The gifts are open, the tree is on borrowed time, and a New Year is almost upon us. Seems like a good time to reflect on the year that was, as we embark on the one that will be.
Once again, 2015 brought us a satisfying champion. He might not have been the one you were cheering for, Junior fans, but you cannot quibble about the great story that was Kyle Busch. Hurt in the opening junior series race, he missed the opening 11 of the Cup schedule. In the old days, he would have been an also-ran, but that was before a win and a Top 30 position in the standings forgave such things.
With just 15 races to accomplish what needed to be done, Busch won some. No surprise there. The fact he got into position to make those wins count was in doubt, at least, we thought so. We of little faith. It would appear that those who really have what it takes to challenge for the title need not bother to appear until May, which helps explain why NASCAR insists drivers run all the races rather than pick and choose.
Not only did Busch win the title, as he and Kurt join the Labonte brothers as champion siblings, but he also came up with a rule change that makes sense. If you lead the pack entering the Chase, you should get a free pass into the second round. Other sports give a bye or, at least, home field advantage to those with the best record entering the playoffs, why not NASCAR? Some might argue the front trio should have such an advantage, but I would settle for one. Like Kyle’s championship, that driver would have earned it.
Four-time king Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart have earned their eventual invitations to enter NASCAR’s Hall of Fame. Gordon left his famed No. 24 only after his 93rd career victory at Martinsville and finishing third in the battle for the championship. Stewart has one more round left in him, as he embarks on his farewell tour at Daytona. The three-time champion lost the magic suddenly in 2013 after a pair of sprint cup race mishaps, one that broke his leg, the other that took the life of another driver in 2014. May 2016 bring him some deserved satisfaction.
It was also a tough season, at least at the start, for Kurt Busch. A domestic violence accusation got him a three-race suspension to start the year. Matt Kenseth ended on a sour note, as he was gone for two after delivering some on-track justice that left Joey Logano’s title hopes about as shot as Kenseth’s own. Michael Waltrip Racing went the way of the dodo, as the outfit never recovered from Clint Bowyer’s 2013 spin that almost got Martin Truex Jr. a Chase place. Instead, after the controversy they lost the NAPA sponsorship and the Truex entry, and during this season, Waltrip’s financial backer backed out.
That means Bowyer moves to the seat of Harry Scott’s No. 51 for a season before taking over Stewart’s No. 14 in 2017. Brian Scott replaces Sam Hornish Jr. in the Petty No. 9 while Chase Elliott replaces Gordon in Hendrick’s No, 24. Jeffrey Earnhardt will drive most of the season in the GoFAS Racing No. 32, with the Front Row No. 34 taken over by Chris Buescher. Ryan Blaney returns with the Wood Brothers No. 21, which returns to running a full schedule in 2016.
2015 was when we had to say goodbye to broadcaster Steve Byrnes. We lost Buddy Baker over the past year. Red Farmer mourns his wife Joan, and Bobby Allison lost his wife Judy. My own mother, Mae, passed away this past August.
As for 2016, it will bring us a new rules package, supposedly making the cars slower, less comfortable to drive, and closer in some regards to the XFINITY model. It is hoped this will make the racing more exciting, which we have heard before, but could also see more Cup guys in the XFINITY series to tune up. If so, that would, in the parlance of my youth, blow chunks.
I am sure you would agree that would be something to avoid come New Year’s Eve as we have just seven weeks to go before they go again in Daytona.
Jeff Gordon is a past series champion and scored the victory a couple of weeks ago at Martinsville. Kevin Harvick has led the series in each of the categories. Kyle Busch has proven that he is fast everywhere and can win in anything, as evidenced by how he was able to qualify for the Chase despite missing the first 11 races of the season. Then there’s Martin Truex Jr., a driver that has been solidly consistent through the season and the Chase.
With the statistics laid out on the table, it’s easy to see why Truex has largely been overlooked throughout the Chase for the Sprint Cup thus far, and enters this weekend as the underdog. It’s even more understandable when you consider that Truex drives for a single-car team based out of Denver, Colorado while each of his competitors drive for teams with four cars each, located in NASCAR’s hub in North Carolina. The one thing that helps Truex’s situation is the alliance that Furniture Row Racing has with Richard Childress Racing’s three-car organization.
“We get our engines from them, our chassis from them. We share basically everything,” Truex commented of their partnership. “We’re almost like a teammate to the RCR guys. But at the same time we do everything out in Denver, one car. It’s quite a bit different than what we’re up against.”
The underdog is a position that Truex is fully embracing and understands, as he understands why his fellow competitors, as well as the media and fans, have given him that label. It’s also something that team General Manager Joe Garone is fully embracing right now.
“It’s really everything,” he commented. “It means the world. It’s the biggest thing you could ask for. It brings a legitimacy to the team because we’ve been a team that’s been growing for so long on a pretty linear upward curve. To come to this point in time, it answers a lot of questions.”
Though with that said, he isn’t about to be overlooked this weekend as he feels that his team with Cole Pearn calling the shots has as good a chance to win the championship as any of his rivals.
“We want this more than anything right now,” he stated. “It’s all or nothing. I mean, this is the only thing that matters. You know, I don’t know if, based on past history, just the things that I’ve been through, you never know when you’re going to get an opportunity like this again. All we can do is make the most of it, put our best effort out there. The guys have worked hard. They feel confident about what we’re going to have this weekend. It’s a huge deal and you never know, like I said. May never get this opportunity again.
“I mean, that’s how big of a deal it is for me. But at the same time, what can you do different? You got to go out there and you got to stay focused and do your thing, do what we’ve been doing all year long. Hopefully, we can step that performance up and be able to win the race. But I’m just really excited to be a part of this, to be given this opportunity, have a great team behind me. Hopefully, we can make it happen. There’s no guarantees. It’s going to be difficult. It’s going to be tough. But I’m telling you, we want it as bad as anyone out there. It’s ours to go get.”
The success that they’ve had isn’t something that has surprised Truex, though, as he says he knew before the season even started, during the pre-season testing, that they had something strong for 2015.
“Honestly, once Cole brought in his new engineers and we all got together and started working on racecars, I knew what we were capable of this year. It felt that good. We had that chemistry, that belief. They were asking me questions that I’d never been asked before. I’m like, Wow, this is awesome, you know,” he explained. “We’ve just continued to build on that relationship and get better and better and better. So I’m not surprised at all.”
Truex feels his season to this point – 22 top-10s highlighted by a win at Pocono Raceway – showcases that his team can get the job done this weekend.
“We can get the job done on any given day, and this Sunday is no different than that,” he commented. “So we’re going to just do our best and go race hard and hopefully put our best on the racetrack and feel like we’re in a position to do something special. You never know when you’re going to get this opportunity again, so we’re really just 100 percent focused on what we’re doing. We’re not really worried about what people think, what people are saying. We’re just going out there to do our jobs to the best of our ability, and that’s what we’ve done all year. Hopefully, that will pay dividends in the end.”
While there may be tons of talk right now, it doesn’t matter once the green flag drops on Sunday, as once the helmet goes on, whatever everybody has been saying doesn’t matter as he immediately focuses on what he has to do, and what it will take to get the job done. He knows it won’t be easy, but he’s excited about the opportunity and feels that his team has a good shot at it. The statistics back up his claim, too, as he has three top-fives and seven top-10s in 10 previous starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“I’m looking forward to this weekend. It’s going to be a lot of fun,” he continued. “There’s really no pressure. It feels good to be here. This whole season has been just a ton of fun for me, and to see the progress of my race team, hopefully, we can finish off the final chapter here.”
It has been a wild ride these last 35 races, but all good things must come to an end.
This week, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series makes its final trek of the season down to South Florida to run the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It’s the 36th and final race of the 2015 season.
Homestead-Miami Speedway is a 1.5 mile (2.4 km) intermediate speedway located in Homestead, Florida. Born out of the destruction of Hurricane Andrew, it’s played host to the NASCAR XFINITY Series season finale since 1995. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series first came to Homestead in 1999. The inaugural race was won by Anthony Wayne “Tony” Stewart. It was his third win of his record-setting rookie season.
In 2002, the season finale race was moved from Atlanta Motor Speedway to Homestead-Miami Speedway for both the Camping World Truck Series and Sprint Cup Series.
Some of you might not be old enough to remember, but there was a time when Homestead wasn’t putting on great races. When it was first built, it basically was Indianapolis and the racing mirrored it. In 1997, the track was reconfigured into the oval it looks like today. However, the turns were almost flat.
In 2003, the track was repaved and the banking was changed from flat to progressive. What I remember most from that race was Bill Elliott leading the race coming out of Turn 2 on the final lap when he had a tire go down. Bobby Labonte drove by him on the backstretch and took the checkered flag. Little did I know that it would also be his final win.
Photo: Sherryl Creekmore/NASCAR
In 2004, Kurt Busch clinched the NASCAR title by a mere eight points over Jimmie Johnson in a race that, ironically, a tire coming off his car saved his championship hopes.
Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR
In 2010, Denny Hamlin came into Homestead with a 15 point lead over Johnson. Just about everything that could go wrong for him that weekend did go wrong for him that weekend. He had a lousy qualifying effort, was sent sliding through the grass on the backstretch and couldn’t recover to anything better than a 14th-place finish. A runner-up finish by Johnson clinched his fifth consecutive Sprint Cup Series championship.
In 2011, we were given the closest points finish in NASCAR history when Tony Stewart tied in points with Carl Edwards. The tiebreaker went to Stewart on his five wins to Edwards’s one.
Had he finished second that day, it would have been Edwards celebrating with the title trophy. It’s also worth noting that Stewart had to work his way up through the field more than once that day.
It really goes to show just how important is winning in NASCAR.
Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images
The championship battle was just as dramatic in 2012. Johnson had the race in his hands until he was black-flagged for a missing lug nut. It went from bad to worse when he destroyed the suspension of his car coming back onto pit road.
Brad Keselowski survived to score the first title for himself and the captain Roger Penske.
Jeff Gordon took over the race lead with 15 laps remaining and held off Clint Bowyer to score his 87th career victory and first at Homestead.
Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Last year, Gordon started on the pole and flat out dominated the race by leading 161 of the 267 laps. Near the end of the race, he and Alan Gustafson – since they were out of the title picture – opted to play it conservative and he came home in 10th.
Joey Logano possibly had the race won until a bad pit stop relegated him to a 16th-place finish.
Denny Hamlin was toward the front most of the race. Unfortunately, he had nothing and finished seventh.
Ryan Newman came within half a second of the win and the title last year, but had to settle for bridesmaid.
In the end, it was Kevin Harvick who played his cards right, stood atop the podium and won the title for the first time in his career.
Now let’s look at the championship four.
Photo: Chris Trotman/Getty Images
First at 3/2 to win the title and 7/2 to win the race (Vegas Insider) is Kevin Michael Harvick.
In 14 starts, he’s amassed one win, six top fives (42.86 percent), 12 top-10’s (85.71 percent), 190 laps led, an average finish of 7.6, one DNF and is the defending race winner.
Coming into this race, Harvick has three wins, 22 top fives (62.86 percent), 27 top-10s (77.14 percent), 2248 laps led, 8.9 average finish, 8.7 average finish in the intermediate races and has tied a NASCAR record with 12 runner-up finishes in one season (Bobby Allison had 12 in 1972). However, his 12.2 average finish in the nine Chase races this season is the worst of the four championship drivers.
With that said, I would be shocked if the driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet isn’t up front on Sunday.
Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Next at 11/4 to win the title and 6/1 to win the race is Kyle Thomas Busch.
His stats at Homestead are less than stellar. In 10 starts, he’s accumulated zero wins, one top-five (10 percent), three top-10s (30 percent), 237 laps led, a 23.1 average finish and two DNF’s.
This season, he missed the first 11 races after breaking his legs in the XFINITY Series race at Daytona in February. After making his return in the Coca-Cola 600, he’s compiled four wins, 11 top fives (45.83 percent – the percentage is his top-fives divided by to the number of races Busch has started), 15 top-10s (62.5 percent), 694 laps led, an 11.2 average finish and an 8.3 average finish in the intermediate races.
Now Busch winning the title Sunday would probably not sit well with a large portion of NASCAR nation given he missed the first 11 races because of his injury. Personally, I don’t have a problem with it because he satisfied NASCAR’s requirements to make it in the Chase.
I would expect to see the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to be up near the front Sunday.
Photo: Chris Trotman/Getty Images
Now coming down the red carpet at 3/1 to win the title and 10/1 to win the race is Martin Lee Truex Jr.
In 10 career starts, he garnered zero wins, three top-fives (30 percent), 7 top-10s (70 percent), 108 laps led, an average finish of 10th and one DNF.
This season, Truex has one win, eight top fives (22.86 percent), 22 top-10s (62.86 percent), 564 laps led, an average finish of 12.2 and an 8.7 average finish in the intermediate races.
If Truex wins the title, he and Furniture Row Racing would be the first single-car team to do so since Dale Earnhardt and Richard Childress Racing in 1994.
What really makes his title story compelling is that Furniture Row Racing is this single-car team well outside the NASCAR universe in Denver, Colorado. Barney Visser’s operation has scratched and clawed for the last 10 years in order to finally become one of the top teams in the Sprint Cup Series.
I guarantee you that no one, not even Visser, foresaw the success they’d have this season. Coming off the 2013 season that saw Kurt Busch take the team to the Chase, they had a dramatic falloff in performance. It was compounded by issues in Truex’s personal life when his longtime business partner/girlfriend Sherry Pollex was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
But in a four-race stretch in May and June, Truex dominated the field by leading a combined 454 of the combined 1267 laps at Kansas, Charlotte, Dover and Pocono. It was at the Tricky Triangle where he ended a two-year winless drought and scored his third career win.
Since that win, his performance was either hit or miss. His longest stretch of top-10 finishes was three. In spite of this, expect to see the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet to battle for the win.
Photo: Robert Laberge/NASCAR via Getty Images
Finally, we have the legend making his 797th and final career start on Sunday. At 7/2 to win the title and 10/1 to win the race, it will be arguably the greatest walk-off performance in sports history should the race be won by Jeffrey Michael Gordon.
In 16 starts at Homestead, he’s garnered one win, seven top fives (43.75 percent), 12 top-10s (75 percent), 244 laps led, a 10.6 average finish, one DNF and he dominated this race a year ago on his way to a 10th-place finish.
Despite what some of you think, it’s really not been a horrid season for Gordon. In 35 races, he has a win, five top fives (14.29 percent), 20 top-10s (57.14 percent), 256 laps led, an average finish of 13.9 and a 13.3 average finish in the intermediate races.
Why his title story would be awesome needs no explaining. But I’ll explain anyway.
When Gordon came into the sport in 1992, NASCAR, despite racing in other parts of the United States for its entire history, was still largely seen as a Southern sport. This kid from California with the mullet transcended the boundaries of the NASCAR world and brought this sport to the national level from his appearances on shows like Live with Regis & Kelly and hosting Saturday Night Live.
It wasn’t just his charisma and ability to work the media that made him a legend, it’s also his on-track accomplishments. In 796 starts, he has won 93 times, earned 81 poles, finished in the top-five 325 times (a batting average of .408), has 474 top-10 finishes (54.55 percent), has led nearly 25-thousand laps (24,920), has a 12.5 career average finish, captured four titles and nearly 300-thousand miles driven in the sport.
Photo: Tucker White
Gordon is the reason I came into the sport many years ago. I only wish that I could have seen him win a race in person. The closest I came to accomplishing the former was this picture I took of the start of the 57th running of the Daytona 500.
Regardless of the outcome of Sunday’s race, Gordon will no doubt go down as arguably the greatest driver in the history of NASCAR and one of the greatest in the history of auto racing. I truly believe his name is up there with the likes of Michael Schumacher, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, Ayrton Senna, Mario Andretti, A. J. Foyt, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and many, many more.
Short of team orders, I’d drive to Las Vegas and bet that Hendrick Motorsports is pulling all their resources to make sure Big Daddy rides into the Florida sunset with his long, overdue fifth championship.
So will Happy repeat as champion? Will Rowdy finally break through and win his first title? Will Truex break out of journeyman status and win the title for Denver? Will the legend himself go out on top with the greatest walk-off performance ever seen?
Find out this Sunday at 1:30 p.m. on NBC. You can also catch the radio broadcast at 2:00 on the Motor Racing Network. Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace will be in the booth. Dave Moody will work Turns 1 and 2. Mike Bagley will work Turns 3 and 4. Alex Hayden, Winston Kelley and Steve Post will work pit road.
Homestead. That is where dreams are made or, more likely, where they die. That is if they have not already been snuffed for another year before even reaching the season finale. One thing about that track in Miami is that some of the best just do not seem to do their best there.
For example, try as you may, you will not find some familiar names listed among the Hot 20 at Homestead. If your average finish is 20th or worse, you will fail to make the cut. Among them are Joey Logano, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Paul Menard. That trio of eliminated Chasers has, between them, raced at Homestead thirty times. None has won there and combined they boast just a couple of Top Fives and four Top Tens. Even if they had remained in contention, one would have to be hard pressed to consider any of them a favorite to win this Sunday.
Yet, as bad as they are, there is one notable driver who is worse. Kyle Busch has failed to even make the Top Twenty in half of his 10 starts. He has won none at Homestead, with an average finish of 23rd place. His best result was fourth in 2012. Last year, he was 39th. If Kyle emerges with the championship after this weekend, he would have delivered the race of his life.
As for the other three contenders, all have a shot, with defending champion Kevin Harvick leading the way. Last year, he did just that to take the race and the crown. Jeff Gordon won there in 2012 while Martin Truex, Jr. has seven Top Tens in 10 attempts to be right in the mix. All have an average finish of no worse than 11th.
One may well come away with the race win on Sunday though I believe we can expect some heat from others among Homestead’s Hot 20…
1. Kevin Harvick – 14 races – 1 Win – 12 Top Tens – 7.6 Average Finish
A repeat as winner guarantees a repeat as Cup champion.
2. Carl Edwards – 11 races – 2 Wins – 7 Top Tens – 9.1 AveFin.
His track record at Homestead makes him a fav to win a title some day. It just won’t be Sunday.
3. Martin Truex Jr. – 10 races – 7 Top Tens – 10.0 AveFin.
It is time for a Rocky Mountain high to visit Florida.
4. Jeff Gordon – 16 races – 1 Win – 12 Top Tens – 10.6 AveFin
This would be a good time to become known as Five-Time.
5. Denny Hamlin – 10 races – 2 Wins – 6 Top Tens – 10.8 AveFin
If what Hamlin is selling is his “starter” home, what in hell does he live in now?
6. Clint Bowyer – 9 races – 6 Top Tens – 10.9 AveFin
Still a chance he could leave Michael Waltrip Racing with a final win before the sun sets.
7. Tony Stewart – 15 races – 3 Wins – 7 Top Tens – 14.0 AveFin
Oh, how the mighty have fallen…and so quickly.
8. Kyle Larson – 2 races – 14.0 AveFin
15th one year, 14th last year. You could say he is improving here each time out. Well, you can.
9. Jimmie Johnson – 14 races – 9 Top Tens – 14.4 AveFin
A six-time champion under the previous formats, but not so sure about a seventh under this one.
10. Kasey Kahne – 11 races – 4 Top Tens – 14.9 AveFin
Number 5 will be as mellow yellow as the number 24 on Sunday.
11. Brad Keselowski – 7 races – 2 Top Tens – 15.0 AveFin
Over the past two events at Homestead, his average finish has been 4.5.
12. Justin Allgaier – 1 race – 15.0 AveFin
A Top Fifteen finish would match…well…what he did last year.
13. Matt Kenseth – 15 races – 1 Win – 7 Top Tens – 15.8 AveFin
He is back. Will he and Joey meet at high noon, or will peace and harmony reign supreme?
14. Ryan Newman – 13 races – 5 Top Tens – 15.8 AveFin
Can drive a dozer from 150 miles away. Let him try that in a race car.
15. Aric Almirola – 5 races – 2 Top Tens – 16.2 AveFin
I am thinking that Richard Petty likes him best. At least he gets to return next season.
16. Jamie McMurray – 13 races – 4 Top Tens – 16.6 AveFin
Once had problems with Kenseth, but now are best buds. Is there hope for Matt and Joey? Right.
17. Greg Biffle – 13 races – 3 wins – 5 Top Tens – 17.2 AveFin
Best damn Roush driver this season, but when your teammates are Stenhouse and Bayne…
18. Danica Patrick – 2 races – 19.0 AveFin
It is sad when one thinks of this as one of her better tracks.
19. Kurt Busch – 14 races – 1 Win – 5 Top Tens – 19.2 AveFin
Hasn’t won in Miami since 2002, but it was the crashes in 2006 and 2008 that left him dead last.
20. A.J. Allmendinger – 6 races – 2 Top Tens – 19.5 AveFin
Great start to his career but 36th and 40th in his last two have marred his average just a tad.
25. Kyle Busch – 10 races – 3 Top Tens – 23.1 AveFin
His efforts to date get him included on this list. His past efforts at Homestead do not.
1. Jeff Gordon: Gordon finished sixth at Phoenix in the rain-shortened Quicken Loans Race For Heroes 500.
“Having already clinched my spot,” Gordon said, “I didn’t have to sweat the finish. I’m not the only driver who can say this, but ‘I handled my business at Martinsville.’”
2. Kyle Busch: Busch finished fourth at Phoenix and claimed his spot in the Chase finale at Homestead. Busch will vie with Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. for the Sprint Cup title.
“I signed an extension to keep M&M’s and Mars products on my car for the next several seasons,” Busch said. “You’ll see their names on the front of my car, the top of my car, and yes, the back of my car, so I’ll continue to be called a ‘candy ass’ by fellow drivers and fans alike.”
3. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished second at Phoenix to lock up his spot in the finale at Homestead.
“Thanks to the rain,” Harvick said, “my reign continues.
“I will do anything to win my second Sprint Cup championship. And I mean that in the most literal sense. Whatever it takes, I will do it. That includes wrecking myself and wrecking others. I’m such a talented driver, I can do those things separately.”
4. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex punched his ticket to Homestead with a 14th-place finish at Phoenix.
“I made it,” Truex said, “and I didn’t even have to win or wreck Trevor Bayne intentionally to do so.”
5. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished eighth at Phoenix, posting his 19th top 10 of the year.
“Matt Kenseth met with Brian France after returning from a two-race suspension,” Hamlin said. “I’m sure what France told Matt was ‘quintessential B.F.,’ which is essentially the same as ‘quintessential B.S.’”
6. Dale Earnhardt Jr: Earnhardt won the rain-shortened Quicken Loans Race For Heroes 500.
“The skies opened,” Earnhardt said, “and for some drivers, the door closed. That’s the nature of Mother Nature when it comes to stock car racing.”
7. Joey Logano: Logano finished third in the rain-shortened Quicken Loans Race For Heroes 500 at Phoenix. Needing a win to advance, Logano will have to wait until next year to seek his first Sprint Cup championship.
“This was supposed to be my year,” Logano said, “but things got turned around when I ‘turned around’ Matt Kenseth.”
8. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished ninth at Phoenix and finished eighth in the point standings.
“We didn’t put a single Penske Racing driver in the finale at Homestead,” Keselowski said. “But we might put a single Joe Gibbs Racing driver into the wall at Homestead.”
9. Kurt Busch: Busch finished seventh despite suffering a drive-through penalty for jumping the start of the Quicken Loans Race For Heroes 500.
“You can’t beat the pole sitter to the starting line,” Busch said. “Much like I did when I accused Patricia Driscoll of being an assassin, I ‘jumped the gun.’”
10. Carl Edwards: Edwards came home 12th at Phoenix and finished fifth in the points standings, just missing out on eligibility for the championship at Homestead.
“Who’s wrecked more Chase hopes?” Edwards said. “The rain, or Matt Kenseth?”
From a rain delayed and a rain-shortened race in the Valley of the Sun, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 28th annual Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.
Surprising: Two rookie crew chiefs had to make the tough calls that saw one of their drivers win the race and the other make the Chase.
“We kind of knew that once past halfway we’d see a couple more cautions,” Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s rookie crew chief Greg Ives said after scoring the victory. “So that rain started to pop up again and we’re on two long green-flag runs there, and we just saw it coming. We didn’t know if it was going to happen before we pitted or after, but we knew at some point it was going to happen, and we elected to kind of pit, be one of the first few to pit.”
“I think somebody got us one lap early, and our pit selection at pit stall 33 there allowed us to, when the caution came out, finish our pit stop and cross the start-finish line and allowed us to be scored the leader.”
Cole Pearn, Martin Truex Jr.’s rookie crew chief, called his driver to pit road when an unfortunate caution came out shortly thereafter. Truex was able to finish 14th, which was just good enough to secure his spot in the Championship four.
“I was real concerned until I looked at the scoreboard, and I was like, okay, we’re going to be fine. We’re going to be back on the lead lap if we get going here, and really the only guy we were racing was one car ahead of us, so we felt okay about it,” Truex said. “It’s definitely obviously an exciting day for everybody at Furniture Row Racing and me and just super proud of my team for the season we’ve been able to put together.”
Not Surprising: It was lucky 13 for Chevrolet as they secured their 13th consecutive Manufacturer’s Championship thanks to Dale Junior’s win.
“Winning the Manufacturers’ Championship is one of the goals we set at the beginning of every season,” Jim Campbell, U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports said. “This award is the result of great teamwork by the owners, drivers, crew chiefs, crews and technical partners. Special thanks to the Chevrolet powertrain team, along with the engine shops at Hendrick Motorsports and Earnhardt-Childress Racing for delivering the right combination of power, fuel economy, and reliability throughout the entire season.”
“Congratulations to everyone who has made this special achievement possible for Chevrolet.”
Surprising: The Sunoco Rookie of the Year race is surprisingly close with just one race remaining. Brett Moffitt currently has 196 points while Matt DiBenedetto sits at 192 points in the rookie battle.
DiBenedetto was the highest finishing rookie at Phoenix, finishing 28th while Moffitt finished 36th.
Not Surprising: Joey Logano was not the only driver who was hoping to see a restart before the rains came to end the race.
“I think it would have been pretty interesting to see what Joey did on that restart, I will say that,” four-time champion and 2015 championship contender Jeff Gordon said. “But I didn’t want to get caught up in whatever was going to happen.”
“I was going to do whatever I had to do try to win the race if I had a chance to restart,” Logano said after being bumped out of the battle for the Sprint Cup. “I guess it just wasn’t in the cards.”
Surprising: Even after finishing runner-up at a track where he has so often dominated, Kevin Harvick was still trying to figure out whether he was on the right side or the wrong side.
“We made great adjustments overnight and got that little bit of balance that we were looking for from practice. “Just the way that the caution fell, I didn’t get all my distance back on the racetrack under green and Dale (Earnhardt Jr.) was able to beat us out,” Harvick said. “But hey, you lose some and you win some like that.”
“Sometimes you’re on the right side of it, and sometimes you’re on the wrong side of it. Today we were on the wrong side of it, but in the big picture we’re on the right side because we’re racing for a championship next week.”
“So, I’m just really proud of everybody on our team.”
Not Surprising: Roush Fenway Racing had another bad day at the track in Phoenix. Greg Biffle was the highest RFR driver, finishing 25th. Both Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. struggled as well, with Bayne suffering a pit road speeding penalty to finish 34th and Stenhouse involved in an incident with Joey Gase, limping home to a 41st place run.
“That was disappointing,” Stenhouse said after the race. “We had a decent run here earlier in the spring and I think we could have had a decent finish. We will put this behind us and head to Homestead for the final race of the year. We’ve struggled this year, but my guys have never given up.”
Surprising: The Busch brothers were prime examples of making little mistakes, however, the end result was far from similar.
Kurt Busch made a little mistake, jumping the initial start, for which he was penalized and had to serve a pass-through penalty. Busch recovered to finish seventh, but it was not enough to advance him to the final four.
“I don’t even think it was a penalty,” Kurt Busch said after the race. “It’s not even a call in my mind.”
“We had a great season. We won two races, sat on three poles,” Busch continued. “We did everything possible to put polish on a season like that and get out there with elbow grease and work hard at it. There is some tarnish that is sitting there, polish and polish and that is all I kept doing this whole year.”
Brother Kyle Busch also made a little mistake, but his ended up being not so costly. Busch pitted too close to the wall and lost several positions, however, bounced back to finish fourth and advance to the final four.
“I had a little mishap on pit road, just overshot my marks a little bit, being a little bit slick and got my guys too close to the wall, but past that we had a really good race car,” Kyle Busch said. “The M&Ms Camry was fast. I felt like we had a good top-three, top-four race car and long runs seemed to be our friends and we got some of those tonight, so couldn’t be more pleased to finish where we did and be more pleased to go to Homestead.
Not Surprising: With his Chase hopes dashed, Brad Keselowski now has his hopes set on a high five.
“It was a long day for everybody and to have it end like that wasn’t surprising. We kept adjusting on it, but it’s a short race and who knows? Maybe that last run we would have had something, but that’s not the way it played out,” the driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford said. “The highest we can get is fifth in points now, so I’d like to pull that off and take advantage of that opportunity when we get to Homestead next week.”
The NASCAR season will now finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway with four surprisingly distinct storylines. Two of the contenders have already been champions, one Kevin Harvick looking to go back to back and one Jeff Gordon looking to close out his career with his fifth championship.
The other two drivers in the Sprint Cup hunt could write the surprising storylines of being first-time champs, with Kyle Busch hoping to play the role of comeback kid and Martin Truex Jr. as the little engine that could.
The 17th Annual Ford EcoBoost 400 will run on Sunday, November 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, in Homestead, Florida. And in less than a week, the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion will be crowned.
Once Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead at Phoenix, no one was going to catch him. Not a single driver even challenged him. Yet, there was still one vehicle that even the race winner could not pass. The pace car.
While Junior was in the pits for a green flag stop, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Joey Gase collided on the track. Earnhardt rolled out first among those who had pitted, and when the rest of the field came in for servicing, Junior eventually circulated around to the front. More than twenty laps went by under caution, and before they could return to racing, the rains that had plagued the day returned. They went to a red flag, and soon the event was in the books, shortened by 90 laps. It marked Earnhardt’s third win of the season, albeit one segment too late to keep him in contention for the title.
That title will go to one of four drivers. Kevin Harvick dominated the event, leading 143 laps, but lost it that final pit stop to finish second, yet he advances. Jeff Gordon, who was sixth on the day, already had a free pass after his Martinsville win. Kyle Busch was fourth, sending him through to Homestead a contender. Martin Truex Jr. was back in 14th but had enough in the bank to cash in for a title run.
Joey Logano needed to win, and he was behind Harvick much of the way. However, third place would not cut it on Sunday. Kurt Busch jumped the start, got penalized, and though he was seventh in the end, it proved to be too little. Ninth was not good enough to advance Brad Keselowski while Carl Edwards was close, but he needed to finish seven spots up on Truex and wound up just a couple ahead.
So, we know who the main characters in next weekend’s play shall be. In the end, we will be blessed with either a five-time champion as he ends his career, a two-time defending champion, a very talented driver ending a very trying campaign with his first, or a single-car team concluding a Cinderella season. I will be satisfied no matter the outcome.
Meanwhile, Matt Kenseth returns after his two race exile. I wonder if Logano will again think it a smart move to bump him out of the way? I guess that all depends on how smart that driver is.
The 2015 season concludes on Sunday at the track near Miami.
1. Jeff Gordon: Gordon finished ninth in the AAA Texas 500, earning his 19th top-10 result of the year.
“I was given two ponies by Texas Motor Speedway as a retirement gift,” Gordon said. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do with them. As a soon to be retiree, I reckon I will just put them out to pasture.”
2. Joey Logano: Logano blew a left-rear tire on lap 4, and the resulting damage sent the No.22 to the garage for major repairs. He finished 40th, 60 laps down, and will need a win at Phoenix to be among the final four eligible to win the Cup at Homestead.
“Matt Kenseth was not on the track,” Logano said. “I never thought this statement would ever be uttered, but ‘You take away Matt Kenseth, you take away all the excitement.’”
3. Kevin Harvick: Harvick recovered from two blown tires to finish third in the AAA Texas 500. He is third in the Sprint Cup points standings.
“I also had to keep my hand on the shifter,” Harvick said. “That was to keep the car from popping out of gear. That goes to show that when Kevin Harvick faces adversity, he overcomes it. That was the case at Dover—I was backed into a corner, so I backed into a wall.”
4. Kyle Busch: Busch finished fourth at Texas and holds the second spot in the points standings.
“Sammy Hagar gave a pre-race concert in the Texas Motor Speedway infield,” Busch said. “I believe he was staring straight at me when he sang ‘I Can’t Drive 55.’”
5. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski started on the pole and dominated, leading 312 of 334 laps, but lost the victory when Jimmie Johnson passed him for the lead late. Keselowski is sixth in the points standings.
“I’ll likely need a win to advance,” Keselowski said. “My Penske teammate Joey Logano faces the same situation. We could finish 1-2. If that happens, one of us could be taking it home, while the other would be going home.”
6. Carl Edwards: Edwards finished fifth in the AAA Texas 500, posting his seventh top 5 of the year.
“NASCAR suspended Matt Kenseth for two races,” Edwards said. “Matt seemed to be enjoying himself, sitting at home, watching the race, and sending sarcastic tweets. I don’t think NASCAR can suspend him for wrecking Twitter.”
7. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex lost his power steering while battling for the lead late in the race, and managed to hold on for an eighth-place finish.
“I’m fourth in the points standings,” Truex said. “If I hold that position, I’ll likely have a spot in the finale at Homestead. That would mean a lot for our team because the Furniture Row Racing team certainly deserves a seat at the table.”
8. Kurt Busch: Busch finished seventh in the AAA Texas 500, and is seventh in the points standings.
“I’m on the brink of elimination,” Busch said. “That’s what Joey Logano said when he saw Matt Kenseth behind him at Martinsville. It’s also what a soon-to-be-assassinated mark says when my ex-girlfriend Patricia Driscoll puts the crosshairs on the target.”
9. Dale Earnhardt Jr: Earnhardt finished sixth at Texas, posting his 21st top 10 of the year.
“I’ve got top-10 finishes in the last three races,” Earnhardt said. “And that reminds me, you should try Diet Mountain Dew’s new flavor, ‘2 Little, 2 Late.’ It’s bittersweet.”
10. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson passed Brad Keselowski on lap 331 and won his third straight race at Texas.
“I may not be eligible for the Cup,” Johnson said, “but a win is a win is a win.”
From deep in the heart of the Lone Star State, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 11th annual AAA Texas 500.
Surprising: There apparently is a new super power in NASCAR called ‘Mega Turn’. At least that was the power bestowed on race winner Jimmie Johnson by runner-up Brad Keselowski.
“The 48 car had mega turn that last run and I couldn’t keep the turn and it kept pushing real bad,” the driver of the No. 2 Wurth Ford Fusion said. “I did everything I could to hold him off, but he was way faster that last run.”
“Their team did a hell of a job and found speed and my team did a hell of a job too. We led 300-some laps and these debris yellows always favor someone and it wasn’t our day for them to favor us.”
“It was a hell of a race.”
This was Keselowski’s sixth top-10 finish at Texas and his 23rd top-10 finish of the season.
Not Surprising: Given the fact that rain washed out both Cup practices, the saying ‘When it rains, it pours’ was definitely applicable at Texas, especially for Chase driver Joey Logano. Not only did his tire blow early in the race but one of his crew members had hot oil pour out of the car onto his face, causing him to take a quick trip to the infield care center.
While the crew member was treated and released, Logano finished 40th and is now solidly in the basement of the Chase race, 69 points behind leader Jeff Gordon.
“Sometimes you just have to roll with the punches,” the driver of the No. 22 AAA Insurance Ford said. “This team is strong. We didn’t take any wind out of our sails today and we showed how fast this thing was even after we crashed. I am very proud of our team.”
“It is unfortunate that we finished how we did.”
Surprising: After a weekend that was not so classy, this week’s race was filled with at least a few moments of class, from Jimmie Johnson racing Brad Keselowski fair and square without incident for the race win to Martin Truex Jr. acknowledging some hard racing with Keselowski with a handshake after the race.
“I just like to race guys clean anyway, the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet said of Keselowski. “I kept working on him and working on him. He got real loose off (Turn) 2 and I had a big run off the top and I went for a big slide job down in (Turns) 3 and 4 and got the win.”
And of the other classy act of the race, here is what eighth place finisher Martin Truex Jr. had to say of his close racing with Brad Keselowski.
“We just rubbed a little bit there in the tri-oval,” the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet said. “No big deal at all. We were both racing hard. Good hard racing-rubbing a little. Rubbing is racing.”
“It was fun.”
Not Surprising: Although he is one of the younger drivers on the track, Erik Jones was spent and ready for some respite after running the third race of the weekend in substitution for Matt Kenseth in the No. 20 DeWalt Toyota.
“I’m ready to take a day off, I don’t think I’ve ever run more than two races – the Truck and XFINITY race – in more than one weekend,” Jones said. “At this point, I’m feeling fine, but I can definitely feel it coming on. I’ll be worn out tonight.”
“It was a fun weekend and I’ll do it again for sure next weekend. I’m looking forward to it, but it’s definitely busy and definitely hard on you. I’ll take a nice day off tomorrow.”
Surprising: One would think that having two tires go down, as well as another shifter problem, would definitely have resulted in a near the bottom of the pack finish. Not so for one Kevin Harvick, who rallied back from all that to finish third in his No. 4 Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet.
“I’ve never had to drive with one arm that long,” Harvick said. “I had to pay a lot more attention. The hardest part was my arm started to go to sleep and I had to let off on it to get the blood flowing again.”
This was Harvick’s 14th top-10 finish in 26 races at Texas Motor Speedway.
Not Surprising: Even veteran drivers, including one in his last season, can continue to be a student of the sport. Of course, that continuing education is greatly enhanced when that driver is also already guaranteed a spot in the final four of the Championship Chase.
“I thought we learned a lot this weekend,” Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet said. “I think we certainly know that our cars are fast because our teammate won. At the same time, I think that we were here to execute and push hard, try to win, but also to just learn what we could. I thought we learned some stuff.”
“Something good to build on and work on.”
Surprising: While teammate Jeff Gordon was going to hug his teammate after the win, the two top finishing Toyotas were also actually cheering on competitor Jimmie Johnson for the race win.
“For our situation, we wanted to see a guy that was not in the Chase win or a guy that we were racing right around us like the 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) and win the race,” Kyle Busch said after finishing fourth. “This M&M’s Crispy Camry was really, really fast today – just not fast enough. We fought hard, we did what we needed to do, we finished in the top-five and we got ourselves in a pretty good spot hopefully.
“My guys never cheered so hard for Jimmie (Johnson), we needed that for the points going to Homestead,” Carl Edwards said after finishing fifth. “Our Sport Clips Camry – it was fast. It was really fast in the middle of the race. We were up to second and I thought we had something then it fell off at the end.”
“This was a fun race to drive.”
Not Surprising: Two drivers had some close encounters with the wall, with both manning up that it was due to driver error.
“We had a good car and we were driving forward early and I got into the wall off four trying to pass somebody and cut a right front tire down,” Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 21 SNAP-ON Tools Ford said. “Hit the wall pretty hard in one and two and ruined our day. It is all my fault. I hit the wall all by myself and ruined a very fast race car.”
“I was having too much fun out there and got loose, three-wide after a restart and tagged the wall real good and bent the car up pretty bad and knocked the rear deck lid off of it,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said after the race. “We got the chance to fix it and we just had a real fast car. I think we had the best car here. Just can’t hit the wall, but man we were just having fun, running hard. Got to do that every once in a while.”
Surprising: Brian Scott continues to strut his stuff in the Cup Series. He had another top-15 finish, his second in his limited run in the series, finishing 14th in his No. 33 Shore Lodge Chevrolet. This was the first time in his Cup career that he has scored back to back top-15’s.
Not Surprising: Demonstrating his dry wit and his own brand of humor yet again, Matt Kenseth won his own race, at least for one of the most re-tweeted Twitter postings after the race.
“Good work @JimmieJohnson! Textbook pass for the win at the end of the race when someone is trying to take your lane. #quintessential”
Bad boy and bad girl. It would seem NASCAR is an equal opportunity disciplinarian, as both Matt Kenseth and Danica Patrick got slapped for aggressive driving at Martinsville. In short, they purposely ran into people with bad intentions.
Gone for two, including the races in Texas and Phoenix, is Kenseth for taking out Joey Logano in mobster style last week. Nine laps down he plucked the front running Logano out of the mix and bulldozed him into the wall. As I write this, Kenseth is appealing his penalty, though I would be surprised if any change in his sentence is forthcoming.
There are those hand ringers who figure this was an awful thing. I do not agree. In fact, I think I just became a Kenseth fan for life. The way I see it, all he did was tune in a mouthy little twerp who danced all over his accomplishment of knocking the former champ out of the way back in Kansas, robbing Kenseth of his best shot at continuing in the Chase. You do not celebrate causing another’s misfortune unless you want karma to come back and bite you in the ass.
Now, you might suspect that I am no fan of Logano. That would be correct, but my feelings toward the man are based only on perception. If I knew him and ran into him on a weekly basis and could not stand him, that is one thing. The truth is, we have never met, and if I had the chance to sit down with Logano for a couple of hours over some adult pops, I might end up a fan of his for life, too. Instead, my feelings toward him, along with those of most of you, are based only on a perception, and that perception just leaves me ice cold.
As for Patrick, her temper was anything but cold. It warranted her picking up a behavioral penalty for using her car to rearrange parts of that driven by David Gilliland at Martinsville. That cost her $50,000 and 25 points.
Both penalties, by the way, are justified, though I do not condemn their actions. They felt they needed to do something, they did what they did, and now have to pay the piper. End of story.
This column takes a break next week but returns to set the table as the boys and girl venture into Homestead to wrap things up for the season. Just in time to see the return of a certain bad boy to the track. My hero, at least for the moment.
Our Hot 20 during the Chase, and only the Chase, to date include…
1. JOEY LOGANO – 3 Wins, 265 Points
Joey might be the best in the Chase, but Kenseth seemed more than able to chase him down.
2. JEFF GORDON – 1 Win, 260
Do you believe in fairy tales with happy endings?
3. CARL EDWARDS – 257
It has been seven years since he won his third at Texas.
4. DENNY HAMLIN – 1 Win, 248
Could have still been in the hunt himself except for Harvick’s actions at Talladega.
5. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 247
If NASCAR is going all “wild west,” shouldn’t that well suit a team from Denver?
6. RYAN NEWMAN – 231
Being outside the Chase, he shouldn’t feel the need to repeat last year’s move at Phoenix.
7. KYLE BUSCH – 224
Four Top Fives, including a win, in last five attempts at Texas, bodes well for Sunday.
8. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 221
How things change. Just a year ago the Feud of the Week involved Brad and Jeff.
9. KURT BUSCH – 217
Can pick either Kenseth or Keselowski to blame for his tribulations last week.
10. DALE EARNHARDT JR. – 215
Jeff cheered for winning, Matt cheered for creaming Logano, Junior cheered for being Junior.
11. KEVIN HARVICK – 1 Win, 214
After Matt’s little adventure, we did not hear much from Harvick. Trevor Bayne wonders why?
12. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 201
Not a contender but he has become relevant.
13. RICKY STENHOUSE, JR. – 196
Not among the Top Twenty heading into the Chase, but some groundwork is being laid for 2016.
14. KASEY KAHNE – 195
Four Top Tens during the Chase, but 19th at Talladega, 24th in Chicago, dead last at Charlotte.
15. MATT KENSETH – 1 Win, 185
I once thought Matt was as boring as white bread…but not anymore!
16. GREG BIFFLE – 185
The worst season of his career still the best Roush-Fenway has this year.
17. ARIC ALMIROLA – 184
Ranked 17th on the season, 17th during the Chase events. Not great, but he is consistent.
18. KYLE LARSON – 184
Newman’s berth to Homestead last year went through Larson…literally.
19. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 181
Are we there yet?
20. PAUL MENARD – 177
He always wanted to have the same success as Jimmie, but this is not quite what he envisioned.
