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  • Crew Chief Greg Ives to Lead the No. 88 Team in 2015

    Crew Chief Greg Ives to Lead the No. 88 Team in 2015

    CONCORD, N.C. (July 30, 2014) – Crew chief Greg Ives will rejoin Hendrick Motorsports following the 2014 NASCAR season to lead the No. 88 Sprint Cup Series team of driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    Ives, 34, was race engineer for Jimmie Johnson’s historic run of five consecutive Sprint Cup championships (2006-2010) with the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team. He will work alongside Johnson’s crew chief, Chad Knaus, in the shop shared by the Nos. 48 and 88 Chevrolet SS teams.

    “Greg was our number-one choice,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. “This is a talented guy who already has a terrific rapport with Dale Jr. and is a fit with the organization. He and Chad had a lot of success together, and all of our crew chiefs think the world of him and what he’s accomplished. Greg’s proven that he can win races, and he has all the tools to do big things.”

    Since his debut as a crew chief for JR Motorsports in 2013, Ives has won five NASCAR Nationwide Series races including three this season with rookie and current points leader Chase Elliott.

    “This is an incredible opportunity for me and my family,” Ives said. “Dale Jr. and I have a great relationship from being in the same shop at Hendrick Motorsports and my time at JRM. We have a lot left to do this season in the Nationwide Series, but I’m excited about what’s ahead and look forward to sharing some wins with JR Nation in the future. I couldn’t ask for a better situation than working with one of the best drivers and teams in racing.”

    A native of Bark River, Michigan, and graduate of Michigan Technological University, Ives joined Hendrick Motorsports as a mechanic in 2004 before moving into an engineering role on the No. 48 team in 2006. In seven years working with Knaus, he contributed to 42 wins, 113 top-five finishes and 21 pole positions in the Sprint Cup Series.

    In November 2012, Ives transitioned to JR Motorsports as crew chief for driver Regan Smith. The duo won two races and finished third in points in 2013 before Ives was named Elliott’s crew chief prior to this season. JR Motorsports works closely with Hendrick Motorsports and is owned by Earnhardt in partnership with Rick Hendrick.

    “I know what Greg is all about and really respect him,” Earnhardt said. “He’s a strong leader with a cool personality, and we’re both competitors who want to win. It was important to find someone who would fit at Hendrick Motorsports and inside our shop, and he will for sure do that. We got the best guy for the job, and I look forward to working with him next year.

    “From a JR Motorsports perspective, I’m extremely proud of how this worked out. Since the end of 2012, we’ve focused on JRM and Hendrick Motorsports working together as closely as possible and developing talented people for the next level. This is a perfect example of that happening the way we hoped it would.”

    Ives will take the place of current No. 88 crew chief Steve Letarte who will move into a broadcasting role with NBC Sports Group following the 2014 Sprint Cup Series season.

    ABOUT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS:
    Founded by Rick Hendrick in 1984, Hendrick Motorsports has earned more than 200 race victories and a record 11 car owner championships in NASCAR’s premier division, the Sprint Cup Series. Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2014, the organization fields four full-time Chevrolet teams on the Sprint Cup circuit with drivers Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Headquartered in Concord, North Carolina, Hendrick Motorsports employs more than 500 people. For more information, visit HendrickMotorsports.com or interact on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.

  • Hot 20 – Pepsi and Coke be Damned…It is the Firecracker 400

    Hot 20 – Pepsi and Coke be Damned…It is the Firecracker 400

    It is the Firecracker 400, stupid.

    The distance run and the sponsors may have changed, but for thirty years the gateway to summer race at Daytona was known as the Firecracker 400 (250 for its first four runs). It might not be as big as the 500 or have the glamour of the Southern 500, but winning this one means something. Its name should mean something as well.

    This was a race won five times by David Pearson. Four times by Cale Yarborough. Multiple winners included Fireball Roberts, Richard Petty, Bobby Allison and A.J. Foyt long before NASCAR and the race track (pretty much one and the same) sold out to Pepsi. They dropped the Firecracker brand and then, less than 20 years later, we discovered why it is so stupid to re-brand a race to please a sponsor. Pepsi was gone, Coca Cola replaced it, and now we have the Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola. What bovine excrement that is, and I’m drinking a damn Diet Coke as I type this. Love the taste but I wonder how much it would take me to sell out to become Coke Zero Thornton, Esq., powered by Coca-Cola.

    Then again, unless my wife or my mother gets paid off, I am guessing they would continue calling me by the name they have always done so. As Coke has not paid me a dime, forgive me for being a traditionalist. The Firecracker 400 it is.

    I do not mind change if it betters tradition. I think points earned over an entire season still best recognizes the best over the course of that season, not through a contrived playoff. I think wins should be worth more than they are, like 70 points instead of a maximum of 48. I think this Saturday night’s Coke Zero Firecracker 400 will be one hell of a good race to watch. I think someone working for Rick Hendrick is going to win it. As that is what has happened over the past three events raced there, I see no reason to think it is going to change this weekend.

    Yes, I guess tradition can be a bit of a pain sometimes, especially if you happen to be driving a Ford or a Toyota this Saturday night at Daytona.

    (Based on points, with winners awarded 25 bonus points, rather than 3)

    Pos – Driver – Points – Wins
    1 – Jimmie Johnson – 660 – 3
    2 – Jeff Gordon – 640 – 1
    3 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 638 – 2
    4 – Brad Keselowski – 604 – 2
    5 – Carl Edwards – 580 – 2
    6 – Joey Logano – 563 – 2
    7 – Matt Kenseth – 555 – 0
    8 – Kevin Harvick – 553 – 2
    9 – Kyle Busch – 530 – 1
    10 – Ryan Newman – 514 – 0
    11 – Paul Menard – 488 – 0
    12 – Denny Hamlin – 477 – 1
    13 – Kyle Larson – 474 – 0
    14 – Greg Biffle – 474 – 0
    15 – Clint Bowyer – 473 – 0
    16 – Kasey Kahne – 465 – 0
    17 – Tony Stewart – 460 – 0
    18 – Austin Dillon – 455 – 0
    19 – Brian Vickers – 442 – 0
    20 – Marcos Ambrose – 438 – 0

     

  • The Final Word – Brad dominated Keselowsky … Kentulowski … Kesetucky … He Owned the Thing

    The Final Word – Brad dominated Keselowsky … Kentulowski … Kesetucky … He Owned the Thing

    They might as well go ahead and rename that Kentucky track Kesetucky. That boy dominated Saturday night’s race from start to finish. Sure, he let team mate Joey Logano, a ninth place finisher, run shotgun for a lot of the race, got the lad some camera time to make the sponsors happy. Kyle Busch got the honors of finishing runner-up, but no one was betting he was going to do better than that. This was Brad Keselowski’s race, he led three-quarters of the laps, and if you were hoping for a challenge, it had to come from watching a channel that was all Brad, all the time. He simply owned it.

    It was win number 12 for the 30-year old former champ, his second of the season and his second in three years on this particular circuit. The win moves Keselowski among the elite on the year, one of six drivers with at least two victories, and the best in points among those not working for Rick Hendrick. Jeff Gordon, who was sixth Saturday, continues to lead the way, with three-race winner Jimmie Johnson (10th) and Dale Earnhardt Jr (fifth) just behind, as Keselowski is ahead of Matt Kenseth (fourth).

    The worst day was had by Denny Hamlin, who spent 90 percent of this one as a spectator after a tire issue introduced him to the outside fence. Kyle Larson lasted a bit longer, finishing 40th, after the same fate awaited him. As they counted down the laps, a failing tire was about the only thing the rest could hope for if they had any aspirations of beating Brad out. In fact, the only thing that got him that day was a breaking champagne bottle that left him in stitches, but it seems not enough to affect him at Daytona this weekend. He probably should have stuck with beer…in a can.

    While Kevin Havick, Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, and Kurt Busch were good enough to be among the top dozen, the best of our “have nots” was Reed Sorenson. Thirty third in the standings, he was 27th on the tower at Kentucky. Unfortunately, even if he wins this weekend he still would not be in a Chase place as he currently sits 69 points beyond 30th.

    Beyond us is the summer return to Daytona and the Firecracker 400 (amongst us traditionalists) on Saturday night. A dozen current drivers, not including Michael Waltrip and Jeff Burton, have won there before. Gordon has six, Stewart four, and Johnson and Earnhardt have three wins apiece. Keselowski is still without after 10 starts, but has a pair of Top Fives in the past two Daytona 500’s. Still, it might be a bit early to refer to it as Daytonalowski just yet.

    SWEET SIXTEEN
    1 – Jimmie Johnson – 594 points – 3 wins
    2 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 594 – 2
    3 – Brad Keselowski – 560 – 2
    4 – Carl Edwards – 536 – 2
    5 – Joey Logano – 519 – 2
    6 – Kevin Harvick – 509 – 2
    7 – Jeff Gordon – 618 – 1
    8 – Kyle Busch – 508 – 1
    9 – Denny Hamlin – 455 – 1
    10 – Kurt Busch – 379 – 1
    11 – Matt Kenseth – 555
    12 – Ryan Newman – 514
    13 – Paul Menard – 488
    14 – Kyle Larson – 474
    15 – Greg Biffle – 474
    16 – Clint Bowyer – 473

    CONTENDERS & PRETENDERS
    17 – Kasey Kahne – 465
    18 – Tony Stewart – 460
    19 – Austin Dillon – 455
    20 – Brian Vickers – 442
    21 – Marcos Ambrose – 438
    22 – Jamie McMurray – 432
    23 – A.J. Allmendinger – 413
    24 – Aric Almirola – 405
    25 – Casey Mears – 397
    26 – Martin Truex, Jr. – 385
    27 – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – 339
    28 – Danica Patrick – 322
    29 – Justin Allgaier – 300
    30 – Michael Annett – 275
    31 – David Gilliland – 246
    32 – Cole Whitt – 244

     

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Michigan Quicken Loans 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Michigan Quicken Loans 400

    While the luck of the Irish hills was bestowed on the driver who made his way to Victory Lane for the first time ever in Michigan, here is what was surprising and not so surprising in the 46th annual Quicken Loans 400.

    Surprising: While Kevin Harvick was certainly fast, coming in second in the race after a blistering pole run, he was even more than freakishly fast in the media center after the event.

    Harvick, who was clearly unhappy with his race finish, had just one comment and was asked just one question during his media availability, which went like this:

    “I mean, the car was fast, just wound up on the wrong side of all the strategy,” Harvick said. “We finished second, and that’s it.”

    QUESTION. “Kevin, six of the top eight were Hendrick engines. This is a pretty big track in terms of horsepower. How well positioned are the Hendricks right now?”

    “I think it’s pretty obvious. Self-explanatory. Good question,” Harvick answered and then exited the media center.

    Not Surprising: Race winner Jimmie Johnson scored a first, second, third, fifth and eighth all at once with his trip to Victory Lane at Michigan International Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Kobalt Tools Chevrolet checked MIS off his win list for the first time, moved up to second in the point standings thanks to his victory, scored his third win of the season solidifying his run for his seventh championship, and handed the fifth win in a row to boss Mr. Hendrick.

    Johnson is also now eighth on the all-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins list.

    “Well, this is a great win for a lot of reasons,” Rick Hendrick, team owner, said. “One for here in Michigan for Chevrolet, and being a Chevrolet dealer and racing Chevrolets, this means a lot to win this race. It’s good to see Jimmie win after leading so many laps here and close the deal because we’ve run out of gas, broke motors, blown tires. I think I remember a couple times coming off of 4 and losing it. For him to be able to finish it off today, it was really good.”

    “And again, to keep the streak going, get five, that’s great,” Hendrick continued. “This was a good race, and it just played out the way we needed it to play out. Everybody is really putting out a lot of effort right now, and it’s paying off.”

    Surprising: Although Kyle Larson, behind the wheel of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, spun early in the race, damaging the back end of his car, he was the envy of the field as that very damage gave him a bit of down force advantage that propelled him into an eighth place finish.

    “You know, the rear bumper, yeah, I’ve never had that happen before, and it happened so early in the race that I don’t know how it would have handled had I had a rear bumper,” Larson said. “Either way I think we would have had a really good car because we were good in practice, but it probably did help a little bit.”

    Larson was the highest finishing Rookie of the Year candidate yet again.

    Not Surprising: Paul Menard proved that Michigan was a track on which he could run well, winning the Nationwide race on Saturday and finishing fourth in the Cup race on Sunday.

    “Yeah, we had a really solid Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Chevy all weekend, from the time we unloaded,” Menard said. “I actually got to go to Victory Lane yesterday with my daughter and my dad was here today, so it was a good Father’s Day weekend for sure.”

    “The car, like I said, was fast all weekend. We needed some clean air at the end and the guys got me out front with some pit strategy and good pit stops and we came home with a top 5,” Menard continued. “So it was pretty good.”

    Surprising: There was more spinning in the Quicken Loans 400 than at the Olympic men’s figure skating championship. Spinners in the event included Brian Vickers, Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, David Ragan, Alex Bowman, Brett Moffit, Aric Almirola, and Denny Hamlin just to name a few.

    “It’s frustrating. I wish I knew — the car just came around going into (turn) three,” Brian Vickers said after spinning early in his No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota. “I was trying to back the corner up and was taking it easy and just got loose and it just came around from me.”

    “I saved it all the way up to the wall and I thought I had it saved and ultimately it just came around and I lost it,” Vickers continued. “I didn’t have that experience all weekend. The car was just really loose getting into (turn) three and that was it.”

    Not Surprising: Well, it was Michigan after all, so not surprisingly at least one driver deemed his day a ‘blue collar’ kind of day.

    “Yeah, we just didn’t have the speed really all weekend to be a front runner in the sense of contending to win based on speed,” Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford for Team Penske, said after finishing third. “But the guys did a great job with execution. I thought we executed really well.”

    “We had a lot of good restarts, pretty decent on pit road today,” Keselowski continued. “Solid strategy, just — I told somebody before, Joey Logano told us, we were talking before the race started, we needed a good blue collar day today, and that’s of what today was for us.”

    “We kind of trudged through it and came away with another top three effort, which is good but not great.”

    Surprising: Unlike most of his races recently, Kasey Kahne was actually able to battle back from adversity to finish top-five in his No. 5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet.

    ‘Yeah, it was tough,” Kahne said. “I was struggling for a while and then we got it and then we were on a good strategy there at the end. We were pretty competitive with the guys in front of us.”

    “Yes, we really needed that, especially where we started getting in Larson’s wreck there at the start of the race,” Kahne continued. “We kind of got going from there. We made a lot of adjustments. It took about an hour and a half to get our car right with different adjustments and things.”

    “It was a battle, it wasn’t easy today.”

    Not Surprising:   Two former Indy Car racers were just feeling ‘lucky’ in this week’s NASCAR race. Juan Pablo Montoya, making his NASCAR return, and Danica Patrick both partook in the ‘lucky dog’ experience, leading to a 17th place finish for Patrick and an 18th place finish for JPM.

    “We started the race really, really loose and we were not really expecting that based on practice,” Montoya, behind the wheel of the No. 12 SKF Ford for Team Penske, said. “It’s hard because we went from practice to the race without really changing that much and it was awful. We were kind of catching up and we did a good job.”

    “I got the lucky dog and we were getting better and then I think we went a little too far with the car at the end, but we’re learning and understanding a little more.”

    “We were pretty good,” Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet, said. “The guys did a good job on the adjustments, and it was fun to drive. The race seemed to go by quick.”

    “We needed a little bit of track position, but it was a good day for us,” Patrick continued. “Thanks to GoDaddy and everyone on my team, we continue to get better.”

    Surprising: At a track that they have owned in the past, Roush Fenway Racing had an incredibly bad day. RFR drivers Greg Biffle finished 20th, Carl Edwards 23rd and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. 27th.

    “That was a big struggle,” Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford, said. “It was pretty tough but we worked hard and didn’t quit.”

    “Fortunately we have a win to get us into the Chase, but we’ve just got to get better as a group,” Edwards continued. “That’s the way it is.”

    Not Surprising: After another run of bad luck, suffering damage from a Lap 8 accident that led to a 37th place finish, there is no other driver that is looking forward to Sonoma more than Martin Truex Jr.

    “When luck is not on your side, there’s not much you can do,” Truex, driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet, said. “I don’t know what to say right now.”

    “We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s disheartening because we felt that we had a potential top-10 car but didn’t get a chance to show it. When you have an accident that early it sure makes for a long day.”

    “I mean a very long day.”

    Truex is, however, the defending champ of the California road course where the Sprint Cup Series will battle next. The Toyota – Save Mart 350 race will be run on Sunday, June 22nd at 3:00 PM ET.

     

     

  • Hot 20 heading into Michigan are led by the hot trio from Hendrick

    Hot 20 heading into Michigan are led by the hot trio from Hendrick

    Free enterprise is a great concept, though in the presence of a monopoly it does not work worth crap. If one outfit gains near total dominance over any industry, there is no competition. Standard Oil, AT&T, Microsoft, U.S. Steel, and even Western Union have been accused of holding monopolies at some point in their history. Maybe you could add Hendrick Motorsports to that list.

    Actually, such an accusation would be ridiculous. The company has just four entries in any 43 car field each week. However, the results they manage to compile certainly illustrates their dominance in the Cup series. The top three drivers to this point in the season, using our system of determining excellence, are all from Hendrick. Two of those drivers have ten season championships already to their credit. Jimmie Johnson has led higher than 21% of the laps run over the first 14 events, with the trio combining to take more than a third of those races.

    Very dominant, but not a monopoly. SHR’s Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski of Penske Racing have both had their time in front, and combined with Johnson the trio has led more than half of the laps run to date. When you include Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth, and Kyle Busch in the mix, you have eight drivers with four organizations who have led more than 83% of the laps this season. Now, that is dominance. It kind of makes you wonder what the other 35 folks are doing. My guess is that they are busy looking at the back bumpers of those other fellows.

    Sunday might bring more of the same, as Earnhardt, Gordon, Kenseth, Ky. Busch, and Logano have all won there before. Interestingly, while Jimmie Johnson has not in 24 attempts, Greg Biffle has four on that track, including the race last spring. Maybe it is time for the Biff to join in the fun, running closer to the headlights than their tail lights.

    (No chase, and wins are worth 25 points instead of 3)

    Driver – Points – Wins
    1 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 520  – 2
    2 – Jeff Gordon – 520  – 1
    3 – Jimmie Johnson – 519 – 2
    4 – Matt Kenseth – 482
    5 – Brad Keselowski – 470 – 1
    6 – Kyle Busch – 465 – 1
    7 – Carl Edwards – 463 – 1
    8 – Joey Logano – 462 – 2
    9 – Kevin Harvick – 447 – 2
    10 – Denny Hamlin – 444 – 1
    11 – Kyle Larson – 417
    12 – Ryan Newman – 411
    13 – Brian Vickers – 392
    14 – Greg Biffle – 385
    15 – Austin Dillon – 385
    16 – Clint Bowyer – 383
    17 – Paul Menard – 380
    18 – Tony Stewart – 368
    19 – Aric Almirola – 366
    20 – A.J. Allmendinger – 360

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Coca Cola 600

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Coca Cola 600

    With military tributes abounding and NASCAR patriotism at its best, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 55th annual running of the sport’s longest race, the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    Surprising: In a sport where man so often is at the mercy of machine, the competitive spirit of the drivers surprisingly triumphed over whatever difficulties they were facing in their race cars.

    One such example of perseverance was Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, who triumphed over back spasms that were so severe that he missed final practice to finish the longest race of the season in the seventh spot.

    “It was tough,” Gordon said after the race. “I was aching in there. There was one time when I got on the brakes into (Turn) 1 and it triggered something. I didn’t know what was going to happen after that, but it settled down.”

    “I’m happy that I got through it. It tells me a lot about what kind of threshold I have and I just want to show this team the kind of commitment I have to them because of what they have shown me this year.”

    The driver who triumphed most mightily over his race machines, however, was Kurt Busch, who raced his heart out in the Indianapolis 500, finishing sixth in his rookie effort, and then went on to race in the Coke 600, only to have his engine give up the ghost on Lap 271.

    “To feel the stock car right after driving the Indy car was a day I’ll never forget,” the driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Made in America Chevrolet, said. “I can’t let the mood here with the car dampen what happened up at Indy today. That was very special.”

    “Andretti Autosport gave me a top-five car to try and win the 500 with, and these Stewart-Haas guys gave me a good car too,” Busch continued. “The motor just went, sometimes that happens. All in all I gave it my all.”

    Not Surprising: For Hendrick Motorsports, with their headquarters just up the road from the speedway, there truly is no place like home. And for race winner, Jimmie Johnson, and his team owner Rick Hendrick, Charlotte Motor Speedway is like coming home.

    “I think, number one, Charlotte is kind of home,” Mr. H said after the race. “Won my first NASCAR race here with Sr. in ’83 in the Nationwide or Busch Series. It’s a special place, all the families here.”

    “Winning a race, Jimmie and Chad have been so close this year, and several situations got away,” Mr. Hendrick continued. “To get this one behind us is great.”

    This home track win was Johnson’s first of the season, his 67th victory in 44 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races and his seventh win at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Patriotic Chevrolet also broke the tie with NASCAR Hall of Famers Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip as the all-time series points wins leader at Charlotte.

    Surprising: Danica Patrick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. had surprisingly much in common in the Coke 600, starting out strong and then both going down for the count with engine issues. Junior finished 19th and Patrick finished an even more disappointing 39th.

    “We had a little bit of an engine issue or something cropping up,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Superman Chevrolet said. “But it was very fast. I was very happy with the speed.”

    “We were able to at least finish 19th,” Junior continued. “We could have blowed up and finished in the back. You’re going to have some bad weeks and you’ve got to be able to roll with them. This was one of them and we just have to look at the positives and try not to dwell too much on what happened.”

    “Yeah, it’s really unfortunate,” Patrick said, echoing the words of Dale Earnhardt Jr. “We started off great and started to get tighter and tighter. We couldn’t really figure out how to fix it.”

    “We had a good plan, then dropped a cylinder and lost power, then got rear-ended,” the driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet continued. “That was our day. We’ll just remember the good stuff that happened here at Charlotte and at Kansas last race and build on that for Dover.”

    Not Surprising: Kevin Harvick did not close and was not fast in the pits so therefore it was not surprising that he also was not happy after the race, even though he finished second.

    “We shot ourselves in the foot again,” the driver of the No. 4 Budweiser Folds of Honor Chevrolet said. “We left two wheels loose and played catch up the rest of the night.”

    “We’re just shooting ourselves in the foot on pit road,” Harvick continued. “We have to clean that up because we obviously can’t win races with the fastest car if we make mistakes continuously on pit road. It’s frustrating.”

    Surprising: Jamie Mac is back, backing up his All Star race win with a top-five finish in his No. 1 Cessna Chevrolet.

    “Our car was fast enough that even when we went to the back, we were able to recover and get back to the top-five, which was great,” McMurray said. “We’ve had such good cars all year long and have not been able to capitalize because of tire issues or just some bad luck.”

    “So I’m excited we won last week. We ran really good again this week. Just an all-around good night.”

    Not Surprising: Carl Edwards, one of Ford’s best pitch men, credited his manufacturer’s fuel mileage for getting him a fourth place finish and scoring top honors for Ford in the race.

    “That’s Ford fuel mileage right here,” the driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford Fusion said. “You talk about Fords getting great fuel mileage and they did today.”

    “Our car finished fourth and that was probably as good as we deserved to finish,” Edwards continued. “We did have a good run.”

    Surprising: This time, rookie Austin Dillon actually finished ahead of ROTY competitor Kyle Larson to tighten up that rookie recognition battle. Dillon scored the 16th finishing spot while Larson finished two behind in 18th.

    “I’m proud of everyone’s effort on this No. 3 Cheerios Chevrolet team this weekend,” Dillon said. “It was not a bad finish considering all of the challenges we battled during the race.”

    Not Surprising:  Pleased but not satisfied was the theme for the top-finishing Toyota drivers. Matt Kenseth finished third in his No. 20 Home Depot Husky Toyota and Brian Vickers had a great run, finishing sixth in his No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota.

    “I thought we had a top-five car — a lot of it was definitely an improvement,” Kenseth said. “Just needed a little more and couldn’t quite run with the 48 (Jimmie Johnson) and the 4 (Kevin Harvick) and a couple of them other cars. Overall, it was a good night for our Home Depot Husky Tools Camry — we just have to get just a little better.”

    “Our Camry was good all night,” Vickers said. “We were really close to top-five and probably close to a win, we just needed a little more speed.”

    “The guys did a great job and just really proud of them,” Vickers continued. “Pleased but not satisfied.”

    Surprising: Paul Menard had a surprisingly good run in his No. 27 Serta/Menards Chevrolet at Charlotte, finishing in the eighth spot after starting 21st.

    “We had a great finish tonight in Charlotte considering where we started,” Menard said. “It was a hard fought race the for No. 27 Serta/Menards team, but with some strategy and adjustments we were able salvage what could have been a tough night.”

    “This race in Charlotte is a tough one, but we finished strong.”

    Not Surprising: Ryan Newman, behind the wheel of the No. 31 Quicken Loans Chevrolet, epitomized the spirit of the weekend as he never quit and never gave up in spite of cutting down a tire on Lap 293 and finishing 15th in the Coca Cola 600.

    “This Quicken Loans team persevered this weekend,” Newman declared. “We had quite a bit to overcome, but we never gave up.”

    “We started from the back after an issue in qualifying and had a Chevrolet good enough to race all the way up to ninth position before we had a tire cut down on a restart,” Newman continued. “I have to hand it to this team; we never gave up through all the adversity.”

    “I will never stop fighting and nor will my crew, we’ll be fine.”

    The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series moves on next weekend to pay a visit to Miles the Monster in the 45th Annual FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware.

  • Jeff Gordon Tussles Through Back Spasms at Charlotte

    Jeff Gordon Tussles Through Back Spasms at Charlotte

    Jeff Gordon battled through rigid pain throughout the weekend and into the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, though, the four-time champion proved his toughness, leading eight laps en route to a seventh place finish.

    Gordon, 42, was irritated with back spasms on Saturday forcing him from competing in on-track action and also making him call-up, if needed, replacement driver Regan Smith.

    However, being the fierce competitor he’s become, Gordon received therapy before NASCAR’s longest race on Sunday and strapped into his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet without regret and proved his toughness.

    “I don’t want to give up an opportunity to win,” Gordon explained. “We still need to go out there and try to win races. It’s nice to have a backup plan and I appreciate having Regan Smith being there. But I had no intentions of ever getting out of that car unless I was in excruciating pain and going to cause myself long term effects.”

    Gordon, who could have taken a medical exemption if unable to compete, felt it was necessary to compete and earn more respect from his organization.

    “If anything, me staying in the car going through what we went through is only going to earn more respect with this team,” Gordon expressed. “It was my job to get myself better and in position to go and run that whole race.”

    Regardless of toughness or earning respect, Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports, realized that Gordon was in pain, and admitted some apprehension towards his driver and long-time friend.

    “I know he was in a lot of pain,” Rick Hendrick said. “I was worried. Alan (Gustafson) and I’ve talked and the team’s talked about it.”

    Gordon, who’s earned 89 career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories, including one at Kansas Speedway three weeks ago, explained the pain worsened when he was tense, like on a qualifying lap; he credits the flare up due to bulging disks in his back.

    “When I went to make that real aggressive qualifying lap, those tense tight muscles in me, pushing the brake and turning the wheel, it just flared up,” Gordon added. “I certainly have some things going on in there with some slight bulging disks and things like that.”

    Dover International Speedway now approaches, giving Gordon four-days to tend to and re-energize his back, which should be an ample amount of time, according to the Vallejo, California driver.

    “Now having some rest and being able to take it easy and do my normal therapy, I should be fine by Dover,” Gordon concluded.

    *Quotes from Bob Pockrass, Sporting News

     

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Fontana Auto Club 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Fontana Auto Club 400

    From the unique race command from Muppet star Gonzo to Denny Hamlin’s pre-race trip to the hospital for a sinus infection and vision problems, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the Auto Club 400 in Fontana, California.

    Surprising:  There are not many drivers who, after winning a thrilling race in green-white-checkered fashion, can combine ‘Days of Thunder’ with faith-filled references right out of ‘Talladega Nights’. But Kyle Busch surprisingly managed to pull it all together in his Victory Lane remarks.

    “Man oh man.  The first thing that comes to mind when the caution came out with just a few laps to go — that was total Rowdy Burns ‘Days of Thunder’ right there,” the driver of the No. 18 No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry said. “There’s a couple laps to go — I’m not pitting.”

    “Everybody has to pit, Cole (Trickle), we’re coming down for four tires because there’s a green-white-checkered coming,” Busch continued. “I knew four tires was going to win the race, so I’m glad Dave (Rogers, crew chief) called that.”

    “I was able to keep Kyle Larson behind me. Man, what a shoe that boy is,” Busch continued. “If he drove it in further than I did, Jesus must have told him to stop.”

    “I just can’t believe it.  I thank the Lord for putting ourselves here and getting us locked in the Chase.”

    This was Busch’s 29th win in 334 Cup races but his first victory of the 2014 season. This was his third victory and 12th top-10 finish at Auto Club Speedway.

    Not Surprising:  What double file restarts and shortening up the length of the race has done for Pocono Raceway, the rough, aged racing surface with multiple grooves and huge bumps has done the same, if not more, for Auto Club Speedway.

    In fact, it seemed like just a few years ago when the track was criticized for boring racing and the grandstands were empty. This Cup race yielded some of the most exciting racing to date, with six and seven cars abreast, in front of a packed house, most of whom barely sat down for the entirety of the show.

    Surprising:  Kyle Larson went from thinking he was pretty much going to have a tough day to finishing as the highest running rookie, in P2 no less. This stellar finish came on the heels of his Nationwide victory over none other than Cup race winner Kyle Busch.

    “I thought we were in trouble or not be able to get to the front,” the driver of the No. 42 said after the race. “I don’t know where everybody went on that last restart.”

    “It went through my mind then that I might sweep the weekend,” Larson continued. “That last run, we got good enough to charge to the front. What a weekend.”

    Not Surprising:  Sam Hornish’s new mantra should be ‘have helmet, will drive.’ Originally, the currently unspoken for driver was on standby to drive for Matt Kenseth in the event that his wife Katie went into labor with their third child.

    In the end, however, Hornish ended up substitute driving for Denny Hamlin, finishing a respectable 17th in the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota. This was his best finish since his 13th place run in 2012 at Martinsville.

    Surprising:  The normally cool, calm and collected Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 43 Farmland Ford Fusion, had some surprisingly harsh words for competitor No 33 car driver Brian Scott after their accident brought out the fourth caution of the race.

    “The 33 was obviously a dart without feathers and coming across the race track,” Almirola said. “Man, he came from all the way at the bottom of the race track and ran into me.”

    “He’s not even racing this series for points,” Almirola continued. “He’s out there having fun because his daddy gets to pay for it and he wrecked us.”

    Not Surprising:  After tires blew out in practice as well as the race, the debate not surprisingly was on as far as what exactly led to so many tire issues, especially in the left rear.

    Brad Keselowski, a driver that suffered particular tire problems in practice and the race, weighed in after the race to share his perspective.

    “There were a lot of reasons why we blew a tire today or two or five over the weekend and the field did,’’ Keselowski said after finishing 26th. “I don’t know what to really say about it. As a driver you are left between the choice of driving your car to the limit and blowing a tire out or being a wuss and saving it.”

    NASCAR’s most popular driver weighed in with a whole different take on the tire situation.

    “I don’t think there is anything wrong with the tire OR the way we choose 2 use them,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. tweeted after the race. “My bet is it’s the bumps on the backstretch.”

    “Those are more like jumps and ramps.”

    NASCAR representative Vice President for Competition Robin Pemberton shared the more official perspective, saying that some teams were running tires with air pressures as low as 14 pounds, whereas Goodyear had commended tire pressures at 22 pounds for the race weekend.

    And finally, Goodyear, echoing Pemberton’s assessment, advised that the problems were not tire-related but more team-related due to the very aggressive set ups.

    “Every left-side tire that we’ve seen gone down or had issues with is kind of the same characteristics as (Saturday),’’ Greg Stucker, Director of Race Tire Sales for Goodyear, said.  “The common denominator being aggressive on air pressure.”

    “You’re in race conditions, so everybody is running a little bit harder.”

    Surprising:  For the second straight race, NASCAR official human error came into play. This weekend, a NASCAR official actually got his uniform stuck in the fence and he literally could not move to flip the pit road light switch to green.

    Because of this error, Brad Keselowski, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer did not pit because there was a red light instead of a green light.

    All three drivers went on to suffer less than ideal finishes, with Jeff Gordon finishing the best of the bunch in 13th, Bowyer in 16th and Keselowski in 26th.

    “We can’t seem to catch a break,” Bowyer said. “We lead for a while, we came back after confusion with the lights on pit road and were in contention to win at the end.”

    “However, we started feeling a vibration with about four to go and it just didn’t make it,” Bowyer continued. “It just stinks for this team.”

    Not Surprising:   Bosses sometimes do influence the workplace even at the track. One of NASCAR’s most notable bosses, team owner Rick Hendrick, played the encourager role with driver Jeff Gordon, who started from the back not once but twice, passing at least 70 plus cars.

    Kurt Busch, who finished third, was also quite emotional about racing with his boss Tony Stewart. “The amount of emotions running well today and we were face and then to race your boss for the win,” Busch said. “Neither one of us got the win but it was a genuine moment for us to race.”

    The Cup Series heads next to Martinsville Speedway for the STP 500.

     

     

  • Dale Jr. Daytona Win, Danica Drama, and Kurt Busch Double Down Showcases NASCAR

    Dale Jr. Daytona Win, Danica Drama, and Kurt Busch Double Down Showcases NASCAR

    While NASCAR sometimes struggles to gain the national attention that it so desires, the sport has gotten off to a strong start with three major stories, including Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s big win in the Daytona 500, some Danica Patrick drama, and Kurt Busch’s announcement that he will run the Indy 500 as well as the NASCAR Coke 600, that have garnered publicity in the very young 2014 season.

    The first story that caught the national eye was the victory of NASCAR’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., in the biggest race of the season, the Daytona 500. The win was especially noteworthy as Junior, the anointed heir, won on the track where his father not only was so dominant but also where he lost his life thirteen years ago.

    The Dale Jr. Daytona 500 race win was almost picture perfect, with the exception of a six hour plus rain delay. But Junior was not to be deterred and refused to suffer yet again another runner up finish, which he had experienced in three of the previous four Daytona 500 races.

    In fact, after the rain delay, Earnhardt Jr. led a race-high 54 laps, staying up front six times during the race. The win also ended a 55-race losing streak, with the victory coming a decade after his first Daytona 500 win.

    With his trip to Victory Lane, Dale Earnhardt Jr. scored his 20th victory in the Cup Series and joined Bill Elliott, Michael Waltrip, Sterling Marlin, Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson as two-time Daytona 500 winners.

    “Winning this race is the greatest feeling that you could feel in this sport besides accepting the trophy for the championship,” said Earnhardt, after bear hugging every member of his Hendrick Motorsports crew in Victory Lane. “I didn’t know if I’d ever get the chance to feel it again and it feels just as good.”

    “I’ll never take this for granted,” Junior said. “We’re two time Daytona champions.”

    While Junior celebrated with his team and his owner Rick Hendrick, who hitched a ride in his window, to Victory Lane, the fans also went crazy with delight.

    Even Jeff Gordon, four-time champion and veteran Hendrick driver, got into the act of celebrating with his most popular teammate.

    “The world is right right now — Dale Junior just won the Daytona 500,” Gordon said. “That’s a sign it’s going to be a great season.”

    Junior Nation, as his extensive fan base are known, was indeed beside themselves with joy, especially since the win qualified their driver for the championship Chase. And with that pressure off and the confidence at its height, Dale Earnhardt Jr. might have their hopes and dreams of a Cup championship come true.

    “We might be in the Chase — I ain’t going to worry about that,” Earnhardt said. “Trust me, man, we’re going to have a blast this year.”

    As Dale Earnhardt Jr. moved through his national media post-Daytona 500 responsibilities, another story that had also been brewing in the early season took hold, that of the drama surrounding the lone female in the sport, Danica Patrick.

    A major part of the drama began when NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Richard Petty shared his opinion that Patrick could only win a Sprint Cup Series race “if everybody else stayed home.”  Petty added that Patrick gets the attention that she does because of her gender, but added the caveat that that was still good for the sport.

    “This is a female deal that’s driving her,” Petty said. “There’s nothing wrong with that. More fans come out, people are more interested in it. She has helped to draw attention to the sport, which helps everybody in the sport.”

    The drama ratcheted up, however, as Patrick responded to Petty’s allegations.

    “It’s true that there are plenty of people who say bad things about me; I read them,” Patrick countered. “At the end of the day, you get over that stuff and trust that you are doing a good job.”

    “The people that matter the most to me are my team, my sponsors and those little 3-year-old kids that run up to you and want a great big hug and say they want to grow up to be like you. That’s the stuff I really focus on.”

    “More than anything, I love the conversation it creates,” Patrick said. “Across the board, it makes sports interesting. It makes life interesting when people have different perspectives. That’s fine with me. … It really just doesn’t matter. It’s interesting conversation. I’m fortunate I’m in it.”

    Whether the conversation was a distraction or not, Patrick has also had drama in the first two races of the season, crashing out in both the Daytona 500 and the Phoenix race. And she found herself at odds with another racer yet again, this time Justin Allgaier with whom she tussled in last weekend’s race.

    “She was just upset because she got involved in the crash that we had,” Allgaier said. “She said she’s been through this and that she felt like I needed to settle down at that point.”

    “I explained my position on why everything happened. I think she understood where I was coming from. It doesn’t fix either one of our racecars; it doesn’t fix either one of our days.”

    “It’s tough,” Patrick said. “That’s two weeks in a row we’ve had good cars and nothing to show for it.”

    “I’m starting to think if we didn’t have bad luck, we’d have no luck at all.”

    If Danica’s drama does not soon come to an end, perhaps as early as this weekend’s race in Las Vegas, a major headline may just be that she will begin to have trouble even qualifying for the race down the road.

    The final story that has captured national headlines for NASCAR was the recent announcement that Kurt Busch, driver of the No.41 HAAS Automation Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing, will attempt to double down, racing both the Indy 500 and the NASCAR Coca Cola 600, all in the same day.

    Busch will have to qualifying his way in for Andretti Autosport in the Indianapolis 500 and then fly to Charlotte to participate in the longest race of the NASCAR season.

    “I’m a fan of motorsports, a student of motorsports, and I view this as a challenge for myself,” Busch said in an interview with The Associated Press. “Memorial Day weekend, the central focus of all motorsports is Monaco, Indianapolis and Charlotte and this is a tremendous opportunity to be right in the middle of it.”

    “It’s a great opportunity for Kurt and I fully support him,” team owner Tony Stewart said. “He’ll have a lot to learn in a short amount of time, but he has an overwhelming amount of driving talent on his side. He has a great car owner with Michael Andretti, who’s not only an owner, but he’s been a driver too.”

    “Michael has so much to offer Kurt in terms of knowledge and firsthand experience. It really seems like a natural pairing.”

    Busch is also hoping to continue the buzz of the national story with a website that he recently launched, www.kurtbuschdouble.com, that will showcase his efforts to make history.

    “I think this is something that is good for NASCAR, good for IndyCar, good for the fans to get behind and rally feel like they are part of,” Busch said. “There was no social media, or the means for fans to get an in-depth look at what goes into the double when the others tried it. We think we’ve got an opportunity to make people feel like they are part of the experience with me.”

    NASCAR’s new rules also make the Busch double down possible since the driver would just need that one race win to get into the Chase. And with that win, he could afford to miss the start of the Coke 600 and still not hurt himself or his team.

    “As long as we attempt to qualify for every race, we are eligible for the Chase under the new rules,” Busch said. “It’s like you are in New York City, on Broadway, and you look up at all the bright lights — they are clearly pointing to this being the right time to do this. The green light is on.”

    The green light has indeed been switched on for all of these headlines, including Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s win of the Daytona 500, the drama surrounding Danica Patrick, and the doubling down of Kurt Busch in the IndyCar Series and NASCAR on Memorial Day weekend.

    And it will be no doubt interesting and intriguing to see if the season continues to unfold, next in the race in Las Vegas this weekend, with additional storylines that piques the interest of even the most casual race fan across the county.

  • Daytona 500 and Olympics End With Similar Storylines

    Daytona 500 and Olympics End With Similar Storylines

    This past weekend, the 56th running of the Daytona 500 kicked off the 2014 NASCAR season, while the Winter Olympics wrapped up business in Sochi, Russia. Yet, as disparate as the competition was, from stock car racing to ice dancing, there were some surprisingly similar story lines when all was said and done.

    Gold Medal Pressure Packed Performances

    Both the Daytona 500 and the Winter Olympics undoubtedly featured gold medal performances, including the first US gold medal in Alpine skiing, as well as the Great American race win by NASCAR’s most popular driver.

    And yet interestingly enough for both competitors, Ted Ligety and Dale Earnhardt Jr. respectively, their gold medal, award winning performances ended up like weights being lifted off their shoulders.

    “This is the event I wanted most,” Ligety, the first American man to win two Alpine skiing gold medals, said. “It’s the event I’ve been putting so much pressure on myself to win, so to pull through is an awesome feeling. I’m super happy.”

    “It’s a big race and you want to win it so badly, and your team wants to win so badly,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “You realize at that moment that there are countless people watching on television and there are countless people sitting in the grandstands with your shirts and hats on, and your team is over on the pit wall and your family back home — there are so many people pulling for you and want to see you win.”

    “It was a heavy weight that was lifted.”

    Silver Medal Disappointments

    While the runner up position might feel like a triumph to many athletes, to the US Women’s Hockey team and to Joe Gibbs racer Denny Hamlin, second place was an absolute disappointment.

    The US Women’s Hockey team surrendered a two goal lead in the final period of the game, losing to their Canadian rivals, who scored the gold.

    “We were up two goals, so it’s heartbreaking and shocking that we didn’t win the game,” forward Kelli Stack said. “It feels like a bad dream.”

    Just like the US Women’s Hockey Team, who appeared to have everything going for them until the bitter end, Denny Hamlin, behind the wheel of the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, was having a stellar Speedweeks, winning the Sprint Unlimited and one of the Duels.

    But then along came the Daytona 500, where the driver had an almost catastrophic situation develop in that he had not radio communication with his spotter. Between the radio issue and the loss of speed, Hamlin finished a disappointing second in the Great American Race.

    “Our cars just weren’t as good as the week progressed,” Hamlin said. “Maybe we were the same, but the competition definitely got better. It wasn’t as easy to pass as it was early in the week.”

    “It’s a tough business,” Hamlin continued. “Our car was OK. Given the right circumstances, it was a race winner.”

    Cinderella Stories

    Another similar storyline that emerged from both the Daytona 500 and the Winter Olympics were those inspiring Cinderella stories. In the Olympics, one such story was Mikaela Shiffrin, who became the youngest slalom champ in Olympic history at age 18.

    Her run, however, was not completely smooth as she lost her balance a bit going through the gates and also lost her left ski which rose way too far off the course.

    She persevered and did not give up, moving from having what she described as a “terrifying” run to an Olympic gold medal run.

    “It’s going to be something that I chalk up as one of my favorite experiences for the rest of my life,” Shiffrin said. “But my life’s not over yet.”

    In the Daytona 500, another Cinderella story unfolded with rookie driver Austin Dillon, who was bringing the storied No. 3 car back to the track after being driven by the late Dale Earnhardt, Sr.

    Dillon actually started the Great American race from the pole position, battled some difficulties and some crashes throughout the race, yet finished in the top-10 as the highest finishing rookie.

    “I think the yellow stripe on the bumper (signifying a rookie) showed a little bit tonight, but we made it through it,” Dillon said. “It was fun. I had a blast. The car was fast.”

    Agony of Defeat

    Every Olympic athlete, as well as every NASCAR driver, goes into competition with the full intent on doing their very best. Unfortunately, things sometimes go awry and the defeat can be a most bitter pill to swallow.

    Both Shaun White, infamous snow boarder, and Martin Truex, Jr., behind the wheel of his new ride in the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet, shared their own versions of the agony of defeat.

    White lost out on a medal after crashing in the halfpipe competition, ending his ‘three-peat’ effort.

    “I didn’t really get to break out everything, which is frustrating. Tricks were still in my pocket,” White said. “I definitely knew what run I wanted to put down, and my dream scenario was I was going to land that first run and then maybe have the opportunity to do something that hadn’t been done before. I tried to win. I went for it.”

    Martin Truex Jr. had a similar experience to White in that he started out with high hopes on the outside pole for the Daytona 500, only to crash out in the qualifying race, relegating him to the back of the starting field in a backup car.

    Then on lap 32, Truex’s backup car blew an engine and his hopes and dreams went up in smoke with the car.

    “It’s definitely a tough break for the team,” Truex said. “I went to bed the night before the race thinking this was my best chance to win the Daytona 500.”

    Just Happy to Be in the Show

    In both the Olympics and the Daytona 500, there are competitors that are just happy to be part of the even itself, no matter where they finished. And for the Jamaican bobsled team as well as for Michael Waltrip, sometime racer and broadcaster, that was just the case.

    “It’s a great race for the fans and it was really fun to be out there and to be part of it,” Waltrip said after finishing 41st in his No. 66 Blue-Def/AAA Toyota.

    The Jamaican Bob Sled team finished 29th in their two-man competition, yet remained as upbeat as ever, channeling their inner ‘Cool Runnings.’

    “We have the athletic ability. We have shown we can do it,” Chris Stokes, president of the Jamaica Bobsleigh Federation, said. “We just have to pull things together in Jamaica itself.”

    In the End, It’s All About Family

    Whether in NASCAR or the Olympics, the athletes and teams who compete only do so with the support of their families and extended families.

    For Olympic Skeleton racer Noelle Pikus-Pace, it was all about her loved ones as she slid to a silver medal, all with her family by her side. In fact, the mother of two, a 6 year old daughter and a 2 year old son, said that her children were her inspiration as she trained for the international competition.

    “After all of the hard work that not only I but my family put in to achieve this dream, it came in those minutes, those seconds,” Pikus-Pace, 31, told PEOPLE of her Sochi success. “It really was a fairytale ending.”

    The same fairytale ending was true for the Hendrick family in NASCAR, with Hendrick Motorsports driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in victory lane and HMS teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson in the top-five.

    “Oh my God, I am so excited for the Hendrick family and Hendrick Motorsports right now,” Jeff Gordon said. “This team did an amazing job and gave me a great race car at the end of the show.”

    And so as the Olympic flame was extinguished and as the confetti flew at the end of the Daytona 500, the competitions ended with very similar storylines.

    For the Winter Olympians, there will be a four year hiatus and wait until the next big event. But for the NASCAR competitors, the next race is simply around the bend at Phoenix International Speedway next weekend.