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  • Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 to reach 1,000 starts at Daytona RC

    Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 to reach 1,000 starts at Daytona RC

    A significant milestone is in the making for one of NASCAR’s and Richard Childress Racing’s iconic numbers this weekend at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course. When the NASCAR Cup Series makes its inaugural start at Daytona’s road course layout on August 16, the No. 3 RCR Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE driven by Austin Dillon will reach 1,000 starts under the Richard Childress Racing banner in NASCAR’s premier series.

    Having made 112 previous starts in the NASCAR Cup Series, Richard Childress first sported the No. 3 aside his own-operated car for the 1976 season. Competing the entire 30-race schedule, Childress earned 11 top-10 results, including a best result of sixth place at Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway in March, before he concluded the season in 11th place int he final standings. From 1977 to 1980, the No. 3 car driven by Childress earned a total of 44 top-10 results with a best points result of ninth place in 1977.

    For the first 20 races of the 1981 season, Childress notched only one top-five result, a fourth-place result in the season opener at California’s Riverside International Raceway, and was ranked in 13th place in the standings following a 26th-place finish at Talladega’s Alabama International Motor Speedway. For the remaining 11 Cup races of the season, Childress retired from racing and turned over the driving responsibility of his No. 3 car to Dale Earnhardt, the 1980 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Kannapolis, North Carolina, who had a fallout with the late entrepreneur Jim Stacy. Earnhardt’s best results during his 11-race stint with RCR were a pair of fourth-place finishes at North Wilkesboro Speedway in October and at Riverside in November.

    From 1982 to 1983, the No. 3 car owned by Childress was driven by Norfolk County, Virginia’s Ricky Rudd while Earnhardt competed for Bud Moore Engineering. After going winless in 1982, Rudd won at Riverside in 1983 and recorded the first NASCAR Cup Series career victory for Richard Childress as an owner. Rudd went on to win once more at Martinsville Speedway in September before he concluded the season in ninth place in the final standings.

    In 1984, Earnhardt and Rudd swapped rides, with Earnhardt back as the driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. At Talladega in July, Earnhardt captured his first victory with RCR and he won another race at Atlanta in November before he concluded the season in fourth place in the final standings. After winning four races, recording 16 top-10 results and finishing eighth in the 1985 standings, Earnhardt drove RCR’s No. 3 car to five victories, 23 top-10 results and the 1986 Cup championship, which marked the second title for Earnhardt and the first for Childress.

    From there, the dynamic duo of Earnhardt and Childress’ No. 3 car ignited. The following season, 1987, Earnhardt won 11 races and claimed a second Cup title. Earnhardt and Childress went on to win four more championships (1990, 1991, 1993 and 1994). By then, Earnhardt and the No. 3 RCR Chevrolet won 54 races. In addition, Childress’ No. 3 car surpassed 500 Cup career starts.

    From 1995 to 1997, Earnhardt piloted the No. 3 car to seven victories, 32 top-five results and 40 top-10 results with a best points result of second place in 1995 behind Jeff Gordon. In 1998, Earnhardt captured his first elusive Daytona 500 win in February and in his 20th effort. Earnhardt’s victory was one that was applauded and respected by many, with many crew members congratulating Earnhardt on pit road. He proceeded in performing two victorious spins in the infield grass before he proceeded to Victory Lane to celebrate his triumph with his crew, friends and family.

    Following the 2000 season, Richard Childress’ No. 3 car had won 69 races and had surpassed 700 Cup career starts with Earnhardt tallying his win column to 76 and coming off a runner-up result in the 2000 standings behind Bobby Labonte. Then came the 2001 Daytona 500 in February, where Earnhardt was battling for third place when he was involved in a wreck in Turn 3 and made head-on contact into the outside wall alongside veteran Ken Schrader before both competitors came sliding down the banking and into the infield. While Michael Waltrip, Earnhardt’s driver from Dale Earnhardt Inc., celebrated with the win, Earnhardt was transported to the Halifax Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at age 49 due to sustaining a fatal basilar skull fracture. Following the 2001 Daytona 500, Childress retired the No. 3 in the Cup Series, which was renumbered to 29 with Bakersfield, California’s Kevin Harvick competing for RCR from 2001 to 2013.

    Thirteen years later, the No. 3 car under the Richard Childress Racing banner returned to the Cup circuit for the 2014 season with Austin Dillon, Childress’ eldest grandson and the reigning Xfinity Series champion, assigned to drive the car in his rookie Cup season. In Dillon’s first laps piloting RCR’s No. 3 Chevrolet SS, he secured the pole position for the Daytona 500 with a pole-winning lap at 196.019 mph. Dillon went on to record one top-five result and four top-10 results before he concluded the season in 20th place in the final standings. During the process, he was beaten by Kyle Larson for the 2014 Rookie-of-the-Year title.

    From 2015 to 2016, Dillon drove RCR’s No. 3 Chevrolet to five top-five results, 18 top-10 results and two poles with a best points result of 14th in 2016. In the midst of Dillon’s sophomore and junior years of racing in the Cup Series was also how he walked away without any life-sustaining injuries from a harrowing accident on the final lap at Daytona in July, where he went airborne and flew upside down over a handful of cars before he smashed into the catch fence and was hit by a spinning Brad Keselowski while on his roof, thus destroying the No. 3 car and ripping the engine out of the car.

    In 2017, Dillon recorded only one top-five result during the first 11 races of the season. The following race at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600, Dillon survived on fuel to claim a triumphant first Cup career victory at his home track and to record the first win for RCR’s No. 3 since October 2000 at Talladega made by the late Dale Earnhardt. The victory was also the second of the season for RCR following a three-year winless drought. Dillon went on to conclude the season in a career-best 11th place in the final standings. By then, RCR’s No. 3 car surpassed 900 Cup career starts.

    In 2018, the No. 3 RCR Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driven by Austin Dillon won the 60th running of the Daytona 500 following contact on the final lap with Aric Almirola. The victory was Dillon’s second of his Cup career and it came on the 20th anniversary when Dale Earnhardt won his first and only Daytona 500 in the No. 3 car in 1998. It also came on the 11th anniversary where Childress celebrated his second Daytona 500 triumph with Kevin Harvick. Dillon went on to record one more top-five result and seven more top-10 results before he concluded the season in 13th place in the final standings.

    After going winless and settling in 21st place in 2019, Dillon started off with four top-10 results in the first 17 races of the 2020 Cup season. The following race, Dillon utilized late pit strategy to win at Texas Motor Speedway for his third Cup triumph and to record the 100th NASCAR Cup victory for the No. 3 overall. Through the first 22 races of this season, Dillon and RCR’s No. 3 Chevrolet are ranked 17th in the regular-season standings with one victory and six top-10 results. They are guaranteed a spot in this year’s Playoffs by virtue of the win at Texas.

    In 999 previous starts, the No. 3 car under Childress’ banner has achieved six championships, 72 victories, 30 poles, 256 top-five results and 477 top-10 results between four competitors.

    Catch Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 car’s milestone start in the inaugural Go Bowling 235 at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course, which will air on August 16 at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • NASCAR’s Hot 20 of All-Time

    NASCAR’s Hot 20 of All-Time

    The best of the best, a legacy that has given us 70 championships since 1949. 33 individuals have been able to lay claim to the crown. Three men have won it seven times.

    To be a champion immortalizes you, but so does excellent performance. A driver can win, but fail to grab a title. He can also rack up Top Fives and Top Tens, even if he fell a tad short in claiming the checkered flags earned by his competitors.

    A few names might surprise you, at first. Yet, when ranked for most championships, wins, Top Fives, and Top Tens, these are the 20 best NASCAR has had to offer in the driver’s seat over 70 seasons of motor mayhem.

    I bet there is no argument that the King leads the parade.

    1. RICHARD PETTY – Born July 2, 1937
      7 Championships, 200 Wins, 555 Top Fives, 712 Top Tens
    2. JEFF GORDON – Born August 4, 1971
      4 Championships, 93 Wins, 325 Top Tens, 477 Top Tens
    3. DALE EARNHARDT – (April 29, 1951 – February 18, 2001)
      7 Championships, 76 Wins, 281 Top Fives, 428 Top Tens
    4. DAVID PEARSON – (December 22, 1934 – November 12, 2018)
      3 Championships, 105 Wins, 301 Top Fives, 366 Top Tens
    5. DARRELL WALTRIP – Born February 5, 1947
      3 Championships, 84 Wins, 276 Top Fives, 390 Top Tens
    6. JIMMIE JOHNSON – Born September 17, 1975
      7 Championships, 83 Wins, 224 Top Fives, 352 Top Tens
    7. BOBBY ALLISON – Born December 3, 1937
      1 Championship, 84 Wins, 336 Top Fives, 446 Top Tens
    8. CALE YARBOROUGH – Born March 27, 1939
      3 Championships, 83 Wins, 255 Top Fives, 319 Top Tens
    9. LEE PETTY – (March 14, 1914 – April 5, 2000)
      3 Championships, 54 Wins, 231 Top Fives, 332 Top Tens
    10. BUCK BAKER – (March 4, 1919 – April 14, 2002)
      2 Championships, 46 Wins, 246 Top Fives, 372 Tens
    11. MARK MARTIN (Born January 9, 1959)
      40 Wins, 271 Top Fives, 453 Top Tens
    12. RUSTY WALLACE – (Born August 14, 1956)
      1 Championship, 55 Wins, 202 Top Fives, 349 Top Tens
    13. TONY STEWART – (Born May 20, 1971)
      3 Championships, 49 Wins, 187 Top Fives, 308 Top Tens
    14. TERRY LABONTE – (Born November 16, 1956)
      2 Championships, 22 Wins, 182 Top Fives, 361 Top Tens
    15. NED JARRETT – (Born October 12, 1932)
      2 Championships, 50 Wins, 185 Top Fives, 239 Top Tens
    16. RICKY RUDD – (Born September 12, 1956)
      23 Wins, 194 Top Fives, 374 Top Tens
    17. KEVIN HARVICK – (Born December 8, 1975)
      1 Championship, 45 Wins, 191 Top Fives, 336 Top Tens
    18. HERB THOMAS – (April 6, 1923 – August 9, 2000)
      2 Championships, 48 Wins, 122 Top Fives, 156 Top Tens
    19. KYLE BUSCH – (Born May 2, 1985)
      1 Championship, 51 Wins, 183 Top Fives, 269 Top Tens
    20. BUDDY BAKER – (January 25, 1941 – August 10, 2015)
      19 Wins, 202 Top Fives, 311 Top Tens

    Three of those boys will be out to add to their accomplishments this weekend. The Daytona 500 is coming up this Sunday, a time for new beginnings and a time for bringing things to an end. After 15 years and over a thousand columns of various incarnations, this edition represents my final regular contribution to this site.

    I want to thank Barry Albert for providing a writing home for me back in 2004. My thanks to Angie Campbell for her editing prowess and her encouragement. I would like to give a shout out to Racing Reference, a website that helps a fellow make sense of it all, a great aid to such scribes as myself. Finally, thanks to you for joining me on this journey.

  • Hot 20 – 50 years of NASCAR at Michigan

    Hot 20 – 50 years of NASCAR at Michigan

    Another weekend. Another race. Another track that does not excite me. Welcome to NASCAR.

    Michigan International Speedway, located in the lush, rolling Irish Hills, is about 40 miles southwest of Ann Arbor. The fact it is considered a sister track of Texas, and the basis of the facility in Fontana does not exactly thrill anyone, but they do go fast there. Speeds of over 215 mph can be expected. Will it cause a newbie to tune in for all of the excitement? Nope. However, there are questions those of us who follow the sport will watch in order to uncover some answers.

    Will the race change who is in a Chase place and who is not? Erik Jones and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are less than 20 points to the good, leaving them vulnerable to be caught by Alex Bowman. That could happen. A win by Paul Menard, Daniel Suarez, Jamie McMurray, William Byron, Ryan Newman, or Bubba Wallace would tumble at least one of them out. Are the odds good that this will happen? Nope.

    As they are working on their 14th name sponsor since 1969, this track does not have a brand name that much resonates. That is unless you happen to have been a big fan of the FireKeepers Casino Hotel over the past couple of years. Newman has won there twice, in 2003 and 2004, so that should still your beating heart. Kurt Busch, Kyle Larson, and Matt Kenseth each have three to their credit over the years.

    If you want tradition, there was nine-time track winner David Pearson. Cale Yarborough had eight. Bill Elliott shook the suds seven times. Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace both won at Michigan five times. Four-time victors there include Dale Jarrett, Bobby Allison, Richard Petty, and Greg Biffle.

    This is not to say there have not been exciting finishes. Jarrett won his first in Cup with a razor-thin margin over Davey Allison in 1991. Ernie Irvan took one in 1997, three years after nearly losing his life at the same track. Jeff Gordon claimed a tight contest with Ricky Rudd in 2001. 2009 was the year Martin won when both Jimmie Johnson and then Biffle ran out of fuel on the final lap. Of course, there was 2012 when Dale Earnhardt Jr. finally snapped a 143-race winless streak. Great finishes. Great races? Don’t ask and I won’t tell.

    The last four who won this particular event include Johnson, the elder Busch, Logano, and Larson. If it is not Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, or Martin Truex Jr., the smart money is on either Logano or Larson. Anything else would be something of a shock.

    Here is a look at our Hot 20 going in.

    1. KYLE BUSCH – 4 WINS – 624 Pts
    Has won here, but that was August 21, 2011.

    2. KEVIN HARVICK – 4 WINS (1 E.W.) – 537 Pts
    One pit stop at Pocono made all the difference.

    3. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 2 WINS – 487 Pts
    After last weekend, he is back among the Big Three where he belongs.

    4. JOEY LOGANO – 1 WIN – 524 Pts
    One more win, and we will be talking about a Big Four, and all would belong on that pedestal.

    5. CLINT BOWYER – 1 WIN – 453 Pts
    I just saw a photo of Carly Bowyer. She looks nothing like Clint. Hey, just sayin’.

    6. AUSTIN DILLON – 1 WIN – 269 Pts
    It is a very good thing a win is a golden ticket, as he has done nothing since Daytona.

    7. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 474 POINTS
    Just a 90 mile drive from his Michigan hometown to the track.

    8. KURT BUSCH – 447 POINTS
    Has won there with Roush Fenway, Penske, and Stewart-Haas. Maybe it was the driver.

    9. DENNY HAMLIN – 437 POINTS
    With less than 15 laps to go last week, turned a shot at a Top Ten into 35th.

    10. KYLE LARSON- 425 POINTS
    Has won three of the last four Michigan races, including a spring-summer sweep last year.

    11. RYAN BLANEY – 413 POINTS
    Took the pole last week, but only dogs truly appreciate a pole.

    12. ARIC ALMIROLA – 406 POINTS
    He is about as safe as one can be without a win.

    13. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 360 POINTS
    Five Top Tens in his last seven events. I do believe Mr. Johnson has returned.

    14. CHASE ELLIOTT – 334 POINTS
    Finished in the top dozen the last half dozen races. The boy is movin’ on up.

    15. ERIK JONES – 322 POINTS
    The pride and joy of Byron, Michigan has finishes of 13th and third in his two starts near home.

    16. RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – 319 POINTS
    Have You Driven a Ford Lately? This would be a good time to drive the hell out of this one.

    17. ALEX BOWMAN – 310 POINTS
    Last week’s meeting with Hamlin tumbled Alex out of his Chase place.

    18. PAUL MENARD – 289 POINTS
    Unless he has a win up his sleeve, he can not afford to let the points gap grow any wider.

    19. DANIEL SUAREZ – 258 POINTS
    The best Monterrey, Mexico born driver in NASCAR.

    20. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 253 POINTS
    The best Joplin, Missouri born driver in NASCAR. Carl Edwards was born in Columbia.

  • Hot 20 – The Yates legacy will come to life under the hood of a third of the Charlotte field

    Hot 20 – The Yates legacy will come to life under the hood of a third of the Charlotte field

    When one of the legends in the sport leaves us, we remember. If a man is known simply by the company he keeps, Robert Yates did very well.

    As a team owner, he was the boss to such NASCAR luminaries as Davey Allison, Larry McReynolds, Ernie Irvan, Dale Jarrett, and Ricky Rudd. His boys led him to 57 Cup wins over parts of nearly 20 campaigns. Jarrett and Allison allowed him to celebrate three Daytona 500 wins and a pair of July races. They each brought him a World 600 victory. He was a five-time winning owner at Talladega. Thanks to Jarrett, he got to kiss the bricks twice at Indianapolis. The boys helped him to a pair of Bristol wins. Six Richmond triumphs, two each delivered by Irvan and Jarrett, with Allison and Rudd chipping in the other two. In 1999, Jarrett delivered a Cup championship. Yes, Yates knew talent, and they produced for him.

    Robert Yates also knew engines. Not only was there a Yates engine powering Jarrett, they also sent Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip to the top of the mountain. Yates Engines provided the gusto that provided 77 Cup wins, and continue to do so under the guiding hand of his son, Doug.

    NASCAR owner, engine maker, and Hall of Fame inductee in the class of 2018, Robert Yates leaves us at 74 years of age.

    When the engines come to life this Sunday afternoon in Charlotte, a third of the field will have Roush-Yates power plants under the hood.

    1. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 3059 POINTS – 5 Wins
    Could sit Saturday night and still rank among the top dozen.

    2. KYLE BUSCH – 3041 POINTS – 4 Wins
    Elliott did not try to block him or send Kyle into the fence and lost. Chase needs a new plan.

    3. KYLE LARSON – 3034 POINTS – 4 Wins
    Ganassi has won 16 titles – 7 IndyCar crowns, 5 Grand-Am, 4 Champ Car. One appears missing.

    4. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 3020 POINTS – 2 Wins
    Not sure if he be a Hatfield or McCoy, but Rowdy wants to womp him low and womp him high.

    5. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 3017 POINTS – 3 Wins
    Not only is he NASCAR’s most decorated active driver, but also its highest paid. Sorry Junior.

    6. KEVIN HARVICK – 3015 POINTS – 1 Win
    Wants the future of the sport, Mr. Elliott, to win soon. As for what Mr. Busch thinks…

    7. DENNY HAMLIN – 3013 POINTS – 2 Wins
    “NASCAR drivers should be making NBA, NFL money.” I wonder if track owners will pony up?

    8. RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – 3010 POINTS – 2 Wins
    Sometimes a gamble earns you seven points and advancement in the Chase.

    9. RYAN BLANEY – 3008 POINTS – 1 Win
    Give a kid a checkered flag, and that Kyle Larson cap he was sporting comes right off.

    10. CHASE ELLIOTT – 3006 POINTS
    The day he decides to be a selfish jerk on the track is the day he will head to Victory Lane.

    11. MATT KENSETH – 3005 POINTS
    Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to the next WWE heavyweight champion.

    12. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 3003 POINTS
    Ganassi came close in 2005 to a title, but Stirling Marlin broke his leg. This was his replacement.

    13. RYAN NEWMAN – 2067 POINTS – 1 Win
    No doubt he loves his crew chief, but probably loves Stenhouse’s just a bit more.

    14. AUSTIN DILLON – 2065 POINTS – 1 Win
    Won the last time he was at Charlotte. Another would be a lovely consolation prize.

    15. KASEY KAHNE – 2046 POINTS – 1 Win
    Can he do for Leavine Family Racing what Kurt did for Furniture Row?

    16. KURT BUSCH – 2044 POINTS – 1 Win
    19th was his best first-round finish, and that is just not good enough. It really is not good at all.

    17. CLINT BOWYER – 750 POINTS
    Sixth place finish at Dover was good. His crew chief’s $10,000 fine…not so much.

    18. JOEY LOGANO – 741 POINTS – 1 Win
    If Kim Jong-un had launched those bad boys on Wednesday, Joey would have been safe.

    19. ERIK JONES – 728 POINTS
    If Hamlin is right, we might need a bottle drive to help top up Erik’s salary for next season.

    20. DANIEL SUAREZ – 653 POINTS
    Suarez could take the next three races off, and still would easily claim a spot in our Hot 20.

  • Sonoma Raceway – Did You Know?

    Sonoma Raceway – Did You Know?

    The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series travels to Sonoma Raceway this weekend for the Toyota/Save Mart 350. Thirty-eight drivers will compete but only one will make it to the Wine Country Winner’s Circle for a champagne celebration.

    Sunday’s race will be the 29th Cup Series event at Sonoma. The inaugural race was held on June 11, 1989, with Ricky Rudd holding off Rusty Wallace to win the Banquet Frozen Foods 300. It was his only victory that year, though Rudd would go on to win again in 2002. But did you know he is one of only six drivers with multiple wins at the track?

    Jeff Gordon leads the series with five victories at the road course, including three consecutively, from 1998 – 2000. Tony Stewart has three trophies but did you know he captured the final win of his Cup career last year at Sonoma, ending an 84-race winless drought?

    Ernie Irvan, Rusty Wallace and Rudd have two wins each. Kyle Busch has scored two checkered flags, in 2008 and 2015, and is the only active driver with multiple wins.

    The Sonoma race will consist of 110 laps on the 1.990-miles road course which is lined with 1,000 tire packs made up of 25,000 tires. But did you know that each driver who completes the Toyota/Save Mart 350 will make 1,100 turns during the race?

    Kyle Larson heads to Sonoma as the points leader after his win last week at Michigan, giving him two victories this year. He has the series fifth-best driver rating (90.0) at the track with a best finish of 12th place last year. But did you know that he is one of nine drivers who has secured a spot in the playoffs with wins?

    The only way any of them would fail to make the playoffs is if there are more new winners than spots left in the 16-driver field. As it now stands, Jimmie Johnson (3), Brad Keselowski (2), Martin Truex Jr. (2), Ryan Blaney, Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon, Ryan Newman and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will almost certainly join Larson as participants in the playoffs.

    Rounding out the top five at Sonoma are Kurt Busch (107.8), with the series-best driver rating, followed by Johnson (99.9), Clint Bowyer (90.2) and Kyle Busch (90.1)

    Kyle Busch and Bowyer are both winless this season but did you know they are among six active drivers with Sonoma victories? Kyle Busch has won twice (2008, 2015) while Clint Bowyer (2012), Kurt Busch (2011), Jimmie Johnson (2010), Kasey Kahne (2009) and Truex (2013) each have one win.

    One more interesting statistic — In his final trip to Sonoma as a full-time Cup Series driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. may not be anyone’s favorite to win. But did you know that he leads all drivers with a 7.0 average finish in the last three races at Sonoma?

    Qualifying will be crucial this weekend as the pole position is the most proficient starting position. It has produced more wins than any other position, with five, while the second starting position has produced three wins. But did you know that Juan Pablo Montoya won from the deepest in the field in 2007 after starting in 32nd place?

    The on-track action begins Friday afternoon with two practices while Coors Light Pole qualifying will be held on Saturday at 2:45 p.m. ET. Be sure to tune into The Toyota/Save Mart 350 Sunday at 3 p.m. on FS1 for the 16th race of the season. In the meantime, check out the video below as we remember Tony Stewart’s last trip to victory lane.

    Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

  • Finley Factor: 2018 NASCAR Hall Of Fame Ballot – Part Two

    Finley Factor: 2018 NASCAR Hall Of Fame Ballot – Part Two

    Ricky Rudd

    Rudd is probably the best overall driver on the ballot. Bobby Labonte comes pretty close, being one of only two drivers to win XFINITY Series and Cup Series championships, but Rudd had more seasons as a competitive driver. Davey Allison also makes a strong argument, but it becomes an argument of being good for twenty years versus being great for five years. I’ll always take being good for twenty years.

    Rudd’s 788 consecutive starts streak was recently broken by Jeff Gordon, but Rudd’s streak might be much more impressive considering that his was over more years, over more generations of cars, and with significantly different owners and manufacturers.

    Rudd’s streak of 16 consecutive seasons with at least one victory was also recently tied with Jimmie Johnson, who only needs to win one race in 2018 to break it. But Johnson has had the advantage of racing for Rick Hendrick his entire career, while Rudd drove for everybody during his streak between Hendrick, Kenny Bernstein, and even himself.

    All-in-all, Rudd raced for 11 different owners in at least mostly full-time competition, a large amount for such a longstanding driver. It’s hard for a driver to really get a rhythm with a team if he isn’t racing for them at the end of the season, so who knows how great Rudd could have been if he had been able to stick with one team for five or 10 seasons?

    Of those 11 different owners, only two times in Rudd’s career was he ever in equipment that could win himself a championship. Rudd drove a year for DiGard but the team struggled to do anything, and Rudd left them at the end of the 1981 season to drive for Richard Childress. This was before Childress was a championship winning team, which was also the same situation when Rudd joined with Hendrick in 1990. In 2000, Yates hired Rudd to race the No. 28 and Rudd, at age 43 and 44, had the two best seasons in his career, finishing fifth in points in 2000 and following that up with a fourth in 2001.

    I remember one time listening to Bill Simmons talking about how we were living in a reality where Steve Young wasn’t relatively successful, and that there were probably alternative realities where Young got the right breaks and became the greatest quarterback of all time. In some ways, Rudd is in the same boat. If Childress had stuck with Rudd instead of hiring Dale Earnhardt Sr., things would have been different as the team morphed into a powerhouse. Ditto with Hendrick when Rudd left after a few years to start his own team. Even if Yates had hired him to effectively replace Ernie Irvan instead of Dale Jarrett, who knows just how successful Rudd could have been?

    Even with all of these “What if?” scenarios, Rudd’s consistency and versatility has him on my ballot over the rest of the drivers nominated, with one exception.

    Red Byron

    Red Byron was one of the very first stars of stock car racing, and one of the few who continued their driving career after World War II. Before Byron were Lloyd Seay, Roy Hall, and Bill France in the 1930s, dominating and winning most of the major stock car races of the day. But Seay was killed in 1941 just hours after winning the annual Labor Day event at Lakewood speedway during an argument with a cousin over moonshine, Hall had trouble with the law, and France became engrossed with the promoting side of the sport.

    So when NASCAR began in 1948, there were three star drivers: Byron, Fonty Flock, and Bob Flock. Although future superstars such as Lee Petty, Curtis Turner, and Fireball Roberts were around, they all had just begun their career and weren’t the fan draws they ended up becoming. And with both Flock brothers treating racing as more of a fun hobby to do after hauling moonshine all night, the responsibility of being NASCAR’s first star driver was left to Byron.

    Byron was the first driver to really look at racing as a career, not something fun to do on the weekend. He typically drove with his head, conserving the fragile cars of the day to make it the entire race instead of dropping out early. He was also one of the first strategists in the sport, always knowing when to pit and why. Although I’ve never read anything about Lee Petty or Byron interacting, it’s hard to imagine the rookie Petty not taking these cues from Byron for his own somewhat similar driving style.

    Of course, there are two facts about Byron which most modern fans may know him for. The first being that he was the very first Cup Series champion, and the second being that he was a wounded in combat; some Japanese shrapnel was lodged in his hip during a failed air mission in the war, requiring a special clutch pedal for his largely limp left foot. Byron had to retire from racing early due to both this injury and a bad heart.

    The second was that Byron was also the first NASCAR champion, winning the Modified Series title in 1948 and also winning the very first NASCAR-sanctioned race at Daytona Beach in 1948. Byron’s stats aren’t that amazing, but a lot of his accomplishments came in the two years following the war in unrecorded, non-NASCAR races. It’s easy to say “But non-NASCAR accomplishments shouldn’t be part of the Hall of Fame discussion,” but Byron’s owner, Hall of Famer Raymond Parks, enjoyed most of his success in the 1930’s, cousins Seay and Hall driving his cars often after running moonshine the night before.

    Ken Squier

    Squier was the most iconic announcer in NASCAR history. Although it’s likely Mike Joy has covered more races and Chris Economaki was the first reporter, period, to primarily cover motorsports, nobody has ever made as many iconic calls as Squier.

    As a commentator, it’s very easy to fall into the trap of making yourself the biggest part of the show. Howard Cosell, especially in his latter years, was pretty guilty of this. Darrell Waltrip and at times Rick Allen also suffer from this problem. But with Squier, he added to the moment, never taking it over or making the viewer remember he was the one calling the race.

    Squier’s style was a simple, impactful one. He wasn’t going to talk a mile a minute, but instead made his words matter in an eloquent way. Imagine a grandparent telling a story to their grandkid. An announcer on television is never supposed to talk about everything happening on screen at one time, especially in auto racing when there’s a ton of things generally happening off-screen. Instead, a TV announcer is supposed to verbally paint a picture for the setting of whatever is being shown on screen, to bring emotion to it. Squier was the master at that.

    How many times have there been highlight reels with “There’s a fight, between Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison,” from Squier’s call of the 1979 Daytona 500? Or “and for the 19th time, lady luck… deals a bad hand, to Earnhardt,” after Dale Earnhardt Sr. barreled rolled out of the 1997 Daytona 500? Squier’s calls made the mundane notable and the notable iconic. The finish of a race always had an epic feeling to it whenever Squier was on the call.

    Possibly the best indicator to me that Squier was really that great an announcer was the past two Southern 500s. In both races, Squier returned to the booth with Ned and Dale Jarrett as part of NBC’s “throwback” coverage and didn’t seem to regress that much as an announcer. It’s hard to take a near 20 year layoff and come back to do some announcing, even if it’s for about half an hour. But Squier, although a tad bit slower in his call, was still just as great in his role. Although it would be hard to argue for Squier to become the first strictly media member if Economaki was on the ballet, as Economaki basically created American racing coverage in print media, for now Squier is really the best of the rest of the candidates.

    Finley Factor: 2018 NASCAR Hall Of Fame Ballot: Part One

  • The Silent Killer That Surrounds Us

    The Silent Killer That Surrounds Us

    On Jan. 22, 2003 NASCAR driver Rick Mast, then 45, announced that he was retiring from racing due to due to acute and chronic carbon monoxide poisoning from the race cars he occupied for over 15 years. He became the first NASCAR driver to announce that carbon monoxide was a contributing factor in his decision to retire from racing. According to an article in the New York Times, dated Feb. 2, 2003, Mast’s symptoms included being disoriented and falling ill for days at a time.

    According to the Mayo Clinic, “Carbon monoxide poisoning occurs when carbon monoxide builds up in your bloodstream. When too much carbon monoxide is in the air, your body replaces the oxygen in your red blood cells with carbon monoxide. This can lead to serious tissue damage or even death. Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas produced by burning gas, wood, propane, charcoal or other fuel. Improperly ventilated appliances and engines, particularly in a tightly sealed or enclosed space, may allow carbon monoxide to accumulate to dangerous levels.”

    Carbon monoxide (CO) is a byproduct of just about everything that motorsports does. In race cars, much progress has been made to keep the drivers safer from carbon monoxide while they race.  It was very common in the 1990s and early 2000s for carbon monoxide to be a factor in a race.

    Reports from Michigan in 1991 indicated that Dale Earnhardt was ill after damage early in the race to his vehicle caused carbon monoxide to build up. In September of 1998, Ricky Rudd extended his annual Cup Series race win streak at Martinsville. At the race track, Rudd collapsed in Victory Lane and it was reported at the time that it was because his cooling system failed and it was almost 100 degrees at race time. However, carbon monoxide was also an issue.

    Ward Burton had an issue in the motor coach lot prior to the Coca-Cola 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. After the race, Burton said, “It went from one end of the spectrum to the other all day. The motorhome compound is so tight here that I got a little carbon monoxide poisoning last night and that kind of played against me. I wasn’t 100 percent in the car late in the race. I hope Humpy and them will do something about that because that’s not right. We were all over the place. The generator fumes were coming up under the bus and I started to get a hell of a headache. The buses are so close together it’s like you can hardly open the doors.”

    From 1999 to 2010 the Center for Disease control noted that there were 5,149 deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning in non-fire circumstances. In the NASCAR world, the biggest carbon monoxide issues are not in the race cars or garage areas but in the camping and living areas, where deaths have been reported in the past. So take so, me time and review the portable CO buying guide to protect yourself and others from accidental poisoning.

    I recall an incident at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in May 2002 when two campers died from carbon monoxide poisoning due to them trying to heat their tent with a charcoal grill during a record cold snap. As recent as 2013, a camper died when his RV had a leaky exhaust causing carbon monoxide to build up at the Talladega Superspeedway.

    The author has personal experience with carbon monoxide poisoning. In 1987 his fraternity house furnace malfunctioned when it was -20 degrees. Having been trained in the US Marine Corps about the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, the fire department was called and they used special equipment along with a carbon monoxide respirator to inspect the house.  A disaster was averted when local officials deemed the house unsuitable for living quarters until the furnace was fixed.

    As the NASCAR season is underway and the weather has been somewhat unpredictable up and down the east coast, generator safety is paramount. Generators are a source of electricity for RVs, travel trailers, pop-up campers, and tent campers. One thing I’ve personally witnessed is the variety of ways generator owners try to protect their investment in a generator. They will build wooden boxes with covers but those don’t necessarily consider the proper and safe operation of the generator.

    One product that any generator owner should consider is the GenTent (http://www.gentent.com/).

    “Regardless of the numerous published warnings, consumers continue to operate portable generators in unsafe manners which prove to result in serious injuries and deaths every year,” said Mark Carpenter, CEO, Founder, GenTent Safety Canopies. “GenTent’s Top 10 Portable Generator Safety Tips list is a playbook for the proper use of portable generators and it enables owners to experience safe generator use year-round.”

    The folks from GenTent have created a product that allows generators to be operated safely in any kind of weather. More importantly, it allows the ventilation of carbon monoxide outside the tented area. The website is a plethora of information regarding safely operating a generator.

    As people load up their campers and head to the track, it’s important to remind everyone that carbon monoxide is an odorless gas and can kill in minutes. Take a few moments to check over your generator and correct any issues with its operation. It could mean the difference between life and death.

  • The Final Word – Hamlin Happy with Chicago Result, while Happy Was Not

    The Final Word – Hamlin Happy with Chicago Result, while Happy Was Not

    Chicago. The opening race of the Chase. Sixteen drivers would continue the quest, one very likely locking his way into the next round, some setting themselves up with fine starts while others…not so much. So much to watch for, so much at stake, but would all this a good race make?

    Damn right it would. Brilliant pit strategy, some luck, a flat tire, and a lot of air time for a sponsor highlighted the affair. It all started with a spin by Denny Hamlin on just the second lap. He was down low, so low A.J. Allmendinger did not see him and cut down in front, making both burn off some rubber. For Hamlin, it meant a drop from 23rd to dead last.

    That is where his adventure began. One hundred sixteen laps of green followed and by the time a caution did fall, Hamlin, Carl Edwards, Paul Menard, and Jamie McMurray were all a lap down; Clint Bowyer two in the depths. Time to roll the dice, as both Hamlin and Edwards took the wave around and hoped. They got what they wished for shortly after when Austin Dillon’s promising night went away with the bang of a tire and a wall that was not very gentle. With that, the two gamblers were back on the lead lap.

    By the time they were down to the final 70 laps, both were in the Top Ten, and with under 10 to go a debris caution gave the crew chiefs one more chance to strategize. Dave Rogers left Hamlin out to start among the Top Five while Edwards came in for fresh Goodyears. Not much difference between them, though Hamlin did beat his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate to the line, to claim a place in the next round of the Chase that begins at Charlotte in October.

    Kevin Harvick did not live up to his nickname, as Happy was not with Jimmie Johnson. Six-Time got an unwanted push on a re-start from Joey Logano that powered him down to the apron and beside the defending champ. Johnson tried to move back up, Harvick denied him, and the cars touched. Smoke came bellowing from the left rear of Harvick’s auto, then let go three laps later, to leave him 42nd on the night. Later in the garage, he showed his displeasure with Johnson, who finished 11th. As for Logano, he finished an angelic sixth.

    Jeff Gordon was in the 788th race of his Cup career, an unbroken string going back to the final race of 1992. You might remember that his debut also marked the final race of Richard Petty’s career. It also tied Gordon with Ricky Rudd for most consecutive races, a record that should be topped this Sunday in New Hampshire.

    Some thought Gordon jumped a restart just past the mid-point of the race to leave Kyle Busch behind. With the idea of drivers policing themselves finally abandoned, it was judged that Gordon did not so much accelerate away, but that Busch had slowed down coming to the line. The review went in Gordon’s favor.

    Gordon led for 41 laps, Martin Truex Jr. for 39, and Kurt Busch, who finished third, was the point man for 37 circuits. However, the dominant car for most of it was the M&M Crispy Toyota of Kyle Busch. He led four times for 121 laps, but he melted over the final 50 to come home in ninth.

    All but one came home in decent shape, with six points the biggest deficit to be overcome among them. Harvick, on the other hand, is 43 away. Eleven current Chasers have won in New Hampshire in the past, Hamlin among them. So is Harvick. Once. In 2006. I would expect him to go for broke when they break loose in Loudon this weekend.

  • Sonoma Raceway Sprint Cup Preview – Just the Facts

    Sonoma Raceway Sprint Cup Preview – Just the Facts

    With only 11 races remaining in the regular season, the action heats up as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series travels to Sonoma Raceway this weekend for some road course action in California.

    Did you Know?

    • The NSCS competes at Sonoma Raceway once each season. The first Cup race was held there in 1989.
    • Ricky Rudd won the first race on June 11, 1989 at a speed of 76.088 mph.
    • Rusty Wallace won the inaugural pole with a 90.041 mph lap.
    • Danica Patrick is the only female NSCS driver that has competed at Sonoma Raceway.
    • Dale Earnhardt won his only NASCAR road course race at Sonoma in 1995.
    • The last 10 races have produced 10 different winners:

    2005 – Tony Stewart
    2006 – Jeff Gordon
    2007 – Juan Pablo Montoya
    2008 – Kyle Busch
    2009 – Kasey Kahne
    2010 – Jimmie Johnson
    2011 – Kurt Busch
    2012 – Clint Bowyer
    2013 – Martin Truex Jr.
    2014 – Carl Edwards

    Winners and Losers:

    • Kurt Busch has the best driver rating at Sonoma (106.5) followed by Jeff Gordon (103.4) and Tony Stewart (98.8).
    • Gordon’s resume, however, may be the most impressive as he leads the series with nine road course wins, five at Sonoma and four at Watkins Glen. Although his last triumph was in 2006, this could be one of his best opportunities to bring home his first checkered flag of the season.
    He is the only driver with consecutive wins at this track, with three victories between the years 1998-2000. Gordon is also the lone competitor to win from the pole more than once (1998, 1999 and 2004) and he leads the series with 14 top-five finishes at Sonoma.
    • Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are at the other end of the spectrum. They have the dubious distinction of leading all active drivers with the most NSCS starts at Sonoma (15) with no wins to show for their efforts. A trip to Victory Lane would be huge for either driver but if their driver ratings at the track are any indication, Earnhardt (72.1) and Kenseth (75.4) are long shots at best.

    Milestones:

    • Brad Keselowski is set to make his 300th NSCS consecutive start on June 28 at Sonoma Raceway.
    • If Kevin Harvick places in the top-two this Sunday, he will accomplish something that only one other driver in NSCS history has done by capturing 11 top-two finishes in the first 16 races of the season. Bobby Allison did so in 1972.
    • Carl Edwards is tied with Dale Earnhardt Jr. with 24 series career wins. A win at Sonoma would tie him with Joe Weatherly and Denny Hamlin who are 29th on the all-time wins list with 25.

    Ten different drivers have secured their spot in the Chase with a victory this year. Will a new driver emerge victorious at Sonoma Raceway this weekend? Tune into the Toyota/Save Mart 350 on FOX Sports 1 Sunday, June 28 at 3 p.m. to find out.

  • Max Gresham Inspired by Podium Truck Finish at Charlotte

    Max Gresham Inspired by Podium Truck Finish at Charlotte

    For Max Gresham, 20 year old driver of the Eddie Sharp Racing No. 8 AmWINS Chevrolet, his career-best third place finish was inspirational. The young driver also led three laps for the first time in his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career and gave Charlotte-based sponsor AmWINS its first top-three finish right in their own backyard at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    “For us, the finish is major league justification that we are going down the right path with our technology and all the things we’ve been doing to get better,” Gresham said. “It’s a huge confidence boost for us because we’ve been struggling with having good runs this year.”

    “That’s just the run we needed to start something and we have a bunch of rejuvenated energy now,” Gresham continued. “That finish was inspiring for everyone involved with what I’m doing and where I’m trying to get.”

    While Gresham could not pin point exactly what has been the spark to get his season going in the right direction, he did acknowledge that he and his crew chief Chris Showalter had hit on a thing or two that seemed to suit the car and the driver.

    “We’ve been adding some new spring and shock combinations and we just found one that I really liked in practice,” Gresham said. “We just kept working on it to make it better and better.”

    “It just brought the truck alive,” Gresham continued. “And we just had everything go right for once.”

    “We didn’t get caught up in any wrecks and it all went right.”

    Gresham shared his tremendous respect for his crew chief and credits his years in the Truck Series as a key factor to their success together.

    “Chris Showalter is a genius I think,” Gresham said. “He makes all the right calls and continues to work really hard.”

    “He is also the only guy to have been to every single NASCAR Truck race,” Gresham continued. “He has not missed one since its initiation in 1995.”

    “I think he’s up to 400 something races now,” Gresham said. “No one has more trips to the Truck races than him.”

    “He’s seen it all, he’s done it all and he’s been a part of it all.”

    Gresham also contributed his podium finish to his race team, Eddie Sharp Racing, with whom the young racer has had a relationship since his ARCA Series days.

    “I knew Eddie from when I was running ARCA races,” Gresham said. “Late last season, we went back to him and everything came together.”

    “It’s been an awesome start to the season,” Gresham continued. “We’re going to run the full year and we’re going to make the most of it.”

    While his third place run in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 moved him up to 17th in the point standings, the young driver set his next goal as getting into the top ten in points.

    “Our goal is to keep building on that success and keep inching our way forward,” Gresham said. “We want to be in the top ten in points.”

    “Of course we want to win, but we want to get consistent finishes first.”

    Gresham admitted that he had also had an interesting ride with his sponsor AmWINS, a company that absorbed his grandfather’s insurance agency late last year.

    “Steve DeCarlo (CIO of AmWINS) is actually a race fan and I’m glad he decided to go racing with us,” Gresham said. “He was at the race and he said he that he has never had so much fun and that it was one of the coolest things he has ever done.”

    “When you can make a man like Mr. DeCarlo say something like that, you are doing something special.”

    Gresham has already had a very special racing career and is actually in his 12th full season of racing.

    “I started when I was eight in Bandeleros and then went to the Legend car,” Gresham said. “I was running Pro Super Late Models all over the southeast and then in 2010, I moved up to the K&N Series for Joe Gibbs Racing and in 2011, I won the K&N championship for Joe Gibbs.”

    “From there, I moved into the Truck Series and now I’m with Eddie Sharp Racing and we’re on the verge of doing some very cool stuff this year.”

    Gresham is absolutely enjoying every minute of the Truck Series, from the competition with other young guns to the wise advice and counsel of the veteran drivers.

    “The great part about the Truck Series is that everyone is so close and the competition is so tight,” Gresham said. “Even someone like Ron Hornaday or Todd Bodine is willing to tell someone that he’s going to be racing a little secret here and there so that when you’re racing with them, you don’t do something stupid, wreck and take them out.”

    “Everyone is willing to help you a little bit to make sure you don’t get them in trouble and that’s how everyone works,” Gresham continued. “I’ve been in other divisions where no one is willing to talk to you because you’re just a rookie and a young kid.”

    “But the Truck Series is great, there are a lot of good people and you can constantly learn from everyone.”

    While Gresham idolizes many of the Truck Series drivers, he has two racers in particular that have earned his respect as a fan and as an up and coming talent.

    “When I was very young, I was a Ricky Rudd fan and watched him until he retired,” Gresham said. “Now, I’ve become a Carl Edwards fan.”

    “He’s an awesome guy,” Gresham continued. “He knows how to talk. He knows how to drive. And in my mind, he’s the full package.”

    With a top-five finish in his pocket, Gresham cannot wait to get to the next Truck Race at the Monster Mile in Dover, Delaware. In fact, the youngster feels like he is due at the fast mile race track.

    “Dover is just fun,” Gresham said. “I’ve run there twice in the K&N Series and it really owes me one.”

    “I should have won the race in 2010 when my motor blew up when I was leading,” Gresham continued. “Then in 2011, I had a loose wheel that didn’t allow me to race in the green, white, checkered finish.”

    “So I feel like it owes me,” Gresham said. “It’s a fun track and it’s a fast track. It always leaves the Truck Series with a good finish because we really race hard there.”

    Gresham is also thrilled with the new sponsor that he is bringing to that race track as well.

    “We will have Trimmers Assist on the Truck at Dover,” Gresham said. “It came about a month and a half ago and we had it on the deck lid at Charlotte but it will be a full truck deal at Dover.”

    “We’re ready for Dover in two weeks and we’re really looking forward to what is to come in these next few months,” Gresham said. “It’s inspiring.”