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  • 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: Michigan Quicken Loans 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Michigan Quicken Loans 400

    [media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”237″][/media-credit]From blistering speeds to blistering tires, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 44th annual Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

    Surprising:  After the repaving, days of tire testing and several practices resulted in pervasive tire blistering throughout the garage, it was surprising the praise shared for Goodyear when they made the very difficult call to switch up the tires for the race.

    And although known for his sometimes hard-hitting rhetoric, second place finisher Tony Stewart had nothing but cheers for team Goodyear.

    “I think we need to give 100 percent credit to Goodyear for this weekend,” the driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet said. “I mean, what they had to do Friday night was a really hard decision to make.”

    “It was for the betterment of all of us as drivers and teams and for the sport,” Smoke continued. “So every one of us need to walk through the garage and stop at Goodyear and shake every one of their guys’ hands.”

    Not Surprising:  While Junior nation paced and held their collective breaths during the final laps of the Quicken Loans 400, no one was more anxious than team owner Rick Hendrick.

    “That was the longest 18 laps of my life,” Hendrick said of the waning laps before Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finally took that checkered flag, ending his four-year winless drought.  “I was doing laps around my couch, trying to end this race, man.”

    “I was too nervous to stand still,” Hendrick continued. “Linda and I were just watching it and saying ‘Come on, no problems.’ I was so afraid there was going to be a caution or something was going to happen.”

    “I thought Dale had a real shot at Pocono,” Hendrick said. “But this is like a huge load off our backs.”

    Surprising:  While his teammate basked in the glory of Victory Lane, Jeff Gordon celebrated a top-10 finish, as well as a surprising career milestone. The driver of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet scored the 400th top-10 finish of his Cup career.

    With his sixth place run, Gordon became the second youngest driver to achieve that milestone. This was also his fifth top-6 finish at Michigan International Speedway in the last seven races at that track.

    “It was not easy,” Gordon said, especially after having to move up from his 28th starting spot. “We had a really good race car today.”

    “I’m just glad we had a solid day,” Gordon continued. “It’s something to build on.”

    Not Surprising:  Always understated and never surprising Matt Kenseth had another solid run, finishing third in his No. 17 EcoBoost Ford. Kenseth also held onto the points lead, lording just four points over second place contender Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

    “We were pretty good in the beginning of the race and got shuffled back and it was tough to work traffic today,” Kenseth said. “They got the setup good on the last two runs and had good pit stops.”

    “We were able to stand on the gas and work our way up there to third.”

    Surprising:  One of the hottest drivers on the circuit surprisingly went from Victory Lane in Pocono and in the Michigan Nationwide race to hitting the wall and ending his Michigan Cup race with a DNF.

    “It was just the restarts,” Joey Logano said. “The slower lapped car – we all waved around and we’re all trying to turn down underneath him.”

    “I thought I had it saved and over-corrected and went in the wall,” Logano continued. “It’s a little frustrating.”

    “We’ll go back out there next week and win that one.”

    Not Surprising:   NASCAR is a family so, to no one’s surprise, several teams and crew members came to the aid of a driver in trouble. After wrecking, Denny Hamlin tried to drive to pit road only to be engulfed in flames in the race car.

    “There’s a lot of good safety stuff, but I’ve got to thank all of the crew guys that hauled ass over there and got me out,” the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota said. “It was just a tough day.”

    “I thought we had a car that could run top-three or four at times, but just didn’t have a great day and on fire is not a good way to end it.”

    Surprising:  Rough times surprisingly continued to plague the Busch brothers, from Pocono to the Irish hills of Michigan. Kurt Busch, who sat out of his car at Pocono due to a verbal altercation with a media member, wrecked on lap two of the Michigan race.

    Brother Kyle fared none better, experiencing engine failure for the third weekend in a row.

    Kurt Busch finished 30th and Kyle Busch finished 32nd. With the engine failure, Kyle Busch managed to hold on to 12th in the point standings, but barely remained in Chase contention.

    Not Surprising:  Jimmie Johnson, along with his lucky horseshoe, continued to triumph over adversity. The driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet managed yet again to pull off another top-5 finish.

    “Man, we were coming,” Johnson said. “We were really flying.”

    “And then I blistered the right rear again and had to just hang on,” Johnson continued. “And then I ran out of fuel going into Turn 3 and coasted around and made it to the finish.”

    “It was a tough day; but a good finish, so we’ll take that.”

    Surprising:  EGR racer Juan Pablo Montoya had a surprisingly good run at Michigan, finishing eighth.

    “It was good,” the driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet said of his top-10 run. “I will tell you the truth, yesterday when they changed tires, I was really worried.”

    “I called my dad to wish him a Happy Father’s Day and he said, ‘How is the car?’ I said, ‘If it handles the way it handled yesterday we are going to get lapped every 20 laps.”

    “Our team has a lot of potential and we showed a little bit of what we can do,” JPM continued. “I think we still have a lot of work to do, but I’m happy, really happy.”

    Not Surprising:  As the fastest racer in NASCAR, Marcos Ambrose not only scored the pole with a new track record, but also finished ninth in his No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion.

    “We will take the top-10 but we had a great car today and we lost a little bit of track position and it hurt us there,” Ambrose said. “I am proud of my Stanley team. We led some laps and looked good up there.”

    “It was a strong day for us, not quite what we wanted, but we will take it and move along to Sonoma.”

  • From afar Hendrick basks in a long coming Earnhardt Jr. victory

    From afar Hendrick basks in a long coming Earnhardt Jr. victory

    [media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”259″][/media-credit]It was never supposed to be like this. The story wasn’t supposed to be written this way. The plot one that was never considered.

    When Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced his signing with Hendrick Motorsports in late 2007 the assumption was that he was soon headed toward many wins and his first championship. Not that he would win one race, struggle so bad in some of the sports top equipment and go through many internal changes only to see nothing work.

    Having only two wins in four-and-a-half years at HMS? Many in the Earnhardt Jr. corner would have laughed at the absurdity. But here he is, snapping his 143 race winless streak to capture his second point-paying race with HMS and 19th of his career.

    Much has changed since 2008. Crew chiefs Tony Eury Jr. and Lance McGrew have come and gone, giving it their best shot to make the sports most popular driver a winner. When they didn’t, Steve Letarte go the call. And who can ever forget when Hendrick announced a major change for three of his four teams by switching crew chiefs and cars.

    Earnhardt Jr. going from what had been the newly formed 88 shop to moving into the shop with Jimmie Johnson and driving old Jeff Gordon cars. Hendrick doing everything in his power to make Earnhardt Jr. competitive again, changing everything he could, moving pieces and parts that weren’t bolted down. The biggest change pairing Earnhardt Jr. and Letarte, whom he got to continue to praise on Sunday for a performance in which Earnhardt Jr. led 95 of 200 laps in his Dark Knight Rises Chevrolet.

    “They just get along so good,” said Hendrick. “I think the chemistry is the best I’ve seen with any crew chief and driver. And you just look at the way they’ve been running and had a lot of speed, you knew it was going to come.

    “And just try to say, Dale, don’t worry about that, man. You’re almost leading the points here. You’ve got more top 10s than anybody. When you run second, third and fourth, you’re going to win races. And we hated Pocono, took a chance, but there was too much on the line. I can tell you that’s the longest 18 laps I’ve ever spent, at the end of this race.”

    Made worse because Hendrick was sitting at home, not standing atop the pit box looking things over. The mind can wonder while watching and listening to the TV broadcast. Even for Hendrick, who has now won 203 NSCS races, he knows it’s never over until it’s over.

    “I was doing laps around my couch, trying to end this race,” he said. “Batman was in a hurry. I was too nervous to stand still. Linda [Hendrick’s wife] and I were just watching it, come on, no problems. I was so afraid there was going to be a caution, or something was going to happen.”

    Since his Father’s Day win at Michigan in 2008 Earnhardt Jr. has finished second on seven different occasions. Experiencing close, rough weekends and everything in between. Now the drought is over, the slate wiped clean, focus being celebrate big and then go try to win again.

    And Earnhardt Jr. he wants his owner to enjoy this win for as long as possible. It was a long time in the making.

    “I told him he should have a good excuse for not being there,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “He better be on a boat somewhere in the Keys or something. But he said he was at home but they were thrilled to death, so I know that no matter where he was, he enjoyed this.

    “I told him that I had to thank him for sticking with me and getting me back to Victory Lane and he went through hell and high water to make it happen and he should enjoy the win.”

    After the company won their 200th race at Darlington last month with Jimmie Johnson, country music star Brad Paisley joined in the celebration. Hendrick says there’s no telling what they’ll do for this win.

    “We do like to celebrate together because the organization just works so hard and they want to see Junior do so well,” he said. “So stay tuned.”

    When the dust finally settles, the champagne finished, confetti cleared and Quicken Loans 400 trophy in its new home, Earnhardt Jr. and company will begin focusing on an even bigger accomplishment. He now sits second in points, just four markers behind leader Matt Kenseth heading into Sonoma.

    Even better, when the Chase starts in September it will come with better position for Earnhardt Jr. than in the past. He now has the bonus points to go with winning, something he’s never had in his previous Chase appearances.

    And Hendrick is ready to start talking and thinking champion and adding another one to his collection. That being a first with Earnhardt Jr. The way the No. 88 National Guard / AMP Energy team has started the season it certainly seems possible. They were already on the list of contenders and a win solidifies that status.

    A status many expected years ago. Consistency, wins and championships being a big reason for signing with HMS in the first place. But, better late than never.

    “When you see a car and a driver get momentum, and all the cars are running real well, they’re sharing information, and Dale is just switched on,” Hendrick said. “He’s got the confidence, Stevie has the touch and every week they’re the best by far.

    “I think he’s sitting in the cat bird seat to win his first championship.”

  • Dale Earnhardt Jr. brings home the win for Junior Nation

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. brings home the win for Junior Nation

    [media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”244″][/media-credit]Sometimes it is fun to step out of the shadows of media objectivity and tell it like it is.

    I don’t just enjoy writing about NASCAR, I’m a fan of the sport.

    I love the smell of exhaust fumes mingled with gas, the noise that makes the casual observer resort to ear protection, the drivers with all their idiosyncrasies and the zealous fans.  The intensity of 43 cars roaring around the tracks at speeds of over 200 mph is an excitement no other sport can provide.

    There’s one other thing you should know.  I’ve always had a soft spot for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    When Earnhardt Jr. won the Quicken Loan 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, the fans of NASCAR’s most popular driver were ecstatic. He broke a four year winless streak and also came one step closer to proving he is a viable contender to win a Sprint Cup Championship.

    I was a little surprised at my reaction. There was a big grin on my face but I wasn’t on my feet screaming as he crossed the finish line in first place like most of his fans.  It was more a moment of quiet satisfaction. Maybe it’s because I knew the win was coming sooner rather than later.

    I’ve had the opportunity to see Earnhardt Jr. a few times this season during sessions with the media and there has been something different about him.  He seemed more relaxed, his confidence was apparent and there was an eagerness about him that I had not seen in a while. His smile was bigger and his gaze was more direct as he answered questions.

    After the win, Earnhardt Jr. was asked about the significance of winning on Father’s Day and he admitted that he had not even thought about it.

    This was just another indicator of what I have come to believe. For perhaps the first time in his career, Earnhardt Jr. is finally coming to terms with the fact that he is more than Dale Earnhardt’s son.  Perhaps he has finally realized what his fans knew all along. Earnhardt Jr. belongs in the sport, not because of who his father was, but because he has the talent to back it up.

  • Pocono 400 Review: Logano Tames the Triangle

    [media-credit id=43 align=”alignright” width=”268″][/media-credit]After starting on the pole on Sunday, Joey Logano claimed his second Cup win in 125 starts. The Joe Gibbs Driver broke a 104 race win-less streak to become the youngest driver to win at Pocono, at 22 years and seven days old. This is crew chief Jason Ratcliff’s first Cup win of his career and the No. 20 team became the 10th different winner of 2012.

    “You work so hard to do this, and them teaming me up with Jason has been an awesome experience,” Logano said. “We’ve been growing together a lot lately and able to make our cars better. To get a victory, it meant so much, and pulling the Home Depot car into victory lane at a Sprint Cup race and winning it the right way was just an amazing, amazing feeling that you can’t replicate and you can’t explain what it means.”

     

    Earnhardt Oh So Close to Victory

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. earned his Cup-best 11th top-10 finish of 2012, taking over second in points. Earnhardt led 36 laps on the 2.5 mile track and looked as if he would break the 4 year win-less drought looming over his head.

    The driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet was leading with 35 laps remaining when a caution flag flew, leaving his crew chief Steve Letarte with a tough decision to make. If the race went green from that point on, Earnhardt would have been about five laps short on fuel. With this information, the team pitted twice in the remaining 35 laps to guarantee they would make it on fuel.

    “We had a really, really good car,” Earnhardt said. “That was fun. That was the funnest car I’ve had all year and the best car I’ve had at Pocono in a long, long time. So, I’m just really trying not to be too upset about it because we did a lot of good things today and we’ve got a lot to look forward to.”

    Although the team did make it on fuel, Earnhardt’s domination throughout the race ended with an eighth place finish. Earnhardt now resides in second position in standings, just 10 points behind leader Matt Kenseth.

     

    Controversy Over Pit Road Penalties

    The talk of the race surrounded the outstanding amount of infractions that occurred on pit road. There were 22 speeding penalties, the most in documented infraction history since 2006. Travis Kvapil was penalized four times for speeding on exit; David Reutimann was penalized three times – two for exiting and one entering; Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, AJ Allmendinger were each penalized twice.

    Many drivers blamed the scoring timers on pit road for the speeding penalties. However, according to NASCAR’s vice president of competition, the problem was with the drivers.

    “This track’s gone under a lot of reconfiguration since last year,” Robin Pemberton said after the race. “It’s a brand new pit road, all brand new loops, positions have been changed since last year. Sections were smaller than they were last year throughout pit road and, actually, the last section is a little bit bigger.”

    Brad Keselowski, who finished in 18th position after the penalties, had a different opinion on the infractions.

    “It was obvious that the section had some kind of issue because I know both times I got busted I was under the limit with my tools that I have available,” said Keselowski. “I was consistent down pit road, so if I was speeding in that sector, I would have been speeding in the others — but it didn’t show that. I think there’s plenty of evidence to show that there is something wrong with that section timing.”

    Johnson, who fell back to 22nd after the penalties, rebounded to finish in fourth position.

     

    Quicken Loans 400 Predictions

    [media-credit name=”NASCAR.com” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]This weekend we head to Michigan International Speedway and all eyes will be on the No. 88 team where they captured their first and only point’s win for Hendrick Motorsports in 2008. After dominating most of the race at Pocono and finishing in the top 10 for the 11th time this season, expectations are high for the Cup veteran. Along with his win four years ago at this track, Earnhardt has four top-5 and eight top-10 finishes at Michigan and is looking to drive to victory lane once again.

    Denny Hamlin is another driver who knows how to get the job done at MIS. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has two wins at this track, with five top-5 and seven top-10 finishes. Hamlin is currently fourth in Cup standings and has two wins so far this season.

    Kevin Harvick is another driver to keep an eye on, with one win in 2010 and seven top 10 finishes. Harvick resides in sixth position in points, 53 points behind the leader. The Richard Childress Racing driver has yet to win a race this season, but has been very consistent with three top-5 and seven top-10 finishes.

    Carl Edwards is itching to get his first win of the season, and MIS may be the track that he drives to victory lane at. The Roush Fenway Racing driver has impressive stats here, with two wins, nine top-5 and 12 top-10 finishes. Edwards is also looking to break into the top 10 in points, sitting in 11th position, 100 points behind leader and teammate Kenseth.

     

    All quotes via NASCAR.com.

  • Chad Hackenbracht is Making a Name for Himself On and Off the Track

    Chad Hackenbracht is Making a Name for Himself On and Off the Track

    [media-credit name=”Photo Credit CGH Motorsports” align=”alignright” width=”246″][/media-credit]In spite of his difficult to pronounce moniker, up and coming 20 year old racer Chad Hackenbracht has been making a name for himself on and off the track.

    Hackenbracht definitely made a name for himself on the track at Talladega by leading laps at the end of the race and pushing Brandon McReynolds, son of former crew chief and FOX broadcaster Larry McReynolds, to his first ARCA win.

    The driver of the No. 58 Kindify Chevrolet Impala led 38 laps and was leading when the white flag flew. Unfortunately, Hackenbracht was a sitting duck at the front of the field and had to settle for a third place finish in the International Motorsports Hall of Fame 250 when all was said and done.

    This was Hackenbracht’s fifth career top five finish and his best finish ever at a superspeedway.

    “I knew we had a good chance at winning for sure,” Hackenbracht said. “But you don’t want to be in the lead at a superspeedway.”

    “You’re a sitting duck with no friends at all,” Hackenbracht continued. “So, they got me on that last restart. I tried to back up to them but they wound up getting around me.”

    While rivals on the track, Hackenbracht and McReynolds have been good friends off the track. And they planned on working together in the draft during their superspeedway competitions.

    “Brandon and I talked about pushing each other since the tandem racing began at Daytona,” Hackenbracht said. “Ever since then, we tried to work together but never got the opportunity until the Talladega race.”

    So, how has McReynolds paid Hackenbracht back for that winning push, which has brought great attention to both racers’ names, at Talladega?

    “He hasn’t given me anything,” Hackenbracht said with a laugh. “He called me after the race and thanked me.”

    “He said we could go get some lunch or dinner or hang out,” Hackenbracht continued. “He has thanked me a lot and really that’s all you can ask for.”

    “Obviously with Brandon being Larry Mac’s son and me pushing him to the lead, we’ve both gotten a lot of exposure,” Hackenbracht said. “So, when they talk him, they’re also talking about me.”

    “We’re getting some good press out of it for sure and hopefully making a name in the garage area.”

    Hackenbracht certainly had mixed emotions after the ARCA race, even with his third place finish. Among those emotions were elation for his friend, sadness that he was not in Victory Lane, and a little bit of anger all at the same time.

    “Right after the race, I was actually kind of upset because the 16 came up and damaged our car,” Hackenbracht said. “He decided to come up and block us after we were right next to him.”

    “Third is good because it helps us go after the championship,” Hackenbracht, who is third in the ARCA point standings, continued. “You always want to be in Victory Lane but it will happen when it’s supposed to happen.”

    Hackenbracht has also been making a name for himself off the track as well. The young driver was chosen to do the Hoosier tire test at several newly paved tracks, as well as fulfilling a great deal of sponsor and charitable appearances.

    “We did the Hoosier tire test,” Hackenbracht said. “We were the only team that went up and tested the tires on the new surface.”

    “We also did that a few weeks ago in Michigan, as well as at Pocono,” Hackenbracht continued. “Michigan was very similar to the old track as far as conditions.”

    “It had a lot of grip and is a lot faster,” Hackenbracht said. “We were actually only two tenths off of the Cup speeds in the ARCA cars.”

    “Pocono also looks great,” Hackenbracht continued. “I can’t complain about that at all. It’s smooth and fast too.”

    Hackenbracht has become a bit of a rock star off the track as well, between all of his sponsor visits and charities.

    “Before Talladega, we went to Fort Bragg and did a show car appearance,” Hackenbracht said. “I had never once been on a base before and I didn’t realize it was like a whole other town.”

    “It was great to meet the troops and spend time with them.”

    “That Thursday of Talladega, we went to Fort Rucker and it was so nice to meet people and get my name out there,” Hackenbracht continued. “Another thing that I’ve started to do is with the RAD (Race Against Drugs) program. They’re going to have a go kart thing where kids get to race against us ARCA racers.”

    “At ‘Dega, as soon as I got out of the car after finishing the race, I rushed everybody out and went to the hauler, changed my clothes and went outside the track to the International Motorsports Hall of Fame to sign autographs for different kids with the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind,” Hackenbracht said. “That was fun to speak with a bunch of different kids.”

    “It was hectic getting right out of the car but it was really fun.”

    While Hackenbracht likes to go fast and finish well on the track, making a name for himself and causes he cares about off the track is something that is vitally important to the young driver.

    “That’s one thing I really like to do is the off-track stuff, whether it’s autographs or just meeting people,” Hackenbracht said. “I love meeting new people and you never know where there connections will lead.”

    Although it is early in the season, Hackenbracht has been enjoying making a name for himself on and off the track. And he just knows that his team will be the next ones in Victory Lane.

    “We’re getting closer to finally closing the deal on the win,” Hackenbracht said. “It’s been a long time coming.”

    “We’ve had dominant performances but bad luck or other problems have gotten in the way of the win,” Hackenbracht continued. “It’s definitely been a good season so far.”

    “Hopefully we will continue to go in the right direction.”

     

     

  • Pocono Preps for Tire Test and First Race without Patriarch

    Pocono Preps for Tire Test and First Race without Patriarch

    [media-credit name=”Photo credit: Pocono Raceway” align=”alignright” width=”200″][/media-credit]Pocono Raceway, thanks to the mild winter, has been abuzz with activity, including a total track repave and preparations for the upcoming tire test at the end of this month.

    Yet all of these activities have been undertaken with an eye to heaven and under the watchful eye of the late ‘Doc’ Mattioli, the track patriarch who passed away earlier this year.

    “The repave was pretty much a top to bottom reconstruction of the track,” Brandon Igdalsky, President & CEO of Pocono Raceway and grandson of ‘Doc’ Mattioli, said. “We went all the way down to the base of the track and put three or four more new layers.”

    Similar to the recent repave done in Michigan, Pocono track officials realized that, after sixteen years of wear and tear, it was time to get some new asphalt down on the ‘Tricky Triangle.’

    “The asphalt had just lived its life and it was just time to do it,” Igdalsky said. “It was 16 years old and a lot of use on it with the race and all the other events throughout the year.”

    “That all adds up over time, as well as the freeze/thaw cycles we get each year takes its toll.”

    While Igdalsky checked out the pavers used by some of the other tracks, he finally decided, for many reasons, to use someone closer to home for the repave.

    “We talked to the pavers that did the ISC and the SMI tracks,” Igdalsky said. “There’s a couple companies out there that both of them use.”

    “But with all the scheduling of the other tracks getting done, it wasn’t going to work out,” Igdalsky continued. “We have a relationship with a local, major paving operation here in Pennsylvania.”

    “They came in and did a fantastic job.”

    And was the repave costly?

    “It cost a lot,” Igdalsky said simply, with a chuckle. “It’s a hefty chunk of change. I’ll leave it at that.”

    But best of all, the repave has made the 2.5 mile track even faster than it was before.

    “I took a lap on the new surface and it’s smooth and fast,” Igdalsky said. “I can put my Tahoe into Turn One a lot faster than I could before.”

    “If I can do that in my Tahoe, I can’t imagine what they’ll be able to do in a Cup car.”

    While Igdalsky predicts the repaved track will be fast, Igdalsky refrained from predicting exact speeds that may be reached on the new asphalt.

    “The grip in Turn Three is so much better now,” Igdalsky said. “So, if they can get through Three and get a nice smooth run and they were hitting that 205 mph speed before, I can see them running at least five miles an hour faster.”

    “When we repaved in 1995 and when they came back that following June, they were seven miles an hour a lap faster on average,” Igdalsky said. “So, if we can get five or six miles per hour on the new asphalt per lap, the average lap time will be good.”

    “I’m excited to see what they’re going to do when they get here in two weeks, especially seeing the speeds they were getting in Michigan.”

    While Igdalsky may be excited about the speeds, he admitted that he has been a bit worried about getting the repaving done in time for the scheduled Goodyear tire test.

    “It definitely kept me up at night,” Igdalsky admitted. “I’ve been worried about getting the repaving done before the tire test and we got it done.”

    “Now it’s a matter of how it will react to the test and how the drivers are going to like it.”

    The all-important tire test has been scheduled for April 24th and April 25th at Pocono Raceway. Goodyear engineers will test a variety of compounds that will determine the best tires to be used for the June 10th Pocono 400.

    The drivers tentatively scheduled to participate in the Goodyear tire test at Pocono are Jamie McMurray, Kasey Kahne, Joey Logano, A.J. Allmendinger, and Aric Almirola. The drivers will represent all of the major teams, from Hendrick Motorsports to Richard Petty Motorsports.

    The test is open to the public and fans will be permitted to watch both days of testing from the grandstands free of charge.

    “We’re going to do some stuff with the drivers coming in but we don’t know how the schedule will go,” Igdalsky said. “It’s Goodyear’s show and they dictate what we do and don’t do.”

    “Goodyear is all about getting these tires tested and figuring out what they’re going to use and not use,” Igdalsky said. “It’s a pretty busy day for the Goodyear guys as well.”

    As the Pocono President and staff prepare for the tire test, they are also in full preparation mode for the race. Yet all of these preparations are being done with somewhat heavy hearts as everyone at Pocono continues to fill the void left by the passing of patriarch ‘Doc’ Mattioli.

    “As we move into a new chapter at Pocono Raceway, everyone is excitedly nervous,” Igdalsky said. “We’re all biting our nails for good weather but we’ve got some help with my grandfather up in heaven.”

    “He’ll do his best come June 10th to give us a nice, exciting weekend.”

    Igdalsky said that it has certainly been different at the track without the dominant presence of his grandfather.

    “Strange is an understatement,” Igdalsky said about the atmosphere without ‘Doc’. “I really miss my weekly sit-downs with him and going over everything with him.”

    “Personally, I miss him more than anything in the world,” Igdalsky continued. “And I know as a staff we miss him terribly.”

    “That first race is definitely going to be hard for everybody,” Igdalsky said. “Not seeing him up there on the Victory Lane stage for the start of the race will be like nothing we’ve ever experienced before.”

    In spite of the grief, however, Igdalsky and his family take great comfort in knowing that although ‘Doc’ is gone, Rose Mattioli will still be present throughout the race weekend.

    “We’re putting her to work this year,” Igdalsky said of his grandmother. “She will definitely be there.”

    “Once we’ve past the tire test, we’re into worrying about the race and the show it’s going to put on,” Igdalsky said. “So, June 10th at 7:00 pm when all is said and done, I’ll be happily cracking a bottle of champagne, toasting the heavens, and celebrating.”

  • Matty’s Picks: Pure Michigan 400 Vol. 14 – Michigan – August 21, 2011

    Matty’s Picks: Pure Michigan 400 Vol. 14 – Michigan – August 21, 2011

    The NASCAR Sprint cup series heads back to the two-mile D-shaped superspeedway situated in the Irish Hills region of southeastern Michigan for the second and final time of the 2011 tour. Being one of the fastest tracks on the NASCAR schedule (with corner entry speeds in excess of 205 mph), NASCAR races continuously draw upwards of 125,000 fans to the 1,400 acres that makes up the MIS complex.

    The wide sweeping corners of Michigan International Speedway were not very kind to my picks in the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 back in June, so I am looking to rebound and continue my short streak of solid picks this weekend.

    Watkins Glen Recap

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”235″][/media-credit]With last week’s race being at the track that I am most familiar with, there is no reason my picks should have played out any differently than they did. Watkins Glen International is the track that I call home, and the race Monday reinforced my decision to travel to the races each year at the historic 2.45-mile road course at The Glen. No matter where you were situated along the track on Monday Morning, there was action in front of you.

    First, Kudos to WGI in their efforts to improve fan-viewing areas in erecting new grandstands (which look more like 6-story towers than grandstands) in turns 1, 10, and 11. I climbed to the top of the grandstands in turns 1 and 10, and they truly enhance the historically-difficult fan’s viewing perspective at Watkins Glen International. My family has sworn by the same seats in the Ninety Grandstand for the past 15 years, and I believe they will be seeking to make the change to one of the three brand new monstrosities ISC has erected at The Glen when NASCAR makes its return in 2012.

    None the more fitting for my home track, Monday’s Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen boasted my best results of the season thus far with a win for my Winner Pick and a 4th place Dark Horse finish.

    Marcos Ambrose went into the weekend at Watkins Glen as the favorite for not only me, but for many writers in the racing industry. It was only destiny for Ambrose to win a Sprint Cup race after coming so close so many times throughout his brief history in NASCAR.

    Ambrose had a sniff at the track record during qualifying, only to be outdone 69-seconds later by his teammate A.J. Allmendinger, and then again by Kyle Busch. This meant that Ambrose would start third for the Cup race, but wasted no time showing why he was many people’s pick to win at The Glen.

    I will quote my column from last week, “Ambrose has the car to beat this weekend…he’s going to win.” Now I’m not trying to toot my own horn on this one, but that was a ‘Nostradamus of NASCAR’ pick last week (Almost as solid as picking Dale Jr to win the Fan Vote in the All-Star Race back in May).

    The No. 9 car didn’t get the win very easily on Monday, coming from third on the Green-White-Checkered start to taking the checkered flag for his first victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Marcos Ambrose had this to say in Victory Lane on Monday “Just a dream day. The sacrifices you make, we all make to get here, Todd and all the team, the Petty family, my family to get here, to be a contender in the Cup Series, to finally get to victory lane, it just is a dream come true for me.”

    My Dark Horse Pick also faired well on Monday, finishing fourth. Martin Truex Jr.’s car was “just a bit off” on Monday morning. He had enough to run towards the front of the pack all day long, but fell just short at the end when the checkered flag flew.

    Truex explained the chaos of the final restart after his fourth-place finish “I’m not really sure exactly how the last restart went. All I know is I was three-wide so I was kind of paying attention to the guys around me and not so much what happened up in front. I know I saw Kyle (Busch) way out off the curb off of (turn) one so I knew he was in trouble, and they were two-wide under him I guess. I was just glad to get out of there alive. I was a little nervous that last three-white checker.”

    As I said before, it was a great weekend for Matty’s Picks at The Glen marking my two best picks yet this season. I hope I can carry my momentum into Michigan this week with two picks even better than last week.

    Michigan Picks

    Winner Pick
    Since I picked a Chevy and a Toyota to win in June, I’ve decided to pick the other two makes this week at MIS despite two JGR Toyotas finishing in the Top-3.

    For my winner pick, I’m going with the runner-up of June’s race at MIS. Three of the four Roush Fenway Racing cars were in the Top-5 earlier today in Sprint Cup practice. Matt Kenseth is also one of three active drivers that average a Top-10 finish at Michigan; Carl Edwards (6.2), Kenseth (9.5), and Denny Hamlin (10.0). He has two wins at the track, his last coming in 2006, and also has a Top-5 finish in his last two starts at MIS.

    Kenseth was quickest in practice earlier this afternoon, edging out Ryan Newman by just 6-thousanths of a second. Matt Kenseth is sitting in fairly good shape as far as the Chase is concerned, but his third win of the season could be on the horizon this weekend at MIS. Look for Kenseth to be aggressive in his march towards the front, but conserve a Top-5 for his points run.

    Dark Horse Pick
    I think I’m going to get some backlash on qualifying this next driver as my Dark Horse pick for this weekend, but the numbers are the numbers.

    Brad Keselowski is arguably the hottest driver in racing right now, but has never finished better than 24th at MIS. Following a crash that could have possibly ended his season or his driving career, Keselowski has been on a mission to prove his toughness and existence in the Sprint Cup Series. Many drivers in the garage gave him props last week for his courage to not only stay in his car for the weekend, but to take the Blue Deuce and finish second.

    Since his horrific crash in testing at Road Atlanta, Keselowski has a win at Pocono and a runner-up finish on Monday at Watkins Glen. He sits atop the leaderboard for one of the two Wild Card spots in the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup with his two wins. A win on Sunday would all but seal-the-deal for his Chase hopes, and put the Blue Deuce in contention for a Driver’s Championship, something no other driver of the Miller Lite Dodge has ever been able to accomplish.

    Brad Keselowski will put his average finish of 27.5 at Michigan behind him this weekend and put the Blue Deuce in the Top 5 for the fifth time this season.

    On a side note, I was glad to see all the drivers involved in the horrific crashes on Monday at Watkins Glen International walk from their cars under their own power. It is really unfortunate that drivers have to find those dangerous spots on the track before the owners of the facility do, but hopefully WGI will continue to improve the safety in and around the track. I commend the track on what they’ve done so far, and am 100% certain they will investigate the incidents at the facility very closely, and institute an action plan to alleviate the dangerous situations we saw on Monday.

    Until Next Week…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!!!

  • Chad Hackenbracht’s Biggest Hurdle Not the Racing But His Own Last Name

    Chad Hackenbracht’s Biggest Hurdle Not the Racing But His Own Last Name

    Chad Hackenbracht had his best ever career finish in this past weekend’s ARCA race, scoring a fourth place in his family-owned No. 58 Tastee Apple CGH Motorsports Chevrolet at Michigan International Speedway.

    [media-credit name=”Photo Credit: CGH Motorsports” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]But even greater than the challenge of the intense competition on the track is the 19 year old driver’s challenge in just getting folks to pronounce his last name correctly.

    In addition to being on a quest for name recognition, the driver is having a little fun with it all. His team has just developed T-shirts, which say “What’s a Chad Hacken-something?”

    The correct pronunciation of that all important last name is in parentheses (hock en bra) on the new T-shirts, which are on sale on Hackenbracht’s website  www.cghmotorsports.com for just $19.95.

    “That actually was started by my marketing guy who is looking for sponsorship for us,” Hackenbracht said of the T-shirt venture. “It has turned into a really big hit.”

    Hackenbracht, however, is focused solely on his racing and was thrilled with his good performance at Michigan.

    “We wound up getting a fourth place out of it which wasn’t too bad,” Hackenbracht said. “We were up there in contention.”

    “It’s a career best for us,” Hackenbracht said. “It was really good.”

    The young driver from New Philadelphia, Ohio has been on a tear even before the career best finish in Michigan.  He scored an 11th place finish at Toledo in May, a ninth-place finish at New Jersey and seventh place finish at Pocono Raceway.

    This is Hackenbracht’s first full year in the ARCA Series, after running a limited schedule in 2010, with just the televised races on the docket. Prior to that, the young driver ran the Legends series, scoring 18 wins and the national championship.

    Hackenbracht is a bit unusual as far as his driving pedigree. He is not from a traditional racing family, but instead caught the racing bug by seeing it on television.

    “I basically was watching the Daytona or Talladega Cup race and I saw it and said to my parents, ‘Hey, I want to race.’ Hackenbracht said. “I don’t think they took me seriously but they said to come up with different options.”

    “I came up with four-wheelers and go karts and my mom said no to both of them,” Hackenbracht continued. “So, then we saw quarter-midgets and started with that.”

    The young driver has been moving on up the ranks ever since, with his eye eventually on a Truck or Nationwide ride. Like so many others, Hackenbracht definitely sees himself in the Cup Series sometime in the near future, with just the economy standing in his way.

    “I’m in the perfect age range,” Hackenbracht said. “But just the wrong economic time.”

    “In a couple years, you’ll have a lot of rides opening up,” Hackenbracht continued. “But you’ve got to survive until then.”

    Hackenbracht survives with a little help from his friends, particularly those in the Cup garage, as well as good friend and mentor Ron Hornaday, Jr.

    “ARCA is kind of like a big family,” Hackenbracht said. “All the teams work with you.”

    “I’ve got a connection with Ron Hornaday in the Truck garage,” Hackenbracht continued. “He’ll stop in the shop after a race and we’ll talk a little bit.”

    Hackenbracht does follow one particular Cup driver, one in fact that he has inherited from his mother.

    “My mom’s driver is Jeff Gordon,” Hackenbracht said. “I follow him just because of my mom and dad.”

    “But I really like Mark Martin myself,” Hackenbracht continued. “He races hard but he races clean. That’s what I do and what I want to be.”

    In addition to the racers that Hackenbracht follows on the track, he also models himself after the premiere drivers in the sport as far as putting time in at the shop and at the gym. But he does have one other duty that has led to yet another name for the young driver.

    “The guys at the shop call me ‘Sticker Boy’ because I put all the details on the car,” Hackenbracht said. “That’s kind of my thing.”

    Whether you call him ‘Hacken-something’ or ‘Sticker Boy’, Hackenbracht will next be doing his thing in the ARCA Racing Series on Saturday, June 25th in the Winchester ARCA 200 presented by Federated Auto Parts at Winchester Speedway in Indiana.

    “We came to Michigan and showed our performance was no fluke,” Hackenbracht said. “I’m anxious to get to Winchester as I feel we have a shot at our first career win.”

  • Michigan….More Than Met the Eye

    Michigan….More Than Met the Eye

    Michigan is one of the fastest tracks on the circuit. It’s wide enough to accommodate 4 wide racing. It’s forgiving because of that width. Yet Sunday’s race didn’t show that.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”245″][/media-credit]Michigan announced on Friday that the track will be repaved after the August race. The track is looking to avoid surface issues by repaving before they occur. It’s very responsible but one hopes that the reason they are resurfacing has nothing to do with the quality of racing that we have seen there over the last few years. Because if it is, it is a product of the Car of Today and the changes made to it and not the track itself.

    Michigan is notorious for being a fuel mileage race. Fans as a rule do not like fuel mileage races. The strategy and the pit calls are lost on the long drawn out green flags. However, as was the case this past weekend, the racing at the track was quite exciting. The racing shown on TV was not. It seems impossible for the track to control both the actual event and the broadcast of the event to be sure that its facility is being shown in the best light.

    The race itself was not without controversy. On Friday the oil pans of all three JGR teams were confiscated and tagged by NASCAR. The confiscated pans weighed in the neighborhood of 35 lbs a piece rather than the 5 of a normal oil pan. The added belly weight would have lowered the center of gravity of the car and improved it’s handling characteristics.

    Although NASCAR’s statement only stated that the pans were removed and further penalties would be discussed early this week, it does bring to question the problem experienced by Kyle Busch’s JGR team last week. Could the added weight have caused the spring to fail? One of the pans did appear to have been used previously although there is no way to tell which team it belonged to. NASCAR did not further address this issue other than to say the pans were removed and it would be discussed early this week.

    Many drivers however, did discuss the issue. The most notable was Jeff Gordon who stated that his team had been penalized a 100 points in the past for a fender flare that never even went on the race track. Other drivers cited similar incidents as well. It will be interesting to see what the end result of this controversy is as it will effect all three teams, drivers and crew chiefs.

    The other controversy actually seemed minor at the time. In fact TV viewers never saw the actual incident only the after math. It occurred when the 5 of Mark Martin, got tight in the middle of the corner and drifted up into the 88 of teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr and put him in the wall cutting down a right front tire in the process. The incident occurred as Earnhardt was attempting to pass Martin for the 10th position on the track. Instead of having another consistent finish Earnhardt would be relegated to 21st position at the end of the race.

    In post race Earnhardt was angry and disappointed stating, “I perceived that he didn’t know I was on the outside [of him],” Earnhardt said. “He knew I was up there, but he was just running hard. If the tables were turned, I would have been smarter and given him plenty of room, [more] than he did me.

    “He is older than me, been racing forever and knows a lot more than I’ll ever get, or he has forgotten more stuff than I’ll never know. Still, I take better care of people than that.”

    Shortly after making his statement, Mark Martin arrived at the 88 hauler and went inside to discuss the incident with Earnhardt and crew chief Steve Letarte. After the brief discussion Earnhardt had calmed significantly, stating, “I want to finish where I’m supposed to finish, and that really didn’t happen today, so I was real PO’d about it,” Earnhardt said. “Mark came and gave me a good explanation and I believe it and it’s the end of it. … I got the air screwed up around him and he got real tight off of [Turn] 2 and pushed into the wall.

    “He was off the gas when we got together. There was nothing he could do.”

    Martin accepted the blame for not realizing Earnhardt was that close.

    “I would have given him room if I’d known he was there,” Martin said. “It was too late. I had my front wheels cut and I let off the gas and that’s all I could do at that point. My mistake. My mistake.

    “I don’t have a history of having problems. I don’t think I have one now. … I feel like I give everybody on the race track respect. I made a mistake.”

    Although Earnhardt Jr accepted the apology and the explanation, Social Media and fan based websites showed that Jr. Nation was not nearly so forgiving. “I lost a ton of respect for him when he pulled the Brett Favre act a few years ago with Roush and again with HMS in regards to retirement and what little respect I had left the building today with that explanation he gave. And where the heck was his spotter to tell him he was NOT clear to slide up on in there. Like Jr said he was careless and he cost Jr big time today. I will never look at MM the same way again or trust him as a teammate.” Another response was, “It was not the first time he has tried to that to Jr in the race, only the last time he really did knock him into the wall. In my opinion he had it out for him from the very beginning of the race, he’s a jealous old prune. He knew he was there, I do not buy his excuse.”

    Martin’s on track mistake wasn’t the only one of the race. The televised broad cast was well in a word boring. The progress of the top 10 cars were the entire broadcast. Although, according to fans that were actually at the track the side by side racing was fierce from 10th back. The broadcast was basically a commercial break interrupted by the race. The fans at home were subjected to an 11 commercial average break every 5 minutes of racing. The race was the shortest points race thus far being just over 2 hours. I am sure that TNT was more than a little upset at the number of commercials they didn’t get to run during the shortened length of the race.

    More and more fans are leaving the sport. The stands at Michigan were vastly empty. In a town that stands home to the big 4, between unemployment and a lack of competitive racing they choose to spend their dollars elsewhere. Sadly, it’s at most every track on the circuit. But with the broadcast media being the point of exposure for most fans one must question NASCAR’s attention to it. Surely someone watches the TV broadcast? Don’t they? Surely someone reads the print media sites. Surely someone heard Carl Edwards plea of fix the car so we can race other cars and drivers and not down force. Surely someone heard him say track position should not be the deciding factor in a race. Is it that they don’t care or is that truly an echo that we hear across the sport?

    ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * * * * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

    Congratulations to Denny Hamlin and his Fed Ex Toyota Team on their victory at Michigan in the Sprint Cup Series.

    Congratulations to Carl Edwards and his Fastenal Mustang team on their victory in Michigan in the Nationwide Series.

    That said, to all the competitors in all the series thanks for giving us everything you have to give, you are our heroes. Most importantly, thanks to all the families who shared their loved ones with us so we could cheer our favorite driver and favorite teams. You are the true heroes of the sport and we are forever in your debt.