Tag: Ryan Newman

Hot 20 – The season’s best driver does not always claim the Cup championship

There is something about having a single win and getting into the Chase. It gives everyone a chance, one that for some would have pretty much been gone in the wind. Kurt Busch is having about as much luck as Danica Patrick right now, but he has his win. If Danica could just get one, somehow, somewhere, she also could launch herself amongst our contenders. It is that simple. Heck, even Josh Wise could make some noise if he could win, and work his way into the Top 30. Everyone in the Top 36, in fact, still has hope, and that might be a good thing. If not, then the debate as to who will be our new champion would be down to talking about no more than nine or ten drivers.

Using today’s point system, but giving the winner 25 points instead of just 3, the Hendrick duo of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson rise to the top. Yet, should Matt Kenseth take the prize at Pocono on Sunday he would take over the top rung no matter what the other two boys did. Winning has its privileges, and while it is not as generous or as forgiving as the official method, this does offer a truer reflection of who is hot and who is not.

If you are a sponsor of Carl Edwards, Joey Logano, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, or Kevin Harvick, you should be pleased. At the one-third mark of the season, those drivers and the aforementioned trio have been the most relevant each week, with a nod to Denny Hamlin. He remains close even after having to take an extra week off. Yes, that win does help.

Being the best over the course of the season has never ensured a driver of a championship, no matter what points system or method has been used in the past. Jimmie Johnson (2004), Ryan Newman (2003), Jeff Gordon (1996), Rusty Wallace (1994), Bill Elliott (1985), Darrell Waltrip (1984), and David Pearson (1973) are just the most recent examples. Come to think of it, I wonder how we would look at Newman today had his 8 wins trumped the single victory of Kenseth in determining the crown that season? How would our perceptions have changed in regards to the likes of Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Terry Labonte, and Benny Parsons?

While we will watch each week to see if a win can salvage somebody’s season, to witness which 16 will be eligible for the title, and who gets eliminated from contention over the final ten events, we should try and remember the drivers who gave us cause to watch each and every week. Here are the hot 20 who have done just that this season.

(Win bonus increased from 3 points to 25)

Driver – Points (Wins)
1 Jeff Gordon – 483 (1)
2 Jimmie Johnson – 480 (2)
3 Matt Kenseth – 463
4 Carl Edwards – 460 (1)
5 Joey Logano – 458 – (2)
6 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 451 (1)
7 Kyle Busch – 433 (1)
8 Brad Keselowski – 426 (1)
9 Kevin Harvick – 417 (2)
10 Denny Hamlin – 401 (1)
11 Kyle Larson – 377
12 Ryan Newman – 374
13 Brian Vickers – 366
14 Paul Menard – 362
15 Austin Dillon – 358
16 Greg Biffle – 357
17 Clint Bowyer – 350
18 Kasey Kahne – 349
19 Aric Almirola – 344
20 A.J. Allmendinger – 337

June 5, 2014
The Final Word – Dover is over and now to Pocono where Jimmie has not won for an entire year!

Even a ball player could appreciate Jimmie Johnson’s average at Dover, having gone 9 for 25 for a sweet .360 average. Sunday, Johnson led much of the way to lock down his second of the season. Brad Keselowski, who has a win, finished second while Matt Kenseth, who does not, was third. That fact should not be cause to worry at the moment, as Kenseth still has more points than anyone, even without a victory to his credit. If this keeps up, he might not need one.

Tony Stewart needs a win to make the Chase, but a seventh place result was as good as it got. Kevin Harvick has two wins, but a flat as they came to green after a caution removed him from the lead and contention. Kurt Busch, who has a win and precious little else, was one back of Harvick, in 18th. As for Danica Patrick, if 25th is a decent day, she was better than decent by two positions.

Some teams you expect to be better, some not. Not much is expected from the BK Racing trio of Cole Whitt (27th), Ryan Truex (32nd), and Alex Bowman (40th) and we were not surprised. We thought Roush would be running better, but Carl Edwards (14th) was as good as it got for those boys as circumstances left Greg Biffle (38th) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr (41st) all torn up. Hendrick may have won, but Penske had the better average with Keselowski and Joey Logano both in the Top Ten.

When is all clear not all clear? Ask Clint Bowyer or, better yet, ask Kyle Busch. Seeking the weekend Dover three-peat, Busch was charging to the outside of Bowyer, but that is not what his spotter told him. It was clear to us that Rowdy was looking to the outside, only to wind up squeezed into the fence and out of the race. He had definite evil intentions aimed at his rival, but the guy he really should have wanted was high up in the grandstands. Oops.

When is debris not really debris? It is not if you run over a chunk of concrete and reduce it in size by blasting it to chunks and dust. Ask Jamie McMurray, who was the beneficiary of the gift of masonry Ryan Newman kicked up just in front of him from the newly formed pothole. McMurray clobbered it but good to split his splitter and send him fence-ward. Interestingly enough, he was 16th at the time, yet finished 13th.

While I shall miss FOX, I believe TNT’s coverage of NASCAR is the superior. Should we discover Pocono to be boring, yet we continue to watch primarily due to the entertainment provided by the announcers, then we have found folks who know how to do their job.

Why don’t the New York Yankees play three of four games a month against minor league teams on national television? The reason is that would be stupid, but enough about Kyle Busch.

As long as there are less than 16 race winners, wins lock you into the Chase while being the best in points will still get you there. Welcome to a world where Kurt Busch can lead Matt Kenseth in the standings, where a single victory trumps having more points than anybody else. That means that by this time next week, anyone from the top 36 could find themselves in the Chase by simply winning this Sunday at Pocono. Nothing to it.

SWEET SIXTEEN
1 Jimmie Johnson – 2 WINS – 436 Points
2 Joey Logano – 2 WINS – 414
3 Kevin Harvick – 2 WINS – 373
4 Jeff Gordon -1 WIN – 461
5 Carl Edwards -1 WIN – 438
6 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 1 WIN – 429
7 Kyle Busch – 1 WIN – 411
8 Brad Keselowski – 1 WIN – 404
9 Denny Hamlin – 1 WIN – 379
10 Kurt Busch – 1 WIN – 241
11 Matt Kenseth – 463 POINTS
12 Kyle Larson – 377
13 Ryan Newman – 374
14 Brian Vickers – 366
15 Paul Menard – 362
16 Austin Dillon – 358

CONTENDERS AND PRETENDERS
17 Greg Biffle – 357
18 Clint Bowyer – 350
19 Kasey Kahne – 349
20 Aric Almirola – 344
21 A.J. Allmendinger – 337
22 Tony Stewart – 336
23 Marcos Ambrose – 331
24 Jamie McMurray – 317
25 Casey Mears – 301
26 Martin Truex, Jr. – 289
27 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – 261
28 Danica Patrick – 239
29 Justin Allgaier – 223
30 Michael Annett – 188

PARTICIPANTS
31 Cole Whitt – 181
32 David Gilliland – 175
33 Reed Sorenson – 165
34 David Ragan – 158
35 Alex Bowman – 156
36 Josh Wise – 149

June 2, 2014
Surprising and Not Surprising: Coca Cola 600

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

May 26, 2014
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Kansas

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Jeff Gordon: Gordon took the lead with eight laps to go and held off the hard-changing Kevin Harvick to take the checkered flag at Kansas. It was Gordon’s first win this season and third career win at Kansas Speedway.

“My pit crew really came through with a great stop,” Gordon said. “In this sport, it’s all about the ‘seconds.’ Just ask Mark Martin.

“Winning a race is a weight off my shoulders. Now, I’ve got to take that wait off my shoulders, because it’s been 13 years since my last Cup title.”

2. Joey Logano: Logano took third in the 5-Hour Energy 400, posting his sixth top-five of the year. He is sixth in the points standings, 48 behind Jeff Gordon.

“The lights went out on the backstretch during the race,” Logano said. “I guess NASCAR’s “Drive For Diversity” program is working, because it just got darker.”

3. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished 10th at Kansas, the best finish among Toyota drivers. Kenseth is second in the Sprint Cup points standings, 15 behind Jeff Gordon.

“I didn’t see the light,” Kenseth said. “And, I also didn’t see the ‘Lite.’ That’s because Brad Keselowski was driving the No. 2 car with the Würth paint scheme. If you’ll notice, in the word ‘Würth,’ there are two dots over the ‘u.’ On a related note, I’d like to give Keselowski two dots in his ‘i.’”

4. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Earnhardt posted his sixth top-five finish with a fifth at Kansas as Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon took the win. Earnhardt is fourth in the points standings, 26 out of first.

“Another problem with the lights for NASCAR,” Earnhardt said. “I guess this gives new meaning to the term ‘night racing.’ But let’s not be too alarmed. There are hundreds of blackouts in every NASCAR race, most in the infield, and nearly all involving fans of Junior Nation.”

5. Carl Edwards: Edwards led six laps and finished sixth in the 5-Hour Energy 500 at Kansas. He moved up one spot to fifth in the points standings, and trails Jeff Gordon by 27.

“After the lights went out,” Edwards said, “NASCAR officials asked the drivers if they could see well enough to continue. You could say, for once, that NASCAR started on the ‘poll.’”

6. Kyle Busch: Busch finished a disappointing 15th at Kansas, as Matt Kenseth was the top Joe Gibbs Racing finisher, in 10th. Busch is still third in the points standings, 21 out of first.

“Despite driving the No. 18 Snickers car,” Busch said, “I’m not satisfied.”

7. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson led 24 laps at Kansas, but was no match for the faster cars of Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick. He faded to ninth at the finish, and remains winless on the season.

“I heard Danica Patrick got a big thrill passing me,” Johnson said. “Give her a pat on the back. Usually, when Danica passes a Sprint Cup champion, the only thing back is her lap.”

8. Kevin Harvick: Harvick led a race-high 119 laps, but was beaten out of the pits on the final caution by Jeff Gordon. Harvick couldn’t catch Gordon down the stretch and settled for second.

“We just didn’t get it done on the pit stop,” Harvick said. “It’s one thing to get caught speeding on pit lane; it’s another to get caught ‘sleeping.’”

9. Ryan Newman: Newman finished 11th in the 5-Hour Energy 400 at Kansas, just missing out on his fourth top-10 result of the year. He is, however, in the top 10 in the points, in eighth, 62 behind Jeff Gordon.

“Clint Bowyer’s mother gave the command to start the engines,” Newman said. “She really gave it a nice personal touch. You could say she put her own ‘spin’ on it.”

10. Greg Biffle: Biffle finished 16th at Kansas in the No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Toyota. He is ninth in the Sprint Cup points standings, 66 out of first.

“It was an eventful race,” Biffle said. “Between the threat of storms, cars on fire, and malfunctioning lights, NASCAR is probably saying ‘Glad we’re not in Kansas anymore.”

May 13, 2014
The Final Word – A NASCAR Supernova stars in Kansas

There are three major stars in NASCAR’s constellation of drivers. They are simply called Jimmie, Junior, and Jeff, and few could argue that this trio has shone the brightest. Jimmie Johnson has six championships, including five in a row. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the legacy of the legend, with 15 wins in his first five full seasons and four straight at Talladega. His track success might have cooled, but Junior Nation’s fervor has not. Jeff Gordon, the four time champion, won his third at Kansas, but his first since 2002, to all but lock his place in the Chase.

Gordon led in points, even without a win, but Saturday night he put a lock on a race he dominated. Well, for all but one other entry, he was the undisputed leader of the pack. Kevin Harvick had designs to add to his win total, only to fall just short. While both drivers have been stellar thus far in the season, only the wreck at Talladega mars Gordon’s record in 2014. Harvick has been a factor in every race, winning two, but he has been up front only until misfortune bit him hard at Las Vegas, Bristol, California, and Texas.

Winning is important, but it sure comes in handy to also be relevant week in and week out. Danica Patrick was just that the entire race, finishing seventh, while Tony Stewart was for a time before coming home 20th. One has a great track record, one does not, but both have driven SHR autos that have been providing sub-par results much of the year. Other than Harvick, one wonders how much are their woes car based. Just ask the fourth member of that stable, as Kurt Busch finished outside the Top Twenty for the ninth time in eleven attempts. If not for his win at Martinsville, which this season makes him relevant, being 28th in points would have otherwise left him an also ran a couple of points beyond the total of even Ms. Patrick.

However, a win is the golden ticket this season to challenge for the championship. Joey Logano and Harvick have a couple, with Gordon, Junior, and the Brothers Busch among the seven with one to their credit. Seven more are within the Top 16 in points, but a single win and a spot in the Top 30 vaults one up the ladder. Who will be next?

Before the World 600, the boys and girl have the All-Star race on their schedule this Saturday night at Charlotte. Nineteen are in, having won since the 2013 Daytona 500, by winning this race in the past, or by having been a Cup series champion. Three more will be added, with two coming from the top finishers from among the 23 car field that will run in the Showdown on Friday night. The other will come via a fan vote. If that goes the way I think it will, I would expect the All-Star race to include every driver mentioned above. Yes, even her.

Who will win on Saturday night? That is easy. Every driver who has ever won the All-Star race since Darrell Waltrip claimed the Winston back in 1985 has or will be either a Cup champion, the winner of the Daytona 500, the World 600 or the night race at Bristol. No exceptions.

A star won last Saturday night, and another should claim the prize in Charlotte this Saturday evening.

Darrell Waltrip – All-Star 1985 – Daytona 500 1989 – World 600 1978-79, 1985, 1988-89 – Bristol 1979, 1981-83, 1986, 1989, 1992 – Champion 1981-82, 1985

Bill Elliott – All-Star 1986 – Daytona 500 1985, 1987 – Champion 1988

Dale Earnhardt – All-Star 1987, 1990, 1993 – Daytona 500 1998 – World 600 1986, 1992-93 – Champion 1980, 1986-87, 1990-91, 1993-94

Terry Labonte – All-Star 1988, 1999 – Bristol 1984, 1995 – Champion 1984, 1996

Rusty Wallace – All-Star 1989 – World 600 1990 – Bristol 1994, 1996, 2000 – Champion 1989

Davey Allison – All-Star 1991-92 – Daytona 500 1992 – World 600 1991

Geoffrey Bodine – All-Star 1994 – Daytona 500 1986

Jeff Gordon – All-Star 1995, 1997, 2001 – Daytona 500 1997, 1999, 2005 – World 600 1994, 1997-98 – Bristol 2002 – Champion 1995, 1997-98, 2001

Michael Waltrip – All-Star 1996 – Daytona 500 2001, 2003

Mark Martin – All-Star 1998, 2005 – World 600 2002 – Bristol 1993, 1998

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – All-Star 2000 – Daytona 500 2004, 2014 – Bristol 2004

Ryan Newman – All-Star 2002- Daytona 500 2008

Jimmie Johnson – All-Star 2003, 2006, 2012-13 – Daytona 500 2006, 2013 – World 600 2003-05 – Champion 2006-10, 2013

Matt Kenseth – All-Star 2004 – Daytona 500 2009, 2012 – World 600 2000 – Bristol 2005-06, 2013 – Champion 2003

Kevin Harvick – All-Star 2007 – Daytona 500 2007 – World 600 2011, 2013

Kasey Kahne – All-Star 2008 – World 600 2006, 2008, 2012

Tony Stewart All-Star 2009 – Bristol 2001 – Champion 2002, 2005, 2011

Kurt Busch – All-Star 2010 – World 600 2010 – Bristol 2003 – Champion 2004

Carl Edwards – All-Star 2011 – Bristol 2007-08

Casey Mears – World 600 2007

David Reutimann – World 600 2009

Kyle Busch – Bristol 2009-10

Jamie McMurray – Daytona 500 2010

Trevor Bayne – Daytona 500 2011

Brad Keselowski – Bristol 2011 – Champion 2012

Denny Hamlin – Bristol 2012

May 13, 2014
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Richmond

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Jeff Gordon: Gordon led 173 of 400 laps at Richmond, but his quest for his first win of the season fell short. He finished second behind Joey Logano after a spirited four-car battle for the win during the final laps. Gordons leads the Sprint Cup points standings, five ahead of Matt Kenseth.

“This race had everything,” Gordon said. “Excitement, controversy, confrontation, and a punch. Marcos Ambrose really let Casey Mears have it. I guess you could say the Australian gave him a ‘vegemite knuckle sandwich.’ It was ‘Aus-some!’

“NASCAR doesn’t have the guts to admit it, but I think Ambrose’s punch was good for the sport. There’s plenty of ‘talking smack’ is NASCAR; finally, someone actually did more than just talk it.”

2. Joey Logano: Logano started fourth on the race’s final restart and zoomed to the lead as Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, and Brad Keselowski jockeyed for position. Logano took the lead with three laps to go and held on for his second win of the year.

“I passed three NASCAR Sprint Cup champions,” Logano said. “While Kenseth and Gordon were sandwiching Keselowski, ‘Sliced Bread’ stole the win. Thanks to my teammate for helping me with the win. Brad then jumped on my hood to congratulate me. I’m not surprised. Just ask Kenseth. Brad was feeling a little ‘froggy.’

“Marcos Ambrose punched Casey Mears. That aggressiveness inspired me, so I punched my ticket. Here’s hoping it doesn’t punch back.”

3. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth lead on the final restart and valiantly held off Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski, but in doing so allowed Joey Logano to slip by for the win. Kenseth finished fifth and was confronted after the race by Keselowski, who accused Kenseth of blocking.

“Brad had some words from me,” Kenseth said. “He can get mouthy when he’s angry just as easily as he can get ‘gummy’ when he smiles.

“But there’s no place for violence in this sport, at least not from me. If I ‘raise my hand,’ you can rest assured it’s because I want to ask a question.”

4. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt finished seventh in the Toyota Owners 400, posting his sixth top 10 of the year. He is fifth in the points standings, 32 behind Jeff Gordon.

“I don’t appreciate getting caught up in Brad Keselowski’s desire for vengeance,” Earnhardt said. “He’ll ‘pay’ for this, most likely with a ‘brake check.’”

5. Kyle Busch: After rough going for the better part of Saturday’s race, Busch stormed to the front on the final restart and claimed third in the Toyota Owners 400. He is now fourth in the points standings, 31 behind Jeff Gordon.

“What a great run by Joey Logano,” Busch said. “But he’s not the happiest driver of the day. That would be my brother Kurt. He’s thrilled that someone got punched and it wasn’t him.

“But let’s be serious for a minute. Ambrose and Mears finished 18th and 19th, respectively. Is that worth a punch in the eye? By that rationale, Danica Patrick and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., who finished 34th and 38th, could have very well scrapped. In that case, someone would have taken one right in the kisser.”

6. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski battled for the lead late at Richmond, but was held at bay by Matt Kenseth’s tactics, which were dirty, according to Keselowski. Keselowski finished fourth as Penske Racing teammate Joey Logano took the win.

“Kenseth tried to run me into the wall,” Keselowski said. “I called it a ‘mind-boggling’ move. What’s really mind-boggling is that I found it mind-boggling.

“We had a car honoring Detroit Genuine Parts. Detroit is known for its car parts. The city is littered with them.”

7. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson lost a front tire with 34 laps to go at Richmond and limped home to a 32nd-place finish. He is now eighth in the points standings and still winless on the year.

“It’s been a tough year for us so far,” Johnson said. “But, despite being a six-time Sprint Cup champion, I’m human just like every other driver. The worse that can happen to me is the same as the worse that can happen to them—-not winning the championship.”

8. Carl Edwards: Edwards took ninth at Richmond, recording his fifth top-10 result of the year. He remained third in the Sprint Cup points standings and trails Jeff Gordon by 28.

“Robert Griffin III drove the pace car at Richmond,” Edwards said. “He was recruited by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Those two have a lot in common; they’ve never won a championship, and they both like white women.”

9. Ryan Newman: Newman finished eighth in the Toyota Owners 400, posting his fourth top 10 of the year. He stands ninth in the points standings, 69 out of first.

“Casey Mears got KO’d,” Newman said, “while Brad Keselowski got PO’d. I’m shocked….shocked that Ambrose’s punch wasn’t an uppercut. If it had been, we could say that the punch, much like Ambrose himself, came from ‘Down Under.’”

10. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 11th at Richmond, posting the top finish among Stewart-Haas Racing drivers. Race winner Joey Logano joined Harvick as the only two-time winners this season.

“What a race!” Harvick said. “And what a punch by Marcos Ambrose. I’m sure that left Casey Mears with a black eye, which, in NASCAR’s eyes, is proof enough that the ‘Drive For Diversity’ program is working.”

April 29, 2014
Surprising and Not Surprising: Texas Duck Commander 500

In a rain-filled race day fit only for the ducks, so much so that the race was postponed from Sunday to Monday, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 18^th Annual Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Surprising: He may have finished second in the race, but Jeff Gordon achieved the top spot in the point standings, a position that he surprisingly has not held since 2009.

And with his runner up status, the consistent driver of the No. 24 No. 24 Axalta/Texas A&M School of Engineering Chevrolet scored his 12^th top-10 finish at Texas and his fifth top-10 finish for the season.

“It was a great second‑place finish for me,” Gordon said. “I knew it was going to be hard to hold those guys off.”

“Looked out my mirror, those guys were racing hard behind me,” Gordon continued. “At that point I was thinking, I just want to finish.”

“I feel very fortunate to have finished second.”

Not Surprising: It was after all the Duck Commander 500 race, so it was not at all surprising for the seventh winner in seven races to capitalize on that duck theme.

“Obviously these wins are so important this year to get into the Chase and to have both Team Penske cars with a win already is big, so we feel good about that,” Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford, said after celebrating his first victory of the season. “You kind of start getting your ducks in a row for Chase time and making sure you get everything ready for then.”

“You feel a little bit more comfortable now that we have won than what we would have been.”

This was Logano’s first ever win at Texas Motor Speedway and he also became the youngest winner in TMS history at the tender age of 23 years, 10 months and 14 days.

Surprising: Brian Vickers had a surprisingly good run, in fact the best of his season in fourth place. The driver of the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota also climbed four places in the point standings to crack the top-10 in points, currently sitting in the ninth position, 54 points behind leader Jeff Gordon.

“Really proud of everyone on this Aaron’s Dream Machine team,” Vickers said. “Just really proud of the effort. We probably didn’t have a car to win, but we made the most of it.”

“We’ll learn from this and we’ll move on to the next race and we gave it our best there at the end.”

Not Surprising: The ‘Kyle and Kyle’ show continued its run at Texas, with Kyle Busch battling young Rookie of the Year contender Kyle Larson yet again for a top-five finish.

Busch, who scored third place in his No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, posted his eighth top-10 finish in 18 races at Texas while Larson, behind the wheel of his No. 42 Target Chevrolet, finished fifth as the highest finishing ROTY candidate.

“It was a good afternoon for us,” Busch said. “Just drove the hell out of it there those last two laps and got all she could and come home third. Good, deserving finish for us here today.”

“We were really good today, pretty much good from the start,” Larson said. “Our Target Chevy was average on a short run, but long runs I thought we probably had the best car.”

“Just kept sticking with it, got it better and better each run,” Larson continued. “Put ourselves in position there on that last restart to get a good finish.”

Surprising: Two drivers were surprisingly up in smoke early in the race, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. hitting the grass and exploding in flames on lap 13 while Kevin Harvick’s engine expired in a huge puff of smoke just 27 laps into the race.

“Something happened with the engine right after that restart,” Harvick said. “The Jimmy John’s Chevrolet was really fast.”

“It’s frustrating. I don’t know what else I can say,” Harvick continued. “I didn’t get any indication that anything was going wrong.”

“We’ll take it back to the shop and figure out what happened. But that’s a disappointing end to the day.”

Earnhardt Jr.’s day also ended up in flames and smoke but for a very different reason.

“Just didn’t see the grass. Didn’t know the grass was down there,” Junior said. “With the way the A-post is on these cars you can’t really see that good to that angle. I just didn’t have a good visual of where the apron and the grass was and got down in there pretty good.”

“You can’t run through there the way they have these cars on the ground like that,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet said. “Just a mistake on my part. I just didn’t know I was that close to the grass, and made a mistake.”

Not Surprising: With rain in the air and the track changing throughout the race day, it was not surprising that gremlins in the flaps and hoods reared their ugly heads. In fact, because of the force of air from the jet dryers, at least four cars had hood flaps popping up, including the cars of Brad Keselowski, Ryan Newman, Danica Patrick and Justin Allgaier.

“I was definitely wondering what happened,” the driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford said on seeing his hood flap pop up. “I knew it was the jet dryer that caused it, but it was one of those freak deals.”

Surprising: As much as the race fans wanted to see the sun, it was surprisingly not Tony Stewart’s friend as his car fared better in the gloomier conditions.

“We had a really good racecar for what the track conditions were most of this weekend,” the driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet said. “I think we showed that with getting the pole on Saturday and then leading all those laps at the first part of the race.”

“But the track changed a lot and the setup we had didn’t really change with it.”

In spite of handling struggles late in the race, Smoke led 74 laps and did manage to finish top-10 for the day, advancing one position up in points to fourteenth.

Not Surprising: Along with his heavy heart on the untimely death of his brother-in-law due to a sky-diving accident, Jimmie Johnson had heavy damage to match, unfortunately being the recipient of the mud and debris from his teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s foray into the grass and wall.

Johnson finished the race with a disappointing 25^th place run in his No. 48 Lowe’s Spring is Calling Chevrolet.

“It’s kind of surreal what happened,” the six-time champion said. “Junior hit the grass there and something off his car like a splitter or something just destroyed my windshield and then something hit the nose of the car too.”

“We were in a good position and were running decent lap times when the right rear blew,” Johnson continued. “It was a day of bad luck. We had a fast race car, so there was a little silk lining in it, but it was a terrible finish.”

Surprising: The third time was not a charm for Kurt Busch, previous race winner at Martinsville, who suffered not one, not two, but three tire failures in the Duck Commander 500 and finished 39^th.

“That was a very disappointing day after having a fast Haas Automation Chevrolet all weekend,” Daniel Knost, Busch’s crew chief, said. “We brought out a backup car after a wreck early in the weekend due to a tire issue.”

“We took a little too aggressive setup today, and it cost us,” Knost continued. “I hate that we had a day like this, but we’ll continue to learn and get better each week.”

Not Surprising: While Aric Almirola and his Eckrich sponsor granted wishes for a local veteran injured in Afghanistan, the driver of the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford, had his own wish for improvement in his point standings come true as well.

“The car was loose all day,” Almirola said. “Our intermediate track program is still not where we want it to be, but this was a good improvement.”

“We hung in the Top-15 all day, and hopefully, a 12th-place finish will help us in the points.”

Almirola and his team indeed moved up four spots in the points standings to 22^nd as he and his fellow Cup compatriots head into the night race this upcoming weekend at Darlington Raceway.

April 7, 2014

Hot 20 – Ducks and guns and controversy, it must mean we’re going to Texas

Last year, it was the NRA. This year the Texas race is brought to you courtesy of Duck Commander, representing the first family of Duck Dynasty. While some might be a touch torqued to have another gun-endorsing group as a sponsor, I find it less offensive than, say, Chick-Fil-A. The sponsor pays for name placement, but should not take over the identity of the event in total. I think any affair named exclusively after its sponsor of the moment does injustice to the event in the long-term. The Peach Bowl had tradition, the Chick-Fil-A Bowl was a joke. Its return to becoming the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl is an acceptable nod to both tradition and commercialism.

There is the case of Thai boxer Somboon Phantasi, also known as Samson Dutch Boy Gym, Samson 3-K Battery, Samson Toyota-Thailand and Samson Elite Gym, or whoever his sponsor happened to be at that moment. It could have been worse, but thankfully there was no Samson Chick-Fil-A. It is, or was, an honor to win such milestone events as the Daytona 500, the Southern 500, the Brickyard 400, the Firecracker 400, the World 600, the Dixie 500, the Volunteer 500, the Delaware 500, the Old Dominion 500, the Pocono 500, the Richmond 400, and the Talladega 500. These were races that had their own, distinct identity. Races a winning driver could refer to proudly in future years, events fans might actually know something about and appreciate. You could even have pride in taking the Viagra Daytona 500, though the sponsor name might not appear on the resume. Something like the Duck Commander Texas 500 has a nice ring to it. If you do not like the sponsor, just refer to it by its real name and all will be happy.

Our thoughts are with Jimmie Johnson and his wife Chandra, following the loss of her brother in a sky diving accident last Sunday. Jordan Janway was just 27 years old.

It is official. The troubles experienced by teams at Martinsville were not the fault of Goodyear but were, in fact, self inflicted. NASCAR will not be regulating tire pressures at Texas. Six different drivers have won this season, though a repeat of last spring would give Kyle Busch his second of 2014.

Tradition once gave the best on the season the championship in NASCAR. Even so, some might suggest that Matt Kenseth’s 2003 title was something of an upset considering the eight wins that season of Ryan Newman. With the new knockout format this year, the odds of an upset champion are even greater. It would not exactly be unique in sports should that happen. The Giants beat the up to then undefeated Patriots in the 2008 Super Bowl, the Mets beat the Orioles in the 1969 World Series, and the USA eliminated the Soviet Union in Olympic hockey in 1980. Heading to Homestead, we will only know that one of four drivers will take the prize by the end of the day, and the season’s most dominant driver might not even be among them.

However, if we sought out “the” driver of 2014, gave race winners 22 additional points, up to 69 or 70, and eliminated the Chase, this is what our hot 20 would look like heading into Texas.

	Driver	Races	Wins	Points
1	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	6	1	249
2	Carl Edwards	6	1	239
3	Matt Kenseth	6	0	218
4	Jeff Gordon	6	0	216
5	Kyle Busch	6	1	211
6	Brad Keselowski	6	1	210
7	Jimmie Johnson	6	0	209
8	Joey Logano	6	0	187
9	Austin Dillon	6	0	179
10	Ryan Newman	6	0	174
11	Kurt Busch	6	1	168
12	Paul Menard	6	0	168
13	Denny Hamlin	5	0	165
14	Brian Vickers	6	0	165
15	Marcos Ambrose	6	0	162
16	Kevin Harvick	6	1	157
17	Tony Stewart	6	0	154
18	A.J. Allmendinger	6	0	152
19	Clint Bowyer	6	0	150
20	Greg Biffle	6	0	149

April 3, 2014

Hot 20 – As Jeff Gordon experiences an interesting week, we remember Lynda Petty

I guess Jeff Gordon had reason to be somewhat hot this past week. Last Sunday, he came within a Clint Bowyer spin of taking the prize in California. Then, a satirical website came out with a story of Gordon coming out, admitting to dating an openly gay fellow, and “reporting” on the outrage of some fans at the “news.” I guess this comes with being the second prettiest driver in NASCAR, though the fact he has two kids with one of the prettiest spouses in NASCAR should be a hint that happy he may be, gay he is not.

One thing Gordon is, and that is the best driver in Cup who thus far has yet to register a win this season. Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson are in the ball park. Even though Kevin Harvick may have won at Phoenix he finds his stock plunging. Three races he has looked good, at least the first few chapters, then someone rips out the final few pages to leave him with finishes of 41^st, 39^th, and 36^th. While the official standings might have him sitting fifth, last among those with a victory to their credit, he is nowhere to be found in anybody’s Top 20 finishers when it comes to accumulated points.

Every method of determining a champion has its critics. While we await reaction to this year’s elimination rounds, most remember that Matt Kenseth won the title in 2003 but fewer remember that Ryan Newman won eight races that year. The points system in place did not really reward him for the effort. Still, that in no way diminishes Kenseth’s crown or the six Johnson has claimed since the Chase was instituted. It may alter who we think of as being the best over any one campaign, but in the long run the cream always rises to the top.

Richard Petty may have become the King due to his seven championships and 200 victories, but this week we mourn the loss of his queen. Lynda and Richard were married in 1959, and it probably is not a coincidence that it was the next year her husband began to win his first races. While Richard ruled the tracks, it was Lynda who ruled the roost. She was even the family disciplinarian. On that subject, a few years ago she said that you could ask her son “‘Did your daddy ever whip you?’ and he’d say, ‘No, but my mother wailed the daylights out of me.’ ” She had her causes that she was passionate about, but none were as important to her than her family. We join with the entire NASCAR family in remembering Lynda Petty.

If we returned to former days when there was no Chase, if we used today’s points system but winners were rewarded with 69 to 70 points, and we determined our champion over 36 races, this is how our Hot 20 standings would look like as the action heads to Martinsville for this Sunday.

	Driver	Races	Win	Points
1	Carl Edwards	5	1	208
2	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	5	1	207
3	Brad Keselowski	5	1	204
4	Jeff Gordon	5	0	184
5	Kyle Busch	5	1	180
6	Matt Kenseth	5	0	179
7	Jimmie Johnson	5	0	165
8	Ryan Newman	5	0	150
9	Austin Dillon	5	0	150
10	Joey Logano	5	0	146
11	Denny Hamlin	4	0	140
12	Jamie McMurray	5	0	138
13	Brian Vickers	5	0	137
14	Paul Menard	5	0	134
15	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	5	0	132
16	Kyle Larson	5	0	131
17	Tony Stewart	5	0	127
18	Casey Mears	5	0	126
19	Kasey Kahne	5	0	123
20	Greg Biffle	5	0	122
21	Marcos Ambrose	5	0	122

March 27, 2014

The Final Word – An all-Kyle finish at Fontana, as Bowyer spins his way to a Top 20

Tires, man. That was the story of the race at Fontana. If one was conservative in their set up, like those owned by Joe Gibbs, all was well. If not…well, they blew it.

California was not like Indianapolis a few years ago, when they could not keep the rubber inflated no matter what they tried. This time, if they messed around with air pressure and camber, they risked ill fortunate. The team of Kyle Busch did not, and that is a big reason why Rowdy claimed his 29^th career victory in extending his streak of claiming at least one win in a season to ten. Busch held off rookie Kyle Larson as both broke from the field during the green-white-check finish to get by Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart with one to go.

It was great racing, with the tire situation just adding to the excitement. As long as a driver did not fall multiple laps off the pace, chances were good they could come back from any miscue. However, one needed time, and when Jimmie Johnson blew a tire with seven to go, his time was up as one of the day’s most dominant cars finished 24^th.

Johnson lost a tire, kept the beast under control, and kept the race green. That allowed Jeff Gordon, who seemed to be nursing some ailing Goodyears of his own, to take his long-run auto onwards toward that checkered flag. Then, Ryan Newman blew a tire, but made it back without caution. Same for Bard Keselowski. Ditto for Marcos Ambrose. Even Clint Bowyer managed to save his car as Gordon charged toward the white flag. Then it slightly accelerated and it appeared Bowyer’s front wheels turned hard left, and the resulting slide caused caution to come out, forcing a green-white-checker.

There are those who might have seen it and thought maybe Bowyer had deliberately spun the car. That he had it saved but then touched the gas and cranked the wheel to make sure that he did not. That he purposely went for the yellow when others did not. According to Bowyer’s Twitter comment, that is not true.

“Love how “some” idiots on here think I really wanted to give up a much needed good run to screw you over.”

Of course, the idiots knew that his good run as over once the tire went flat. What the idiots are accusing Bowyer of is deliberately bringing out the caution so that he might be better able to recover from his flat. Johnson did not, and finished 24^th. Keselowski settled for 26^th. Ambrose was 30^th. As for Honest Clint…due to the caution he was able to salvage a 16^th place finish. That spin might have cost Gordon a victory, but it saved Bowyer at least 15 positions on the track. Then again, maybe the fans are wrong, maybe the car just got away from him, though the video sure looked suspicious. It is not as if Bowyer has done anything like this before. Or lied about it afterwards. Of course not.

While Gordon was strong on the long runs, everyone knew he would not be over a two lap dash. He wound up 13^th. Dale Earnhardt Jr was 12^th, and with Keselowski faltering at the end, Junior remains in second over-all in the standings a single point behind the tenth place Carl Edwards.

It is a good thing that a single win almost buys one a ticket to the Chase. Almost. One needs to finish in the top thirty to keep it valid, and right now Kevin Harvick sits 25^th after finishing outside the Top 35 for a third straight event. Danica was running around 20^th or beyond for most of the Fontana race, but in the end she brought it home for a season best 14^th.

As for Denny Hamlin, the guy could use a break. He had to miss five events last year due to a crash at this track, and this year he did not even get to run. A sinus infection that affected his vision took him out of the seat, and replaced by Sam Hornish Jr, who ran 17^th. Yet, despite being AWOL, Hamlin remains 12^th in the driver standings.

Great entertainment Sunday, great action on Saturday, where Kyle Larson beat out Kevin Harvick in a fight that also involved Kyle Busch, with Joey Logano fourth. Four Cup guys. The best Nationwide drivers were Elliott Sadler and Chase Elliott, finishing fifth and sixth. Both are within a dozen points of top spot in the standings, behind fellow Top Ten finishers Trevor Bayne, Regan Smith, and Ty Dillon.

Next Sunday, we turn to the short track at Martinsville, where the Cup boys have been stopping by since 1949. Jeff Gordon has been running there since 1993, 42 races, and more than half of those have been won by either Gordon himself (with 8, including last fall), Johnson (8), Hamlin (4), or Stewart (3). If they keep trying, they might eventually match the King’s tally of 15.

Here are our Sweet Sixteen as we head over to Virginia…

	Driver	Races	Win	Points
1	Carl Edwards	5	1	186
2	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	5	1	185
3	Brad Keselowski	5	1	182
4	Kyle Busch	5	1	158
5	Kevin Harvick	5	1	97
6	Jeff Gordon	5	0	184
7	Matt Kenseth	5	0	179
8	Jimmie Johnson	5	0	165
9	Ryan Newman	5	0	150
10	Austin Dillon	5	0	150
11	Joey Logano	5	0	146
12	Denny Hamlin	4	0	140
13	Jamie McMurray	5	0	138
14	Brian Vickers	5	0	137
15	Paul Menard	5	0	134
16	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	5	0	132

March 24, 2014