1. Jeff Gordon: Gordon seized his opportunity at Martinsville, taking the lead late and holding on for his ninth win at the Virginia half-mile track. With the win, Gordon will be one of four drivers vying for the Sprint Cup at Homestead.
“I can certainly identify with Joey Logano,” Gordon said. “Because we both ‘owe’ Matt Kenseth.”
2. Joey Logano: Logano was dominating at Martinsville and seemed headed for his fourth straight victory, till Matt Kenseth intentionally wrecked Logano with 47 laps left. Logano finished 37th, 42 laps down.
“It was a total coward move by Kenseth,” Logano said. “And I should know—I’m all yellow.
“I’m furious, and so is my father Tom. He was redder than a Martinsville hot dog. He was so irate, he had to be restrained. And speaking of ‘restraint,’ that reminds me of my first memory of my father, when he duct-taped to the seat of a go-cart and said ‘Drive.’”
3. Kevin Harvick: Harvick led 38 laps and finished eighth in the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500.
“Once again,” Harvick said, “I made a move that kept my championship hopes alive. This time, however, instead of driving into the fray, I steered clear of controversy.”
4. Kyle Busch: Busch finished fifth at Martinsville, and is second in the points standings with two races to go before the finale at Homestead.
“I can’t wait to hear NASCAR’s response to the Matt Kenseth-Joey Logano incident,” Busch said. “In the ‘Boys, have at it’ age, and just weeks after Brian France used the term ‘quintessential NASCAR,’ it seems that NASCAR, just like Logano, was ‘asking for it.’”
5. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished third at Martinsville, posting his 14th top-5 finish of the year.
“I think we may need to look into updating the definition of the word ‘accident’ in this sport,” Hamlin said.
6. Carl Edwards: Despite front-end damage suffered in an early accident, Edwards finished a solid 14th at Martinsville.
“The crew did a good job of repairing the No. 19 Toyota,” Edwards said. “So good, in fact, that NASCAR wants some pointers on ‘damage control.’”
7. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex led 27 laps at Martinsville and finished sixth at Martinsville.
“NASCAR won’t stand for this type of vigilante justice,” Truex said. “NASCAR fans, on the other hand, well, they’ll not only stand, they’ll give it an ovation, as well.”
8. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski was collected in an accident that sent him crashing into Matt Kenseth’s No. 20 Toyota. Keselowski’s No. 22 suffered major damage to the suspension, and he limped home with a 32nd-place finish.
“I did not wreck Kenseth on purpose,” Keselowski said. “No, that’s not me quoting Joey Logano from Kansas. That’s me being honest, and, let’s face it, apparently NASCAR drivers can only be honest when they haven’t wrecked someone on purpose.”
9. Kurt Busch: Busch was collected in a wreck after Brad Keselowski made contact with Matt Kenseth, sending Kenseth’s No. 20 into Busch’s No. 41. Busch finished 34th, 14 laps off the pace.
“This means I’ll probably have to win one of the next two races,” Busch said. “That puts me in the same boat with three or four other drivers. And speaking of boats, if Matt Kenseth would have done what he did in a boat, he would be ‘docked.’”
10. Dale Earnhardt, Jr: Earnhardt finished fourth at Martinsville as all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers finished in the top 12, with Jeff Gordon taking the win.
“Am I surprised that Matt Kenseth took out Joey Logano?” Earnhardt said. “Of course not. This is NASCAR, in which most of the races take place on oval tracks. Just take a look at the cars turning laps on those tracks, and you’ll realize it’s easy to see ‘what goes around comes around.’”
It’s time to put a nice little bow on everything that happened yesterday at the Virginia paperclip.
This week, I’m going to do my rear-view post a little different. I’m going to do a driver-by-driver recap rather than a full race rundown. If you prefer one over the other, feel free to tell me in the comment section below.
Let’s start with the race winner Jeff Gordon. The driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet scored his 93rd career win after taking the lead from A. J. Allmendinger with 21 laps to go and also held off a final two-lap charge by Jamie McMurray to take the checkered flag.
“This is turning into one of those just incredible storybook finishes to this year, to this career,” Gordon said post-race. “Of all years, I mean, of all years, I cannot believe this. I’m so excited it’s happening in this year. That was clutch.That was huge.Yeah, we had a few things that fell in our favor.But you got to be there and be ready for that moment when it comes, and we were. Our car was pretty solid all day.Our restarts were pretty good.We fought through some things.Our car was good on the long runs.We were having to make some adjustments there.”
It was his ninth win at Martinsville Speedway, a track that’s been his playground since his rookie season in 1993. He finishes his career with 37 top-10s at Martinsville, tying Richard Petty for most top-10 finishes at Martinsville – and 29 top-five finishes. At the end of the day, it’s incredible what this man has done at NASCAR’s last charter track in 23 years of racing and it’s a shame yesterday was his last.
More importantly, Gordon now has a chance to ride off into the Florida sunset with his fifth championship in three weeks at Homestead-Miami Speedway. You couldn’t write this fairytale ending any better regardless of how it ends. With his career stats at Homestead, it’s a good bet that he’ll be a threat to win the title.
As hard as Jamie McMurray tried, he could only finish runner-up to Jeff Gordon at Martinsville. Todd Warshaw/NASCAR via Getty Images
Finishing runner-up to Big Daddy was Jamie McMurray. He put on his best performance of the season at a track that statistically has been his best. While he’s never won at Martinsville, it’s the only place he’s finished in the top-10 in over 50 percent of his starts (53.85 percent to be exact). If the outside line wasn’t the kiss of death at Martinsville, McMurray might have won the race. I base this on Gordon being notorious for bad restarts. Ironically, he said after the race that he wanted the outside line.
“When Jeff gave me the outside, I somewhat wanted that,” he said. “I struggled on the inside. Knowing it was just going to be a green-white-checkered, I thought I might be able to get around him. Honestly, it was really hard to see. I had like a light smoke visor on. It was hard to see with your visor up. When I shut it with one to go, it was really dark. I was a little bit nervous. I haven’t done a restart in the new restart zone. It was kind of hard to see where exactly the restart zone was. Had a lot on my mind there. I drove as hard as I could. Jeff was on the outside. His car stuck a little bit better than mine. I was hoping I could just get close enough to him down the backstretch that I could make some more drama for today versus what we already had. I spun the tires really bad off turn two and wasn’t able to get to his back.”
I’ve always believed that if the Ganassi cars could have a little more performance, he and Kyle Larson would win races on a more consistent basis. I also believe that next season will be the one where McMurray goes from being a journeyman to being a serious championship contender.
After being hit with two speeding penalties, Denny Hamlin rallied to a podium finish. Granted, frequent cautions and few lead lap cars allowed him to get back to the front more quickly, but to do that at Martinsville is commendable.
Kyle Busch battled back from early contact with Austin Dillon to finish fifth. Jeff Zelevansky/NASCAR via Getty Images
More and more, I’m continually amazed by the maturity that has taken over Kyle Busch. I remember last season at Bristol in August when Busch got busted for speeding and his night just fell apart. It climaxed with then crew chief Dave Rodgers telling him to “take your whiny little ass to the bus.” He then parked his car at the entrance to the garage area, got out of his car and got the hell out of Dodge.
Yesterday, he ran over a patch of water next to the curb, got loose, hit Austin Dillon and sent both of them spinning.
“We spun him out, spun myself out, had some damage to the car after that,” he said in his media availability. “Just didn’t quite feel right after. I’m not sure what bent, but something was definitely amiss on the front end.”
Instead of coming apart, he kept his eye on the prize and rallied to a fifth-place finish.
“Can’t say enough about our guys,” he added. “They did a great job. Come home with a top five. We’re thrilled with that and time to move on.”
Was there ever a time you could have seen Busch actually doing that or be glad that he got a good finish? This is the same Kyle Busch that not long ago would have responded to a runner-up finish with “yeah, but we didn’t win.” I don’t know if it was breaking his leg at Daytona in February or the birth of his son Brexton, but he’s truly become a more humble, likable driver.
There was also a career milestone for Anthony Wayne “Tony” Stewart. Just driving from last to a 10th-place finish at Martinsville is great no matter the driver. But this top-10 finish gave Smoke his 300th career top-10 finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. That’s a career average of 51.11 percent of his finishes being in the top-10. Given how his season – and honestly, his last three seasons – has played out, this is great for a man who’s retiring after 2016.
I’m not going to touch on the incident between Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano because for me to do so would be too hypocritical. But I will touch on the comments made by Hamlin.
“It’s a no-holds-barred, Wild, Wild West,” said Hamlin. “The structure…we have around us is not very strong as far as an authority figure saying, ‘No, you cannot do that anymore.’ I love Brian France, but when he says that drivers are ‘doing what they have to do,’ it seems like he’s promoting this type of racing. It’s tough to crown a true champion when things go like this.”
While Hamlin is entitled to that belief, I’m getting real sick and tired of these drivers saying they can’t police themselves and that NASCAR needs to do it for them. I think Dave Moody put it best with this statement. “Brian France and Mike Helton don’t drive race cars. Drivers do.These are grown men (and women) who can handle their own affairs, both on and off the race track. They do not need an ‘authority figure’ to teach them right from wrong.”
As much as I love Formula 1, I do get real tired of seeing the stewards like Charlie Whiting having to settle the disputes of grown adult men. I’ve always loved that NASCAR tends to let the drivers settle the matter among themselves and only step in when it goes a little too far.
That should just about do it for everything that happened at Martinsville. Next up, NASCAR heads to the Lone Star State to run the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. That begins Sunday at 2:00 p.m. on NBC.
*The opinions expressed in this piece are solely those of the author and may not reflect the views of Speedway Media.
Here’s a recap of everything that happened Saturday at Martinsville Speedway in the second and final practice sessions for the Sprint Cup drivers.
Second practice
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 19.522 and a speed of 96.998 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was second with a time of 19.546 and a speed of 96.879 mph. Ryan Newman was third with a time of 19.547 and a speed of 96.874 mph. Joey Logano was fourth with a time of 19.571 and a speed of 96.755 mph. Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five with a time of 19.576 and a speed of 96.731 mph.
Kyle Busch finished sixth followed by Matt Kenseth in seventh and Tony Stewart in eighth. Jimmie Johnson finished ninth with Greg Biffle rounding out the top-10.
Of the remaining Chase-eligible drivers, Kevin Harvick finished 13th, Kurt Busch finished 15th, Jeff Gordon finished 16th and Brad Keselowski finished 18th.
Carl Edwards was the lowest-finishing Chase driver in 20th.
Final practice
Johnson was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 19.500 and a speed of 97.108 mph. Harvick was second with a time of 19.578 and a speed of 96.721 mph. Keselowski was third with a time of 19.578 and a speed of 96.721 mph. Paul Menard was fourth with a time of 19.580 and a speed of 96.711 mph. Earnhardt rounded out the top-five with a time of 19.615 and a speed of 96.538 mph.
Casey Mears finished sixth followed by Logano in seventh place. Truex, Hamlin and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top-10.
Jeff Gordon finished 12th, Kurt Busch finished 19th and Carl Edwards was the lowest-finishing Chase driver in 21st.
Here’s a recap of the on-track activity Friday at Martinsville Speedway.
Practice
Joey Logano was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 19.161 and a speed of 98.826 mph. Jeff Gordon was second with a time of 19.251 and a speed of 98.364 mph followed by Brad Keselowski who was third with a time of 19.256 and a speed of 98.338 mph. Kevin Harvick was fourth with a time of 19.258 and a speed of 98.328 mph. Casey Mears rounded out the top-five with a time of 19.284 and a speed of 98.195 mph.
Kasey Kahne finished sixth. Jamie McMurray finished seventh. Kyle Busch finished eighth. Clint Bowyer finished ninth and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top-10.
Denny Hamlin finished 12th.
Carl Edwards was the lowest-finishing Chase driver in 17th.
Qualifying
Logano won the pole for the race with a time of 19.215 and a speed of 98.548 mph.
He said that he’s amazed at the “run we’re on right now. I’m just the lucky guy that gets to drive this thing right now. It’s so much fun and we’re doing everything right. But all that can in a blink of an eye, so we all just have to keep our focus. I don’t believe in luck. I believe in hard work, and that’s what this team is doing right now.”
Martin Truex Jr. will join him on the front row with a time of 19.227 and a speed of 98.487 mph.
He said that his team “didn’t know going into qualifying we’d have that good of speed. Definitely a good start to the weekend for us.”
A. J. Allmendinger will start third with a time of 19.309 and a speed of 98.068 mph. Jamie McMurray will start fourth with a time of 19.321 and a speed of 98.007 mph. Jeff Gordon rounded out the top-five with a time of 19.343 and a speed of 97.896 mph.
Kyle Busch will start sixth. Ryan Newman will start seventh. Aric Almirola will start eighth. Kyle Larson will start ninth. Denny Hamlin rounds out the top-10.
Brad Keselowski will start 11th, Kevin Harvick will start 12th and Carl Edwards will be the lowest starting Chase driver in 14th.
Edwards said afterward that he “just wasn’t fast enough the very first run so I put a run on the tires and got us a cycle behind everyone. It’s okay, we’re going to be just fine. I think in my history of qualifying here, this is still about 10 spots better than normal. We have a fast pit crew, the car is a lot better than it was in practice and I think for all these XFINITY guys, I think they’re all excited about the race. It’s one of our strong points at JGR and I’m going to have some fun on Sunday.”
Kasey Kahne went to his backup car after wrecking out in the first round of qualifying. Because he attempted a qualifying run, he’ll start from the rear of the field.
One driver could grab the “Golden Ticket” to Homestead Sunday at NASCAR’s last original track.
This week, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rolls into Ridgeway, Va. for the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway. It’ll be the 33rd race of the season, the seventh race of the Chase and the first of the Eliminator Round.
Martinsville is a .526 mile (.847 km) paperclip short track located in Southern Virginia. Opened in 1948, it’s the only remaining track that’s been on the NASCAR schedule since the first season in 1949. If Bristol were not my home track, Martinsville would be my favorite track. It’s a very close second to Thunder Valley.
In all my years of following NASCAR, tracks have come and gone and some have changed dramatically. While some argue that Bristol has changed for the worse, I’ll forever argue that the racing at Thunder Valley now is better because of the changes (please finish reading this piece before you jump to the comment section to argue Bristol with me). There was a time when Richmond was high on my favorite track list, but for reasons I don’t comprehend, the racing has gotten progressively worse there. But Martinsville is the one track that’s changed the least over my time. The way they raced at Martinsville when I came into this sport is virtually the same as the way they race at Martinsville now.
A lap of Martinsville begins coming off Turn 4. You moderately get back onto the throttle and accelerate down the frontstretch. Some drivers use a different reference point on the inside wall, but when your car reaches that point, you let off the gas and hit the brakes. You let off the gas and roll through Turn 1. When you reach the center, you get back onto the throttle and accelerate down the backstretch. Once you reach your reference point on the backstretch, you hit the brakes going into Turn 3. You let off the brakes when you reach the concrete and roll through it. You squeeze the throttle rolling through Turn 4 and accelerate down the front again. When you figure out the rhythm of Martinsville, you should be able to click off laps of roughly 19-seconds (close to 100 mph average).
Being a short track, passing is a premium at Martinsville. It often requires using the chrome bumper to move the competition out of the way. This often leads to cars in the wall and tempers boiling over.
Paul Menard’s bad day was compounded by his lap 367 wreck. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)A speeding penalty cost Jeff Gordon a chance at a ninth grandfather clock this past spring at Martinsville. Photo Credit: Ted Seminara
Being the first race of the Eliminator Round, a win here guarantees a spot in the championship race in three weeks at Homestead-Miami Speedway. At 6/1, Jeff Gordon is tied with five other drivers as the odds-on favorite to win this weekend (Vegas Insider). His 62.22 percent top-five average at Martinsville – 28 top-five finishes in 45 starts – is his best at any racetrack. His 80 percent top-10 average – 36 top-10 finishes in 45 starts – is second only to his 100 percent top-10 average at Kentucky Speedway. His eight wins at the Virginia paperclip is his best at any track. He’s led close to four-thousand laps – 3,744 to be exact – and run over 22-thousand – 22,269 exactly – in 45 starts. His 6.9 average finish is his best at any track. His career driver rating at Martinsville is 119.1 (second only to teammate Jimmie Johnson at 119.4). Finally, not only has Gordon never failed to finish a race at Martinsville, he’s only finished outside the top-10 nine times. It’s no joke when the pundits say that Martinsville is Gordon’s playground.
Nothing went right for Jimmie Johnson this past spring at Martinsville. Photo Credit: Ted Seminara
But the driver of the No. 24 car isn’t the only driver to watch this weekend. His teammate Jimmie Kenneth Johnson can lay claim to the Virginia paperclip being his playground as well. His top-five average of 66.67 percent – 18 top-five finishes in 27 starts – bests Big Daddy Gordon, as does his 81.48 percent top-10 average (22 top-10 finishes in 27 starts). However, he can’t say he’s finished every race at Martinsville and he’s amassed a lower average finish – 7.3 – than his car owner. His last two outings have also not been kind with finishes of 32nd and 35th. With that said, it would be wrong to count out the driver of the No. 48 car this weekend.
Denny Hamlin burning down the house after winning the STP 500. Photo Credit: Ted Seminara
Another 6/1 driver is James Dennis Alan “Denny” Hamlin (yes, that’s his full name). He has five wins at Martinsville, including this past spring. He has a 52.63 percent top-five average – 10 top-five finishes in 19 starts – and a 78.95 percent top-10 average (15 to-10 finishes in 19 starts). He’s led over one-thousand laps (1,312 exactly) and has an 8.3 average finish. He’s only failed to finish one race at Martinsville. This past spring, he led 91 laps and held off a hard-charging Brad Keselowski to score the victory. While he was knocked out of the Chase last week at Talladega, expect to see the driver of the No. 11 car up front this Sunday.
Getting hung on the outside snapped Kevin Harvick’s eight-race streak of top-two finishes. Photo Credit: Ted Seminara
Next is Kevin Michael Harvick. He only has one win in his career at Martinsville and his stats aren’t as stellar. He has a 10.71 percent top-five average – three top-five finishes in 28 starts – and a 46.43 percent top-10 average (13 top-10 finishes in 28 starts). While he’s failed to finish just one race at Martinsville, he’s only averaged a 16.1 career average finish here. The one positive stat that leads me to somewhat understand why he’s at 6/1 is that he was the dominant car of the race in March leading 154 of the 500 laps and he finished eighth. However, I don’t expect the driver of the No. 4 car to really challenge for the win Sunday.
After starting on the pole, Joey Logano had the dominant car in the early stages of the race. Photo Credit: Ted Seminara
Finally, the fifth 6/1 driver is Joseph Thomas “Joey” Logano. He has zero wins at Martinsville and his stats are the worst of the five 6/1 drivers. He has a 30.77 percent top-five average – four top-five finishes in 13 starts – and a 38.46 percent top-10 average (five top-10 finishes in 13 starts). However, he can join Jeff Gordon in saying he’s never failed to finish a race at Martinsville. His 13.2 average finish is also better than that of Harvick. He’s finished the last three races here in the top-five and led a combined 207 laps. Logano is also riding a three-race win streak after sweeping the Contender Round – which is also the first time a Ford driver has done that since Mark Martin in 1994 – and has all the momentum in the world. Expect to see the driver of the No. 22 car up front this Sunday.
Tune in this Sunday to see who gets both the grandfather clock and golden ticket to Homestead-Miami Speedway. Coverage of the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 begins at 12:30 p.m. on NBCSN. You can also hear the radio broadcast on MRN and Sirius XM (subscription required).
Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and seven-time Martinsville winner Rusty Wallace will be in the booth. Dave Moody will be in Turn 3 calling the action on the backstretch. Alex Hayden, Winston Kelley and Steve Post will work pit road. Eli Gold will join the crew on Sunday to host the pre-race show at noon. As always, the lineup is subject to change.
1. Joey Logano: Logano won the CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega, taking the checkered flag under caution for his third straight win.
“Having already clinched my spot in the next round,” Logano said, “I knew it didn’t really matter what happened behind me. Of course, no one was saying ‘What happened?’ because everybody knew what happened.”
2. Kevin Harvick: Running with an engine on the verge of blowing, Harvick’s slow No. 4 initiated a crash that forced the race to end under caution, and secured his advance to the next round.
“I think it would be appropriate to quote Steve Urkel,” Harvick said, “and say, ‘Did I do that?
“Don’t ask me if I meant to do it. For all intents and purposes, I’m still alive to win the Cup.”
3. Kurt Busch: Busch finished 10th in the Campingworld.com 500, posting his 18th top-10 of the year. He advances to the Eliminator Round of the Chase.
“That had to be the most unsatisfactory ending to a Talladega race ever,” Busch said. “And take it from me and any of my girlfriends—we know unsatisfactory endings.
“I think, eventually, Kevin Harvick will admit he was wrong and do what’s right. As it is now, the only thing ‘right’ was his turn into Trevor Bayne.”
4. Jeff Gordon: Gordon started on the pole at Talladega and finished third, easily advancing to the next round of the Chase.
“Kevin Harvick’s actions were fishy,” Gordon said. “So fishy, in fact, they’re complaining about the smell in Denmark.”
5. Carl Edwards: Edwards finished fifth at Talladega and joins Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch in the Eliminator Round of the Chase.
“Things could get very interesting at Martinsville,” Edwards said. “The race is called the ‘Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500.’ There are some drivers that want revenge, which will bring them relief, and will cause headaches for their victims. Will there be punches thrown? As they say in the South, ‘I reckon.’ And Sunday will be a day of reckoning, and wreck-oning.”
6. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex finished seventh at Talladega and secured his place in the Eliminator Round of the Chase.
“For all the talk of speed at Talladega,” Truex said, “it took forever to run the final two laps.”
7. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished fourth to safely advance to the next round of the Chase.
“Kevin Harvick will have a blinking eye on the front of his car next week at Martinsville,” Keselowski said. “He should have had it last week because he ‘hoodwinked’ everybody.”
8. Kyle Busch: Busch finished 11th and slipped into the Chase, taking the eighth and final spot in the Eliminator Round.
“I did what I had to do,” Busch said. “That’s a statement, not an excuse.”
9. Denny Hamlin: A malfunction with the roof flap on the No. 11 Fed Ex Toyota forced Hamlin to pit four times. He was caught up in the final restart crash, the result of which set his car ablaze. He finished 37th, four laps down, and tumbled out of the top eight in points.
“That roof flap is there for me to exit the car quickly in case of emergency,” Hamlin said. “Ironically, I couldn’t get out of the car fast enough after the race.
“Harvick wrecked his own car at Dover to stay in the Chase,” Hamlin said. “He wrecked the field at Talladega to stay in the Chase. He’ll have to answer to all the accusations saying he did it intentionally. I guess that’s why he’s ‘defending’ champion.”
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr: Earnhardt finished second at Talladega after the final restart carnage caused when Kevin Harvick clipped Trevor Bayne. The caution came out just seconds before Earnhardt overtook Joey Logano for the lead. Earnhardt needed a win to advance to the next round of the Chase For The Cup.
“Joey Logano took the checkered flag from race command and did some victory burnouts,” Earnhardt said. “I’m surprised Kevin Harvick didn’t do the same, with the yellow flag.”
“The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading…” and I need to unload on the idiotic decision to scale back to one green-white-checker attempt…again.
Now I know y’all heard me make this rant just two days ago, but if NASCAR can do two takes of “one attempt,” then so can I. Now I do wish I had waited until today to start talking on the matter because I have more evidence to support my claim.
First we have the “waving off” of the first attempt despite the fact that Joey Logano had taken the restart. NASCAR’s reasoning on this was that Logano had not passed the start/finish line before the caution flew so it “didn’t count.” In other words, similar to what IndyCar does when the race control doesn’t like the restart. Now I understand NASCAR’s explanation on the issue. Maybe this was a rule that had always been in place and never needed to be used. But what I don’t understand is why this was never brought up when we spent a whole month arguing over restarts. My understanding has always been that once the green flag flies, the race is back under green.
I wasn’t the only person who didn’t understand this. Others in the NASCAR media didn’t get it either.
If accelerating out of the restart zone is not an attempt I don't know what is
Now we move to the “second attempt” at the “first attempt” at the green-white-checker finish where Trevor Bayne got out of line, Kevin Harvick made contact with him and the “Big One” happened. This brought out the caution that ended the race and Logano was declared the winner. Being in the stands for the race yesterday, myself and everyone around me had the expression of “that’s how we’re ending this?!”
I think Pete Pistone put it best with this tweet.
You couldn't have written up a more disastrous way for this race to end – impossible
I hope NASCAR was satisfied with the change because it was a giant fiasco. You’d have to go a long way to screw up a Daytona or Talladega race and NASCAR did just that. They made the idiotic decision to reduce the number of green-white-checker attempts and ended up with this fiasco.
I truly, truly hope that NASCAR comes to their senses and goes back to the three attempts by the time we’re back in Daytona for Speedweeks. They should be embarrassed that it ended this way.
My plane is about to take off so I must get moving. Until next time, I’ll leave you with this fact. There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos.
*The opinions expressed in this piece are solely those of the author and may not represent the views of Speedway Media.
Lincoln, Ala. – “The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading…” and I need to unload on the idiotic decision to go to one green-white-checker (GWC) attempt.
After a wreck on the backstretch with two laps to go, Timothy Peters was declared the winner of the Camping World Truck Series Fred’s 250 at Talladega Superspeedway.
I wasn’t going to do this until after the race weekend, but I’ve seen all I needed after the finish to the Fred’s 250. The choice to go to one GWC attempt was a stupid idea and the race ending under caution is the proof.
The premise that limiting to one attempt enhances safety has plot holes in it. If it’s is based on keeping cars out of the catch fence, then how does it? These cars aren’t up to full speed on the initial lap. As such, the change would’ve only fit that premise if they reduced it to just a one lap shootout.
The drivers have pretty much been unanimous in their praise of this change.
“When we look at these tracks and what is involved in those restarts – especially when you’re coming to the checkered flag, if anyone in this room rode inside one of these cars on a green-white-checkered, there’s no doubt in my mind that every single one of you would say they really shouldn’t do that,” Jeff Gordon said. “It’s insane. It’s a white-knuckle experience. If anyone in the garage says it’s not, then they’re not telling the truth. It just is. You’re holding your breath. It can make for some amazing moments and highlights. I don’t know if you need to put any added risk out there to do more than one.”
Members of the NASCAR media have been divided on this. Pete Pistone of the Motor Racing Network said there shouldn’t be any GWC attempts at all and (and I’m paraphrasing here) “if it ends under caution, it ends under caution.”
Jeff Gluck of USA Today tweeted this.
Hot take: You're not going to like this, but NASCAR did the right thing with 1 GWC rule. There prob shouldn't be any GWCs at plate tracks.
Now say what you will about Utter and DeGroot, I find them to be good writers as well.
Have we not figured out by now that eight times out of 10, when the drivers like it, the fans won’t. Leading up to the decision, the fans made it clear that they didn’t like this change. Now I’m not one of those people who argue against change because I think everything has to stay the same. I totally understand that changes have to made as time goes on. I really do. But I also believe that when you make changes, they’ve got to make sense. Otherwise, you’ll end up putting a scene in your movie in which the prison camp for earth benders is one that’s surrounded by the Earth.
In conclusion, I think scaling back to one GWC attempt was a bad idea and I hope NASCAR reverses course on this by the time we get back to Daytona in February. While I could argue that two attempts would be better, one is just too few.
My plane is about to take off, so I need to wrap this up. Until next time, I’ll leave you with this fact. Nine out of 10 lightning strike victims survive their encounter.
Brad Keselowski topped the charts in the final practice session. The driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford was the fastest with a time of 48.752 and a speed of 196.423 mph.
Ryan Blaney placed in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford in second place with a time of 48.772 and a speed of 196.342 mph. Dale Earnhardt Jr., the May race winner, showed in his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 49.178 and a speed of 194.721 mph, and was third-fastest.
Tony Stewart came in fourth in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet with a time of 49.208 and a speed of 194.603 mph as HMS driver Kasey Kahne rounded out the top-five with a time of 49.320 and a speed of 194.161 mph.
Kevin Harvick took his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet to sixth followed by teammate Kurt Busch who posted in seventh in his No. 41 Chevrolet. Danica Patrick finished her No. 10 SHR Chevrolet in eighth. Jimmie Johnson timed his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in at ninth and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top-10 in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
Joey Logano was the lowest Chase driver in 19th. In fact, just five Chase drivers took part in the final practice session. Only 30 of the 45 drivers who are entered into the race took part in the final session.
Earnhardt ran the fastest 10 lap average (he was also the only one to run 10 consecutive laps).
