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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 13^th.

“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 38^th, 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 18^th 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 25^th. “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 25^th place finish, Patrick also gained three spots in the point standings to 25^th 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.”

November 4, 2013
NASCAR BTS: Children’s Dream Racer More Than Labor of Love

This week’s NASCAR Behind the Scenes spotlights the work of Mark ‘Smitty’ Smith, a 71 year old former fabricator whose labor of love is building kid-sized race cars for use in various children’s hospitals throughout the country.

These race cars, which are mini-version of NASCAR stock cars complete with corporate logos and race car seats as well as oxygen bottle holders and IV poles, are called Dream Racers and they do indeed make dreams of so many children in need come true.

So how did Smitty come up with this novel and innovative idea? Well actually the notion took hold after a failed attempt at building a kid sized race car for the McDonald’s food chain.

“I worked for race teams early on and had my own fab shop for twenty plus years,” Smitty said. “I got an occasion to redo some McDonald’s stores and part of what they wanted was a little car with a car hop tray so kids could have their Happy Meal in it.”

“We did that and when we finally got it to them, they decided it was too big and took up too much floor space,” Smith continued. “So, we brought the car back home and it collected dust for a few years.”

“One day, we were slow in the fab shop and I told the boys to re-body it and make it more like a real NASCAR body,” Smitty said. “My girlfriend suggested the oxygen bottle holder and IV pole.”

“I was still thinking restaurants but one thing led to another and we started trying to market them to children’s hospitals,” Smitty continued. “David Reutimann bought one and we were off and running.”

The first Dream Racer went to All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida. And initially Smitty did not quite get the reaction for which he had hoped with that first delivery.

“To be honest, the first reaction was that they stopped me at the door,” Smitty said. “The biochemical engineer told me it had to go through a biomedical exam before it could come into the hospital.”

“So, I thought that was going to be the end of this,” Smith continued. “He said that it had to score a 92 out of a 100 and they took it in and had it for half hour or so.”

“He came out with a smile and said it scored 152,” Smitty said. “So, they were glad to have it.”

Smitty has learned quite a bit along the way, modifying the Dream Racer based on the feedback he has received from doctors and even parents.

“The first Dream Racer had full sides and so the kids had to climb in and out of it,” Smitty said. ”My doctor came by the shop and said that I needed to leave the side off so sick and handicapped kids could get in and out.”

“So, that’s what we started to do,” Smitty continued. “And we also had a cloth material, upholstered seat and he said we needed to get rid of that too.”

“So, we put a vinyl or leather seat in so it’s washable.”

Each Dream Racer, hand built one at a time, costs $9,500. The child-sized race car includes a safety harness, spoiler, splitter and a Play Station and television monitor that will play everything from the NASCAR racing game to Sponge Bob Square Pants.

Smitty admits that although people purchase a Dream Racer for many different reasons, the effects they have on the lives of children is unsurpassed.

“People buy them for different reasons,” Smith said. “The Leonard Bus Company in New York bought one for Arnold Palmer’s Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg because 21 years ago their son was born premature and it was pretty touch and go.”

“They saved that baby’s life and the commemorated his 21st birthday at the hospital with a Dream Racer.”

“I’ll tell you a story,” Smitty said. ”A little girl came into the hospital kicking and screaming because she had to have a kidney biopsy.”

“She played in the Dream Racer and not only went through the biopsy but told her mother she would be glad to come back if she could play in that Dream Racer.”

“And an ESPN camera man when we presented four cars donated by Rick Hendrick and the Dream Catchers Society was wrapping up his cords and he told me that a lady and a little boy came to the hospital,” Smitty said. “The lady told him that her child wouldn’t speak to him because he had autism and was an expressionless child, showing no emotions.”

“He got into the Dream Racer and pretty soon he was smiling and whispering to his mother,” Smitty continued. “And that’s the first time she ever saw his teeth unless she was brushing them.”

Although there are 756 children’s hospitals throughout the country, Smith has built 35 cars to date, with one international placement of a Dream Racer to the Children’s Hospital in Toronto, Canada.

“My goal is to get a Dream Racer in every children’s hospital,” Smith said passionately. “But it’s more than that because each hospital needs more than one Dream Racer.”

“So, every day is a new deal and a new challenge,” Smitty continued. “And we just keep building them.”

“This is a blessing that the Lord has made.”

For more information about the Children’s Dream Racer program visit their website at www.childrensdreamracer.com.

August 30, 2013
Surprising and Not Surprising: Samuel Deeds 400 at the Brickyard

At one of the most historic tracks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup venue, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 20^th running of the Crown Royal Presents the Samuel Deeds 400 at the Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com.

Surprising: It is not often that Chad Knaus, one of the best crew chiefs in the business, gets outfoxed, however he surprisingly did at the Brickyard by none other than Matt Borland who won his first race since being reunited with driver Ryan Newman.

Borland made the gutsy two-tire call with just eleven laps left in the race to score the kissing of the bricks for his driver and the team of the No. 39 Quicken Loans/The Smurfs Chevrolet.

“Matt Borland just made an awesome call,” Newman said. “I have won more races with him on old tires and out of gas than I have with four tires and the best car.”

This was the first win of the season for soon to be unemployed driver Newman and the first win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for his team, Stewart-Haas Racing.

“It’s just a fantastic day,” Borland said. “This is Ryan’s hometown and the Brickyard is the Brickyard.”

“We were finally able to get everything right on race day.”

Not Surprising: Five-time champ Jimmie Johnson was disappointed but not surprisingly gracious in defeat. And the driver of the No. 48 Lowes/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet did not even throw anyone under the bus in the process.

“Second is never fun especially at the Brickyard,” Johnson said. “Bummed out with that, but stuff happens.”

“I believe the No. 39 took two (tires) as well where we took four (tires),” Johnson continued. “I don’t fault the call by any means.”

“We win as a team we lose as a team, it’s just how it is.”

Surprising: Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, was the highest finishing Camry, taking the checkered flag in the fifth spot. But even with that good run, Kenseth admitted that he had nothing for the surprisingly fast two-some of Ryan Newman and Jimmie Johnson.

“They were way faster than us and they were up there pretty far,” Kenseth said. “Jimmie went by me so quick that I thought he was going to suck the numbers off the doors.”

“Ryan had a really fast car,” Kenseth continued. “We had a top-10 car most of the day, but I couldn’t run with those guys.”

Not Surprising: Hendrick horsepower ruled the day at the Brickyard, with six of the drivers in the top-ten having that power under their hood. One of those drivers, Kasey Kahne even credited team Hendrick power in the engine of his No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet with his third place run.

“We had a really fast Great Clips Chevrolet,” Kahne said. “Great Hendrick horsepower was key.”

Not surprisingly and not coincidentally, Hendrick Motorsports also just named engine whiz Doug Duchardt as their new Executive Vice President and General Manager, effective immediately.

“Doug has led by example from his first day with us,” Mr. H. said “He understands the importance of relationships and has helped promote a culture of teamwork and communication.”

Surprising: Dale Earnhardt Jr. pulled off a surprisingly good finish, in fact a sixth place finish, in spite of troubles on and off the race track. The driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet battled a loose wheel at the start of the race and troubles with the car running at the end of the race, as well as coping with the loss of his uncle Randy Earnhardt, whose death Junior learned of while at the track.

“The car was shaking real bad,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Steve (Letarte, crew chief) is a good strategist and we ended up alright.”

“Randy was always there,” Junior said of his uncle who passed away. “It is just very, very sad but I am glad his suffering is over with.”

“I loved him dearly and will miss him a lot.”

Not Surprising: Kurt Busch has been running so well as of late that, not surprisingly, he was distressed with a top-15 finish. The driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Beautyrest Chevrolet finished the race in the 14^th position, which was exactly where he stood in the point standings when the race was over.

“The 14^th place finish is unacceptable,” Busch said. “We’ve accomplished a lot thus far this season, but one area we need to improve upon is finishing strong.”

“No question we have to run better than we did today if we want to get into the top-10,” Busch continued. “We need to have strong finishes in the next six races.”

Surprising: Brad Keselowski was the biggest Indy loser, falling four spots in the point standings to 13^th with his 21^st place finish in his No. 2 Miller Lite Ford.

“That was definitely not the day we wanted,” Keselowski said. “We weren’t a 21^st place car.”

“It is just the way things worked out,” Keselowski continued. “That has been the story of the year.”

Not Surprising: With a hard fought battle, Jeff Gordon bounced back into the top ten in the point standings with his top ten finish in his No. 24 Pepsi Max Chevrolet at the Brickyard.

“You had to fight extremely hard in this race,” Gordon said. “It was just pit strategy and speed in the car and traffic.”

“It was not easy I can tell you that.”

Surprising: There is a surprisingly tight Sunoco Rookie of the Year battle going on at present, with Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. leading by just nine points over Danica Patrick in the ROTY standings.

Patrick, however, did not help her case with her 30^th place finish at the Brickyard, although her ROTY competitor Stenhouse Jr. did not fare much better, finishing 25^th.

“We tried something, it just didn’t work, and that’s that,” Patrick said. “It just was what it was.”

“It would have been nice to have a better day than this and be able to march forward,” Patrick continued. “We just didn’t and that’s just all there is to it.”

Not Surprising: With the lack of passing on the track, it was not surprising that many were calling for some changes, including driver Carl Edwards, who finished 13^th in his No. 99 Fastenal Ford Fusion.

“When you rely on down force and your car is going 200 mph and everything has to be perfect and there is a car up there in front of you that disrupts that air, it just becomes difficult,” Edwards said. “I don’t know that there is a fundamental problem with the car but I would be really curious to see what no front splitter and a really tiny rear spoiler would do.”

“I think it would allow Goodyear to make a tire that is softer so it would fall off more and I think you would see those great races.”

July 31, 2013
“You Know They Don’t Want You To Win”

I could not believe it when I heard it. The small snippet on the scanner conversation between Jimmie Johnson, who had just blown a sure win by jumping the start in Sunday’s Fed Ex 400, spotter Earl Barban, and crew chief Chad Knaus. I thought I heard the quote, but having it replayed today on SiriusXM’s NASCAR Radio channel proved I did hear that. My only question is who is “they” and why do they not want Johnson to win?

Knaus uttered the words, as far as I can tell, but I think he meant NASCAR, a criticism that might be cause for a big fine if spoken on ESPN, but apparently scanner communications are not considered as bad as national television. Nevertheless, for a team who has won so much and been so brilliant, it seemed a little extreme for me. Let me just say that Jimmie Johnson will go down in the annals of NASCAR history as one of the greatest of all time, but the arrogance of the whole situation turns me off. It’s probably just me, but he was not the first driver penalized for jumping the start, and no, NASCAR doesn’t have an agenda against any driver. Johnson broke the rules and he was penalized.

I’ve met Chad Knaus, Jimmie Johnson, and Rick Hendrick. They are all nice fellows and have been cordial when I’ve talked to them. I like them a lot. Hendrick has that southern charm, Johnson looks you in the eye when he talks to you and Knaus is a walking encyclopedia who is always on task and never gets off of task, but there is an arrogance that disturbs me. The attitude is that they are the best (which they are) and they let everyone know it. They couldn’t have made a mistake because they don’t make mistakes. On the NASCAR Sprint Cup Media Tour, we were bussed to the Hendrick shops where the event was held in the Hendrick Motorsports gift shop, and there upon one wall was Rick Hendrick’s 10 Keys to Success. They are not much different than the corporation I am a part of, but one of the keys says, “Learn to accept your mistakes, but make them only once.” Apparently, they forgot that part of the 10 keys.

Johnson, even with the mistake, still is 30 points or 30 positions ahead of Carl Edwards. Less than a race ahead of the No. 99 driver, but it is still a handsome lead. He will win the regular season championship (which means nothing) and if it holds, will be the odds-on favorite to win another championship, but for the No. 48 team to think that NASCAR doesn’t want them to win is ludicrous. They don’t operate that way. They are the best, they know it, and they have a problem with being called out on their mistakes, I find it even more interesting that Jeff Gordon felt like he had to wreck Clint Bowyer at Phoenix because he robbed owner Hendrick of his big win at Martinsville. Really?

There is nothing I hate more than arrogance, but it seems that one teams feels it is their Devine Right to win races, and that troubles me. I see a NASCAR world where victories are equally distributed between all teams, regardless who is the owner or how many championships they’ve won. Chad was right, the “they” he talked about was the fans and not the sanctioning body. A day when more than Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports do not lead the majority of the laps, and competition is evened out—that is what the fans want. That makes it up to Roush, Petty, Childress, Ganassi, and Penske to change this arrogance to real competition.

June 4, 2013
Surprising and Not Surprising: Martinsville STP Gas Booster 500

Refreshed from an off-weekend and ready to go short track racing, here is what was surprising and not surprising when the Cup drivers returned to racing in the STP Gas Booster 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Surprising: With all the talk of paybacks from feuding drivers, it was surprising just how uneventful the last restart and final laps of the race were, especially since the trio competing at the end included Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer, all of whom have history together.

In fact, at last year’s Martinsville race, the three drivers tangled in the final laps, with Bowyer on new tires and the Hendrick teammates on old tires, sending them all spinning and handing the race win to Ryan Newman.

Gordon and Bowyer also have history and unsettled scores from last season that even carried over through the end-of-year banquet in Las Vegas. Yet, in spite of a few nudges here and there, they raced each other cleanly and respectfully, which was more than surprising given the rhetoric and hostility between the two.

“Well, we just didn’t need those cautions there at the end,” Gordon, who finished third in the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, said. “We just needed more laps there at the end.”

“Well, last year I had the upper hand with tires and it just didn’t work out,” Bowyer, driver of the No. 15 RK Motors Toyota and race runner up, said. “It’s just disappointing.”

“Just wish I’d had that clock.”

Not Surprising: With Jimmie Johnson’s stats at Martinsville, including multiple wins and the best driver rating of 122.3, it was not surprising at all to see him in Victory Lane, collecting his eighth grandfather’s clock.

And while Johnson winning at Martinsville was not surprising in the least, the depth of bittersweet emotion in victory lane was also not surprising, given the history of loss for team owner Rick Hendrick and his family at that rack.

With caps turned backwards in memory of Ricky Hendrick and the other members of the HMS team lost in the plane crash at Martinsville nine years ago, Rick Hendrick shared that the track holds so many mixed emotions for him, including the joy of winning and the agony of loss.

Yet in spite of the bittersweet memories, Hendrick was also incredibly proud of the accomplishment of winning 20 races at that track, the most of any organization in the sport.

“I was looking at that scoreboard over there, the first time I ever came to a Cup race was here with my dad,” Hendrick said. “We’ve been fortunate to have some great drivers and this track has been awful good to us.

Surprising: While it was surprising enough that Danica Patrick, behind the wheel of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, finished 12^th, it was even more surprising that she beat out her Stewart Haas Racing teammates Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman, who finished 17^th and 31^st respectively.

This was Patrick’s first time at Martinsville Speedway in a Cup car and, in spite of an early spin, she rallied back to the checkered flag as the highest finishing rookie in the race.

“Yeah, well never being at Martinsville, I didn’t know what to expect,” Patrick said. “I felt like I made a lot of passes.”

“I’m most proud about coming back from two laps down and being on the lead lap,” Patrick continued. “Then grabbing a 12^th place finish in the end was good.”

Not Surprising: One of the biggest complaints after Martinsville was, not surprisingly, the lack of a second groove in the track and how much track position was lost because of it.

Although finishing top-ten, Marcos Ambrose, driver of the No. 9 Stanley Ford, had quite a bit to say about the battle for the preferred inside line.

“You had to fight like a dog to try to get to the inside,” Ambrose said. “If you got hung out there, there’s just nothing you could do – you’re just along for the ride.”

Surprising: With all the attention on and rhetoric about Joey Logano, it was a bit surprising that he was pretty much a non-factor at Martinsville.

In fact, going into the short track race weekend, Logano said that he would not seek conflict but he also vowed not to lay down for anyone.

“There’s a fine line of how you’re going to earn that respect,” Logano said. “I’m not a guy that’s going to look for trouble, but I’m also the guy that’s not going to get walked on.”

Logano experience neither being in trouble or getting walked on at Martinsville, finishing 23^rd in his No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford. And with that non-stellar finish, he fell two spots in the point standings to 11^th.

Not Surprising: Any racer out of the car would find it difficult being at the track. So, it was not surprising just how tough Denny Hamlin took sitting out and watching another driver behind the wheel of his race machine.

“The start of the race was nothing like I thought it was,” Hamlin said. “The start of the race absolutely killed me.”

“That was very, very tough to watch,” Hamlin continued. “I didn’t’ realize the physical toll that coming out here was going to take on me.”

Surprising: With Roush Fenway Racing traditionally struggling at Martinsville, it was surprising to see one of their drivers finish top ten. Greg Biffle, behind the wheel of the No. 16 3M Ford, brought his car to the checkered flag in the ninth position.

“It was a hard fought day,” Biffle said. “Our car was way too tight and I had to keep working on it.”

“There was no outside groove whatsoever and everyone really wanted the bottom,” Biffle continued. “But we still finished in the top-10 so I’m pretty happy about that.”

Not Surprising: There were several bounce back finishes amongst drivers who struggled and then came back strong at the finish of the race. One of the most notable was Brad Keselowski, who overcame a questionable pit road penalty to finish sixth in his Blue Deuce.

“That was a hard-fought finish,” Keselowski said. “We wanted to be able to win here and just haven’t been strong enough to do it.”

“But I’m proud of where we are right here today.”

Another amazing performance was given by Iron Man Mark Martin, who was involved in a multi-car crash on lap 180 and then rallied to finish tenth. To boot, this stellar finish was in an unfamiliar car in which he was subbing for the injured Denny Hamlin.

Yet not surprisingly, Martin once again downplayed his accomplishment.

“It wasn’t that great of a result; we were capable of a little bit better,” Martin said in his usual humble style. “I did not fill Denny Hamlin’s shoes, I can tell you that much.”

“He is the master.”

Surprising: Another pleasant surprise for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing was the good finish for once of one of its drivers. Jamie McMurray, behind the wheel of the No. 1 Novo Nordisk Chevrolet for EGR, finished seventh.

“We had a really good car,” McMurray said. “Made a good pit call at the end and got a couple of extra spots.”

“That was a really good day for us.”

Not Surprising: Although working with a relatively new team in Furniture Row Racing, it was not surprising that veteran driver Kurt Busch had the presence of mind to not only angle the car before hitting the wall after his brakes failed, but also had the wherewithal to utilize his fire suppression system when his car went up in flames.

“Something let go in the brakes,” Busch said. “I had to turn the car to the right otherwise I was going to hit harder than what we did.”

“It was a bummer day.”

Unfortunately, that bummer day resulted in Busch falling from 13^th to 19^th in the driver point standings. The driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Serta Chevrolet, along with all of his Cup competitors, will have a chance at redemption as the elite series heads into Texas Motor Speedway.

April 9, 2013
Surprising and Not Surprising: Ford EcoBoost 400

[media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]In a weekend full of champion-crowning, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the NASCAR Sprint Cup season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Surprising: For a driver known, as ‘bad’, brash and cocky, there were some surprisingly humble moments from the 28 year old driver who brought Penske Racing its first ever NASCAR championship.

“It means the world, it really does,” Bradley Aaron Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge and Sprint Cup Champion, said after finishing 15^th and securing the ultimate prize. “I’ve got the best team in racing and I’m just so thrilled to be a part of it.”

“From the top down, Roger Penske, Paul Wolfe, everybody else, the crew guys and my family, that means so much,” Keselowski continued. “You can’t do this sport by yourself no matter how good you are.”

“My family made incredible sacrifices and I’m just so fortunate to have them around me,” Keselowski said. “Without them, none of this is possible and they deserve way more credit than I do.”

Keselowski’s parents, who gave up their lives to their son’s racing career, were equally proud and humble in Victory Lane.

“How many people get to realize this dream?” Bob Keselowski, Brad’s dad and a racer in his own right, said. “There’s a million short track racers out there.”

“I’m just so blown away.”

“He has reached the pinnacle of success and I’m so unbelievably proud of my son,” Brad mom’s Kay said. “I’m ecstatic, just ecstatic.”

“I was holding my breath all race long and praying to God that it would all come together.”

Not Surprising: Of course, once the Miller Lite started to flow in celebration of his championship, Keselowski, sporting a good-sized beer glass, returned to his usual self, tweeting from the media center and wise-cracking in fun with all.

“I’ve got a little bit of a buzz going on right now,” Keselowski said after his victory on the show LIVE on ESPN. “I’ve been drinking for a little bit.”

After checking his phone and adding about 6,000 new followers on his Twitter account, Keselowski, with 5 wins, 13 top-five and 23 top-ten finishes, discussed how he will now approach being the NASCAR champion.

“Expect the unexpected,” Keselowski said, with his trademark grin. “That’s my MO, right?”

And on how being the NASCAR champ might change his life, Keselowski replied, “I’ve always wanted to date a celebrity….but not a Kardashian.”

And finally, Keselowski revealed his surprising powers of prediction, especially as it related to the points needed to secure the Sprint Cup.

“I predicted that the champion would need 2400 points to win,” Keselowski said. And that was the exact number of points, 2400 total, that the second driver in history to win the Cup and Nationwide championships had when the checkered flag flew.

“I feel like the best is yet to come,” Keselowski said as he wrapped up his media availability for the final time of the 2012 season.

Surprising: While not surprising to see team owner Rick Hendrick in Victory Lane, it was surprising that he was not there to see his driver Jimmie Johnson crowned six time champion.

Hendrick instead celebrated his team’s first ever win and the first ever win at Homestead-Miami Speedway for driver Jeff Gordon, commemorating his 20 year partnership with sponsor Dupont in the HMS No. 24 Chevrolet.

“Yeah, it’s disappointing,” Mr. H. said. “If you let that destroy you, you’ll never be able to win again.”

“It’s racing,” Hendrick continued. “I’m celebrating Jeff’s win and letting the other deal go.”

Driver and four-time champion Jeff Gordon might have been surprised to even be in the race, let alone Victory Lane, after his fracas the week before with competitor Clint Bowyer. The four-time champ was able to put the drama behind him, however, to score his 87^th career victory and his second win of the 2012 season.

“This is just huge,” Gordon said. “It’s been an emotional week and a hard one; one of the hardest ones I’ve ever gone through just looking back on my decision.”

“So to come here and focus on the car with this silver commemorative paint scheme for 20 years of Dupont and to be able to end in Victory Lane, it was just an awesome team effort.”

Not Surprising: Even though starting the race behind the leader in the point standings, five-time champion Jimmie Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus seemed on target to parlay some pit strategy into that coveted six pack.

But an uncharacteristic lug nut issue and an even more unusual oil leak that proved fatal closed the door on the championship hopes for the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet. And Johnson, not surprisingly, found it a bitter pill to swallow.

“You know, to be close, it just sucks to be close and not get it,” Johnson said. “Pretty heartbreaking.”

“We were doing what we needed to and certainly in position to put a lot of pressure on the No. 2 car.”

“Stuff happens,” Johnson continued. “It’s racing.”

“I just have to reflect back on an amazing year.”

Surprising: Probably the most surprised driver coming out of the Ford EcoBoost 400 was none other than Clint Bowyer. Not only did he finish second in the race to nemesis of the week before Jeff Gordon, but he also scored second place in the point standings in his first season with Michael Waltrip Racing.

“To be honest, I didn’t even think I could reach second,” the driver of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota said of his runner up spot in the points. “That was the goal I’d set.”

“And I just wanted to catch the 24,” Bowyer said of his runner up race finish. “That was the only what-if that went through my mind at the end.”

“Probably went through your mind too.”

“Now I’m going to do whatever I want to do next week.”

Not Surprising: As with every end to the season, there were plenty of farewells to be said. Ryan Newman, who finished third in the season finale, bade farewell to the US Army as his sponsor.

“The US Army Chevrolet, four years strong,” Newman said. “We’re proud to represent them and proud of their support and we wanted to finish on a great note.”

Another farewell was said by Matt Kenseth, leaving the only race team home that he has ever known with Roush Fenway Racing and moving on to Joe Gibbs Racing.

“The team really proved that they gave me all they’ve got this season regardless of my plans for the future,” Kenseth said.

Joey Logano, who leaves Joe Gibbs Racing to partner with new champ Keselowski at Penske Racing, had some interesting words to mark the end of his tenure in the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota.

“And that’s the way the cookie crumbles,” Logano tweeted. “Thanks to all of @JoeGibbsRacing for 7 great years.”

The final farewell was most poignant, however, as Dodge won the championship and bid adieu to the sport of NASCAR.

“It’s been a long run,” Ralph Gilles, President and CEO of the SRT Brand and Senior Vice President of Design at Chrysler Group, said. “I’m still pinching myself.”

“It’s not bittersweet,” Gilles continued. “If anything, it’s an exclamation point on an effort that’s 11 years in the making.”

Surprising: Another Hendrick Chase driver was surprisingly upbeat, particularly since his teammate lost the championship to Keselowski.

And in spite of missing two races due to a concussion, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was also upbeat about finishing the season with a top-10 in his No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet.

“I want to congratulate Brad on his championship,” Junior said. “He’s a buddy of mine and he did everything he had to do to win this thing.”

“This has been a really good season for me personally,” Dale Junior continued. “I’ve had a blast.”

“I can’t wait to test the new car and get to Daytona,” Junior said. “It will be a whole new ball game.”

Not Surprising: Yet again, Kyle Busch led the most laps in the race and failed to find Victory Lane, instead coming in fourth. In fact, this was the ninth race in a row where the driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota led the most laps and did not win.

“I think I’ve said it the last five weeks – that’s our year,” Busch said. “It’s just a shame that we were not able to come out here and put it in Victory Lane like we should.”

“We’ll have to see what we look forward to next year.”

Surprising: The driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet not only finished ninth but had a surprisingly record-setting day in the process. Kurt Busch scored his third straight top-10 finish, the first time ever that Furniture Row Racing has had three consecutive top-10 finishes.

“Finishing the season with three straight top-10s and four straight top-15s – you just can’t ask for much more in a short period of time together,” Busch said. “We’ve made a tremendous amount of progress in the last six weeks and that gives us all plenty of confidence heading into the off season.”

Not Surprising: The young driver of the infamous No. 43 for Richard Petty Motorsports continued his great streak of race runs, finishing seventh in the season finale.

“We had a strong car all day,” Almirola said. “That was a great way to go out.”

“I’m excited about next year,” Almirola continued. “These guys give me great race cars so we’re gonna win races.”

As the 2012 season comes to a close, here’s to a Happy Thanksgiving, a blessed Christmas and a truly amazing New Year! See you at Daytona in 2013!

November 21, 2012
Surprising and Not Surprising: Kansas Hollywood Casino 400

[media-credit name=”Credit: Wesley Hitt/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”236″][/media-credit]On a repaved track that even team owner Jack Roush pronounced surprisingly fast and treacherous and with a record number of cautions to boot, here is what else was surprising and not surprising in the 12^th annual Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.

Surprising: While many know his wicked sense of humor through social media, they now know just how much it means for him to stand in Victory Lane, not as a lame duck with a team he will leave at year end, but as the first time race winner on the newly repaved Kansas Speedway.

“It really means a lot,” Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Zest Ford for Roush Fenway Racing said in Victory Lane, his voice choked with emotion.” I really got to thank God for all the opportunities he’s put in front of me.”

Kenseth’s victory was not an easy one, having hit the outside wall hard and sustaining right side damage to the car. This was Kenseth’s first Kansas win, his third victory of the season, and his 24^th career victory, moving him into a tie for 26^th on the all-time Series win list.

“You never know when your next win is,” Kenseth said. “Especially as you get older, you appreciate it more.”

“I’m really thankful and humbled to be here honestly.”

Not Surprising: Whether the lucky horseshoe or shades of the ‘Six Million Dollar Man’, Chad Knaus and team 48 proved they could rebuild the battered back end of Jimmie Johnson’s wrecked race car, making it better, stronger and faster.

In fact, Johnson was so much better, stronger, and faster that after the on pit road rebuild, he rallied back to finish ninth in his Lowe’s Chevrolet. And with that comeback, Johnson, not surprisingly, also had a message to share with his fellow Chase competitors.

“I’m just now getting a chance to look at the damage on the car and it was pretty severe,” Johnson said after the race. “I’m definitely proud of this team and the fact that we never give up.”

“It’s more mature racing here in 2012,” Johnson continued. “We showed what our team is capable of.”

“I hope the other guys are paying attention.”

Surprising: The championship point’s leader surprisingly continued to have survival on his mind, a theme that carried over from Talladega right into the race in the Midwest heartland.

Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Blue Deuce, managed to finish eighth, one spot ahead of Chaser Jimmie Johnson, over whom he maintains a seven point lead in the standings.

“I said when we finished Talladega that somebody should make ‘I Survived Talladega’ t-shirts,” Keselowski said. “Well, I didn’t know coming to Kansas it was going to be the same.”

“Just wrecks and accidents and blown tires; everything you can imagine happened,” Keselowski continued. “It seemed like every wreck happened in front of me.”

“I felt really lucky to survive it.”

Not Surprising: While Kansas broke many hearts on race day this past weekend, there was no one more heart broken than the driver of the No. 43 Farmland Ford Fusion. Aric Almirola qualified fifth and led over 60 laps of the race before blowing a tire and slamming into the wall so hard that it took his breath away.

“I have never in my entire life had a race car that good,” Almirola said. “It was just so fast and so easy to drive.”

“I hate that it ended like this but I have always been told you have to give a few away before you can win one,” Almirola continued. “We certainly gave one away today.”

Surprising: It was indeed a tale of two Kansas races, yet with a surprisingly similar result. Martin Truex Jr., in the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota finished second for the second time at Kansas Speedway.

“Well, it’s a lot different mood after this one,” Truex said after the race. “After the first one I was disappointed. Today, I’m happy with my team and my race car.”

“We really had to battle for this one,” That’s a good run for us for sure.”

With his bridesmaid finish, Truex Jr. gained one position in the point standings to sixth, 43 points out of first.

Not Surprising: Unfortunately, Kansas was killing Clint Bowyer softly with its song, even though he finished sixth in his No. 15 5-Hour Energy Benefitting Avon Foundation Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing.

“I think I started on the outside one time early in the race and just every time it just killed me,” Bowyer said. “I don’t know what the hell was going on behind us.”

“They kept wrecking,” Bowyer continued. “Restarts kind of killed us all day long.”

Surprising: There were a surprising number of temper tantrums, more typical of a short track like Martinsville than the mile and a half at Kansas. Tempers flared between Danica Patrick and Landon Cassill, as they did between Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman.

Patrick, in her No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet actually took herself out on lap 155 as a result of her on-track tiff with the driver of the No. 83 Burger King Toyota.

“I have just been really frustrated with the No. 83,” Patrick said. “It’s been pretty consistent with him getting into me.”

“So, at some point in time, I have to stand up for myself,” Patrick continued. “The bummer is I’m out of the race and he’s not.”

Patrick finished 32^nd, while Cassill brought home his race car for a much better 18th place finish.

Kyle Busch, in the No. 18 M&M’s Halloween Toyota, finished 31^st after a scuffle with the driver of the No. 39 Code 3 Associates Chevrolet. And this one might result in some payback as the 2012 season winds down.

“Everything is just on edge,” Busch said. “Newman just ran up on the back of me and got me loose.”

“So, just impatience,” Busch continued. “I’m glad he’s wrecked along with me and he’ll get another one here before the year is out.”

Not Surprising: With his crew chief back after suspension, it was not surprising for this driver to pull off a top five finish. In fact, Paul Menard, in the No. 27 Certainteed Insulation/Menards Chevrolet, finished third at Kansas.

“We had Slugger (Labbe, crew chief) back this weekend,” Menard said. “He is well rested after six weeks off and had some good ideas to try this weekend.”

“We had a good car,” Menard continued. “It was just a matter of getting us up there.”

Surprising: The ‘uh oh’ uttered by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon surprisingly captured the moment late in the race for Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet.

Kahne, who started out on the pole after shattering the track qualifying record, had a chance to win before he shut off his engine during a caution in an attempt to save fuel.

As a result, he lost several spots on the race track before getting his car back up to minimum speed, managing a fourth place finish instead of that oh-so-close victory.

“It just wouldn’t re-fire,” Kahne said after the race. “Disappointing.”

“It was coming to me at the end,” Kahne continued. “We just weren’t close enough at that point in time.”

Not Surprising: From telling his team to get their heads out of their ‘expletive’ to praising them effusively after the race, Tony Stewart did, in his own words, have ‘an eventful day.’

The driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet started 33^rd, had to overcome a pit stop where his crew left a wrench in the car, battled an incident with Jeff Burton and a spin to finish fifth.

This was Smoke’s sixth top-five in Sprint Cup starts at Kansas, pre and post repaving, having to pass 74 cars during the race to do so.

“We had some stuff to deal with, but our guys never gave up,” Stewart said. “We probably had to pass more cars than anybody today, but that seems to be our MO.”

“That’s how we won a championship last year, by never giving up.”

Surprising: While there was a surprising bit of a confusion on the part of team owner Rick Hendrick about the status of Dale Earnhardt Junior’s return to the race car (and he will return at Martinsville), substitute driver Regan Smith was feeling surprisingly right at home in the No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet.

In fact, Smith felt so much at home that he finished top-ten, in the seventh position.

“It’s been nice to be able to step in and have them treat me like a normal driver,” Smith said. “I know Dale (Earnhardt, Jr.) is excited to get back so that is going to be good for him.”

“Looking forward to whatever comes next for me.”

Not Surprising: The other drivers in new seats struggled on the newly repaved Kansas track. Kurt Busch, in the No. 78 Furniture Row/Farm American Chevrolet, finished 25^th and A.J. Allmendinger, in the No. 51 Phoenix Construction Chevrolet, finished even further back in 35^th.

But not surprisingly, both drivers and teams looked on the bright side of life in spite of the wrecks and results.

“Kurt Busch showed all of us today what an impressive driver he is,” Todd Berrier, crew chief, said. “It was the performance that counted today, not the finishing result.”

“The car was fast and we were running well,” Allmendinger said. “Tried to save it and I feel bad.”

“I hope I’m in the car next week, but if not, it’s meant the world to get back to the sport,” Dinger continued. “I love the sport.”

October 24, 2012
Jeff Gordon’s Drive to End Hunger Partnership with AARP Extended

[media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]One of the most successful cause-related NASCAR sponsorships to date, AARP’s Drive to End Hunger with four-time champion Jeff Gordon, has been extended.

The AARP Foundation announced that its partnership with Hendrick Motorsports will be extended for yet another year, taking the 22-race co-primary sponsorship of the Jeff Gordon No. 24 Chevrolet through 2014.

The extension was due in great part to the success of the Drive to End Hunger campaign, which raised over $17 million in corporate and individual gifts. And the generosity of NASCAR nation, through the Drive to End Hunger campaign, has helped AARP serve over 13 million meals across the country.

“We are excited to build on the great work of these last two years to help the nearly nine million older Americans who face the threat of hunger,” Jo Ann Jenkins said. “With Jeff Gordon and Rick Hendrick, we have committed champions behind the wheel on and off the track.”

“Of course none of this work is possible without the compassion of the NASCAR fans.”

The commitment of the fans was evident as recently as the past race in Dover, Delaware where NASCAR fans, who packed over 400 meal boxes for needy seniors, were treated to a meet and greet with Jeff Gordon prior to the race, thanks to AARP and Chase Card Services.

Jenkins acknowledged that awareness from events like this and others over the past two years was another major reason for AARP to extend the Drive to End Hunger sponsorship.

In fact, the Foundation estimates that it has now reached over 1 billion people, which is more than ever expected when the partnership began in 2010. Through this outreach, thousands have been enrolled in the SNAP, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The unique partnership between AARP and Jeff Gordon has also recruited and engaged over 30,000 volunteers helping to call awareness and raise funds for seniors in need.

The driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet could not be more pleased with the sponsorship extension, particularly because he is so passionate about the cause.

“It has been an honor and a pleasure to be part of Driver to End Hunger these last two seasons,” Jeff Gordon said. “I’m excited to keep pushing in the fight against older adult hunger.”

“Going around the country – especially during race weeks – I have been constantly reminded about the generosity of NASCAR fans,” Gordon continued. “I got to see race fans reaching for their wallets, packing meals for local food banks, and texting donations to help millions of older Americans who face the threat of hunger every day.”

“I can’t wait to see what we can do the next two years.”

In addition to the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger, team owner Rick Hendrick, known for his own many charitable endeavors, was also most pleased with the sponsorship extension.

“Drive to End Hunger has raised the awareness of an important issue and helped many in need,” Mr. H said. “When the program kicked off, we felt success would ultimately be measured by the number of people the program touched and positively impacted.”

“It’s been truly gratifying to see that success,” Mr. Hendrick continued. “We’re excited about extending the relationship and continuing the work we’ve started with AARP and the AARP Foundation.

The extension of the Drive to End Hunger campaign will feature primary paint schemes in 22 Sprint Cup races annually through the 2014 season. This will continue NASCAR’s first ever cause-related partnership, which began in 2011.

For more information about the Drive to End Hunger campaign, visit .

October 5, 2012
Surprising and Not Surprising: Brickyard 400

[media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”254″][/media-credit]At one of the most storied tracks on not just the NASCAR schedule but the motor sports circuit overall, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 19^th Annual Crown Royal Presents the Curtiss Shaver 400 at the Brickyard.

Surprising: It was surprising that the emerging points leader after the race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway enhanced his proud team owner’s sleep habits.

Hendrick Motor Sports principal Rick Hendrick had just one thing to say about his driver, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who assumed the coveted lead by 14 points after a fourth place finish at the Brickyard.

“I will be able to sleep better tonight,” Mr. H. said simply after the race. His HMS driver has not led the point standings since September of 2004 after the race at New Hampshire.

Junior echoed his team owner’s sentiments of pride, while reiterating that he not only wants, but needs more wins to keep that top spot.

“I’m proud of that because it says a lot about our body of work,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. “I have felt that way about our position in points all season long.”

“But we need to win more races,” Junior continued. “If we want to win the championship, we have to.”

“We’d like to step it up just a little bit more.”

Not Surprising: While making history with his fourth Brickyard win and tying teammate Jeff Gordon and idols Al Unser, A.J. Foyt and Rick Mears for four victories, it was not surprising to see this driver’s little girl Genevieve steal the show during the post-race ceremonies.

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, simply could not convince his daughter to kiss those hot, gritty bricks in spite of his intense coaxing.

“I don’t really think she knew what was going on,” Johnson said. “The asphalt was pretty hot, so she got her hands down on it and I think that scared her.”

“She’s a very cautious girl and that is going against everything we’re trying to teach her,” Johnson continued. “She just wasn’t in to it.”

Surprising: It was most surprising that the second place finisher was so ecstatic about his finish that he wanted to do his own ‘victory’ burnout after the race.

Kyle Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota, posted his career best finish at the Brickyard and his best finish of the season since his third place finish at Charlotte in May.

“It feels so good to actually run well and finish well,” Busch said. “We’ve been needed to do this for so long.”

“It felt like a win to us,” Busch continued. “I wanted to do a burnout, but I’ll save that for when we really do collect the checkered flag.”

Not Surprising: Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford, proved one NASCAR adage true, that loose is fast. Biff came in third, his sixth top-10 finish in ten races at Indy.

“We were pretty loose all day long,” Biffle said. “It was unfortunate we were that free and we couldn’t fix it.”

“We were too loose to get it done so we came in third.”

Surprising: With a great qualifying run, an outside pole starting position and a brand new crew chief in Chad Norris on the box, it looked like nothing could derail Carl Edwards from finally pulling out a decent finish and a good day in the points race for the Chase.

But a surprising mechanical problem forced the driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford to go laps down early in the race and finish 29th.

“We didn’t know what was wrong with the engine and we were kind of points racing but also racing for the win,” Edwards said. “We stayed out there with seven cylinders or so and then got caught up on pit road again and went another lap down.”

“That was pretty much the death knell for the whole thing.”

Not Surprising: As is so often the case, being at the back of the pack leads to trouble. And that’s just what Matt Kenseth experienced on lap 134 when Joey Logano lost control, slid into Trevor Bayne, Bobby Labonte and ultimately Kenseth.

“The farther that we went back, the dumber people drove,” Kenseth said after exiting his fiery No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford. “You could see it was just a matter of time before the wreck happened.”

Kenseth finished the race in the 35^th position and, not surprisingly as a result, fell to second in the point standings.

Surprising: Jeff Gordon surprisingly has not posted a top-3 finish in his last 23 races and he continued the longest stretch of his career in that mode with a fifth place finish at Indy.

“I’m pretty disappointed really,” the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet said. “It’s always nice to finish in the top five but at this point in the season, I feel like it was a little bit of a missed opportunity.”

Not Surprising: So much uncertainty continued to reign for the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Penske race team, even at the Brickyard. Although Sam Hornish, Jr. was still behind the wheel, finishing 16^th, the cloud of the A.J. Allmendinger indefinite suspension for the failed drug test continued to hang over the proceedings.

“There are so many questions,” Roger Penske, team owner said after the drivers’ meeting at Indy. “Our phone is ringing off the hook with people who are interested in the ride in the No. 22.”

Penske has since made the decision to release Allmendinger as their driver and have named Hornish Jr. the driver for the remainder of the 2012 season.

Surprising: Only one driver could compare the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway to a junk yard but Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Jimmy Johns Chevrolet, did just that, at least when it came to his 13^th place car.

“We were junk all weekend,” Harvick said. “No matter if we were turning left or going straight.”

“That pretty much summed up today.”

Not Surprising: Stewart Haas racers Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman showed their Midwestern pride by scoring top-10 finishes at the Brickyard.

Stewart, who qualified his No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot in the 28^th position, rallied to finish tenth and teammate Newman, in the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet, finished seventh.

“We just were a little bit tight in the center of the corner and that’s kind of what we fought all day,” Smoke said. “So, I was proud of the gains we made.”

“I’m from the Midwest and so is Quicken Loans so it was nice to get a top-10 finish,” Newman said. “We just didn’t have quite the speed we needed.”

This was Newman’s sixth top-10 finish of the season and his second top-10 finish in 12 starts at the Brickyard.

The Cup Series will next take on the ‘Tricky Triangle’ at Pocono Raceway.

August 1, 2012
Surprising and Not Surprising: Michigan Quicken Loans 400

[media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”237″][/media-credit]From blistering speeds to blistering tires, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 44^th annual Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

Surprising: After the repaving, days of tire testing and several practices resulted in pervasive tire blistering throughout the garage, it was surprising the praise shared for Goodyear when they made the very difficult call to switch up the tires for the race.

And although known for his sometimes hard-hitting rhetoric, second place finisher Tony Stewart had nothing but cheers for team Goodyear.

“I think we need to give 100 percent credit to Goodyear for this weekend,” the driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet said. “I mean, what they had to do Friday night was a really hard decision to make.”

“It was for the betterment of all of us as drivers and teams and for the sport,” Smoke continued. “So every one of us need to walk through the garage and stop at Goodyear and shake every one of their guys’ hands.”

Not Surprising: While Junior nation paced and held their collective breaths during the final laps of the Quicken Loans 400, no one was more anxious than team owner Rick Hendrick.

“That was the longest 18 laps of my life,” Hendrick said of the waning laps before Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finally took that checkered flag, ending his four-year winless drought. “I was doing laps around my couch, trying to end this race, man.”

“I was too nervous to stand still,” Hendrick continued. “Linda and I were just watching it and saying ‘Come on, no problems.’ I was so afraid there was going to be a caution or something was going to happen.”

“I thought Dale had a real shot at Pocono,” Hendrick said. “But this is like a huge load off our backs.”

Surprising: While his teammate basked in the glory of Victory Lane, Jeff Gordon celebrated a top-10 finish, as well as a surprising career milestone. The driver of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet scored the 400^th top-10 finish of his Cup career.

With his sixth place run, Gordon became the second youngest driver to achieve that milestone. This was also his fifth top-6 finish at Michigan International Speedway in the last seven races at that track.

“It was not easy,” Gordon said, especially after having to move up from his 28^th starting spot. “We had a really good race car today.”

“I’m just glad we had a solid day,” Gordon continued. “It’s something to build on.”

Not Surprising: Always understated and never surprising Matt Kenseth had another solid run, finishing third in his No. 17 EcoBoost Ford. Kenseth also held onto the points lead, lording just four points over second place contender Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

“We were pretty good in the beginning of the race and got shuffled back and it was tough to work traffic today,” Kenseth said. “They got the setup good on the last two runs and had good pit stops.”

“We were able to stand on the gas and work our way up there to third.”

Surprising: One of the hottest drivers on the circuit surprisingly went from Victory Lane in Pocono and in the Michigan Nationwide race to hitting the wall and ending his Michigan Cup race with a DNF.

“It was just the restarts,” Joey Logano said. “The slower lapped car – we all waved around and we’re all trying to turn down underneath him.”

“I thought I had it saved and over-corrected and went in the wall,” Logano continued. “It’s a little frustrating.”

“We’ll go back out there next week and win that one.”

Not Surprising: NASCAR is a family so, to no one’s surprise, several teams and crew members came to the aid of a driver in trouble. After wrecking, Denny Hamlin tried to drive to pit road only to be engulfed in flames in the race car.

“There’s a lot of good safety stuff, but I’ve got to thank all of the crew guys that hauled ass over there and got me out,” the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota said. “It was just a tough day.”

“I thought we had a car that could run top-three or four at times, but just didn’t have a great day and on fire is not a good way to end it.”

Surprising: Rough times surprisingly continued to plague the Busch brothers, from Pocono to the Irish hills of Michigan. Kurt Busch, who sat out of his car at Pocono due to a verbal altercation with a media member, wrecked on lap two of the Michigan race.

Brother Kyle fared none better, experiencing engine failure for the third weekend in a row.

Kurt Busch finished 30^th and Kyle Busch finished 32^nd. With the engine failure, Kyle Busch managed to hold on to 12^th in the point standings, but barely remained in Chase contention.

Not Surprising: Jimmie Johnson, along with his lucky horseshoe, continued to triumph over adversity. The driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet managed yet again to pull off another top-5 finish.

“Man, we were coming,” Johnson said. “We were really flying.”

“And then I blistered the right rear again and had to just hang on,” Johnson continued. “And then I ran out of fuel going into Turn 3 and coasted around and made it to the finish.”

“It was a tough day; but a good finish, so we’ll take that.”

Surprising: EGR racer Juan Pablo Montoya had a surprisingly good run at Michigan, finishing eighth.

“It was good,” the driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet said of his top-10 run. “I will tell you the truth, yesterday when they changed tires, I was really worried.”

“I called my dad to wish him a Happy Father’s Day and he said, ‘How is the car?’ I said, ‘If it handles the way it handled yesterday we are going to get lapped every 20 laps.”

“Our team has a lot of potential and we showed a little bit of what we can do,” JPM continued. “I think we still have a lot of work to do, but I’m happy, really happy.”

Not Surprising: As the fastest racer in NASCAR, Marcos Ambrose not only scored the pole with a new track record, but also finished ninth in his No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion.

“We will take the top-10 but we had a great car today and we lost a little bit of track position and it hurt us there,” Ambrose said. “I am proud of my Stanley team. We led some laps and looked good up there.”

“It was a strong day for us, not quite what we wanted, but we will take it and move along to Sonoma.”

June 19, 2012