Truex continued. “I’ve signed a multi-year deal with them with the goal of running full-time in the Cup Series one day.”

“So, that feels really good to just have one place to focus on and not have to worry about where I’m going to race week to week.”

For this year, Truex will continue to run some races in the No. 51 car for Phoenix Racing and hopes to be back in that car as early as the Richmond race. But his real focus is on the 2014 season when, sponsorship pending, he hopes to race full-time for Richard Petty Motorsports in the Nationwide Series.

“That’s the goal for me personally and for the team to be out there next year running for a championship,” Truex said. “But the biggest thing is finding the funding to do that.”

“Now that I have a team out there searching and helping me find the funding to run full-time, it takes a lot of pressure of me and makes me feel more secure with my future.”

Most of all, Ryan Truex is feeling fortunate and lucky to be a part of a family that has supported and nurtured his racing career every step of the way.

“My brother has always been there for me my whole career, and my parents are at my races every single weekend giving me support,” Truex said. “My dad always tells me that if you work as hard as you can and take advantage of every opportunity, there is no reason why you can’t reach your goal.”

“That’s been my philosophy too,” Truex continued. “There has been plenty of frustrating moments but then you step back and look at how far I’ve come and at the people I have around me, and it’s a pretty awesome deal for me.”

“I’m fortunate and lucky to be able to be where I’m at,” Truex said. “And I know that if I keep working at it, never give up and get down on myself that eventually it will work out.”

August 28, 2013
Surprising and Not Surprising: IRWIN Tools Bristol Night Race

From NASCAR children National Anthem singing to cars colliding and tempers flaring, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 53^rd annual IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Surprising: Disappointment surprisingly abounded atop the Chase leaderboard, with both point’s leader Jimmie Johnson finishing worse than 36^th for the second week in a row and second place Chaser Clint Bowyer being spun out while in the lead, finishing 14^th.

“This racing stuff happens,” Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Dover White Chevrolet said after finishing 36^th. “Luckily, we had a big point’s lead that we can kind of deal with right now.”

“We’ve locked into the Chase and certainly want to clean things up,” Johnson continued. “We’ll keep after it and be back again next week.”

Having once had been in the lead by over 70 plus points, Johnson is now just 18 points ahead of the second place driver Clint Bowyer.

“I felt like we had a shot at winning and then I got spun out by a lapper, of all things,” Bowyer said after the race. “It hit that left-front tire, and the car never turned the center (of the corners) as good the rest of the night.”

“I’m really just disappointed … because we had a really good car,” Bowyer continued. “Absolutely nothing went our way all night.”

Not Surprising: Although he has been a bit quiet over the last month or two, the resurgence of Matt Kenseth at Joe Gibbs Racing continued, with the driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota rolling right into Bristol’s Victory Lane for the fifth time this season.

This was Kenseth’s 29^th win in 496 Cup Series races and his third victory in 28 races at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“The last month and a half, two months has been a little bit more of a, I hate to say reality check,” Kenseth said. “We’ve struggled just a little bit more, haven’t quite had the speed so it was really, really encouraging this weekend to get to the track and be really fast.”

“It’s a huge win for us,” Kenseth continued. “The Bristol night race is one of the biggest races of the year.”

“I’m glad we were able to pull it off.”

Surprising: The driver of the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet seemed surprisingly befuddled at the end of the race in spite of finishing runner up under the Bristol lights.

“I didn’t get it done,” Kasey Kahne said dejectedly. “We ended up second and it was a good point’s day but I didn’t figure out how to win the race.”

“I don’t know, I just don’t know,” Kahne continued. “I think at the end of the day I just don’t wreck people.”

This was Kahne’s ninth top-10 finish in 20 races at Bristol and his 11^th top-10 finish of the season. He also moved up three positions in the Chase standings to the eighth spot.

Not Surprising: Joey Logano, riding the wave of momentum from last week’s race win at Michigan, not surprisingly proved, at least in his own mind, that he has the mettle to make it into the Chase.

The driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford finished fifth and moved up three spots in the points to the tenth position.

“We came from the back three times to get a top-five finish,” Logano said. “They can’t put us down and can’t keep us down.”

“We deserve to make this Chase and if we keep doing this on days that they’re trying to put us down, we deserve it.”

Surprising: Although admittedly hoping that the leaders would wreck each other so he could score the win, Juan Pablo Montoya surprisingly credited his third place finish to, of all things, a speeding penalty.

“I got caught speeding there with like 170 to go or something and that kind of hurt us,” the driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet said. “But I’ll tell you the truth, I think it helped us because if it would have played right, we probably would have run out of gas.”

“It made it more interesting,” Montoya continued. “I really cooked the front tires there at the end but it was fun.”

This was JPM’s fourth top-10 finish in 14 races at the Bristol Motor Speedway.

Not Surprising: Well, it was Bristol after all so, to no one’s surprise, there were a few tempers flaring, especially after a late race wreck took out many of the best cars, including some Chase contenders.

Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick, who do have a history with one another, had a rather vigorous discussion on pit road after the wreck when Harvick pulled into Hamlin’s pit stall and Hamlin gave him a shove out of the box.

As a result, Harvick jumped out of his car and beat a path to the door of Hamlin’s car to have a few words about the incident.

“I just saw the No. 11 shoot across the track,” Harvick said. “He said the No. 56 got into him and so I just wanted to know what happened.”

“He just told me his version of it,” the driver of the No. 29 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet said. “It’s all good.”

“It’s Bristol racing.”

Harvick finish 34^th but maintained his fourth spot in the point’s standings while Hamlin finish 28^th, well out of Chase contention in 25^th in the point’s standings.

Surprising: In spite of some greetings from Smoke’s recovery bed, the Stewart-Haas Racing team had a surprisingly tough day. Mark Martin, subbing for the ailing Stewart, finished 20^th with Ryan Newman right behind him in 21^st and Danica Patrick in 26^th.

“We had some tough luck and a few things that we could’ve done better, but we were pretty fast at the end,” Martin said. “That’s why I go home feeling good about it because we were able to improve the car and get it competitive.”

“This one is behind us and hopefully we’ll move ahead from here.”

“I really don’t know what happened there,” Newman, behind the wheel of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet, said. “A couple of guys around us made contact and that triggered a big mess.”

“Our Quicken Loans Chevrolet was damaged pretty significantly; it was a handful to drive those last 50 laps with,” Newman continued. “I basically tried to just stay out of everyone’s way and bring the car to the finish.”

“There is nothing you can do about getting into the wall and having damage,” Patrick said. “We came back as best as we could and made the car as good as it was at the end.”

“We will take it and move on.”

Not Surprising: In spite of finishing top-10, Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Axalta Coating Systems Chevrolet, could only talk about opportunities lost at Bristol, especially after gaining just one position in the standings to the 13^th spot.

“I think we were better than that,” Gordon said of his seventh place finish. “I don’t know if we had enough for Matt but we fought hard and gave it our best effort.”

“Gained points on 10^th but not as much as we could have,” Gordon continued. “But we gained something.”

Surprising: While the Truex brothers were excited to be racing against one another yet again, both Ryan Truex, making his Cup debut, and Martin Truex, Jr. had surprisingly difficult days.

Young Ryan Truex spun and hit the wall, retiring his No. 51 Seawatch Chevrolet after 39 laps to finish 42^nd in his first ever Cup effort.

Brother Martin had a very hard crash late in the race, causing him to finish 35^th in his No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota. Although maintaining his wild card status thanks to his win, Truex Jr. also suffered in the point standings, losing two positions to 14^th.

“We ran up towards the front all night,” Truex Jr. said. “Just disappointed.”

“They start wrecking and you’re an innocent victim,” Truex Jr. continued. “We didn’t deserve that tonight.”

Not Surprising: Another brother duo, this one with the surname Busch, had eventful days at Bristol as well, with Kyle Busch having to start from the rear of the field to finish 11^th and Kurt Busch suffering wheel hub issues resulting in a 31^st place run.

“Yeah, I guess we had a right-rear hub fail where the studs pulled through or they weren’t tightened,” the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing/Sealy Chevrolet said. “We just rode around.”

Kurt Busch lost three positions in the point’s standings, falling to the 12^th spot. Kyle Busch remains in the fifth spot in the standings, 82 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson.

Surprising: There was a surprising first-of-the season engine failure at Roush Fenway Racing and it happened to none other than the race lap leader Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford.

“I didn’t have any warning,” Edwards said. “The car was almost perfect and the engine ran awesome until it broke.”

“The engine ran great until it blew up, so if we run like that the rest of the year, it’s going to be awesome.”

Not Surprising: Marcos Ambrose finished top-10 for two weeks in a row and he said that the devil made him do it.

“That’s two top-10s in two weeks and we’ve got to take that,” the driver of No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion said. “Yeah, I guess a little bit of the Tasmanian Devil comes out in me at this track.”

“This is a really aggressive track and you’ve got to be aggressive all night,” Ambrose continued. “You’ve got to gnaw on that steering wheel and I just like getting up on the wheel like that.”

“These are good nights to test your mettle and see what kind of man or lady you are out there and get after it.”

The Cup Series will head next to Atlanta for the next to the last race before the Chase begins.

August 26, 2013
Surprising and Not Surprising: Pure Michigan 400

Sporting some of the fastest speeds at any track this season, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 44^th running of the Pure Michigan 400 in the Irish hills.

Surprising: While the driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford did his job in qualifying, scoring the pole position for the race start, it was all about team Penske when the 23 year old Joey Logano took the checkered flag and found his way to Victory Lane at Michigan International Speedway.

“This was a hard-fought win throughout this whole Penske team,” Logano said. “This 22 team gave me a great Shell Pennzoil Ford that was capable of winning.”

“This race team did a fabulous job,” Todd Gordon, crew chief, said. “Really proud of this whole team.”

“As I go back probably 30 years here at the track, this is probably one of the biggest wins,” Roger Penske, team owner, said. “It’s clearly a team effort.”

This was Logano’s first victory of the 2013 season, his first victory at Michigan International Speedway and his first victory with team Penske Ford.

Not Surprising: Because the race was at Michigan, it was not surprising that fuel mileage, tires and track position played critical roles in how the race unfolded.

In fact, fuel mileage bit one of the sports veterans, who was racing all out for the ‘W’.

“We were just hoping for one more yellow,” Mark Martin, driver of the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota said, after running out of gas while leading to finish 27^th.

“Just stayed ahead of Joey there, but if he would have slowed down, I could have maybe saved enough,” Martin said. “I had to go that fast just trying to stay in the lead.”

Tires also played a significant role in the Pure Michigan 400, to which Dale Earnhardt, Jr. could definitely attest.

“It’s just the tire; we’ve had a lot of problems with,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Youth Foundation Chevrolet said after experiencing a right-front tire problem on lap 135. “I think this is the same tire we struggled with the last race.”

Because of his tire troubles, Junior finished the race in the 36^th position and fell one position to seventh in the point standings.

Track position was also key as is so often the case at Michigan, a point driven home for young substitute driver Austin Dillon, behind the wheel of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet for the recuperating Tony Stewart.

Dillon wrecked early in the race and had to work diligently with crew chief Steve Addington to garner the track position that led to their respectable 14^th place finish.

“Definitely scared myself at the beginning as it was too early to be wrecking out there,” Dillon said. “Luckily we had saved enough car where we could work on it and get some track position.”

“Steve made some great calls on track position and them guys did a great job.”

Surprising: In addition to Austin Dillon’s comeback, Clint Bowyer made a surprisingly good comeback to finish 5^th in his No. 15 5-hour Energy Toyota after a first lap spin. Bowyer was the highest finishing Toyota and the only Toyota in the top ten at the finish of the Pure Michigan 400. And while Bowyer struggled, he took great pride in his ability to bounce back from the adversity.

“Man, what a long day,” Bowyer said. “Beats the hell out of me how I recovered to finish fifth.”

“Spinning out on the first lap I’m like – I couldn’t figure it out,” Bowyer continued. “Hard fought battle.”

“Those days are what wins championships.”

Bowyer took over second in the point standing and is 41 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson.

Not Surprising: But for a tricky restart, the driver known as the ‘Closer’ almost closed the deal in the Irish hills of Michigan. Kevin Harvick, piloting the No. 29 Rheem Chevrolet, finished second, his 10^th top-10 finish at MIS and his 12^th top-10 finish in 2013.

“I just mistimed the last restart there,” Harvick said. “I had to check up and that allowed the No. 22 to kind of make it three-wide and get under me and then we had to fight back from there.”

“But all in all it was a good day.”

Surprising: The points leader and five-time champ had a surprisingly challenging day at Michigan, having to drive through the field in his back up car due to a practice lap wreck. Although he looked strong and even led two laps, Jimmie Johnson experienced engine failure and ended up his day finishing 40^th in his No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet.

“The engine broke there,” Johnson said. “When we came in for a green flag pit stop, something started then it definitely dropped a cylinder.”

“This track is hard on engines,” Johnson continued. “Days like today am thankful for the big points lead and the bonus points in the Chase.”

“We’ll dust ourselves off and go on to next week.”

Not Surprising: Kurt Busch, who after the race reportedly received an offer to driver for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014, proved the caliber of his driving abilities and the value of his team with a third place finish. This was Busch’s ninth top-10 finish in 26 races at MIS and the good finish moved him up two spots to ninth in the point standings.

“To be in position and run well, to post a top-three finish, just got to thank the guys,” the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet said after the race. “Furniture Row is acting like a big-time player right now.”

“We had a little bit of weaknesses here and there but overall, we keep positing good results and it’s very satisfying.”

Surprising: Paul Menard, driver of the No. 27 NIBCO/Menards Chevrolet, surprisingly scored his first top five of the season.

“We really needed a good run,” Menard said. “We have been crashing a lot.”

“We had a good car all weekend.”

Not Surprising: Jeff Burton, who has been running better and better as the season progresses, finished top-10 in his No. 31 Cheerios Chevrolet. And even with that, Burton ended up both happy and disappointed.

“It’s good to be disappointed with eighth,” Burton said. “That is a good thing.”

“That’s a step in the right direction, no drama, got what we deserved and we will go on.”

Surprising: Marcos Ambrose had a surprising bump up into the top-10 finishing order after a tough run at Watkins Glen, finishing sixth in his No. 9 Dewalt Ford.

“We ran in the top-10 for a lot of the day and it was a better day for us,” Ambrose said. “I am proud of Drew (Blickensderfer, crew chief) for calling a great race.”

“He got us up there with track position and we were able to hold on.”

Not Surprising: There was no surprise in seeing Greg Biffle, who is usually strong at Michigan, finish in the ninth position in his No. 16 3M Ford. And according to the Biff, he would have done even better had it not been for some problems in the pits.

“We bumped the No. 2 coming out of the pits in that scramble at the end and hurt the left front fender,” Biffle said. “That was really tough for us.”

The next race will be tough for all of the drivers as they head to the beating and banging at Bristol Motor Speedway under the Saturday night lights.

August 20, 2013
The 2013 Future of Stewart Haas Racing According to Greg Zipadelli

Me, the dirt reporter just participated in a NASCAR teleconference for the first time in almost a year, with Greg Zipadelli from Stewart Haas Racing and Mark Martin, in regards to Tony Stewart’s SEASON ending injury. I sat here and thought and thought about how to put that so that it did not get misconstrued, in the back of my mind there was a voice that said people are going to turn everything around to suit themselves do the best you can. So I want to tell you all that Greg Zipadelli was very specific in his statement that Tony Stewart would be back for the Daytona 500 if not a little bit before. Probably for Mid January testing at Daytona. He was also very specific when he said, “Mark was Tony’s first choice as a driver replacement.”

Mark Martin. said, “The amount of cooperation that was required to make this happen in such a short period of time was amazing and a testament to the amount of respect that the industry has for Tony Stewart.”

Now the synopsis. Zippy was asked three times about the Kurt Busch rumors. He said point blank “at this time we are not talking to any other drivers. Our focus is on getting Mark in the 14 and to Bristol and getting the 39 another win and into the Chase.” Now let me sum that up for you folks….If you are not talking to other drivers it is a little hard to be signing one for a fourth team. He said, “Obviously if the right opportunity were to present we would certainly look at our resources accordingly. ” So for those who are all up in arms about the supposed Kurt Busch deal. From Zippy’s mouth to the worlds ears.

Zippy also said the decision was made to keep Stewart out the rest of the season to allow him to heal and go through the rehab process that is necessary to insure his health and his future. He did not at any time say that Stewart was happy about it only that it was for his own good basically.

There are a lot of pieces that have to come together yet for Steve Addington and the team. There are seats to be fit. Explanations on the differences in procedure from one team to another. There are discussions about set ups and driver wants and needs. There is the telling test to the medal of the team on Friday when Mark Martin crawls on board the Bass Pro Shops #14 Chevy for the first time. The tasks ahead for Addington and Zipadelli and the entire SHR team are monumental. But all believe one thing it is a win-win situation. Believing is two thirds of the battle.

Tony Stewart is a racer. To the bone and the rod has been in his body long enough that it too is also now a racer. This can not possibly be easy for him. Dale Earnhardt once said the most difficult thing he ever did was crawl out of his car and watch another man climb in. Stewart is living that now. Pain can be more than physical and sometimes the most excruciating pain is emotional and intellectual. There are no pills for that. The only resolution to that pain is time and a return to normal. Tony Stewart will recover and he will return to his team and his seat. He will race again with the same gutsy determination and skill that he has always had. ‪#‎SmokeWillRise‬. Until then Stewart choose a driver whose skills he respects and whose experience can do nothing but make his team better and stronger for his return.

Whatever, the 2014 rumors maybe, they are just that rumors. Rumors that can not be confirmed do not warrant our concern or room in our press kits.

August 19, 2013

Brad KESELOWSKI

Juan Pablo MONTOYA

Jamie MCMURRAY

Brian VICKERS

Paul MENARD

After a wild weekend of turning left and right at the fast road course at Watkins Glen, the three national NASCAR series head their separate ways this weekend with the Sprint Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series heading to Michigan to take on the 2 mile Michigan International Speedway and the Nationwide Series heading to their second road course race in a row for their inaugural race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway

With only four races left until the cutoff for the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins at Chicago, the battle between those fighting for a spot in the 12 driver playoff keeps ratcheting up with only 31 points separating the drivers between 10th and 17th in the standings. From this point on every race, every position, and every point matters that much more. Drivers at Michigan will have a balancing act between playing it safe for points or gambling for a win and putting themselves in position for a Wild Card Chase berth.

Driver	Races	Win	Top 5	Top 10	Pole	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
Carl Edwards	18	2	9	14	1	291	19.9	8.2
Matt Kenseth	28	2	12	18	0	284	17.9	9.4
Greg Biffle	21	4	10	13	1	565	13.5	11.3
Jeff Gordon	41	2	18	25	5	954	11.5	12.4
Danica Patrick	1	0	0	0	0	0	37.0	13.0
Mark Martin	55	5	18	31	1	965	11.9	14.2
Kevin Harvick	25	1	4	9	0	149	18.2	14.3
Denny Hamlin	15	2	5	7	0	149	14.3	14.7
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	28	2	6	10	2	327	14.9	15.6
Kyle Busch	17	1	4	6	0	169	14.6	15.6

Who To Watch: Coming off of an eighth place finish in the first race at Michigan in June, Carl Edwards boasts the best statistics in the Sprint Cup Series at the track with two wins, nine top fives, 14 top tens, one pole, 291 laps led, and an average finish of 8.2 in 18 races.

Matt Kenseth comes up next with two wins, 12 top fives, 18 top tens, 284 laps led, and an average finish of 9.4 in 28 starts. Kenseth finished in sixth in June in his first race at Michigan for new car owner Joe Gibbs.

Others who run well at the track include: Greg Biffle, who won in June and has a total of four wins at the track, along with 10 top fives, 13 top tens, one pole, 565 laps led, and an average finish of 11.3 in 21 starts; Jeff Gordon, with two wins, 18 top fives, 25 top tens, five poles, 954 laps led, and an average finish of 12.4 in 41 starts; and Danica Patrick, who finished in 13th in her first start at the track in June.

The remainder of the top ten statistically (Mark Martin, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and Kyle Busch) also run well at Michigan and have a total of 11 wins between them.

NASCAR Nationwide Series – Inaugural Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio

Since there have been no Nationwide Series races at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, there are obviously no statistics to pull from to see who will run well at the track. So, the best bet for Saturday’s race will be to go with drivers who run well on road courses. Drivers such as Ron Fellows in the JR Motorsports No. 5, Marcos Ambrose in the No. 9 for Richard Petty Motorsports, A.J. Allmendinger in the No. 22 for Penske Racing, and Max Papis in the No. 33 for Richard Childress Racing should find themselves up front along with Nationwide regulars Sam Hornish Jr. and Justin Allgaier.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – Michigan National Guard 200 at Michigan

After a few weeks off since last racing at Pocono, the Camping World Truck Series makes their return at Michigan with points leader Matt Crafton holding onto a commanding 52 point lead over rookie Jeb Burton in the standings. The race also marks the return of the Truck Series for consecutive weekends and the debut of Fox Sports 1 for the broadcast of the Truck Series race on Saturday.

Driver	Races	Win	Top 5	Top 10	Pole	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
Ty Dillon	1	0	0	1	0	3	5.0	6.0
Miguel Paludo	2	0	1	2	0	3	6.0	6.5
Kyle Busch	6	0	4	5	1	149	5.8	6.8
Brendan Gaughan	7	1	3	4	0	48	18.4	8.9
Joey Coulter	2	0	0	1	1	7	10.5	12.5
Ron Hornaday, Jr.	9	0	1	6	0	15	10.3	12.7
Dakoda Armstrong	2	0	1	1	0	0	20.5	13.5
Johnny Sauter	4	0	0	0	0	1	8.0	13.5
James Buescher	4	0	2	2	0	5	7.8	14.5
Timothy Peters	6	0	1	3	0	0	16.7	14.8

Who To Watch: Championship contender Ty Dillon leads all active drivers at Michigan with three laps led and a sixth place finish in his lone start at the track last season.

A driver who has been running strong as of late is Miguel Paludo and he falls in second statistically at Michigan. Paludo has two starts at the track and in the two starts has one top five, two top tens, 3 laps led and an average finish of 6.5.

Others who could find their way to Victory Lane include: Kyle Busch, who has six starts at the track, and in those six starts has four top fives, five top tens, one pole, 149 laps led and an average finish of 6.8; Brendan Gaughan, who has one win, three top fives, four top tens, 48 laps led and an average finish of 8.9 in seven starts; and Joey Coulter, who has one top ten, one pole, seven laps led and an average finish of 12.5 in two starts.

Last, but certainly not least would be the promising crop of rookies in the series this year (Jeb Burton, Ryan Blaney, Darrell Wallace, Jr.), who are giving the veterans a run for their money. It certainly would not be a surprise to see one of those drivers win either.

August 15, 2013