Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: penske racing

  • Owner’s Perspective of Championship 4 at Homestead

    Owner’s Perspective of Championship 4 at Homestead

    HOMESTEAD, FL – All the talk during the weekend is on how the Championship 4 drivers feel about their chances of winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship. But  Friday morning NASCAR held a press conference to share a different perspective from the owners and top executives on their championship journey.

    It was an odd moment for Furniture Row Racing president Joe Garone as he was in the press conference as a finalist for the Cup championship and also to speak about the last race for the entire race team. Sunday will be the final race for Furniture Row Racing after announcing earlier this year that they will cease operations at the end of the 2018 season.

    It has been a tough ending for the team even with the opportunity to take home a championship on Sunday afternoon.

    “It’s been brutal at the end here. But in the beginning, it was just so much fun – every weekend – for Furniture Row, it was such a linear uphill climb starting from scratch,” Garone said.

    The end is near for the team based in Denver, Colorado but there is some positivity to look forward to during Championship Weekend.

    For the other three teams, their operations will continue as normal going into next season. They all want to take home the Cup championship trophy but only one will.

    Tony Stewart who co-owns Stewart-Haas Racing is looking at a different scenario. As a former driver and champion, he knows what it feels like behind the wheel. As an owner, it’s been a long ride for him, going from a two-car team to a four-car team.

    “Technology is so great and changes so fast in our sport, you can never predict where everything is going to end up. You have to do the work. You have to have the right people in place, and the rest of it has to work itself out,” Stewart said.

    Each team has taken a unique path to arrive where they are today. Sponsorship remains one of the key factors.

    Walter Czarnecki, the executive vice president of Penske Racing, sees sponsorship as a major part of the sport, saying, “We have 40 different companies that work with us as sponsor partners, business partners, strategic partners on many different levels. I think it’s indicative of the strength of the sport.”

    Joe Gibbs who owns Joe Gibbs Racing also feels that sponsors have brought his program a long way.

    “We’re racing 11 cars in four different series, and the Lord has blessed us. We’ve got some of the biggest and best partners, and in the last year and a half, we’ve added nine new partner situations for us,” Gibbs said.

    The business side of the sport is one that some fans never see. NASCAR having this press conference gave everyone a unique look at what executives can expect from their teams and performances. The Championship 4 executives have their hands full just like the drivers but arguably in a more complicated way.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Homestead Ford EcoBoost 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Homestead Ford EcoBoost 400

    With the crowning of just one last champion to join Matt Crafton, Truck Series Champion, and Austin Dillon, Nationwide Series Champion, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the final race of the season, the Ford EcoBoost 400, at Florida’s Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    Surprising:  For someone used to winning championships, especially after his sixth, Jimmie Johnson was surprisingly emotional in Victory Lane, especially as he remembered his grandmother who had passed away and when he saw his wife and daughter Genevieve appear to congratulate him.

    “I know there was an angel, at least one, but maybe four angles riding on this car,” the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet said. “My Grandmother passed away a month or so ago, and I am without grandparents now which is a sad thing.”

    “But, I know my Grandma and my other grandparents were helping me guide this car around this car around the track,” Johnson continued. “This one is for her.”

    “She was my biggest fan.”

    Johnson became most emotional when he talked about his wife and mother of his two children Chandra.

    “She is the strongest woman on the planet,” Johnson said. “She makes me who I am, and makes me a better man.”

    “She does a fantastic job raising these kids and keeping me in line; I am her third kid,” Johnson continued. “I am so thankful to have her as wife.”

    “We are going to have a lot of fun and enjoy this moment.”

    Johnson finished the Homestead race in the ninth position, which put him 19 points ahead of Kenseth for the Sprint Cup championship. This was the 11th championship for Hendrick Motorsports and makes Johnson only one of three competitors, including Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt, to win six or more championships.

    Not Surprising:  There were at least two drivers, the second and third place finishers at Homestead-Miami Speedway, that along with many fans have one simple wish – that the season would not end.

    “For me, when you’re running good, you kind of don’t want the season to end in a way,” Matt Kenseth, runner up in the last race and in the championship, said. “You want to keep going to the track.”

    “To me as I get older, the seasons go faster and faster honestly,” Kenseth, driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota, continued. “It was more fun this season so in a way, you don’t want it to end.”

    Third place finisher Dale Earnhardt Jr. could not agree with Kenseth more.

    “Ever since I started working with Steve (Letarte, crew chief) and that whole team, I hadn’t wanted the year to end,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet said. “We seem to get better as the season goes.”

    “You would just love to go to another race next week.”

    Surprising:  After a surprisingly tough season of injury, recovery and struggles, Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, scored his first victory in the last race of the year. This was Hamlin’s second win in nine races at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    “It was just an amazing drive,” Hamlin said. “Just proud of Darian (Grubb, crew chief) and this whole team for giving me a race-winning car.”

    “It just gives us huge momentum,” Hamlin continued. “We started kicking things into gear about two months ago and then last week with a horrific effort and that kind of gets your spirits down, but then to come here to Miami and back it up with a win — this is something we can think about for the entire winter.”

    Not Surprising:  The reigning champ of 2012, Brad Keselowski, was the highest finishing Ford, bringing the Blue Deuce to the checkered flag in the sixth position.

    “We definitely had the car on the short runs, but just weren’t close on the long runs,” Keselowski said of his last race of the season. “If we could have got the long run speed to go with the short run speed, we would have killed them tonight, but we just didn’t have that.”

    Even with a solid top-ten finish, Keselowski could not help but reflect on the championship year that ended when Jimmie Johnson hoisted the champion’s trophy.

    “A champion is forever,” Keselowski said thoughtfully. “It might not be reining, but you’re still a champion forever.”

    “I’m proud of that.”

    Surprising:  Kevin Harvick is looking forward to a surprisingly new adventure with now former team owner Richard Childress.

    “I think Martinsville brought a lot of things to a head and we were able to talk about a lot of things,” Harvick said of the controversy between him and Childress. “Really this was the way I would want to leave with everybody shaking hands and happy that we have been together and been successful together.”

    “I can’t wait for our first hunt together as friends,” Harvick continued. “That will be good times.”

    Harvick, in his last race with the ‘ole two niner’ finished tenth at Homestead and third in the championship points, 34 points behind six-time winner Jimmie Johnson.

    Not Surprising:   In his first year with Penske Racing and with an eighth place finish in the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford at Homestead, Joey Logano pronounced his year good.

    “I’m more impressed with our year,” Logano said. “We did a good job this year and learned a lot about each other, and learned a lot about where we could have done a better job in races and where we need to improve next year and where to work on our cars during the off-season.”

    “I had a lot of fun this year and this was my best season personally,” Logano continued. “We’ve got areas we need to improve and we’ll do it.”

    Logano also had a significant moment off the track to top off the 2013 season as he got engaged as well.

    Surprising:  One of the most surprising moments of the race occurred when Paul Menard, who had sustained damage during a wild restart, came to pit road in flames. The right rear tire then exploded sending parts and pieces flying throughout pit road.

    Thankfully no one, including the driver of the No. 27 MOEN/Menards Chevrolet, was injured. Menard, who at times was in the top-five running order, finished 39th.

    “That was pretty wild,” Menard said. “We were having a great day.”

    “On that restart, everybody kind of checked up and we got some right rear damage and had a flat tire,” Menard continued. “I guess a bunch of rubber got wrapped up underneath around the axle I guess.”

    “Came in a couple of times trying to fix the damage and try to get the rubber off,” Menard said. “We didn’t get it all and I guess it just caught fire.”

    “I didn’t really know it until there was a little bit of spark coming in the car and landed on the window net, thought that was kind of weird,” Menard continued. “About a lap later they said I was on fire; I lost my brakes, then the damn wheel blew right off (the car).”

    Not Surprising:  Even four-time champions can make a mistake or two and Jeff Gordon did just that, spinning his wheels on a restart, with almost catastrophic results for at least one of the championship contenders.

    “Yeah, I was trying to get some momentum and he (Denny Hamlin) checked up and it just messed the whole thing up and I got wheel spin,” Gordon said. “That is the second time this year I have done that right in front of Matt (Kenseth) and he has drove right into the back of me and about wrecked us both.”

    “The last thing I would want to do in front of Matt is that, but you can’t run into the guy you know,” Gordon continued. “It was a bad unfortunate situation and it just trickles on back from there.”

    “It could have been even worse.”

    Surprising:  Danica Patrick had a surprisingly good run for the last race of the season and in fact was the highest finishing rookie in 20th. This was Patrick’s eighth top-20 of her rookie 2013 season.

    “It’s one thing to have the yellow stripe on the car,” Patrick said. “It’s another thing with all the things being a rookie signifies, which a lot is, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing.’

    So I think that’s what I’m most pleased about is, now I’ve done the whole season, I’ve gone to every track and learned a lot about a lot of things — not just cars but about the team — and it just makes me more prepared for the future.”

    Not Surprising:  Even with Patrick finishing ahead of him, boyfriend Ricky Stenhouse Jr. still scored the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year honors.

    “It means a lot, looking at all the other names that have won this award,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “It definitely wasn’t the season that we wanted, but we slowly but surely got better throughout the season.”

    “I was proud of what we did throughout the season, of getting better, qualifying better, having runs up front, and leading laps throughout the year,” the driver of the No. 17 Ford EcoBoost Ford said. “Thought we had a chance at winning some races there, at least being in contention.”

    “I was proud of those moments.”

    This concludes the Surprising and Not Surprising column for the 2013 season. Thanks for all the reads and comments, have a great holiday season, and cheers to an exciting 2014 season, coming in just 100 days at Daytona!

     

  • Homestead Championship Preview

    Homestead Championship Preview

    It’s hard to believe it but the longest season in sports is just about over with. In a few days, three new NASCAR champions will be crowned. Matt Crafton leads the Camping World Truck Series standings and only needs to start the race in order to clinch his first title. Austin Dillon is the points leader at the Nationwide level with Indy 500 winner Sam Hornish Jr. stalking him from only eight points back. The owner’s title is still up for grabs as well and will come down to Gibbs’ No.54 car versus the No.22 of Penske Racing. In Cup, 5-time champion Jimmie Johnson can almost taste his 6th Cup and only needs a top 23 finish to ensure the crown is his but Kenseth and Harvick will be ready to pounce just in case the unthinkable happens and that No.48 stumbles. Here’s a breakdown of what is at stake in the season finale, who the players are and my predictions regarding who will emerge victorious when the checkered flag falls on 2013.

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

    As I previously mentioned, this battle is all but over. Matt Crafton has only won a single race this year but 19 top 10’s in 21 races is more than enough to compensate for the lack of visits to victory lane. He leads Ty Dillon by 46 points and when he takes the green flag Friday night, it will preclude anyone from challenging him no matter what happens during the race. This is Matt’s 13th full-time season in the Truck series and to finally win that first title will be such a relief for him and his team. Speaking of his team, the fight for the owner’s title is not quite over with just yet. ThorSport leads by 23pts which is still a fairly comfortable margin but the man and team chasing them happens to be Kyle Busch who has won four races and posted seven top five’s in just 10 starts this season. Yeah, he’s kind of a big deal when he shows up at these Truck races.

    My Prediction: The No.3 team will not lock Matt Crafton up in a Port-O-Potty and he will easily win the driver’s title with probably another top ten finish to end his impressive year. I also believe that ThorSport will hang on against the hard-charging Kyle Busch and his No.51 team to win the owner’s championship.

    NASCAR Nationwide Series

    Austin Dillon is a former Camping World Truck Series champion and his opponent is a former winner of the Indianapolis 500; Sam Hornish Jr. A mere eight points separate these guys and a slip up by one will all but hand the title over to the other. Dillon wants it because he’s moving to the Cup level in 2014 and Hornish wants it because, well, he currently doesn’t have a ride for next year. The owner’s standings is an even closer battle with just four points between the top two and things have gotten fairly hostile between the rival teams as of late. Joey Logano will pilot the No.22 for Penske Racing which is currently in command of the points while Joe Gibbs Racing wisely has Kyle Busch in the No.54 car. An interesting detail that should not be overlooked is the fact that Penske is entering a third car in the race which will be driven by none other than Brad Keselowski who has vowed retaliation against Busch for spinning him out at Kansas. Will he fulfill his promise? I highly doubt it but will he do everything he possibly can to make Kyle Busch’s day a living hell? Of course he will! That’s why he’s in this race…to take points from that No.54 and the No.3 as well as do his best impression of a moving roadblock when necessary.

    My Prediction: This will be the most enthralling title bout of the weekend and Austin Dillon will win the driver’s title with a top five finish while the No.54 steals the owner’s championship from Penske by winning the race.

    NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

    Jimmie Johnson is at it again! After winning five straight championships and taking a two year hiatus from the big table in Vegas, the California native is closing in on the #SixPack. Three drivers mathematically have a shot at taking home the hardware but it is going to take a catastrophic failure on the No.48 or a crash to even give gentleman Matt and the pugnacious Harvick a chance. It’s unlikely but can definitely happen though. Jimmie may seem infallible but in reality, bad luck can just as easily bite him as it can his adversaries. In fact, his last two finishes at Homestead are 36th and 32nd. In 2011, he spun out with what was an awful car and in 2012, he suffered rear gear failure so don’t fool yourself into believing this thing is over with. Remember, this is NASCAR. We set race tracks on fire and break our ex-teammate’s back; okay. If Jimmie were to have some unforeseen issues that consequently costs him the title, imagine the dogfight we would have between JGR newbie Matt Kenseth and lame-duck Kevin Harvick! RCR hasn’t won the Sprint Cup championship since 1994 with Dale Earnhardt; that was nearly 20 years ago and it’s been a decade since Matt was last crowned champion.

    My Prediction: Jimmie Johnson survives and wins his 6th championship but if he were to falter and it came down to the two guys chasing him, I think Matt Kenseth would prevail seeing that JGR has practically dominated most of the 1.5 mile races this year.

    No matter which drivers and teams are able to call themselves champions when the day is done, I can honestly say that I’ve enjoyed the 2013 season. It hasn’t been the best year in NASCAR’s 65 year history but it was certainly an interesting one. Good luck to all those chasing championships this weekend and may the best (or luckiest) man win!

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: AAA Texas 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: AAA Texas 500

    As the race for the six shooters and black cowboy hat moved from afternoon into evening, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the ninth annual AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

    Surprising:  Although no one could argue about the strength of Jimmie Johnson’s performance and victory at Texas, when it came time to discuss the Chase and the battle with Matt Kenseth, now seven points behind Johnson, there were some fighting words involved.

    “I have been watching a lot of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fighting lately, and you’ll fall into a rhythm and think that somebody has got the fight won, and it doesn’t end that way,” Johnson said. “That’s how this is going to be.”

    “Matt didn’t have maybe the best day and still finished fourth,” Johnson continued. “This thing is going to go to the last lap at Homestead.”

    “I think this is just going to be a dog fight there,” Rick Hendrick, Johnson’s team owner, said. “I think it’s going to be the last lap at Homestead because the teams are that close.”

    “It’s going to be a war,” Coach Joe Gibbs, Kenseth’s team owner, said. “And I just hope we all survive.”

    Not Surprising:  Dale Earnhardt Jr. acknowledged Jimmie Johnson’s dominance best, telling his crew chief Steve Letarte that his car won even though he finished second for the third time to his five-time champion teammate.

    “He (Johnson) was in a class of his own,” Dale Junior said. “We were joking that he won the DP but we were first in the GT class.”

    “They were super-fast and I was super, super impressed with those guys’ car,” Earnhardt Jr. continued. “I’m happy to have a good effort and looking forward to the last couple of races.”

    “Hopefully we will get us a win,” Junior said. “We keep getting close.”

    Surprising:  Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion, went from hero, sitting on the pole, to zero, getting knocked out of the race at Texas due to engine failure. Yet even in his disappointment, Edwards surprisingly was still able to pull off a plug for his erstwhile sponsor.

    “I think a valve spring broke,” Edwards said. “We don’t usually have a lot of engine trouble.”

    “We had such a great weekend going,” Edwards continued. “Aflac has coverage for just about everything but I don’t think they cover sick engines which is too bad.”

    Edwards was not the only one with a sick engine as Ford mate David Ragan also lost one, as did Timmy Hill and Bobby Labonte.

    Not Surprising:  While speeding penalties are costly enough to the average driver, they were especially costly to two of the Chase competitors, particularly Matt Kenseth, whose penalty no doubt cost him the point’s lead, and Kyle Busch, who battled not only the speeding penalty but also an early crash to finish 13th.

    “We were just being too aggressive,” Kenseth said. “That speeding penalty got us behind — we definitely didn’t need that.”

    “If I wouldn’t have messed up, maybe we could have ran second.”

    “Kyle (Busch) feels horrible because he sped on pit road late in the race,” Dave Rogers, crew chief of the No. 18 Snickers Toyota, said. “He was giving us all he had to give us the best possible finish and we took a little bit more that what was there.”

    “This is a team and we’ve got his back.”

    Surprising:  While Texas provided a surprising venue to showcase the strength of Penske Racing, with two top-ten finishes, both drivers, however, acknowledged that neither of them had what it took to be stronger than team 48.

    “From the start of the race, we moved our way forward,” Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 AAA Ford said. “Overall we can’t be disappointed with a third place finish but the 48 car was just ridiculously fast.”

    “I thought we had decent speed,” Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, said. “We were leading at one point and the yellow flag came and we pitted and came out ninth, which ended our shot of being able to derail Jimmie if there even was one.”

    “His car was so much faster than the field,” Keselowski continued. “It was pretty embarrassing to be quite honest.”

    Not Surprising:  The pattern of inconsistency for team No. 24 and driver Jeff Gordon continued, with the win at Martinsville last weekend being negated by the hard hit into the wall after a tire went down at Texas.

    “I hit the wall hard,” Gordon said “I just know the left front went down as I was going down the front straightaway.”

    Gordon finished 38th, close to 200 laps down, his worst finish since Watkins Glen.

    Surprising:  Parker Kligerman made a surprisingly good debut in the Sprint Cup Series for Swan Racing, finishing top-20.

    “Although 18th doesn’t sound that great, for a rookie and this team, it’s a great finish and it’s one of the best finishes for these guys,” Kligerman said. “It was a long tough race but the team persevered and everyone fought hard.”

    Not Surprising:  Since Greg Biffle never, ever forgets, his love tap of Jimmie Johnson in the waning laps of the Texas race was not the least bit surprising. It did not, however, help him to feel at all better even though he finished twelfth in the race when the checkered flag flew.

    “That was a tough one,” Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion, said. “The car wasn’t very good in traffic.”

    “We didn’t get it until it seemed like about 20 to go or whatever that last stop was,” Biffle continued. “We just weren’t where we wanted to be.”

    Surprising:  While most, if not all eyes were on the Chase race between Johnson and Kenseth, there were other drivers in the field who literally paid no heed as they were marching to the beat of their own drummers.

    “We actually made a lot of gains throughout the weekend,” Danica Patrick, drive of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet said after finishing 25th. “We never quite got it, but we certainly made progress.”

    “I’m excited to get to Phoenix next week,” Patrick continued. “GoDaddy is based out there, so it’s a big race for us.”

    With her 25th place finish, Patrick also gained three spots in the point standings to 25th as well.

    Not Surprising:  Problems continued on and off the track for Juan Pablo Montoya as he winds up his NASCAR career and prepares to return to the IndyCar Series.

    Montoya brought out one of the few race cautions on track due to a tire issue, which was a shredded right front tire according to Crew Chief Chris ‘Shine’ Heroy. JPM was able to soldier on to finish in the 20th place at Texas Motor Speedway.

    But off track, Montoya also has problems as Forbes reported that he is in trouble with the US taxman. The IRS is alleging that the driver owes $2.7 million in additional taxes and penalties due to some interesting and complicated deductions, many of which were made prior to his coming to NASCAR and to the United States to live with his family.

    Montoya has just two more races in the NASCAR Series and then will return to IndyCar racing but this time to drive for Roger Penske and serve as teammate to Penske driver Helio Castroneves.

    Surprising:  After a challenging season of his own, Kasey Kahne actually surprised himself with a top-five finish at Texas Motor Speedway.

    “We had a pretty good Time Warner Chevy today,” Kahne said. “We were seventh to tenth most of the race and we worked our way to fifth there at the end.”

    “I’m glad we were able to have kind of a flawless race and race all day and make a little bit of ground up at the end.”

    Not Surprising:  Kurt Busch’s quest to finish off his season with Furniture Row Racing with outstanding performances is proving most difficult.

    “Nothing good to say about this race,” Busch, driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet said. “That’s all we had and it was a struggle all weekend.”

    “We definitely need a turnaround in the final two races because it has been too good of a year to end on a struggling note.”

  • All Penske front row for Kentucky 300

    All Penske front row for Kentucky 300

    Penske Racing sweeps the front row for Saturday’s Kentucky 300 at Kentucky Speedway. Series points leader, Sam Hornish, secured his third pole of the season with a fast lap of 179.235 mph in the No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Ford.

    Hornish was followed by his teammate and Camping World Truck Series regular, Ryan Blaney. Blaney turned a lap of 178.159 mph in the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford that has had a multitude of Penske drivers this season. Though Hornish leads the driver’s standings, the No.22 car is currently leading the owner’s standings by 13 points over the No.54 car fielded by Joe Gibbs Racing.

    Richard Childress Racing took row two with drivers Austin Dillon and Brian Scott. Dillon turned in a lap of 178.042 mph and will start third. Scott rolls off fourth on Saturday night after posting a lap of 177.702 mph.

    Another Truck Series regular, Matt Crafton, will start fifth in a third Richard Childress Racing entry. Crafton is returning to the site of his first career Nationwide Series starts where he finished third. Saturday’s race will be the third career Nationwide Series start for the Camping World Truck Series points leader.

    Other notables:

    • Drew Herring will start seventh in the JGR No. 54 that Kyle Busch has driven to ten wins this season.
    • Justin Allgaier will start ninth in the No. 31 Brandt Chevy
    • Brian Vickers will take the green in tenth driving the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota
    • Championship contenders Elliott Sadler and Regan Smith will start 12th and 14th respectively

    Sam Hornish will try to stretch his points lead as we head into the home stretch of the season.

    The Kentucky 300 starts at 7:30pm local time on Saturday.

  • My 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship Predictions

    My 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship Predictions

    Once we get past all the chaos and controversy surrounding Richmond; it becomes apparent that we still have a championship battle to talk about! Thirteen…yes, thirteen racers will battle tooth and nail for the coveted Sprint Cup trophy and they have ten races to get it done. This chase lacks Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and reigning champion Brad Keselowski but it still features some of NASCAR’s heavyweights. Four champions, six Daytona 500 winners and eight teams make up the 2013 chase field. No one has shown immunity to bad luck this season; not even 5-time champion Jimmie Johnson and I could certainly see this coming down to three or five man race at Homestead, much like what we saw in 2004. It’s going to be a great battle!

    1.) Matt Kenseth – 5 Wins & 2003 NSCS Champion

    Matt Kenseth has been known to quietly click away solid finishes race after race and have sub-par efforts in qualifying seeing that the “go fast for two lap thing” has never really been Matt’s forte. All that changed when he joined Joe Gibbs Racing this year. Matt has made his presence known and has asserted himself as one of the guys you have to go through if you want to win the championship. It’s almost like Roush-Fenway was holding him back. The Achilles Heel of this team may be the lingering TRD engine issues although they have gotten it under control for the most part. Matt is a top five and top ten machine which is why he’s finished 8th or higher in the standings in nine of the last eleven years. He has proven that he’s fully capable of being a title threat and I’ll be very surprised if he’s not a contender.

    2.) Jimmie Johnson – 4 Wins & 5-time NSCS Champion (’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10)

    The untouchable No.48 team has been vulnerable this year. Their immunity to bad luck has ceased and their rivals are excited to take them on. A recurring thing you heard at Chase Media Day was that drivers thought they can beat Jimmie and they said that with a big grin on their face. This is the guy everybody compares themselves with. If you can beat him, then you definitely have a shot at it! Don’t fool yourself into believing that this rash of bad luck has enervated this team. They have endured their fair share of bad luck in 2013 but it was while they were running up front and for the win so don’t think for a second that they are under performing this year. They just aren’t quite as lucky. If fate was kinder, Johnson could be starting the chase with eight or nine wins. As for momentum going into the chase; Jimmie Johnson doesn’t need momentum. He becomes a winning machine that can do no wrong when the playoffs start. Only time will tell if the this group becomes that indestructible winning machine that all their competitors fear or if the bad luck that has plagued the No.48 carries over into the post-season. One thing for certain is that you can never count out Jimmie Johnson and that elite No.48 team.

    3.) Kyle Busch – 4 Wins & Best Points Finish of 5th (2007)

    Rowdy Busch. Some love him, many hate him but no one can deny the fact that he’s a heck of a wheel man. Kyle has never fared too well in the chase and last year, he missed out on the post-season by 1pt but went on to score enough points in the ten race stretch that would have given him a 3rd place finish in the championship. The chase is primarily made up of large, high speed banked ovals which bodes well for Busch and his teammate, Matt Kenseth. JGR has excelled at those venues this year with six of their combined nine wins coming at those kind of tracks. Kyle has always had issues handling adversity and it will be interesting to see if he falls apart and makes imprudent decisions should things get tempestuous for him at some point in this chase. I believe 2013 will be the best chase result of Kyle’s career.

    4.) Kevin Harvick – 2 Wins & Best Points Finish of 3rd (’10 & ’11)

    Kevin Harvick has once again made his way into the chase without many people noticing. “The Closer” not only comes out of nowhere at the end of races but he also has an uncanny way of making his way into the top five in points at the end of the season on multiple occasions without anyone realizing it.  I don’t see a championship for Kevin this year but I wouldn’t put it past him. This “lame duck” wants to deliver Richard Childress his first Cup title since 1994 and he’s got one last chance to get it done.

    5.) Carl Edwards – 2 Wins & Best Points Finish of 2nd (’08 & ’11)

    He’s tied for 2nd, he’s finished 2nd and he’s tied for 1st….guess what comes next? I believe it’s only a matter of time before Cousin Carl, as Kenny Schrader would call him, hoists the trophy in Miami at the end of the season. Carl is one of those drivers who is a champion waiting in the wings. It will come with time. His consistency is what won him the unofficial title of regular season champion and his consistency also helped him stay neck-and-neck with Tony Stewart in 2011. Despite the two wins, Carl hasn’t shown that he can contend for wins on a regular basis but should the other drivers use up their mulligans while he keeps clicking away top 10’s and top 5’s, he may very well find himself in the middle of the title fight.

    6.) Joey Logano – 1 Win & Best Points Finish of 16th (2010)

    Penske Racing got one driver in the chase this year…and it wasn’t Brad Keselowski. Joey Logano has truly impressed me this year with his tenacity and the way he and this No.22 camp have handled adversity. Joey has won the pole for the first chase race and he seems to have found his niche in the form of large, high banked ovals. Lucky for him, that’s 50% of the chase races. He will win at least one race in the chase in my opinion and I see him as a dark horse. You wouldn’t normally look at Logano as  title threat seeing that he’s never gotten a top 15 points finish but he could surprise a few people. His inexperience in this kind of situation may be what hurts him in the end though.

    7.) Greg Biffle – 1 Win & Best Points Finish of 2nd (2005)

    I doubt Greg Biffle can win the championship this year. He has spent the majority of his season around 8th-10th in points and I don’t expect that to change in the chase. He only has three top five finishes in the first 26 races and ten top 10’s. Those are the lowest numbers of anyone in the top 13 in points right now. The Fords seem very strong at Chicagoland so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him win one of the 1.5 milers but other than that, I really don’t expect Greg to make much noise in the chase this year.

    8.) Clint Bowyer – 0 Wins & Best Points Finish of 2nd (2012)

    Would I be exaggerating if I said this guy has a lot of attention on him going into Chicagoland? I thought not. Clint Bowyer and his race team have been the headline on every major news outlet this week for all the wrong reasons. He was grilled by multiple ESPN reporters, booed by fans at NASCAR Contenders LIVE, harassed by thousands of incensed people on Twitter and even criticized by his fellow competitors. His integrity has been called into question after a spin that many believe to be deliberate and his intentions with seven laps to go were incontrovertible to most but Bowyer denies it. Clint says that all this negative attention has him determined more than ever to win it all. The usually loquacious Clint is ready to just put that helmet on and go to work. He has spent most of 2013 near the top of the standings despite failing to reach victory lane. I don’t think all this drama will affect him while he’s racing. I wouldn’t bet against it hurting his team though. Distractions are never a good thing in sports. I would say Clint can be a contender just like he was in 2012 but some disgruntled drivers that didn’t take too kindly to what went down may make sure that a championship for the No.15 doesn’t happen this year. It will be interesting to see how Bowyer is treated by other drivers once we get to racing at Chicagoland..

    9.) Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 0 Wins & Best Points Finish of 3rd (2003)

    Dale Jr. has consistency but he isn’t up there mixing it up for victories every week like his teammate Jimmie Johnson and even Kasey Kahne are. They need to take it up a notch if they want to hold their own against Johnson, Kenseth and Kyle Busch in this chase. If they can’t do that, then I don’t see Jr. getting anything higher than 5th or 6th this year.

    10.) Kurt Busch – 0 Wins & 2004 NSCS Champion

    Here we have the first “single car” team to ever make the chase. Despite their strong technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing, they are still considered a single car operation. Do not make the foolish mistake of underestimating Kurt Busch or this well funding race team though. The tenacity and raw talent of this proven champion is undeniable and he can most certainly win the championship this year….if he had a better pit crew. When the pressure’s on, the No.78 crew almost always drops the ball and costs Kurt valuable spots. NASCAR is a team sport and if you have a pit crew that isn’t getting the job done, it doesn’t matter if you have a Dale Earnhardt caliber guy wheeling the No.48 with Junior Johnson on top of the pit box…you still won’t win. They have two crew guys so hopefully, he doesn’t encounter as many costly issues on pit road. If his pit crew can get it together, Kurt can be a serious threat for the championship before he departs for Stewart-Haas Racing at the end of the year.

    11.) Kasey Kahne – 2 Wins & Best Points Finish of 4th (2012)

    Kasey Kahne was my pick to win the title back in March and I wouldn’t be surprised if he proved me right. If fate was kinder (and if Kasey was more aggressive), he could have at least five wins right now. He has four runner-up finishes this year; three of which came down to half a second or less. He also crashed while leading Michigan, Darlington and while going three wide for the lead with two laps to go at the July Daytona race. Kasey’s kindness on track though may pay dividends during the chase when he’s racing around guys not in the running that remember his courtesy while racing them earlier in the year. On the flip side, it may also tempt drivers his battling to use him up not thinking there will be any repercussions. In my eyes, Kasey can win the championship this year if the stars align.

    12.) Ryan Newman – 1 Win & Best Points Finish of 6th (’02, ’03 & ’05)

    Ryan wasn’t a chaser until Monday night which seemed crazy until Jeff Gordon had to go and outdo him by being added to the chase as the 13th seed less than 48 hours before the first chase race! Ryan is motivated and motivation always seems to have an uncanny way of giving a driver a few extra horsepower. Can he hold his own against Busch, Johnson and Kenseth? I doubt it but be assured that the Rocket Man will go all out and leave nothing on the table before his release from Stewart-Haas Racing. Ryan has been fired and replaced because Gene Haas believes Kurt is a better driver. He’s also been called an ogre, had an airborne car land on top of him, been cheated out of his 18th career win, knocked out of the chase before being put back in two days later and even watched his good friend and current owner break his leg in a Sprint Car crash….yeah; it’s been an interesting year to be Ryan Newman to say the least. He will make some noise in this chase probably by winning at one of the flat tracks that he;s always so good at and I see him having his best points finish since 2005.

     13.) Jeff Gordon – O Wins & 4-time NSCS Champion (’95, ’97, ’98, ’01)

    Well, who saw this coming? You aren’t supposed to be here! One of unluckiest guys in the garage got a once in a life time break Friday when he was added to the chase as a 13th seed. It would be an auspicious time for Jeff to go buy a lottery ticket right now…although he obviously doesn’t need it. I am hoping that he somehow goes on a tear in the chase, becomes a contender and that we go to Homestead with Kansas Clint and 4-time 1-2 in points. In reality though, I don’t see Jeff making much of an impact on the 2013 chase at all. He is fully capable of being a 5-time champion talent wise but all the pieces team and luck wise just aren’t there. This was a nice gesture by NASCAR but Jeff’s team is not championship caliber in 2013….I think he will spend the last 10 races in the back half of the chase field.

    My Three Championship Picks

    Kasey Kahne: Why Kasey? I have liked what I’ve seen out of him this year with the speed he’s shown on both 1.5 milers and short tracks. I also like the chemistry he has with long time crew chief Kenny Francis. When it comes to the best driver/crew chief combos in the garage; these two are near the top of the list. Kasey is also able to keep a level head in difficult situations and get all he can out of the car without risking his whole race; necessities for a championship hopeful. Bad luck and JGR drivers running him over has been his only noticeable weakness in 2013.

    Kurt Busch: You want to talk about determination? You want to talk about someone that will drive their guts out and finish 10 spots higher than the car he’s driving should? That would be Kurt Busch. That No.78 has been blistering fast at every kind of track this year; they have no bad track. Kurt has completely changed as a person and for the better. No longer does he act churlish towards the media, fans and his team when things get rough. In fact, he’s become one of the most optimistic people out there when things go awry. If Furniture Row wasn’t trying to resolve their pit crew issues, then I’d be counting Kurt out but they’ve already replaced a front tire changer and tire carrier. If Kurt has a solid pit crew, he can win it all.

    Jimmie Johnson: Do I really need to say why? You can never count out 5-time and like I said earlier, his win column could be in the double digits this year if it weren’t for bad luck. Like always, he is fast everywhere and his team is solid as a rock. Performing at a super-human level during the chase is something embedded deep within the DNA of everyone on this race team. Chad Knaus is very fastidious and will make sure everything that he can possibly control is in his control. Jimmie doesn’t need momentum to be on his side. He doesn’t even need a good start to the chase. Nothing phases the 5-time champ and that’s why he is one of my three favorites to win the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship?

    Feel free to post your picks below or to comment on mine!

  • NASCAR and the Ripple Effect

    NASCAR and the Ripple Effect

    This past week has been unprecedented and historic for the sport of NASCAR, with the sanctioning body announcing the two major penalties, the first for Michael Waltrip Racing on Monday and then Friday announcing probation for Penske and Front Row Motorsports, as well as the historic placement of a thirteenth driver into the Chase, Jeff Gordon.

    In spite of these machinations, twists and turns this past week, there has been one constant throughout, the ripple effect.

    So, what is the ripple effect?

    Webster’s dictionary defines it as “a spreading, pervasive and usually unintentional effect or influence” and dictionary.com defines it as “a series of consequences caused by a single action or event.”

    Mike Helton, NASCAR President, used the term ripple effect first by describing how the sanctioning body made the difficult decision on the Monday after the Richmond race to penalize Michael Waltrip Racing with a $300,000 fine, suspend MWR executive Ty Norris indefinitely, and replace MWR driver Martin Truex Jr. in the Chase with Ryan Newman.

    “The way we go about these is we look at the incident and only the incident because we know from experience that if you try to look at the ripple effect of an incident, you can’t cover all those bases,” Helton said during the MWR penalty announcement.

    “Our focus is around the incident and what we were going to do to react around it, not the ripple effect of the incident or the ripple effect of our reaction,” Helton continued. “So, we simply look at the incident and react to the incident, and whatever our reaction may create, that has a ripple effect to it as well.”

    One of the first ripple effects was the outrage expressed by driver Jeff Gordon, who was outside the Chase looking in by just one point behind due to the apparent shenanigans that took place both on the track and on pit road.

    “Someone explain the ‘ripple effect’ to me,” Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, tweeted after the race.

    And just after the tweet, Jeff Gordon fans latched on and quickly echoed the sentiments that their driver had been a victim of the ripple effect, starting a social media movement of their own in reaction to their driver being denied an opportunity to run for the championship.

    Gordon’s teammate Jimmie Johnson also joined in the discussion about the ripple effect, calling for NASCAR to adopt rules similar to the NFL, where play is halted and a review is made of any questionable play or call on the field.

    “In my opinion, if there is a question they don’t know, they need to stop the race immediately,” Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet, said. “Figure it out and made the best judgment they can because trying to go back on Monday or Tuesday to fix the situation is just too much and then I learn something about a ripple effect.”

    While ripples ran rampant through the garage and the media center alike, the biggest ripple effect came from the fans who continued to be incensed about the actions on the track that they felt compromised the integrity of the sport.

    The ripple effect continued throughout the week as the sanctioning body continued to investigate the events at Richmond, turning their attention to the team communication with Front Row Motorsports driver David Gilliland and the discussion to give a spot to Joey Logano late in the Richmond race.

    This apparently assisted Logano, who finished 22nd in front of Gilliland, to move ahead of Gordon in the point standings, squeaking into Chase contention.

    On both Wednesday and Thursday, NASCAR announced that they would not have any comment, however, Joey Logano addressed the media during his pre-Chase interview in Chicago.

    “I am going to be 100 percent honest, I knew nothing about it,” Logano said. “That is stuff that happens week in and week out with spotters.”

    “What I look at and say is that if we didn’t pass the 38 car, we were still in 10th in points and still got our bonus point so it has no change in the outcome of where we are right now.”

    But the ripple effects did not stop and again NASCAR made a major announcement on Friday, September 13th that a 13th driver would be added to the Chase for the Championship.

    In addition to NASCAR making the unprecedented decision Friday to add the four-time champion to the 2013 Chase for the Sprint Cup field, they also put the Penske Racing team of Joey Logano and Front Row Motorsports with David Gilliland on probation.

    And the ripple effect continued.

    “There were just too  many things that went on Saturday night that gave a clear disadvantage and what we deemed an unfair disadvantage to the 24 (Gordon),” Brian France, NASCAR Chairman and CEO said. “I have the authority to do that.”

    “It is an unprecedented and extraordinary thing but it is also an unprecedented and extraordinary set of circumstances that unfolded in multiple ways on Saturday night,” France continued. “And we believe this is the right outcome to protect the integrity of the sport, which is our number one goal in NASCAR.”

    “It’s been a rough week,” Gordon said after learning that he was back into championship contention. “I’m very appreciative to be in and I know it’s under the most unbelievable circumstances I’ve ever been in as part of my racing career.”

    “I wish all of this hadn’t happened,” Gordon continued. “Now here we are as a 13th car and in and we just try to take that opportunity and make the most of it.”

    While Gordon expressed his thoughts on how rough his week was, the ripple effect that extended to Martin Truex, Jr. was, however, the most devastating.

    Truex, through no fault of his own, was ousted from the Chase due to the MWR penalties, said that all he did was ‘drive his heart out’ throughout the entire race at Richmond, only to be taken out of the chance to run for a championship.

    “I’m not even sure what to say at this point to be honest with you,” Truex said. “I’m kind of at a loss for words.”

    “They kick me out to make spot for somebody and then they don’t do the same for the other guys,” Truex continued. “It’s just unfair, and nothing I can do about it.”

    Truex was not the only driver to experience the ripple effect of confusion stemming from the events of the week since Richmond. Hendrick Motorsports teammate and the sport’s most popular driver also weighed in with his thoughts on the events.

    “I don’t know what is fair anymore,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. “You could have done it a million different ways and I don’t know that one is better than the other.”

    “The whole thing is a mess.”

    The most significant ripple effect has yet to be determined, however, as NASCAR announced that it will have a mandatory meeting with all of the drivers, crew chiefs and owners to further discuss these issues.

    “We’re going to protect, no matter what it takes — the integrity of the sport will never be in question,” France said. “We’re going to make sure that we have the right rules going forward that are clear so that the integrity of the competitive landscape of the events are not altered in a way or manipulated.”

    “And that will be what we will address.”

    But will this be the end of the ripple effect that has been created throughout the sport of NASCAR as a result of these unfolding events?

    Just as in the original penalties announced earlier in the week, there may be ripple effects that even the sanctioning body cannot even begin to predict or may not even have imagined.

    And the biggest and most significant ripple effect that remains to be seen is the reaction by the sport’s fan base, who ultimately determine if their passion or thoughts about the integrity of the sport have been affected or diminished.

    And the ripple effect goes on and on and on.

  • Jeff Gordon Added To Chase In Unprecedented Move by NASCAR!

    Jeff Gordon Added To Chase In Unprecedented Move by NASCAR!

    As if we thought the fallout from Richmond couldn’t get any more bizarre…NASCAR has stunned us with another unprecedented move. They have expanded the chase field to thirteen cars and we now welcome Jeff Gordon to the lineup. The drivers that make up the 2013 chase has changed twice in the last six days in a wild and unprecedented turn of events that has made NASCAR the top story in sports all around the country. Today, Jeff Gordon was added to the chase as a 13th seed while Front Row Motorsports and Penske Racing were put on probation for the remainder of the year for attempting to manipulate the chase outcome. The two drivers who were initially put out of the chase due to MWR’s shenanigans are now back in. It was the morally correct decision but was it actually the right call?

    Announcement

    MIKE HELTON:  As you’re well aware, we’ve been looking at a lot of video, audio and timing and scoring information and other data from the Richmond race.  We reacted earlier this week and then based on further due diligence, what we’re determined to do — what we’ve decided is in addition to what other actions we’ve taken, we’re going to put Front Row Motorsports and Penske Racing both on probation for the balance of the year for actions detrimental.

    And in addition we are organizing a mandatory meeting with drivers and owners and crew chiefs for tomorrow to hopefully address and make more clearly the path going forward as it applies to the rules of racing and the ethical part of it. Basically what I’m saying is that we’ve decided that we will put Front Row and Penske Racing on probation for the balance of the season for actions detrimental.

    BRIAN FRANCE:  In addition to that, we’ve decided that due to the totality of the events that were outside of Jeff Gordon’s — his issues, we’re going to add a 13th position to the field, and Jeff Gordon will qualify for the championship this year, the Sprint Cup Championship.

    We believe in looking at all of it that there were too many things that altered the event and gave an unfair disadvantage to Jeff and his team, who would have qualified, and I have the authority to do that.  We are going to do that.  It is an unprecedented and extraordinary thing, but it’s also an unprecedented and extraordinary set of circumstances that unfolded in multiple different ways on Saturday night, and we believe this was the right outcome to protect the integrity, which is our number one goal of NASCAR.

    Mike mentioned a moment ago, we will be clarifying in a significant way the rules of racing and the rules of the road going forward, and we will be looking forward to that meeting and addressing the media after that, after we meet with the teams to clarify that with certainly with the media and our fan base.

    NASCAR contradicted what they said Monday night about the “ripple effect” and how they can’t help Gordon by adding Jeff to the chase today because it was the fair thing to do in their eyes. I think Brian France had something to do with that drastic change in opinion. Over the past week, NASCAR has slowly molded the chase field back to what it was going to be before Bowyer’s infamous spin…minus the victory that Newman would have most likely collected. When this call was first made, I was shaking my head in disbelief and although I was happy for Gordon; I was not happy with the decision to alter the fabric of the chase to include him. After mulling it over, I have changed my stance.

    There were four cars from three different teams working to make sure Jeff Gordon didn’t make the chase Saturday night. NASCAR has penalized them for it but couldn’t slam them to the ground on the basis that the evidence against the teams was inconclusive. Bowyer’s spin certainly looked intentional but in reality, we can’t be 110% certain that it was without an admission. As for the Gilliland and Logano deal, we know exactly what and who they were talking about on their radio but Penske was smart enough not to say anything on the airways that could be incriminating should NASCAR look into it which they obviously did. Since there is no record of them saying anything, NASCAR also called that evidence inconclusive. In their minds, they felt the right course of action would be to assist the man all of these teams tried and succeeded in hurting. Now these teams didn’t have a vendetta to keep Jeff out of the chase but they needed to make sure Gordon wouldn’t get to the top 10 in order to help themselves.

    NASCAR is trying to undo the damage done by these organizations that attempted to manipulate the outcome of the race to make the chase. Some people are questioning NASCAR’s integrity for changing the rules of the chase like this but in my opinion, these are special circumstances so special exceptions need to be made. Some will argue that Truex should be let in the chase but NASCAR won’t consider that because they’d be rewarding MWR and giving them exactly what they wanted. Some say if we are letting Gordon in, then we should let Truex in as well but the problem with that is that he wasn’t going to make it without that assist from his MWR teammates; Gordon was. I’d take Logano’s three bonus points away though. Before Gilliland let him by, he was still in the top ten in points (courtesy of MWR) but they still did it for insurance. They wanted those three bonus points is all. The biggest thing that concerned me with that radio communication was that it sounded like Penske was trying to buy the spot and that really bothers me…NASCAR had this to say about a possible bargain between the teams:

    “The idea of a bargain that is completely off limits in our view.  But that bargain never — we don’t believe that bargain ever happened, and we don’t believe anything happened, other than the discussions about it, and that’s why the probation is — we’re sending we think an appropriate message there.” – Brian France

    I believe this call by NASCAR will help ease the anger of a lot of irate fans but in the end, there is really no right answer in this mess. It’s like trying to put broken glass back together; you can be very tedious about it and try as hard as you can to fix it but it will always be broken glass. NASCAR is going through a phase right now and what exactly this phase entails will become much clearer tomorrow when NASCAR officials hold their mandatory meeting for all drivers and teams. Right now, the feeling in the garage is that if we are going to mess with the race, do it in a way that NASCAR won’t notice or that they have to call it “inconclusive;” a word I’ve heard more than my own name the past six days. I think NASCAR will lay down some guidelines and rules tomorrow that abrogates helping a teammate during a race. Whatever they say, it will definitely make these teams hesitant and think twice about even the slightest manipulation in the future.

    I do not think that this call compromises the integrity of NASCAR like a contingent of people out there have stated. I don’t think they crossed a line by enlarging the chase field nor do I believe it makes them look bad. Some say that if NASCAR really wanted to be fair, they’d take Logano out of the chase via a 50pt penalty so that Gordon got in just like they did with Truex and Newman. At first, that sounds like a good idea until you really think about it. Joey, like Martin, knew nothing about the side deals going on; they were just focused on driving. Plus, all Penske did was give Joey a little bit of insurance to make sure he got top 1o and didn’t have to settle for the Wild Card. (Another reason to take 3pts from Joey) Still doesn’t make it right but throwing them out of the chase for it seems a bit drastic to me.

    Even without that 1pt from David, Joey would have won the tiebreaker against Gordon so nothing changes. The pass ended up being innocuous to the chase outcome. MWR’s transgressions greatly supersede that of Penske Racing’s. If this was a court of law, I’d charge Penske with a misdemeanor and Waltrip with a felony. That is why you can’t treat Penske the way you treated MWR who manipulated the race on three different fronts. There was the spin that changed the whole race, the green flag pit stop by Vickers and Bowyer who dawdled on pit road until he was two laps down. That’s a 2pt swing in favor of Logano that would have otherwise gotten Gordon into the top 10.

    This is the last I hope to write about the Richmond fallout. I cover racing because I love to talk about racing, not politics. This has been a weird and unfortunate situation that has put NASCAR in a very tight spot and I applaud them for thinking excessively about it and reacting appropriately. Like I said before, there are no right answers or panacea if you will in this deal…there are just options to repair the damage that can’t be fully undone. A devastated and livid Martin Truex Jr. ends up being the guy shafted and the one most feel sympathy for. Martin’s anger from his evanescent stay in the 2013 chase will probably linger with him for a long time unfortunately. My only wish is that NASCAR hit Bowyer with a point penalty that actually affected his chase efforts. Other than that, they did a decent job handling such a tumultuous situation.

    Now, can we please get back to talking about actual racing!

    POLL: Did NASCAR make the right call by adding Jeff Gordon to the chase? 

  • Joey Logano Is Making Dreams Come True at the Magic Mile

    Joey Logano Is Making Dreams Come True at the Magic Mile

    Joey Logano announced the fulfillment of a dream come true today at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with the establishment of a foundation bearing his name at a track which means so much to him.

    “We’re here to announce the formation of the Joey Logano Foundation, which is something that I’ve been wanting to do the last few years,” the driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford said. “This is a great race track to announce this, being my home track here in New Hampshire.”

    “I won my first Cup race here and actually watched my first Cup race here so to announce my Foundation is the best place for that to happen.”

    With Logano being able to fulfill his dream job behind the wheel of a Cup car for Penske Racing, he now feels in the position to help others achieve their dreams. And he hopes that his NASCAR fan base will be right there with him helping others.

    “I feel like I’ve been very blessed and to be able to drive a race car for a living is a dream come true for me,” Logano said. “I realize that not everyone is as fortunate as myself so what I want to do with my Foundation is directly impact people’s lives to make them better, whether that’s fixing someone’s roof or helping a soldier who came back from Iraq outfit his home for a wheelchair.”

    “Whatever that is, I want to be able to do that,” Logano continued. “And I want the NASCAR fans to help point out who these people are and then we will help them.”

    Logano is already busy fulfilling the dreams of others through his brand new Foundation. In fact, the first event of five more to come will happen right at the Magic Mile this weekend.

    “Our first event is actually this weekend,” Logano said. “We have the Connecticut State Police Crime Squad, who investigated the Newtown school shooting, here this weekend.”

    “I was in Las Vegas for the race and walking around the Caesar’s Palace shops when a group of guys recognized me,” Logano continued. “I found out they were part of the Crime Squad at Newtown.”

    “I really wanted to do something for Newtown at the time but I didn’t know what to do because there were a lot of people helping out,” Logano said “But I wanted to find the people that were getting lost in the shuffle.”

    “After talking with these guys, I realized that they were the guys that were getting lost in the shuffle,” Logano continued. “With New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s help, we’ve been able to bring 200 of them up here with their families to enjoy an all-American NASCAR race.”

    “I’m really excited about that as the first deal we’re going to do and we have four more coming up, at Atlanta, Charlotte, Michigan, and Phoenix.”

    Logano has also had some help with making his Foundation dream come true. Some of his major partners in his new endeavor include Coca Cola, the NASCAR Foundation, and his sponsor Shell Oil Company.

    “This organization wouldn’t have started without the Coca Cola’s Chug for Charity program,” Logano said. “It helped me out with my charity donations and to have them help me start this is a dream come true.”

    “Also, with NASCAR, we will be doing some online auctions with the NASCAR Foundation, some for race experiences which will be cool,” Logano continued. “Obviously Shell Pennzoil has also helped and backed me one hundred percent.”

    Tom Swindell, NASCAR Director of Racing Operations, presented Logano with a $10,000 check on behalf of the NASCAR Foundation, as did the Shell Oil Company, who also presented their young driver with a $10,000 dream gift.

    “I’ve been around Shell for a long time, thirty-three years, and I’ve watched what we’ve done for charity and kids in the community,” Paul Stanifer, Shell Oil Company General Manager, said. “For him at his age to decide to do what’s right for the community is kind of phenomenal.”

    “It fits well with us because our customers live in the communities,” Stanifer continued. “So, this will be a national fit.”

    “We’re going to throw a lot of resources to Joey and try to engage our wholesalers in areas that are important to us,” Stanifer said. “That will be a nice fit because it’s more about people helping people.”

    While Logano is most excited about making his Foundation dream a reality, he also hopes to have a dream finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. And the driver of that No. 22 Penske race car is counting on his recent tire test at the track to help him to do just that.

    “This has been a hit or miss track for me,” Logano admitted “I have either run decent or really struggled here.”

    “I came up here and we did the tire test and we left here and I didn’t feel like we were very good,” Logano continued. “So, we used one of the Penske tests here and we came up here and felt like we would make up some ground.”

    “This is a very difficult race track to make a car work,” Logano said. “There will be a few cars that can do it and they will stand out.”

    Logano is certainly hoping that he will be one of those race cars standing out at the Magic Mile. But even more important to the young driver is that he can do something good by making dreams come true for others.

    “This Foundation is not about me,” Logano said. “My name is on it, but that is to bring awareness to it.”

    “This Foundation is about other people and about how we can help other people,” Logano continued. “This was the right time for me to do this.”

    “I plan to have a lot of fun with it.”

     

  • Matty’s Picks 2013 – Vol. 15 Coke Zero 400 – Daytona International Speedway – July 6, 2013

    Matty’s Picks 2013 – Vol. 15 Coke Zero 400 – Daytona International Speedway – July 6, 2013

    Daytona needs no introduction this week. Since it’s the Crown Jewel of NASCAR, everyone knows the history of the track and the races its produced over the years, so I’ll keep it short and talk a little bit about what I was able to gather from the February races – including that “HISTORIC” Daytona 500.

    If you got past the fact that Danica was on the pole for the Daytona 500 and all the hoopla that surrounded that story, you would have seen that the Daytona 500 this year was pretty boring as far as plate races go. It could have been because of that early crash that put a lot of the top guys out of contention – Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Jamie McMurray, Juan Pablo Montoya, Tony Stewart, Brad Kesolowski, and Kyle Busch, – that was all about 30 laps in, so a lot of the heavy hitters were out early.

    The race was boring in the sense that nobody could really pass. Matt Kenseth led 86 laps before he blew up, and it seemed like anyone who stepped out of line really paid the price, even if they had a car to help push. It was pretty much follow the leader and a lot of the guys complained over the two weeks about not being able to pass in the then brand new Gen6 racecar.
    One word of caution this week is with the Toyotas, and there has been talk about their engine issues the past few weeks. These engines haven’t been tested since Michigan where it was announced they would not be scaling back the horsepower any further, but the series hasn’t been at tracks where engine longevity has been a factor since Greg Biffle’s win at Michigan. Toyota has won JUST ONE points race at Daytona in 132 races. Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch both blew up in the Daytona 500, and Martin Truex Jr. had engine issues as well, certainly something to consider this week when making your picks.

    Kentucky Recap

    I picked Kyle Busch last week at a place where it is impossible not to mention him where his performances over the years have been nothing less than exemplary. Busch started his No. 18 Doublemint Toyota in fourth and raced inside the top five through the early portion of the race before he got loose and caused a caution. Busch would have to restart in 37th but would climb all the way back to the top 15 by lap 83 and great work by his Doublemint team and a little pit strategy would help him get back inside the top five for a restart on lap 93. Busch would continue to run up front with the leaders while battling changing handling conditions. Despite the challenges all night, Busch and the Doublemint team managed to scrape together another Top-5 at Kentucky.

    As for my Dark Horse, Joey Logano, also known as the hottest driver in NASCAR not named Kevin Harvick, had another solid week in the No. 22 Pennzoil Ford Fusion. The team qualified 11th for the Quaker State 400, and with solid pit stops and consistent adjustments by Crew Chief Todd Gordon, Logano began to climb through the front of the field by lap 110. Logano never ran outside the Top 5 in the second-half of the race, until the final restart with about 20 laps to go. He restarted 7th and made a bold move on the restart, moving up to 4th where he would cross the finish line, netting himself his 5th top-five of this 2013 season.

    Daytona Picks

    Winner Pick
    I didn’t pull out my dice and roll them to pick my winner this week, but I did, I think the dice would have revealed the numbers two and nine meaning the guy I’d be looking at this week is the hottest guy in the sport right now and that’s Kevin Harvick.

    Harvick was unlucky earlier this year when he crashed early in the Daytona 500. He won the Sprint Unlimited, won his Duel race, and was certainly one of the cars to beat. As far as the stats go, he’s won two races at Daytona and if you throw in the duel races he’s won, the count is 7 wins on restrictor plate tracks – 5 of which coming in the last 3 years.

    This team brings 7-straight top-10’s to Daytona and considering he’s due for a good restrictor plate finish (finished 42nd in the Daytona 500 and 40th at Talladega in May) Harvick was my top pick on Thursday and remains my top pick for the win tonight.

    Dark Horse Pick

    Paul Menard is a guy who manages to stay out of trouble at Daytona. He has completed 99.3% of the 2148 laps of his 12 starts at Daytona, leading 38 laps in the meantime. Daytona is second on his list of tracks with an average finish of 17.3 and that number comes with a 38th place finish averaged in those numbers (2009 Daytona 500). He’s been good at Daytona, might not be the BEST longshot pick this week with the Front Row Motorsports teams showing speed in both practice sessions, but working with Harvick in the draft will prove to be beneficial for this team tonight.

    That’s all for this week, be sure to tune in on Thursday as Greg and I preview next week’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    So until next time, You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!