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  • Matty’s Picks 2012 – Vol. 8 Texas Motor Speedway – Samsung Mobile 500 – April 14, 2012

    Matty’s Picks 2012 – Vol. 8 Texas Motor Speedway – Samsung Mobile 500 – April 14, 2012

    [media-credit name=”texasmotorspeedway.com” align=”alignright” width=”199″][/media-credit]We head to the Lone Star State for tonight’s Samsung Mobile 500 for the first scheduled race under the lights during this 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Its wide, its fast, and there will be plenty of drama when the green flag flies later this evening. This is just the second mile-and-a-half track of the season, and is guaranteed to pull me away from the NHL playoffs tonight.

    Texas has been one of my favorite tracks for a while now, I’m not sure if its the speed, the flames and six-shooters in Victory Lane, the simple thought that ‘Everything’s Bigger in Texas’ – (a track that comfortably seats over 190,000). If you recall last fall’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway , the race was promoted as a old west showdown between Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart. This weekend will not be much different except that it will be a duel between two teams, Roush Fenway Racing (8 wins in 22 Cup races at Texas) and Michael Waltrip Racing.

    Last Week’s Recap

    I had a great time celebrating Easter back in Syracuse, Mom made some great ham, showed my brothers and SpeedwayMedia.com editor Ed Coombs how to catch fish…
    Back to racing.

    It was two-weeks ago that we visited Martinsville Speedway for the Goody’s Fast Relief 500, and it was a dandy of a race on April Fools Day. My Dark Horse pick two weeks ago was a long shot after NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying, but Kurt Busch was up for the challenge of winning the race from 40th. Well, Busch’s day ended after a slue of problems with the No. 51 Phoenix Construction Services Chevrolet including a pair of blown right-front tires. Busch’s No. 51 was shown way down towards the bottom of the scoring pylon in 33rd, netting me yet another finish outside the top 30.

    It was a much better day for my Winner Pick two weeks ago, leading a race-high 328 laps and completely dominating the 500-lap battle at Martinsville Speedway. It was David Reutimann that squashed my hope of picking up my first win of the season two weeks ago at Martinsville. When his car came to rest on the backstretch with just three laps to go, he brought out the caution that would make the final restart of the race a five-car fiasco. My Winner Pick had the lead on the final restart, partly because him and his teammate Jimmie Johnson opted not to come to pit road under the final caution for fresh tires. Jeff Gordon had dominated all day, and when the field took the green flag on the race’s final restart, he was punted by Clint Bowyer, who was shoved by race-winner Ryan Newman. It was a result of fresh tires vs. old tires, and the old tires lost. Gordon finished 14th.

    Texas Picks

    Besides a couple Hendrick chassis, its a MWR versus Roush Fenway battle this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. Roush Fenway drivers Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle are sandwiched between pole-sitter Martin Truex and Mark Martin in the top-4 starting spots, setting the stage for the two-team battle under the lights tonight.

    Winner Pick

    I think its Matt Kenseth who will fire the six-shooters tonight in Fort Worth. He is the defending winner of the Samsung Mobile 500, his second Cup win at Texas coming this time last year. His average finish of 8.7 at Texas is the best out of all the drivers taking the green tonight, and he’s also got two NASCAR Nationwide Series victories under his belt at Texas.

    Kenseth will start on the outside of the front row tonight, and is excited for his chances of putting the cowboy hat on in Victory Lane, “I don’t really know why, but it has been a pretty good track for us in the past. We have had a lot of good runs and finishes here. Whenever you come back to a track you’ve had success at, then I think you probably always look forward to coming back to it maybe a little bit more. As far as mile-and-a-half tracks, we have only been to Vegas (this season) and I thought we performed really well there.“

    Dark Horse Pick

    Since Roush Fenway claimed my Winner Pick this week, Michael Waltrip Racing will take my Dark Horse this week, although this pick is a stretch of a Dark Horse.

    He’s starting 4th tonight in just his 5th start of the 2012 season, but he will be piloting a rocket ship in the form of a Toyota Camry. Mark Martin is running a limited schedule this season in the No. 55 Aaron’s Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, so when he does make it behind the wheel, he’s got to make the most out of it.

    He fired the six-shooters in Victory Lane at Texas back in 1998, but struggled severely in the two races in the Lone Star State last year with 36th and 19th place finishes. Texas has been fairly kind to him with 7 top-5’s and 12 top-10’s, and enjoys the ‘Hometown’ feel Texas has for him, “Texas Motor Speedway is about 450 miles from my hometown of Batesville, Arkansas. I’ve had a stronger fan following there than anywhere else. Sure I listen in driver introductions when the fans cheer or boo, but I really notice the fans in general throughout the weekend. They are pretty vocal. Since it isn’t that far from Batesville it’s one of the places where my fans go. Texas and Kansas are probably the two places where I see or hear from most of my fans. That’s always a great feeling.”

    Tonight will be fun and I look forward to what the Lone Start State’s first race of 2012 has to offer. Until Next Time…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

  • Auto Club 400 Review: Stewart Smokes The Competition Once Again

    Auto Club 400 Review: Stewart Smokes The Competition Once Again

    [media-credit name=”Simon Scoggins” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]2011 champion Tony Stewart led twice for 42 laps in the Auto Club 400(or should we say Auto Club 322?) and went on to win his second race of the season in California. After raindrops started to hit the track on Lap 124, Stewart, who was leading the race at the time, faked a move toward pit road to play with the competition’s pit strategy. He stayed on track just before the commitment cone, giving him the lead when NASCAR called the rain delayed race on Lap 129.

    Stewart has moved three positions in points standings and is now in fourth position, 18 points behind the leader. This is Stewart’s second win at Fontana and his 46th career win, tying him with Buck Baker for 14th on the career victory list.

    It is quite an accomplishment for a driver to win seven times in the last 15 races, and that is exactly what Stewart has done. Typically Stewart isn’t much of a contender in the first half of the season, but this season the veteran is taking off like a rocket. In the first five races of the 2011 season, Stewart only scored one top five finish and didn’t win his first race until the 27th race of the season, the first race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

    Greg Biffle Remains The Points Leader

    Greg Biffle may have flown under the radar at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday, but he still flies high on top of the points standings so far this season. Biffle qualified his 3M Ford Fusion in fourth position and rode in the Top 10 for most of the race.  Biffle now has four top-10 finishes in five races so far this season. Biffle’s consistency this season is sure to put him in victory lane. Biffle’s last win was at Kansas Speedway in October of 2010.

    As for the rest of his Roush Fenway Racing team, Carl Edwards finished in fifth position, his second top five of the season. Edwards gained three spots in the standings to rest in 12th position. Matt Kenseth finished in 13th position and dropped two positions in points to reside in fifth.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr Continues Consistency; Unlikely Finishes for Rest of HMS

    Dale Earnhardt Jr has been at the top of the leader board this season and continued his consistency with a third place finish in the Auto Club 400. Earnhardt was running in fifth position when caution for rain came out on Lap 123. This allowed him to pick up two spots when two cars ahead of him pitted under the caution. Earnhardt has finished in 15thposition or better so far this season, including two top five finishes. He is currently third in points, after gaining three positions with his top five finish in Fontana.

    The rest of Earnhardt’s Hendrick Motorsports team didn’t suffice as well as he did. While running in fourth position under caution on Lap 129 , Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet began leaking oil from the rear of his car. Thanks to the caution and rain shortened race, Johnson was able to limp around the track on the apron and finish in 10th position.

    All Kasey Kahne needed at the Auto Club Speedway was to finish the race in a conservative fashion. He did just that, finishing in 15th position, his best finish of the season. Before the race at Fontana, Kahne was 34th in owner points. After the race, he has moved himself up to 26th position and gave himself some breathing room heading to Martinsville next weekend, where the owner points will be reset.

    Jeff Gordon had a miserable day after suffering two pit road penalties, moving him from the top five all the way back to 26thposition. His first penalty of the race came on Lap 107 for equipment leaving the pit stall; Equipment being the gas can, along with his gas man. The final blow of the day came on Lap 126 when the team had a tire roll outside of the pit box.

    Who Will Win At Martinsville Speedway?

    Next weekend we head to the short track of Martinsville Speedway, known for it’s hot dogs and most importantly the grandfather clock trophy awarded to the winner of every race. Hometown boy Denny Hamlin knows how to get around the place, with four Cup wins at this track. However, teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon always fair well here with 13 wins between the both of them. As always, you can’t count out Tony Stewart who won the last race here in October and has won at Martinsville three times in his career.

  • Trevor Bayne: It’s appreciating the good days, not getting down on bad days

    Trevor Bayne: It’s appreciating the good days, not getting down on bad days

    [media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”233″][/media-credit]“Winning doesn’t come easy when you get to these top levels. To me, it’s been taking it in, appreciating the good days, not getting down on the bad days. It’s such an up and down sport. It’s really a roller coaster. You also got to ride the momentum when you have it and stay behind your guys and work hard together. It’s all about chemistry and having a team behind you that believes in you.”

    For Trevor Bayne, this season has been a roller coaster ride along with the question as to how many races he is going to be able to compete in this season.

    In the Nationwide Series so far this year, Bayne has finished in the top-11 in every race this year.

    “I think that’s about all you can ask for with the limited amount of people and cars we have because we weren’t preparing on running of the races,” he says while sitting third in points, 29 points behind Elliott Sadler.

    Bayne’s Roush-Fenway Racing (RFR) knew coming into this year they would be running a limited schedule because of the lack of sponsorship they currently had.  Bayne says it’s tough. He adds that it used to be if you ran well, you’d be able to find that sponsorship.

    “Now its about relationship, who you know and that’s makes it tough,” the 21-year-old says. “We’ve done a great job on and off the track and we should have something going on.

    “It’d be great to get with a company, work with them and represent them to have some kind of long-term security in this sport. So being with a company and growing their brand is what helps you stay in this sport for a long time and that’s what I want to do.”

    Bayne is trying to put the money together for this season, launching a campaign where fans can sponsor him in August at Bristol Motor Speedway. He says it started due to a guy from his hometown in Knoxville, Tennesse.

    “He has a couple different websites and a couple different companies.  He’s kind of an innovator and investor,” he explains. “He came up with the idea and decided to put it on the car,”

    Fans can go to and for a $20 sponsorship, they can get their name on the car and a certificate they can print saying they sponsored. If they want their photo on the car, then they can sponsor Bayne for $99.

    “It’s taken off pretty really well,” Bayne says. “A lot of people have gone on and put their name on the car, their picture on the car and I think it’s a great idea. We would love to do as many races as we can do by getting funded by the fans so the more people give, the more I get to race and the more track I get to go to and run for the championship.”

    Bayne started in racing at the age of five as both his grandparents were racers.  One involved with cars and one involved with boats.

    “My family knew speed,” he tells the story. “I actually got my first dirt bike when I was three years old and started riding around with training wheels, and when I turned four, took the training wheels off. When I turned five, I got my first go-kart, went to the race track and just fell in love with it. From the first time I went there, I knew that’s what I wanted to do and I never looked back from that.”

    He has continued to move up the racing ladder, one of the toughest challenges he has found is finding that opportunity.

    “I’ve always been very blessed, always came across the right people at the right time and the opportunity has been there,” he says. “For a lot of people, they don’t get that. Some of the best racecar drivers don’t get the chance cause they don’t come across the right people. So I’m blessed, but it’s still an issue.”

    Bayne adds that it is still about finding that opportunity to connect with the sponsors, saying that “Every driver thinks they’re the best – it’s just convincing everybody else of that to get the support around you and behind you so you can go to the race track and show it.”

    After racing the first 28 races of the 2010 Nationwide Series season for Michael Waltrip Racing in 2010, he caught the eye of Jack Roush and joined RFR in October of 2010. While racing for Roush, he has also had the opportunity to form a good friendship with teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    “We push each other,” he says. “Ricky is one of the best young drivers there is so having him as a teammate, it pushes me and I think that’s the same return for him. When one of us qualifies top three and the other qualifies 10th, we know we got to get on our game. We both feel like we can get it done and we want to push each other as hard as we can. We have fun while we’re doing it. It’s cool that we can stay friends and not get too competitive.”

    Jack Roush then helped Bayne land a limited schedule Sprint Cup Series ride with Wood Brothers Racing.

    “I love the Wood Brothers,” Bayne says. “I couldn’t ask for a better organization, or family to drive for. It seems weird calling them an organization cause they’re so much just a family.”

    In just his second Cup race with the Wood Brothers in 2011, Bayne set the world on fire, winning the Daytona 500.

    “I wish I could’ve soaked it in more because it happened so fast, I didn’t realize what was going on,” he says. “I was in such a whirlwind there so I didn’t get to soak it all in. I think slowly it’s kind of coming to me that we actually that.”

    Bayne says looking at pictures of everybody smiling in victory lane, the moment is still surreal.

    “That was the coolest thing that I could ever do in my career, even if I win another Daytona 500 or a championship,” he says. “I think that was the biggest shock I could have ever made and just do it with the Wood Brothers and their family and just the way it came together was just so picture perfect.”

    Going back and forth between the two organizations has given Bayne a look at the best of both worlds.

    Looking down the road five years in advance, Bayne says he sees himself as either a Sprint Cup Series Champion or at least contending to the make the Chase, but it all “depends on the opportunity, where I’m at, the sponsorship and how much I get to race.”

    Whether Bayne is at the track or away from it, he stands by his belief for God and before going to Daytona this year, he took a trip to Africa to help the people there and says it was incredible.

    “It’s just unbelievable the joy that they had,” he says. “The joy that they had, the peace, the smiles on their faces even though they’re living in shacks, mud huts. We got to do a lot of outreach and ministry stuff and led about nine people to Jesus. I felt like it was a really successful trip. I really felt like God was behind us on it and I enjoyed it a lot.”

  • Dillon and Stenhouse Lead the ‘Young Gun’ Movement Return to NASCAR Nationwide Series

    Dillon and Stenhouse Lead the ‘Young Gun’ Movement Return to NASCAR Nationwide Series

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Tom Pennington/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”227″][/media-credit]Through the past five years, there were many concerned NASCAR fans with regards to how they saw the second-tier divisions going. Concerned fans were questioning both series as they saw a lack of young drivers competing in the divisions.

    So far this year, the Nationwide Series looks to have defied the concept as seven drivers in the top 10 in points are considered ‘young guns’.

    For drivers coming into the divisions like Ty Dillon, it gives them hope for the future.

    “They kind of got away from having individual names that led that series,” Dillon says. “Now we’ve got young guys in each series that are developing their way from the trucks to the Nationwide and now to Sprint Cup. It’s really cool to see that and gives you hope as a driver making your way up the rankings. I’m glad to see more individuality in each series, so it’s really nice.”

    Currently, veteran Elliott Sadler leads the standing with a win that came at Phoenix International Raceway. However beyond his position, a group of hungry young drivers follow.

    21-year-old Austin Dillon currently sits second in points, 15 points behind Sadler. So far in the first three races of the season, he has finished fifth, fourth and seventh. This marks Dillon’s first season in the Nationwide Series after winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship in 2011. Dillon got his start in racing at the age of 15 racing Banderos after seeing them run at Charlotte Motor Speedway with his brother.

    24-year-old Ricky Stenhouse Jr. currently sits third in points, 17 points behind Sadler. In the first two races of the season, he finished 19th and third while winning last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This marks Stenhouse’s third full-time season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series after winning the championship last year. He chose to stay in the Nationwide Series an extra year to therefore learn more.

    “Knowing what I want in a race car on the stock car side of it and knowing what these races take to be better throughout the whole race, and the right adjustments and just learning more about the race cars in itself,” Stenhouse says. “I can tell you everything about a sprint car, but there are so many parts on these stock cars that I’m still not 100 percent familiar with so I think to learn last year and so far in my stock car career I’ve been learning what I need for the race car to go fast. Now I want to learn the set-ups and things like being able to come into the pits and say, ‘Hey I need this’ and help the crew chief out instead of just telling him, ‘Hey I need to be tighter, fix it.’ So there are a lot of things I just want to get better at.”

    21-year-old Trevor Bayne currently sits fourth in points, 19 points behind Sadler. In the first three races of the season, he has finished 11th, seventh and fourth. This marks Bayne’s third season in the Nationwide Series after winning the Daytona 500 last season. Bayne is looking to run the full schedule to continue to gain experience, however it will depend if Roush-Fenway Racing can secure sponsorship.

    20-year-old Cole Whitt currently sits fifth in points, 22 points behind Sadler. In the first three races of the season, he has finished fourth, 13th and sixth. This mark’s Whitt’s first season in the Nationwide Series after turning heads last year in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Whitt moved into the truck series last season after shocking fans by becoming the youngest USAC National Midget Champion in 2008.

    The average age of these four drivers is 21.5, so it is definitely showing proof that ‘young gun’ phase is back.

    One reason that you’re seeing the young gun phase come back is big teams are going back to taking a chance on younger drivers, rather than trying to reel in the money from big companies. Dillon drives for Richard Childress Racing, Whitt drives for JR Motorsports while both Stenhouse Jr. and Bayne drive for Roush Racing.

    Going after inexperienced, unknown drivers can present problems in finding sponsorship. Dillon was able to find sponsorship, as he has made a name for himself by being the grandson of Richard Childress. Whitt has been able to find sponsorship via having NASCAR’s most popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. as his car owner. Stenhouse has just found sponsorship for the year, while Bayne is not as lucky. Sponsors aren’t as willing to chance on a young driver as they do not have a proven background. With drivers running for big teams, it can sometimes be enough to per sway a sponsor.

    As the season goes forward, it will be interesting to watch how the young drivers do in comparison to the veterans and Sprint Cup Series drivers who dip in the series. So far the Nationwide Series-only have the upper hand as they have won the first three races of the season.

  • Daytona 500 Review: The Good, The Bad, and The Jet Dryer

    Daytona 500 Review: The Good, The Bad, and The Jet Dryer

    The 2012 Daytona 500 is one that will go down in history as being the longest and most bizarre races of all time. The race was post-poned on two occasions due to a downpour of rain. The race was originally scheduled to start at 1pm est. on Sunday, but was rescheduled for noon on Monday. When the rain continued to flood Daytona the following day, NASCAR was forced to post-pone the race again until 7pm est. Monday night. An estimated 140,000 fans showed up for the event and got their monies worth.

    The Good

    Matt Kenseth Excels in Daytona: Matt Kenseth started out the season with a bang, winning the second Gatorade Duel race and qualifying in fourth position for the Daytona 500. He led the race two times throughout the night for 50 laps total, but most importantly led the last lap to take his second win in the Great American Race. The 2012 season marks the 25th anniversary for Roush Fenway Racing and Kenseth’s win gave RFR their 300th career win.

    Denny Hamlin is back: After a rough and rocky ending to the 2011 season, Denny Hamlin was ready to close the book and start the 2012 season with a fresh outlook. He began that outlook with a new championship winning crew chief, Darian Grubb. They started speedweeks off well, finishing in 5th position in the Bud Shootout. The FedEx Toyota qualified in the 37th position for the Daytona 500, but quickly made that up, going on to lead the race. Hamlin led for 57 laps, earning the 3M Lap Leader award of the race. He also won the USG Improving The Finish award for gaining 27 positions, the most gained during the race. Overall, the No. 11 team finished the race in fourth position.

    Greg Biffle exceeds expectations: After a win-less 2011 season and a disappointing 16th place finish in the championship standings, Greg Biffle was at the top of the leader board at Daytona. He started out speedweeks finishing in sixth position in the Bud Shootout and qualifying on the outside pole for the Daytona 500, along-side his teammate Carl Edwards. He led the race on eight different occasions for a total of 44 laps. On the last lap, while running second, he was passed by Dale Earnhardt Jr to bring home a third place finish in the Great American Race.

    The Bad

    Danica Patrick has rocky NASCAR start:IndyCar turned NASCAR star Danica Patrick did not have her entrance to the Cup series go as planned. I think the media was more saddened over this than Patrick herself. Patrick started the race in the 29th position after taking a hard crash in the Gatorade Duels. The Daytona 500 wasn’t much better for the rookie after being a victim of someone else’s wreck on the second lap of the race. The No. 7 Go Daddy team was able to repair the car and get her back out on the track to finish in 38th position.[media-credit name=”Tom Pennington/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”274″][/media-credit]

    Jimmie Johnson starts the season on a sour note: Jimmie Johnson’s Daytona experience was an overall unsuccessful week. On February 17th, the No. 48 car failed initial inspection, resulting in NASCAR confiscating the C-pillars on the car. In the Bud Shootout he was caught up in a late race multi-car incident, leaving him to finish in 14th position. After being involved in a crash on Lap 2 of the Daytona 500, Johnson came home with a 42nd place finish. Unfortunately, the disappointment continued after leaving Daytona.

    NASCAR announced Wednesday that the No. 48 team was in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4J (any determination by NASCAR officials that race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules detailed in Section 20 of the rule book or has not been approved by NASCAR prior to the event); and 20-2.1E (if in the judgment of NASCAR officials, any part or component of the car not previously approved by NASCAR that has been installed or modified to enhance aerodynamic performance will not be permitted — unapproved car body modifications).

    Crew chief Chad Knaus and car chief Ron Malec are suspended for the next six Sprint Cup Series championship events and have been placed on NASCAR probation until May 9th. Knaus was also fined $100,000. Johnson and car owner Jeff Gordon have been penalized with the loss of 25 driver and owner points, respectively. As a result of the penalty, Johnson is now 23 points in the negative after earning just two points with his 42nd place finish in the Daytona 500. The team will appeal the penalty, allowing Knaus and Malec to attend the race at Phoenix this weekend.

    And, The Jet Dryer

    With 40 laps remaining in the Daytona 500, the race took a very unexpected turn. While under caution, a suspension piece on Juan Pablo Montoya’s No. 42 car broke, causing the car’s brakes to lock up. This sent Montoya spinning and crashing violently into a jet dryer truck that was on the race track. Jet dryer trucks carry an estimated 200 gallons of jet fuel, which caused a fiery explosion immediately upon impact.

    Thankfully both Montoya and the driver of the truck walked away from the incident without any major injuries. The fire from the incident took several long, frightening minutes to contain. NASCAR used Tide laundry detergent to clean the spilled fuel off of the track surface. Fans were then again forced to sit through a two hour red flag period waiting for the track to be cleaned. During the red flag, drivers were parked on the backstretch, providing the fans with a bird’s eye view of their favorite driver.

    In finishing the Daytona 500 around one o’clock in the morning, NASCAR teams had their week cut short in preparation for the next race. Teams will head to Phoenix International Raceway this weekend and leave the madness of Daytona in their rear-view mirror.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: The Daytona 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: The Daytona 500

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Often called the Great American Race, this year’s 2012 Daytona 500 was most certainly one of the most memorable ones, including buckets of rain, a major conflagration, and even texting direct from the track.

    Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the much-delayed, first ever prime time under the lights running of the 2012 Great American Race.

    Surprising:  While the Daytona 500 has always been unpredictable, it was surprising just how many bizarre occurrences there were during this race, causing many to wonder if this superspeedway now possessed some of its own demons, similar to sister superspeedway Talladega.

    The first in the string of strange happenings was the massive amounts of rain that descended on the track on Sunday. This led to the first ever postponement of the Great American Race, which was initially rescheduled until NOON on Monday.

    When the rain continued to fall on Monday morning, the next unpredictable moment occurred as NASCAR then rescheduled the race until 7:00 PM on Monday evening. This ensured the 2012 Daytona 500 a place in history as the first ever Great American Race run not only under the lights, but also in a coveted prime-time slot.

    The final bizarre event happened on Lap 160, when Juan Pablo Montoya lost control of his No. 42 Target Chevrolet and plowed into a safety jet drier, sending both up in flames. The burning of 200 gallons of jet fuel delayed the race for almost two hours as the track safety crews scrambled to not only to douse the flames but repair the track.

    “I have hit a lot of things,” JPM said. “But a jet dryer? I mean, no.”

    When all was said and done, this 2012 Daytona 500 will most likely go down in history for its surprising length, taking a day and half to run. This Great American race started on Monday evening and ran into the wee hours of Tuesday morning, capping off a 36 hour delay from its original start time.

    Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, summed it up best. “That had to be the craziest Daytona 500 I’ve ever seen.”

    Not Surprising:  Since the Ford camp had been strong all Speedweeks long, it was no surprise to see one end up in Victory Lane. Matt Kenseth, in his No. 17 Best Buy Ford, took the checkered flag, giving Ford back to back Daytona 500 victories.

    This was the 13th overall Daytona 500 win for the manufacturer, Kenseth’s second Daytona 500 victory in a Ford, and the second Daytona 500 win for team owner Jack Roush. Kenseth joined Bill Elliott and Dale Jarrett as the only three Ford drivers to win the Daytona 500 more than once.

    “It’s nice to go the whole distance and survive a green, white, checkered because you just don’t know what’s going to happen in these race,” Kenseth said. “I wasn’t expecting to win when I woke up this morning, so it feels good to be sitting here.”

    “It’s really hard to win these races,” Kenseth continued. “The older you get and the more you race, you realize how hard it is and you really try to enjoy all those moments.”

    Surprising:  It was surprising to see just how hard hit the Hendrick Motorsports teams were during this running of the Daytona 500.  With the exception of Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who finished second in his No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard Chevrolet, the rest of the HMS drivers all finished 29th or worse.

    Five time champion Jimmie Johnson’s troubles started early when he crashed out on Lap 2. The driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet sustained a wicked hit to the driver’s door in the early race melee.

    “That side hit was hard,” Johnson said. “I could feel help from behind that just turned me around.”

    “When I was sitting in the middle of the race track, I knew at some point someone was going to come along,” Johnson continued. “David Ragan had nowhere to go and I unfortunately got drilled by him pretty hard.”

    Four time champion Jeff Gordon also had difficulties, but of a different sort. His No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet blew an engine on lap 81 of the race.

    “Boy, it’s a shame,” Gordon said. “This just came out of nowhere.”

    “First it popped and then it sent up in a big ball of flames,” Gordon continued. “That is never good. So, I knew our night was done.”

    This DNF marked the first time that Jeff Gordon failed to compete at least half of a NASCAR race since April 2008 at Texas Motor Speedway.

    Not Surprising:  With Fords ruling and Matt Kenseth in the winner’s circle, it was no surprise that history was also made for Roush Fenway Racing, scoring the team’s 300th win. Rough Fenway Racing is the first team ever in NASCAR history to achieve such a milestone.

    “This is a special night,” team owner Jack Roush said. “Matt is a real champion and he is really good at these restrictor tracks.”

    “Our Fords, the guys did a nice job and Ford Motor Company gave us a lot of support over the winter,” Roush continued. “We certainly had several ways to win it tonight and there are always ample ways to lose as well.”

    “Matt did a great job tonight,” Roush said. “It’s great to celebrate our 300th win here with the 54th Daytona 500.”

    Surprising:  While many considered it ‘gimmicky’, it was surprising that the racers seemed to take the halfway bonus pretty seriously. Reminiscent of his lead at the halfway point last year in the Great American Race, Martin Truex, Jr. scored the $200,000 halfway leader bonus, with a little help from ‘friend’ Denny Hamlin.

    “We led laps and led at halfway for the bonus,” the driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota said. “It was a good day all in all. We just didn’t lead at the end.”

    Truex Jr. finished 12th, right behind Michael Waltrip Racing teammates Mark Martin, who finished tenth in his No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota, and Clint Bowyer, who scored the 11th spot in his No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota.

    Not Surprising:   Given all the machinations NASCAR made in response to the fans’ and drivers’ concerns about tandem racing, it was no surprise that pack racing was back. And the drivers seemed to be please that it was.

    “I like the rule changes,” Dale Earnhardt, Jr. said. “It definitely suits my style better and I can do things on my own.”

    “In the old package you needed someone else the entire race and that’s not fun.”

    Surprising:  While most of the NASCAR drivers, teams, and yes even the orange cone have gotten into the use of social media, it was surprising to see it taken to yet another level at this year’s Daytona 500.

    Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge apparently had his phone with him during the race and took the opportunity to not only tweet a few pictures when the race was red flagged, but also to check the weather at the request of some of his fellow competitors.

    Demonstrating the power of social media, particularly Twitter, Keselowski actually gained more than 130,000 new followers as a result of his connectedness out on the race track and the media attention that garnered.

    While Keselowski acknowledged the power of the social media, he would have traded it for one thing.

    “I gained a lot of followers but I’ll take the win first,” Keselowski said.

    Not Surprising:  With all the strange happenings on the race track, it was not surprising that the debut of the third female driver to compete in the Great American Race was somewhat eclipsed. Danica Patrick made her Cup debut in the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Tommy Baldwin Racing in cooperation with Stewart Haas Racing.

    Patrick ended up finishing 38th after getting collected in the multi-car crash involving Jimmie Johnson and others on lap 2 of the race. She will not race again in the Cup Series until May 12th at Darlington.

    “I kind of feel like I almost need to put the whole week in perspective,” Patrick said. “It’s just been up and down, from running good in the Duels to crashing on the last lap, to qualifying on the pole, to running well in the Nationwide race to crashing.”

    “A lot of this stuff is obviously out of your control at times,” Patrick continued. “But I learned a lot and I got a lot of great experience.”

    Surprising:  With the Toyota of Kyle Busch looking strong after a win in the Bud Shootout, it was a bit surprising that teammate Denny Hamlin ended up being the highest Toyota finisher in the Daytona 500.

    “We were right where we wanted to be,” Hamlin said of the end of his race, finishing fourth. “But we didn’t have any teammates up there and those two Roush cars up front had a good plan and executed it really well.”

    “We had an awesome effort this weekend,” the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota said. “We didn’t qualify well and we didn’t finish that well in the Duel, but we showed that we had one of the best cars today.”

    As pleased as Hamlin was, Kyle Busch, who took his No. 88 M&M’s Brown Toyota Camry to a 17th place finish, was most disappointed.

    “I thought we were in a good spot late in the race, but a couple of cars got together behind me and I got clipped,” Busch said. “We were in the back of the line and we couldn’t make anything happen.”

    “It’s disappointing to be down here for two weeks and have nothing to show for it.”

    Not Surprising:  Sadly, but not surprisingly, there was no Cinderella winner at this year’s Daytona 500.  Defending champ Trevor Bayne’s repeat fairy-tale performance was thwarted by the wreck that swept up Jimmie Johnson in the early laps of the race.

    “I have no idea what happened,” the driver of the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion said. “I got low and slowed down and at the last second I think it was the 34 car that hit us in the right side door and put us into the grass.”

    “Man, this is tough,” Bayne continued. “I hate this for my Ford Racing team but we’ll be back.”

  • A Race of Rain and Fire: Daytona 500 Lap By Lap

    A Race of Rain and Fire: Daytona 500 Lap By Lap

    [media-credit name=”Tom Pennington/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”274″][/media-credit]30 hours after the race was supposed to start, the drivers strapped into their cars and got ready to run the first Daytona 500 run at night. The rain delayed Daytona 500 also marked the first 500 that rescheduled for a day other than Sunday. The rain delay would be just the beginning for this race, though…..

    Lap 1 Biffle leads Kenseth and Edwards

    Caution Lap 2 – Johnson, Bayne, Patrick, Kurt Busch, Ragan – Sadler gets into Johnson as Johnson get loose, turning him into the wall followed by hard driver’s door contact from Ragan. Sadler passed along his apologies.

    Restart Lap 8 as Biffle leads with help from Edwards over Kenseth

    Lap 11 Regan Smith and Biffle run side-by-side for the lead

    Lap 12 Biffle leads as Edwards and Smith run side-by-side for second

    Caution as Newman goes for a spin as he has a flat tire…..Pit stops as everybody takes fuel….Newman loses tire leaving pit, Allmendinger runs in back getting enough damage to send him behind the wall

    Restart lap 17 as Menard leads after staying out

    Lap 18 Denny Hamlin dumps Carl in the sucker hole to take the lead

    Lap 25 Top 10 are single file as Hamlin leads Menard, Smith, Logano, Burton, Ambrose

    Lap 35 Top six single file as Hamlin leads Menard, Smith, Logano, Burton, Ambrose

    Lap 44 Burton to the lead with help from Biffle and then they went to the bottom

    Lap 54 Menard and Hamlin pit

    Lap 55 Labonte, Bowyer and others pit.

    Lap 57 The back group pits – Harvick, McMurray, Montoya,

    Lap 58 Truex, Logano, Ky Busch and others pit

    Lap 59 Half of the pack pits – Biffle, Burton, Edwards, Biffle and others. Stewart leads

    Lap 60 Gordon, Blaney, Earnhardt Jr. pit

    Lap 61 Stewart pits, giving the lead back to Burton.

    Caution Lap 64 for debris as Landon Cassil gets the Lucky Dog…….Pit stops for fuel for some while leader Burton stays out

    Restart Lap 68 as Biffle and Burton run side-by-side to the green. Biffle pulls ahead with from Ambrose.

    Lap 70 Top 8 are single file with Biffle leading Ambrose, Kyle Busch, Bowyer, Logano, Burton, Reuitmann, Truex Jr., and Bowyer

    Lap 79 Truex leads after Hamlin pushed him up the outside.

    Lap 80 Truex leads the field as Hamlin and Biffle run side-by-side for second.

    Caution Lap 81 Jeff Gordon blows up…..Everybody pits for tire as Biffle wins the race off pit road over Ambrose

    Restart lap 85 as Biffle leads Terry Labonte

    Caution Lap 89 Terry Labonte spins after contact from Ambrose, sending him for a spin but no contact with walls

    Restart Lap 92 as Bile and Ambrose lead them to the flag side-by-side. Biffle leads the field through turns with help from Truex

    Lap 94 Biffle leads while Ambrose and Truex run side-by-side

    Lap 98 Top four are single-file as Biffle continues to lead.

    Lap 100 Biffle leads Truex, Hamlin, Burton and Bowyer….Coming off turn four, Truex gets the lead with help from Hamlin. Truex gets the halfway payday of $200,000.

    Lap 102 Stewart to the lead with help from Hamlin on the back shoot but Hamlin goes under Stewart going into the turn 3. Hamlin is the new leader.

    Lap 116 Top 8 are single file as Hamlin leads Truex, Biffle, Burton and Bowyer. Elliott Sadler is blowing up.

    Lap 121 Hamlin leads Truex, Biffle, Burton, Bowyer, Almirola

    Lap 128 Bowyer is out of gas, misses pit road due to other cars, as Hamlin continues to lead.

    Lap 129 Stewart, Mark Martin, Logano pit as the caution comes for Bowyer being stalled. Logano didn’t stop as he skipped his stall while Stewart and Martin finished their pit work. Burton comes on while pit road is closed as he is out of fuel………Everybody pits as they are all low on fuel so its four tires and fuel. Regan Smith wins the race off pit road followed by Biffle. Sadler couldn’t find his pit stall so he causes a mess and then begins to look at engine issue

    Restart 68 to go as Mark Martin and Stewart lead the field to the green. Martin pulls down in front of Stewart in turn 1 and Martin leads the field with Stewart on his bumper. Biffle takes the lead out of turn four with help from Hamlin.

    64 to go Biffle leads Hamlin, Martin, Stewart, Smith, Almirola, Truex, Harvick, Kenseth and Burton.

    63 to go as the top eight continue to run single file.

    58 to go Joey Logano took the lead from Hamlin after help from Biffle

    54 to go Kenseth to the lead with help from Biffle

    53 to go Kenseth leads Earnhardt Jr., Harvick and Biffle

    49 to go Kenseth leads Earnhardt Jr., Biffle and Casey Mears as Keselowski and Logano run side-by-side for fifth

    42 to go Caution as Stremme blows up……Pit stops as everybody needs fuel. Casey Mears leads McMurray, Harvick, Biffle, Logano and Earnhardt Jr. off………….Montoya’s car breaks and slides up into the jet dryer, causing the jet dryer and Montoya’s cars to catch fire…….Red Flag….Kyle Busch and Edwards to the back for pulling off a windshield tear off under the red……. Red Flag was 2 hours, 5 minutes, 29 seconds

    The race is under yellow……..Casey Mears has run out of fuel on the apron

    The top 4 – Blaney, Cassil, Gilliland – pit to give the lead to Kenseth.

    Restart 34 to go as Kenseth takes the strong charge through one with help from Biffle

    30 to go Kenseth leads Biffle, Earnhardt Jr., Harvick, Logano, Martin, Menard, Hamlin, Truex Jr and Burton. Top five are single file

    25 to go Kenseth leads Biffle and Earnhardt Jr. as Hamlin and Harvick run side-by-side for fourth

    Caution 23 to go Casey Mears and Marcos Ambrose go for a slide. Stenhouse went into Ambrose, who then hit Mears, sending him for a spin while and Ambrose spins in the aftermath. Clint Bowyer gets the lucky dog.

    Restart 18 laps to go as Kenseth gets the jump on Biffle on the start, slides up in front of him and they pull ahead

    15 to go Kenseth leads Biffle, Earnhardt Jr., Harvick as Menard and Harvick are side-by-side for fifth

    Caution 13 to go- big wreck – Kahne, Smith, McMurray, Edwards, Keselowski, Stewart – McMurray had a cut tire and Logano made contact with him. McMurray actually just said on the radio that he felt that something was broken. So Biffle leads Kenseth, Earnhardt Jr., Hamlin, Harvick, Burton, Menard, Mark Martin, Newman, Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Stenhouse Jr., Logano, Reuitmann, Stewart

    Green flag with 7 to go as Earnhardt Jr. gives Kenseth a big push on the bottom while Biffle pushes Hamlin on the outside. Kenseth dumps Jr so its now Kenseth, Biffle, Harvick and Earnhardt Jr. now

    Caution 4 to go Stewart spins due to contact from Stenhouse after he made contact with Logano, collecting Kyle Busch, Blaney, Newman, Reuitmann, Gilliland

    Green – White – Checkered

    Green flag as Kenseth and Biffle start the race lined-up. Kenseth gets the jump and moves up to pick up Greg Biffle, setting Earnhardt Jr. in third and Hamlin in fourth

    Kenseth holds everybody off to win the Daytona 500 as Dale Jr. passes Biffle at the line for second

  • Matt Kenseth Wins Daytona 500 After Rain and Fire

    Matt Kenseth Wins Daytona 500 After Rain and Fire

    [media-credit name=”Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]NASCAR fans have seen strange things happen before – animals on the track, a rolling plastic inflated orange – but after this weekend at Daytona International Speedway, it certainly takes the cake.

    The race was supposed to begin on Sunday afternoon, however was delayed due to rain. The weather caused NASCAR to postpone the race till 7pm on Monday night, making it the first Daytona 500 to be started on a non-scheduled day and the first primetime 500. This wouldn’t be the end of the chaos, as during the race, a broken part on Juan Pablo Montoya’s racecar would cause him to crash into a jetdryer, setting it on fire.

    After all the craziness and on Day 3 of the Daytona 500 (early Tuesday morning), Matt Kenseth came home victorious for his second Daytona 500 victory.

    “We had a lot of problems – we had the engine spew out water, fuel issue, radio issue – the team could hear me but I couldn’t talk to them,” Kenseth says. “I gotta thank Greg Biffle for working with me; we had fast rockets. It was all about who was in front of who at the end.”

    The victory for Kenseth marks his second Daytona 500 victory and the 300th NASCAR victory for Roush-Fenway Racing.

    “It is very fitting for Kenseth to win the 300th victory,” Roush said. “It’s fitting to do it with Jimmy Fenning (crew chief) who has been with Roush Racing for a long time. It’s fitting to do it with Matt Kenseth has been with Roush Racing for a long time. It’s very nice to celebrate our 300th win, winning the 54th Annual Daytona 500 and with it being Kenseth’s second, it’s pretty special.”

    A green-white-checkered would conclude the Daytona 500 as contact from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. would send Tony Stewart for a spin, collecting Kyle Busch, Dave Blaney, Ryan Newman, David Reuitmann and David Gilliland.

    On the restart, Kenseth made the quick move to get in front of teammate Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Biffle followed Kenseth all the way around the track, looking for the right time to make his move, but that never came as Biffle was behind Kenseth across the finish line.

    “I think it’s a combination of everything, but I think it’s the combination of what would give us the best finish,” Kenseth said of their teamwork.

    Biffle would come home third in the end as Dale Earnhardt Jr. would pass him at the start-finish line for second.

    “I would have liked to have won, but I told Greg that I was going to push him on the last restart,” Earnhardt Jr. said afterwards. “I thought he was ‘waiting waiting’ and I waited till the last minute for him to make a move, and then made a move.”

    Biffle said that he tried to win the race, but couldn’t get a run on Earnhardt Jr.

    “All night, Jr had been shoving me against the back of the 17 car at will and at granted, he had someone pushing him,” Biffle explained. “We weren’t locked together but anytime you get locked together, you just go. But once he was against my bumper and I knew he was, I pushed the gas down and I thought we would drive up on the back of the 17 without a problem. It must have just pushed enough air to push the 17 out. So I thought I had to get out from behind him. So I tried to move out and Matt isn’t stupid, but we needed a run. I was also watching my bumper as I had him on me and didn’t know what pressure he had him.”

    In contrast, Kenseth said Biffle could’ve made the move while Roush said, “Greg was unselfish and worked with Matt tonight.”

    In looking back at the final laps now, Biffle said he should’ve dragged the brake and created some space between himself and Kenseth to get a run.

    Denny Hamlin would finish fourth, followed by Richard Childress Racing teammates Jeff Burton, Paul Menard and Kevin Harvick. Pole sitter Carl Edwards would finish eighth, followed by Joey Logano and Mark Martin.

    The halfway payday of $200,000 would go to Martin Truex Jr., who would finish the race in 12th behind Clint Bowyer.

    The race would see a red flag last for more than two hours after an odd incident that happened under caution with 42 laps left in the event.

    As Juan Pablo Montoya came out of pit road and tried to catch up with the back of the field, something would break in the back end of his Chevrolet, causing him to slam into a jetdryer in turn 3. The contact caused a huge jet fuel fire that would take the two hour period to clean up in an 11-step process.

    “Well, I thought when I left the pits, I felt a weird vibration,” Montoya said. “I got my crew to check it and they said it was fine. Everytime I got on the gas, I felt the rear moving slightly and just as I asked my spotter about it, it turned right.”

    The condition of the race track was in great question after the massive clean-up, but the surface became unharmed and the drivers were able to run the full distance. President Mike Helton said it was important for him to that they take the time to do the necessary clean-up and get the full race in due to the dedication saw from the fans who had stuck around both days.

    Montoya’s teammate Jamie McMurray would also have something break on his car, causing a five car wreck with 13 to go that collected Kasey Kahne, Regan Smith, Edwards and Tony Stewart.

    The jetdryer incident wasn’t the only big piece of action on track during the Daytona 500. When the race started, contact from Sadler to Johnson on lap two would see Johnson for a spin, and then get hit hard in the driver’s door by David Ragan.

    “I’m good,” Johnson said afterwards. “That last hit in the door was pretty hard. We were all just trying to make our lane work. There was a lot of energy there and Elliott got into the back of me, turning me into the wall. I knew sitting in the middle of the track that was someone was going to hit me and Ragan had no place to go. It sucks to be done this early after all the effort into this car.”

    “I just want to see the replay to see what bonehead would make a move like that early in the 500,” Ragan said of the incident.

    Other drivers collected in the accident would include 2011 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne, Kurt Busch and Danica Patrick.

    “I have no idea what happened,” Bayne said. “This is devastating. We wait a whole day for a race and this happens on lap 1.”

    “Any lap that I turn is progression,” she said. “That’s why I was proud of them for getting me on the track. Was there much to gain for me to get back on track? No. But there was experience as I got back up in pack.”

    Patrick would finish in 38th in her cup debut, but pick up valuable knowledge.

    “I honestly I think I picked up a lot of tips and honestly, I wish the race would’ve been a single file line at the beginning like it was when I got back up there,” she said.

    Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon also wouldn’t make it to the finish as he would blow the motor on lap 81.

    “It’s pretty strange that we’ve been through some liability testing and if I saw some high temps, I would have expected this,” he said. “I saw some low temps so I thought we were in good shape. It’s just a shame. This is not the way we wanted to start the season with the Daytona 500.”

    With everything that happened in Daytona, the rest of the 2012 NASCAR season ends and we’ve certainly learned to expect the unexpected.

  • Carl Edwards Make Statement with Daytona 500 Pole

    Carl Edwards Make Statement with Daytona 500 Pole

    [media-credit id=22 align=”alignright” width=”189″][/media-credit]Since the last lap of the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway last season, the question for Carl Edwards has been what was it like to finish second?

    Now with Daytona 500 qualifying done, Edwards doesn’t have that to answer that question as he won the Coors Light Pole for the biggest race of the season. Instead of talking about last season, the talk will be centered around that pole.

    “It’s an amazing feeling,” Edwards said after winning the pole. “I just cannot thank Jack Roush enough for all the work that he’s put in.  Doug Yates, I feel like he should be sitting up here with us.  Those guys have done an unbelievable job of working through the transition to the EFI.  It’s just amazing.  To know for the next week Bob and all of us are going to be working on the fastest racecar here at Daytona and preparing it for the biggest race of the season is a lot of fun.  It’s great.”

    So does this pole actually mean anything?

    Well, for starters, he will get to lead the field to the green flag to start the season in the biggest race. That’s always good for team confidence.

    He also gets to savor the moment for an entire week, unlike any other pole throughout the season.

    He has locked himself into next year’s Bud Shootout already as it returns back to its original format.

    He doesn’t have to worry in the Gatorade Duels as he can as hard as he wants and as long as he avoids trouble, he’s locked in. Edwards says that he’ll still go out and mix it up because, “If I were to not race and not understand the dynamics that are going to happen during the daytime here at this racetrack with this package, I’d be giving them something.  I have to go out there as a driver and mix it up, race, see how our car handles.

    Beyond that, to win the Daytona 500 pole, it takes a lot of prep from the team with regards to working on the car, testing the car in the wind tunnel and perfecting the engine package during the two-month off-season.

    As team owner Jack Roush said, “It obviously starts in the shop.  Robbie Reiser, he’s under the weather today as well.  But he’s worked really hard all winter.  Great manufacturing program for us.  Chip (Bolin) is behind the scenes leading the engineering group with the simulations, with the predictive things, the wind tunnel, kinematics and suspension.  I tease him as he’s writing up new stuff all the time. There’s a lot to this.  There’s a lot more than driving a car fast and having a fast engine.  You have to coordinate every piece so it’s ready to do its job when it’s time.”

    Edwards adds, “After seeing how hard everybody works all winter, how much pride the guys take in how these cars qualify, it does mean something to me.  It’s a sign of the strength of your team.  It’s not that we just have one car up there.  To have two cars, to have that whole front row, I mean, that says a lot about Roush Fenway Racing, about Ford.”

    By winning the pole, it sets out a statement in some respect that this team is ready to come back strong in 2012 and contend once again. It already has people thinking of Edwards and the No. 99 Fastenal team for the championship. If he doesn’t do well in the Daytona 500, it may take away from that but with finishing off strong last season and the pole, things look good for 2012 early.

    “Feels nice to pick up right where we left off,” Edwards said. “I’ve been telling everybody, it seems like every media question, How great would it have been to have one more point?  How did you deal with that this off-season? I think this is nice to come here and show everyone that, hey, it isn’t just talk.  Everybody at Roush Fenway went back and worked hard and kept their heads down and dug for, just like Chip said, the best racecars we’ve had in a long time.  I thank Jack, Chip, Bob, Robbie Reiser, Doug Yates, everybody who has built these racecars, for not letting the disappointment of not winning that championship, not letting that slow us down, but instead giving us real motivation.”

    In looking back at last season, there is no regrets as Edwards said they had a good season despite some of their luck.

    “Bob said, No, if we started the Chase again, we’d do the same thing, put our efforts in the same places, I wouldn’t change a thing,” Edwards said. “As we sat there and talked about it, there was Martinsville and Kansas in particular where we were truly running somewhere in the high 20s or low 30s, running laps down.  We were able to come back those days and finish, I don’t know what it was, ninth in Martinsville and fifth at Kansas. That doesn’t seem as exciting as a victory.  But those days I was more proud of our ability to gather up those points.  Those two days themselves were probably 40 points that we didn’t really deserve.  So at the end of the championship, when you look at it, we tied a guy who won half of the races.  I venture to say if we would have been able to win half of those races, we would have just dominated that thing

    “So I guess that’s the long version of me saying we did the very best we could and there weren’t any races where I got out of the car and felt like, Oh, man, I could have got another spot.  I got out of the car at seven or eight of those races and thought, Thank you, Lord, for the spots you gave me and we were able to capitalize on it.  In the end it ended up a tie.

    “Another simple way to put it is we didn’t lose it.  We didn’t go out and do anything wrong.  We went out, raced hard, did well, and they came in and beat us.”

  • David Ragan’s Season of Change On and Off the Track

    [media-credit id=40 align=”alignright” width=”239″][/media-credit]When the checkered flag dropped at Homestead officially closing the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, the season of change for David Ragan began on, as well as off, the track.

    The biggest change for Ragan was learning that his sponsor was leaving, jeopardizing his continuing relationship with Roush Fenway Racing.

    And although Ragan was mentioned as the prime candidate for several open seats during ‘silly season’, his future in the sport was not secured until this week when it was announced he would pilot the No. 34 Ford for Front Row Motorsports.

    “My heart was at Roush Fenway Racing all year, hoping to continue,” Ragan said. “But we just couldn’t make that happen.”

    “When we got back from Homestead, a lot of the guys were taking other opportunities and they laid off some employees,” Ragan continued. “So, I could see the writing on the wall that it just wasn’t going to happen.”

    “The Front Row guys have always had a relationship with the Ford Racing team so with me being in the Ford camp, I knew some of them,” Ragan said. “I understood their goals and as a young team, I could see a lot of potential.”

    “I had a few other opportunities on the table but those opportunities did not materialize,” Ragan continued. “So, I just stayed in touch with them.”

    “In order to stay in the Sprint Cup Series and in order to stay in a Ford, it was important to sign with them for the year.”

    While Ragan’s world changed dramatically, the young Cup driver acknowledged that the world, including the NASCAR community, has also dramatically changed. This is particularly true as it applies to NASCAR corporate sponsorship.

    “In this day and age in the NASCAR world, you have to have some connections in the corporate community to help bring some revenue to the team,” Ragan said. “I worked as much on that side of the coin as with the teams and owners.”

    “I’ve brought a lot of contacts to the team that I’ve made in the sport,” Ragan continued. “It’s something that collectively we’re going to work on.”

    Ragan also anticipates another change, that of moving from one of the sport’s bigger teams to a smaller team primarily funded by the team owner. Yet he acknowledges that moving from a large to a more intimate team also has its advantages.

    “Front Row has primarily been funded from the car owner, Bob Jenkin’s, side to keep it going,” Ragan said. “So, that’s going to be a big change.”

    “But you’ve got a group of guys working together to run the two cars and that’s going to be better because you feel more of a personal relationship with the team,” Ragan continued. “I think there’s a lot of room to grow the Front Row team.”

    “The landscape is certainly changing and the gaps between the haves and the have nots is closing up a little tighter each day.”

    Another major change on the track for Ragan will be dealing with the new fuel injection in the race cars. Although he did not participate in the recent Daytona testing, Ragan feels confident that he will be able to easily cope with these changes.

    “From a driver’s standpoint, there’s really not much difference,” Ragan said. “The cars drive and respond in pretty much the same way.”

    “I’ve driven quite a bit of the fuel injection stuff over the past year doing testing for the Roush Yates engine department,” Ragan continued. “That’s something that will help the Front Row Motorsports team and we will utilize our Ford partnership.”

    Ragan is also focused on coping with another major change on the track, that of getting to know a whole new team, owner and crew chief. And he also is in the getting acquainted stage with new teammate David Gilliland.

    “I’m spending as much time as possible at the race shop, meeting the guys and learning their system,” Ragan said. “We’re starting to talk schedule and traveling and then we’ll get down to business, with set ups and cars.”

    “My teammate David Gilliland ran third in the Daytona 500 and me winning the race in July, I feel like we should have a good pairing for the race,” Ragan continued. “David is a good speedway racer so it should be fun to plan out our strategy.”

    “I think things are going well and it will help us that we’re in the Bud Shoot Out,” Ragan said. “That will help break the ice for the Daytona 500.”

    Ragan is, however, expecting one major change, particularly at Daytona. He is predicting that tandem racing for the entire race may be a thing of the past and the pack may indeed be back.

    “I expect a combination of both tandem and pack racing,” Ragan said. “The engine has been restricted so much that you just can’t have the tandem racing all race long.”

    “I think you’ll see spurts of it all race long but the meat of it will most likely be pack racing with guys conserving cars to be there at the end.”

    With the many changes on the track for David Ragan, he added one more change to his repertoire. This change, however, applied more to his off track activities than his racing career.

    Ragan proposed to his long-time girlfriend Jacquelyn Ann Butler. They are planning for their wedding in December of this year.

    “I wasn’t quite brave enough to ask her at a sporting event on the jumbotron before 50,000 people,” Ragan said. “Her and I went off for a little weekend and I was fairly traditional.”

    “I got down on one knee and the good news is that she said yes,” Ragan continued. “I wasn’t going to get up until she did say yes. That was good and I was glad to have her not expecting it.”

    One thing that has not changed in Ragan’s life is his devotion to his work as a Shriner. The other is his love for racing super late models.

    “I’m still doing a lot of work with Shriner’s Children’s Hospital, getting our dates planned out for the Shrine Bowl at Carolina Speedway,” Ragan said. “And I’m going to race my super late model car a few times in January and run the first CRA race of the season in Georgia at Speedfest.”

    “So, I’m looking forward to getting back on the track with that and then Daytona will be here before you know it.”

    So, what has Ragan learned through the many changes in his life on and off the track?

    “It makes you appreciate your program and your job when you have a full-time sponsor when you know your plans going into the off season and during the holidays,” Ragan said. “But this sport is so tough and there’s a lot of great drivers and teams and things are changing.  The world we live in is changing and the sport is too.”

    “We just look forward to a great opportunity at Front Row,” Ragan continued. “They have a great deal of potential and we look forward to taking the team to the next level.”