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NASCAR BTS: Jason Trinchere’s Journey From Racer to Penske Engineer

Many racers realize along the way that another career may be awaiting them other than being behind the wheel. This week’s edition of NASCAR BTS goes behind the scenes with Jason Trinchere to learn more about his journey from short-track racer to design engineer at Penske Racing.

Trinchere started his racing journey early, in fact from the time of his birth. And, as with so many racers, his father also was involved in the sport.

“Ever since the time I was born, there was a race car or a go kart in our garage,” Trinchere said. “My dad started racing when he was in high school.”

“When I was born, he stopped driving and became a car owner,” Trinchere continued. “So, he always had cars around the whole time I was growing up.”

Trinchere caught the racing bug from his father and set off in go karts. Initially it was just for fun but the competition soon drew him in, hook, line and sinker.

“When I was about ten or eleven years old, he sold his modified team and we started racing go karts,” Trinchere said. “It was mainly just for fun but then we started racing competitively.”

“We had fun, raced dirt and had three championships,” Trinchere continued. “Then we started racing in the dirt asphalt division in the early ‘90s.”

“So, I started driving those and that was the whole time I was in high school,” Trinchere said. “I didn’t even have my driver’s license when I started racing.”

Although he loved being behind the wheel of a race car, Trinchere also enjoyed the mechanical and engineering side of the sport.

“My dad was an auto mechanic so I learned that side of the business from him,” Trinchere said. “When I was in high school, I took machine shop in Vo Tech so I could make a lot of the components for our race cars.”

“I wasn’t’ too sure of what I wanted to do and I was thinking of coming to the NASCAR Tech School but was concerned it was more for people not involved in racing,” Trinchere continued. “My dad talked me into studying engineering since I was the kid sitting at home playing with erector sets all the time.”

After high school graduation, Trinchere had to make a critical decision about going to college and also what to do about his racing career. Ironically, he initially wanted to follow the path of his now team owner at Penske Racing.

“When I came out of school, I wanted to go to Lehigh to follow in the footsteps of Roger Penske but the reality of how much college costs set in,” Trinchere said. “So, I went to community college to do my electives and take their associates classes in engineering.”

“Then I transferred to Penn State Harrisburg campus,” Trinchere continued. “It was far enough to experience college life but close enough to home to go there and race.”

Trinchere also happened to find his soul mate in the racing business.

“When I went to college, I didn’t have the time to race in one place, so I started going to upstate New York and raced at Oswego and all different kinds of tracks,” Trinchere said. “At that time, when I was finishing college, my girlfriend (who is my wife now) was also involved in racing as her dad raced at Selinsgrove Speedway in Pennsylvania.”

“So, imagine that, I met my wife through racing as well.”

Trinchere and his wife decided that they needed to consider heading south to Charlotte and the heart of racing country to make both of their dreams come true.

“I got a phone call from Dave McCarty, who at that time was the crew chief at Spears Motorsports for David Starr,” Trinchere said. “So, I followed up on that opportunity and he liked the fact that I was a racer with a degree in engineering.”

“Being a Truck team, they didn’t want to hire a Cup engineer because a kid coming out of college was much cheaper,” Trinchere continued with a chuckle. “We moved down, bought a house (the same one we are living in now) and went racing.”

“I worked at Spears and the next year Aric Almirola came in as the driver,” Trinchere continued. “I learned a lot there with David Starr, Aric Almirola and Dennis Setzer.”

“It was a very small team with about twelve employees,” Trinchere said. “It was a neat opportunity to go to a little team and run against the big boys and do well.”

“That made me feel good.”

Trinchere left Spears to go to CJN Racing with Jason Keller as the driver. But shortly thereafter, he headed to DEI where he stayed even through the merger with Chip Ganassi Racing.

“I went to DEI to be the Nationwide engineer when they ran a car, which was only part-time,” Trinchere said. “We had Trevor Bayne and Jesus Hernandez as the drivers.”

“I was also support engineer for the 01 Cup car when Regan Smith was driving it,” Trinchere continued. “Then I switched over to Martin Truex’s car.”

“It was a very busy year, going to a third of the Cup races and the rest of the East races.”

“At the end of the season, there were talks and then the merger with Chip Ganassi occurred,” Trinchere said. “Before Homestead they came around and told us what time the meeting was, all but me.”

“I didn’t know if that was good or bad,” Trinchere continued. “But I learned that people with meetings were let go and people who didn’t have a meeting were being kept.”

“That was a little bit of a hard time.”

Post-merger, Trinchere worked for both the 1 and 42 teams.

“It worked out pretty well working for Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya,” Trinchere said. “I did a program called ‘Dart Fish’ at the track where I would record qualifying runs.”

“I did that for a year and at the end of the season, the engineering manager asked if I could do anything else to help the team and I was moved over to the design engineering team,” Trinchere continued. “It was fun to have the direct impact of what happened at the track.”

Trinchere had a very eventful New Year, however, as he was offered and accepted a job at Penske Racing.

“Within three days of sending my resume in, I had an interview,” Trinchere said. “I’m doing the same stuff as a design engineer.”

“Their group is a little larger and uses different software but I am working with the 2 and 22, “Trinchere continued. “It’s been exciting but scary changing jobs, especially after five years.”

“So, this is the next chapter for me.”

May 27, 2013
Kurt Busch Wins the Pole for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 and Sets a Track Record at Darlington Raceway

Kurt Busch won the Coors Light Pole Award with a qualifying lap of 181.918 mph. His time set the track record previously held by Kasey Kahne in 2011 with a lap speed of 181.254. It is his 16^th pole in 446 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

This is Busch’s second pole in 17 years at Darlington Raceway. In September 2001 he won the pole and became the youngest pole winner at the legendary track. He was 23 years and 29 days old at the time.

Jimmie Johnson qualified second giving him his seventh top-10 start in 2013. In 15 races at Darlington Raceway, Johnson has scored eight top-10 starts. That number includes his 2012 win which gave Hendrick Motorsports its 200^th NASCAR Sprint Cup victory.

Kyle Busch will begin the race from the third position. This is Busch’s fourth top-10 start at Darlington Raceway and his eighth top-10 start this season.

Kasey Kahne and Martin Truex Jr. will start the race in positions four and five, respectively. Denny Hamlin qualified in sixth place and will compete in his first full race since March.

Please visit nascar.com for the complete starting line-up. http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/standings/results/2013/bojangles-southern-500.html

NASCAR pre-race action starts at 6 p.m. on Fox for the 64^th annual Bojangles’ Southern 500 on Saturday, May 11^th. The green flag is scheduled to drop at approximately 7 p.m. The drivers will once again race under the lights for 501.3 miles (367 laps) to determine who will tame the ‘Lady in Black.’

May 10, 2013
Surprising and Not Surprising: Talladega Aaron’s 499

With a three hour plus rain delay pushing the Aaron’s 499 from day into a Talladega Night, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Alabama 2.66 mile oval.

Surprising: While Talladega has seen its share of calamities, the 44^th annual race running seemed to be the granddaddy of all mayhem. There was not just one ‘big one’ but two, with sixteen cars involved in the first wreck early in the race and twelve cars in the second ‘big one’ near the end of the race.

In between the crashes, there was the weather red flag, which lasted three hours, 36 minutes and six seconds, pushing the race to its finish in what some called darkness.

There were two drivers, however, who experienced the most ‘Dega mayhem. Kurt Busch, driving the No. 78 Furniture Row/Beautyrest Chevrolet, was having a great run until getting clipped by another car as it slipped down the track.

This sent Busch airborne and rolling over and over to eventually land smack dab on top of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet of Ryan Newman.

“We just got hit from behind and along for the ride we went,” Busch said. “It’s Talladega, what can I say.”

“That’s no way to end a race,” Newman said. “You got what you wanted but that’s just poor judgment restarting the race, running in the dark and running in the rain.”

Not Surprising: While ‘Dega may have been filled with mayhem for many drivers, it was a dream come true and the luckiest track ever for two Ford drivers, who both just happened to be named David.

For David Ragan, winning his first race at Talladega and scoring the first ever victory for his team Front Row Motorsports, Talladega was indeed a dream come true.

“I always knew in my heart I would get another chance,” Ragan said. “We know we are an underdog but we know ‘Dega is an equalizer.”

“How sweet to see all those Fords up there for the win,” Ragan continued. “I’m looking at my mirror and I was wondering if I was dreaming.”

While David Ragan stood in Victory Lane, he would not have been there without the push of his teammate David Gilliland, who himself pronounced Talladega as the luckiest track ever.

“It was a big day,” the driver of the No. 38 Love’s Travel Stops Ford said. “A lot of it had to do with this little note from my 10-year-old daughter Taylor wishing me good luck.”

“She wrote that with a little horseshoe on it and put it on my dash before the race,” Gilliland continued. “And she had some horseshoe good luck earrings in too.”

Surprising: The race at Talladega was surprisingly nightmarish for one Trevor Bayne, who had once asked if he was dreaming after winning the Daytona 500. The driver of the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford blew up, bringing out the first caution of the race.

“There was no warning at all,” Bayne said of his engine issue. “I got to turn one and it let go.”

“I’m surprised the whole field didn’t crash with as much oil that was pouring out of this thing.”

Not Surprising: Given the carnage on the race track, it was not surprising that Trevor Bayne was not the only driver watching the remainder of the race from his motor home. In fact, Kasey Kahne, who was involved in the ‘big one’ early on, watched what was left of the race from his couch at home.

“Btw I’m on the couch at home,” Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Time Warner Cable Chevrolet for Hendrick Motor Sports, tweeted after being knocked early. “This sucks.”

Kahne finished 42^nd and lost three spots in the point standings, falling from the third to the sixth position.

Surprising: Demonstrating a new-found maturity, Kyle Busch accepted full responsibility for causing the first ‘big one’ at Talladega.

“Kind of caused it,” the driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota said. “I really don’t know what happened.”

“I know I got in the back of the No. 5,” Busch continued. “I hated that I caused a melee for everybody especially early in the race.”

“I hated that we all got crashed in that deal.”

Not Surprising: Restrictor plate racing does indeed make strange bedfellows. There was no better demonstration of this than the ‘friends’ that Denny Hamlin made to enable his successful comeback to the sport after his back injury.

“It means a lot as a driver to have your peers have your back like that,” Hamlin said of Tony Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya, Michael Waltrip and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., all of whom fell to the back of the pack to help him. “They really sacrificed the first part of the race for me.”

“I can’t thank them enough.”

Also, not surprisingly, the driver change between Hamlin and Brian Vickers went perfectly, allowing Hamlin to escape through the roof hatch to the broadcast booth in the Hollywood Hotel while watching his replacement Brian Vickers take the wheel, only to wreck out in the ‘big one.’

“Everything went seamless and painless,” Hamlin said. “Every week I feel a lot better.”

Surprising: Danica Patrick showed some surprisingly skilled evasive moves in avoiding the first wreck and was in good position until the late-race accident on lap 182 ended her day. The driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Stewart Haas Racing finished 33rd.

“We were watching and we were like, ‘Holy Cow’,” Tony Gibson, crew chief, said of Danica’s avoidance of the first ‘big one’. “I don’t know how she missed it.”

“It’s just unfortunate how it ended up with the late-race crash,” Gibson continued. “But that’s part of restrictor-plate racing.”

Not Surprising: With a rain delay of the magnitude at Talladega, it was not surprising that several drivers and cars had issues attempting to go back racing. Juan Pablo Montoya could not get his No. 42 Clorox Chevrolet re-started after the rain delay and ended up behind the wall before returning to the track for a 25^th place finish.

Joey Logano was right there with JPM struggling to restart after the rain delay, however, his problem was more serious and ultimately fatal. The No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford had some sort of engine issue that led to his 35^th place finish.

“We’re not sure what happened,” Logano said. “We’re thinking maybe an air pocket somehow got in the water system, but it doesn’t make sense.”

“It’s a bummer when you’re sitting third when it is raining and you don’t finish the race.”

Surprising: Toyota had a good day at Talladega with occasional Toyota driver and team owner Michael Waltrip surprisingly leading the way. Waltrip was the highest running Toyota with a fourth place finish, followed by Martin Truex Jr. in seventh and lap-leader Matt Kenseth in eighth.

“I love being a part of the Toyota family,” the driver of the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine/Alabama National Champ Toyota said. “We had a great run.”

“I had a ball,” Waltrip continued. “I love being at Talladega and I love racing.”

Not Surprising: Jimmie Johnson extended his points lead to 41 over second place Carl Edwards with his fifth place finish at Talladega.

“It was obviously a very good day for our Lowe’s Chevrolet,” Johnson said. “We had a very fast car and I felt like we were a player all day long, and that’s awesome.”

Surprising: Regan Smith, behind the wheel of the No. 51 Hendricks.com Chevrolet, was surprisingly disappointed with his top-ten finish, especially after winning the crash-filled Nationwide race.

“Well the last few laps I didn’t see much because it was pretty dark,” Smith said. “A little disappointed.”

“I kept getting stalled out by the cars on the outside.”

Not Surprising: Even with the mayhem of restrictor plate racing, Aric Almirola, behind the wheel of the No. 43 Gwaltney Ford, continued his streak of consecutive top-ten finishes. In fact, he will make history for Richard Petty Motorsports at Darlington if he finishes in the top-ten there.

“We sure are on a roll lately,” Almirola said. “I think we are the only people that aren’t surprised we are seventh in points and have the longest current top-10 streak in the series.”

“We just need to keep it up and start moving to top-fives and hopefully a win soon.”

May 8, 2013
Surprising and Not Surprising: Kansas STP 400

In a week where those impacted by the Boston Marathon bombing were remembered, here is what was surprising and not surprising as NASCAR’s elite visited Kansas Motor Speedway for the 3^rd annual STP 400.

Surprising: The heartland of Kansas witnessed a driver rebirth of sorts with Matt Kenseth following his own yellow brick road to Victory Lane. And the man behind the wheel of the No. 20 Home Depot/Husky Tools Toyota proclaimed that for him this win was a “dream come true.”

“You don’t know if or when you’ll ever win again,” Kenseth said. “I’m so thankful to have another win.”

“This is a dream come true to drive this stuff.”

Surprisingly, Kenseth, unlike his other Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, dominated the race, starting from the pole and leading the most laps, 163 to be exact.

Even more surprising, however, was that Kenseth’s dream run came crashing down after a severe penalty was levied on the No. 20 car and team due to having a connecting rod in the engine failing to meet the minimum weight.

Kenseth’s crew chief Jason Ratcliff was fined $200,000 and suspended for six races, JGR lost 50 owner points and Kenseth lost 50 driver points.

JGR will of course appeal.

Not Surprising: The Kansas curse continued for Kyle Busch, who spun in the early laps and then crashed so hard with Joey Logano that he had to drive his car to the garage backwards before abandoning it to the scrap heap.

“Absolutely no grip for me,” Busch said. “Spun twice on our own.”

“Just don’t know what to do with Kansas.”

Surprising: Jeff Gordon started dead last in the 43^rd position, his worst starting position ever in his career. Yet surprisingly and in spite of having to take the wave around after being trapped in the pits under caution, Gordon was able to battle back for a 13^th place finish.

“We weren’t the best car, but we made some great improvements throughout the weekend,” the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, said. “We were able to make our way up through there.”

“All in all I thought it was a great effort.”

Not Surprising: With a team that not only has Boston roots, but one that has also faced a week of difficulties and penalties, it was not a surprise that Brad Keselowski had to dig deep for the Kansas race.

The driver of the Blue Deuce also had to overcome a great deal of adversity on the track, from early damage to getting lapped. Yet, he persevered to attain a top ten finish, scoring a sixth place in a most eventful race and week.

“We got ‘Boston Strong’ on the back of this car and that was a good inspiration for this weekend,” Keselowski said. “That was a gritty effort by the 2 team.”

“A day where you can fight through adversity like we did today and get a solid finish, that kind of is a win.”

Surprising: Kasey Kahne surprisingly had his head in the clouds, or at least was wishing for a cloud to come out to assist him in getting around Kenseth at the end of the race. The driver of the No. 5 Farmers Insurance 85^th Anniversary Chevrolet finished a close second.

”We tightened up a little bit on that final run,” Kahne said. “I just did everything I could.”

“I needed clouds.”

Not Surprising: While this driver may have been disappointed with his continuing runner up finishes, Martin Truex Jr. was well pleased with his fourth place finish at Kansas.

“Got a lot of questions last week about being second and how I seemed so disappointed and all that,” the driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, said. “This is the complete opposite.”

“All in all, I’m very happy with fourth place.”

Surprising: Two drivers who returned to Cup competition, Sam Hornish Jr. and Elliott Sadler, had surprisingly bad days at the race track, finishing 37^th and 40^th respectively.

Hornish Jr. hit Marcos Ambrose so hard during his wreck that he bit the inside of his lip and broke the tach off with his knee.

“I couldn’t see anything,” Hornish Jr. said. “I just wish we could have done a little better.”

Sadler, behind the wheel of the No. 81 ALERT Energy Gum Toyota, got loose into turn three and never recovered.

“The car was kind of darting around on me too quick,” Sadler said. “Just ended a lot shorter than I wanted to.”

Not Surprising: While those returning to Cup competition did not fare well, old five time continued his not surprising top-five finishing ways. Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowes/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, finished fourth and maintained his top dog spot in the point standings.

“Everybody worked real hard to get the car right and we had a great race car,” Johnson said. “At times I felt like I had a shot to win but we just didn’t have enough for Matt and Kasey.”

“A very solid performance for our Kobalt Tools Chevrolet.”

Surprising: Danica Patrick endured trash on the track, as well as some trash talking after the race. Patrick’s race was spoiled by some litter that stuck to her grille, causing her water temps to rise and necessitating an unexpected trip to the pits.

“We had a tire rub at one point and issues with the splitter from some contact we made,” the driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, said. “The trash on the grille was what really hurt us today.”

But the trash talking after the race was even more interesting after the rookie complained about competitor David Gilliland racing her inappropriately.

“He tries to take me out every time,” Patrick complained of Gilliland. “I’m coming after him if he does it again.”

Gilliland in return issued this statement aimed at Patrick through his PR rep, “Shut up and race.”

Not Surprising: One Kansas boy, Clint Bowyer, who hails from Emporia, finished nicely in the fifth position at his home track.

“We needed a turnaround after last week,” Bowyer said. “Certainly you want to win it at home but a good top-five finish is a great way to get things bounced back with our 5-hour Energy Toyota.”

Surprising: There were some surprising names amongst the top-ten finishers in the STP 400, including Jamie McMurray in seventh, Aric Almirola in eighth, and Paul Menard in tenth.

“I honestly thought we had one of the better cars,” McMurray said. “Good job by our team.”

“It was a good day for us,” Almirola said. “That’s two top-10s two weeks in a row and I’m proud of that.”

“We’ve got some of the best pits stops in the business,” Menard said. “We always end pretty good.”

Not Surprising: In spite of getting trapped in the pits during a caution, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is still trying to maintain a positive attitude as he faced yet another week of not quite getting the finish he wanted or expected. The driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet finished 15^th.

“We were a lap down and hard to take the wave around,” Junior said. “That put us to the back behind a whole bunch of lead-lap cars and there was no time left.”

“It’ll come around,” Earnhardt, Jr. continued. “We’ve just got to keep working and stay positive.”

April 25, 2013
Previewing The STP 400 at Kansas Speedway

NASCAR roars into Kansas Speedway this weekend for the 8th race of the 2013 season. It seems like we are saying this at every track this year but once again, you can expect record speeds by the Gen-6 this weekend. Kansas was repaved last summer and we all remember the wild show it put on in the fall.

Sixteen cars posted DNF’s and fourteen cautions flew in the crash marred event that Matt Kenseth ended up winning by just four tenths over Martin Truex Jr. The 12-year old track has featured fourteen races producing ten different winners.

The 1.5 mile venue is owned by the International Speedway Corporation (ISC) and seats 81,687 people. It’s classified as a “D-Shaped Tri-Oval” much like its sister track, Chicagoland Speedway. Here are some stats and facts that you should know as we gear up for this mid-western throw-down!

Kansas Speedway Track Facts

Track Size: 1.5-miles

Banking/Turns 1 & 2: 17-20 degrees

Banking/Turns 3 & 4: 17-20 degrees

Banking/Frontstretch: 10 degrees

Banking/Backstretch: 5 degrees

Frontstretch Length: 2,685 feet

Backstretch Length: 2,207 feet

Race Length: 267 laps / 400 miles

Capacity: 81,687

Kansas Speedway Stats

Inaugural Race Winner: Jeff Gordon by .413 tenths over Ryan Newman

Only Driver to Sweep the Weekend: Joe Nemechek winning both the NNS and NSCS events in 2004

Most Wins By a Driver: Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle who have all won twice

Most Wins By a Team: Roush Fenway Racing and Hendrick Motorsports who each have 4

Most Wins By a Manufactuer: Chevrolet has won 7 of the 14 events (Ford-4, Dodge-2, Toyota-1)

Youngest Kansas Winner: Ryan Newman at 25 years, 9 months and 27 days in October of 2003

Oldest Kansas Winner: Mark Martin at 46 years, 9 months and 0 days in October of 2005

Pole Sitters: Only twice has a pole sitter won from the pole (Joe Nemechek-2004, Jimmie Johnson-2008)

Starting Positions By Winners: 2 from the pole, 4 from 2nd-5th, 2 from 6th-101th, 4 from 11th-20th, 2 from 21st or worse

Worst Starting Position By Race Winner: 25th by Brad Keselowski in 2011

Youngest Kansas Pole Winner: Jason Leffler at 26 years, 0 months and 14 days in September of 2001

Oldest Kansas Pole Winner: Mark Martin who was 50 years, 8 months and 25 days in October of 2009

Most Starts Without a Win: 14 by Bobby Labonte, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Kurt Busch

Track Qualifying Record: Kasey Kahne at a 28.219 (191.360mph) in October of 2012

Track Race Record: Denny Hamlin-144.122 mph (02:46:44) in April of 2012

Least Amount of Cautions: 3 in April of 2012

Most Amount of Cautions: 14 in October of 2012

Average Number of Cautions: 7

Top 10 Driver Ratings at Kansas

1.) Jimmie Johnson…………………… 119.5

2.) Greg Biffle………………………….. 113.0

3.) Matt Kenseth………………………. 106.4

4.) Jeff Gordon………………………… 101.5

5.) Tony Stewart……………………….. 100.8

6.) Carl Edwards………………………… 95.1

7.) Mark Martin…………………………… 91.3

8.) Kevin Harvick……………………….. 90.6

9.) Martin Truex Jr…………………….. 90.5

10.) Brad Keselowski……………………. 90.1

Best Average Finish at Kansas

1.) Jimmie Johnson——-8.0

2.) Greg Biffle————–9.5

3.) Brad Keselowski——-9.8

4.) Carl Edwards———–10.8

5.) Jeff Gordon————-11.0

6.) Tony Stewart———–11.7

7.) Kevin Harvick———-12.9

8.) Denny Hamlin———–14.0

9.) Clint Bowyer————14.0

10.) Kasey Kahne———–15.0

Most Wins at Kansas Speedway

1.) Jimmie Johnson——–2 (2008 & 2011)

2.) Greg Biffle—————2 (2007 & 2010)

3.) Tony Stewart———–2 (2006 & 2009)

4.) Jeff Gordon————-2 (2001 & 2002)

5.) Matt Kenseth———–1 (2012)

6.) Denny Hamlin———1 (2012)

7.) Brad Keselowski——1 (2011)

8.) Mark Martin———–1 (2005)

9.) Joe Nemechek——–1 (2004)

10.) Ryan Newman——1 (2003)

Most Top 5’s at Kansas Speedway

1.) Jeff Gordon———8

2.) Greg Biffle———–7

3.) Tony Stewart——-6

4.) Jimmie Johnson—5

5.) Matt Kenseth——-5

6.) Carl Edwards——-4

7.) Denny Hamlin—–3

8.) Ryan Newman——3

9.) Martin Truex Jr.—-2

10.) Kasey Kahne——-2

Most Top 10’s at Kansas Speedway

1.) Jimmie Johnson———11

2.) Jeff Gordon————–10

3.) Greg Biffle—————9

4.) Tony Stewart———–9

5.) Matt Kenseth———–8

6.) Carl Edwards———–8

7.) Kevin Harvick———6

8.) Dale Earnhardt Jr.—-6

9.) Kasey Kahne———-5

10.) Mark Martin———5

Considering all that, Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle and Jeff Gordon look like the biggest threats to take the victory this weekend. Biffle has finished inside the top 10 in seven of the last eight races, Johnson is currently on an eight race top 10 streak at while Gordon has had some lackluster results the past three races. Another driver you have to watch out for but isn’t very high in most of the stats is Matt Kenseth. He won the first race at Kansas after the repave, is riding a streak of three straight top-5’s and hasn’t finished worse than 7th since 2009. A dark horse would have to be Martin Truex Jr. He doesn’t have a great record here but he did finish second in both races last year. Make sure you keep an eye on both him and Kenseth this weekend.

Drivers you may want to stay away from include Kyle Busch, Marcos Ambrose and the 2005 winner of this race, Mark Martin. Ambrose has never led a lap at Kansas, has a best finish of 9th and a best starting position of 18th. Martin did win at Kansas but that is just about the only bright spot on his resume at the track. Martin finished 20th or worse in nearly half the races he’s participated in and has only broken inside the top-20 twice in his last five races. Busch’s stats really surprised me and I had to look at a few times thinking no way are these his stats. His average finish of 21.0 is very low for him and in his whole career, Busch has posted two top 10’s and no top 5’s at the track. He hasn’t led very many laps either proving he’s never really a factor.

I expect that this race will be very fast paced and will feature out of control race cars a lot like last fall’s event. The track has a lot of grip and you can expect to see bottom feeders as well as drivers riding the cushion just inches away from smacking the wall. I don’t think it will have wrecks every 10 laps like it did last year but I don’t see long runs forcing them to make green flag pit stops either.

Busch has been great in 2013 and will have his best race to date at Kansas blowing his best finish of 7th out of the water but he won’t win. I am going with a very hungry driver who is desperate to reach victory lane, Truex Jr. He will finally get that second career win this weekend at Kansas Speedway. Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne will be major factors throughout the race but I am going with Truex Jr. to steal the show Sunday!

Feel free to post who you think will win the STP 400 below!

April 18, 2013
210 Races & Counting… When Will Truex Finally Get That Breakthrough Win?

Martin Truex Jr. is a highly underrated driver in my eyes but it’s easy for people to overlook a guy who has just one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) victory in 268 races. On June 4, 2007, Truex Jr. won at Dover International Speedway by a staggering 7.3 seconds over Ryan Newman capturing his lone NSCS win at what happened to be his home track. If fate was just a little bit kinder to Truex Jr., he could be nearing ten total wins right now instead of still searching for his second. Last weekend he was a few laps away from victory lane until a late race caution ripped it away from him once again. It’s a feeling the Mayetta, the New Jersey native knows much too well.

This weekend, NASCAR visits the recently repaved Kansas Speedway which put on a very eventful race last fall. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought we were in Bristol after a race that had 16 cars post DNF’s and 14 cautions marring the event. In the two races held there in 2012, we had two different winners but the race runner-up remained the same in both…..Truex Jr. It was hard to watch him drive his heart out in the closing laps last weekend only to come up empty handed after running so well. Let me make it clear that in almost every situation, it hasn’t been his fault when these wins got away. Mechanical failures, wrecks, bad pit stops and questionable cautions have all have plagued him every time he seems to have one in the bag.

Truex Jr. has won two Nationwide titles and a total of 19 races across every NASCAR division so don’t think for a second that he lacks the talent to get the No.56 to victory lane. I should also add that he was the 2005 IROC runner-up defeating prominent racers such as 3x Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves, 6x Grand-Am champion Scott Pruett, 4x CART champion Sebastian Bourdais and NSCS champions Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch. You don’t just accidentally out-perform those guys. I believe that once Martin gets his second win and he will get it, then the racing world will finally witness his true potential. This illusive win is holding him back and once he gets it, the field better watch out because that NAPA Toyota Camry will quickly become a regular sight in the winner’s circle.

Kansas is a good place for the 30 year old racer to rebound from the disappointment of Texas and finally snag a victory considering his recent record at the 1.5 mile track. There is a contingent of people out there that say losing at Texas will bring him down but I think it will have the reverse effect. All that heart-breaking finish will do is make him hungrier and more driven than ever to get to victory lane. If it’s the last lap and you find yourself battling Truex Jr. for the win, you better be ready to race harder than you’ve ever raced before because you can bet Truex Jr. will put up one hell of a fight. He has the potential to be a championship contender once he finally has that race where all the pieces come together. That monumental victory that is coming will work wonders for his Sprint Cup career and you will see a new, happier and more competitive driver out on that race track.

I know that’s a very bold statement but despite his lack of wins, he’s shown on multiple occasions that he can get the job done behind the wheel of a race car. Motivation and confidence has a funny way of turning a decent driver into a NSCS champion and if you want an example of that, look no further than a driver by the name of Brad Keselowski. It wasn’t too long ago we looked at him as just another driver that had won a race at Talladega back in 2009.

Truex Jr. is a true racer who fought his way to where he is today and I firmly believe that he will win many Cup races in the years to come.

April 18, 2013
Surprising and Not Surprising: Texas NRA 500

From the agonizing delays in pre-race tech to the broom in Victory Lane, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 17^th annual NRA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Surprising: While it might have taken a surprising twenty years of trying, Norm Miller and Interstate Batteries, thanks to their driver Kyle Busch, finally made it to Victory Lane. This was Busch’s 26^th win in 300 Cup Series races and surprisingly his first win at Texas Motor Speedway in the Cup Series.

“For Interstate Batteries and Norm Miller to be in Victory Lane in Texas – there’s nothing better than putting him right here,” Busch said. “This feels good.”

In addition to the sweep at Texas, winning the Nationwide and Cup races, Busch and company also had a surprisingly stellar night in the pits. In fact, for eight pit stops, the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota team led the way statistically with the least amount of time on pit road.

“We had a great racecar, and we worked really hard all weekend, but without that pit crew – they’re the best in the business,” Busch said. “They know when it’s crunch time.”

Not Surprising: When a racer fails to win, especially after coming so close, it is not surprising that the end result is bitterness and disappointment. But for Martin Truex, Jr., the runner up run was almost unbearable, especially after losing the lead in the pits.

“Shoulda, coulda, woulda,” the driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota said. “I’m just disappointed.”

“The race was over when we got beat out of the pits,” Truex Jr. continued. “We’ve had a tough season and we had a car capable of winning.”

“I’m just tired of finishing second,” Truex Jr. said. “This is getting old. It sucks.”

Truex’s day got even worse when it was determined that his car flunked post-race inspection, being too low in the front. Any possible penalties issued by the sanctioning body may come early in the week.

Surprising: There was a surprising amount of drama prior to and after the race for team Penske. Both Keselowski and Logano had difficulty in pre-race tech, so much so that Logano almost did not make it out on the track for the start of the race.

Yet both Penske drivers managed to score top-ten finishes in spite of it all, with Logano in fifth and Keselowski in ninth.

“Shoot, I wasn’t even in the car yet,” Logano said. “It was a little too close for my comfort.”

“If you would have told me I would have finished fifth today, I would have given you a hug.”

Keselowski, however, had some harsh words for the sanctioning body after the race as a result of having to change the rear-end housing prior to the race.

“The things I’ve seen over the last seven days have me questioning everything I believe in and I’m not happy about it,” the driver of the Blue Deuce said. “You have no (expletive) idea what’s going on.”

“I feel like we’ve been targeted over the last seven days more than I’ve ever seen a team targeted,” Keselowski continued. “We’re not going to take it.”

As with Truex Jr., NASCAR will most likely assess penalties later in the week.

Not Surprising: Roush Fenway Racing traditionally does well at Texas Motor Speedway, so it was not surprising to see both Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle have good runs, finishing third and fourth respectively. Both RFR drivers, however, faced some significant obstacles along the way to both finish top-five.

Edwards had a mechanical issue with a cracked tailpipe and then had difficulties with his seat belts coming undone.

“That’s a gift for us,” the driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford said after the race. “I know Martin (Truex, Jr.) is not happy with second, but I’m real happy with third.”

Biffle also struggled, from starting towards the back with a 35^th qualifying spot to a speeding penalty on lap 224 for too fast entering the pits.

“It was a tough night,” Biffle said. “Our car definitely wasn’t as good as it was last year, but we battled back.”

Surprising: Dale Earnhardt Jr. suffered his worst finish of the season in 29^th after having an eventful evening. Junior struggled with seeing his pit sign, asking at one point for a deer spotlight on it, and then headed to the pits with a dead battery.

That started the perfect storm of other issues, since without the engine running the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet sped and incurred a penalty. With that poor finish, Dale Jr. dropped three positions in the point standings, down to the sixth spot.

“It has been rough but we had a really good car tonight,” Junior said. “Eventually things will turn back around for us.”

Not Surprising: While this driver may have surprised a military veteran prior to the race, Aric Almirola has been steadily gaining momentum on the track, so much so that his seventh place finish was not at all surprising.

And with that good finish, the young driver gained two spots in the point standings, up to the 14^th position.

“We had a great car,” the driver of the No. 43 Petty race car said. “Todd Parrott and these guys gave me a great Eckrich Ford Fusion and I felt really good about it.”

“It was a great day, a great points day for us.”

Surprising: While not surprising to see mechanical failures in a race as grueling as Texas, it was surprising to see two of the stronger cars in the race succumb to those issues. Both Kurt Busch, in the No. 78 Furniture Row/Serta Chevrolet, and Jeff Gordon, in the No. 24 Cromax Pro Chevrolet, had difficulties, resulting in 37^th and 38^th place finishes respectively.

“I’m not sure maybe a burned wheel bearing or something,” Gordon said. “We’ll learn about what happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“When you’re running solidly in the top-five and then to have a parts failure knock you out of contention, it’s frustrating,” Kurt Busch said. “We had a part on the fuel injection system break.”

“What’s done is done and we have to put tonight behind us and focus on getting these problems rectified sooner than later.”

Not Surprising: While many drivers had difficulty in the pits, from a fire in Matt Kenseth’s pit to Tony Stewart’s newest perpendicular approach to his pit stall, it was not surprising that the most basic issue, that of pit box color, tripped up at least two drivers on pit road.

Juan Pablo Montoya, who sports the traditional red and white colors, got a bit confused when he tried to pit in Dave Blaney’s stall, which also just so happened to be red and white for the evening.

Montoya finished 20^th and Blaney ended up in the 25^th spot in the race.

Surprising: While both rookies, sporting similar cowboy hats and boots, had surprisingly challenging days at Texas, Danica Patrick again beat out her boyfriend Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the rookie battle on the track.

Patrick finished 28^th while Stenhouse Jr., after cutting down a left-rear tire and spinning, finished 40^th.

“It was a tough night,” Patrick said. “The car was just kind of all over the place.”

“It’s kind of tough to go straight when you lose a left-rear tire,” Stenhouse, Jr. said. “I felt like our car was pretty good, but it was just a tough break.”

Not Surprising: With Denny Hamlin at the track and on the pit box and a fast No. 11 FedEx Office/March of Dimes Toyota, it was certainly not surprising to see Brian Vickers, who is literally competing for a ride with each race, finish eighth.

“It feels great,” Vickers said of his top-ten run. “We’re pleased but I wanted to win.”

“I guess that’s what we are here for.”

April 16, 2013
Surprising and Not Surprising: Phoenix Subway Fresh Fit 500

In the Valley of the Sun, surprisingly dotted by a few sprinkles at race start, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 9^th Annual Subway Fresh Fit 500 from Phoenix International Raceway.

Surprising: There was a surprising amount of frustration from many of the drivers finishing in the top five in the second race of the young NASCAR season.

Second place finisher Jimmie Johnson was frustrated because of what he perceived as a not so kosher restart on the green-white-checker finish.

“The leader’s not supposed to slow down before you take off,” the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet said. “If you get away with it, it works great.”

“But if it had been me, my Twitter inbox would have been full.”

The third place race finisher, Denny Hamlin, was also frustrated but for a different reason, lack of passing. This frustration was, however, a bit surprising since he came from the back of the field due to an engine change and also achieved a bonsai pass on the apron to secure his top-five finish.

“It was so hard to pass,” the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota said. “Aero tight is a huge, huge deal.”

“I hate to be Denny Downer, but I just didn’t pass that many cars today.”

The final surprisingly frustrated driver was none other than Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who finished in the fifth position at a track where he has been known to struggle. Junior was frustrated because of a pit stop where he was boxed in and lost positions, in his mind costing him the race win.

“Well I hate to be frustrated at Phoenix, but I think we are,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet said. “We feel like we could have finished better than fifth, maybe won the race.”

“Just didn’t get the breaks on pit road.”

Not Surprising: Just as Denny Hamlin had done before, it was not surprising to see another driver follow suit, calling his own race win after an excruciating Speedweeks in Daytona.

Ending a 70 winless drought, Carl Edwards back flipped his way right into Victory Lane, achieving his 20^th Cup career win. Edwards was especially proud to do the honors with his sponsor Subway on the car and sponsoring the race.

“I feel good,” the driver of the No. 99 Subway Ford said. “It’s tough to go that long without winning.”

“I’ll be eating Subway all week.”

Surprising: After struggling mightily last year, the driver of the No. 31 Cheerios Chevrolet had a surprisingly good day. Jeff Burton finally put it all together for an entire race to score a top-10 finish, even with some crew chief adversity.

“Over the last 60 or so laps, we consistently had the fastest car in the field,” Burton said. “It was great to top it off with a top-10 finish, especially after all the adversity the team faced early in the day when Luke (Lambert, crew chief) flew home to be with his wife who is pregnant.”

“I appreciate the entire Cheerios team pulling together.”

Not Surprising: In spite of all the pre-race hype and race promotion, there was no retaliation whatsoever between arch rivals from last year’s Phoenix race, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer. In fact, both not only shared a few pre-race chuckles but also raced each other cleanly to top-10 finishes, with Bowyer finishing 6^th and Gordon 9^th.

The duo, who were not even speaking at the end of last season, had similar pronouncements about their 2013 Phoenix race finish.

“All in all it was a decent day for our 5-Hour Energy Toyota,” Bowyer said.

“It was a solid top-10,” Gordon said. “All-in-all that was pretty solid.”

Surprising: Perhaps more heartbreaking than surprising is the incredibly poor start that Martin Truex Jr. has gotten off to in the 2013 season.

Truex Jr. finished 24^th in the Daytona 500 and barely got started in the Phoenix race, stalling on pit road with a gear and axle problem, relegating him to a 36^th place finish.

“I don’t even know what to say,” Truex Jr. tweeted after the race. “Never seen that happen in all my days. Had a fast @napafilters car too.”

Not Surprising: On his return to the NASCAR scene, A.J. Allmendinger had a great day in the Valley of the Sun. The ‘Dinger finished 11^th behind the wheel of the No. 51 Guy Roofing Chevrolet for Phoenix Racing.

“Everyone on the team kept fighting hard and worked their asses off,” Allmendinger shared via Twitter on his way out of the track.

Surprising: There was a surprising car, one with a big red Target on the hood, that just so happened to be at the front of the pack for much of the race. Juan Pablo Montoya drove his No. 42 Target Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet to a 12^th place finish and was most proud.

“It was a good points day,” JPM declared.

Not Surprising: Although she had an historic outing at Daytona as the first woman to sit on the pole and lead a green flag lap, it was not surprising that Phoenix was a major dose of reality for Rookie of the Year candidate Danica Patrick. The driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet blew a tire, hit the wall hard and then was hit on the driver’s side by David Ragan’s car.

“I blew a right front with no real warning,” Patrick said. “It was a little unexpected.”

“Thank God for SAFER barriers.”

Surprising: The Busch mother and brothers had a surprisingly trying weekend. Mama Busch was involved in a golf car accident and brothers Busch both started from the back of the field, Kyle for an engine change and Kurt for a wreck in qualifying.

Both brothers were involved in on-track spins, in fact spinning in tandem at one point during the race.

Although Kyle Busch finished a disappointing 23^rd and brother Kurt finished even worse in the 27^th position, Mrs. Busch was reportedly a little banged up but back at the track and “in good spirits.”

Not Surprising: Reigning champ Brad Keselowski had a blast at Phoenix, especially during the green-white-checkered finish. The driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion energetically shoved the winner into the first turn, hoping to get a run for the win, but had to settle for a fourth place finish.

“Those guys fought hard and we fought hard and there was a lot of desire,” Keselowski said. “It’s early in the season, but I feel like there’s a lot of passion and that’s a good thing.”

“That’s how it’s supposed to be, right?” Keselowski continued. “That was cool.”

March 6, 2013
2013 Sprint Cup Team Preview: Michael Waltrip Racing

Photo Credit: Brad Keppel

Today our 2013 Sprint Cup team previews focus on Michael Waltrip Racing, the organization that finished 2nd in points in 2012. Michael Waltrip Racing will field three entries in 2013, the #15 for Clint Bowyer, #56 for Martin Truex Jr, and the #55 will feature a combination of drivers including Mark Martin, Brian Vickers, and Michael Waltrip.

Clint Bowyer

In his first year with Michael Waltrip Racing, Clint Bowyer surprised everyone with a 2nd place points finish in 2012. Many thought there would be an adjustment period for Bowyer and crew chief Brian Pattie, but the team ran strong all year, accumulating 3 wins. If not for getting caught up in the last lap melee at Talladega and getting intentionally wrecked by Jeff Gordon at Phoenix, Bowyer most likely would have been in the running for the Sprint Cup championship at Homestead. With sponsorship from 5 Hour Energy and Peak Antifreeze, Bowyer and Pattie will team up once again in 2013 and if the debut season for the duo is any indication, this team should have no problem winning races and making the Chase in 2013 and could be a strong contender for the 2013 title.

Martin Truex Jr

The 2012 season for Martin Truex Jr was one in which Truex was competitive week in and week out and came close many times to winning a race, but came up just short every time. The consistent run landed Truex in the Chase and he finished the year in 11th place. Truex and crew chief Chad Johnston will team up once again in 2013 and with the chemistry building between the two, look for Truex to finally get that monkey off his back and get back to victory lane for the first time since 2007 and most likely make it back into the Chase as well.

#55 Team

Although no one driver drove the #55 full time in 2012, the trio of drivers that split up the schedule (Mark Martin, Brian Vickers, and Michael Waltrip) had a good enough performance between the three to land the #55 car at 15th in the owners points in 2012. The three drivers will once again split time in the #55 in 2013, with Martin running 26 races, Vickers running 9 races and team owner Waltrip running the two restrictor plate races at Talladega and the July Daytona race. With the talent in the seat of the #55 car, it definitely would not be a surprise to see this team in Victory Lane at least once this year

January 24, 2013
NASCAR Philanthropy Center Stage During Vegas Championship Week

[media-credit name=”Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]While the spot light is on new NASCAR champ Brad Keselowski and the other Chase drivers during the Vegas Championship Week celebrations, the generosity and caring of NASCAR has also taken center stage throughout the festivities.

First-time Chase contender and MWR racer Martin Truex Jr. spoke passionately about his Foundation work, especially in light of Super Storm Sandy, which deeply affected his home state of New Jersey.

“My family made out very well for the situation and the area they are in,” Truex said. “They are a mile from people that lost their homes and had serious flooding and a very bad time of it.”

“They were very fortunate and all my close friends and family didn’t have major problems which is great,” Truex continued. “But at the same time, a lot of people in the community are struggling.”

“Places where I grew up at the Jersey shore are in shambles,” Truex said. “We’re trying to do all we can do to help.”

“My Foundation has set up a fund and we’ve raised over $150,000 up until this week,” Truex continued. “We’re already starting to disburse those funds to help families and those who really need it.”

“We took a truckload of supplies up there two weeks ago and we’re getting ready to take another one up,” Truex said. “We’re just trying to do all we can to try to get those people on their feet because it’s been a tough time for them.”

Some of Truex’s most favorite memories have been at the Jersey shore, which has led to his passion to help. Yet, as much as he wants to return home, he also dreads seeing the destruction.

“I haven’t been back and I won’t be until Christmas,” Truex said. “We just always went to the beach and did a lot of fishing in the bay.”

“There are a lot of landmarks there that I remember that are probably not there anymore.”

One of the most memorable philanthropic moments came during the annual NASCAR/NMPA Myers Brothers Award luncheon when Jeff Gordon was honored for his charitable work. Gordon was named the 2012 recipient of the National Motorsports Press Association’s Myers Brother award, one of the most prestigious philanthropic awards in NASCAR.

“Off the track, he has raised countless funds for charity through his Foundation for pediatric cancer research,” Burt Myers, grandson of Billy Myers, said on presenting the award to Gordon with his brother Jason Myers. “He has traveled to Rwanda to aid with health care as well as partnering with an organization to put it on the side of his race car as a drive to end hunger.”

Gordon’s voice was choked with emotion as he took the stage to receive the award.

“Oh boy, this is a surprise,” Gordon said. “I’m having a hard time composing myself.”

After the conclusion of the luncheon, Gordon reflected further on his award and why he reacted so emotionally.

“On the race track there is instant gratification but for something like this, to be recognized among your peers at an event that I’ve been coming to for a very long time, it just one, surprised me because I didn’t feel like I had earned that and yet at the same time I’m very proud of the work that we’ve done.”

“I can tell you that it was a shock,” Gordon continued. “You saw as raw emotions as it gets with me and it was very difficult to keep my composure.”

“When you’re being recognized by your peers for something you’ve put so much of your heart into, it brings out those emotions,” Gordon said. “It was a huge honor.”

Gordon shared that the award also meant so much to him because of the people before that he had seen receive it. And he, for one, did not see himself in that same company, at least at this stage in his life and career.

“Coming to the luncheon for all these years and seeing the others that have been recognized and what they did to achieve that award, I don’t feel like I put myself in that category,” Gordon said. “I thought they made a mistake, but at the same time it was reality.”

“It means a lot to me,” Gordon continued. “That was just wearing it on my sleeve.”

Gordon acknowledged that he has definite plans to continue his philanthropic work in the New Year and throughout the 2013 race season. He also said that he would further expand his work with children to other countries in need, in addition to his work in Rwanda.

“We’ve got some great things happening,” Gordon said. “We’re just gaining momentum where we’re starting to be recognized among elite groups when it comes to pediatric cancer.”

“So, not just the work that we’re doing but the future work that can be done not just in the US but also in Rwanda,” Gordon continued. “We hope that is something we can duplicate in other countries.”

“I’ve met people who do great work in other countries and that has intrigued me,” Gordon said. “Now that we’ve done work in Rwanda, I want to look at doing more.”

“I’m interested in other countries that have the same kind of potential with a structured government and a great need.”

“There are many places that need it,” Gordon said. “We try to do everything we do right.”

“Once we feel like we are in place and have our feet solidly on the ground, then we take the next steps to take it to the next level.”

Gordon advised that more announcements about his charitable endeavors in the New Year will be revealed shortly.

“We’re not allowed to announce something that we have coming out in January but I’m very excited about it,” Gordon said. “It’s not an award but being tied to a children’s book that is going to benefit our Foundation.”

“It’s something that I’m proud that they looked at us as a recipient of that.”

On a lighter note, another bit of philanthropy during the Championship week celebrations occurred at NASCAR’s After the Lap. This wide-open, tell-all event hosted by ESPN reported Jamie Little was sold out at Planet Hollywood, with all proceeds benefitting the NASCAR Foundation.

“The first year we did this, it was free to see what kind of feedback and turnout we would get,” After the Lap host Jamie Little said. “When it became such a great event, we started charging $20, with all the proceeds benefitting the NASCAR Foundation, a non-profit that raises funds for children’s charities all over the nation.”

One final moment of charity came when, after a tremendous amount of coaxing from fellow Chase drivers and the After the Lap fans, Denny Hamlin once again reprised his version of the Dougie dance that he had done during driver intros at Bristol earlier in the season. With his busting of moves, Hamlin earned $2,500 for the Foundation that bears his name.

November 30, 2012