Tag: Matt Kenseth

Hot 20 over the Chase six – Past 10 matters little to Johnson, as it is all about the 6 since Richmond and the 4 to come

Usually, one gets a general perspective on how a driver has been performing recently by taking a look at his past ten efforts. Ten, a nice round number that just so happens to also be the exact number of races in the Chase. You would think, barring adjustments for pre-Chase bonuses, it might give you an idea how things are going for those chasing a championship. You would think.

That was before Jimmie Johnson sandbagged the final four pre-Chase events. In those races, Johnson picked up a whopping 33 points. That is the same as he got last week finishing 13^th at Talladega. Matt Kenseth, in those same four races, earned 148 points. Then they leveled the playing field. However, before anyone moans how unfair the Chase is to the season’s best, it actually has penalized Johnson and benefited Kenseth. Remember, before the re-jig, Kenseth was in fifth place, 35 points behind Carl Edwards and 34 in arrears of Johnson, who was still second despite his pre-Chase problems. If not for the Chase, the standings would have Johnson leading Harvick by 33, with Kenseth third 41 back. So, the right guy is leading the way, albeit by 4 Chase points.

As for being hot or not with four races to go in the season, it comes down to room for growth. As we replace the results from Michigan, Bristol, Atlanta, and Richmond with those coming from Martinsville, Fort Worth, Phoenix, and Homestead, Kenseth can better his total by no more than 44 points. Johnson can better his by 159.

What that does, however, is make the hot 20 over the past ten races rather meaningless, with Kenseth presently 108 points better than the 15^th ranked Johnson. Compress it down to the six Chase races to date and it becomes clear who indeed leads the way. The ten race average will again become meaningful, but not before Homestead. Thanks a bunch, Jimmie.

Here is a look at our hottest 20 drivers over the course of the Chase…

	Driver	Wins	T-5	T-10		Points	Rank
1	Jimmie Johnson	1	4	5	242		1
2	Matt Kenseth	2	3	4	235		2
3	Kevin Harvick	1	2	4	222		3
4	Jeff Gordon	0	2	4	220		5
5	Kyle Busch	0	5	5	216		4
6	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	0	2	4	202		6
7	Jamie McMurray	1	2	2	198		14
8	Greg Biffle	0	1	2	198		7
9	Clint Bowyer	0	0	3	197		8
10	Kurt Busch	0	2	2	193		9
11	Ryan Newman	0	0	4	182		11
12	Carl Edwards	0	1	3	180		10
13	Jeff Burton	0	0	1	176		20
14	Joey Logano	0	2	2	176		12
15	Martin Truex, Jr.	0	0	2	173		17
16	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	0	1	2	170		19
17	Brad Keselowski	1	1	2	169		15
18	Paul Menard	0	1	2	167		16
19	Aric Almirola	0	0	1	155		18
20	Kasey Kahne	0	1	1	153		13

October 22, 2013

Surprising and Not Surprising: Talladega Camping World RV Sales 500

In a race where the spotters sound like auctioneers as they guide their drivers around the track and where anything from chess-like strategy to last lap mayhem can happen, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 45^th annual Camping World RV Sales 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Surprising: While many drivers and crew chiefs alike assessed the race as ‘uneventful’, with only three cautions, no major multi-car wrecks and primarily single-file racing in the last laps, a few drivers at least might take exception to that viewpoint.

In one international incident, Marcos Ambrose lost control of his vehicle on lap 78 and took out Juan Pablo Montoya in the process.

“The Target Chevrolet was pretty good to be honest,” Montoya said. “We were running two-wide so it was comfortable.”

“We started running three-wide and the spotter told me ‘get out’ and I backed up going into the tri-oval and the next thing I know, I just saw out the corner of my eye somebody coming towards me and that was it.”

Even more dramatic, however, was the white flag lap crash where Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made contact with Austin Dillon, driver the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet for Stewart Haas Racing, sending the latter airborne.

“The No. 17 had a little bit of a run and I tried to go with him and came back across and hooked me,” Dillon said. “What a wild ride.”

“Who needs skydiving?”

Not Surprising: There are times at a race track when even the trophy is not the most important thing in Victory Lane and not surprisingly, this was the case for the lucky winner who wound up in Victory Lane.

Jamie McMurray, driver of the No. 1 Cessna Auburn University Chevrolet, not only ended his 108-race winless streak but, as he had always dreamed, he celebrated in Victory Lane with his family, including wife Christy and his two children Carter and Hazel.

“Well, that was — I mean, that’s top two or three moments of my life, to get to experience that with them,” McMurray said. “I don’t know if you guys heard, but I rent a space from Matt Kenseth to keep my go-karts and stuff in at his shop.”

“So I was out in the front where they have some office space, and he’s got pictures hanging inside and there was a picture of Matt and Katie and Grace and Kaylin, and I think it was Dover Victory Lane, and I remember seeing how excited Kaylin was,” McMurray continued. “I went home and told Christy, I hope that we get to have that moment.”

“That’s really special — especially having a little boy who is into Lightning McQueen and racing in general,” McMurray said. “Yeah, to get to have that with my family is really cool.”

This was McMurray’s first win of the season, his second victory at Talladega, and his seventh victory in 398 Cup races.

Surprising: Dale Earnhardt Jr. was surprisingly upbeat in spite of not having his dream of snagging that elusive first win of the season come true. The driver of the No. 88 Mountain Dew/Xbox One Chevrolet was a bridesmaid in the runner up position yet again.

“It wasn’t the best run in the world,” Dale Junior said. “It wasn’t what I dreamed it would be, all those last few laps.”

“But it was a good enough run I think to get up to his (McMurray’s) quarter panel and get beside him.”

“Really happy with the way the car ran and it was good to run up front, good to lead,” Earnhardt Jr. continued. “We’ve really struggled this season with being competitive, and to drive up through there and do that like we did today, and it felt great.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. scored his 14^th top-10 finish in 28 races at ‘Dega and posted his 18^th top-10 finish of the 2013 season.

Not Surprising: In spite of a punishing Truck race the night before, Kyle Busch not surprisingly proved again that he was the redemption story of the race weekend. The driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Halloween Toyota bounced back after missing his pit box to get his lap back and finish fifth.

And although he had some harsh words on his radio after getting blocked out of his pit box by none other than race winner Jamie McMurray, Busch was giving all the glory to God at the end of the race.

“Our M&M’s Halloween Camry ran great all day,” said Busch, who earned his fourth top-five finish in 18 starts at Talladega, including his April 2008 win at the 2.66-mile oval. “It was fun to finish one of these things.”

“It’s God’s grace that allows us to finish one of these, and we appreciate it today, especially coming home with another top-five.”

Busch also redeemed himself in the point standings, moving up two positions to reclaim the third spot, just 26 points behind the leader.

Surprising: Talladega proved a surprising dichotomy for the two primary Rookie of the Year contenders. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished third while his primary ROTY competitor Danica Patrick finished 33^rd after having a pit road calamity.

“I thought the racing was great all day,” Stenhouse, driver of the No. 17 Nationwide Insurance Ford, said. “We were two, three, and four wide for a long time.”

“For our Nationwide Insurance team we were solid all day, in the top-10 a lot of the day and led a few laps, which was good for us.”

On the other hand, while Danica Patrick had been also running toward the front of the pack, her good day was ruined by an error on pit road during a green flag stop where she missed her pit stall and then incurred a speeding penalty to boot.

“We just didn’t communicate well on that final pit stop,” the driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Breast Cancer Awareness Chevrolet said. “We were on the high side and couldn’t get down to where we needed to be to pit.”

“It’s disappointing and none of us feel good about it.”

Not Surprising: David Ragan and David Gilliland, both of whom have proven that they can drive at the superspeedways as evidenced by their one, two finish in the spring race at ‘Dega, not surprisingly fared well again in the fall affair.

Ragan, behind the wheel of the No. 34 SaferCar.gov Ford, finished sixth, with his teammate Gilliland, driving the No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford, right behind him in the seventh spot.

“We had a chance to win the race, took the white flag in seventh or eighth and kind of had a good plan,” Ragan said. “But the caution came out so we got a top-10 finish and that’s a good thing for our Front Row Motorsports team.”

“David and I worked together for a good part of the race and we were in position,” Gilliland said. “And then the caution came out on the last lap.”

“Thankfully, we weren’t part of it and we were able to get a top-10 finish and a clean car to take home.”

Surprising: Paul Menard, driver of the No. 27 Menards Duracell Chevrolet, surprisingly bettered his Talladega statistics by finishing fourth. This was Menard’s only finish inside the top-10 at Talladega in fifteen starts there other than a runner-up finish in 2008.

“At the start of the race, we took off and the car drove really good,” Menard said. “We drove to the front and kind of hung out in the top-10 all day long.”

“We could make the middle groove work to gain spots and then get to the outside,” Menard continued. “Ultimately the outside lane kind of won out over the long run.”

Not Surprising: Channeling his best Ricky Bobby from the movie ‘Talladega Nights”, Kurt Busch exemplified the notion that ‘if you’re not first, you’re last’ or at least 18^th, which is where he finished in his No. 78 Wonder Bread car.

“Restrictor plate racing is all about being in the right place at the right time,” Busch said. “We were in the right place for the majority of the race, but when it counted at the end, we weren’t there.”

“It’s disappointing because our Wonder Bread Chevy was fast and to finish 18th didn’t do us justice,” Busch continued. “I tried to make something happen, but couldn’t get there.”

Busch fell two spots in the Chase standings, from seventh to ninth, now 61 points behind the leader.

Surprising: At a track where handling usually does not matter, Matt Kenseth surprisingly struggled with an ill handling race car that set him back tremendously during the midsection of the race. Kenseth never quite fully recovered, finishing 20^th and losing the championship points lead to Jimmie Johnson.

“It was really bizarre — typically, handling is a non-issue here and we just got so loose I couldn’t even hang on to it,” the driver of the No. 20 Let’s Do This Home Depot Toyota said. “I pretty much had to run in the back for two runs which was disappointing.”

“We finally got it fixed that last run, but we only had 20 laps to get back up there,” Kenseth continued. “I really needed to be up there like we were early and feel like I was controlling the race more — the lanes and the runs and all that and I could never get back to there.”

Not Surprising: While Jimmie Johnson may also have not had the race that he envisioned, his 13^th place finish was better than Kenseth’s run. And after surviving Talladega, which was his goal, the five-time champ now has Martinsville, one of his best tracks, in his sights.

“You know I feel that the races forward now are up to where the competitors go earn it,” the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet said. “You don’t have this luck issue that can take place at plate tracks.”

“So I am happy to have the points lead and we went through a lot of work to get there,” Johnson continued. “We just go racing from here.”

“Martinsville has been good to us in the past, but we’ve got to go there and race,” Johnson said. “We will make sure that we get buttoned up and ready to go to that paperclip and see what we can do.”

“It’s just going to be a dogfight to the end.”

October 21, 2013
The Final Word – Talladega may have been smokin’, but expect Johnson to smoke the field at Martinsville

We waited with anticipation for the action, and Talladega once again delivered. Once again, we watched the cars (and trucks for those watching on Saturday) go flying around inches apart in aircraft formation, in wonder that they could pull this off lap after lap without it all going up in smoke and torn sheet metal. In the end, they could not avoid the unavoidable.

Dale Earnhardt Jr was pondering his final lap move to get by leader Jamie McMurray when the third running Austin Dillon got spun, then rear ended into the sky in what he described as “a cool roller coaster ride.” That allowed Ole Dimples to keep Junior behind him when the caution came out to claim his first win in more than three years.

If that was not wild enough for you, Saturday saw Matt Crafton solidify his strangle hold in the Camping World series while pushing team mate Johnny Sauter to victory. Sauter crossed the line all by his lonesome as our top eight became a top five which became Mr. Sauter doing a solo by the time they all quit wrecking coming to the line. What was left of Crafton’s truck backed across the line in ninth, leaving him an entire race and a bit ahead of Ty Dillon in their standings.

As for the Cup boys, neither Jimmie Johnson or Matt Kenseth finished in the Top Ten. Yet, by finishing seven spots ahead of his rival (13th vs 20th) and by leading the most laps, Johnson earned enough to vault ahead to take over by four points going into Martinsville. Their company got slightly closer, but by finishing fifth the best Kyle Busch could do is tie Kevin Harvick for third in the standings, both still 26 points away. They remain close should disaster hit the leaders, but until such time disaster strikes both will remain simply interested observers.

Rating Talladega – 9/10 – The action kept you on the edge of your seats, drivers could move from the back to the front, and you even had your dose of carnage. What else could you ask for?

So, the track on steroids is now behind us as we return to “normal” racing. With his seven career wins at Martinsville, Jeff Gordon might look good but for two small facts. One, he trails Johnson by 34 points. Second, Jimmie has won eight times himself at this venue.

Five Time won there in the spring, and he won there last fall. His worst finish was on his first attempt in 2002, when he came home 35th. Since then, his worst finish is 12th, to go with an 11th, to go with 16 Top Fives, 20 Top Tens, in 23 Martinsville starts. As for Kenseth, he goes in 0 for 27, with just eight Top Tens in his career.

Game four of the World Series goes Sunday night as St. Louis hosts Boston. That could wind up a closer contest than what we might see out of Virginia. It is not over, but I think somebody just knocked on the Fat Lady’s dressing room door. Enjoy the week, for it appears the odds favor Johnson enjoying his Sunday afternoon.

October 21, 2013
Kenseth leads the pack, heading into Talladega

When Matt Kenseth made the move from Roush-Fenway Racing to Joe Gibbs Racing, many thought it would there would be an adjustment period. After all, Kenseth had been driving for the same team and manufacturer for his entire Sprint Cup Series career with the exception of his very first start subbing for an injured Bill Elliott.

It would not take long to quiet the critics. Kenseth found victory lane in just his third start for his new team. He would also follow that up with six more wins. Now the Wisconsin native, who is many credit for causing NASCAR to implement the Chase format, is leading the Chase standings halfway through the ten race playoff.

Kenseth is definitely is the midst of the best season of his career. In addition to the six wins, he has accumulated nine top-5’s, and 17 top-10’s. In 2003, his championship season, he only scored one win, but had 25 top-10’s. The fact that he won the title with just one win, is the reason many think NASCAR created the Chase format.

Kenseth currently has a slim four point lead over five time series champion, Jimmie Johnson. The two, however, have a solid 29 point lead over third place, Kevin Harvick. But there is still. . . . Talladega!

The 2.66 mile superspeedway that is credited with giving several driver their one and only win. However, it is also known for ending the championship hopes of many drivers. The track does not discriminate – it doesn’t matter if you are a mid-pack racer or a popular one. Just Dale Earnhardt Jr. He sat out two races in 2012 due to a concussion received in a crash triggered by Tony Stewart.

When asked about coming back Talladega, Kenseth replied, “Yeah, so Talladega – man, I don’t know. Yeah, I mean obviously the Chase has been pretty good up to this point, so I’m glad to be leading, glad we had a good run last week – got a pretty good finish out of it – and at Talladega, the driver will draft a little bit today, kind of look at the weather and see if we need to put up a lap time or what we need to do. So, that makes practice kind of interesting if there is a threat of rain with everybody trying to lay back and get fast times and do all that.”

Kenseth won this race last fall, but all-in-all, does not have a stellar record at Talladega. In 27 starts, he has just the one win with five top-5’s and nine top-10’s. Fortunately, for Kenseth, Johnson’s record at Talladega is not much better. In 23 starts, he has two wins, and only ten top-10’s.

Both drivers have been extremely strong throughout the first half if the Chase. Kenseth opened the Chase two wins, Johnson followed suit with a win in race three. Kenseth did stumble just slightly at Kansas with an eleventh. Johnson’s worst finish is a sixth in the same race. Ironically enough, third place Kevin Harvick has almost identical stats as the two frontrunners. Harvick has scored one win and ten-10’s in 25 starts.

As Kenseth points out, at Talladega you have more cars to worry about due to a more level playing field – “ the interesting thing about the races here is pretty much any of the 43 cars under the right circumstances could have a shot to win it. You really don’t know what’s going to happen and usually when you go race at Texas you probably can’t say that. So anyway, you just want to, I think, try to figure out how to be one of those cars and certainly I think your guard is up maybe a little bit more than normal.”

It seems as if no driver near the top of the standings has a statistical advantage over the other. Given the nature of this track and the equality in stats. This weekend could lead to one driver having a large lead in the standings, or possibly creating a scenario where as many as five drivers are within striking distance. Either way it is sure to be an exciting race on Sunday in the Camping World RV Sales 500.

October 18, 2013

Hot 20 over the past 10, the past 5, and how Talladega could change everything

A Top Ten finish for ten straight races, and a driver would accumulate a minimum of 340 points. That is hot. Kevin Harvick, and the Busch boys are that hot, but Matt Kenseth has been nearly 40 points hotter, so a bad day at Talladega on Sunday would mean he would make his championship dreams more of a challenge. The others go down and so do their hopes.

Jimmie Johnson is still rated as cool over the past ten, but remains second in the Chase. His is a case of earning just 69 points in the five pre-Chase races that do not count toward the title and the 209 he has claimed in the five that do. Kenseth, with his two wins in the Chase, has accumulated 210 over the last five, as this chart would sport a slightly different look if we took into account only what has happened since Chicago instead of Watkins Glen.

	Driver	Win	T5	T10	Points
1	Matt Kenseth	2	3	4	210
2	Jimmie Johnson	1	4	5	209
3	Kevin Harvick	1	2	4	190
4	Jeff Gordon	0	2	4	189
5	Kyle Busch	0	4	4	176

But then, I would have to change the title of this column. Barring misfortune, we should see Johnson charging up these standings over the final four events. Barring misfortune, we should see Kenseth maintaining his hold on the point position. Barring misfortune, we should see Harvick, Jeff Gordon, and Kyle Busch battling it out to see who finishes third. Barring the Big One at Talladega, there are a lot of things we might be expected to see, but what we have come to expect from the big track could change the fortunes of more than a few by the end of Sunday. It was just one year ago when we had a massive 25 car demolition on the final lap at Talladega. Kenseth was ahead of the pack and won that day. Can he be so fortunate in 2013?

Here is a look at the hottest 20 drivers over the past 10 events.

	Driver	Win	T5	T10	Points	LW	Rank
1	Matt Kenseth	3	4	6	379	1	1
2	Kevin Harvick	1	3	6	343	6	3
3	Kyle Busch	2	6	6	341	5	5
4	Kurt Busch	0	5	6	340	2	7
5	Jeff Gordon	0	2	7	337	4	4
6	Joey Logano	1	5	6	337	3	11
7	Greg Biffle	0	1	4	324	7	6
8	Ryan Newman	0	2	5	313	8	12
9	Jamie McMurray	0	2	2	306	9	15
10	Carl Edwards	1	3	6	306	10	10
11	Juan Pablo Montoya	0	2	3	296	14	22
12	Paul Menard	0	2	4	293	12	17
13	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	0	1	5	284	11	9
14	Marcos Ambrose	0	0	3	283	12	19
15	Brad Keselowski	1	2	3	282	16	14
16	Jimmie Johnson	1	4	6	278	17	2
17	Jeff Burton	0	0	2	273	18	20
18	Kasey Kahne	0	2	3	271	15	13
19	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	0	0	2	267	21	21
20	Clint Bowyer	0	1	4	246	22	8
21	Martin Truex, Jr.	0	2	4	244	19	16
22	Aric Almirola	0	0	1	242	20	18

October 17, 2013

The Final Word – Thank God we have Talladega coming up on Sunday

Charlotte has come and gone for another season, so what can one say about the race that was. Well, “thank God that is behind us” comes to mind. I can not remember if it was sponsored by Nyquil or was simply the To Hell With A Cure for Insomnia 500, for me it turned out to be NASCAR’s version of English Premier League soccer. That is, best watched with PVR in hand.

Lap after lap of whatever and who cares. It was like watching a NBA game in the end, with the final few minutes about as exciting as it gets. Brad Keselowski wins, Kasey Kahne runs second, and Matt Kenseth extended his lead over Jimmie Johnson to four big points in the Chase standings. Did anything else much matter? I expected more from Charlotte, I expect nothing from ABC/ESPN, and not a single new fan was captured from what was presented in the television version of the contest. Thank God we have Talladega coming up this Sunday.

Talladega is coming up, Martin Truex Jr. is off seeking a new ride after Michael Waltrip Racing officially announced its contraction due to NAPA fleeing the scene. Brian Vickers is gone for the rest of the year as he deals with a re-occurrence of blood clots in his leg, but should be good to go in the seat of the MWR #55 for 2014.

NASCAR continues to seek the answers needed to make the racing more exciting. They returned to Charlotte a couple of days after the Saturday night race to see if the advent of more rear down force or more turbulent air might help shake things up. If the announce team can not make things more exciting, then the product itself has to improve.

Rating Charlotte – 5.5/10 – Something has to change, or those not true fanatics are going to continue wandering off to other stimulants or reducing their NASCAR experience to Daytona, Talladega, and Bristol.

If you do not like NASCAR, I understand. If you do not like Talladega, you really are a soccer fan. 40 plus cars sweeping by in aircraft formation three wide with just inches separating any of them in any direction at 200 miles per hour. One sneeze away from disaster. We will be watching this Sunday to see if such a sneeze might hamper the runaway bid of Kenseth and Johnson. Call your friends, call all those who usually do not watch, tell them this is what NASCAR produces each and every week. If we are lucky, Martinsville might actually keep them watching.

You can’t blame a guy for dreaming. Enjoy the week.

October 15, 2013
My Chase Predictions With Five Races Remaining

The cross flags are out for the 2013 Chase and this battle is far from over. We have two very volatile races coming up on the schedule in the form of the monstrous Talladega Superspeedway and the half mile paperclip better known as Martinsville. Two champions lead the way with three formidable opponents within striking distance of them. Everyone from 6th on back has lost touch with the top group as the clock winds down on the 2013 season. A plate race, a short track, a high banked mile and a half, a flat track in the middle of the desert and of course Homestead make up the final five week sprint for the Cup.

If you look at the championship standings, it’s a five man breakaway at the front with Kenseth and Johnson showing that they are going to be the ones everyone is hunting in the upcoming races. They are champions who rarely make mistakes and both display a fastidious demeanor even in the face of great adversity. Kevin Harvick trails by 29pts and not only can he handle controversy well but he sometimes seeks it out for the heck of it. Kevin’s Achilles Heel in this title bout may only be his equipment. RCR is fully capable of winning multiple races and finishing well but they are not capable of matching or exceeding the level of performance that has allowed the top two some breathing room.

Then there is Jeff Gordon. He has the tenacity to win, the equipment to win and certainly the talent so why isn’t he, well, winning? That’s a very good question and it’s difficult to ascertain a definitive answer. He’s been solid the last eight races with only one finish worse than 8th; a 15th at New Hampshire after a pit road mishap cost him the lead, all his track position and potentially even a victory. There’s something missing in the No.24 camp that’s not allowing them to bust through that glass ceiling and perform at the level of his teammate and prodigy, Jimmie Johnson. Jeff’s also been plagued by a problem this year that can’t simply be fixed by an adjustment…it is an annoying and intangible force called bad luck. The next race on the calendar happens to be Talladega; a place where luck is the most crucial element of the whole race.

In 5th sits Kyle Busch. At 28 years old, this naturally gifted racer is seeking his first Sprint Cup but there is a major obstacle standing in his way. The four drivers in front of him have something he seems to lack; the ability to cope with adversity and persevere through it. Case and point…Kansas. That track absolutely hates Kyle and he went into that race with that mindset. He destroyed his primary car in practice and on the first lap of the race; he spun out but can’t blame him for that one. Later in the race, Montoya helped him around and once again, not his fault. Busch was getting very aggravated though and understandably so but he allowed his emotions to get the best of him on a restart twelve laps later. He made a very imprudent decision about of frustration and cut down on Carl Edwards in a three wide situation and just like that, any chance of salvaging his day was over. He’s gotten better over the years but he still has a little way to go before he has the attitude and personality that makes someone championship capable. I don’t mean to pick on Rowdy but it’s incontrovertible that the way he handles all on-track misfortunes is going to make or break his title hopes…who knows, maybe he’ll surprise me in the final five races.

The next two races are intriguing for multiple reasons. One of which is the obvious fact that they are characteristically unpredictable and chaotic event. Secondly, these two wild card events will most likely shake up the standings quite a bit. Matt Kenseth has been amazing on the plate tracks recently while The Paperclip has caused him many problems. The four drivers stalking him have good to spectacular records at Marty and all have won in the past at Talladega. These next two events are going to be incredibly important and will undeniably build the foundation for the 2013 championship fight. Once these 750 miles are complete, I think we will have ourselves a three-man race with three titans of the sport leading the pack in the form of former champions Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson and the guy that some will argue isn’t even supposed to be here, Jeff Gordon. Who will come away victorious when it’s all said and done? Let’s just say I think we might be calling a certain someone “6-time” on November 17th.

October 14, 2013
Surprising and Not Surprising: Charlotte Bank of America 500

In the ‘home game’ for NASCAR in the heart of race country, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 54^th annual Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Surprising: Who knew that dragging a jack for a lap would result in a victory lap? That was the case for the driver of the Blue Deuce Brad Keselowski, who finally got his first win under his belt for the season. Keselowski also scored his first ever win in a Ford, as well as his first victory at Charlotte.

“I thought when we saw the jack under the car I said, ‘Here we go again, not a good night,’ but at the end of the day when it was time to go and we raced the best because it was Brad behind the wheel that made it,” Roger Penske, team owner of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, said. “It wasn’t a fuel economy run, it was him digging deep and bringing us to victory lane, so it was a great night for us.”

Not Surprising: If a crack in the armor exists for five-time champ Jimmie Johnson it would be restarts and the driver of the No. 48 Lowes Dover White Chevrolet had yet another challenge in that regard at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

As a result of a late race caution, Johnson yet again struggled on the final restart, resulting in a fourth place finish.

“Down in (turns) one and two, just in the dirty air I pushed the No. 5 off into (turn) one,” Johnson said. “He didn’t get the best restart and something to do with that combo got me off the bottom and a couple of cars got into the side of me.”

“If we could have come out of the pits second and start on the front row, it would have been a much different result for us,” Johnson continued. “But it didn’t happen.”

“Just lost track position which was unfortunate.”

As a result of this finish, Johnson sits just four points behind point’s leader Matt Kenseth.

Surprising: Speaking of the point’s leader, the third time surprisingly was a charm for championship contender Matt Kenseth.

“There is a feel that I always look for and when I don’t have it, I can’t go very fast,” the driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota said. “Until the third adjustment, we just couldn’t get it.”

“Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) found something that really woke it up and made the car happy and made me happy and we were able to start making some ground.”

Kenseth finished third, maintained his points lead, and posted his 15^th top-10 finish in 29 races at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Not Surprising: Past gremlins rearing their ugly heads again cost both Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. their best finishes.

Busch, driving the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota, suffered loose lug nuts due to a pit road miscommunication and also a fuel pick up issue to finish fifth.

“We had the same thing in the third Chase race back in 2008,” Busch said of his engine issue. “So it doesn’t surprise me something’s back.”

“Pretty frustrating,’’ Busch continued. “We should be happy about (fifth), but when it’s time for championship time, that’s not what you need.”

“We need wins, and we can’t win.’’

Dale Junior, making his 500th career start, had some sort of vibration in the car that resulted in a 15th place finish in spite of his leading laps during the race.

“The car just got really tight,” Dale Jr., driver of the No. 88 Time Warner Cable Chevrolet, said. “Something in the set-up moved, but the car was real quick at the start of the race.”

“It just would not turn at all the last half of the race pretty much,” Junior continued. “We are just kind of trying to figure out what is going on.”

“We will get it back and figure it out when we get to the shop on Monday.”

Busch sits fifth in points at 37 points behind leader Kenseth and Junior fell one position to ninth and is now 66 points behind the point’s leader.

Surprising: Both Hendrick teammates made surprisingly good decisions in just taking two tires instead of four for the final restart. Kasey Kahne, HMS driver of the No. 5 Quaker State Chevrolet, finished in the runner up position with his two tires and teammate Jeff Gordon, behind the wheel of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet, finished seventh.

“Yeah, we had a great race,” Kahne said. “I was on two (tires) and I was trying to move around, but I was just a little bit on the tight side with the front end, then I would get loose if I got the front working.”

“I was doing all I could and felt pretty good, but Brad (Keselowski, winner) made some nice moves and just really had some speed there late in the race and was able to get by me.”

“It was a solid night,” Gordon said. “It was a great call there to try to make two (tires) work.”

“Our car was just way too tight to be able to do it and we lost a few more positions than I was hoping,” Gordon continued. “But it was still solid.”

While Gordon remains in the fourth place in the Chase, 36 points behind the leader, Kahne on the other hand, is in the 13^th position, 81 points back and essentially out of contention.

Not Surprising: Mark Martin had the most interesting comeback after blowing an engine after just 80 completed laps and spewing fluid all over the track.

The driver, substituting for Tony Stewart in the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet ended up finishing a disappointing 42nd as a result.

But when a fan tweeted Martin “@markmartin Should’ve mention this earlier but you should retire,” things got very interesting. In fact, the usually affable driver surprising replied with just four words, tweeting “You should screw yourself,” thus scoring the best comeback of the Charlotte race.

Surprising: Speaking of the Stewart-Haas bunch, Ryan Newman salvaged a surprisingly good finish after struggling most of the night. Thanks to a four tire call on the last pit stop, Newman was able to get an eighth place finish for the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet.

“We came out of here with a decent finish, but we struggled a little bit tonight,” Newman said. “I just didn’t have the overall speed.”

“Matt (Borland, crew chief) made the call to take four tires at the end, but we weren’t able to gain spots like I thought we would knowing that a lot of the guys ahead of us took two,” Newman continued. “All in all, it’s good to complain about a top-10 finish, but we expected a little more than that tonight.”

Not Surprising: Until his engine blew, young up and coming driver Kyle Larson, making his Cup debut in the No. 51 Target Chevrolet, had a great run going. In fact, he was running in the top ten for a bit, far surpassing many of his more seasoned competitors, including future teammate Jamie McMurray.

“Obviously, the guy is ready,” Chip Ganassi, team owner said of his 2014 driver. “Some of the smarter people in the sport have said that maybe a Cup car is more like his style than a Nationwide car.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened,” Ganassi continued. “Time will tell, but the guy is ready.”

Surprising: For one Chase contender, the contest at Charlotte Motor Speedway was all about a battle until the death, well almost.

“We survived,” Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet, said after finishing sixth. “Yeah we got a decent finish, but our car was terrible all night.”

“The restart went our way there at the end and we were able to get a decent finish out of it.”

Harvick maintained his third place in the Chase standings, just 29 points, similar to his car number, behind point’s leader Kenseth.

Not Surprising: There is at least one driver who is looking forward to the next race at Talladega after finishing 14^th in his No. 78Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet.

“We had an upbeat feeling about tonight after two strong practices on Friday but nothing really materialized for us to make a charge,” Busch said. “It’s disappointing to finish where we did (14th) after having a number of solid runs on the mile-and-a-half’s, including last week’s runner-up finish in Kansas.”

“Next week we’ll give it another go in the Wonder bread car at Talladega.”

October 13, 2013
Brad Keselowski cashes-in at the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte

Last year’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion, Brad Keselowski, grabs his first victory of the 2013 season tonight in the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Keselowski’s win marks the first time since Kasey Kahne won at Phoenix International Raceway in 2011 that a non-Chase contender has been to victory lane during the postseason.

In victory lane, Keselowski said, “It was just a never-give-up night. We had a lot of struggles tonight. We didn’t qualify well, but we kept working our way forward. I knew we had a good car. I’m not sure we were as good as the 48 or the 5. I never got to really race them until the end and they had two tires, so I think we were probably pretty even. When Paul made the call to take four tires and I saw we were that close to the front, I knew we could get them.”

During the final laps of the race Brad Keselowski and Kasey Kahne raced hard and battled for the victory.

When asked about racing Kasey, Brad said, “I love hard racing and there are a handful of guys you can’t race hard with in this deal because they freak out, but Kasey is not one of them. He’s an excellent driver and he ran me hard, but he ran me clean and that’s great racing. I’m proud to race with him. He did a hell of a job and deserves a lot of credit for it, but, at the end of the day, the Miller Lite Ford Fushion was just fast and we persevered.”

Driver of the No. 5 Quaker State Chevrolet, Kasey Kahne, ended the night with a second place finish. This makes Kahne’s 12^th top-10 finish in twenty races at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and his 12^th top-10 finish in 2013. After leading 138 laps during the race and finishing in second place, Kahne ends the night thirteenth in the points for the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship, eighty-one points behind leader Matt Kenseth.

After starting the Bank of America 500 in 20^th position, Chase leader Matt Kenseth, had a respectable night working through the field, ending the night with a third place finish. Kenseth now has a four point lead in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship over driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Dover White Chevrolet, Jimmie Johnson.

In the media center after the race, Kenseth commented on his thoughts about the night and being the Chase points leader halfway through the Chase. He said, “Yeah, I mean, you want to be the points leader after the second half is the most important. But yeah, certainly glad we’re still leading. Tonight was a big positive for us. It was a little bit of a struggle this weekend more than we anticipated. I didn’t get a good lap qualifying, and that was really the start of us being behind tonight.”

Five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion, Jimmie Johnson, further closed the gap between him and Matt Kenseth tonight in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship. Johnson led 130 laps and after a rocky restart during the last caution of the race, he posted a fourth place finish.

When asked about the final restart and what happened to make him drop back, Johnson said, “Down in (turns) one and two just in the dirty air I pushed the No. 5 off into (turn) one. He didn’t get the best restart and something to do with that combo got me off the bottom and a couple of cars got into the side of me. If we could have come out second which was really close with the No. 24 and start on the front row I think it would have been a much different result for us, but it didn’t happen. We led some laps tonight, had a good car. I’m not sure what happened in the points, but I know it’s awfully tight up there right now.”

After winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series race last night, driver of the No. 18 M & M’s Toyota, Kyle Busch, came up short tonight in the Bank of America 500. Hoping to win his first Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Busch posted a fifth place finish.

When asked what it is that is keeping him from winning races, Busch said, “I think it’s everything. There at the end, I’m sure if Jimmie (Johnson) would have taken two (tires) he would have stormed off and kicked everybody’s butt. They took four, they gambled on the soft side and it bit them a little bit tonight. They lost a point to the 20 (Matt Kenseth), but they were good enough to win. So, they have something to hang their hat on—we don’t.”

Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin, and Carl Edwards rounded out the top ten with sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth places, respectively.

With five races to go in the Chase to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship, the next race will be the Camping World RV Sales 500 next week at Talladega Superspeedway.

October 13, 2013
Matty’s Picks 2013 – Race 31 Bank of America 500 – Charlotte Motor Speedway – October 12, 2013

The drivers of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series do not have to travel much further than their back yards to get to the track this week. A hometown race this week, and the only night race of the 2013 Chase for The Sprint Cup for the vast majority of teams this week. There have been 109 races at Charlotte Motor Speedway, everyone knows the history that has been made at the track, so I’ll spare the history for some statistics this week.

Jimmie Johnson leads the series with the most Chase race wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway with three, but none since his last win at Charlotte in October of 2009. The deepest in the field any eventual NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion has finished at the Chase race at Charlotte Motor Speedway was 25th all the way back in 2005 when Tony Stewart won his second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship, his first with the Chase setup. All but one of the nine Chase races at Charlotte have been won by Chase drivers, and the second starting position has produced more race winners than any other starting position with 17 eventual race winners starting outside the front row. So with these stats so far, we’ve not eliminated any potential race winners.

The one statistic very important to this week’s picks comes in the form of a particular manufacturer’s recent struggles at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Just one Ford driver (who is driving a Toyota now) has won a race at Charlotte in the last 22 Charlotte races, and that was Matt Kenseth in the 2011 Bank of America 500. So one driver in 11 years has been able to put Ford in Victory Lane, which is something to look at this week if you’re making fantasy picks.

The only night race of the 2013 Chase for the Sprint Cup, so enjoy not swapping back and forth between your NFL game and NASCAR this week…

Kansas Recap

Not a great week for me last week at Kansas Speedway as I went with the points leader, Matt Kenseth as my winner pick because he was undefeated on the low-banked intermediate tracks this season. He had won at Las Vegas in March, Kansas in April, Kentucky in June, and Chicago in September to open the 2013 Chase. Kenseth’s streak would end last week at Kansas has he was rather quiet for the majority of the race….but extended his streak of 5 straight races where he has led a lap. Kenseth finished 11th, his first finish outside the top 10 in over a month.

My Dark Horse was exactly that, a shot in the dark especially this season. The dark horse aspect was erased when Brad Keselowski qualified fourth and got to the front for 52 laps last week in Kansas. Crew Chief Paul Wolfe’s gamble with fuel would not pan out as the Miller Lite Ford ran out of fuel on lap 224, the gamble cost Keselowski two laps to the leader which he was able to make up one, but would finish 17th when the checkered flag flew.

Charlotte Picks

Winner Pick
There are many folks looking at the No.18 team this week, for one he has won two races on the high banked intermediate tracks this season, in dominating fashion at Texas in April and most recently at Atlanta on Labor Day weekend. The second reason why Rowdy Busch is circled on may fantasy rosters this week is the thought that he is due for a win at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Cup Series. Rewind to Memorial Day weekend this season…Kyle Busch was leading the Coca-Cola 600, in the middle of lap traffic when Fox Sports’ SkyCam over the frontstretch at Charlotte Motor Speedway came crashing to the race surface immediately in front of the No.18 car. The impact of the SkyCam resulted in radiator issues and an engine failure for Kyle who was positioned for his first ever Charlotte career win.

The loop statistics are great for a guy who has never won a race…he’s in the top three in all but one of the loop categories. The only one he is not inside the top three is Green Flag Passes, but Kyle has also qualified well over the years in North Carolina with a couple poles in the points races and an average start of 11.5. The practice sessions today and his win in the NASCAR Nationwide Series on Friday at Charlotte have added to my case for Kyle Busch on Saturday night. I am seeing a win out of this team on Saturday night and them jumping back into the Championship picture when we head to Talladega next week.

Dark Horse Pick
Martin Truex Jr. is going to be my longer play this week and here is why…Before Kansas last week and the race at Chicagoland to open the Chase, you had to go back all the way to Las Vegas back in March of 2012 for Truex’s last finish outside the top 15 on any of these intermediate track races. The stretch of 15-straight top 15 finishes is enhanced by the fact that he had two finishes outside the top 10 in the same stretch, both of which coming in the 2012 season.

Keep in mind Truex led 142 laps and finished 2nd at Texas back in April, also a 1.5-mile night race. Truex qualified 17th on Thursday, but went out for his qualifying run relatively early to some of the other drivers with similar practice speeds. On Friday, Truex was 3rd fastest in the first practice session and 5th in Happy Hour Friday evening, adding to the consistency we’ve seen all season from Truex on these intermediate tracks. He would like nothing more than to win one of these Chase races, so I’m throwing out the couple poor finishes in a row at Chicago and Kansas and going with Truex as a solid longer play this week.

That’s all for this week, so until we head to the biggest juggernaut of the 2013 Chase for the Sprint Cup….You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

October 12, 2013