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The Least Successful Sprint Cup Driver of 2014 is…

For some, 2014 was a damn good year. Kevin Harvick won five and the title. Brad Keselowski led the way with six victories, with Joey Logano also a five-time victor. The Hendrick power trio of Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jeff Gordon, and Jimmie Johnson all had four apiece, as all six listed here with 20 or more Top Tens while winning 28 of the 36 events. Unfortunately, this is not about those who did well.

There were those who put on the fire suits, got to be among the big boys, but when it came time to go they might have been best suited to go down the road instead of the track. Instead of being competitors, they were lucky to be participants, saddled in entries that had no hope of being anywhere near the front. However, this is all about misery, no bright spots allowed. To be eligible as our least successful driver one would have had to have attempted to qualify in at least 15 races and average a finish of 30th or worst.

That means no Danica Patrick to be found here. Even failing to qualify twice and finishing outside the Top 40 four times could not get Landon Cassill included, thanks to a fourth place finish at Talladega in the fall. In fact, even a single Top Ten excludes one from inclusion, and so we take Travis Kvapil and Michael McDowell out of the mix.

Ryan Truex was a contender to be the top pretender. It went sour fast in B.K. Racing’s No. 83 Toyota when he failed to qualify at Daytona. In fact, in attempting to make 26 of the first 27 races of the season, they missed three, finished 20th at the second Pocono race, with 30th in a Martinsville race the next best. After seven times outside the Top 40, they parted company after Chicago. Still, not bad enough for us.

The car was not parked, as J.J. Yeley was blessed to take it over. He already had some adventures driving the No. 44 Chevy of Johnathan Cohen. They withdrew four times, failed to qualify for four more, and were in the bottom 10 the other six. Three with Frank Stoddard left him outside the Top 30 every time, and in nine outings driving the illustrious No. 83 Yeley did manage to finish 29th once. Still, bad but not bad enough.

Joe Nemechek attempted the first dozen Cup races of 2014. Driving mostly for Jay Robinson in the No. 66 Toyota, but also for himself, he missed four of them, was 40th or worse in three, with a 31st in Kansas the best of the bunch. Later in the year, he came up empty at both Daytona and Talladega, with a 30th at Watkins Glen by far his best outcome in his final nine attempts. Still, not futile enough.

I am not sure what motivates a professional driver to take a ride that most likely will not be successful, despite his best efforts. A love for the sport, a willingness to help an outfit get started, an opportunity to pick up a few bucks with minimal effort, or all of the above. Randy Humphrey, a former partner of Phil Parsons and then Mark Smith, formed his own operation a year ago, hiring veteran crew chief Peter Sospenzo on the box and Dave Blaney behind the wheel.

They went to the track in hopes of getting their No. 77 Ford into Daytona, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Bristol to open the season. Each time the car was back in the trailer when the green flag waved. In fact, they withdrew before qualifying at Daytona, did the same at Fontana and Martinsville, though they made the race at Texas, finishing 41st, before winding up dead last at Darlington.

That proved to be better than the results at Richmond, Talladega, Kansas, and Charlotte, when they were left heading down the road a day or two early. Thirty-third at Dover was the high water mark for the car, as they followed up that effort coming in dead last at Pocono. I am not sure what they paid to sponsor the entry at Daytona but Plinker Arms, a firearm production company, might have better advertised their product by using it to put this entry out of its misery. Such are the trails and tribulations of starting up a new team.

After all that excitement, Blaney moved over to Tommy Baldwin’s No. 37 Chevy, where he was 26th at the second run at Pocono, 33rd at Michigan, then concluded his Cup campaign last at Bristol. When the season was over, he had four withdrawals prior to qualifying and seven failed qualifying attempts, to go with three finishes of dead last in seven attempts. Combined with results of 26th, 33rd (twice), and 41st in the other four, Dave Blaney is our least successful Cup driver of 2014.

While the 52-year-old Blaney has no plans to run Cup in 2015, he will be keeping busy racing dirt this season and working with his 21-year-old son Ryan. The kid will race some Cup this year with the Wood Brothers and hopes to add to his two victory total in the Xfinity Series with Team Penske. Maybe the least successful Cup driver of 2014, but arguably its most successful father. I think Dave Blaney might be more than content with that distinction.

January 9, 2015
NASCAR BTS: Children’s Dream Racer More Than Labor of Love

This week’s NASCAR Behind the Scenes spotlights the work of Mark ‘Smitty’ Smith, a 71 year old former fabricator whose labor of love is building kid-sized race cars for use in various children’s hospitals throughout the country.

These race cars, which are mini-version of NASCAR stock cars complete with corporate logos and race car seats as well as oxygen bottle holders and IV poles, are called Dream Racers and they do indeed make dreams of so many children in need come true.

So how did Smitty come up with this novel and innovative idea? Well actually the notion took hold after a failed attempt at building a kid sized race car for the McDonald’s food chain.

“I worked for race teams early on and had my own fab shop for twenty plus years,” Smitty said. “I got an occasion to redo some McDonald’s stores and part of what they wanted was a little car with a car hop tray so kids could have their Happy Meal in it.”

“We did that and when we finally got it to them, they decided it was too big and took up too much floor space,” Smith continued. “So, we brought the car back home and it collected dust for a few years.”

“One day, we were slow in the fab shop and I told the boys to re-body it and make it more like a real NASCAR body,” Smitty said. “My girlfriend suggested the oxygen bottle holder and IV pole.”

“I was still thinking restaurants but one thing led to another and we started trying to market them to children’s hospitals,” Smitty continued. “David Reutimann bought one and we were off and running.”

The first Dream Racer went to All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida. And initially Smitty did not quite get the reaction for which he had hoped with that first delivery.

“To be honest, the first reaction was that they stopped me at the door,” Smitty said. “The biochemical engineer told me it had to go through a biomedical exam before it could come into the hospital.”

“So, I thought that was going to be the end of this,” Smith continued. “He said that it had to score a 92 out of a 100 and they took it in and had it for half hour or so.”

“He came out with a smile and said it scored 152,” Smitty said. “So, they were glad to have it.”

Smitty has learned quite a bit along the way, modifying the Dream Racer based on the feedback he has received from doctors and even parents.

“The first Dream Racer had full sides and so the kids had to climb in and out of it,” Smitty said. ”My doctor came by the shop and said that I needed to leave the side off so sick and handicapped kids could get in and out.”

“So, that’s what we started to do,” Smitty continued. “And we also had a cloth material, upholstered seat and he said we needed to get rid of that too.”

“So, we put a vinyl or leather seat in so it’s washable.”

Each Dream Racer, hand built one at a time, costs $9,500. The child-sized race car includes a safety harness, spoiler, splitter and a Play Station and television monitor that will play everything from the NASCAR racing game to Sponge Bob Square Pants.

Smitty admits that although people purchase a Dream Racer for many different reasons, the effects they have on the lives of children is unsurpassed.

“People buy them for different reasons,” Smith said. “The Leonard Bus Company in New York bought one for Arnold Palmer’s Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg because 21 years ago their son was born premature and it was pretty touch and go.”

“They saved that baby’s life and the commemorated his 21st birthday at the hospital with a Dream Racer.”

“I’ll tell you a story,” Smitty said. ”A little girl came into the hospital kicking and screaming because she had to have a kidney biopsy.”

“She played in the Dream Racer and not only went through the biopsy but told her mother she would be glad to come back if she could play in that Dream Racer.”

“And an ESPN camera man when we presented four cars donated by Rick Hendrick and the Dream Catchers Society was wrapping up his cords and he told me that a lady and a little boy came to the hospital,” Smitty said. “The lady told him that her child wouldn’t speak to him because he had autism and was an expressionless child, showing no emotions.”

“He got into the Dream Racer and pretty soon he was smiling and whispering to his mother,” Smitty continued. “And that’s the first time she ever saw his teeth unless she was brushing them.”

Although there are 756 children’s hospitals throughout the country, Smith has built 35 cars to date, with one international placement of a Dream Racer to the Children’s Hospital in Toronto, Canada.

“My goal is to get a Dream Racer in every children’s hospital,” Smith said passionately. “But it’s more than that because each hospital needs more than one Dream Racer.”

“So, every day is a new deal and a new challenge,” Smitty continued. “And we just keep building them.”

“This is a blessing that the Lord has made.”

For more information about the Children’s Dream Racer program visit their website at www.childrensdreamracer.com.

August 30, 2013
Tony Stewart Fared Better at Local Short Tracks than in Martinsville Cup Race

There is no doubt that Tony Stewart, three-time NASCAR champion, is a fierce competitor. This past weekend, however, Stewart was more successful on the local short track circuit, including Williams Grove and Selinsgrove Speedway, than he was in the Cup race at Martinsville.

On Friday night, Smoke showed up to race at Williams Grove Speedway in Pennsylvania. Taking his spot in a sprint car, he was quick in hot laps and started eighth in the heat race.

Stewart picked his way through the field to finish second behind Brent Marks in the heat event. His finish gave him the opportunity to draw for his start position in the feature.

Smoke went on to run in the top five for most of the 25-lap main event and was as high as third at the halfway mark. He was then passed by Don Kreitz, Jr. to finish fourth.

With his appetite whetted for the Pennsylvania short tracks, Stewart jumped back to the sprint car track from Martinsville to compete on Saturday at Selinsgrove Speedway in the Empire Super Sprint/Mach 1 Chassis 358-360 sprint car challenge race.

“My pilots get a lot of third-shift flights,” Stewart said of his travel between race tracks. “But it makes it all worthwhile when I can come to a cool place like this.”

“It’s obviously one of the most famous tracks in Pennsylvania.”

This was Stewart’s first completed race at Selinsgrove, where racers like Jan Opperman cut their teeth and honed their racing prowess. The last Selinsgrove race in which Smoke competed was called due to rain.

And just like the other racing legends back in the day, Smoke strutted his stuff, setting a new track record in qualifying, with a fast lap of 17.168 seconds.

Unfortunately, Stewart’s luck did not hold out when it came to drawing for his starting position. He drew eighth in the feature event.

“I was nervous when we drew an eight for the feature,” Stewart said prior to the race. “Knowing that Pat Cannon and Mark Smith are up there, those are the guys you’re going to have to watch out for and have to beat.”

Smoke had no reason to be nervous, however, as once the green flag dropped, he drove to the front of the field, winning his first sprint race of the year. The victory was especially sweet since Stewart’s race got rained out last year.

“It’s an honor to run here,” Smoke said in Victory Lane. “I’m glad we got back here tonight.”

“The track got so wide and racy,” Stewart continued. “It’s fun when you can go to a track and have a lot of room to race from top to bottom.”

Although Stewart shared that he would take the momentum of the Selinsgrove win with him to Martinsville, that was not meant to be. Smoke started deep in the field in the Cup race in 26^th and finished not much higher in 17^th.

Although Stewart’s No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevrolet did improve by the mid-point of the race, he suffered from restarting in the outside lane on lap 473 and was stuck there for many of the final laps.

“We were treed in that outside lane,” Stewart said. “We worked hard on this Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevy all weekend.”

“It wasn’t perfect,” Smoke continued. “But we made steady progress with it.”

“To have it kind of fall away like that at the end is pretty disappointing.”

While Stewart may have enjoyed his Pennsylvania short track experiences better than his Cup run, he certainly must have enjoyed seeing his teammate and protégé Danica Patrick outshine him. Danica finished 12^th and scored her best Sprint Cup result since finishing eighth in the Daytona 500.

“It was a nice day for us,” Patrick said. “We’ve had quite a few bad ones since Daytona.”

“So, we’ll take this and get rolling into the summer because we don’t have a break until July.”

Unfortunately, Smoke’s other teammate Ryan Newman had an even more miserable day than his team owner. Newman had several flat right-front tires which resulted in a 31^st place finish, eight laps down.

“That wasn’t the finish we deserved today,” Newman said. “We had a right-front tire go down late in the going and that obviously put us behind.”

“NASCAR penalized us for intentionally bringing out the caution so they held us for three laps,” Newman continued. “We lost another right front not long after that and our day was pretty much done from there.”

Team owner, Sprint Cup and sprint car racer Tony Stewart can, however, claim one bright spot. He leads both Newman and Patrick in the point standings, currently 22nd, 96 points behind new point’s leader Jimmie Johnson.

Stewart is scheduled next to compete in the Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway. But one never knows at which sprint car track he will appear next.

April 9, 2013
Kyle Larson, Chad Hackenbracht and Matt Tifft Get Chance at NASCAR Dream

Photo Credit: Streeter Lecka, Getty Images

The future young guns of NASCAR, Kyle Larson, Chad Hackenbracht and Matt Tifft, all have one thing in common. The trio is getting their chance to achieve their NASCAR dreams.

Just a short time ago, about a year in fact, Kyle Larson stepped into a stock car to race for the first time. Now, the 20 year old up and comer has scored a full-time Nationwide Series ride through a partnership between Earnhardt Ganassi Racing and Turner Scott Motorsports.

Larson’s quick rise in the NASCAR ranks came after winning the K&N Pro Series East title. Then, in just four races in the Camping World Truck Series, the youngster finished top-ten three times and was runner up at the Phoenix race.

Larson will be paired with crew chief Trent Owens, who posted the following message on Facebook, “Very excited about the announcement that I’ll be the crew chief for Kyle Larson in Nationwide at Turner Scott Motorsports this year!! Also back to the number 32 that has a special place with me. Hoping this season will be a great one. So pumped!!”

Although quite not so effusive, Chip Ganassi, a champion owner in his own right, is looking forward to the continuing development of his newest young talent.

“We feel that he’s certainly capable of it,” Ganassi said. “I don’t think we’re rushing him along or anything like that.”

“Like I said, he’s shown great ability in anything he’s driven so far.”

Larson, on the other hand, knows that with the spotlight and the opportunity comes quite a bit of pressure.

“I know I have a lot of pressure on me,” Larson said. “I try not to pay attention to it at all.”

“Every week, I just try to go out and do the best I can,” Larson continued. “I try to finish in the top 10 in each race an log as many laps as I can.”

“Each lap is just going to help me develop as a driver,” Larson said. “I’m going to need that since I’m really young and hopefully will be in a sport a long time.”

“I will just try to develop as much as I can this year and do better in the future.”

Joining Kyle Larson in the Nationwide Series will be another young gun with a very interesting last name. TriStar Motorsports announced that Chad Hackenbracht will join the team for at least five Nationwide races.

Hackenbracht has raced most recently in the ARCA Series for his family’s team, scoring one trip to victory lane, two poles, five top-five finishes and 12 top-ten finishes. He completed the ARCA season top five in the championship point standings.

“I’m excited for the opportunity,” Hackenbracht said. “I have not run any NASCAR events and I’m excited to make my debut in the Nationwide Series with an established team.”

“My expectations are to finish every race I run this year, qualify in the top-20 and pull off top-15 finishes,” Hackenbracht continued. “The Nationwide Series is going to be very competitive this year but I’m ready for the challenge.”

Hackenbracht’s team owner is also excited with his new addition and with being a part of the youngster’s development in the sport.

“We are really looking forward to having Chad join our team,” Mark Smith said. “He has already shown that he has a lot of talent behind the wheel of a stock car.”

“We are excited to help him develop his skills and give him his first opportunity to race in NASCAR,” Smith continued. “He will have some veteran guidance, which should help him as he takes the next step in his racing career.”

The youngest up and comer of the bunch is Matt Tifft, who at just sixteen years of age will be moving up this season from the ARCA Midwest Tour to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. Tifft will be racing full-time in that Series, which has catapulted other drivers such as Martin Truex Jr. to the highest level of the sport.

Tifft will partner with Shane Tesch, a NASCAR veteran, to compete for the Rookie of the Year honors behind the wheel of the No. 89 Chevrolet Impala.

“In the last couple months we have been working on this deal,” Tifft said. “The K&N Series is the next thing we wanted to do so when it came together with Win-Tron, it was a really good fit.”

Tifft started racing young as his father owned a dirt late model and raced in Michigan. In 2007, when he was eleven years old, Tifft jumped into a go kart and fell in love with racing in his own right.

“I always watched NASCAR, but I was hooked at that point,” Tifft said.

Since then, Tifft has run in several karting series, as well as late model racing, before racing on the ARCA Midwest Tour. The teen scored Rookie of the Year honors in that series in his first ever points series season and finished fifth in points.

“It’s the right time to move up to the K&N Series,” Tifft said. “It’s better to get more experience in the bigger, heavier cars in a NASCAR series.”

And just who might some of Tifft’s heroes be in the racing world? One of them is a driver that is joining him in the move up in his NASCAR career.

“I’ve watched drivers like Kyle Larson and watching him go through and get the experience in the K&N Series is what helped attract me,” Tifft said.

“It’s a really cool deal to build up that experience.”

Tifft, like Larson and Hackenbracht, is all about learning, growing and just fine-tuning skills behind the wheel. He summed it up best for himself and his fellow racing compatriots who will be racing at the next level this season.

“I know I have a lot of learning to do,” Tifft said simply. “But I’m up to the challenge.”

February 7, 2013