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Tag: Ryan Newman

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Richmond

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Richmond

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished sixth at Richmond, his 13th top-10 result of the year, and will start the Chase For The Cup as the top seed.

    “Ten weeks from now,” Kenseth said, “I could be holding the Sprint Cup championship trophy. Hopefully, I won’t have to hand it to the champion.

    2. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson finished 40th in the Federated Auto Parts 400 and has now finished 28th or worse in the last four races. He will start the Chase seeded second, three points behind Matt Kenseth.

    “You’ll have to forgive me if I seem a little distracted,” Johnson said. “My wife and I just welcomed our second daughter. Finally, I have a good excuse for a crappy finish.

    “Now, that makes two girls who know who their daddy is. Now, I need to convince 11 drivers of the same thing.”

    3. Kyle Busch: Busch finished 19th at Richmond, and will start the Chase seeded second, three points behind Matt Kenseth. Kyle’s brother Kurt also qualified for the Chase, and will start 15 points out of the lead.

    “I’ve got a brother in the Chase,” Busch said. “Clint Bowyer’s got a ‘homey’ in the Chase.

    “NASCAR is investigating Bowyer’s ‘spin.’ Was it an accident, or was it ‘Clin-tentional?’

    4. Carl Edwards: Edwards nabbed his second win of the year, leading 46 laps on his way to the win in the Federated Auto Parts 400. His second win of the year gave him the fourth seed in the Chase, nine points behind Matt Kenseth.

    “I guess I have to thank Clint Bowyer for spinning,” Edwards said. “It probably cost Ryan Newman the race. Apparently, Tony Stewart isn’t the only driver who’s screwed Newman this year.

    “I ‘flipped off’ my car after the race. Newman and Jeff Gordon ‘flipped off’ Bowyer.”

    5. Joey Logano: Logano finished 22nd at Richmond, one lap down, as Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski failed to qualify for the Chase. Logano will start the Chase seeded sixth, 12 points out of the lead.

    “It’s too bad about Brad,” Logano said. “I relayed my sentiments on Twitter to @sucks. But Brad is a great teammate. I’m not sure he’d spin for my sake, but he did pick me to win the Sprint Cup. Hopefully, it won’t be the Kes’ of death.

    6. Kevin Harvick: Harvick came home 11th at Richmond as Richard Childress teammate Paul Menard finished fifth. Harvick will start the Chase seeded fourth, nine points out of first.

    “I’m the only RCR driver in the Chase,” Harvick said. “And no Clint Bowyer spin, intentional or otherwise, could have changed that.”

    7. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt finished 13th at Richmond, failing in his last chance to win before the Chase For The Cup. Earnhardt will head to Chicagoland tied for the bottom seed in the Chase.

    “On the bright side,” Earnhardt said, “Time Warner Cable will sponsor my car for five races. Of course, a lot of satellite users may have a point when they say, ‘You can’t win with cable.’ My fans have been waiting a long time to say, ‘It’s about ‘Time.’’ Unfortunately, it’s got nothing to do with my first win in a long time.

    8. Clint Bowyer: With Ryan Newman leading with six laps to go, Bowyer mysteriously spun, and the ensuing chain of events enabled Bowyer’s Michael Waltrip Racing teammate Martin Truex, Jr. to make the Chase field.

    “Many want to know if my arm is hurting,” Bowyer said. “The answer is ‘yes.’ My arm is hurting, because Truex won’t stop shaking my hand.”

    9. Greg Biffle: Biffle finished 12th at Richmond as Roush Fenway teammate Carl Edwards took the win. Biffle will start the Chase sixth, 12 points behind top seed Matt Kenseth.

    “I may be the least-talked about Chaser,” Biffle said, “but I think I can it all. My gas man seems to agree, because even he calls me ‘silent but deadly.’”

    10. (tie) Kurt Busch: Busch led 73 laps and finished second at Richmond to sew up a spot in the Chase For The Cup. He will start eighth in the Chase, 12 points out of first.

    “NASCAR is investigating Clint Bowyer’s fishy spin,” Busch said. “Was it a case of team orders? I know all about team orders—that seems to be how I got my job with Stewart-Haas Racing because Stewart wasn’t too fond of it.”

    10. (tie) Kasey Kahne: Kahne finished 14th in the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond. He will start eighth in the Chase, 12 points behind top seed Matt Kenseth.

    “I had a pretty good view of Bowyer’s spin,” Kahne said. “He just lost it—-his self-respect, that is.”

  • Controversy In Richmond: Did MWR Deliberately Manipulate Chase Outcome?

    Controversy In Richmond: Did MWR Deliberately Manipulate Chase Outcome?

    There was a lot on the line at Richmond Saturday night but was it so much so that it would actually push a team to deliberately alter the outcome in order to benefit themselves? When you’re talking about a shot at the Sprint Cup championship; I’d say so. The awkward spin by Clint Bowyer and the suspicious Brian Vickers radio communication in the closing laps raised a lot of eyebrows and accusations started flying before the checkered flag even flew.

    Team orders. It’s a phrase that makes all race fans cringe and a policy that has been unfortunately showcased at one point or another in every major motorsport and has most recently found its way into the world of NASCAR. Team orders drastically affected the outcome of the race to make the chase Saturday night leaving millions of fans outraged. The evidence against culprits aka Michael Waltrip Racing…well, it’s substantial. The orchestration of this shady move to get Truex Jr. into the chase looked pretty blatant and has NASCAR nation infuriated. Before we dive any deeper into this volatile controversy; here is the overwhelming evidence against Michael Waltrip Racing…

    In-Car Camera & Audio of Clint Bowyer Leading Up To & During Spin

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brrgyDs3CfE&feature=youtu.be

    Very odd and conspicuous dialogue there….did you notice how awkward and controlled that spin looked? It did not appear to be an expert racecar driver getting loose while driving on the ragged edge. This caution gave Martin Truex Jr. another shot at making the chase with a late restart and he did just that. Newman went from on his way to victory and ensuring a chase berth to enduring the bitter feeling of defeat when he lost the WC in a tie with Truex. Ryan came within a few feet of making the chase One more corner and he would have taken 2nd position from Kurt Busch which would have given him the edge over Martin for the final Wild Card. Defending champion Brad Keselowski’s thoughts on the Clint’s spin…“Quite honestly, I don’t know what to think…” Race winner Carl Edwards saw this Bowyer clip in the media center and simply said, “that’s going to be a popular video.”

    Brian Vickers Radio Communication With Five Laps Remaining

    Team “We’re probably going to pit here on green” Brian: “Are you talking to me?” Team: “Yeah, we’re going to pit.” Brian: “What? I’ve got to pit? I don’t understand. Pit right now?” Team: “You’ve got to pit this time by. We need that 1 point.” Brian: “10-4. Do I got a tire going down?” Team: “Yeah”

    I was giving MWR the benefit of the doubt until I heard this exchange. The “point” the team was referring to was for Joey Logano; not Martin Truex Jr…let me explain. Vickers was a full lap ahead of Joey before the green flag pit stop but finished a lap down and behind the No.22. There were no issues with the car that would explain the lost lap but this radio communication gives us the reason we feared. They wanted Joey to get that point because it would help him stay inside the top 10 in points. Why is that important? Because if Joey was outside the top 10 in points when the race ended; he would need to take Wild Card in order to make the chase…the Wild Card that would otherwise belong to Martin Truex Jr.

    Michael Waltrip

    NASCAR.com’s Alan Cavanna tweeted that Michael Waltrip walked up to Truex on pit road following the race and said, “You’ve got awesome teammates.” In a post-race interview, Michael had this to say…

    “I don’t know…I didn’t hear any…I was busy monitoring who was doing what. I mean, I don’t think Bowyer spun on purpose. But I don’t know.” (He was then asked if it would be okay if Bowyer’s spin was intentional) “I don’t like to do what ifs. We’re just really grateful that we got two of our cars in the Chase. It would be a real bummer if our young organization only got one in and not the other.”

    His older brother and 3-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Darrell Waltrip tweeted, “Watched on TV just like most of you, looked like typical #Nascar race at #Richmond, cars spinning, tires blowing, cautions, restarts, etc.” DW later tweeted, “Wasn’t at the race. I don’t have a radio so I don’t know what was said. If something inappropriate happened, I trust #NASCAR to handle it.”

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Was In Proximity Of Bowyer During Spin)

    “He just spun right out. That’s the craziest thing I ever saw. He just came right around. He got…we were going into, through 3 and 4, and I don’t know if they can put up his brakes and his gas. We got all the technology. But he was hemming around on the brakes and jerking the car around, and then the thing just spun out. It was crazy. I don’t know what was going on. It was right there, I almost run into it, so I’m glad we were able to get out of there without any trouble.”

    Clint Bowyer

    “My car was tight as hell. (Jimmie Johnson) blew a tire and hit the wall. I’m telling you, I was the next one. That thing slid, what, maybe less than 10 feet and blew out, you know what I mean? Something was going on there. I’ve been doing this a long time. It is what it is. It’s unfortunate. I know it’s a lot of fun for you guys to write a lot of whacky things. Go ahead if you want to, get creative. But don’t look too much into it.”

    Others React

    In the media center, Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon refused to speculate but Ryan angrily acknowledged that an intentional spin would obviously upset him. Jeff tweeted Sunday morning saying, “Was feeling pretty bad about missing the #Chase but after seeing all the details coming out now I feel even worse for @RyanNewman39.” Country music superstar Blake Shelton who is a friend of Clint tweeted, “Y’all should follow @ClintBowyer!!! The definition of team player!!! “ I interpreted that as him implying Clint’s spin was intentional in his eyes. A less than thrilled Tony Stewart was asked if he believes someone would spin out in order to help a teammate and he immediately said. “Yep. There’s a lotta money involved in making the Chase.” The feeling about the spin was unanimous among the ESPN commentators who cried foul and called out Clint which only fueled the fire as fans took to social media to voice their displeasure and argue their points. NASCAR was a trending topic on Twitter for nearly three hours following the race.

    My Take

    After seeing, hearing and reading all this; there is little doubt that Michael Waltrip Racing played the system in a blatant attempt to help Martin Truex Jr. procure a chase spot. There is conclusive audio evidence and numbers that prove MWR’s chicanery. Brian Vickers ran 40mph off the pace on the final lap for a reason we have yet to ascertain while Clint Bowyer was able to lose two laps as he appeared to dawdle in the pits after receiving very little damage in the now infamous spin.

    Photo Credit: Getty Images
    Photo Credit: Getty Images

    MWR successfully coordinated their cars in what looked to be a well thought out and masterful plan to ensure a chase berth for Martin with the only flaw being that they failed miserably at making it look  inconspicuous. But If NASCAR is going to let something like this slide with such overwhelming evidence out there, then why not take what you can and not care who sees? With everything at stake, if you leave the teams any wiggle room whatsoever; they will most certainly take it. That’s why it is crucial that NASCAR react and drop the hammer on this team. It’s not like MWR would be the only team to stoop to this level if necessary; they just happened to be the ones tempted by circumstance to take fate into their own hands. If NASCAR turns a blind eye to it, they definitely won’t be the last to give into that temptation.

    NASCAR did say Sunday afternoon that they are taking some time to review the audio and video while they look for evidence of wrongdoing. It is standard protocol for NASCAR to review all races before they make them official but they will certainly pay extra attention to the area in question. Regardless of their decision; the damage has already been done.  Should they do nothing though; they will basically be tacitly approving of teams making a mockery of the system. All drivers were warned in the drivers meeting to keep it “fair and square” but that apparently fell on deaf ears in the MWR camp. I will say this though…don’t attack Clint Bowyer and Brian Vickers for simply doing what they’re told. The team should have never handed down these orders in the first place but if you know NASCAR won’t punish you for it; then why not? It’s like saying that if you rob a bank, it’s illegal but we won’t punish you for it.

    In the end, it’s a shame that such a spectacular night of racing action was overshadowed by this unfortunate situation and no matter what NASCAR does; the bitter taste left in the mouths of fans, drivers and teams won’t rescind anytime soon. Oh…and the sponsors are fired up too. Quicken Loans (Newman sponsor) posted this on their Facebook page; “We were so close last night and that last caution hurt us. Something didn’t look right about it but you be the judge.” Then PEAK (Bowyer sponsor) posted on their Facebook these two words that shows their feelings about the whole deal pretty plainly; “Phoenix. 2012.”

    The integrity of NASCAR is at stake here in the midst of one of the most profound controversies in recent memory and it occurred on one of the biggest nights on the schedule. You know that infamous part of the rule book so commonly quoted by NASCAR – “Actions Detrimental To Stock Car Racing?” That’s basically what Michael Waltrip Racing is guilty of. Something needs to be done about this because nothing will drive fans away quicker than team orders being tolerated. I’ve always been one to say that controversy and the free publicity that comes out of it is never a bad thing but this is one of those rare circumstances when I feel the complete opposite…it’s borderline embarrassing for the NASCAR community.

    Disdain for Michael Waltrip Racing won’t cease anytime soon for thousands of incensed and unforgiving NASCAR fans and I’m sure a seething Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman won’t soon forget this either. I like Clint Bowyer, I like Brian Vickers and I like Michael Waltrip but what they did at Richmond is incredibly unsportsmanlike. I hate writing negative stories but this is one issue that just can’t be ignored. We now head to the first race of the chase on the heels of a huge controversy that is far from over. I wouldn’t be surprised if lingering anger and frustration from the drivers done wrong may lead to some on track retaliation as they seek racing justice the old fashioned way.

  • Matty’s Picks 2013 – Race 26 Federated Auto Parts 400 – Richmond International Raceway – September 7, 3013

    Matty’s Picks 2013 – Race 26 Federated Auto Parts 400 – Richmond International Raceway – September 7, 3013

    The cliché holds true this week as “it all comes down to this”. Six guys have already claimed their top-10 spots when The Chase begins next week at Chicago – Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, and Matt Kenseth…that’s 2 Chevy’s, a Ford, and 3 Toyotas in case you’re keeping score.

    Seventh-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. faces the least pressure among non-qualifiers, needing only a finish of 32nd or better in the 400-lap race on Saturday night to enter the postseason. Joey Logano, Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch complete the provisional top 10 – 16, 14 and six points ahead of 11th-place Jeff Gordon who is still in the hunt for a top-10 spot going into the chase, as he stands no chance at making a Wild Card without a win on Saturday Night.

    Logano and Biffle each have a single victory giving them some Chase insurance as potential Wild Cards, but both have to turn around their historical finishes at Richmond to ensure they’re racing for a championship the next ten weeks.

    Former NASCAR Sprint Cup champions Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon, however, both are without victories on the season and need to have solid finishes, along with poor finishes from other drivers to punch their tickets to the big dance starting next week at Chicagoland. Both have done what they need to do to lead a lap on Saturday by qualifying their Chevy’s on the front row, so it will be interesting to see if they can spoil a few Chase hopefuls by winning on Saturday Night. This Race is shaping up to be even more exciting than I expected with 3 Wild Card hopefuls staring in the top 3 spots on Saturday Night.

    Two-time 2013 race-winner Kasey Kahne (12th) and Sonoma winner, Martin Truex Jr. (13th) hold the provisional Wild Cards as the points run right now.

    Five drivers have clinched Chase berths on the final night of the regular season since the start of The Chase for the Sprint Cup began in 2004. Ryan Newman’s sixth-place finish in 2005 is the best among the “last in” drivers. Brian Vickers (2009), Kasey Kahne (2006) and Jeremy Mayfield (2004) also were final-race qualifiers. Most recently, Jeff Gordon waited until the final race of the season to solidify his spot in the chase by finishing second in this race last season, so this parody is nothing we’ve not seen before….but we’ve NEVER seen this many drivers on the fence for The Chase. The backstretch wall at Richmond has never seen as many car numbers in yellow (meaning the driver has NOT clinched a spot in the NASCAR Playoffs) as are painted in yellow this season, so for anyone whose never watched a NASCAR race before, Saturday Night is the one to watch.

    I will save my words this week and not recap my poor picks last week at Atlanta and roll right into my picks for Saturday Night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 (even though my Dark Horse Pick last week finished 3rd with a broken wrist).

    Winner Pick

    Richmond has been Clint Bowyer’s best track over his career, and to no surprise, he’s been the best driver statistically over the past 5 races at Richmond.

    Clint has finished outside the top 12 just twice in 15 races at Richmond – averaging a finish of 9th in the meantime. Bowyer is one of just 3 drivers averaging a top-10 finish at Richmond, behind Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin for third on the best average finish at the 3/4 mile short track. He’s got a couple wins, most recently and notably his win in THIS race last season. In the loop stats, Bowyer is 4th in Average Running position, Driver Rating and Quality Passes, and he’s 5th in 2 more of the 6 loop stats, Average Green Flag Speed and Laps in the Top 15.

    Clint Bowyer holds the record for the deepest in the field ANY Richmond race-winner has started, that was his win from the 31st starting position back in 2008, and throw in the fact that he’s starting 4th on Saturday Night, Bowyer is still my top guy this week. Keep in mind, he led 113 laps and finished 2nd in the April race at Richmond…

    Dark Horse Pick

    I was on the fence on Thursday as I previewed the race with Greg on The Prime Sports Network, but after practice and qualifying, I’m a bit more confident with my selection do go with Dale Earnhardt Jr. as my Dark Horse guy this week.

    He was 7th in first practice and 3rd in Happy Hour earlier today at Richmond International Raceway, and probably took a conservative approach to his qualifying lap today as a 32nd or better finish will punch Jr.’s ticket to the big dance next week.

    Richmond actually ranks as Jr.’s 4th best track over his career with the other two short tracks ranking first (Bristol) and third (Martinsville), much to my surprise as everybody knows the Earnhardt’s for their restrictor-plate racing.

    Jr. has 3 career wins at Richmond, granted none since 2006 but in the loop stats he ranks anywhere from 6th in Fastest Laps Run to 13th in

    Driver Rating.

    Dale Jr. would certainly like to have those 3 bonus points to start The Chase, so I think we’re looking at him staying out of trouble early, then a march to the front during the closing laps on Saturday Night.

    That’s all for this week, enjoy the race and the hunt for The Chase and be sure to tune in Monday to the Prime Sports Network (www.primesportsnetwork.com) as Greg and all the folks from SpeedwayMedia.com preview the 2013 Chase for the Sprint Cup! And as always….You Stay Classy NASCAR (and Dale Earnhardt Jr.) NATION!

  • Gene Haas Hires Kurt Busch On His Own

    Gene Haas Hires Kurt Busch On His Own

    Earlier today, Stewart-Haas Racing held a press conference to officially announce the signing of Kurt Busch. The 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion will pilot the Haas Automation Chevrolet as the 4th car in the 2014 Stewart-Haas Racing fleet. Today, we learned that Gene Haas pursued Kurt without talking to his business partner Tony Stewart about it. We also learned that Stewart-Haas Racing needs to build an extension to their building in order to facilitate Kurt’s cars and that Kevin Harvick still wants to beat up the brother of his future teammate. Yeah…it’s been an interesting day to say the least.

    Here are some important quotes from today’s press conference…

    Gene Haas

    “Tony broke his leg.  I didn’t have really a chance to talk to Tony about it at all since he wasn’t really talking to anybody.  So I kind of did this on my own, probably overstepped my authority a tich there.  I’m not used to having too many authorities to work with.  I’ve been pretty much on my own.  I did realize that Tony might be a little bit upset about it.  He was, he was a little upset.”

    “I kind of like his (Kurt) attitude.  He’s passionate about what he does.  He likes to win.  He’s not afraid to get in people’s faces.  I think that kind of reflects my company a little bit.”

    “It really all started at the General Motors dinner in Indianapolis.  I talked to Kurt, found out that he really didn’t have a firm contract with his current team.”

    “(Tony said) You need to wait a while.  I kind of made an offer to Kurt here, I don’t know if he’s going to take it or not, and if he takes it, I’m not backing down.  That’s where we were.”

    “Your third question was why not Ryan?  You know, Ryan has been an excellent driver.  He’s been with us going on five years now.  I think he’s done a great job driving the car…..The question is, at some point I am now going to be the sponsor.  I just simply wanted a change and an opportunity to do something different.  I don’t think this says anything negative about Ryan…..I just feel that I want to take hold of an opportunity that was presented to me.  It gives me a chance to, you know, be a sponsor and direct things the way I wanted to direct them.”

    (Asked what if Tony put his foot down & said no to 4th car) “I never crossed that bridge.  You know, I don’t know.  Tony kind of does his own thing, I kind of do my own thing.  I have to admit we kind of think alike. Like I say, I don’t think Tony was exactly enthralled with what I did.  But I think he saw it my way, you know (laughter).  Either that or get out of the building. Anyway, he has a lot of power.  I have to admit, you know, I have some power, too.  I think in a sense it’s a check-and-balance system where the two powers balance each other out.”

    “I take gambles, I made a decision, and I think I’m going to be proven right.  I think we’re going to win a lot more races than anybody ever thought possible.”

     “With Kurt Busch, I saw an opportunity.  Even though Tony was incapacitated, I couldn’t really talk to him about it, I just decided it was something that was too good to pass up.”

     “Tony was very much in favor of the fourth team.  What Tony was against was us trying to get it done for next year.  Just so you don’t read anything more into it.”

    Kurt Busch

    “We haven’t come to a decision on a car number.  It’s obviously Gene’s team and Tony Stewart is the car owner.  They’ve given me some nice input on what they’d like.  They’ve actually been open to what I would like….my eight-year-old Houston says, Put 360 on the door. (I ask) why 360? Because you’ve come full circle.”

    “You know, it’s easy as a 25-year-old to say you know everything, that you can do everything by yourself.  That’s what I thought that I could do when I moved from Roush Racing to Penske back in 2006, to bring Roger his first championship.  I thought I could wear all the weight on my back.  That was not the case…The Penske thing, the image, all of that, it wasn’t your own identity, you were trying to be something else.”

    “You got to let the rough edges drag sometimes.  When you have a guy like Gene Haas that wants to make you part of a four-car, super-power team calling, you have the ability to be yourself, to work with guys that have those same edgy attitudes as yourself, that’s the journey I’ve been on over the last 18 months.”

    “We still have the present that’s right in front of us.  The next two weeks are the most important weeks of the 78 car’s career.  If we find ourselves racing somebody heads up going into Richmond, that’s what I want to be there for, to deliver them into the Chase, and at the same time it’s the goal achieved of being in that position.  When points can reset, we’ll only be five points away from the championship lead.  There’s no sense in giving up then.  We’ll keep plugging away and pushing.  Time is now with the 78 car.”

    “It’s been a great journey.  When I first started out, I was an undiscovered punk out on the West Coast.  Jack Roush put me in his truck.  I didn’t know where the brake pedal was apparently because I ran into everything.  We had a start to the truck season that was unreal.”

    (Asked about 2014 Indy 500 Aspirations) “It’s something that’s still on the table.  There’s certain timelines that I’ve agreed to with Michael Andretti if we’re still going to do the deal.  We’re working on things.  I mention that to Tony when we got together.  He said, Man, if you’re going to run Fontana this year, I’m rolling with you and I’m going to be there with you. There’s still the concern of running extracurricular races.  But right now the focus is obviously on these next two weeks and getting the 78 car in the Chase.  We’ll see what opportunities lie ahead.  Everything has to be the right situation for it to happen.”

    Greg Zipadelli 

    (Asked about how having four fiery drivers is going to work) “We built a rubber room upstairs, that’s the first thing we did. (laughs) When you have four passionate drivers, I would much rather deal with that than to try to figure out how to get them going.  You’re born with that.  The competitiveness that these guys have, that’s what you need in this sport. We’ll deal with what comes our way on a weekly basis and we’ll continue to race.  It’s as simple as that.  I think what makes this unique is there’s three guys and Danica that all had their days.  I think they can all help each other.  At least that’s the theory I’m going with.”

    “Anytime you expand, there’s difficulties.  We expanded last year.  We kind of sat back and looked at some of the things that we went through last year, how we can prevent some of them.  We can start building cars today, which we couldn’t do last year because of the body change.  We can start putting people in here to go to work in the fab shop to take some of that load today, which we couldn’t do last year.  We were behind on getting plates in here, things of that nature. As far as that goes, I think we’re in much better shape than we were a year ago for many reasons” 

    To summarize, we now know that Kurt Busch will definitely drive for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014 and that Haas Automation will be the sponsor. We also know that Gene Haas pursued Kurt without consulting Tony which upset Tony at first but he got over it. SHR will have to expand the building so they can facilitate four cars and Gene seems to be incredibly confident in Kurt’s ability to take the team to levels of success they have yet to experience. It’s a very interesting and intriguing deal that is unique in the way it went down.

    SHR will definitely be a force to be reckoned with in 2014 but don’t be surprised if they stumble over themselves at the start of the season much like they did this year. It’s always a difficult transition when a team expands their operation and SHR certainly isn’t immune to that. The biggest questions left to be answered are what will the number be, who will be the crew chief and will Kurt Busch still take that Indy 500 offer from Andretti?

    I believe that in the long run, this was a good move for Stewart-Haas but I don’t know if it was for Kurt. He and Furniture Row seemed to be getting to the point of almost breaking out and winning multiple races. They were gelling really well despite their less than stellar pit stops which seem to be their Achilles Heel in 2013. He is their No.1 driver obviously and all the focus is on him and him alone. Although he will be No.1 in Gene’s mind, he won’t truly be the No.1 driver at SHR; that will always be Tony. Kurt and FRR could have reached some incredible heights together but this decision to leave certainly wasn’t a bad one. He’s basically joining Hendrick Motorsports Jr.

    Photo Credit: Getty Images
    Photo Credit: Getty Images

    The biggest unknown in all this is will these four fiery personalities be able to work with one another with no issues? Less than six months ago, Tony Stewart was running Kurt Busch into the wall at Richmond on the cool down lap after Busch laid the bumper to his future boss in the closing laps. Kurt’s future teammate, Kevin Harvick acknowledged on Twitter today that he still wants to knock Kyle Busch’s teeth out and those are his words. Will it be smooth sailing? I doubt it. Will they work out whatever disagreements they have and be fine in the end? Most likely. Something Kurt doesn’t have to worry about next year is pleasing sponsors with a crystal clean personality which has been a challenge for him in the past. Haas actually stated that he loves that Kurt isn’t afraid to get fired up and let the rough side drag so maybe this is the perfect scenario for Kurt. He’ll have an owner that wants him to wear his emotions on his sleeve and no sponsor that wants a squeaky clean representative as their driver.

    I personally can’t wait to watch SHR in 2014. Gene Haas has asserted himself as a legitimate authority in the team; the program has been bolstered tremendously with the addition of a Sprint Cup champion and a Daytona 500 winner so don’t be surprised if Stewart-Haas cars make up 25% of the chase in 2014.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: IRWIN Tools Bristol Night Race

    Surprising and Not Surprising: IRWIN Tools Bristol Night Race

    From NASCAR children National Anthem singing to cars colliding and tempers flaring, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 53rd annual IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    Surprising:  Disappointment surprisingly abounded atop the Chase leaderboard, with both point’s leader Jimmie Johnson finishing worse than 36th for the second week in a row and second place Chaser Clint Bowyer being spun out while in the lead, finishing 14th.

    “This racing stuff happens,” Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Dover White Chevrolet said after finishing 36th. “Luckily, we had a big point’s lead that we can kind of deal with right now.”

    “We’ve locked into the Chase and certainly want to clean things up,” Johnson continued. “We’ll keep after it and be back again next week.”

    Having once had been in the lead by over 70 plus points, Johnson is now just 18 points ahead of the second place driver Clint Bowyer.

    “I felt like we had a shot at winning and then I got spun out by a lapper, of all things,” Bowyer said after the race. “It hit that left-front tire, and the car never turned the center (of the corners) as good the rest of the night.”

    “I’m really just disappointed … because we had a really good car,” Bowyer continued. “Absolutely nothing went our way all night.”

    Not Surprising:  Although he has been a bit quiet over the last month or two, the resurgence of Matt Kenseth at Joe Gibbs Racing continued, with the driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota rolling right into Bristol’s Victory Lane for the fifth time this season.

    This was Kenseth’s 29th win in 496 Cup Series races and his third victory in 28 races at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    “The last month and a half, two months has been a little bit more of a, I hate to say reality check,” Kenseth said. “We’ve struggled just a little bit more, haven’t quite had the speed so it was really, really encouraging this weekend to get to the track and be really fast.”

    “It’s a huge win for us,” Kenseth continued. “The Bristol night race is one of the biggest races of the year.”

    “I’m glad we were able to pull it off.”

    Surprising:  The driver of the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet seemed surprisingly befuddled at the end of the race in spite of finishing runner up under the Bristol lights.

    “I didn’t get it done,” Kasey Kahne said dejectedly. “We ended up second and it was a good point’s day but I didn’t figure out how to win the race.”

    “I don’t know, I just don’t know,” Kahne continued. “I think at the end of the day I just don’t wreck people.”

    This was Kahne’s ninth top-10 finish in 20 races at Bristol and his 11th top-10 finish of the season. He also moved up three positions in the Chase standings to the eighth spot.

    Not Surprising:  Joey Logano, riding the wave of momentum from last week’s race win at Michigan, not surprisingly proved, at least in his own mind, that he has the mettle to make it into the Chase.

    The driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford finished fifth and moved up three spots in the points to the tenth position.

    “We came from the back three times to get a top-five finish,” Logano said. “They can’t put us down and can’t keep us down.”

    “We deserve to make this Chase and if we keep doing this on days that they’re trying to put us down, we deserve it.”

    Surprising:  Although admittedly hoping that the leaders would wreck each other so he could score the win, Juan Pablo Montoya surprisingly credited his third place finish to, of all things, a speeding penalty.

    “I got caught speeding there with like 170 to go or something and that kind of hurt us,” the driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet said. “But I’ll tell you the truth, I think it helped us because if it would have played right, we probably would have run out of gas.”

    “It made it more interesting,” Montoya continued. “I really cooked the front tires there at the end but it was fun.”

    This was JPM’s fourth top-10 finish in 14 races at the Bristol Motor Speedway.

    Not Surprising:   Well, it was Bristol after all so, to no one’s surprise, there were a few tempers flaring, especially after a late race wreck took out many of the best cars, including some Chase contenders.

    Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick, who do have a history with one another, had a rather vigorous discussion on pit road after the wreck when Harvick pulled into Hamlin’s pit stall and Hamlin gave him a shove out of the box.

    As a result, Harvick jumped out of his car and beat a path to the door of Hamlin’s car to have a few words about the incident.

    “I just saw the No. 11 shoot across the track,” Harvick said. “He said the No. 56 got into him and so I just wanted to know what happened.”

    “He just told me his version of it,” the driver of the No. 29 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet said. “It’s all good.”

    “It’s Bristol racing.”

    Harvick finish 34th but maintained his fourth spot in the point’s standings while Hamlin finish 28th, well out of Chase contention in 25th in the point’s standings.

    Surprising:  In spite of some greetings from Smoke’s recovery bed, the Stewart-Haas Racing team had a surprisingly tough day. Mark Martin, subbing for the ailing Stewart, finished 20th with Ryan Newman right behind him in 21st and Danica Patrick in 26th.

    “We had some tough luck and a few things that we could’ve done better, but we were pretty fast at the end,” Martin said. “That’s why I go home feeling good about it because we were able to improve the car and get it competitive.”

    “This one is behind us and hopefully we’ll move ahead from here.”

    “I really don’t know what happened there,” Newman, behind the wheel of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet, said. “A couple of guys around us made contact and that triggered a big mess.”

    “Our Quicken Loans Chevrolet was damaged pretty significantly; it was a handful to drive those last 50 laps with,” Newman continued. “I basically tried to just stay out of everyone’s way and bring the car to the finish.”

    “There is nothing you can do about getting into the wall and having damage,” Patrick said. “We came back as best as we could and made the car as good as it was at the end.”

    “We will take it and move on.”

    Not Surprising:  In spite of finishing top-10, Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Axalta Coating Systems Chevrolet, could only talk about opportunities lost at Bristol, especially after gaining just one position in the standings to the 13th spot.

    “I think we were better than that,” Gordon said of his seventh place finish. “I don’t know if we had enough for Matt but we fought hard and gave it our best effort.”

    “Gained points on 10th but not as much as we could have,” Gordon continued. “But we gained something.”

    Surprising: While the Truex brothers were excited to be racing against one another yet again, both Ryan Truex, making his Cup debut, and Martin Truex, Jr. had surprisingly difficult days.

    Young Ryan Truex spun and hit the wall, retiring his No. 51 Seawatch Chevrolet after 39 laps to finish 42nd in his first ever Cup effort.

    Brother Martin had a very hard crash late in the race, causing him to finish 35th in his No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota. Although maintaining his wild card status thanks to his win, Truex Jr. also suffered in the point standings, losing two positions to 14th.

    “We ran up towards the front all night,” Truex Jr. said. “Just disappointed.”

    “They start wrecking and you’re an innocent victim,” Truex Jr. continued. “We didn’t deserve that tonight.”

    Not Surprising:  Another brother duo, this one with the surname Busch, had eventful days at Bristol as well, with Kyle Busch having to start from the rear of the field to finish 11th and Kurt Busch suffering wheel hub issues resulting in a 31st place run.

    “Yeah, I guess we had a right-rear hub fail where the studs pulled through or they weren’t tightened,” the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing/Sealy Chevrolet said. “We just rode around.”

    Kurt Busch lost three positions in the point’s standings, falling to the 12th spot. Kyle Busch remains in the fifth spot in the standings, 82 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson.

    Surprising: There was a surprising first-of-the season engine failure at Roush Fenway Racing and it happened to none other than the race lap leader Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford.

    “I didn’t have any warning,” Edwards said. “The car was almost perfect and the engine ran awesome until it broke.”

    “The engine ran great until it blew up, so if we run like that the rest of the year, it’s going to be awesome.”

    Not Surprising:  Marcos Ambrose finished top-10 for two weeks in a row and he said that the devil made him do it.

    “That’s two top-10s in two weeks and we’ve got to take that,” the driver of No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion said. “Yeah, I guess a little bit of the Tasmanian Devil comes out in me at this track.”

    “This is a really aggressive track and you’ve got to be aggressive all night,” Ambrose continued. “You’ve got to gnaw on that steering wheel and I just like getting up on the wheel like that.”

    “These are good nights to test your mettle and see what kind of man or lady you are out there and get after it.”

    The Cup Series will head next to Atlanta for the next to the last race before the Chase begins.

     

  • The Countdown Hits Three: Who Will Make the 2013 Chase?

    The Countdown Hits Three: Who Will Make the 2013 Chase?

    Three night races are all that remain before the 2013 chase field is set. The sand in the hour glass is running out and the time to make something happen is now. The tension in the garage is palpable and the intense feeling of trepidation among the teams in the danger zone is growing with every passing race. Procuring a chase berth means you have a shot to become the next NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) titlist. Glory, money and a place among NASCAR’s immortals; that is what they are all fighting for. They are fighting to ensure the longevity of their titles hopes…it’s an obvious fact that you can”t win the championship if you don’t secure a spot in the chase first

    Multi-million dollar sponsors pay to see you put their car in the elite twelve. Millions of loyal fans cheer you on until their voices become raspy because they want to see you make postseason headlines. The pressure to succeed is always there but it isn’t truly felt until this time of the year rolls around. The stakes are high and failure isn’t an option for chase hopefuls although failure will be the inevitable result of the futile efforts by some. A position suddenly means so much more now and you will see drivers throw a whole race away as they try desperately to gain just one more point; the point that could make their season or break it. The innocuous driving that we’ve watched all year will rescind as we get closer and closer to Richmond. This is a race within a race; one none of these men are willing to lose.

    Photo Credit: LAT Photographic
    Photo Credit: LAT Photographic

    To earn your place in the 2013 chase, you must first conquer the treacherous Bristol Motor Speedway. When you go to Bristol, you leave your manners at the entrance gate. The racing will be rough, tempers will flare, sparks will fly under the lights and sheet metal will most certainly be twisted into 3,000lb piles of smoldering wreckage. To survive Bristol, a driver must take what they can and give nothing back. They must race every lap like it’s the last because if they don’t, the race leader will be knocking on their rear bumper shortly as he proceeds to lap the field. A driver can be their own worst enemy at this concrete Colosseum and out of control emotions have ruined the races of even the greatest racers in the past. This track will bring you to your knees and is notorious for destroying the dreams of many chase hopefuls in a heartbeat.

    Atlanta Motor Speedway is no Bristol but it’s no walk in the park either. At speeds that will break the 200mph barrier and restarts that will see the pack fanning out three and four wide; a steady hand on the wheel and nerves of steel are a necessity at this historic venue. This is the penultimate race before the chase commences so a bad run here will most likely doom the chase hopes for that individual. The last ten winners at Atlanta all went on to make the chase; 2006 was the last time that didn’t happen. This race is notorious for being hard on engines making patience a virtue and drivers must walk the thin line of aggression and over driving as they try to get all they can without making any imprudent decisions. That’s why drivers such as Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards have all excelled here.

    Lastly, we have Richmond. Richmond will be all or nothing for a lot of people while others will do their best to survive the inevitable short track carnage that will ensue and bring home a solid finish…easier said than done. Being a short track and the final race to make something happen; Richmond will definitely put on one hell of a show. Desperate drivers will do desperate things in order to get their team in the chase and then there are always the ones that are already locked in but want some more of those precious bonus points. Carl Edwards knows all to well how important those bonus points can be. It will be a wild night under the lights at Richmond; you can be sure of that. The race will feature some of the most aggressive driving of the year and with everything that’s on the line; there’s sure to be some incensed drivers when the dust settles.

    With all this being said, one looming question remains…who will make the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup chase?

    The Solid Six – “The solid 6″ is what I’m calling the top six in points right now. They are Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards. Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth. Four of them have won multiple races, everyone in the top five is a full race ahead of 11th and all of them have shown a lot of muscle this year either by winning or with consistency. They will all surely make the chase unless something catastrophic or unforeseen happens like the unfortunate situation with Tony Stewart.

    Photo Credit: USA Today
    Photo Credit: USA Today

    The Danger Zone –This label is applied to the drivers just barely within or just outside the top 10 and are currently winless in 2013. Those drivers are Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, and Jeff Gordon. We have quite an impressive group of drivers in this category but despite how good of a driver they all are; some will miss out on a chance at the 2013 championship. Dale Jr. has only recently had his name added to this anxious and nervous list after a few poor finishes have all but caused his cushion over 11th to vanish. Jr. is is not known to win many races so that might make his fans a little nervous with him so close to the cutoff. I have some good news though…the next three tracks are all ones Earnhardt has been fast at in the past so you shouldn’t be too concerned about him unless the bad luck that has hindered him lately continues.

    Here’s something no one saw coming…defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski has yet to win this year and is right on the edge of falling out of the top 10. Last month, I would have told you that he’s done but my opinion has been altered after his last three performances. The No.2 team seems to have finally found their niche again and are back to clicking away great runs on a weekly basis. Bristol is one of Brad’s best tracks and I firmly believe that the reigning champ will have a presence in the chase this year.

    Speaking of champs…how about Jeff Gordon? He finds himself in the middle of the danger zone and he’s beginning to make that a habit lately to the displeasure of his many fans but 4-time seems to always get the job done in the end. I’m sorry but the feel good story of Richmond last year won’t do it again in 2013 and that’s not a knock on Jeff. His team hasn’t shown much strength this year and look no further than the Pure Michigan 400 for proof of that. I don’t see them pointing this sinking ship in the right direction in time to make the chase but they will hopefully turn it around in 2014.

    Kurt Busch is another former champion that’s trying to hold his ground in the top 10 with no wins. He has turned a lot of heads this year driving for Furniture Row Racing. He’s made that team a contender on a weekly basis and if fate was kinder (and his pit crew was faster/made less mistakes), he’d have multiple wins already. Based on the way they are performing at every kind of track this year, I see the flat black No.78 in the chase this year. He he will most certainly win a race in 2013 but maybe not before Richmond so I count on him holding his own inside the top 10.

    Wild Card Race – This category is fairly self-explanatory. It’s the guys that have wins but find themselves in the danger zone. They are Greg Biffle, Kasey Kahne, Martin Truex Jr, Joey Logano and Ryan Newman. Kasey Kahne is the only driver in this group that has multiple wins in 2013 and he will definitely make the chase in my opinion either via a wild card or by positioning himself inside the top 10. He’s shown a lot of muscle this year and I’m sticking to my prediction that I made back in March; he will be a threat for the championship regardless of his recent travails.

    I believe that Greg Biffle and Martin Truex Jr will both put up a valiant effort but in the end, it will be to no avail. I see “lame duck” Ryan Newman taking the wild card while these two endure a very poignant moment as they realize that a chase berth has slipped through their fingers. Newman is motivated and has something to fight for besides just a spot in the chase which makes him a much more volatile opponent. He’s also Stewart-Haas’ only hope to win the title now and it would be foolish to underestimate the tenacity and determination of the “Rocket Man.” I predict that he will make his way into the chase at the expense of Truex Jr. and Biffle.

    Photo Credit: Simon Scoggins
    Photo Credit: Simon Scoggins

    The proverbial wild card in this wild card race has to be Joey Logano. His win in the “Motor City” gained him credence as a threat for the wild card but my feelings regarding Joey’s chase chances are still ambivalent. A driver becomes unpredictable after tasting victory lane for the first time this far into a season. They may suddenly go on a tear and catapult themselves into chase contention or they may just quietly miss out on all the postseason fun.

    Just look at Ryan Newman for proof of what I’m talking about. He has spent a lot more time up front since his surprise win in the Brickyard 400. I’ve always said that motivation and confidence has an uncanny way of giving a driver a few extra horses under the hood. Joey had a great run at Bristol in March before Denny Hamlin found his rear bumper so don’t count this guy out but only time will tell if he is truly a contender or just a pretender.

    All Or Nothing – The “all or nothing” guys is a very dangerous contingent of drivers due to the obvious fact that they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The only way to keep their chase hopes alive is if they win. They are the drivers in the teens that have no wins and haven’t shown that they have the ability to make a run for the top 10. Said drivers are Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard and Aric Almirola. All three of them are stretches to make the chase and would most likely need two wins to make it. I highly doubt that any of them will get even one win before the chase but the chance is still there so keep an eye on them if any of the three should end up winning Bristol or Atlanta.

    It will be very interesting as we watch the best NASCAR has to offer battle tooth and nail to procure a cede in the 2013 chase in these final three races. Now I’d like to hear your thoughts…feel free to post your theories on who makes the chase below and I’d love to debate it with you!

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Pocono Go.Bowling.com 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Pocono Go.Bowling.com 400

    At a track known as tricky, with a bowling sponsor for its second race of the season, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 40th annual GoBowling.com 400, at Pocono Raceway.

    Surprising:  Probably most surprising about the Pocono race weekend was what followed shortly thereafter, with top-ten finisher Tony Stewart flipping in a sprint car accident at Southern Iowa Speedway, which resulted in a fractured leg.

    This was eerily and scarily ironic after joking with the media during his Pocono availability about his sprint car racing escapades, including a flip prior to the Pocono race.

    Stewart had to undergo surgery and because of the break of both his tibia and fibula, Stewart Haas Racing announced that Max Papis will pilot Smoke’s Cup ride at the Glen.

    Not Surprising:  In a Pocono race weekend where the victors in both the ARCA and Truck Series were determined on restarts, it was not surprising that the winner of the Cup race Kasey Kahne also made it to the checkered flag thanks to a restart.

    “I about gave it away,” the driver of the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet said after scoring his second win of the season, as well as his second victory at Pocono. “I spun the tires a little bit and Jeff (Gordon) got a great jump and Kurt (Busch) pushed me all the way to Turn 1, which really helped.”

    “And then I had one opportunity,” Kahne continued. “It was either go for it and make it work or not.”

    “It was a great race.”

    Surprising:  A pair of birthday boys, Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch scored surprisingly good finishes on their special days. The driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet and the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet finished second and third respectively.

    “It’s funny how our emotions go up and down in this sport,” Gordon said. “Before the race, if you told me that I’d finish second, I’d say that was a great birthday gift.”

    “I’m disappointed that we didn’t get this win.”

    “This was a phenomenal run today,” Busch said. “Right now, we’re getting the job done.”

    “So, I’m happy for this finish and this team and just the job we’re doing.”

    Not Surprising:  The vibration plaguing Dale Earnhardt Jr. continued to be a hot topic, with the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Youth Foundation Chevrolet discussing it even after his top five finish.

    “Well, we changed every part on the car but the engine,” Junior said. “We got it to the point where we could drive it.”

    “I felt good coming in here and thought we might win the race, but we came up a little short.”

    Surprising:  Timmy Hill was the surprising Rookie of the Race after finishing 27th in his No. 32 Oxy Water Ford. ROTY competitors Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Danica Patrick both had troubles on the track, with Stenhouse Jr. crashing on the very first lap and Patrick bringing out the seventh caution of the day in a tangle with Travis Kvapil, Paul Menard and Jeff Burton. Stenhouse Jr. finished 34th and Patrick finished 35th.

    “It’s not the way we wanted to start the day,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “I was kind of hoping everyone would stay in line but it didn’t play out like that.”

    “We were just having a steady race and a good race, and it was over,” Patrick said. “We were competitive and we were making good calls in the pits.”

    “Everything was going; it just happens.”

    Not Surprising:   Even with a tire issue and a resulting crash that was so hard it knocked a spark plug wire off, Jimmie Johnson managed to finish the race, in which he had started on the pole with a new track record, in the 13th position.

    And even with all the challenges of the day, the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Planes Chevrolet managed to increase his points lead to 77 over second place Clint Bowyer.

    “My day kept needing to be re-calibrated,” Johnson said. “I really felt like we had a shot to win, unfortunately blew a tire off of Turn On and ended those hopes there.”

    “We salvaged a very nice finish though.”

    Surprising:  Contrary to all the Bloomin’ Onion fans, driver Ryan Newman was surprisingly unhappy with his fourth place finish in his No. 39 Haas Automation 30th Anniversary Chevrolet.

    “It’s a good run but not as good as it could have been,” Newman said. “Just a horrible day in the pits for us.”

    “We have to get that figured out.”

    Not Surprising:  Having come into the Pocono weekend with high hopes for not only a good finish but also making the Chase, there was no one, not surprisingly, more frustrated with being caught up in a wreck not of his doing than Jeff Burton.

    The driver of the No. 31 FXI Gutterclear 365 Chevrolet was so upset that he put a nice sized dent in the roof of his car after pounding it royally after getting caught up in the Danica Patrick, Paul Menard and Travis Kvapil mess.

    “By the time I got there, they were wrecked,” Burton said. “We had a good car but we just kept getting in trouble.”

    “It’s just kind of how the year’s going.”

    Surprising:  Although teammates and the highest finishing Fords, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano had surprisingly different views on the challenge of the restarts.

    “We caught that one yellow at the worst possible time with 50 or 60 to go and pitted for four and we were going to be okay but then we caught another yellow which killed our strategy,” the driver of the No. 2 Redd’s Apple Ale proclaimed. “Damn, we were just a little bit short.”

    “Those restarts helped us,” the driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford said. “The cautions at the end helped us make up what we lost.”

    “It’s kind of funny how it worked out.”

    Not Surprising:  Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Peanut Butter Toyota, was the highest finishing Toyota, ending the race in the eighth position.

    “We were just a little bit off today,” Busch said. “It seemed like we could get going good on restarts and it would drive well for a few laps, then we couldn’t keep up as well on the long run.”

    “That’s about all we had with our M&M’s Peanut Butter Camry,” Busch continued. “We were able to get a top-10 out of a day where we were just a little behind.”

     

  • Kasey Kahne Pays Tribute to Jason Leffler in Pocono Victory Lane

    Kasey Kahne Pays Tribute to Jason Leffler in Pocono Victory Lane

    Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet, came from the eighteenth starting spot to finish first in the GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway.

    And in the midst of his celebration in Victory Lane, he took a moment to pause and pay tribute to his friend Jason Leffler, with whom he had ridden home with before and after the last Pocono race prior to Leffler’s fatal sprint car accident.

    “This summer has been tough on some racers,” Kahne said. “I thought about it on my way up here because Jason flew up and back with me.”

    “It was tough and there are so many people that were good friends with Jason so I wanted to mention him.”

    This was Kahne’s 16th victory in 345 NASCAR Sprint Cup races, his second victory in 2013, and his second victory at Pocono. He advanced one position in the point standings to the eighth spot.

    “I felt like our Farmers Insurance Chevrolet was the best car,” Kahne said. “Once I cleared Jeff (Gordon), that was pretty much the race.”

    “To come here and dominate the race and get the win was really cool,” Kenny Francis, crew chief said. “We were all about to jump off the box when Kasey made that pass.”

    Jeff Gordon, who suffered that fateful pass by teammate Kasey Kahne, celebrated his birthday by finishing runner up in his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet.

    This was Gordon’s 29th top-10 finish in 42 races at Pocono and his ninth top-10 finish of the season.

    “He was super-fast all day,” Gordon said of Kahne. “Those guys deserved and earned that win today.”

    “We had them though,” Gordon continued. “We had the position and got a good restart and I’m pretty disappointed that I allowed him to get to the outside of me in Turn One.”

    “That’s the advantage you have of being second, just like the restart before that where I had a little bit of an advantage being in second and got position on him,” Gordon said. “I thought that last restart I did everything I needed to do and I looked in my mirror and I really thought that the inside lane got a good run. I thought all I needed to do was get the bottom but man, he caught me by surprise and blasted by me.”

    “And in that scenario, it just kills your momentum.”

    While Gordon was disappointed, he was definitely counting his blessings, especially as it pertains to the point standings and getting into Chase contention.

    “I feel fortunate to come in second,” Gordon said.  “I feel like we had a great day all in all and I’m very proud of that.”

    “That’s something we can build a lot of momentum on,” Gordon continued. “Yeah, I’m frustrated right now because we had a shot at it and I know how important wins are, but second is a great points day for us as well.”

    Gordon moved up one spot in the point standings up to the ninth position.

    Fellow birthday boy Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet, finished third. And for him it felt like a victory, having conquered some of the demons that had plagued the team.

    “It was definitely a run that we were able to close the chapter on having little problems here and there,” Busch said. “What I mean by that is that we executed really well today.”

    “It was pit strategy, pit stops, two tires, four tires and all to be in position at the end,” Busch continued. “When the 48 had their trouble, we were even able to get into the pits before they closed them.”

    “It just seems like the team is flowing really well and I’m excited for this portion of the season because we now get to go back to all these tracks a second time and we have fresh notes,” Busch said. “So, working together, what I’m happy about is that we’re small but we can shoot from the hip a lot and make up a lot of ground by being aggressive.”

    “Even though we didn’t win, I feel good about this third place finish because this was a championship effort.”

    This was Busch’s 14th top-10 finish in 25 races at Pocono and he moved up one position to 13th in the point standings.

    Ryan Newman, coming off the race win at the Brickyard, continued riding the momentum wave with a fourth place finish in his No. 39 Haas Automation 30th Anniversary Chevrolet.

    “Well it was a good run no doubt,” Newman said, in spite of some pit road challenges. “Big for Quicken Loans and their ‘Bring it Home’ sweepstakes.”

    And of course Newman reminded all that Bloomin’ Onions would be available for all at Outback on Monday.

    Rounding out the top-five was Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in the No. 88 National Guard Youth Foundation Chevrolet.

    “We had a good car but not as good as it needed to be,” Junior said. “We just didn’t have the edge that we needed.”

    “I want to thank my guys who did a good job on strategy and pit stops.”

    While Chevrolet dominated the top five, team Penske flew the Ford team colors, with Brad Keselowski finishing sixth and Joey Logano finishing seventh.

    “We were close to the 5 and 24 but they were probably a tad faster,” the reigning champ and driver of the No. 2 Redd’s Apple Ale Ford said. “Damn, we were just a little bit short.”

    “We were a lot better than we finished,” the driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford said. “Seventh isn’t bad but I thought we were a top-three car today.”

    “We just have to keep our heads in the game and keep trying to make up points.”

    Both Logano and Keselowski each moved up one position in the point standings, with Logano now in 17th and Keselowski now in wild card contention in 12th.

    Kyle Busch was the highest finishing Toyota. He brought the No. 18 M&M’s Peanut Butter Toyota to the checkered flag in the eighth spot.

    “We were just a little bit off today,” Busch said after starting from the outside pole. “It seemed like we could get going good on restarts and it would drive well for a few laps, then we couldn’t keep up as well on the long run.”

    “That’s about all we had.”

    Points leader Jimmie Johnson had a very eventful day in his No. 48 Lowe’s Planes Chevrolet, but battled back to a 13th place finish after blowing a tire and hitting the wall. In spite of all that, Johnson actually increased his points lead over Clint Bowyer to 77 points.

    “Yeah, my day kept needing to be calibrated as the day went on,” Johnson said. “I really felt like we had a shot to win, unfortunately blew a tire off of Turn One and ended those hopes there.”

    “We worked on the car and got it better,” Johnson said. “Then I hit the wall so hard that it knocked a spark plug wire off the spark plug.”

    “They were able to get everything hooked back up and the engine took off,” Johnson continued. “Off we went and salvaged a very nice finish.”

     

  • Crunching The Numbers: Pocono & Iowa

    After a weekend of racing at the Brickyard for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series and a Wednesday night of dirt racing at Eldora for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, all three series head off to new destinations this week with the Sprint Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series heading to Pocono and the Nationwide Series heading back to Iowa Speedway for the second time this season.

    NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway

    From the rectangular shaped Indianapolis Motor Speedway last weekend to the triangular shaped Pocono Raceway this weekend, this section of the Sprint Cup Series schedule takes the drivers to tracks that are anything but your run-of-the-mill oval. Especially Pocono, with its three distinct turns all based off of turns from three different tracks. Turn 1 is based off of Trenton Speedway, Turn 2 is based off of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Turn 3 is based off of The Milwaukee Mile. Many say that drivers who run well at Indianapolis tend to run well at Pocono, so at the end of 400 miles on Sunday, we’ll see if that holds true.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Jimmie Johnson 23 3 10 16 2 690 9.0 8.7
    Jeff Gordon 41 6 18 28 2 965 11.4 10.2
    Denny Hamlin 15 4 8 10 2 663 6.3 10.5
    Tony Stewart 29 2 12 21 2 156 12.7 11.0
    Mark Martin 53 0 20 34 3 448 9.4 11.2
    Ryan Newman 23 1 8 11 2 182 10.3 12.0
    Carl Edwards 17 2 5 8 0 221 18.0 13.5
    Kevin Harvick 25 0 5 9 0 5 19.2 13.9
    Matt Kenseth 27 0 3 10 0 54 18.0 14.7
    Brad Keselowski 7 1 2 2 0 31 18.1 14.7

    Who To Watch: Five-time champion Jimmie Johnson seems to be having another one of those championship caliber seasons this year with his 75 point advantage heading into this weekend, so it’s no surprise that he leads all active drivers at Pocono. In 23 starts, Johnson has three wins, 10 top fives, 16 top tens, two poles, 690 laps led, and an average finish of 8.7. Let’s not forget just how dominant Johnson was during his June Pocono win. If anyone is going to win this race, Johnson will be the man to beat.

    Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jeff Gordon, also has an impressive career at Pocono with six wins, 18 top fives, 28 top tens, two poles, 965 laps led, and an average finish of 10.2 in 41 starts.

    Others who run well at Pocono include: Denny Hamlin, with four wins, eight top fives, 10 top tens, two poles, 663 laps led, and an average finish of 10.5 in 15 starts; Tony Stewart, with two wins, 12 top fives, 21 top tens, two poles, 156 laps led, and an average finish of 11.0 in 29 starts; Mark Martin, with 20 top fives, 34 top tens, three poles, 448 laps led, and an average finish of 11.2 in 53 starts; and winner of last weekend’s race at Indianapolis, Ryan Newman, with one win, eight top fives, 11 top tens, two poles, 182 laps led, and an average finish of 12.0 in 23 starts.

    NASCAR Nationwide Series – U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa

    For the second time this season the Nationwide Series heads to Iowa Speedway for a standalone event on the short track. With the Sprint Cup Series in Pocono for the weekend, the Nationwide regulars will practically have the track to themselves, except for a Cup regular or two that will be making the double duty trip down to Iowa.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Brad Keselowski 3 1 3 3 0 151 8.3 2.7
    Elliott Sadler 5 1 5 5 3 100 3.2 2.8
    Kyle Larson 1 0 1 1 0 0 10.0 5.0
    Regan Smith 1 0 0 1 0 0 5.0 7.0
    Sam Hornish Jr. 4 0 2 2 0 91 3.5 10.8
    Justin Allgaier 7 0 1 5 0 150 6.6 10.9
    Parker Kligerman 2 0 0 1 0 0 11.0 11.0
    Austin Dillon 5 0 2 3 1 260 5.8 11.8
    Michael Annett 7 0 1 2 0 6 20.3 13.0
    Cole Whitt 3 0 0 1 0 4 14.3 14.0

    Who To Watch: As the only Cup regular in the field, Brad Keselowski also boasts the best statistics in the Nationwide Series at Iowa. In three starts, Keselowski has one win, three top fives, three top tens, 151 laps led, and an average start of 2.7. The No. 22 car that Keselowski will be driving has won three times previously this season, so Keselowski should be strong on Saturday night once again.

    Elliott Sadler is the top Nationwide regular at Iowa with one win, five top fives, five top tens, three poles, 100 laps led, and an average finish of 2.8 in five starts.

    Others who run well at Iowa include: Rookie Kyle Larson, who finished fifth in his lone start this season; Regan Smith, who had a top ten of his own earlier this season at Iowa with a seventh place finish; Austin Dillon, who was well on his way to a victory in the first race at Iowa this year before fading late, and has two top fives, three top tens, one pole, 260 laps led, and an average finish of 11.8 in five starts; Trevor Bayne will also be strong as he won the first race at the track this year by overtaking Dillon late in the race.

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – Pennsylvania Mountains 125 at Pocono

    After a historic night of dirt racing last Wednesday night at Eldora, the Camping World Truck Series heads back to the pavement to take on the Tricky Triangle at Pocono. The Trucks have only been racing at Pocono for the last three seasons as a companion to the second Cup Series date at the track. There will be no Cup regulars racing this weekend, so who wins this race is pretty much up in the air as to who can get the job done on Saturday.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Joey Coulter 2 1 1 2 0 7 8.0 2.5
    Matt Crafton 3 0 2 3 0 0 13.3 5.0
    James Buescher 3 0 2 2 0 6 7.3 5.3
    Ty Dillon 1 0 0 1 0 0 2.0 6.0
    John Wes Townley 1 0 0 1 0 0 11.0 8.0
    Ross Chastain 1 0 0 1 0 0 20.0 10.0
    Timothy Peters 3 0 0 2 0 2 10.7 13.3
    Johnny Sauter 3 0 1 1 0 0 13.7 15.0
    Miguel Paludo 2 0 0 0 0 0 8.5 16.0
    Ron Hornaday Jr. 3 0 0 1 0 0 8.3 19.0

    Who To Watch: Since the Truck Series has only run at Pocono for a few years now, the only winner at Pocono in the field is Joey Coulter, who has the one win, one top five, two top tens, seven laps led, and an average finish of 2.5 in two starts.

    Others who have raced at Pocono previously and run well there include: Series points leader, Matt Crafton, who has two top fives, three top tens, and an average finish of 5.0 in three starts; 2012 champion James Buescher, with two top fives, two top tens, six laps led, and an average finish of 5.3 in three starts; and Ty Dillon, with a sixth place finish in his first start at the track last year.

    Any conversation on who is likely to win a Truck Series race this season also has to include the rookies in the series who have been running strong all season long . So, Jeb Burton, Darrell Wallace Jr., and Ryan Blaney could find themselves in Victory Lane this weekend as well.

  • Jimmie Johnson Runs from Tech to Track Record Pole at Pocono

    Jimmie Johnson, who after having issues in tech and sprinting to the qualifying grid, flew his Disney Planes car to the head of the field to qualify P1 for the GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway.

    Johnson put his No. 48 Lowe’s Planes Chevrolet into pole position with a speed of 180.654 miles per hour and a time of 49.819 seconds, scoring a new track record.

    This was Johnson’s second pole of the 2013 season, his 31st pole in his 420 Cup Series races and his third pole at Pocono Raceway. This was also the eleventh track qualifying record broken so far this year by the new Gen-6 race car.

    “I knew it was fast but I didn’t know how fast,” Johnson said. “I was challenging the car and it stuck.”

    “Track records are cool,” Johnson continued. “It makes all drivers and teams smile.”

    Johnson had an interesting time making it to the qualifying grid, once again having difficulty getting through tech and having to run with his car and team to make it in time.

    “We had the left rear tow off by one thousandth of an inch,” Johnson said. “We got on the clock, which is always a scary thing, but we beat the clock.”

    “I’m glad we got it sorted out.”

    Johnson said that he would not wish that stress on any other driver and took exception to the notion that his team might have delayed a bit to go out a bit later in the qualifying order.

    “I wish there was some master plan behind it,” Johnson said. “My heart was pounding out of my chest and I don’t wish that stress on anyone.”

    “That’s not what I want to go through.”

    Johnson admitted that in spite of the stress, both he and his crew chief Chad Knaus really do enjoy the ‘Tricky Triangle’ and all of its challenges.

    “Shifting here makes this track so much fun,” Johnson said. “The gear change makes in interesting.”

    “We have excelled on quirky race tracks,” Johnson continued. “Chad really enjoys setting up the car and the engineering side of it.”

    “We’ve had that knack for odd-shaped race tracks.”

    Kyle Busch, in the No. 18 M&Ms Peanut Butter Toyota, came in runner up in the qualifying effort, with a speed of 180.639 miles per hour and a time of 49.823 seconds. This will be Busch’s 17th top-10 start of 2013 and his tenth top-10 start in 18 races at Pocono.

    “Our Peanut Butter Camry was really fast in practice today,” Busch said. “One run we got a little bit off base but then we backed it right up and the third run we were pretty good.”

    “So, we were excited going into qualifying,” Busch continued. “Fortunately, it was a really fast lap for going that early in qualifying.”

    Busch admitted that going later in the qualifying order would have been beneficial, especially at a track where pit selection and track position are key.

    “I wish we would have gone later because we would have had a better race track, but it was about all I could get,” Busch said. “I wish it was the pole.”

    “That’s what you’d like to have,” Busch continued. “You get so close and it would be nice to have that award, being able to start first and get the number one pit selection.”

    “We’ll take it,” Busch said. “It was a good effort.”

    “And hopefully our car will be better and beat the other guy who beat us today.”

    Busch did, however, take a bit of a jab at pole sitter Johnson during his media availability after his qualifying run.

    “Probably not the clock that he was on made the difference but the draw he had being twenty cars later was beneficial,” Busch said. “It’s just that a lot of these other teams figure out how to play by the rules, you know.”

    “It seems like there is one that is quite often late, more often than the rest.”

    Carl Edwards was the fastest Ford in qualifying, with a time of 49.950 seconds and a speed of 180.180. The driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford came in third in the Pocono time trials.

    Edwards posted his seventh top-10 start at Pocono and his eleventh top-10 start in 21 races this season.

    “We got very fortunate with our draw because the track kept getting faster and faster,” Edwards said. “That and my superior skills and my humility helped.”

    “We didn’t expect to pick up that much and have that much grip,” Edwards continued. “Starting position is really important here.”

    “I’m ready to go racing,” Edwards said. “I’m pretty excited about hopefully our turnaround from last week because that was miserable.”

    Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation 30th Anniversary Chevrolet, and Kurt Busch in the NO. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet, rounded out the top five.

    “It was a good lap,” Newman said. “We picked up a second from what we practiced.”

    “Man that is fast here.”

    “To go for the pole, we were just a little bit too tight,” Busch said. “The pace was so fast that you are on the edge.”

    Three Fords took the sixth, seventh and eighth spots in qualifying, with Joey Logano, Greg Biffle and Marcos Ambrose in those spots respectively.

    “Yeah, that was not bad,” Logano, behind the wheel of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, said. “I feel like my lap was pretty good.”

    “I think I got what I needed,” Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford, said. “I’m really happy with that lap and our pick up.”

    “I wish I would have gotten a little more out of it but that’s all the car had.”

    Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, and Aric Almirola, in the Petty No. 43 GoBowling.com Ford, qualified in the ninth and tenth spots.

    “That was definitely good pick up,” Almirola said. “We had to make so many adjustments and I was trying to be a little conservative.”

    “I will take that.”