Tag: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Matty’s Picks 2013 – Vol. Talladega Superspeedway – Aaron’s 499 – May 5, 2013

Well, we roll on to Alabama today in the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. Everyone knows the history, the wrecks, and the success at Talladega so I will save my speech this week and roll on to last week’s recap and a quick craps shoot as to who will win this thing.

Richmond Recap

I picked Kyle Busch early on last week, and with Kyle showing so much speed throughout the practice sessions and qualifying the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota in the eighth starting spot, I was looking pretty good for a win. Busch battled a loose racing condition through the first quarter of the 400-lap race, but still managed to pull into the top five. With each pit stop, the M&Ms crew was able to make improvements and Kyle would take the lead just past the half way point. Busch remained in the top 10 until lap 325 when the No. 14 of Tony Stewart got loose, collecting Jimmie Johnson and eventually Kyle Busch in the process. The M&Ms crew would repair damage to the front end of the car, but it was not enough to put the No. 18 back in the top 10. Kyle brought his damaged racecar home in 24th.
As for my Dark Horse last week, I chose another Joe Gibbs racing car, but Matt Kenseth would not have been a Dark Horse last week because of the season he has been having so far this season. It was the No. 11 car, driven last week by Brian Vickers as Denny Hamlin was not cleared by doctors to make his comeback last week from the compression fracture injury in his spine. Again, going into Saturday Night’s race, the No. 11 FedEx Delivery Manager Toyota looked like a solid Dark Horse. The JGR Toyota was fast in all practice sessions, and would start the race on the outside of the front row. Though he ran in the top 10 for the majority of the first half of the race, but when trying to make the car faster around the midway point, the car did not respond to adjustments. Vickers struggled back in traffic, being shown outside the top 20 in the latter half of the race. An incident with 80 laps to go involving Kasey Kahne and Mark Martin would finish off Vickers chances of winning last week, and my hopes of bringing home a solid Dark Horse finish. Vickers finished in 35th.

Talladega Picks

Well, it’s more of a craps shoot this week as far as who will win the race later this afternoon….but I have a couple cars in mind who have history on their side today at the world’s fastest racetrack.
Winner Pick
In April of 2009, Brad Kesolowski pulled off one of the biggest upsets in NASCAR history to earn his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory in the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. He pushed Carl Edwards towards the front from fifth with just two laps to go. Coming out of turn four with the checkered flag waiving, Kesolowski and Edwards were one and two. When Edwards came to the bottom of the tri-oval, in an effort to block the Finch Racing Chevy, driven by Kesolowski, the Michigan-Native stood his ground and eventually put Edwards into the outside catch fence. It was one of the more spectacular finishes in Talladega history, and even more meaningful because it was the start of Kesolowski’s breakout in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series. Since his first win in his first start at Talladega in April of 2009, Kesolowski has finished outside the top 10 just twice in 7 races, and is also the defending race-winner. He was fastest in Happy Hour on Friday and will start the Blue Deuce in the 11th starting spot. Kesolowski has earned the respect of fellow drivers through his solid finishes on the restrictor-plate tracks, and he will have help when he breaks out of line in the final laps this afternoon.
Dark Horse Pick
She’s not really a Dark Horse because of her success at Speedweeks at Daytona in February, but Danica Patrick is a massive underdog yet again this week. She became the first female to claim a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pole, the first female to lead a green-flag lap in NASCAR history, and the first female to lead the Daytona 500 all at the other restrictor-plate track in Florida earlier this season. If there are any tracks Danica is comfortable on, it’s the restrictor-plate tracks because of her career in the Indy Racing League. She’s used to the flat out pack-style drafting and is comfortable in the car on these types of tracks. My only fear this week with the No. 10 team is if she will have help on the final laps of today’s Aaron’s 499. We saw her make a move in the late stages of February’s Daytona 500, but no driver would come to her rescue when she stepped out of line. It’s a long shot for Danica today, but the restrictor-plate tracks are the best shot she has of visiting Victory Lane this season.
That’s all for this Sunday edition of Matty’s picks, so until we head to Darlington…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

May 5, 2013
Previewing the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway

The 10th NASCAR Sprint Cup (NSCS) event of 2013 will be held at the meanest, biggest, wildest track on the circuit…..Talladega Superspeedway. At 2.66 miles in length and banking nearing 35 degrees, this tack certainly isn’t one for the faint of heart. The first race took place back in September of 1969 and it had its fair share of controversy. Superstars such as Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough and David Pearson all boycotted the race due to concerns over tires and safety. They looked at those intimidating high banks and turned away while a few brave men dared to take the monster of a track on. Bill France resisted the the pleas to cancel the race and drivers from a lower series were used to fill the field.

Richard Brickhouse was a member of the boycotting group of drivers who called themselves the Professional Driver Association (PDA). He resigned from the PDA a day before the race and went on to win the inaugural event by 7 seconds over Jim Vandiver. It was the only victory in the North Carolina native’s 39 race NSCS career. Since that day, many strange and tragic incidents have occurred at Talladega and some believe it is due to a medicine man from an Indian tribe back in the 1800’s. Local legend tells that he that put a curse on the valley when President Andrew Jackson ordered the tribe to leave and forcing them to reservations. Talladega is feared by many and respected by all and this weekend marks the 88th event held at the legendary speedway. Here are some stats and facts regarding Dega that you should know as today’s racing superstars gear up for one wild ride this weekend!

Talladega Superspeedway Track Facts

Track Type: Tri-Oval

Track Size: 2.66 miles

Banking/Turns 1 & 2: 33 degrees

Banking/Turns 3 & 4: 33 degrees

Banking/Frontstretch: 16.5 degrees

Banking/Backstretch: 3 degrees

Frontstretch Length: 4,300 feet

Backstretch Length: 4,000 feet

Race Length: 188 laps / 500.08 miles

Track History & Records

Inaugural Race Winner: Richard Brickhouse by 7 seconds over Jim Vandiver in September of 1969

Most Wins By a Driver: Dale Earnhardt (10)

Most Wins By a Team: Richard Childress Racing with 12 followed by Hendrick Motorsports with 11

Most Wins By a Manufactuer: Chevrolet with 38 followed by Ford with 19

Youngest Race Winner: Bobby Hillin Jr. at 22 years, 1 month and 22 days in July of 1986

Oldest Race Winner: Harry Gant at 51 years, 3 months and 26 days in May of 1991

Least Amount of Cautions: None in April of 2001 and October of 2002

Most Amount of Cautions: 11 in April of 2004

– This will be the 88th NSCS race held at Talladega Superspeedway

– 429 drivers have compteted at Talladega Superspeedway and 47 of them have won

– Dave Marcis has made more starts at Talladega than any other driver with 61

– The track has been repaved 4 times with the most recent one being in the fall of 2006

Talladega Qualifying Stats

Track Record: Bill Elliott with a lap time of 44.998 (2012.809mph) in May of 1987

Youngest Pole Winner: Jimmie Johnson at 26 years, 7 months and 4 days in April of 2002

Oldest Pole Winner: Mark Martin at 52 years, 9 months and 14 days in October of 2012

Inaugural Pole Winner: Bobby Isaac with a speed of 199.466 mph in 1969

– 13 of the 87 NSCS races at Talladega have been won from the pole

– 36 drivers have won poles at Talladega led by Bill Elliott with 8

– 10 drivers have won consecutive poles at Talladega and Bill Elliott holds the record for most consecutive poles with six

– 13 different times has the pole sitter won the race with the last time being Jeff Gordon in May of 2007

– The deepest in the field that a race winner has started was 36th by Jeff Gordon in April of 2000

Top 10 Driver Ratings At Talladega

1.) Jeff Burton…………………………… 91.4

2.) Dale Earnhardt Jr…………………… 89.6

3.) Matt Kenseth………………………… 88.9

4.) Brian Vickers………………………… 87.3

5.) Kurt Busch……………………………. 86.1

6.) Brad Keselowski……………………. 85.6

7.) David Ragan…………………………. 85.5

8.) Denny Hamlin……………………….. 84.9

9.) Tony Stewart…………………………. 83.5

10.) Jeff Gordon………………………….. 83.1

Best Average Finish Among Active Drivers

1.) Brad Keselowski———–12.2

2.) Dale Earnhardt Jr.——–15.0

3.) Kevin Harvick————-15.4

4.) Tony Stewart————– 15.8

5.) David Ragan————— 16.0

6.) Kurt Busch—————–16.1

7.) Clint Bowyer————–16.1

8.) Jeff Gordon—————-16.4

9.) Jimmie Johnson———-17.7

10.) Travis Kvapil————17.8

Most Wins Among Active Drivers

1.) Jeff Gordon—————-6

2.) Dale Earnhardt Jr.——-5

3.) Clint Bowyer————-2

4.) Brad Keselowski——–2

5.) Jimmie Johnson——-2

6.) Terry Labonte———-2

7.) Matt Kenseth———–1

8.) Kevin Harvick———1

9.) Jamie McMurray—–1

10.) Tony Stewart——–1

Most Top 5’s Among Active Drivers

1.) Jeff Gordon————–15

2.) Terry Labonte———-14

3.) Dale Earnhardt Jr.—–11

4.) Tony Stewart———-9

5.) Michael Waltrip ——-9

6.) Bobby Labonte——–7

7.) Kurt Busch————-6

8.) Kevin Harvick———6

9.) Matt Kenseth———-5

10.) Jimmie Johnson—-5

Most Top 10’s Among Active Drivers

1.) Terry Labonte———–24

2.) Jeff Gordon————–23

3.) Jeff Burton—————19

4.) Michael Waltrip———16

5.) Dale Earnhardt Jr.——15

6.) Tony Stewart———–13

7.) Kurt Busch————-13

8.) Bobby Labonte——-13

9.) Kevin Harvick——–10

10.) Jimmie Johnson—9

Laps Led Among Active Drivers

1.) Jeff Gordon—————839

2.) Dale Earnhardt Jr.——737

3.) Terry Labonte———-362

4.) Tony Stewart———–317

5.) Matt Kenseth———–294

6.) Jimmie Johnson——-234

7.) Michael Waltrip——-233

8.) Jamie McMurray—–221

9.) Denny Hamlin——–204

10.) Kevin Harvick——155

I’d like to tell you what to expect this weekend but to be honest, I have no idea. The Gen-6 cars couldn’t pass each other at Daytona but I don’t believe it will be that difficult at Talladega. Dega is more about pure flat-out speed and less about handling which will help when it comes to trying to pass. Also, these teams had no clue what they were doing when we showed up for Speedweeks but they have learned so much regarding these cars over the last 2 1/2 months of racing and are more prepared. The race will be better than the 500 but don’t expect it to be like last fall when they were 3 and 4 wide 10 rows deep. Even with the lack of passing at Daytona, the “big one” still happened and it won’t be any different this weekend. It’s not a matter of if the big wreck will happen but simply when.

Favorites heading into Talladega have to be Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Matt has dominated almost every single restrictor plate race over the past couple of years but due to circumstances out of his control, he failed to win every time. Jr. is an Earnhardt and when you have that last name, you have to be fast here. His father won here a record 10 times and Jr. is a contender every time they visit this track too. Last time NASCAR was at Talladega though, he was involved in a massive last lap crash that gave him a concussion forcing the driver of the No.88 to miss the next two races. Jeff Gordon is another driver with an impressive record at Talladega but this is a race where luck plays a major factor and that poor guy doesn’t seem to have any good luck as of late. You can bet he will be fast though with that Hendrick power under the hood and a 4x champion behind the wheel.

Drivers that have struggled at Talladega include Kyle Busch, Marcos Ambrose, Martin Truex Jr., Paul Menard and Kasey Kahne. Just because they don’t have a great record doesn’t mean they haven’t been competitive though. A track clearing wreck is waiting around every corner and when it happens, a driver has little control over whether they emerge from the smoke unscathed or not no matter where they are running. Talladega is a track where you might as well blindly pick a driver out of a hat with how unpredictable it is. The race strategy is always the same and that’s survive. Some teams do it by hiding in the back which doesn’t always work out while others try to put their car out front hoping that the mess is behind them which doesn’t work out all the time either. Then there are the ones who throw caution to the wind and just go for it and hope that luck ends up being in their favor. It’s sure to be one wild weekend of racing from ARCA to Nationwide and ending it with the Cup guys battling on Sunday. This is definitely one race you don’t want to miss!

May 2, 2013

Crunching The Numbers: Talladega

After a crazy weekend for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the NASCAR Nationwide Series at the short track of Richmond International Raceway, both series pack up and move on to the biggest, fastest track on the circuit for some restrictor plate racing at Talladega Superspeedway. As is the case each trip to the 2.66 mile, high banked behemoth in Alabama, these races are sure to provide nonstop action and the driver who can play the 200 mph chess game just right and avoid the inevitable “Big One” will come out on top.

Sprint Cup Series

With Talladega being the second restrictor plate race for the new Gen6 Sprint Cup car after its debut at Daytona to open the season, only time will tell if the racing in the Aaron’s 499 on Sunday will mirror that from the Daytona 500 or if Talladega has a few tricks up its sleeve for these drivers as they try to figure out the new car in the restrictor plate draft.

Driver	Races	Win	Top 5	Top 10	Pole	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
Brad Keselowski	8	2	3	6	0	31	18.9	12.2
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	26	5	9	13	0	737	15.6	15.0
Kevin Harvick	24	1	6	10	1	155	22.0	15.4
Tony Stewart	28	1	9	13	0	317	16.5	15.8
David Ragan	12	0	3	5	0	27	19.8	16.0
Kurt Busch	24	0	6	13	0	143	20.8	16.1
Clint Bowyer	14	2	4	7	0	96	18.7	16.1
Jeff Gordon	40	6	15	19	3	839	11.5	16.4
Jimmie Johnson	22	2	5	9	1	234	10.2	17.7
Travis Kvapil	10	0	0	2	1	17	22.1	17.8

Who To Watch: As the defending spring Talladega race winner and two time winner at Talladega, Brad Keselowski leads all active drivers at the track with two wins, three top fives, six top tens, 31 laps led, and an average finish of 12.2 in eight starts at the track. Coming in just behind Keselowski is Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who has five wins, nine top fives, 13 top tens, 737 laps led, and an average finish of 15.0 in 26 starts. However, Earnhardt has not won at Talladega since the Fall of 2004 and only has five top tens in the eight years (16 races) since that last win, but Earnhardt can never be counted out at restrictor plate races, no matter the track.

Others that could find their way to Victory Lane this weekend include: Richmond winner and winner of the Fall race in 2010 at Talladega, Kevin Harvick; Tony Stewart, with one win, nine top fives, 13 top tens, and an average finish of 15.8, David Ragan, who hasn’t won at Talladega, but does have a Sprint Cup restrictor plate win at Daytona and a Nationwide Series win at Talladega under his belt as well as an average finish of 16.0; Kurt Busch, who has six top fives and 13 top tens in 24 starts and an average finish of 16.1; two time winner Clint Bowyer, who also has an average finish of 16.1 in 14 starts; Jeff Gordon, with six wins, but none since sweeping both races in 2007; and Jimmie Johnson, who has two wins, but has had horrible luck at restrictor plate races as of late, especially at Talladega.

Nationwide Series

If fans thought the season opener for the Nationwide Series at Daytona was wild, this weekend’s at Talladega is sure to provide just as many, if not more, thrills as that race did, due in large part to the two-car tandem drafting style that these drivers use in this series.

Driver	Races	Win	Top 5	Top 10	Pole	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
Joey Logano	4	1	4	4	0	21	10.5	2.0
Kurt Busch	1	0	0	1	0	1	31.0	6.0
Trevor Bayne	2	0	0	1	0	23	22.0	9.5
Sam Hornish, Jr.	2	0	0	0	0	4	10.0	12.5
Danica Patrick	1	0	0	0	0	1	17.0	13.0
Brian Vickers	4	0	0	2	0	17	11.2	14.0
Justin Allgaier	4	0	0	2	0	0	19.2	15.5
Joe Nemechek	18	2	7	8	5	202	10.7	15.9
John Wes Townley	2	0	0	0	0	0	28.5	16.5
Kyle Busch	9	1	4	5	0	114	11.6	16.6

Who To Watch: Sprint Cup regular Joey Logano will be making his first start in the Nationwide Series for Penske Racing at Talladega and carries an impressive Nationwide Series record at the track with him. In four starts, Logano has one win, four top fives, four top tens, 21 laps led, and an average finish of 2.0. If Logano can reproduce those results that he obtained while driving for Joe Gibbs Racing with his new team, Logano will definitely be one of the favorites for the win on Saturday.

Logano isn’t the only favorite for the victory, several others will also be in contention, including: Kurt Busch, who will be teaming back up with Phoenix Racing, finished sixth in his lone Nationwide start at Talladega and won last July at Daytona, so he has ran well on restrictor plate tracks in the Nationwide Series; Trevor Bayne, who has two starts, one top ten, and an average finish of 9.5; Sam Hornish, Jr., the current points leader, has two starts and an average finish of 12.5; and Danica Patrick, who will be running for Turner Scott Motorsports, who has one Talladega Nationwide start and an average finish of 13.0.

May 1, 2013

NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Richmond

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Jimmie Johnson: Despite being collected in a spin initiated by Tony Stewart and finishing 12th, Johnson increased his lead in the Sprint Cup point standings. He now leads Carl Edwards by 43.

“My points lead is so big,” Johnson said, “only a NASCAR inspection could do anything about it.

“I got ‘Smoked;’ now, I’m ‘Steamed.’ Stewart may be a three-time Cup champion, but judging by his performance this year, I’m not sure I want any of him ‘rubbing off’ on me.”

2. Carl Edwards: Edwards finished sixth at Richmond, posting his fifth top-10 result of the year. He jumped four spots to second in the point standings, and now trails Jimmie Johnson by 43.

“How about Matt Kenseth and his connecting rods?” Edwards said. “NASCAR says they didn’t weigh enough. I would tend to agree, because I’ve known Kenseth was a lightweight for years.”

3. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt scored his first top-10 finish in the month of April with a 10th in the Toyota Owners 400. He is third in the point standings, 46 out of first.

“It was wild at Richmond International Speedway,” Earnhardt said. “There were nut shots, fights, and arrests. It reminded me of Mother’s Day with Teresa.

“I may be a ‘Junior,’ but I wouldn’t stoop so low as to kick a competitor in the balls. If I’m going to kick someone where it hurts, it will be a fan of Junior Nation, in the wallet, at the merchandise stand.”

4. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer led 113 laps at Richmond and finished second to former teammate Kevin Harvick. He is fifth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 53 out of first.

“I was the top Toyota finisher,” Bowyer said. “Which means NASCAR will be watching me as intently as I watch Jeff Gordon.

“In the wake of the Matt Kenseth penalties, Toyota Racing Development recalled three of my engines. Now, Michael Waltrip can say he’s just like an ordinary Toyota owner, because now he’s experienced a recall.”

5. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth led a race-high 140 laps at Richmond and finished seventh after a mad green-white-checkered scramble at the finish. It was an impressive result, coming just days after NASCAR levied harsh penalties on the team for illegal parts.

“I don’t agree with NASCAR’s penalties,” Kenseth said. “I feel they were much too strict with their inspection. In other words, I was ‘screw-tinized.’”

6. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski struggled at Richmond, finishing 33rd, eight laps down, his worst finish of the season. He is now sixth in the point standings, 59 out of first.

“It’s good to see NASCAR’s focus on something other than Penske Racing,” Keselowski said. “Penalties have become so commonplace, there’s practically no difference in the questions ‘Witch hunt?’ and ‘Which hunt?’”

“Among kicks in the balls in NASCAR this year, Nelson Piquet, Jr.’s may be the most blatant. Is it a surprise that Piquet’s right foot was in Brian Scott’s crotch? Not really, because it certainly wasn’t on the gas pedal.

7. Kevin Harvick: Harvick dashed from seventh to first on the chaotic green-white-checkered finish at Richmond, earning him his first win of the season. Harvick took four tires and, after a great restart, easily picked off Jeff Burton to take the lead.

“I found some extra motivation,” Harvick said. “Some Richard Childress Racing drivers needed a kick in the pants, not in the balls. Of course, I was lucky to win. While Nelson Piquet, Jr.’s may have put one up Brian Scott’s, I pulled “one” out of mine. And it didn’t hurt nearly as much.”

8. Kasey Kahne: Kahne finished 21st in the Toyota Owners 400 on a night when only one Hendrick Motorsports driver finished in the top 10. Kahne is tied for third in the point standings, 46 out of first.

“It was a wild weekend at Richmond,” Kahne said. “Now, I can say the same thing to Nelson Piquet, Jr. that I would say to a lovely Sprint Cup girl: ‘nice rack.’ Between them, my teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon have nine Cups. Hopefully, they can spare one for me to wear.”

9. Kyle Busch: Busch’s No. 18 Toyota was damaged when Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48, sent reeling by Tony Stewart, spun into Busch’s path. Busch eventually finished 24th, ending his run of four consecutive spring victories at Richmond.

“They say good things come in three’s,” Busch said. “But bad things come in two’s, like damaged Busch brother cars at Richmond, Tony Stewart chins, and bruised Brian Scott testicles.”

10. Greg Biffle: Biffle suffered a broken shock and spun about midway through Saturday’s race. He finished 36th, 15 laps down, and tumbled four spots in the point standings. He is now eighth, 71 out of first.

“Of all the wild occurrences over the weekend,” Biffle said, “mine was the least shocking. Take it from Brian Scott—a swift kick in the nuts can really cause momentary confusion. Medically, that’s known as a loss of your ball bearings.

“But Nelson Piquet, Jr. isn’t completely at fault. He made millions of NFL fans happy, because ‘foot-ball’ season came early this year.”

April 29, 2013
Dale Earnhardt: The Man That Changed NASCAR Forever

Today is Dale Earnhardt Day; a day to remember arguably the greatest stock car driver that ever lived. While most journalists will write about what he did or why he was so good, I have decided to go further than that. I want to talk about the legacy he created and all the different ways this man captured the hearts of millions changing the face of this sport forever.

There are men in this world that strive for fame and fortune but there are a select few that reach a heroic level of immortality. Dale Earnhardt is one of those men. His competitors feared him, fans either loved him or loved to hate him but everyone agreed that the kind of raw talent he possessed can’t be taught. What made him so good was not only the obvious fact that he could wheel a racecar but that he didn’t want to win, he needed to win. If he didn’t finish in the money, his family went hungry. If he failed, he knew that he was going to have to spend the rest of his life working at that mill in Kannapolis, North Carolina and no way in hell was he going to settle for that.

He persevered through losing his dad when he was 22, being forced to watch his wife leaving him and with her his first born when she got fed up with his racing and of course he watched his best friend Neil Bonnett die in a crash at Daytona International Speedway in 1994. Seven years later on the final lap of the Daytona 500, Dale lost his life in that very same corner in one of the worst days of my young life. I’ll never forget the look on my dad’s face as he tried to explain to his 7 and 10 year old sons that they watched their hero die earlier that day. For me, I found consolation thinking about my other childhood hero, Steve Irwin who ultimately died tragically doing what he loved like Dale when a stingray stabbed him through the heart in 2006.

After that race, I stopped watching NASCAR and basically ignored the sport for three years. But my dad worked in it, my brother worked in it and I couldn’t stay away forever; racing is in my blood. Since the 2004 Daytona 500, I have never missed a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race and don’t plan to. Dale is the reason why I love NASCAR the way I do today. I am more passionate now about this sport than I have ever been before and I will continue to pursue my dream of working in NASCAR just like he pursued his. For me, this sport is not a hobby; it’s my life and the more I watch it, the more I need it. Dale Earnhardt fought for what he wanted even when the odds were against him and in doing so, he has become a legend that to this day is remembered not with tributes on a certain day every year but every day. I think about him at least once a day and I’m sure most of you do too.

Who knows how many lives have been saved as a result of his death but I can tell you it’s a lot. The COT was created because we lost Dale and because of it, no national touring driver has died since that awful day in February of 2001. Carlos Pardo, John Blewett III, Tom Baldwin Sr. and Marcelo Nunez are all unfortunate examples of what could happen without the safety innovations that were put into the Cup, Nationwide and trucks in recent years. Even before “Black Sunday” as it has come to be known, Dale Earnhardt had already made a major impact on NASCAR simply from what he did on the track. He did things with a racecar that was thought to be impossible and in an era where it was a very real possibility that racers would die, Dale showed absolutely no fear.

Photo Credit: Dozier Mobley/Getty Images

Dale raced like his life depended on it and that’s because it did at one point. What made him so good was that he never let that style of driving go no matter how much money he was making. Had he never made it in NASCAR, the name Richard Childress would be known about as well as the name DK Ulrich is with only those older members of the racing community and a few diehard fans knowing of him. His team couldn’t win until Earnhardt showed up. What Dale did would be like Brad Keselowski winning the title last year, jumping into the No.34 for Front-Row Motorsports in 2013 and winning six championships for them. Seems impossible, right? Well, that’s exactly what Earnhardt did except for the fact that he did it twice. He won the 1980 title for Rod Osterlund and before he came along, the likes of Buddy Baker, Neil Bonnett, Dan Gurney and even David Pearson couldn’t win a single race let alone a championship.

Dale was and still is remembered as one of the greatest men to ever wheel a racecar and let me tell you that he was one of the greatest men to ever live period. He acted tough but he had a heart of gold underneath that intimidating smile. He was capable of making drivers wreck themselves simply because they get unnerved when they saw the No.3 in their rear view mirror. Legend tells that he could see the air meaning he knew exactly what it was doing at all times which is what made him so good at Daytona and Talladega. He could take a car sideways through the grass a Charlotte at 180mph and save it while losing no spots in the process. Please feel free to post below how this NASCAR legend affected your life and what you believe made him so good. Today would have been his 62nd birthday and I want to take a moment to remember a truly great man who changed the world for the better and even in death, he reached immortality…..happy birthday Dale Earnhardt.

April 29, 2013
Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Is Back

After two years of miserable races, Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing (EGR) has finally returned back to its old form. Although they haven’t quite gotten rid of all the bad luck that seems to haunt the two car organization, the cars seem fast again and have made monumental progress in their overall performance. McMurray sits a solid 12th in the standings with three top 10’s in 2013 which already equals his total from 2012. Juan Pablo Montoya has been snake bit by wrecks and mechanical failures that have kept him deep in the points but he proved at Richmond what is possible for that No.42 should he stay out of trouble.

Montoya ran up front all night and not many people could say after an event that saw more comers and goers than any race in recent memory. He led 67 laps and finished 4th after a late race caution thwarted his chances of a victory. His last top five was way back in March of 2011 when he finished 4th at Martinsville and he hasn’t led that many laps since his win at Watkins Glen nearly three years ago. It would be ignorant to say that Montoya doesn’t have the talent but it would be acceptable to say that the poor man has no luck at all. Even though he came home with a 4th place finish Saturday and seemed pretty happy about it, the Colombian was all but guaranteed a win as he pulled away from Kevin Harvick until a caution with four laps remaining jumbled up the running order. He restarted 6th while eventual race winner Kevin Harvick restarted 7th and starting on the inside is what won him the race. Had the roles been reversed, Montoya would have most likely been the one passing Jeff Burton with one lap to go.

Photo Credit: David Yeazell

McMurray restarted the race 2nd but the field basically ran him over with how old his tires were finishing a disappointing 26th. Even with the unsatisfactory result, the 2010 Daytona 500 winner finds himself just 26pts out of the top 10 and ahead of champions such as Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart. In 2009 and 2010, EGR asserted themselves as one of the better teams winning four races including the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400. They also put Montoya in the 2009 chase and had the Wild-Card existed in 2010, McMurray would have been in it with his three wins. It looks like they are steadily turning things around and I wouldn’t be surprised to see both of their drivers make the chase this year. At the very least, I see both McMurray and Montoya winning a race before the year is over.

Is it the switch Hendrick engines that has helped this team or is it something else? People were shocked when team owner Chip Ganassi didn’t make any major personal changes following their dismal 2012 which saw Jamie finish 21st in points and Juan 22nd. I have to give major props to Chip for not overreacting to what seemed to be a hopeless situation in the eyes of most. Kevin Manion and Chris Heroy are still the crew chiefs and the combinations seem to be working well. All this team lacked was speed and I believe Hendrick power has given them that missing piece they needed to run up front again. Chip felt it would be imprudent to turn the team inside out after all their struggles saying this during the off season; “We’re not afraid to make changes, but we’re not going to make change for the sake of making change.”

That risky ideology looks like it was the right call after all. Between McMurray and Montoya there are 8 NASCAR Sprint Cup wins, 9 Nationwide wins, 3 in Grand-Am, 10 in open-wheel and 7 F1 victories that include races such as the 24 Hours of Daytona, the Indy 500, the Daytona 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix. There is certainly no lack of talent there and now they have the cars to back their fully capable drivers up. The travails of the past two years has finally ended and EGR has 27 more races to parlay these great results into race wins and they can do it. Watch out for these two because they could easily become two of the biggest upsets in 2013 and if the bad luck ceases, they will become threats to win almost every single week.

April 28, 2013
Fixing the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Schedule

I may only be 19 but I’m sure a lot of you older fans out there remember the “golden age” of NASCAR. Remember when Ricky Rudd and Dale Earnhardt spun at North Wilkesboro on the final lap battling for the win in 1989? How about when Kasey Kahne and Matt Kenseth crossed the line in nearly a dead heat at Rockingham back in 2004? Then there are the infamous Bristol battles between Earnhardt and Terry Labonte during the 90’s boom.

NASCAR was built on tracks like those and some of the best races in history took place at tracks 1 mile in length or shorter. Okay, I know that 1 mile tracks aren’t technically considered short tracks but they race just like them.

Don’t get me wrong. I like the big tracks. I love watching four wide battles at speeds exceeding 200mph when we visit Atlanta, Texas, Charlotte and Kansas but the problem is that we’ve diluted the schedule with these types of venues. Check out this statistic regarding the amount of short tracks that have been on the schedule at the start of every decade:

1950-13/19 races, 68.4%
1960-30/44 races, 68.2%
1970-28/48 races, 58.3%
1980-10/31 races, 32.3%
1990-7/29 races, 24.1%
2000-6/34 races, 17.6%
2010-6/36 races, 16.6%

You’ve fixed the cars, improved safety and bumped up ratings NASCAR and now it’s time to fill these tracks back up with 100,000+ screaming fans! That Richmond race left me begging for more and now I’ve got short track fever. The track promoters say the bigger tracks are where it’s at because you can hold more people. I’m no businessman but if you ask me, a jammed pack half mile is a lot better than a half full cookie cutter track. A stand-alone truck race at Eldora was sold out 6 months before the race and if that doesn’t give NASCAR and these track owners a wake-up call, I don’t know what will.

More road courses would also be awesome; I don’t think I have to remind anyone about the last two races at Watkins Glen. They are big like Michigan and Cali but they race like Bristol and Marty and every road course is unique in its own right. Short tracks, dirt tracks, 1 milers and road courses is direction NASCAR needs to head if they want to bring back disgruntled old fans and attract curious new ones. With that being said, here is my ideal 36 race schedule without changing too much of what is already there.

1.) Daytona 500

2.) Rockingham

3.) Phoenix

4.) Bristol

5.) Kansas

6.) Martinsville

7.) Texas

8.) Salem

9.) Talladega

10.) Richmond

11.) Darlington

12.) Coke 600

13.) Dover

14.) Road America

15.) Sonoma

16.) Irwindale

17.) Duquoin

18.) Daytona Road Course

19.) Michigan

20.) Indy Road Course

21.) Pocono

22.) Watkins Glen

23.) Iowa

24.) Bowman Gray Stadium

25.) Atlanta

26.) Bristol

27.) Talladega

28.) Road Atlanta

29.) Loudon

30.) Auto Club

31.) Dover

32.) Charlotte

33.) Martinsville

34.) Eldora

35.) Circuit of the Americas

36.) Las Vegas

When making this list, I tried to keep a balance between the tracks already on the schedule and tracks I’d like to see on the schedule while still maintaining the 36 race season. If you broke my schedule down, it goes like this:

1 Mile Or Less Paved Oval-15/36, 41.7%

1.5 Mile or Larger Oval-12/36, 33.3%

Road Courses-7/36, 19.4%

Dirt Tracks-2/36, 5.6%

Now I’d like to take a closer look at a few of the adjustments/additions that I listed above…

Daytona, Talladega & Indianapolis

The Daytona 500 is without a doubt one of the biggest races on the planet and I think when we return to Daytona in July, it shouldn’t be on the high banks. Even with the long history of the 4th of July event, I don’t think there should be another race like the 500 and that’s why I said NASCAR should run the road course like Grand-Am does every January. I put Talladega as the first chase race for one reason and that is the track’s unpredictability. When we go there, it’s all about survival, not who has the best car and that’s why I want it early in the chase so that the true title contenders have time to recover. The Indy 500 is another sacred event and the oval wasn’t made for NASCAR’s. When stock cars show up there, it is almost always a snooze fest and with little on track action. That’s why we should shake it up and run the road course to add a little excitement to this usually lackluster event. Continue the tradition of kissing the bricks but instead of 160 laps of follow the leader, let’s have some intense road course action tearing through the infield of this historic facility.

Las Vegas

The reason I put Las Vegas as the season finale is simply and that’s because the banquet is in Vegas so why not have the last race of the year be there too? Homestead is an okay track but I think we can live without it.

The Road Courses

I firmly believe that NASCAR needs to put at least one road course in the chase. Road courses are the ultimate test of a driver’s skill, physical fitness and mental acuity. With 20 unique turns and long, fast straightaways where the draft comes into play, the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) would be the perfect penultimate event. Formula 1, MotoGP and even V8 Supercars go there and it’s about time NASCAR does too. I had a tough time deciding between what road course I should select for Race #28 on my schedule. I was going back and forth between Mid-Ohio, VIR and Road Atlanta and even though I went with the latter, any of those three would be great additions. As for Road America, I have no clue why that isn’t on the Cup schedule yet but it certainly should be. I considered Montreal but with its recent debacle where the track promoter basically demanded a Cup date, I decided to leave it out.

Dirt Tracks

There are so many worthy dirt tracks out there but in the end, I went with two well-known venues that already feature stock car racing and attract a lot of fans. Duquoin and Eldora are awesome facilities and I’m sure the truck race at the Tony Stewart owned track later this year will be one of the greatest ever. ARCA races are held at Duquoin and their evens always seem to be wild and action packed proving the venue can handle 30 or 40 stock cars very well.

In the end, I don’t see most of that schedule ever coming to fruition but its okay to dream, right? A few possibilities that could happen in the future would be the addition of the COTA’s, Eldora, Rockingham and some kind of road course in the chase. NASCAR fixed something that wasn’t broken but it seems like they are finally taking action with the return of Rockingham and the first dirt race in 40 years coming up in a few months. It’s a work in process and it will be tough to manipulate the schedule while keeping everybody involved happy but it’s doable. The manufacturers and NASCAR have done an awesome job with this new car and it seems to put on a hell of a show almost everywhere we take it but you can’t deny that there’s nothing that can put on a better race than a Saturday night short track event.

April 28, 2013
Matty’s Picks 2013 – Vol. 6 Richmond International Raceway – Toyota Owners 400 – April 27, 2013

It doesn’t get much better than short-track racing under the lights at one of NASCAR’s oldest tracks. Richmond International Raceway has been a part of the tour since Lee Petty won the first NASCAR Grand National Division race at then Atlantic Rural Exposition Fairgrounds back in 1953, and each year proves why it has occupied two spots on the series schedule since 1959. Chevrolet leads the series in wins at Richmond with 35 victories, followed closely by Ford with 28, but Toyota has won 7 of the last 8 races at the three-quarter mile oval in Virginia’s capital city.

The story of the week surrounds the team of Matt Kenseth as NASCAR passed down one of its stiffest penalties in history as it slapped the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team with a 50 point penalty, a $200,000 fine, and suspended Crew Chief Jason Ratcliff for the next seven races. NASCAR took everything away from the Dollar General team but the trophy from their win last week at Kansas. The garage was buzzing on Friday at RIR with responses to the penalty coming from Kenseth, Ratcliff, and team-owner, Joe Gibbs.

Kenseth said the penalties passed down from NASCAR were “grossly unfair” and expressed his concern for Ratcliff and Gibbs’ chances of winning the owner’s championship due to the penalties, “To crush Joe Gibbs like that and say he can’t win an owner’s championship with the 20 this year, I just can’t wrap my arms around that,” Kenseth said. “It just blows me away. The same for Jason Ratcliff. I don’t feel bad for myself at all, but for Jason and Joe, I couldn’t feel any worse. There are no more reputable, hard-working, honest guys than them two. I feel really bad for them.”

Well, the penalties haven’t slowed the pace of the No. 20 team, as Kenseth claimed his 10th career pole in 481 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. It’s his second of the season, first at Richmond International Raceway, and fifth top-10 start of 2013.

Richmond Picks

Nothing to recap from last week as I had an off week, so on to my picks for tonight’s Toyota Owners 400.

Winner Pick
On Wednesday, I joined Greg DePalma on the Prime Sports Network to preview tonight’s race from RIR. My pick before the cars unloaded and the starting lineup was set was Kyle Busch. He was the favorite on Wednesday going into the weekend, and with his 8th starting position, remains the favorite going into the race tonight. Busch lead late in the race last night in the NASCAR Nationwide Series’ Toyotacare 250, but was passed with 10 laps to go by eventual race-winner Brad Kesolowski.

Looking back at Kyle Busch’s stats in the Sprint Cup Series at Richmond, he’s won the past four spring races at Richmond, has finished in the top 5 in 12 of his 16 starts at the .75 mile short track, and out of the 23 tracks the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series visits each year, Richmond is his best. Kyle is the guy to beat this week.

Dark Horse Pick
The stand-in driver for the No. 11 FedEx Toyota team is Brian Vickers again this week. He has done a tremendous job in keeping the Joe Gibbs Racing team afloat in the absence of Denny Hamlin. Vickers qualified the No. 11 Toyota outside the front row for tonight’s Toyota Owners 400 and has shown a ton of speed in both the practice sessions on Friday, 5th fastest in first practice and 3rd in Happy Hour. Though Vickers has struggled throughout his career on the short tracks, he has finished in the top-10 in three of his last four short track starts, including a top-5 at Bristol last August.

I like the job Vickers has done so far in the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, and with a front-row starting position tonight, he’s put himself in position for a solid finish.

That’s all for this week, so until we strap on the restrictor plates….You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

April 27, 2013
Comparing the JGR & Penske Racing Penalties: Did NASCAR Make The Right Call?

In the past two weeks we’ve seen two big teams get hammered by NASCAR for illegal parts. The administration certainly isn’t messing around this year, if you are found in violation of their rules no matter what the circumstances surrounding it are, you will be punished harshly. I fully agree with the Penske penalties but I do not agree with how hard they came down on JGR and Matt Kenseth. If anyone should have received a larger punishment, it should be the No.2 and No.22 because they purposely tried to get a performance advantage by manipulating the rear ends of their racecars. The No.20 issue was simply a mistake on the part of TRD and there was no malicious intent whatsoever.

During pre-race inspection at Texas, officials found that Penske Racing had messed with the rear end housings of their cars attempting to get them to skew which was outlawed by NASCAR at the start of this year. Both the No.2 and the No.22 barely made it to the grid in time for the race and Brad Keselowski was very vocal following the event. He was quoted saying,

“I have one good thing to say, that’s my team and effort they put in today in fighting back with the absolute bulls— that’s been the last seven days in this garage area. The things I’ve seen over the last seven days have me questioning everything that I believe in, and I’m not happy about it. I don’t have anything positive to say and I probably should just leave it at that. There’s so much stuff going on…you have no f—— idea what’s going on, And that’s not your fault and that’s not a slam on you. I could tell you there’s nobody, no team in this garage with the integrity of the 2 team. And the way we’ve been treated over the last seven days is absolutely shameful. I feel like we’ve been targeted over the last seven days more than I’ve ever seen a team targeted. But my guys kept their heads on straight and they showcased why they are a winning team and championship team. We’re not going to take it. We’re not going to be treated this way.”

NASCAR surprisingly did not penalize Keselowski for those incensed comments but they weren’t bashful about dropping the hammer on the team for their rear end housing infraction. They suspended the crew chiefs, the car chiefs, team engineers and the team manager for six weeks. They also fined the crew chiefs $100,000, took 25 points away from Brad and Joey and placed all the team personal that they suspended on probation until December 31st, 2013. What these guys did was play in the gray area and ended up stepping on NASCAR’s toes. They aren’t bad, they aren’t cheaters, they are just doing their job. Every team from all eras has always tried to find an advantage by playing in iffy territory. It’s nothing new and every team does it, some just do it better than others. When you mess around in the danger zone, you’re eventually going to get bit and that’s what happened here. I have no remorse for them and feel the penalties are fully justified.

Photo Credit: Sal Sigala Jr./Speedway Media

When it comes to Joe Gibbs Racing and their ground shattering punishment, a large contingent of people out there including myself feel NASCAR went too far. A connecting rod was found to be approximately 2.7 grams underweight when NASCAR weighed it during the tear down of the race winning No.20 car from Kansas. The other 7 connecting rods were each a few grams to the good and perfectly legal. There are areas on a racecar that are considered sacred ground and not even the likes of Chad Knaus would dare mess with them. That’s the tires, the fueling system and the engine. As a result, NASCAR dropped the hammer hard in a penalty that ranks right up there as one of the biggest ever. Crew chief Jason Ratcliff was fined $200,000 and suspended for six races, an astonishing 50 points were taken away, Matt won’t get chase bonus points for the win and can’t use it as a WC either, the owners license of Joe Gibbs has been suspended for six weeks, the pole won’t count towards the 2014 Sprint Unlimited and Toyota loses 5 manufacturer points.

One connecting rod 2.7 grams underweight gives no advantage and in fact, it throws the engine slightly out of balance which could hurt overall performance. It was an error made by TRD when creating the parts and nothing more. NASCAR doesn’t look at it that way though and although I don’t like it, I can understand that. If they started basing penalties on the exact person who was in the wrong, it would bring in an infinite number of variables and it could get very messy. This case in particular exemplifies one that would be a black and white but a lot of them wouldn’t be. In order to maintain consistency and integrity, they have to police each case basically using tunnel vision. They can’t factor in the all the details; just simply look at it and say this piece was in violation of this rule therefore we will issue the appropriate penalties. This is when the appeal committee comes in handy though. They are separate from the NASCAR officials who initially hand out punishments and they base their decisions after hearing the team’s explanation for why they were in violation of the rules. With this particular situation, I think JGR has a good chance to reduce the penalties. It’s actually a pretty solid system that NASCAR has put in place and works very well most of the time.

I still firmly believe that TRD should have gotten more of a punishment though. Penske pushes the limits trying to gain an advantage and gets caught but their penalty is less than a team that had an issue with a manufacturer supplied part that didn’t even help performance of the car. That doesn’t make sense to me. It looks like they came down harder on JGR because they raced with the “illegal” part and won with it unlike Penske whose blunder was caught before the race even began. TRD took full blame for the error but the responsibility falls on the shoulders of the teams in the eyes of NASCAR. Matt Kenseth wasn’t pleased with how hard his team was hit and had this to say regarding the penalties:

“I think the penalties are grossly unfair. I think it’s borderline shameful. There’s no argument the part was wrong. They weighed it and it was wrong. However, there is an argument that there certainly was no performance advantage. If you can find any unbiased, reputable, knowledgeable engine-builder and if they saw the facts, what all the rods weighed. The average weight of all the rods was well above the minimum — 2.5 (grams) above the minimum at least. There was one in there that was way heavy. There was no performance advantage, there was no intent, it was a mistake. JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) had no control over it. Certainly to crush Joe Gibbs like that — to say they can’t win an owner’s championship with the 20 this year is just, I can’t wrap my arms around that, it just blows me away. And the same with Jason Ratcliff (crew chief). I don’t feel bad for myself at all, but for Jason and Joe, I just couldn’t feel any worse. There’s no more reputable, honest hard-working guys with good reputations more so than those two — I feel really bad for them.”

The Penske Racing appeal will be held May 1st at the NASCAR R&D Center and no one expects their punishment to be reduced in any way. They appealed not because they thought they could win, but because they wanted to have some time to find appropriate replacements for their soon to be sidelined seven high profile team members. JGR is also appealing the penalties issued to them and like I said before, they do have a fighting chance. The date of their appeal hasn’t been set yet but my guess would be that it would take place the week leading up to Talladega or possibly the week following it.

I’m sure all of you out there have your own sentiments regarding these highly controversial incidents so feel free to voice your opinions below!

April 25, 2013
Win #1 Is Coming Soon For Both Aric Almirola & Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is eight races into his rookie Cup season and is closing in fast on securing his first win racing at the pinnacle of NASCAR. At Kansas, his chances of winning were very high until a late race debris caution thwarted the young racer’s chances at victory. He ended the race 11th tying his career best. Aric Almirola has raced in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) for six years but this is just his second full-time season. He started up front last Sunday and his #43 Ford Fusion for Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) adorned a throwback STP paint scheme that the legendary Richard Petty once ran. He finished 8th after running as high as 2nd during the event.

There’s no question that these two will win their first NSCS race soon and it shouldn’t surprise anyone if they both do it in 2013. Ricky was battling with Scott Speed for the ARCA championship back in 2008 and things got pretty ugly between the two. After Stenhouse took Speed out in what looked to be an intentional incident, Speed retaliated handing the title to Justin Allgaier. After that, Roush moved Ricky up to Nationwide (NNS) where he would struggle to find his footing throughout the 2009 season wrecking very often. Towards the end of 2010 when rumors started to swirl that Ricky might lose his ride, something clicked inside his brain and he started ripping off top 5’s all over the place. He went on to win the NNS title in both 2011 and 2012 before taking over the #17 from Matt Kenseth in the NSCS.

Photo Credit: Mike Holloway/Speedway Media

Ricky is one of the more aggressive drivers in the sport today but he’s learned to temper that aggression over the past few years. In 2013, he has yet to post a top 10 finish but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t spent any time up front. On the contrary, he was within arm’s reach of victory lane at Kansas before a caution came out while he was on pit road ruining his day. Aric Almirola is quietly sitting 12th in the standings right now and ripped off his first two top 10’s of the season at Texas (7th) and Kansas (8th). The RPM driver is gaining momentum as he looks to bring the famous No.43 back to victory lane for the first time in the 21st century.

His NASCAR career started back in 2004 when he competed in four truck races finishing inside the top 10 twice. In 2006, he went full time in the Camping World Truck Series finding little success and struggling to an 18th place finish in the standings. He also won the pole for a NNS race that year at Daytona. In 2007, he got his chance in Cup and I believe he was thrown into the car way too soon like so many other drivers. In 4 years of driving part-time, he accumulated one top 5 and two top 10’s. In 2011, he joined JR Motorsports and ran for the NNS title finishing a solid 4th in the points. He was ready to go back to Cup and Richard Petty knew it offering him the #43 seat which was vacated by AJ Allmendinger. Aric’s results were sporadic and disappointing but things look a lot different in 2013. He has driven smart races, contends for top 10’s every week and stays out of trouble finishing well.

Now that the history lesson is over, let’s talk a little about the future of these two very talented racers. Stenhouse was brought up the “right way” and is ready to battle for wins against the likes of Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth. Almirola is just now getting to that point and is outperforming teammate Marcos Ambrose; it was the other way around last year.

If fate was kinder, Ricky could have won Kansas this past weekend just eight races into his rookie year and with 28 races remaining, he’s got plenty of time for redemption. I don’t see Ricky making the chase this year unless he wins a race or two which he’s fully capable of doing. On the other hand, the consistency of Aric Almirola could be enough to get him inside the top 10 and into the chase with no wins. He needs to turn those 14th’s and 15th’s into 7th’s and 8th’s though which he seems to be doing. That famed #43 has been driven by a lot of people since that Martinsville win way back in 1999 so history isn’t on his side but that car hasn’t been this fast in a while either. Ricky will win in 2013, Aric might but they both will end up winning multiple races before their careers are over.

They both have the talent, the team, the crew chief and the passion to get it done and they will.

April 24, 2013