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  • Brian Vickers Becomes New Sheriff in Town with New Hampshire Win

    Brian Vickers Becomes New Sheriff in Town with New Hampshire Win

    Brian Vickers, driver of the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota, proved that there was a new sheriff in town in the Camping World RV Sales 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    Vickers scored his first win of the season, forgoing the traditional burnout to instead claim the checkered flag and celebrate the moment high-fiving the fans.

    “I don’t know if I can put it into words,” Vickers said. “With everything I’ve gone through from the blood clots to are you ever going to race again to now I can race, but I don’t have a job to getting a phone call from Ty (Norris) to run eight races, nothing could be more special to have this win.”

    “I’m grateful to my family and friends who have supported me along the way,” Vickers continued. “When your back’s against the wall, you find out quickly who is willing to vouch for you.”

    “Sitting in Victory Lane is one of the most special events of my life.”

    The last time that Vickers was in Victory Lane was on August 16, 2009 at Michigan. Until now, he has never won at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    “I’m just thankful that I was able to get back in the car and that there were people that still believed in me,” Vickers said. “That was the biggest emotion that I have and will have going forward.”

    “They took a chance in a lot of ways,” Vickers continued. “I’m just very thankful for all that and that’s the main emotion that I still have.”

    Although Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, finished in the runner up position, he acknowledged that it was one difficult race, especially contending with race winner Vickers.

    “Well it was certainly a tough one,” Busch said. “Our car was super-fast for the short run of the race and we could run up front and make some ground.”

    “But once we got close to somebody, the aero effect seemed to take over,” Busch continued. “I was just getting tighter and tighter as the run went along.”

    “I’m really proud of the effort and glad we came home second but it was a really tough day for us.”

    Busch had nothing but praise for Brian Vickers, as well as Michael Waltrip Racing, with whom Joe Gibbs Racing has a relationship. And he even learned a little bit that he can take into the next Loudon race during the Chase.

    “Vickers was obviously going to be the car to beat,” Busch said. “But congratulations to them.”

    “It was cool to see an MWR team in Victory Lane with the relationship we have with JGR,” Busch continued. “Certainly, we really wanted to win but we know what we need to do to get our car better for when we come back in the Chase race.”

    This was Busch’s seventh top-10 finish in 17 races at the Magic Mile and his 11th top-10 finish of the season.

    Jeff Burton achieved a milestone at a track that he loves, scoring his best finish of the season in third. The driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet posted his 14th top-10 finish at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    “You know, we feel good about what we’re doing,” Burton said. “We are definitely making progress and we feel like we are starting to building on something.

    “And we think we can improve.”

    Brad Keselowski, who sat on the pole, finished fourth in the Blue Deuce. And he echoed what most of the drivers were saying, that the race was one of the toughest he has run.

    “That was a grueling race for sure,” Keselowski said. “We fought hard all day and came home with a fourth, so that was a decent day.”

    “I thought we had a shot at it,” Keselowski continued. “The 18 and 78 were really good and I hadn’t been around the 55 all day until the end.”

    “But man, that last run, he was definitely fast and deserved the win,” Keselowski said. “It was a decent day for the Miller Lite Ford Fusion but we just needed a little bit more to win.”

    One of the bigger surprises of the race was the finish of Aric Almirola, behind the wheel of the No. 43 Smithfield Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports, finishing fifth. And he gave all the credit to the man atop his pit box, crew chief Todd Parrott.

    “We really struggled and Todd saw that track position was really important,” Almirola said. “So, we took two tires on one of those cautions and that was really bad so we came back down pit road and took four tires when everybody else stayed out and that gave us the opportunity when everyone else came to pit to make it on fuel and we stayed out.”

    “That was a great pit call by Todd Parrott and these guys on the Smithfield Ford Fusion did a great job and that is nice,” Almirola continued. “It is a great way to go into the off weekend.”

    As with any short, flat track, there were some moments both on and off the track that sparked some rather emotional responses.

    Probably the most disappointed was Kurt Busch, who sat on the outside pole and then got tangled up with Matt Kenseth, sending Ryan Newman spinning as well. The driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet finished 31st.

    I just got hit from behind,” Busch said. “There was three-wide action and everybody’s going hard.”

    “Kenseth was in the middle on the back straightaway,” Busch continued. “The car gets light when there is no air on the rear spoiler back there.”

    “We just got whacked by a bunch of guys,” Newman said. “The No. 18 hit me first, the No. 2 hit me next and then I guess it was Kurt (Busch) that went underneath three-wide.”

    “The No. 20 come and clipped us and knocked us into the fence and took himself out,” Newman said. “That was the best I could tell.”

    “We kind of were in a bad spot having a little bit older tire but just a lot of disrespect from a bunch of guys on restarts.”

    The Rookie of the Year contenders Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Danica Patrick also had a moment together, finishing 23rd and 32nd respectively. And for those two drivers, it was all about the brakes that were to blame as they both went crashing.

    “My brakes were going out all race really,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “I was complaining about it all race.”

    “We will take the weekend off and go to Indy.”

    Jimmie Johnson, who came from the rear to finish sixth and maintain the points lead, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top-ten in the 21st Annual Camping World RV Sales 301 at the Magic Mile.

     

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Coke Zero 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Coke Zero 400

    In addition to a dose of roof flap drama, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 55th annual Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

    Surprising:  Who knew that the magic between driver Jimmie Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus, leading to their record-setting night of sweeping both the 500 and 400 at Daytona in the same year, all started over a beer and a game of horseshoes?

    “People make the difference,” five-time champ Johnson said. “Chad and I have a relationship since the first time we drank beer in my backyard throwing horseshoes.”

    “It was the start of many good things to come,” Johnson continued. “The relationships, the people make the difference.”

    “That’s where the magic lies.”

    Johnson also gave Team Hendrick its first sweep at Daytona since 1986 when Geoff Bodine and Tim Richmond accomplished the same feat. This was Johnson’s 64th career Cup Series win and his fourth victory of the season, tying competitor Matt Kenseth in the win column.

    Not Surprising:  While Tony Stewart finished runner up in his No. 14 Bass Pro Shops Ducks Unlimited Chevrolet, regaining the six spots in the point standings to the tenth position, he finished off the night ‘testy’ in the media center after the checkered flag flew.

    When asked whether or not his retreat to the rear of the field for much of the race was pre-planned, Stewart showed his dismay for what he considered perhaps not the best question of the evening.

    “You guys act like you’ve never seen me do that before,” Smoke answered. “I’ve been doing that for 15 years and we’ve had good results on it.”

    When next asked about whether or not he liked this type of racing at this stage in his career, Stewart again reverted to past practice.

    “Go back to your old notes,” Smoke said. “My opinion hasn’t changed in 15 years.”

    “If you don’t have them, somebody else in the room will have them, you know that.”

    Surprising:  Rookie of the Year contender Ricky Stenhouse Jr. thought that he had successfully broken a barrier in his 2013 career. Unfortunately he was unpleasantly surprised after NASCAR showed him the photo finish, realizing that he still had more work to do.

    “We’ve been working all year long and we’ve got a couple of 11ths, 12ths, and it’s good to break that barrier of top ten,” Stenhouse Jr. said, before learning that he had really finished in the 11th spot.  There is no doubt that he will be aiming for that barrier again at New Hampshire and with a vengeance.

    Not Surprising:  Kevin Harvick was not happy in spite of being the third place finisher in his No. 29 Budweiser Folds of Honor Chevrolet.

    “Yeah, we didn’t win,” Harvick said. “That was our expectation coming here.”

    “I felt like we were in the right position,” Harvick continued. “We couldn’t get everything lined up to get going.”

    Surprising:  Probably the most surprised driver at Daytona was Paul Menard, who lost an engine with absolutely no warning in the early going on Lap 22.

    “Something just let go,” the driver of the No. 27 Rheem/Menards Chevrolet said. “I felt the heat come up.”

    “It gave no indication,” Menard continued. “I haven’t had a motor failure in forever.”

    “Just unfortunate.”

    Not Surprising:   NASCAR’s biggest loser in addition to Menard was Joey Logano, who brought out the second caution of the race with a tire failure and a crash into the wall. The driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford fell hard in the point standings, losing five positions and dropping from the 10th to the 15th position.

    “It was a big hit,” Logano said of his trip into the wall. “But it was a bigger hit in the points really.”

    “We’ve lost a lot but we’re not out of it by any means.”

    Surprising:  While Daytona is known for its share of ‘big ones’, there were some particularly hard hits in this version of the Coke Zero 400, including crashes for Denny Hamlin, A.J. Allmendinger, and Kasey Kahne.

    Hamlin was involved in two crashes, the second just a few laps away from the checkered flag.  The two wrecks added insult to his already injured back, as well as a sore knee and head from a crash just last week at Kentucky.

    Allmendinger, in the No. 51 Phoenix Construction Chevrolet for James Finch, described his wreck as a ‘Days of Thunder’ moment, one that injured him in his ‘man parts’ and sent him stumbling out of his car in pain.

    “Everybody moved down and Denny (Hamlin) appeared right in front of me,” Allmendinger said. “I just hit him as hard as I could unfortunately.”

    One of the most bizarre but hard wrecks occurred at the end of the race, knocking a strong player out of contention. On Lap 155, Kasey Kahne got slammed while running at the front of the field, crashing hard into the inner wall.

    “I got slammed and shot to the left,” Kahne said. “It’s kind of how these races go.”

    “You don’t have a lot of control over what happens.”

    Not Surprising:  Michael Waltrip, behind the wheel of the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota often driven by Mark Martin, scored a top-five finish. Waltrip, who has a stellar resume on plate tracks, pulled off another good finish in spite of being a bit rusty behind the wheel and having some struggles in the pits.

    “We were just really fortunate after getting into a wreck on pit road,” Waltrip said. “I’m just happy for the team because it was a well-deserved finish.”

    Surprising:  MWR teammate Clint Bowyer also had such a surprisingly good run, finishing fourth in his No. 15 Blue DEF Diesel Exhaust Fluid Toyota. And with that finish, he ousted Carl Edwards from second place in the point standings, sitting 49 points behind leader Johnson.

    “I was pushing Michael and got him passed,” Bowyer said. “I looked in the mirror and all hell broke loose.”

    “That’s Daytona,’ Bowyer continued. “But I’ll take a top-five anytime in one of these races.”

    This was Bowyer’s third top-five finish in a row.

    Not Surprising:  With team owner and driver Tony Stewart setting the bar in the runner up spot, the rest of the Stewart-Haas Racing team also finished well at Daytona, in spite of final lap mishaps.

    Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Outback Steakhouse Chevrolet, scored bloomin’ onions for all with a top-ten finish. This was Newman’s sixth top-ten at Daytona and his eighth of the season

    “I’m glad we got a top-10 for Outback Steakhouse, but I hate that we destroyed another race car on the final lap,” Newman lamented. “That just seems to be the norm for us when it comes to restrictor-plate racing.”

    SHR teammate Danica Patrick was also involved in the multi-car melee at the end of the race, finishing 14th in her No.  10 GGoDaddy.com Chevrolet.

    This was her fourth top-15 finish of the 2013 season.

    “Well a green-white-checkered finish is always exciting,” Patrick said. “All in all, it was a solid day.”

    Surprising:  Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet, continues to amaze with his performance, finishing sixth and putting himself in Chase contention with a five spot move up in the point standings to ninth.

    This is the highest in the point standings that Kurt has been so far in the 2013 season. This was also his third straight top-ten finish and his eighth top-10 finish of the season.

    “We stayed out of trouble, had smooth pit stops and had a big points night for our Furniture Row team,” Busch said. “These guys are working hard and it’s paying off.”

    Not Surprising:  Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished top-ten at Daytona, in spite of some challenges with his race car.

    “I had fun,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet said. “We just didn’t make our way to the front.”

    “We had a problem with the car,” Junior continued. “Something broke and we could hardy steer it coming into the pits.”

    The eighth place finish at Daytona moved Earnhardt Jr. up one position in the points standings to fifth.

     

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Coca Cola 600

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Coca Cola 600

    With the focus on America’s military, past, present and those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for freedom, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Memorial Day running of the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    Surprising:  NASCAR’S elite Cup drivers had to face surprising battles of their own, as unfortunately did some fans in the stands, when an overhead camera cable, utilized by Fox Sports to cover the race, broke.

    Several drivers and race cars were impacted, as well as ten fans sustaining injuries, with three taken to the hospital for evaluation and further treatment.

    The race was red flagged to allow fans to be helped, as well as to surprisingly allow the drivers and teams an opportunity to evaluate and then work on their wounded race cars.

    “At this time, we do not have a cause for the failure of the camera drive line that interrupted the Coca Cola 600 and our concern is with the injured fans,” Fox Television said in a statement issued shortly after the incident.

    “We apologize to the racers whose cars were damaged and offer a sincere ‘thank you’ to the staff at Charlotte Motor Speedway for attending to the injuries and keeping us informed,” the statement continued. “A full investigation is planned and use of the camera is suspended indefinitely.”

    Not Surprising:  In a race that was fraught with several ‘weird’ incidents in addition to the camera failure, it was not surprising that race winner Kevin Harvick focused on not just celebrating in Victory Lane.

    “Well, first off I want to say I hope everybody is okay from that cable,” the driver of the No. 29 Budweiser Folds of Honor Chevrolet said. “That was quite a weird incident there.”

    “Second, I just want to say thank you to all these guys at RCR (Richard Childress Racing),” Harvick continued. “To win at Charlotte is something that we had to overcome for a long time.”

    “Just got to thank everybody from Budweiser, Sprint, all the fans and this great promotion with the Folds of Honor special beer cans,” Harvick said. “Five cents from every can goes to Folds of Honor.”

    This was Harvick’s 21st victory in 442 Cup starts, his second victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway, as well as his second victory of the 2013 season.

    Surprising:  While Chevrolets tend to be dominant at Charlotte Motor Speedway, there was one five-time champion Chevy driver noticeably absent from the front of the pack this weekend.

    In fact, Jimmie Johnson, the driver with the best rating at Charlotte, with a 111.7 average out of a possible 150, finished 22nd.  The driver of the No. 48 Lowes Patriotic Chevrolet fought loose conditions all evening and finally spinning out of contention.

    “Yeah, we were like a fifth place car,” Johnson said. “And then we got pulled around in Turns 3 and 4 and spun.”

    “That really affected our finish from that point,” Johnson continued. “It was a long night with a lot of issues.”

    Not Surprising:  As so often happens in big-time motorsports, the dominant car did not finish first, especially since there was some strategy involved. That is exactly what happened to Kasey Kahne, who had by far the strongest car in the field, and ended up not pitting when everyone else in the field did so.

    “Well, there was a couple of guys that had just got tires so we thought they would stay out,” Kahne said. “Instead the whole field pitted.”

    “We had a great Time Warner Cable Chevy all night,” Kahne continued. “We were just in a tough spot there.”

    Kahne finished in the runner up position, his 11th top-ten finish in nineteen races at Charlotte and his sixth top-10 finish of the season.

    Surprising:  Kurt Busch, who has struggled to close out strong at the end of the race, surprisingly overcame great adversity to finish third in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing/Sealy Chevrolet.

    “Still shell shocked,” Busch said. “We picked up the lead and the battery went dead.”

    “We battled back, Busch continued. “The guys changed it as fast as they could and we got third.”

    “It was a great night to run up front and showcase what this team is made of.”

    This was Busch’s seventh top-ten finish in 26 races at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    Not Surprising:   Denny Hamlin, behind the wheel after his back injury, not only qualified well but also ran well in the top five, capitalizing on every situation possible to get himself and his team back into contention.

    Hamlin, behind the wheel of the No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, started from the pole and was the highest finishing Toyota Camry driver in the race. Hamlin scored the fourth spot when the checkered flag flew and moved up three positions in the point standings to 24th.

    “Proud of our effort,” Hamlin said. “We need solid runs like this.”

    Surprising:  In an incident that looked like Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Danica Patrick wrecked each other, Brad Keselowski, who was also involved, surprisingly threw himself under that bus.

    “Yeah, I cut Danica off,” Keselowski said. “I didn’t know we were still three-wide and I caused a big wreck.”

    “I feel bad for her and I send my apologies to her,” Keselowski continued. “It was a long night for the Miller Lite Ford.”

    Keselowski finished 36th and fell three spots to 10th in the point standings.

    Not Surprising:  In a battle for the lucky dog after being trapped in the pits when a caution came out, Jeff Gordon became the unlucky dog yet again.

    “We were a victim of the caution coming out while we were on pit road,” Gordon said. “We were going for the Lucky Dog and had to be real aggressive.”

    “We were racing three-wide and that’s what’s going to happen,” Gordon continued. “I hate we were back there.”

    “We had an awesome Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet.”

    Gordon finished 35th and fell three spots to 15th in the point standings.

    Surprising:  Stewart Haas not only had a surprisingly good finish for at least two of their drivers, with Ryan Newman finishing sixth and Tony Stewart finishing seventh, but they also gained some hope for the remainder of the season.

    “It was a solid night for Stewart-Haas Racing,” Newman said.

    “We finally got some stability in the car,” Stewart said.

    “All three of our cars made big improvements this week in terms of performance,” Greg Zipadelli, Competition Director, said. “Danica had a bad day, but overall we ended up with a couple of good finishes, which was certainly an improvement.”

    Not Surprising:  Given the length of the race, it was not surprising to see some engines fail under the pressure.

    One such failure happened to Kyle Busch, who had again been dominant, until his car was injured by the camera cable. He was able to get repaired and was still performing at the front of the field when the engine let go, ending his day in the 38th position.

    “We had been running first, second or third most of the evening, but just catastrophic engine failure,” Busch said. “It seems to be that time of the year again.”

    “I hate it for all my guys,” Busch continued. “It’s just so frustrating to see it end on a short note like that and not getting the finish that we needed.”

    Dale Earnhardt, Jr. also suffered an engine issue in his No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet, relegating him to a 39th place finish. NASCAR’s most popular driver, however, put it all in perspective.

    “We had smoke in the cockpit for three laps and we started losing power before it broke,” Junior said. “We didn’t have a really good car.”

    “But I want to wish everyone a happy Memorial Day weekend,” Earnhardt Jr. continued. “I take a lot of pride in the National Guard and hope everyone shakes a soldier’s hand and thanks them for what they do.”

  • Kevin Harvick Closes Out Strange Coca Cola 600 With Second Season Win

    Kevin Harvick Closes Out Strange Coca Cola 600 With Second Season Win

    From surviving two red flags, one for a bizarre camera cable snap that injured cars on the track as well as some fans in the stands, to the second red flag for a Talladega-style pile up, Kevin Harvick survived it all to live up to his moniker as the ‘Closer’, going to Victory Lane for the second time this season.

    “Well first off, I want to say I hope everybody is okay from that cable,” the driver of the No. 29 RCR Budweiser Folds of Honor Chevrolet said. “That was quite a weird incident there.”

    “Second, I want to just say thank you to all the guys at Richard Childress Racing,” Harvick continued. “To win at Charlotte is something that we had to overcome for a long time.”

    Harvick credited his victory to some old fashioned pit road tire strategy, a great restart against Kasey Kahne, and getting out in front in clean air.

    “Clean air was really big,” Harvick said. “Obviously with him (Kahne) being on old tires, we knew that the restart was going to be important to be able to get that clear track.”

    “And it paid off.”

    One of the most disappointed drivers no doubt was Kasey Kahne, who after battling flu-like symptoms prior to the race and having such a strong car, still could not hold off Harvick for the win. Instead the driver of the No. 5 Time Warner Cable Chevrolet for Rick Hendrick Motorsports finished second yet again.

    “Yeah, we ran second to Matt (Kenseth) at Vegas, second to Matt (Kenseth) again at Kansas and now second to Kevin (Harvick) here,” Kahne said. “We were the fastest car in all three of those.”

    “We just didn’t win any of them,” Kahne continued. “I feel good about where we are and the team is doing an awesome job.”

    “We just need to finish it off.”

    There is no doubt that the third place finisher Kurt Busch felt a real kinship with the warriors that he supports through the Armed Forces Foundation. The driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing/Sealy Chevrolet battled the cable hitting the car incident, a dead battery and keeping track position throughout the night to score the top-five finish.

    “I’m still shell shocked,” Busch said. “We picked up the lead and then the battery went dead.”

    “I don’t know what to think of that,” Busch continued. “We battled back.”

    “The guys changed it as fast as they could and we got third,” Busch said. “We had a good car.”

    “You’ve got to be perfect to win these things and I was close.”

    While Chevrolet dominated the first three positions, Denny Hamlin in his No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota and Joey Logano in his No. 22 Pennzoil Shell Ford, rounded out the remainder of the top five in the finishing order for the 54th annual Coca Cola 600.

    “We need solid runs like this,” Hamlin said as he continues to recover from his back injury. “I feel good.”

    “We didn’t have a winning car, but we had a fourth to sixth-place car and that’s where we ended up.”

    While Hamlin was feeling good, fifth place finisher Logano was tired but pleased, especially with his team and crew.

    “It was a long race,” Logano said. “Starting from 31st with the Shell/Pennzoil Ford, we had our work cut out for us, especially at a track that is so hard to pass.”

    “That was a long race, a really long race, but I think my guys did an awesome job coming from 31st up to fifth,” Logano continued. “I’m super proud of them.”

    The weirdest part of the race, and for many the scariest, was the network broadcast camera cable breaking, strewing wiring on the track and into the stands. The most damaged car on the track was the No. 18 M&M Red-White-Blue M-Prove America Toyota of Kyle Busch.

    AT least ten fans were also injured in the stands, seven treated and released at the track and three sent to hospitals for further evaluation and treatment as needed.

    “I didn’t see anything,” Busch said. “I just heard a big thunk on the right-front tire and thought the tire blew out.”

    “That’s how hard it felt,” Busch continued. “I felt it like, ‘Whoa’, that’s weird.”

    “Maybe now we can get rid of that thing.”

    The second major incident occurred later in the race but also resulted in a red flag. Drivers affected in the Talladega-like wreck included Jeff Gordon, Aric Almirola, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Bobby Labonte.

    “I got under Mark (Martin) and I was down next to the grass and he clipped me in the right rear corner panel,” Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 43 US Air Force Ford, said. “It kind of stinks.”

    “I got squeezed in there trying to run the thing three-wide,” Mark Martin, driver of the Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota, said. “And there wasn’t quite room there.”

    “We were racing three-wide and that’s what’s going to happen,” Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, said. “We were going for the Lucky Dog and had to be real aggressive.”

    “I hate we were back there,” Gordon continued. “We had an awesome Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet.”

    Almirola, Martin and Gordon finished 33rd, 34th and 35th respectively.

    In spite of a battery issue, a spin late in the race, and a 22nd place finish, five-time champ Jimmie Johnson maintained his points lead, in fact 32 points ahead of Carl Edwards.

    “Yeah, we were like a fifth place car,” Johnson said. “But then we got pulled around in Turns 3 and 4 and spun.”

    “We did have some issues with the charging system of the car with batteries dying and things like that throughout the race, which added more excitement for us,” Johnson continued. “It was a long night with a lot of issues.”

    “All that did some damage to the car and that really affected our finish from that point.”

    The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will leave home and head next to compete at the Monster Mile in Delaware.

     

  • Treasure Hunters From Around The World Gathering At Darlington Raceway

    Treasure Hunters From Around The World Gathering At Darlington Raceway

    Darlington Raceway, along with the Florence Visitors Bureau, and the Pee Dee Geocachers, have teamed up to give fans attending the Bojangles Southern 500 this weekend a unique opportunity to hunt for treasure located around the hallowed grounds of the Track To Tough To Tame.

    Treasure hunting has been around almost since the beginning of time. Once upon a time a treasure hunters tools included tattered maps, shovels, a pick ax, or on rare occasions, a divining rod.

    Those days are all but gone.

    Today’s modern treasure hunters use cell phones, GPS tracking devices, the internet, and a technologically advanced method called Geocaching.

    Geocaching started about 13 years ago as a high tech game of hiding, and seeking, containers called caches; or geocaches.

    Caches can vary from small tubes containing paper logs, to large ammo boxes containing trinkets, or toys for trading. Some of these items have serial numbers which allows tracking on the internet.

    Geocaching uses the internet to provide information and GPS coordinates to the location of caches all around the world.
    Rumor has it that a geocacher actually found the elusive needle in the haystack.

    What makes geocaching even simpler is that smart phones can access the internet from almost anywhere.
    Enhancing your hunting experience is also just as simple. Located on the internet are several geocaching and GPS apps available for download to your smart phone, or tablet, at no cost.

    Treasure hunters at this weekend’s Bojangles Southern 500 will be treated to geocaching at its finest.
    When fans are ready to start hunting, they should check in at the booth located in front of the raceway museum.

    There they will find GPS coordinates leading them to caches hidden around the speedway. These caches will contain a trivia question and information to help them find other caches.

    The first 200 lucky fans that have the right combination of caches, and correct answers, will be rewarded with a one-of-a-kind Darlington Raceway commemorative coin.

    So, if you’re heading out to the Darlington Raceway for the Bojangles Southern 500, and want to do some real treasure hunting, brush up on your Darlington trivia, charge your cell phone, and be sure to bring along family and friends, so no one misses this once in a lifetime opportunity.

    Your treasure is waiting.

    To purchase tickets for the Bojangles Southern 500, or to find out more information about this weekend’s festivities at the Darlington Raceway, log on to one of the following web sights.

    www.darlingtonraceway.com
    www.geocaching.com
    www.visitflo.com

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Talladega Aaron’s 499

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Talladega Aaron’s 499

    With a three hour plus rain delay pushing the Aaron’s 499 from day into a Talladega Night, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Alabama 2.66 mile oval.

    Surprising:  While Talladega has seen its share of calamities, the 44th annual race running seemed to be the granddaddy of all mayhem. There was not just one ‘big one’ but two, with sixteen cars involved in the first wreck early in the race and twelve cars in the second ‘big one’ near the end of the race.

    In between the crashes, there was the weather red flag, which lasted three hours, 36 minutes and six seconds, pushing the race to its finish in what some called darkness.

    There were two drivers, however, who experienced the most ‘Dega mayhem. Kurt Busch, driving the No. 78 Furniture Row/Beautyrest Chevrolet, was having a great run until getting clipped by another car as it slipped down the track.

    This sent Busch airborne and rolling over and over to eventually land smack dab on top of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet of Ryan Newman.

    “We just got hit from behind and along for the ride we went,” Busch said. “It’s Talladega, what can I say.”

    “That’s no way to end a race,” Newman said. “You got what you wanted but that’s just poor judgment restarting the race, running in the dark and running in the rain.”

    Not Surprising:  While ‘Dega may have been filled with mayhem for many drivers, it was a dream come true and the luckiest track ever for two Ford drivers, who both just happened to be named David.

    For David Ragan, winning his first race at Talladega and scoring the first ever victory for his team Front Row Motorsports, Talladega was indeed a dream come true.

    “I always knew in my heart I would get another chance,” Ragan said. “We know we are an underdog but we know ‘Dega is an equalizer.”

    “How sweet to see all those Fords up there for the win,” Ragan continued. “I’m looking at my mirror and I was wondering if I was dreaming.”

    While David Ragan stood in Victory Lane, he would not have been there without the push of his teammate David Gilliland, who himself pronounced Talladega as the luckiest track ever.

    “It was a big day,” the driver of the No. 38 Love’s Travel Stops Ford said. “A lot of it had to do with this little note from my 10-year-old daughter Taylor wishing me good luck.”

    “She wrote that with a little horseshoe on it and put it on my dash before the race,” Gilliland continued. “And she had some horseshoe good luck earrings in too.”

    Surprising:  The race at Talladega was surprisingly nightmarish for one Trevor Bayne, who had once asked if he was dreaming after winning the Daytona 500. The driver of the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford blew up, bringing out the first caution of the race.

    “There was no warning at all,” Bayne said of his engine issue. “I got to turn one and it let go.”

    “I’m surprised the whole field didn’t crash with as much oil that was pouring out of this thing.”

    Not Surprising:  Given the carnage on the race track, it was not surprising that Trevor Bayne was not the only driver watching the remainder of the race from his motor home. In fact, Kasey Kahne, who was involved in the ‘big one’ early on, watched what was left of the race from his couch at home.

    “Btw I’m on the couch at home,” Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Time Warner Cable Chevrolet for Hendrick Motor Sports, tweeted after being knocked early. “This sucks.”

    Kahne finished 42nd and lost three spots in the point standings, falling from the third to the sixth position.

    Surprising:  Demonstrating a new-found maturity, Kyle Busch accepted full responsibility for causing the first ‘big one’ at Talladega.

    “Kind of caused it,” the driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota said. “I really don’t know what happened.”

    “I know I got in the back of the No. 5,” Busch continued. “I hated that I caused a melee for everybody especially early in the race.”

    “I hated that we all got crashed in that deal.”

    Not Surprising:   Restrictor plate racing does indeed make strange bedfellows. There was no better demonstration of this than the ‘friends’ that Denny Hamlin made to enable his successful comeback to the sport after his back injury.

    “It means a lot as a driver to have your peers have your back like that,” Hamlin said of Tony Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya, Michael Waltrip and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., all of whom fell to the back of the pack to help him. “They really sacrificed the first part of the race for me.”

    “I can’t thank them enough.”

    Also, not surprisingly, the driver change between Hamlin and Brian Vickers went perfectly, allowing Hamlin to escape through the roof hatch to the broadcast booth in the Hollywood Hotel while watching his replacement Brian Vickers take the wheel, only to wreck out in the ‘big one.’

    “Everything went seamless and painless,” Hamlin said. “Every week I feel a lot better.”

    Surprising:  Danica Patrick showed some surprisingly skilled evasive moves in avoiding the first wreck and was in good position until the late-race accident on lap 182 ended her day. The driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Stewart Haas Racing finished 33rd.

    “We were watching and we were like, ‘Holy Cow’,”  Tony Gibson, crew chief, said of Danica’s avoidance of the first ‘big one’.  “I don’t know how she missed it.”

    “It’s just unfortunate how it ended up with the late-race crash,” Gibson continued. “But that’s part of restrictor-plate racing.”

    Not Surprising:  With a rain delay of the magnitude at Talladega, it was not surprising that several drivers and cars had issues attempting to go back racing. Juan Pablo Montoya could not get his No. 42 Clorox Chevrolet re-started after the rain delay and ended up behind the wall before returning to the track for a 25th place finish.

    Joey Logano was right there with JPM struggling to restart after the rain delay, however, his problem was more serious and ultimately fatal. The No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford had some sort of engine issue that led to his 35th place finish.

    “We’re not sure what happened,” Logano said. “We’re thinking maybe an air pocket somehow got in the water system, but it doesn’t make sense.”

    “It’s a bummer when you’re sitting third when it is raining and you don’t finish the race.”

    Surprising:  Toyota had a good day at Talladega with occasional Toyota driver and team owner Michael Waltrip surprisingly leading the way. Waltrip was the highest running Toyota  with a fourth place finish, followed by Martin Truex Jr. in seventh and lap-leader Matt Kenseth in eighth.

    “I love being a part of the Toyota family,” the driver of the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine/Alabama National Champ Toyota said. “We had a great run.”

    “I had a ball,” Waltrip continued. “I love being at Talladega and I love racing.”

    Not Surprising:  Jimmie Johnson extended his points lead to 41 over second place Carl Edwards with his fifth place finish at Talladega.

    “It was obviously a very good day for our Lowe’s Chevrolet,” Johnson said. “We had a very fast car and I felt like we were a player all day long, and that’s awesome.”

    Surprising:  Regan Smith, behind the wheel of the No. 51 Hendricks.com Chevrolet, was surprisingly disappointed with his top-ten finish, especially after winning the crash-filled Nationwide race.

    “Well the last few laps I didn’t see much because it was pretty dark,” Smith said. “A little disappointed.”

    “I kept getting stalled out by the cars on the outside.”

    Not Surprising:  Even with the mayhem of restrictor plate racing, Aric Almirola, behind the wheel of the No. 43 Gwaltney Ford, continued his streak of consecutive top-ten finishes. In fact, he will make history for Richard Petty Motorsports at Darlington if he finishes in the top-ten there.

    “We sure are on a roll lately,” Almirola said. “I think we are the only people that aren’t surprised we are seventh in points and have the longest current top-10 streak in the series.”

    “We just need to keep it up and start moving to top-fives and hopefully a win soon.”

  • Win #1 Is Coming Soon For Both Aric Almirola & Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    Win #1 Is Coming Soon For Both Aric Almirola & Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

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

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

    Photo Credit: Mike Holloway/Speedway Media
    Photo Credit: Mike Holloway/Speedway Media

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

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

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

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

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

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Texas NRA 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Texas NRA 500

    From the agonizing delays in pre-race tech to the broom in Victory Lane, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 17th annual NRA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

    Surprising:  While it might have taken a surprising twenty years of trying, Norm Miller and Interstate Batteries, thanks to their driver Kyle Busch, finally made it to Victory Lane. This was Busch’s 26th win in 300 Cup Series races and surprisingly his first win at Texas Motor Speedway in the Cup Series.

    “For Interstate Batteries and Norm Miller to be in Victory Lane in Texas – there’s nothing better than putting him right here,” Busch said. “This feels good.”

    In addition to the sweep at Texas, winning the Nationwide and Cup races, Busch and company also had a surprisingly stellar night in the pits. In fact, for eight pit stops, the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota team led the way statistically with the least amount of time on pit road.

    “We had a great racecar, and we worked really hard all weekend, but without that pit crew – they’re the best in the business,” Busch said. “They know when it’s crunch time.”

    Not Surprising:  When a racer fails to win, especially after coming so close, it is not surprising that the end result is bitterness and disappointment. But for Martin Truex, Jr., the runner up run was almost unbearable, especially after losing the lead in the pits.

    “Shoulda, coulda, woulda,” the driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota said. “I’m just disappointed.”

    “The race was over when we got beat out of the pits,” Truex Jr. continued. “We’ve had a tough season and we had a car capable of winning.”

    “I’m just tired of finishing second,” Truex Jr. said. “This is getting old. It sucks.”

    Truex’s day got even worse when it was determined that his car flunked post-race inspection, being too low in the front. Any possible penalties issued by the sanctioning body may come early in the week.

    Surprising:  There was a surprising amount of drama prior to and after the race for team Penske. Both Keselowski and Logano had difficulty in pre-race tech, so much so that Logano almost did not make it out on the track for the start of the race.

    Yet both Penske drivers managed to score top-ten finishes in spite of it all, with Logano in fifth and Keselowski in ninth.

    “Shoot, I wasn’t even in the car yet,” Logano said. “It was a little too close for my comfort.”

    “If you would have told me I would have finished fifth today, I would have given you a hug.”

    Keselowski, however, had some harsh words for the sanctioning body after the race as a result of having to change the rear-end housing prior to the race.

    “The things I’ve seen over the last seven days have me questioning everything I believe in and I’m not happy about it,” the driver of the Blue Deuce said. “You have no (expletive) idea what’s going on.”

    “I feel like we’ve been targeted over the last seven days more than I’ve ever seen a team targeted,” Keselowski continued. “We’re not going to take it.”

    As with Truex Jr., NASCAR will most likely assess penalties later in the week.

    Not Surprising:  Roush Fenway Racing traditionally does well at Texas Motor Speedway, so it was not surprising to see both Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle have good runs, finishing third and fourth respectively. Both RFR drivers, however, faced some significant obstacles along the way to both finish top-five.

    Edwards had a mechanical issue with a cracked tailpipe and then had difficulties with his seat belts coming undone.

    “That’s a gift for us,” the driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford said after the race. “I know Martin (Truex, Jr.) is not happy with second, but I’m real happy with third.”

    Biffle also struggled, from starting towards the back with a 35th qualifying spot to a speeding penalty on lap 224 for too fast entering the pits.

    “It was a tough night,” Biffle said. “Our car definitely wasn’t as good as it was last year, but we battled back.”

    Surprising:  Dale Earnhardt Jr. suffered his worst finish of the season in 29th after having an eventful evening. Junior struggled with seeing his pit sign, asking at one point for a deer spotlight on it, and then headed to the pits with a dead battery.

    That started the perfect storm of other issues, since without the engine running the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet sped and incurred a penalty. With that poor finish, Dale Jr. dropped three positions in the point standings, down to the sixth spot.

    “It has been rough but we had a really good car tonight,” Junior said. “Eventually things will turn back around for us.”

    Not Surprising:   While this driver may have surprised a military veteran prior to the race, Aric Almirola has been steadily gaining momentum on the track, so much so that his seventh place finish was not at all surprising.

    And with that good finish, the young driver gained two spots in the point standings, up to the 14th position.

    “We had a great car,” the driver of the No. 43 Petty race car said. “Todd Parrott and these guys gave me a great Eckrich Ford Fusion and I felt really good about it.”

    “It was a great day, a great points day for us.”

    Surprising:  While not surprising to see mechanical failures in a race as grueling as Texas, it was surprising to see two of the stronger cars in the race succumb to those issues. Both Kurt Busch, in the No. 78 Furniture Row/Serta Chevrolet, and Jeff Gordon, in the No. 24 Cromax Pro Chevrolet, had difficulties, resulting in 37th and 38th place finishes respectively.

    “I’m not sure maybe a burned wheel bearing or something,” Gordon said. “We’ll learn about what happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

    “When you’re running solidly in the top-five and then to have a parts failure knock you out of contention, it’s frustrating,” Kurt Busch said. “We had a part on the fuel injection system break.”

    “What’s done is done and we have to put tonight behind us and focus on getting these problems rectified sooner than later.”

    Not Surprising:  While many drivers had difficulty in the pits, from a fire in Matt Kenseth’s pit to Tony Stewart’s newest perpendicular approach to his pit stall, it was not surprising that the most basic issue, that of pit box color, tripped up at least two drivers on pit road.

    Juan Pablo Montoya, who sports the traditional red and white colors, got a bit confused when he tried to pit in Dave Blaney’s stall, which also just so happened to be red and white for the evening.

    Montoya finished 20th and Blaney ended up in the 25th spot in the race.

    Surprising:  While both rookies, sporting similar cowboy hats and boots, had surprisingly challenging days at Texas, Danica Patrick again beat out her boyfriend Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the rookie battle on the track.

    Patrick finished 28th while Stenhouse Jr., after cutting down a left-rear tire and spinning, finished 40th.

    “It was a tough night,” Patrick said. “The car was just kind of all over the place.”

    “It’s kind of tough to go straight when you lose a left-rear tire,” Stenhouse, Jr. said. “I felt like our car was pretty good, but it was just a tough break.”

    Not Surprising:  With Denny Hamlin at the track and on the pit box and a fast No. 11 FedEx Office/March of Dimes Toyota, it was certainly not surprising to see Brian Vickers, who is literally competing for a ride with each race, finish eighth.

    “It feels great,” Vickers said of his top-ten run. “We’re pleased but I wanted to win.”

    “I guess that’s what we are here for.”

     

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Fontana Auto Club 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Fontana Auto Club 400

    From three-wide racing to the splitter-challenging bumps, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 17th annual Auto Club 400 in Fontana, California.

    Surprising:  While the Busch brothers are more often than not in the spotlight for disagreements on and off the track, this past weekend the younger Busch sailed past the trouble right into victory lane while the older brother also snagged a top-five finish.

    This was Kyle Busch’s first victory of the year, his 25th Cup win, and the first victory for Joe Gibbs Racing at Auto Club Speedway. He is now tied with Matt Kenseth, Jim Paschal and Joe Weatherly for 24th in all-time victories.

    “What a great day,” Kyle Busch said. “It’s been three years in the making.”

    “Being right here in California, we finally get the win for Toyota and Joe Gibbs at a track where he has never won at,” Busch continued. “Coach, I drove my butt off for you.”

    Brother Kurt Busch overcame an incident of slipping in oil early in the race and a pit road speeding penalty to score a fifth place finish, the first time ever that Furniture Row Racing has scored back to back top-five finishes.

    “Just real ecstatic,” Kurt Busch said. “Persevering, digging hard, and bringing it right back up to the front when it counts, that is what it’s all about.”

    Not Surprising:  Crew chief Steve Letarte continued to live up to his moniker as ‘Magic Man’ and his driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr. continued to be ‘Mr. Consistent’, overcoming their own pit road struggles to finish second. This was Junior’s sixth top-10 finish at Auto Club and his fifth top-10 finish in 2013.

    And much to the delight of NASCAR Junior nation, their driver now also leads the point standings.

    “We just stick together,” Junior said. “We were pretty good at closing races, something I never really was good at for years, and now we’re doing it as good as anybody.”

    “Just riding the wave,” Dale Junior continued. “Just real happy with how things are going for our team.”

    Surprising:  For a two-mile oval track, Auto Club Speedway generated just as much, if not more, drama than its short-track counterparts, from the Logano versus Hamlin feud to the Logano versus Stewart post race tussle.

    Unfortunately, the short-track racing on the final laps led to not only heated tempers but also a significant injury to Denny Hamlin, who ended up with a fractured back after a hard hit into the wall.

    “He shouldn’t have done what he did last week,” Logano said of his incident with Hamlin after the race. “So, that’s what he gets.”

    “I had to throw the block there,” Logano said of his tussle with Tony Stewart that led to a confrontation, some punches and some expletive-laced comments from Smoke after the race. “That was a race for the lead.”

    “So I was just trying to protect the spot I had.”

    Logano finished the race in the third position after adjustments were made to the finishing order. Stewart finished in 22nd and Hamlin finished 25th.

    Not Surprising:  It seems, unfortunately, that these race cars just find those non-SAFER barrier protected walls at so many different tracks on the circuit. It happened previously at Watkins Glen to Jeff Gordon, resulting in a back injury, and again this weekend at Auto Club Speedway for Denny Hamlin, resulting in another back injury.

    As soon as he hit the non-SAFER barrier wall, Hamlin knew he was ‘in trouble.’

    “The position I was in, I couldn’t breathe at all,” Hamlin said. “Literally, when I felt a pop, I couldn’t move at all.”

    “That’s why I rushed out and just laid flat on the ground to start breathing again.”

    Surprising:  Brad Keselowski, who had been riding a streak of consecutive top-five finishes, looked to be in the position to continue it, however, fell victim to a pit road speeding penalty and then to overheating issues late in the race.

    The reigning champ had to drive from the back of the field several times, including at the beginning of the race due to an engine change and on lap 92 after the speeding violation. He finished a disappointing 23rd and fell to second in the point standings.

    “I think we went from the back to the front three times today, which really showed the speed we had in the Miller Lite Ford,” Keselowski said. “We’re still good in points position after a tough day though.”

    Not Surprising:   Roush Fenway Racing had a pretty good day in California, with both Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards finishing in the top-five in the race and in the point standings. Even rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr. logged all of the laps and had his fifth finish of 20th or better for the season.

    “Man that was just an unbelievable race,” Edwards said. “It was a really good show.”

    “We were pretty good at the end,” Biffle said. “Overall, a top-five finish for us is a great day.”

    This was Edwards’ third top-five finish and Biffle’s second top-10 finish in five starts in 2013.

    Surprising:  Although both were able to rebound, it was a bit surprising to see how mightily California natives and teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson struggled on their home turf. Both were mired back in the pack for much of the race but managed in the end to finish 11th and 12th respectively.

    The bright spot for four-time champion Jeff Gordon is that it was the first time in the 2013 season that he finished higher than his starting spot.

    Not Surprising:  At a track where she had never been in a Cup car before, Danica Patrick remained in learning mode, struggling in qualifying and for most of the weekend but completing all the laps for a 26th place finish.

    “We just had a tough Friday and Saturday and we regrouped for Sunday and put a new setup on the Go Daddy Chevrolet and stayed optimistic,” Patrick said. “The car started off a bit loose, but once we dialed that in, it was decent.”

    “So I felt better at the end of the race than I did in qualifying,” Patrick continued. “We all want better than 26th and that’s what we had today and it will be better next time.”

    Surprising:  After team owner Tony Stewart’s incident with Joey Logano in the waning laps, Stewart Haas racer Ryan Newman became the star of the team, finishing with a top-ten at Auto Club Speedway. But he too had to overcome some adversity in the form of a pit road violation to score that 10th place finish.

    “The guys on this WIX Filters team did a great job today,” Newman said. “They kept making the adjustments we needed.”

    “I put us in a bad spot at the end with the speeding penalty,” Newman continued. “But fortunately we were able to rally back from that to finish 10th.”

    “I can’t say enough about everyone on this team.”

    This was Newman’s third top-10 finish, much to the delight of all Outback Bloomin’ Onion fans.

    Not Surprising:  The ‘quiet man’ Paul Menard continued his stealth moves on the track, finishing eighth in his No. 27 Menards/Certainteed Chevrolet.

    Menard is also in the eighth place in the point standings, again quietly representing Richard Childress Racing as the lone ranger in the top twelve at present.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Vegas Kobalt Tools 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Vegas Kobalt Tools 400

    With rain in the desert setting the field and the Denny Hamlin fine all the talk, here is what else was surprising and not so surprising from the Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    Surprising:  The transformation surprisingly continued for Matt Kenseth, who moved from lame duck last year at Roush Fenway Racing to winner this year in just the third race of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing.

    “Thank you Lord for putting me here,” Kenseth said simply as he took the checkered flag.

    This was the driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota’s 25th career victory and the 101st victory for his new owner Joe Gibbs. And it was Kenseth’s 41st birthday to boot.

    Not Surprising:  It was a strong day for the Hendrick bunch, with one notable exception, Jeff Gordon, who brought up the rear with a disappointing 25th finish in his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet.

    Kasey Kahne, who had a strong No. 5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet, gave Kenseth a run for his money but could not close the deal, finishing second.

    “I had the car to beat today,” Kahne said. “We lost, but it was still a great run for all of our guys.”


    Jimmie Johnson, behind the wheel of the No. 48 Lowes/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, finished sixth and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., driver of the No. 88 AMP Energy Orange Chevrolet, finished 7th.

    “I lost a couple of spots in that last restart, but it was fun to race that fast,” Johnson said. “We were flying.”

    “We had a real good race,” Junior said. “I enjoyed the race track and the raceability of the track was a lot of fun. I had a blast really.”

    Not surprisingly, Hendrick Motorsports is also strong in the point standings, with Johnson in the lead, Junior in third, Gordon dropping five spots to 13th and Kahne moving up 17 spots to 14th after the Vegas race.

    Surprising:  While every other driver complained of being loose, Rookie of the Year contender Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. surprisingly complained about being tight.

    “I kept telling them to free it up and we would get tighter and tighter,” the driver of the No. 17 Zest Ford said. “That is why we gave up all our track position.”

    “Every pit stop we made we got tighter and tighter,” Stenhouse, Jr. continued. “I couldn’t go on a restart.”

    Stenhouse Jr. finished 18th and is still in the lead in what he refers to as the ‘Ricky of the Year’ standings. He also led his first ever Cup lap after staying out while others headed to pit road.

    Not Surprising:  Stenhouse Jr.’s other half, Danica Patrick had ‘one of those days’ at the track. Not only did she struggle and finish 33rd in her GoDaddy.com Chevrolet but her team also had a tire outside the box violation on Lap 123, necessitating a pass through penalty.

    “That’s alright, guys,” Patrick said. “If we’re going to have these days, might as well have them all together.”

    “It was a real tough day, no doubt.”

    Surprising:  While both Earnhardt Ganassi Racing cars had to start from the rear of the field due to engine changes, both rebounded surprisingly well.

    Jamie McMurray, behind the wheel of the No. 1 McDonalds Chevrolet, finished 13th and EGR teammate Juan Pablo Montoya in the No. 42 AXE Apollo Chevrolet finished 19th.

    Not Surprising:   While Denny Hamlin paid the price for sharing his concerns publicly about the new Gen 6 car, many other drivers admitted to still trying to figure out their own race cars.

    Top among that group, however, was Kyle Busch, who overcame a Lap 48 pit road speeding penalty to finish fourth in his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota.

    “Man it was really unique,” Busch said. “When I was out front, I was fast as heck.”

    “But behind others, then I was wrecking loose,” Busch continued. “All in all it was fun and today was the first part of figuring out the nuances of this race car.”

    Surprising:  In his 150th career start, Joey Logano, behind the wheel of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion, made an uncharacteristic mistake. Just like his former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch, Logano sped down pit road on his first pit stop.

    Logano rebounded, just like Busch, to finish in the 12th spot.

    “I screwed up,” Logano said. “I went down a lap but never caught our break to go.”

    “I felt like we had a top-five car but I made a dumb mistake.”

    Not Surprising:  Although not running a full-time season, NASCAR’s Iron Man Mark Martin continued to show his mettle, finishing 14th in his No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine and moving one spot up to sixth place in the point standings.

    “It was fun,” Martin said. “I didn’t get a good restart on the last one but other than that, it was a good solid day by this team and car.”

    Surprising:  There is a bit of surprising name up there in the top ten in points and he just so happens to drive for the King. Aric Almirola, driver of the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Farmland Ford Fusion, may have finished 16th at Vegas but he remains right there in the tenth spot in the point standings.

    “We probably had an 8th – 12th place car so I’m disappointed we finished 16th,” Almirola said. “We didn’t have any major mistakes and I think points-wise we are still decent.”

    Almirola tweeted this after the race, “Headed to one of my favorite tracks next week in top 10 in points. Proud of my team!”

    Not Surprising:  Finally, the determination and grit of the reigning champ Brad Keselowski came through yet again. Keselowski posted his first top-ten finish at Las Vegas and brought the Blue Deuce home in the third spot.

    “Never give up,” Keselowski said. “Never give up. This team doesn’t and we didn’t today.”

    The champ is taking that attitude right into Bristol next weekend. And he admitted he has no idea how the new Gen 6 car will react on the first short track of the season.

    “That’s why you’ve got to watch,” Keselowski said simply.