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  • The White Zone: The Chase has run its course

    The White Zone: The Chase has run its course

    “The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading…” and I’m here to say that the Chase has run it’s course and it’s time NASCAR do away with it.

    Now right off the bat, I know this might be a tad hypocritical of me to say given I once wrote an article admonishing fans for still hating the Chase. I’ve abandonded that point of view and now don’t look upon the Chase as favorably.

    There is probably nothing more polarizing in the world of NASCAR today than the Chase. Since it’s inception in the 2004 Nextel Cup season, it’s been a source of constant angst that’s divided the fanbase of the sport for a number of reasons.

    The original Chase was less of a “playoff” like in stick and ball sports and more of a 10-race “miniseason.” In it’s first season, Kurt Busch recovered from literally losing a wheel to win the championship by a margin of eight points over Jimmie Johnson, then a record for the closest points finish in NASCAR history.

    As time went on, more and more changes made it more and more artificial and conveluted.

    In 2014, NASCAR implemented the elimination format style of the Chase. This was more like a “playoff” with eliminations and rounds, rather than it being a miniseason.

    This was the format that took the cake in artificiallity. It ensures that no matter what happens, four drivers will always vie for the title at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    They went a step further this year and added the same format to the XFINITY Series and Camping World Truck Series.

    For me, it came to a head today.

    On the final restart of the Ford EcoBoost 300, Cole Whitt, who opted not to pit and assumed the lead on 30-lap old tires, spun his tires and cost Erik Jones and Justin Allgaier a chance at winning the XFINITY Championship.

    While it was a dumb move on his part, it was the reaction that I don’t agree with and what led to this column.

    There was a lot of people chastizing him for determining the outcome of the championship the way it occured.

    My take on that is this: Whitt has every right to be there. This is racing! Just because Jones was competing for the title didn’t mean Whitt was obligated to move out of the way for him.

    Just because he had no chance of winning the race – by the way, would you tell me if my Tennessee Volunteers will play in the Sugar Bowl this season while you’re looking in your crystal ball – doesn’t mean he doesn’t get to be there. We harp on other drivers when they decide to lay back and not go for the win, yet criticize Whitt for doing exactly that.

    MAKE UP YOUR MINDS!!!

    But it was this one tweet in particular from Jeff Gluck of USA Today that led to this column.

    The part that caught my eye, and led to this column, was suggesting that maybe NASCAR should’ve stepped in and told Cole Whitt he couldn’t restart up front so he wouldn’t interfere with the championship fight. (I’ll come back to this in a moment)

    Now to be fair, he did issue a retraction of that statement in a later tweet.

    So Jeff, if you’re reading this, I’m not directing my ire at you. I just used your earlier tweet for reference.

    I hate to play the hypothetical game, but let’s say hypothetically NASCAR did step in and tell Whitt, who, even on worn out tires, was leading the race, to take a hike and let championship contender Sadler, Jones or Allgaier in first. If that happened, well, let’s just say I hope Mike Bagley, Pete Pistone, Jim Noble, Chocolate Myers, Dave Moody and anyone else at SiriusXM NASCAR Radio would still has vacation days to burn, because they would not want to be present when those people call in on Monday.

    Fans would be irate, and rightly so, at NASCAR explicitly manipulating the outcome of a race. It would instantly validate every last claim of manipulating the outcome of races that has ever been levied against the people that run NASCAR.

    So what does this have to do with my original thesis? It’s my proof that the Chase has done more harm to the sport than its done good and it’s time we put it in the vault labelled “Good on paper, but poorly executed idea” along with the Car of Tomorrow.

    My plane is about to take off so I must get going.

  • Truex fastest in final practice at Homestead

    Truex fastest in final practice at Homestead

    Martin Truex Jr. topped the chart in final Sprint Cup Series practice at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 30.983 and a speed of 174.289 mph. Carl Edwards was second in his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 31.029 and a speed of 174.031 mph. Ryan Newman was third in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 31.264 and a speed of 172.723 mph. AJ Allmendinger was fourth in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet with a time of 31.304 and a speed of 172.502 mph. Chase Elliott rounded out the top-five in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 31.321 and a speed of 172.408 mph.

    Matt Kenseth was sixth in his No. 20 JGR Toyota. Denny Hamlin was seventh in his No. 11 JGR Toyota. Joey Logano was eighth in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford. Tony Stewart was ninth in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top-10 in his No. 48 HMS Chevrolet.

    Kyle Busch rounded out the Championship 4 drivers in 14th.

    Kevin Harvick, who had the 11th fastest single lap, posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 168.286 mph.

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  • Johnson fastest in second practice at Homestead

    Johnson fastest in second practice at Homestead

    Jimmie Johnson topped the chart in second Sprint Cup Series practice at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 30.973 and a speed of 174.345 mph. Chase Elliott was second in his No. 24 HMS Chevrolet with a time of 31.154 and a speed of 173.332 mph. Carl Edwards was third in his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 31.223 and a speed of 172.949 mph. Trevor Bayne was fourth in his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford with a time of 31.261 and a speed of 172.739 mph. Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-five in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford with a time of 31.263 and a speed of 172.728 mph.

    Joey Logano was sixth in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford. Martin Truex Jr. was seventh in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota. Jamie McMurray was eighth in his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Ryan Newman was ninth in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top-10 in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet.

    Kyle Busch rounded out the Championship 4 drivers in 28th.

    Edwards posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 169.062 mph.

    The Sprint Cup Series is back on track for final practice at 1:00 p.m.

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  • Hendrick pondered separating Johnson and Knaus during summer slump

    Hendrick pondered separating Johnson and Knaus during summer slump

    During the midst of a summer downturn, Rick Hendrick considered making a change that included severing Jimmie Johnson from Chad Knaus.

    Speaking to the media at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the owner of Hendrick Motorsports was reminded of how Johnson and Knaus nearly split apart 11 years ago following Homestead in 2005, that Johnson said that he (Hendrick) had recently asked him (Johnson) and Chad if the relationship is still working, why he would do that and how much he was considering changes in that time.

    “You know, every — I think it’s the toughest question when you have a relationship. It can be in a dealership, it can be in a race team, when you have two guys that have been so good and you try to decide is it time, and this year we started off really well, and then we hit a lull in the summer, and it was — we asked ourselves then, is this time, do we need to make a change,” Hendrick said.

    In the end, he opted to keep the two together.

    “But when you see things that are so close, I think that’s when they work harder, and we really just sit down and work hard together and try to identify weaknesses, and I think they have both made a commitment, they want to retire together,” he added. “They want to finish their careers together.”

    Knaus has sat on top of the 48 war wagon since Johnson’s rookie season in 2002. He’s been apart of all six of Johnson’s championship seasons and all but two of his 79 Sprint Cup Series victories. The enduring partnership these two share is rarely seen in NASCAR today.

    “Jimmie personally, obviously, he is by far one of my best friends, and to be able to have seen him grow and mature into the driver and the family man that he is has been awesome,” Knaus said Wednesday during a media teleconference. “It’s been a great ride.”

    But their relationship hasn’t always been rock solid. It almost came unraveled at the seems following the 2005 Ford 400. Hendrick brought Johnson and Knaus into his office for what was supposed to be a meeting on how they would split up, and ended up mending their relationship over a plate of milk and cookies on a Mickey Mouse plate.

    The two are on the verge of history where they could join Richard Petty and Dale Inman as the only driver/crew chief duo to have won seven titles together.

  • Harvick takes pole position in Homestead finale

    Harvick takes pole position in Homestead finale

    Kevin Harvick will lead the field to the green flag on Sunday after posting the fastest time in the final round of qualifying in South Florida.

    The driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet scored the pole for the Ford EcoBoost 400 after posting a time of 30.399 and a speed of 177.637 mph.

    It’s his 17th career pole in 574 Sprint Cup Series starts, second of 2016 and first at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    Brad Keselowski will start second in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford after posting a time of 30.416 and a speed of 177.538 mph. Ryan Newman will start third in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet after posting a time of 30.442 and a speed of 177.387 mph. Denny Hamlin will start fourth in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota after posting a time of 30.475 and a speed of 177.194 mph. Chase Elliott will round out the top-five starters in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet after posting a time of 30.492 and a speec of 177.096 mph.

    Martin Truex Jr. will start sixth in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota. Matt Kenseth will start seventh in his No. 20 JGR Toyota. Ryan Blaney will start eighth in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford. Kyle Busch will start ninth in his No. 18 JGR Toyota. Carl Edwards will round out the top-10 in his No. 19 JGR Toyota.

    Tony Stewart will start 11th and AJ Allmendinger will round out the drivers that made the final round of qualifying in 12th.

    Joey Logano will start 13th and Jimmie Johnson will round out the Chase drivers in 14th.

    Gray Gaulding failed to make the race.

    The 40-car field will be comprised of 20 Chevrolet’s, 11 Ford’s and nine Toyota’s.

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  • Newman fastest in first Homestead Cup practice

    Newman fastest in first Homestead Cup practice

    Ryan Newman topped the chart in first Sprint Cup Series practice at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 30.789 and a speed of 175.387 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was second in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 30.795 and a speed of 175.353 mph. Kyle Larson was third in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 30.812 and a speed of 175.256 mph. Joey Logano was fourth in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford with a time of 30.828 and a speed of 175.165 mph. Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top-five in his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 30.867 and a speed of 174.944 mph.

    Brad Keselowski was sixth in his No. 2 Penske Ford. AJ Allmendinger was seventh in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet. Kyle Busch was eighth in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Carl Edwards was ninth in his No. 19 JGR Toyota. Chase Elliott rounded out the top-10 in his No. 24 HMS Chevrolet.

    Kevin Harvick, who posted the 15th fastest single lap, posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 168.283 mph.

    The Sprint Cup Series cars are back on track this evening at 6:00 for qualifying.

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  • Stewart is frustrated to not have won any crown jewel races, but is glad to have run them

    Stewart is frustrated to not have won any crown jewel races, but is glad to have run them

    Tony Stewart, pondering whether failing to win any of the crown jewel events in NASCAR and IndyCar frustrates him, said it does, but “it was pretty damn cool to just have the opportunity to go race those races.”

    Speaking to the media earlier this afternoon at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the driver of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet was asked if there was anything missing from his resume that bothers him.

    “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed that I didn’t win a Daytona 500, a Southern 500 and most of all an Indy 500,” Stewart said. “But, I look at it and look at where I was when I was 15 years old, and 18 years old, I never even thought I would get a chance to race those races let alone in all three of them have opportunities to win the race. In a perfect world, yes, I would have loved to be able to cross those three off the list. But at the same time, I look at the big picture and it was pretty damn cool to just have the opportunity to go race those races.”

    In 617 career Sprint Cup Series starts across 18 seasons, Stewart has amassed 49 career wins (13th on the all-time wins list). He’s won at all but three of the tracks at which he’s raced (Darlington Raceway, Kentucky Speedway and Rockingham Speedway). He’s got three Sprint Cup Series championships from 2002, 2005 and 2011 to his name. He set a new standard for rookie drivers when he took the sport by storm in 1999 with three wins, 12 top-fives, 21 top-10’s, two poles, 1223 laps led, a 10.3 finishing average and and Rookie of The Year honors on his way to finishing fourth in points.

    He also has an IndyCar title from 1997 on his resume.

    However, absent from his hall of fame came in any of NASCAR’s “Winston Million” races: the Daytona 500, the Coca-Cola 600 or the Bojangles’ Southern 500.

    He also failed to capture an Indianapolis 500 victory. Although he has two wins at The Brickyard in NASCAR.

    But as he stated, he’s glad to have run those races.

    He also has no desire to run another NASCAR race after this Sunday, even to get that elusive Daytona 500 victory.

    “This is it. This is the last one,” he added. “I think I learned my lesson from Jeff (Gordon). Jeff tried to do somebody a favor this year and got roped into running half the season (laughs). Thank you Jeff for teaching me a lesson before I got roped into it. So, no, I’m not planning on that at all. We are going to be busy. In all honesty and I don’t have a schedule set next year, but I just know the things that I’m planning, my schedule next year is going to be much busier than it already is this year. There is just not going to be room for it.”

  • Knaus says Indy turned around the 48 team’s season

    Knaus says Indy turned around the 48 team’s season

    Asked where the 48 team’s season started to turn around, Chad Knaus points to the Brickyard as being where they began their run to the championship finale.

    Speaking to the media during a teleconference earlier today, the crew chief of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was questioned about, given the early season success and run of poor performance by his team and the entire Hendrick organization during the summer, when he felt the performance of his team started to level up to the point that they could compete for the championship.

    “I think about Indianapolis was the turning point for the 48 car,” Knaus said. “Now, albeit we didn’t have very good finishes throughout the summer months, that’s not necessarily indicative of how we raced. We had some very strong performances, much like I said at Indianapolis. Were we as fast as the guys that were perfectly up front? No, not really, but we were running in the top-five and we passed a lot of cars there, so I think that was a great start for us.

    “Pocono we had some good races, so on and so forth. Once again, I don’t know that we had the finishing results that we wanted, but we were starting to show signs of performance. Once we got a little bit later into the season, Darlington showed up, Michigan, tracks like that, we really started to put some finishes together and some very, very strong performances.

    “So I think about that time of the year.”

    Despite four wins on the season and competing for a record-tying seventh championship this Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, this season for Jimmie Johnson will end up being statistically one of his most under-performed seasons. A finish less than fifth would make 2016 the season with the second-fewest top-fives of his career. He’ll also finish the season with both less than 20 top-10’s for the first time in his career and less than half of his finishes being top-10 finishes. A lead lap finish this weekend would avoid this season having the fewest lead lap finishes since his rookie season.

    During the six-race stretch from Pocono Raceway to New Hampshire Motor Speedway during June and July of this season, Johnson posted finishes of 35th, 16th, 13th, 35th, 32nd and 12th, which amounted to a 23.8 finishing average. Three of his four DNF’s on the season came during that six-race stretch.

    The entire Hendrick organization was under-performing during this stretch. There were weeks where none of the Hendrick cars finished inside the top-10.

    To make matters worse, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was ruled out medically halfway through the season due symptoms of a concussion that stemmed from his wreck at Michigan International Speedway. Alex Bowman and Jeff Gordon have split time, with Bowman taking a slightly larger share, driving the No. 88 car the latter half of the season.

    Even rookie Chase Elliott, who was the most consistent of any HMS driver for much of the season, started to slip in performance in the summer months to the point that his Chase hopes went from a sure thing to questionable.

    Knaus made no bones about the lack of speed through the summer months at HMS. He discussed how all the crew chiefs banded together to work the problem out and that, he believes, is what solved their dilemma.

    “But yeah, it’s no secret that we were not performing the way we wanted to throughout the bulk of the season as a company, so we all buckled down,” he added. “I think the crew chiefs have put their heads together very well, and really started to work well together. Not that we weren’t before, but we just did it with more vigor than what we had in the past, and I think that’s a direct reason why we have the results that we do now. I think all of our teams are running great. I think at one time, Sunday, last week, we were first, second, third and fifth, I think, so the best showing we have had in a race competitively like that in a while.

    “I think everybody at Hendrick Motorsports is doing a great job of pushing our performance and making that a priority, and it should carry on, I hope, into next season.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Phoenix

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Phoenix

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson finished 38th at Phoenix, 28 laps down, his day ruined by a penalty for passing the pit car during a pit stop.

    “That’s a penalty I really don’t understand,” Johnson said. “I think I’ll ask for some clarification from NASCAR. Then again, maybe I won’t. Getting a straight answer from NASCAR is ‘exhausting,’ because all they do is blow smoke up your behind.”

    2. Kyle Busch: Busch finished second at Phoenix to qualify for the Chase finale based on points. Busch was involved in a late restart crash that knocked Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Matt Kenseth out of the lead and cost him a spot in the final four at Homestead.

    “I’m happy to make the final,” Busch said, “but I feel terrible that I may have played a part in knocking Matt out. I hate to talk sponsors at a time like this, but it would be a great time for Mars to introduce a new ‘M&M’s Bittersweet’ product.”

    3. Carl Edwards: Edwards finished 19th in the Can-Am 500. Edwards will join Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano, and Kyle Busch at Homestead, where the Sprint Cup champion will be determined.

    “I’m happy for Kyle,” Edwards said, “But I really feel bad for Matt Kenseth. I’d like to comfort him by putting my arm around his neck. But it would be wise for me to be careful. There’s a fine line between a shoulder to cry on and a headlock.”

    4. Joey Logano: Logano won the Can-Am 500 at Phoenix to secure his spot in the Chase finale at Homestead.

    “Ironically,” Logano said, “Matt Kenseth’s spin allowed me to win the race and advance to the finale. I guess the saying is true, ‘What goes around, comes around,’ especially when it’s the back end of Kenseth’s car.”

    5. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished seventh at Phoenix and failed to advance to the final round of the Chase For The Cup.

    “I look at the Sprint Cup standings,” Hamlin said, “and I no longer see that ‘C’ by my name, indicating I’m ‘in the Chase.’ That means I’m on the outside looking in, and I don’t like what I ‘C.’”

    6. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth had victory in sight, and a spot in the Chase finale, before a caution led to a restart, where disaster struck. Kenseth was spun by Alex Bowman after Bowman and Kyle Busch made contact in Turn 1. Kenseth finished 21st.

    “And Joey Logano won instead of me,” Kenseth said. “I guess I deserved that. You could say I got my ‘just desserts in the desert.’”

    7. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished fourth at Phoenix but was eliminated from contention for the Cup title at Homestead.

    “I’ve dominated at Phoenix over the years,” Harvick said, “but just didn’t have enough this time. We put ourselves in a hole early in the Chase and couldn’t recover, and we’re very sad about it. If you add ‘too little’ and ‘too late,’ you get ‘forlorn.’”

    8. Kurt Busch: Needing a win to advance, Busch finished a disappointing fifth at Phoenix. Like Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick, Busch fell short in making the Chase finale at Homestead.

    “It’s very difficult,” Busch said, “starting a race while knowing you have no chance whatsoever of winning the Sprint Cup championship. I admire Danica Patrick because she manages that feeling 36 times a year.”

    9. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 14th at Phoenix as Penske Racing teammate Joey Logano took the win.

    “I’ll do everything in my power to help Joey win the Sprint Cup championship,” Keselowski said. “I would go as far as saying I will accept ‘team orders’ to benefit Joey. In other words, if the team orders pizza, I’ll be happy to go pick it up.”

    10. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished 40th at Phoenix, 40 laps down, for his worst finish of the season.

    “Tony Stewart will race in Sprint Cup one last time at Homestead,” Truex said. “Tony’s passion for the sport will be missed, and so will his ornery behavior. Tony puts the ‘ass’ in ‘ambassador.’”

  • Harvick proves a non-factor at Phoenix

    Harvick proves a non-factor at Phoenix

    Kevin Harvick was a virtual non-factor at a track he’s practically owned the deed to as of late, and not even a top-five finish was enough to transfer him to the championship race for the third straight year.

    Coming to Phoenix International Raceway this weekend, the driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet had won five of the last six races and led no fewer than 139 laps in each of them. This weekend, his car was just off the mark.

    From the start of the weekend, Harvick and team couldn’t find the setup that best suited his car, saying that he just began way off on Friday.

    It didn’t start better for him on raceday as he went from the top-10 to outside the top-10 in the second run of the race because his car was loose and progressed to “plowing through the center.”

    He had a chance to steal the victory in overtime after a turn 1 wreck involving Matt Kenseth and Alex Bowman, who ironically put on a drive one would expect from Harvick, but nothing materialized on the final restart and he settled for a fourth-place finish.

    “We just started way too far off on Friday. We never got a handle on the racecar,” Harvick said. “They made it a ton better in the race and we were in contention there at the end and just came up short. Just really proud of everybody for the effort that they put in. It was a very challenging Chase for us for all the mechanical failures and situations that we had going on. We kept rebounding and winning races and today we were a lap down and came back to have a chance at the end. That says a lot about the character of our race team and we just came up short this year.”

    He missed making the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway by 20-points.

    With the Chase reset, Harvick leaves Phoenix 11th in points five back of Chase Elliott.