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  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Federated Auto Parts 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Federated Auto Parts 400

    [media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”221″][/media-credit]In a race full of twists and turns, including rain delays and wild card drama, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 55th annual running of the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond.

    Surprising:  It was surprising what a dramatically different reaction this driver had to a second place run this weekend as compared to the last.

    Jeff Gordon, piloting the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, went from kicking himself for his second place finish behind Denny Hamlin at Atlanta to being thrilled with his Richmond runner up run, especially since it clinched his wild card spot in the championship Chase.

    Gordon, Alan Gustafson (crew chief), Eddie D’Hondt (spotter) and the entire 24 team demonstrated the ‘never give up’ mantra, taking a car that was admittedly ‘junk’ at the beginning of the race, cutting the chain on the rear sway bar on a pit stop, and getting the car back up through the field after the rain delays to finish in the second spot and secure the final wild card berth in the Chase.

    “We went from last week to being the most disappointed I’ve ever been to finish second to the most excited I’ve ever been to finish second,” Gordon said. “Wow, what a race for us.”

    “I still can’t believe we actually did it.”

    Not Surprising:  As elated as Jeff Gordon was, the driver who fell out of the Chase was equally deflated, if not more so. Errors on pit road, including a lug nut problem that created a lengthy pit stop, cost Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota, the chance to compete for the Cup this year.

    Busch, who finished the race in the 16th position, fell back to the 13th spot in the point standings, losing his wild card berth to Gordon.

    “We missed it,” Busch said simply, after gathering his composure enough to make a brief statement. “That’s it, plain and simple.”

    “There’s no right way to handle this situation.”

    Surprising:  While many were surprised that all four of the Hendrick Motorsports cars scored spots in the Chase, the bigger surprise was that Michael Waltrip Racing achieved a similar feat, getting both of their race cars into Cup contention.

    In fact, one of their drivers, Clint Bowyer, in the No. 15 5-Hour EnergyToyota, powered through an incident with Juan Pablo Montoya and almost running out of gas, to make his way right toVictory Lane.

    “”To win this last race before this Chase is unbelievable,” Bowyer said. “We had a lot of adversity we had to bounce through.”

    “This is a good way to get things bounced back headed into this Chase,” Bowyer continued. “You never give up in this sport.”

    Bowyer’s Michael Waltrip Racing teammate, Martin Truex Jr., also never gave up and achieved his goal of a Chase spot.

    “Man, I feel good,” the driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts MWR Toyota said. “The way our cars are running and as fast as we’ve been the last six or seven weeks, we’re dangerous.”

    “Looking forward to going out and having some fun and hopefully we’ll be in the hunt.”

    Not Surprising:  Although thrilled that the team that bears his name raced two cars into the championship hunt, co-owner Michael Waltrip had another driver and good friend on his mind as he reflected on just how far his team had come over the years.

    “I’m so proud of what we’ve put together,” Waltrip said. “I’m obviously really happy with having two cars in the Chase.”

    “But my inspiration for having a team from the beginning was Dale Earnhardt,” Waltrip continued. “I always wanted to have a team like Dale had.”

    “So anytime something goes good, I always think about what all he meant to me.”

    Surprising:  Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota had a surprising new attitude about not only his race, in which he led 202 laps but finished 18th, but also his bid for the championship.

    “For the most part, I think I’ll just be a lot more relaxed this time around,” Hamlin said. “What do we have to lose?”

    “We’ve never won a championship,” Hamlin continued. “We’re going out there to try to win our first.”

    “I’m going to race week-to-week and just not think about a championship until I get to Homestead.”

    Not Surprising:   While Richmond was good to Stewart Haas Racing, it was not quite good enough to get one of their teams into the Chase.

    Tony Stewart, piloting the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, finished 4th at Richmond and became the 3rd seed in the Chase standings.

    “Really proud of Steve Addington (crew chief) and all of our guys at Stewart-Haas Racing,” Smoke said. “Just proud of the effort tonight.”

    Teammate Ryan Newman, however, did not fare so well. Although he brought his No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet home in the 8th position, he missed out on a spot in the Chase.

    “It’s disappointing,” Newman said. “I don’t really know what to say other than that.”

    “We gave it all we had and we didn’t get the win we needed to make the Chase.”

    Surprising:  One driver who has been admittedly struggling all year had a surprisingly good Richmond run. Jeff Burton, driving the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, finished top-10, in the sixth position to be exact.

    “I’ve been saying week after week how strong this team is getting and we proved that tonight with a hard-fought top-10 finish,”Burton said. “I am happy and proud of everyone.”

    Not Surprising:  Although Kasey Kahne focused mightily on his No. 5 race car all night and into the morning, he was, not surprisingly, focused on another number, four, after the race.

    “Four Hendrick cars in the Chase,” Kahne said. “Four Chevrolets too.”

    Kahne finished 12th at Richmond, but more importantly secured the 11th seed in the Chase, making him one of those four Hendrick Motorsports drivers in the hunt for the championship.

    Surprising:  Ford had a surprisingly divided run to the Chase, with two Fords in and two Fords out. Matt Kenseth, in the No. 17 Best Buy Ford, finished fifth and will be seeded 8th in the Chase. Greg Biffle, in the No. 16 3M Ford, finished 9th and is seeded fifth in the Chase.

    The two Fords out, however, were Carl Edwards in the No. 99 Kellogg’s Ford and Marcos Ambrose in the No. 8 MAC Tools Ford. Edwards finished the Richmond race in the 17th position and Ambrose finished top-15.

    “I’m obviously disappointed,” Edwards said. “We just let too many points get away for a bunch of different reasons.”

    “We will just go try to build the best team we can for next year and try to make sure a Ford wins this championship.”

    “I just tried my hardest,” Ambrose said. “It wasn’t our night.”

    “Obviously we wanted the win, but it wasn’t meant to be.” 

    Not Surprising:  One driver was not only happy to be in the conversation, but has just been plain having fun as well. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished 14th in the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard Chevrolet and picked up the 7th place in the Chase.

    “We ran good,” Junior said. “I’m proud of the effort the whole company put forward this year.”

    “I’ve had an awesome time,” Junior continued. “It’s been so much fun.”

    “We are in the conversation and we’re going to work hard to still be in that conversation at Homestead.”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Advocare 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Advocare 500

    [media-credit name=”Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”232″][/media-credit]From daylight to darkness over the Labor Day holiday weekend, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 53rd annual Advocare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

    Surprising:  While stock car racing often focuses on the skills of the driver, the race winner surprisingly took little credit for his first ever Atlanta win, instead attributing the victory to his crew chief and team.

    Denny Hamlin, in the No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota, scored his 21st career victory and his fourth victory of the 2012 season. And with all that, he locked himself not only into a Chase berth, but a top seed with his multiple victories.

    “This has been something in the works for a very long time,” Hamlin said. “I have a lot of wins in my career because of two very important guys.”

    “One is Darian (Grubb, crew chief) and the other is Mike Ford (Hamlin’s prior crew chief),” Hamlin continued. “Mike put together 80% of a championship winning team, and Darian has just filled that gap and put the rest of the pieces of the puzzle together.”

    “The pit crew nailed it,” Hamlin said of his team’s Atlanta performance. “They were just on it all day long.”

    “I’ve never seen our crew just so happy to be at the race track every single week.”

    Not Surprising:  Yes, regrets they have got a few, particularly runner up Jeff Gordon and fourth place finisher Martin Truex Jr.

    “I’m just mad at myself right now,” the driver of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet said after almost catching the race winner during the green, white, checkered finish. “I guess I’m just getting soft in my old age.”

    “I’m too nice because, I don’t know, 15 years ago I would have just moved him right up the race track,” Gordon continued. “I don’t know why I didn’t do that.”

    In spite of his disappointment, this was Gordon’s 25th top-10 finish in 39 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It is also his 11th top-10 finish for the season.

    The driver of the No. 56 NAPA Shocks Toyota was also full of regrets after leading in the waning laps until the final caution came out for Jamie McMurray’s crash.

    “Just spun the tires,” Truex said of his restart. “It just wasn’t meant to be, I guess.”

    “It’s tough losing when you haven’t won in a long time,” Truex continued. “We were close.”

    “It just sucks we couldn’t get it done tonight.”

    In spite of his regrets about not winning, Truex Jr. did lock himself into the championship Chase, as well as locking into a three year contract continuation with Michael Waltrip Racing.

    Jeff Gordon, on the other hand, moved up one position in the point standings to 13th, but still remains outside of wild card contention and will have to finish ahead of Kyle Busch in the Richmond race in order to capture that Chase spot.

    Surprising:  While usually the first one to grab the microphone and most certainly one of the most verbal drivers, whether in the media center or on the grid, Carl Edwards was surprisingly at a loss for words as his engine, as well as his Chase hopes, seemingly went up in smoke.

    “I don’t even know what to say,” the driver of the No. 99 Subway Ford Fusion said. “This is not the interview I wanted to do after the race.”

    “I love this race track but it looks like a piston or something broke,” Edwards said regarding his engine woes. “It started making noise with about 25 to 30 laps to go.”

    “I mean, I just can’t believe this,” Edwards continued. “That’s just how our season has been going and I don’t know what the reason is.”

    “It’s just hard to put into words.”

    Edwards dropped two positions to 14th in the point standings after his 36th place finish at Atlanta.

    Not Surprising:  In spite of a most bitter Nationwide race battle, involving water bottle throwing and cheek ‘patting’, both drivers put aside their differences to finish top-5 at Atlanta, resulting in two Chase clinches.

    Keselowski, behind the wheel of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, finished third, scoring his second top-10 finish at Atlanta. Harvick, piloting the No. 29 Rheem Chevrolet, finished in the fifth spot.

    And yes, both drivers pronounced their finishes good.

    “Yeah, just a solid night,” Keselowski said. “Once again the 2 team stepped up, made great changes, and we are just proud of that effort.”

    “I’m proud to say we clinched our spot in the Chase.”

    “This was just a great night for our Rheem team,” Harvick said. “Things are going in the right direction and thanks to this solid run, we have clinched a post in the Chase.”

    Surprising:  As if losing one of his primary sponsors, Office Depot, was not enough, Tony Stewart added insult to injury by falling like a rock from his pole starting spot to finish 22nd, one lap down.

    “We just couldn’t get a handle on this thing tonight,” the driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevy said. “I was just to free.”

    “We chased it all night,” Smoke continued. “We’ll go back to the shop, tear it apart and see what the deal is.”

    Stewart remains in the tenth spot in the point standings.

    Not Surprising:   While Stewart struggled, teammate Ryan Newman affirmed his mission after the race, which saw the driver of the No. 39 Army Medicine Chevrolet finish 35th after an on-track incident with five-time champ Jimmie Johnson and fall out of wild card contention.

    “All I know was we ran out of room on the restart there,” Newman said. “It wasn’t my fault but it was just racing.”

    “In the big picture, tonight’s result hurt us relative to the Chase,” Newman continued. “But the US Army soldiers we represent are known for their refusal to accept defeat.”

    “The battle is certainly not over,” Newman said. “Our mission is clear.”

    Surprising:  While Newman may have seen it as just racing and Sam Hornish Jr. was just caught up in it all, Jimmie Johnson seemed surprisingly befuddled by the wreck on Lap 269, as in his mind, he was just easing on down the race track.

    “I think the No. 39 was on the outside and the No. 22 was next to me; we just all converged at one spot,” Johnson said. “All I know is I was riding down the road and left plenty of room on the outside of me and got turned head on into the wall.”

    The driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet finished 34th and fell two positions in the point standings to fourth. Johnson was, however, already locked into the Chase competition.

    Not Surprising:  Danica Patrick can finally claim ‘mission accomplished’ after checking off her ‘to do ‘list’ of finishing the race with all of the fenders intact on her No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet.

    “Yeah, that was what we were supposed to do today,” Patrick said of her 29th finish in her first race at Atlanta in a Cup car. “We were just in that phase of get the laps done, feel it out, run different lines, bring the car home, finish the race and try and learn a bit as we go.”

    “I think that was a good step for me,” Patrick said. “We did what we meant to do.”

    Surprising:  Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s crew chief Steve Letarte has been called many things, but what his current driver called him was a bit surprising.

    “Steve Letarte is really experienced and did a lot of crafty stuff to get us back into position,” Dale Junior said. “That’s about the only thing I think we can take away from that track.”

    The driver of the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard Chevrolet already locked into the championship show, finished 7th in the Atlanta race before the Chase. He now is second in the point standings, just eight points back from leader Greg Biffle.

    Not Surprising:  In spite of the penalty cloud still hanging over their heads, Paul Menard, in the No. 27 Quaker State/Menards Chevrolet, and crew chief Slugger Labbe pulled of an eighth place finish.

    “We kept making the car better,” Menards said. “As the sun went down, we got better, made the right adjustments, and came away with another top-10.”

    Surprising:  Kasey Kahne seemed absolutely surprised that he didn’t fall further than 11th in the points with his 23rd place finish.

    “We just really missed it tonight,” the driver of the No. 5 Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet said. “The harder I drove, the worse I was.”

    “I can’t believe I’m in 11th,” Kahne continued. “I felt like I probably lost 10 spots.”

    “But we’re still in 11th and have two wins and I think we’re sitting decent.”

    Not Surprising:  Forget sexy, Kyle Busch is the wild card and he knows it. And he also knows that Jeff Gordon is most likely the competitor that he will have to beat to keep that wild card standing.

    The driver of the No. 18 Wrigley Doublemint Toyota finished 6th at Atlanta, gaining one position in the point standings to 12th, the second wild card position.

    “Overall the night was good for us,” Busch said. “Had to pass a few cars and got by a few cars to finish sixth.”

    “I’m not saying that I’m for sure going to be in the Chase at all – anything can happen,” Busch continued. “Jeff Gordon is no slouch at Richmond either and I feel like that’s the guy we’re racing.”

    “We’ll just have to see how it all plays out.”

  • Matty’s Picks 2012 – Vol. 21 – Michigan International Speedway – Pure Michigan 400 – August 19, 2012

    Matty’s Picks 2012 – Vol. 21 – Michigan International Speedway – Pure Michigan 400 – August 19, 2012

    The summer tour continues this week in the rolling hills of Michigan for the 43rd Annual Pure Michigan 400. The new racing surface at Michigan International Speedway, produced speeds upwards of 210 mph and sent Goodyear’s engineers back to the drawing board. NASCAR was forced to circle the wagons and have a fleet of new Goodyear tires caravanned up to MIS from Charlotte as a result of the blistering speeds. The tires held up and the race at MIS nine weeks ago turned out to be a far cry from the traditional strung out boring-ness that races at Michigan tended to produce.

    Drivers are loving the new surface at Michigan, and with a two-groove racing surface coming into play this weekend, side-by-side racing is surely on the menu this week.

    Watkins Glen Recap

    It was a wild one last week at Watkins Glen, but in the end I was proved wrong by the recent ‘Master of The Glen’, Marcos Ambrose.

    I went out on a limb last week and said it would not be one of the two ‘Road Course Specialists’ in Victory Lane last week, and had that statement shoved in my face on the final lap of the Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen. My Winner Pick, Brad Kesolowski fought hard all day last week and fell victim to the bold driving of Marcos Ambrose on the final lap last week.

    The oil down on the track at the conclusion of the race on Sunday was the main story.

    “Well the 18, (who was leading the race at the start of the final lap) was oil. Look like he had something wrong there and had the whole track slick as hell. You couldn’t drive it; it was undriveable…Then it came down to just running a whole lap against Marcos. I got in the oil and we’d slip up. He’d get by me and then he’d get in the oil and I’d get by him. Just really good, hard racing; some beating and banging. I think its the way racing should be.” Brad Keselowski said about the situation.

    My Dark Horse pick last week considers Watkins Glen International to be one of his ‘Hometown Tracks’. The Mayetta, NJ native started ninth and finished tenth in Sunday’s 90-lap NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International. Quickly climbing through the top-10, Martin Truex Jr. made his way all the way up to third by lap 27. A mid-race mishap for the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota (an empty fuel tank), put the kibosh on Truex’s bid for the victory at the 2.45-mile road course.

    Truex commented after the race “We dodged a big bullet there with a 10th-place finish. We had a good car. The NAPA Toyota was fast. We were running third and one lap from pitting and we ran out of gas and the caution came out. So, when we pitted we had to go to the tail end of the longest line and I think there were only 25 laps to go and we were in the tail end of the longest line. We had to pass a lot of cars to get back to 10th.”

    Michigan Picks

    I’m very glad I’m finishing this week’s column today rather than yesterday. With the drama of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice this morning, my picks would have been far different had I written my column yesterday, rather than today.

    Winner Pick

    Dale Jr. was the guy I was looking at for the win before this morning’s practice session, but with Jr. forced to a backup car following a spin in practice, it would be a true underdog victory tomorrow afternoon for the No. 88 team. To make things worse for the Steve Latarte and Dale Jr., the wreck happened with less than ten minutes remaining in Final Practice, leaving no time for adjustments to the Hendrick Motorsports backup car.

    With the Dale Jr. drama unfolding this morning, I have no choice but to turn to a guy with two wins under his belt at Michigan International Speedway. He’s currently second in points, and has just one win this season. He’s had an up and down last few weeks, and needs a win for seeding purposes for this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup. Greg Biffle was fastest in each of the two final practice sessions this weekend at MIS, and has a great looking car for tomorrow’s Pure Michigan 400.

    Dark Horse Pick

    Reagan Smith is riding a great looking Furniture Row/Farm American Chevrolet this week into Michigan, and is coming off back-to-back top tens at the two tracks closest to his hometown of Cato, NY. Michigan International Speedway has not been the kindest of racetracks for Reagan Smith, but that’s not to say he can not change that this week. He boasts a best finish of thirteenth at the two-miler, but was shown eighth fastest on the speed charts this morning in Final Practice. Smith will start the Pure Michigan 400 from the eighteenth starting spot, so he’s got some work to do on Sunday to leave Michigan with a solid finish.

    That’s all for this week, so until next time….You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen

    [media-credit id=24 align=”alignright” width=”224″][/media-credit]In spite of a few drops of rain and much discussion about oil on the track in the waning laps, here is what else was surprising and not surprising for the 27th annual Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen.

    Surprising:  Although this two-time winner at the Glen was far from home, in fact about as far away as one can possibly be, he felt right at home, relishing his triumph with his family from down under in Victory Lane.

    Australian Marcos Ambrose, driving the No. 9 Stanley Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports, scored his first victory of the season and his second win in 141 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

    “My kids haven’t shared this in America and it’s a special thing to win a NASCAR race, especially a Sprint Cup race, so it’s fantastic,” Ambrose said of having his children with him in Victory Lane and the media center post-race. “I’ve got my in-laws sitting in the back here too.”

    Although Ambrose was surrounded by family, his thoughts were with his family who could not be with him to celebrate.

    “My dad is in the hospital right now, so I hope this makes him feel better and gets him going,” Ambrose continued. “It’s a tough life when you’re racing , especially I’m from Australia and my immediate family is down home and I feel a long way away a lot of days.”

    “It’s great to have my family here and great to let them celebrate with me,” Ambrose said. “These days don’t come around every day.”

    Not Surprising:  Ever the hard core racer, it was no surprise to see Brad Keselowski so completely jazzed with his runner up finish after beating and banging with Ambrose all the way to the checkered flag.

    This was the second top-10 finish in three races at Watkins Glen International for the driver of the Miller Lite Blue Deuce for Penske Racing. It was also Keselowski’s 12th top-10 finish of the season.

    “That’s what racing is supposed to be right there; a little bit of bumping and rubbing but none of that intentional wrecking BS,” Keselowski said. “It came down to just running a whole lap against Marcos.”

    “I got in the oil and we’d slip up,” Keselowski continued. “He’d get by me and then he’d get in the oil and I’d get by him.”

    “It’s great to race against guys like Marcos that you can run on, lean on and don’t lose their cool,” Keselowski said. “I think that’s the way racing should be.”

    Surprising:  They may be teammates and even share a Hendrick Motorsports garage, but Jimmie Johnson took advantage of his teammate Dale Junior’s slip up to not only finish third in the race, but also snatch the points lead away from him.

    “I just got in the corner and made a mistake and that was pretty much all there was to it,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet said. “I was just overdriving the car.”

    “It was a bad ugly finish at the end.”

    Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Cortez Silver Chevrolet, deemed the finish “chaotic” as well.

    “But I’m glad we got back to the finish line and finished third,” Johnson continued. “Very solid day for this Lowe’s team.”

    “I’m excited to be leading the points.”

    Not Surprising:  In spite of one Earnhardt Ganassi Racing driver sitting on the pole and the other re-signing with the team, both EGR drivers had yet another rough day at the race track.

    Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, secured his second pole in a row, last week at Pocono and this week at the Glen. Mechanical troubles, however, sidelined JPM, relegating him to a 33rd place finish.

    “I think it was the lower control arm,” Montoya said. “We got the last two poles and I did think we had a car to win today.”

    “It was looking really good; everything looked like it was going according to the plan,” Montoya continued. “All of a sudden I hit a curb and the car went completely left on me.”

    Teammate Jamie McMurray, fresh off inking his signature on his new contract with the team, also struggled. Jamie Mac hit the Armco barrier so hard that it left its impression on the driver’s side door of his No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet.

    “It just happened all of a sudden,” McMurray said. “The tire blew out and we hit the guardrail pretty hard.”

    Surprising:  While the Queen may have had her James Bond moment at the Olympics, there was one such moment at the Glen, with the wild card spots being definitely ‘shaken, not stirred.’

    The two drivers whose Chase chances were most shaken were both Kyle Busch and four-time champion Jeff Gordon.

    Busch, behind the wheel of his No. 18 M&Ms Toyota, looked like he would notch another win until he tangled with Brad Keselowski and got shuffled back to seventh at the race end. That win would have moved Busch into the second wild-card spot in the Chase.

    “I’ve got nothing good to say,” was Busch’s only post-race comment. He later posted on Facebook, “Can it get any worse?”

    The other driver shaken in the Chase was Jeff Gordon, behind the wheel of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet. He too was headed for at least a top-10 finish until he slid in oil and wrecked on the last lap, finishing 21st.

    Gordon lost two spots in the Chase standings, falling to 15th.

    “I’m pretty bummed,” Gordon said after the race. “We didn’t have the day I thought we were going to have.”

    Not Surprising:   While brother Kyle struggled at the Glen, so too did big brother Kurt Busch. Busch, driving the No. 51 Phoenix Racing Construction Services Chevrolet, had a mechanical problem, blew a tire, and headed to the garage.

    “These guys work way too hard for these mechanical things to happen,” Busch said. “Sometimes these things just add up and we are just on the wrong side of the eight-ball.”

    Surprising:  For the second race in a row, Denny Hamlin suffered problems on the track that entailed another quick exit from his No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota.

    “I have a thing with wrecks and fires here lately,” Hamlin said. “I was fine until once again I started feeling the heat and looked down and saw the fire at my feet.”

    “Once I got fire on me, I decided to stop at the nearest fire station,” Hamlin continued. “It’s unfortunate but an overall bad weekend for us.”

    Not Surprising:  Regan Smith, driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Farm American Chevrolet, had another top 10 finish for himself and the team. Smith, who finished ninth at Pocono last weekend, replicated it again at the Glen.

    This was also his first career top-10 finish on a road course.

    “I am happy to come away with a top-10,” Smith said. “I am very proud of this team and very excited about what we’ve been able to accomplish recently.”

    “We’re on the right track and that’s encouraging.”

    Surprising:  Something that is surprisingly not heard often was heard at the road course this weekend. Veteran driver Jeff Burton was black flagged for failing to maintain minimum speed.

    “Once again, bad luck found us, this time it was in the form of a fuel pump issue,” the driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet said. Burton soldiered on to finish 30th.

    Not Surprising:  Michael Waltrip Racing teammates Clint Bowyer and Martin Truex Jr. conquered nerves and dodged bullets respectively to both finish in the top-10 on the road course.

    “That was some slick racing the last few laps,” Bowyer, behind the wheel of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota, said. “We were sliding everywhere.”

    “It was kind of fun, but it was pretty nerve-wracking.”

    “Man, it was rough,” teammate Truex, Jr., driving the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, said after running out of gas with 25 laps to go. “Those kinds of days when you make mistakes, you’ve got to battle back.”

    “We dodged a big bullet be being able to come back through the field like that.”

    Surprising:  Tony Stewart, driving the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, made a surprising and uncharacteristic error on a road course, spinning on lap 71 after being second in the race running order.

    Smoke backed into the Armco barrier, significantly shortening up the car. He went on to rally after repairs from 29th to finish 19th.

    “Sorry guys,” Stewart said. “I gave it away there.”

    Not Surprising:   On the flip side, Stewart Haas Racing teammate Ryan Newman said a big hello to the wild card spot in the Chase. The driver of the No. 39 US Army Chevrolet finished 11th to move up to 13th in the point standings, just 49 points out of the 10th position.

    “In the end, it was a good day for us in the points, which was what we needed to make the Chase,” Newman said. “That’s our mission and we’re going to have to fight it out these next four races.”

    “Just like our Army Strong soldiers, we’re a determined bunch and we’re not going to give up.”

     

  • Matty’s Picks 2012 – Vol. 20 – Straight From The Glen Watkins Glen International – Pennsylvania 400 – August 12, 2012

    Matty’s Picks 2012 – Vol. 20 – Straight From The Glen Watkins Glen International – Pennsylvania 400 – August 12, 2012

    This week we travel back to the place that was the start of my NASCAR days. It’s a track near and dear to my heart, and will no matter where life takes me, it will always have a special place in my heart as my ‘Hometown Track’. Watkins Glen International may not be the most famous stock car track in the world, but it produces some of the best beating and banging NASCAR has to offer.

    If you remember back to 2011’s ‘Monday in the mist’ at Watkins Glen International, the drivers of the NASCAR Sprint Cup series put on one of the most exciting spectacles of the 2011 season. A late-race crash involving David Reutimann forced a revaluation of the safety measures around the 2.45-mile road course. Watkins Glen International has taken tremendous strides in improving driver safety, and the fan experience alike. The towering grandstands erected on the outside of Turn 1 here at Watkins Glen International caught my eye on my way in, and I am excited to check out the new setups around the track. The two road courses on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule often tend to be overlooked by most fans in terms of vacation destinations, but I encourage all race fans to visit a road course and see what these facilities have to offer.

    My first memories of WGI involve standing on a trash can on the inside of Turn 11 while my father tried to time a photo just right in order to capture a snapshot of The Intimidator and one of his biggest fans in the same frame. SpeedwayMedia.com Editor, Ed Coombs taught me the art of obtaining autographs outside the motor-coach lots as a young teenager. Ron Hornaday invited me inside the fences into his motor-coach for a quick autograph and meet and greet, and I learned very quickly during my first trip inside the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Garage that when a NASCAR Official blow their whistle, PAY ATTENTION! I’ve come leaps and bounds as a photo journalist, but still manage to get scolded every now and again in the Media Center for “not paying attention to what you’re doing”.Watkins Glen is truly a weekend I have circled on my calendar each year, and will always bring me back to my first memories as a young NASCAR fan.

    Adding to the excitement of my weekend here at Watkins Glen International is the camaraderie of attending a NASCAR race with thirty to forty of your closest racing friends and family. My family and I will be making our 18th consecutive trip to Watkins Glen International this year, and with a crew larger than ever before. I’m excited to announce my younger brothers, (yes both of them), will be receiving their Eagle Scout Award, the highest honor in Scouting, on Sunday in Gatorade Victory Lane here at Watkins Glen International. As a fellow Eagle Scout, and the second of four in my family, I am truly proud for both Christopher and Nicholas LaFlair in receiving such a great honor in such a great atmosphere. More to follow on this great honor, but I’d like to thank Track-President, Michael Printup, and Elizabeth Mayer, Public Relations Manager, for allowing such a special ceremony to take place amidst the jam-packed competition schedule this weekend here at WGI. You’ve really made a dream come true for my family, Troop 709, and the entire Scouting community.

    Pocono Recap

    First, I’d like to send along my thoughts and prayers to those affected by the tragic lightning strikes last week at Pocono Raceway. I am extremely saddened by this story and pass my condolences on to the families involved, and hope for a speedy recovery to those injured by the fierce storms that wreaked havoc on race fans exiting Pocono Raceway following the Pennsylvania 400.

    I’ll make the recap section short this week as yet again, there’s not much to talk about other than the poor luck I’ve had this season…

    My Winner Pick was Denny Hamlin last week, one of the most decorated drivers to come out of Pocono Raceway with four wins, eight top-fives, and nine top-tens, in just thirteen prior starts at the Tricky Triangle. Completing my picks before last Saturday’s qualifying session, I was excited that my Winner Pick would start the Pennsylvania 400 on the outside of the front row. My glory was short lived after the No. 11 FedEx Toyota quickly slipped through the field after gaining the top spot on just the second lap. Hamlin struggled with the handling of his car for the remainder of the day, and finally met his fate on the lap-91 wreck that brought an early end to the No. 11 team’s day. Hamlin collected points for finishing in the 29th position.

    My Dark Horse pick last week is a seasoned veteran to Pocono Raceway, but in now 52 starts at the Tricky Triangle, he is still winless. Mark Martin used a pit strategy different than the rest of the field to help him finish just outside the top ten in the twelfth position. He appeared in the top five for some of the 91 lap sprint, but the majority of Mark Martin’s day last week was spent in the middle of the pack. Another week of picks, and another week with nothing to show for my efforts.

    Watkins Glen Picks

    Well, it’s been raining here at Watkins Glen International pretty much all day so I have minimal practice speeds or insider info to pass along here from The Glen. With that, I will try and make some picks based off of historical statistics, the possibility of qualifying being rained out, a few speeds , and gut feeling.

    Winner Pick

    There are two guys that are ‘road course specialists’ and everyone will be looking at come Sunday afternoon, but it will not be either Juan Pablo Montoya not Marcos Ambrose that will visit Victory Lane following Sunday’s Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen. My winner pick this week finished in the runner-up spot in last year here at Watkins Glen International, and finished twelfth in this seasons’ other Road Course race at Sonoma. Brad Kesolowski has really come into his own this season as a driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series, and winning a Road Course would only add to his impressive racing resume. His car is shown third on the speed charts so far in this abbreviated practice session today, and he rides a streak of five consecutive top tens into the Finger Lakes dating back to his third win of the season at Kentucky. I love to watch this guy drive, and he’s certain to put on a show Sunday Afternoon.

    Dark Horse Pick

    My Dark Horse this week finds himself fifth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points standings, and is also coming into Central New York off a season-best finish last week in Pocono. Though he may not be the driver with a hometown closest to Watkins Glen International, Martin Truex Jr. still considers WGI one of his hometown tracks. “I’m just excited to be here. I really enjoy the road course racing, especially here at Watkins Glen.” Said Truex, earlier today here at The Glen. “This is a place that is pretty special to me coming up here as a kid watching my dad race and then running some Busch North races up here. It’s one of the tracks that is kind of special to me, like New Hampshire and Dover. So, I’m looking forward to the race this weekend.” He finished fourth here last year, and is another guy who has really shown he should be mentioned in talks with the series front-runners.

    That’s all for now from Watkins Glen, but be sure to stay tuned all weekend for more updates and live action from my weekend here in the Finger Lakes. For up to the minute action, be sure to follow me on Twitter @ML_B_Lo.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Pennsylvania 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Pennsylvania 400

    [media-credit id=26 align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Under stormy skies that unfortunately ultimately proved fatal for one race fan, here is what was surprising and not so surprising from the Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway.

    Surprising:  It was surprising just how quickly the NASCAR family came together after several fans were struck by lightning at the track and one was killed. Pocono Raceway has established the Pennsylvania 400 Memorial Fund to benefit the victims of the lightning strike.

    Donations are being accepted at any PNC branch or by mailing checks or money order to the Pennsylvania 400 Memorial Fund, Pocono Raceway, 1234 Long Pond Road, Long Pond, PA 18334.

    Not Surprising:  After a weekend of Heisman honors and birthday celebrations, the winner of the Pennsylvania 400 had just one thought on his mind.

    Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, was grateful to have his family with him to celebrate his first victory of the season.

    “Today was an amazing victory experience, probably one of the best in my career because with the rain, the lightning, wind blowing sideways, everything going on, you know; I was just so excited to be able to have my family here,” Jeff Gordon said. “It’s the first time I’ve had all of them here for a victory.”

    “I didn’t care if it was under the shed or in the garage,” Gordon continued. “Even my wife, she’s not been able to experience all those wins. I want her to feel what it’s like.”

    “Ella is getting to the age where it’s exciting,” Gordon said. “Leo was able to hold up his finger, No. 1, so that was cool.”

    “This is one that I’m not going to forget.”

    Surprising:  It was surprising how verbose and a bit resigned Kyle Busch was after having yet another tough day at the track. The driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota finished a miserable 33rd and fell out of Chase contention, losing four spots to 15th place in the points.

    “We just blew out the rear brake rotors – disintegrated it and then blew out the rear caliper after that,” Busch said. “Getting down into Turn One with a three-wheel brake is about the worst situation you can have as a race car driver.”

    “I just hate it for all of these guys,” Busch continued. “We had a really fast race car today.”

    “It’s just the way it seems to be, but the way our year has gone,” Busch said. “It’s just inevitable to have something every week happen.”

    “We hoped we had shaken it but obviously it’s not to be.”

    Not Surprising:  Big brother Kurt Busch had absolutely nothing to say after his check in at the infield care center post hitting the wall hard at Pocono Raceway on Lap 86.

    The driver of the No. 51 Phoenix Construction Services Chevrolet finished 30th. Kurt Busch is now 25th in the point standings.

    Surprising:  The driver who never seems to stop improving, just like his sponsor, had an uncharacteristic moment that changed the course of the race at Pocono.

    Jimmie Johnson, behind the wheel of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, was leading the race when he tangled with competitor Matt Kenseth, taking out the leaders of the pack and allowing teammate Jeff Gordon to drive through for the win.

    “I thought it was just junk on my tires,” Johnson said. “And when I got into Turn 1, I realized quickly that it was a flat and it wasn’t trash on my tires.”

    “I don’t think he had a flat, did he?,” Kenseth said of Johnson. “We went off into Turn 1 and I could hear his pipes (roaring). I’m not sure he has lifted yet.”

    “He just drove in really, really, really, really far and spun out underneath me and I got wrecked.”

    Johnson came in 14th while Kenseth finished 23rd in his No. 17 Zest Ford.

    Not Surprising:   Martin Truex Jr., driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing continued his quiet ascension up the Chase standings, up two positions to the fifth spot. Truex Jr., from nearby New Jersey, finished 3rd at Pocono.

    “We had a pretty good car all weekend long,” Truex Jr. said. “We were really fast at the end.”

    “I’m proud of the team for what we’ve done and what we’ve accomplished,” Truex Jr. continued. “To be where we’re at; this is a big deal for us.”

    Surprising:  At a track he has so often mastered and one where he just announced his impending fatherhood, Denny Hamlin had a surprisingly terrible finish at Pocono.

    The driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry struggled all day and was caught up in the late race accident with Johnson and Kenseth to finish 29th.

    Hamlin also spent some extended time in the infield care center receiving medical evaluation because of stomach pain. He was treated and eventually released.

    “The leaders got in trouble and next thing you know, one of the cars slid right in front of me and that was about the end of it,” Hamlin said. “We weren’t going to win anyway and at this point, all we’re racing for is wins.”

    “I had some pains in my stomach, but they’ve subsided.”

    Not Surprising:  The impending storm off the track was Kasey Kahne’s friend on the track as he finished second even with a flat tire and a stormy pit stop, where he ran over his air hose and lost precious time in his stall.

    “I felt good about where we were,” Kahne said. “I am a little upset with myself and the way I ran the race, but we definitely had a great Farmers Insurance Chevrolet and ended up with a great result.”

    Surprising:  Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who looked so strong at the start of the race, even taking the lead early, had surprising transmission problems that ended his consecutive laps run streak for the season.

    Even with that 32nd place finish, however, Junior was surprisingly able to hang on to the points lead due to Kenseth’s wreck at the end of the race. He is now just 5 points ahead on the Chase leader board.

    “We don’t ever break parts,” the driver of the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew/AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet said. “It’s tough.”

    “We had a good run going and I’m sorry for all the guys in the shop.”

    Not Surprising:  The Stewart Haas Racing duo of Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman had a good day at the ‘Tricky Triangle’, finishing fifth and sixth respectively.

    “I’m really proud of Steve Addington (crew chief) and these guys,” the driver of the No. 14 Office Depot Back to School Chevrolet said. “We didn’t necessarily throw a Hail Mary at it, but we kind of went back to where we started and worked from that.”

    “I’m really proud of Steve for finding the package that we ran.”

    “A good solid day,” the driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation/Quicken Loans Chevrolet, said. “We needed that.”

    “And another top-10.”

    Surprising:  Regan Smith, driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Farm American Chevrolet, who has had a rough 2012, had a surprisingly good run at Pocono, finishing ninth. This was his first top-10 finish in quite a while at the track.

    “We had a good car this weekend and it got even better as the race went on,” Smith said. “It’s a great feeling in our Furniture Row camp to have the kind of performances we’ve had the last two weekends.”

    “We’re moving along with plenty of enthusiasm right now and feel that we’re in the process of turning things around.”

    Not Surprising:  While Martin Truex Jr. had a great run at Pocono, so too did the rest of the Michael Waltrip Racing team.

    Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota Camry and star of the Pocono tweet-up, finished 8th, and teammate Mark Martin, in the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota, finished 12th.

    “We’ll take it,” Bowyer said.

    “We had a fast car,” Martin said. “A 12th place finish isn’t too bad.”

  • Jeff Gordon Weathers Storm to Win Pennsylvania 400

    [media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”241″][/media-credit]In a race delayed by rain at the start and then called later for severe thunderstorms, one driver weathered the storms to collect his first victory of the season.

    Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, won the rain-shortened race, with torrential rain, blinding wind, thunder and lightning heralding his official celebration.

    The win tops an action-packed weekend for the Hendrick Motorsports driver, who earlier collected the Heisman Trophy Humanitarian Award and celebrated his 41st birthday. Crew chief Alan Gustafson also celebrated his birthday on race day.

    This was Gordon’s 86th victory in 674 Cup races and he is third on the all-time series wins list. But sweeter still is that this is Gordon’s first win of the season and his ninth top-10 finish in 2012.

    Although wild weather this weekend, Pocono Raceway has been smooth sailing for Gordon. This is his sixth victory at the ‘Tricky Triangle’ and he is now the sole proprietor of the all-time Pocono win list.

    With the victory, Gordon moves to second in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup wild card standings.

    “Pocono has been a special place for us,” Gordon said. “It’s been an interesting year to say the least.”

    “We’ve had some trying times,” Gordon continued. “We’ve had cars capable of winning and things didn’t go our way, so to see this race unfold the way it did certainly makes up for those would have, could have, should haves.”

    “Today we got the win and it’s nice to know that things can still go our way.”

    What meant the most to Gordon, however, was that his family, his wife Ingrid Vandebosch and children Ella and Leo, were there to celebrate with him.

    “With the wind, rain and lightning, I was so excited to have all my family here,” Gordon said. “I didn’t care if Victory Lane was in a shed.”

    “That experience means more to me than anything else.”

    “Obviously that was a great day for us,” Alan Gustafson, crew chief, said. “We didn’t have the fastest car but we did have a good enough car to get a win. It all worked out our way.”

    Along with Gordon in the first wild card position is now teammate Kasey Kahne. The driver of the No. 5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet finished in the runner up spot, even with a flat right rear tire and some miscues in the pits.

    This was Kahne’s sixth top-10 finish in 18 races at Pocono and his 11th top-10 finish for the season.

    “We had a great car,” Kahne said. “The Hendrick power is something else here on these straightaways.”

    “I made a mistake on pit road, slid over the hose, and it cost us a lot of time and a couple of positions,” Kahne continued. “Jeff got a little better restart and got in front of me when the field wrecked in front of us and he won the race.”

    “And we came in second,” Kahne said. “It was a solid day for us car-wise.”

    New Jersey native Martin Truex Jr., in the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, posted his fifth top-10 finish in 14 races at Pocono. He scored the third place finish in the 39th Annual Pennsylvania 400.

    Truex Jr. commented that the weather was a ‘monsoon’ and that he had to move quickly through his post-race media obligations.

    “Newman told me ‘one word answers’ because he’s waiting on me and we’ve got to go,’ Truex Jr. said. “It was a good race for NAPA Toyota.”

    “Once we got going out there, we were the fastest car on the track,” Truex Jr. continued. “Obviously we got a little bit lucky because a lot of those guys wrecked.”

    “All in all a good day for us.”

    Storms brewed for the Busch brothers, both of whom had close encounters with the wall. Kyle Busch, driving the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota, brought out the first caution on Lap 20 and brother Kurt, behind the wheel of the No. 51 Phoenix Construction Services Chevrolet, brought out the second caution on Lap 87.

    While Kurt Busch was whisked away without comment from the infield care center after his hard hit, Kyle Busch had plenty to share as his team worked feverishly on his car to get him back on the track.

    “We just blew out the rear brake rotors – – disintegrated it and then blew out the rear caliper after that,” Kyle Busch said. “Getting down into Turn One with a three-wheel brake is about the worst situation you can have as a race car driver.”

    “I kept trying to pump it to keep feeding pressure to the rest of the three wheels to keep it off the fence, but just couldn’t do it,” Busch continued. “I hate it for all of these guys. We had a really fast race car today.”

    Busch admitted that this did nothing but hurt him in the point standings. And he knows that a win will be a necessity going forward.

    “We’re obviously not going to make the top-10 so if we get a win great we’ll make the Chase,” Busch said. “If not, we’ll probably miss it.”

    Points leader Dale Earnhardt, Jr. also had a stormy day at the ‘Tricky Triangle.’  The driver of the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew/AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet lost a transmission and finished 32nd.

    “We didn’t have third or fourth gear, so we had to change the transmission,” Junior said. “After qualifying it was fine, but when the race started it was a bit of a vibration and started missing some shifts.”

    “We had a good run going,” Junior continued. “I’m sorry to all the guys at the shop and I hope we get a win for one of our cars.”

    The other major drama of the race occurred in the waning laps just before the storms hit. On Lap 92, the race leaders got into one another, causing a wreck that involved Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Burton and Jimmie Johnson.

    “Well on that last restart, Turn One actually widened out pretty good and we took off,” Kenseth, driving the No. 17 Zest Ford, said. “The 2 didn’t get going and I had a pretty good gap so I crossed the line and was going to pull behind Jimmie (Johnson) and when I pulled down to go behind him I got a little draft and actually pulled up to his door.”

    “So, I decided to race him through there and we went off into One and I could hear his pipes,” Kenseth continued. “I wasn’t sure he lifted. He drove in really, really far and spun out underneath me and I got wrecked.”

    “You don’t mind if something happens it is just a bummer when it takes you out after you are running top three all day and finish 22nd or wherever we are,” Kenseth said. “That is very disappointing and it is hard to look at the bright spot in that.”

    Rounding out the top-five finishers in the Pennsylvania 400 were Brad Keselowski, in the No. 2 Miller Lite Doge, who finished fourth, and Tony Stewart, in the No. 14 Office Depot Back to School Chevrolet, who finished fifth.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Pennsylvania 400, Pocono Raceway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=21
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 27 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 47
    2 4 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 43
    3 15 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 41
    4 31 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 41
    5 28 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 39
    6 9 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 38
    7 17 99 Carl Edwards Ford 37
    8 19 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 36
    9 11 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 35
    10 5 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 34
    11 3 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 33
    12 18 55 Mark Martin Toyota 32
    13 14 20 Joey Logano Toyota 31
    14 10 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 32
    15 12 16 Greg Biffle Ford 29
    16 25 22 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 0
    17 21 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 27
    18 16 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 27
    19 13 43 Aric Almirola Ford 25
    20 1 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 25
    21 26 38 David Gilliland Ford 23
    22 23 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 22
    23 7 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 22
    24 24 10 David Reutimann Chevrolet 20
    25 37 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 19
    26 22 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 18
    27 39 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 17
    28 32 34 David Ragan Ford 16
    29 2 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 16
    30 6 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 15
    31 41 32 Jason White Ford 0
    32 8 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 13
    33 20 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 11
    34 36 30 David Stremme Toyota 10
    35 29 13 Casey Mears Ford 9
    36 38 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0
    37 34 26 Josh Wise * Ford 7
    38 42 36 Tony Raines Chevrolet 6
    39 30 119 Mike Bliss Toyota 0
    40 35 37 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 4
    41 43 98 Mike Skinner Ford 0
    42 40 191 Reed Sorenson Ford 0
    43 33 23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 1
  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Lenox Industrial Tools 301

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Lenox Industrial Tools 301

    [media-credit name=”Kirk Schroll” align=”alignright” width=”242″][/media-credit]While not surprising that conversation still swirled around A.J. Allmendinger and his failed drug test, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 20th running of the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    Surprising:  Race winning crew chiefs do not usually look at getting a manicure as part of their post-race celebratory plans. But Kenny Francis, crew chief for the winning No. 5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet driven by Kasey Kahne, may have to do just that.

    “I bit off all my fingernails,” Francis said, after watching the battle between his driver and a hard-charging Denny Hamlin. “At least I have two weeks for them to grow back.”

    “Yeah, from the pit box, we had a pretty good car all day,” Francis continued. “Fortunately we were able to finish it off and outrun him to the finish.”

    This was the No. 5 team’s second victory for car owner Linda Hendrick and the first ever trip to Victory Lane for driver Kasey Kahne at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    Not Surprising:  As in all relationships, one of the biggest issues causing trouble is the failure to communicate. Not surprisingly, a failure to communicate, in this case between driver and crew chief, actually cost the No. 11 team a chance to win at the ‘Magic Mile’.

    “We made our bed by taking those four tires,” Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota, said. “Darian (Grubb, crew chief) wanted to take two (tires) – I told him I just needed tires and that was it.”

    “He took it that I needed four tires,” Hamlin continued. “It was just a little miscommunication that turned into a second-place finish.”

    Hamlin, who started from the third spot, was the highest finishing Toyota driver and led five times for a race-high 150 laps of the 301 mile race.

    Surprising:  It was a matter of surprising seconds that both helped and hurt one race team at New Hampshire this weekend. Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, scored the pole position for the race by just 0.003 seconds.

    Timing, however, came back to bite him when he sped by seconds on pit road and never really recovered. Busch, after leading 65 laps, finished the race in the 16th position.

    “It was a tough day for the Interstate Batteries Toyota,” Dave Rogers, crew chief, said. “We got caught speeding the first run there – that wasn’t Kyle’s fault.”

    “We calculate the RPM we’re supposed to run,” Rogers continued. “Gave Kyle the wrong number and he sped and that got us behind from the beginning.”

    “Then we were trying to play catch-up all day long.”

    Not Surprising:  When it comes to flat, shorter tracks, it is not surprising that talk turns to tire wear. And some drivers, particularly four-time champion Jeff Gordon, had some thoughts to share on this issue after the race.

    “Yeah, I’m really disappointed in today,” Gordon, who finished sixth in the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet, said. “This tire, I tell you, Goodyear has got to go back to the drawing board.”

    “They came here with a new tire and it is not a very good tire,” Gordon continued. “I think they know it and I’m hoping that they can come up with something a little bit better than this.”

    Surprising:  At a track where he once was dominant, and in fact led every lap for one race, it was surprising to see Jeff Burton run so poorly. The driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet had problems on pit road, went down a lap and finished 21st.

    “We had a pit road incident early in the race that really set us back,” Burton said. “We had a top-12 car throughout the day, but couldn’t get a caution when we needed it.”

    “The speed was there but those long green-flag runs hurt us trying to get that lap back.”

    Not Surprising:  Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who should definitely be known as ‘Mr. Consistent’, kept up his stretch of consecutive laps finished and pulled off another good run at New Hampshire.

    The driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet finished fourth in the race and is now just 16 points behind Chase standing leader Matt Kenseth.

    “We’re running strong,” Dale Junior said. “I’m really happy with how many points we’re gaining every week and what we’re doing consistently.”

    “We’ve found speed and improved.”

    Surprising:  One driver who desperately needed a good run to stay in championship contention had a surprisingly difficult day.  Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford Fusion, finished 18th and remained stuck in the 11 position in points, with no wins to his credit.

    Edwards finished so poorly that another surprise occurred after the race. Crew chief Bob Osborne was replaced by Chad Norris, who has been with Roush Fenway Racing since 2005 and has led the team’s research and development efforts since 2011.

    “Our commitment to winning a championship with the No. 99 in 2012 has not waivered,” Jack Roush, team owner said. “I’m committed to providing the resources to Carl and to his team to do that.”

    “This restructuring of Bob’s role and the introduction of Chad Norris as the crew chief for the No. 99 will put us in the best possible position for these final seven races before the Chase begins.”

    Not Surprising:   No one could blame new father Kevin Harvick for not only focusing on the race but also having baby Keelan on his mind. The driver of the No. 29 Rheem Chevrolet finished eighth after battling handling issues throughout the race.

    “I’m really proud of the entire Rheem crew and the effort they put in today, but we couldn’t figure out the right set up to get out front,” Harvick said. “We finished about where we should have.”

    “I’m looking forward to the off weekend,” Harvick continued. “It couldn’t have come at a better time and it will be great to spend time at home with my wife and newborn son.”

    Surprising:    It is not often when you hear a driver admit to struggling mightily with a particular issue on his race car. But Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M/Post-It Ford Fusion did just that, in spite of finishing ninth and being the highest Ford finisher of the New Hampshire race.

    “I’m a terrible driver when it comes to taking care of the brakes,” Biff said. “It’s got to be me because we’ve done everything under the sun, but about halfway through I lost my brakes and that’s about all I could do.”

    “Off the green, it would come back and haul like crazy, but then I just had to keep giving it up,” Biffle continued. “It was just a case of brakes.”

    Not Surprising:  Michael Waltrip Racing continues to be synonymous with good runs, with all three of the team cars in the top-15 in the running order.

    Clint Bowyer, driving the No. 15 5-hour Energy Toyota, was up on the wheel and finished third, while Martin Truex Jr. finished 11th and Brian Vickers finished 15th.

    “All in all, it was a good weekend for our 5-hour Energy Toyota,” Bowyer said. “It was a good way to get things turned around.”

    “After the last two weeks of getting wrecked, it felt good to get a good finish.”

    Surprising:  Although it was hot at the track where the driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet has won before, Tony Stewart surprisingly struggled, finishing 12th in contrast to his second place finish last year.

    “We just had no grip out there,” Stewart said. “Steve (Addington, crew chief) made one last change there at the end, and it definitely helped.”

    “We were finally able to make up some ground.”

    Not Surprising:  There was no magic for the Earnhardt Ganassi Race team at the ‘Magic Mile’.  Jamie McMurray, behind the wheel of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Allstate Chevrolet, finished 20th and his teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, driving the N. 42 Degree Chevrolet, finished 25th.

    “To tell you the truth, today was rough,” Montoya said. “We struggled all weekend.”

    “Today was a tough day for our Bass Pro Shops team,” McMurray reiterated. “We battled some handling issues early on in the race but we never gave up and brought home a lead lap finish.”

    The Sprint Cup Series has its last off weekend next week before the dash to the end of the season. The next race on the schedule will be on July 29th at the Brickyard.

     

  • Busch squeaks past Kahne and Hamlin for NHMS pole

    Busch squeaks past Kahne and Hamlin for NHMS pole

    [media-credit name=”Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”260″][/media-credit]By just 0.003 and 0.004 seconds respectively, Kyle Busch, in the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, nudged both Kasey Kahne and Denny Hamlin out of the way to score the pole for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    This was Busch’s first pole of the 2012 season to date and his first pole in 15 races at the ‘Magic Mile.’

    “There hasn’t been a lot of times where I’ve qualified on the pole for 30 or 40 races,” Busch said. “It’s been awhile.”

    “Excellent lap,” Busch continued. “I just tried to hit the same marks I did in practice. We picked up a little bit here and a little bit there and that led to the fastest lap.”

    While several other competitors had too close encounters with the wall, including Greg Biffle, Busch denied touching the wall during his time trial run as some had suspected.

    “I didn’t feel it,” Busch said. “If anything, it was close. I just knew I got in the throttle early to make speed, but the car slipped at the last second and slid out to the cushion point.”

    “But there’s no mark on the car.”

    Busch was the last out to make his time trial run, however, he absolutely refused to watch any of his competitors take their qualifying laps before him.

    “I don’t pay attention to what anyone else is doing,” Busch said. “That screws me up more than it helps me.”

    “I didn’t watch anything,” Busch continued. “I just had to put those thoughts out of my mind and make the most of the lap.”

    “We haven’t found the magic way to get around the Magic Mile,” Busch said. “So, I think today we did.”

    Kasey Kahne, in the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet, qualified second, with a time of 28.551 seconds and a speed of 133.403 mph. This was Kahne’s 15th top-15 start of the season and his sixth in 17 races at New Hampshire.

    “It felt really good,” Kahne said. “I was right on the edge the whole lap of being free but I was able to make it work.”

    “It was a solid lap and really close as far as the times.”

    As Kahne said, qualifying was close and right behind him was Denny Hamlin, who qualified his No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota in the third position. Hamlin’s time was 28.552 second, with a speed of 133.399 mph.

    This was Hamlin’s fifth top-10 start at the ‘Magic Mile’ and his 10th in 19 races for the 2012 season.

    “A lot like Kasey’s, we were really on the edge most of the time,” Hamlin said. “That was pretty much all I had speed-wise.”

    “Sure maybe I could have squeezed four thousandths out of it somehow so it’s awful tight up front.”

    Martin Truex, Jr., in the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, and Clint Bowyer in the No. 15 5-hour Energy Toyota, rounded out the top-five in qualifying.

    Other drivers had polar opposite complaints about their qualifying runs.

    Dale Earnhardt, Jr., in the No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet, complained bitterly that his car was too tight, while new father Kevin Harvick felt his 29 Rheem Chevrolet was too loose.

    Dale Junior qualified in the ninth position, while Harvick scored P12 in time trials.

    “Our car was a little bit too tight,” Dale Earnhardt, Jr. said. “We erred on the side of being conservative as far as making sure the rear had enough grip.”

    “Traditionally, this track gets really slick in qualifying,” Junior continued. “That probably helped us actually put together a decent lap and have a good starting spot.”

    “But we could have been a little better if we weren’t quite as tight as we were.”

    “We were just a little bit too loose up off the corner,” Harvick said in contrast. “But all in all, it was faster than we ran in practice so that is always a good thing here.”

    One of the biggest surprises in the qualifying session was Jeff Burton, who traditionally runs well at New Hampshire. In fact, at one ‘Magic Mile’ race, Burton totally dominated, leading every lap and taking the checkered flag.

    “Today has been a struggle,” Burton, who qualified 25th, said. “We were way off in practice and swung for the fences in qualifying trim.”

    “We just started off with some problems,” Burton continued. “We had a mechanical issue we found too when practice ended so we fought that for a while and didn’t know we were fighting it.”

    “I kind of feel like we might be headed in the right direction now.”

     

    Starting Lineup
    LENOX Industrial Tools 301, New Hampshire
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=19
    ===========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time
    ===========================================
    1 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 133.417 28.548
    2 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 133.403 28.551
    3 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 133.399 28.552
    4 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 133.338 28.565
    5 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 133.319 28.569
    6 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 133.277 28.578
    7 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 133.254 28.583
    8 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 133.198 28.595
    9 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 133.045 28.628
    10 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 132.938 28.651
    11 16 Greg Biffle Ford 132.873 28.665
    12 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 132.868 28.666
    13 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 132.572 28.73
    14 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 132.549 28.735
    15 55 Brian Vickers Toyota 132.425 28.762
    16 20 Joey Logano Toyota 132.425 28.762
    17 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 132.393 28.769
    18 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 132.333 28.782
    19 34 David Ragan Ford 132.264 28.797
    20 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 132.2 28.811
    21 99 Carl Edwards Ford 132.186 28.814
    22 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 132.085 28.836
    23 43 Aric Almirola Ford 131.833 28.891
    24 22 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 131.556 28.952
    25 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 131.465 28.972
    26 10 David Reutimann Chevrolet 131.266 29.016
    27 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 131.234 29.023
    28 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 131.234 29.023
    29 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 131.184 29.034
    30 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 130.833 29.112
    31 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 130.662 29.15
    32 26 Josh Wise* Ford 130.14 29.267
    33 13 Casey Mears Ford 129.834 29.336
    34 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 129.807 29.342
    35 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 129.679 29.371
    36 98 Michael McDowell Ford 129.525 29.406
    37 32 Ken Schrader Ford 129.318 29.453
    38 249 J.J. Yeley Toyota 129.274 29.463
    39 38 David Gilliland Ford 129.156 29.49
    40 30 David Stremme Toyota 129.094 29.504
    41 23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 128.863 29.557
    42 179 Kelly Bires Ford 128.515 29.637
    43 33 Stephen Leicht* Chevrolet 128.182 29.714
  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Kentucky

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Kentucky

    [media-credit name=”Brian Douglas” align=”alignright” width=”237″][/media-credit]Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson led 21 laps at Kentucky and finished sixth in the Quaker State 400, as Hendrick Motorsports drivers claimed four of the top six positions, led by Kasey Kahne’s second. Johnson is now third in the Sprint Cup point standings, 23 out of first.

    “Brad Keselowski’s No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge was the car to beat,” Johnson said. “Would I go so far as to say Keselowski is a legitimate threat for the championship? Let me put it this way: despite my five Sprint Cup championships, I don’t necessarily ‘champion’ that belief.

    “Try as we might, no Hendrick cars could catch Brad Keselowski. He was just too fast, and beat the field by such a margin that he was able to Tweet his win before it happened, which is the perfect argument for banning texting while driving.”

    2. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth, who announced his departure from Roush Fenway Racing last week, posted a seventh in the Quaker State 400, his 12th top 10 of the year. He remained on top of the point standings with an 11-point lead over Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

    “Jack Roush said he wished he had done more to keep me at Roush Fenway,” Kenseth said. “But Carl Edwards did plenty to make me want to leave. Anyway, the money was just too good not to leave. You could say I was ‘high-Jacked.’

    “I’ve won only one Sprint Cup title with Roush. I felt I could reach my full potential at another team. So, this was not a case of good riddance, but a case of great riddance.”

    3. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt surged closer to the lead in the Sprint Cup point standings with a fourth at Kentucky, his seventh top-5 result of the year. He now trails points leader Matt Kenseth by 11.

    “I’ve moved on from Michigan,” Earnhardt said. “That’s more than I can say for Junior Nation—some of them are still camped out in the MIS infield.

    “But thank goodness I finally got that elusive win out of the way. A win is much like a flask of warm liquor secreted away in an Earnhardt fan’s waistband: it’s good to know I’ve got one under my belt.”

    4. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin led 58 laps at Kentucky, and was chasing Brad Keselowski to the finish before an uncertain fuel situation forced him to lay off the throttle. He still finished third, his eighth top-5 finish of the year, and is fifth in the point standings, 68 out of first.

    “As you know,” Hamlin said, “I announced my contract extension with Joe Gibbs Racing on Twitter just before Saturday’s race. So, literally and figuratively, no one ‘heard’ it.”

    5. Tony Stewart: Stewart’s electronic fuel injection failed just 28 laps in on Saturday night’s race, forcing his No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil Chevy to the garage. He eventually finished 32nd, 36 laps down, and tumbled four places to ninth in the point standings.

    “Saturday also saw another run-in between Ryan Newman and Joey Logano,” Stewart said. “My money’s on Newman, not only because he’s my teammate, but also because his neck is thicker than Logano’s waist. Ryan’s college-educated, so he’s more than able to knock some sense into Logano. Let’s just call Ryan ‘The Intimidator,’ because Logano’s too young to know the real one.”

    6. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski, forced to a backup car, took charge late in the Quaker State 400 and ran away to a convincing victory, his series-best third of the year. Keselowski’s No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge was wrecked by Juan Montoya in Friday’s practice, forcing his team to scramble to prepare the backup.

    “Before I could say ‘That’s three,’” Keselowski said, “I had to say ‘That’s Juan.’ Montoya obviously mistook me for a jet dryer. He drive’s like I’ve got ‘Target’ on my car.”

    7. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 11th at Kentucky as his winless season continued. He is fifth in the Sprint Cup point standings, but has only three top-5 finishes on the year.

    “Richard Childress Racing is struggling so far this year,” Harvick said. “Will an RCR driver play a role in the Chase? It’s doubtful. This year, it seems you can’t spell ‘irrelevant’ without ‘RCR.’

    “That begs the question: how does an RCR driver make an impact in the Chase? He leaves the team. That’s a Clint Bowyer joke, but, as they say, the jokes on us.”

    8. Greg Biffle: Biffle had a top-10 finish in his sights before a late green-flag pit stop relegated him to a finish of 21st. He fell two places to fourth in the Sprint Cup point standings, and is now 25 out of first.

    “I spent a lot of time atop the point standings,” Biffle said. “But I’ve found it’s hard to stay there. I, much like Card Edwards on Saturday, found that you can’t ‘coast’ to victory. With Matt Kenseth’s impending departure and Edwards’ struggled, it seems we have two ‘lame ducks’ at Roush Fenway.”

    9. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex posted his ninth top-10 finish of the year, coming home eighth in the Quaker State 400. He is now eighth in the point standings, 77 out of first.

    “Michael Waltrip really wanted a win in Kentucky,” Truex said. “Waltrip is a lot like Kentucky head basketball coach John Calipari. He’s a great recruiter, and he finances his own team.”

    10. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer finished 16th in the Quaker State 400, ending a streak of four consecutive top-10 results. He remained seventh in the point standings, 76 out of first.

    “The No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota was good,” Bowyer said, “but not good enough. Last year at Kentucky, fans needed ‘five hours of energy’ just to leave the track.”