Tag: Ryan Newman

Doug Coby Wins Whelen Modified Race and Sets Sights on Repeat Championship

In a race where the lead changes were frenetic, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, Doug Coby, driver of the No. 52 Furnace & Duct Supply/Seekonk Grand Prix Chevrolet, made the pass when it counted most and took the checkered flag in the Town Fair 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Although the reigning champ, this was Coby’s first win of the season, his second New Hampshire victory and his eighth career Modified Tour Victory. And after sitting out the last race at Riverhead Raceway due to a qualifying wreck, he is back in championship contention, hoping for a repeat performance.

“It’s really neat to be in Victory Lane here,” Coby said. “I’ve been really close a lot of times.”

Coby has most certainly done his homework on New Hampshire Motor Speedway, including trying to plot out the best strategy to get him into the winner’s circle.

“I’ve really studied the draft here and watched a lot of video when I missed a win or an opportunity to finish in the top-five,” Coby said. “It’s not going to happen all the time but I feel that I have a great understanding of where I need to be positioned at the end of the race.”

“And it’s just a matter if I can get there,” Coby continued. “Both wins, I wanted to be running second on the last lap because I think that’s the best place to be to get a win here.”

“It just so happens that we had a caution and we won last race in September here and I think the 3 and the 16 running side by side gave me an opportunity to start moving my car around and not giving them a chance to get a good draft on me,” Coby said. “There were about four lapped cars as well that I could use their air to pull me forward.”

“Then it was just crazy and chaotic because you’re listening to your spotter and looking everywhere and thinking to yourself, am I doing the right thing?” Coby continued. “I’m coming to the white flag and saying I’m not going to win this thing.”

“ So, just one of those deals where I don’t know how the heck it happens but you’re in.”

Coby’s victory was especially sweet after having wrecked out of the race at Riverhead the previous race weekend. The driver of the No. 52 actually had to sit on the sidelines and watch as he had no backup car available to him.

“We didn’t come here with Riverhead on our minds,” Coby said. “We came here with defending our race win at Loudon on our minds.”

“I knew in practice that we have every bit as good of a car that we had in September,” Coby continued. “So, that gave me a little extra confidence.”

Coby also hopes that his win, along with the Modifieds being on one of the biggest stages at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, will call more attention to the series. He said that the Whelen Tour has the best combination of drivers of all different ages and capabilities.

“Loudon’s still the biggest race on the schedule in terms of putting the Modifieds out in front of the public,” Coby said. “I hope when I win and get to do interviews, that it makes other people interested in seeing the Modifieds and learning more about our drivers and the personalities that we have.”

“Teddy (Christopher) is in his 50’s, I’m in my 30’s and Ryan (Preece) is 22 and that’s who was battling for the win out there,” Coby said. “I think that says something about the skill level and our series and for Ryan, the maturity that he possesses and of course Ted, the knowledge that he has.”

“And I guess I’m somewhere in the middle.”

While Coby does have thoughts of the championship repeat on his mind, he acknowledged that he and his team have work to do to be able to truly compete.

“I think we have a way to go before I assess the championship fully,” Coby said. “I have to get through the August Bristol race.”

“If you’re anywhere in an arm’s length distance of the championship, then you still have a shot.”

Coby assessed the championship competition and shared his opinion that young driver Ryan Preece is the one to beat for that honor.

“Obviously the 16 team of Ryan Preece has it going on this year,” Coby said. “They changed a motor this week and he went out and led most of the second half of the race.”

“Ryan is the strongest competitor hands down,” Coby continued. “But there are eight of us out there really and it’s the same eight cars battling for the top spots.”

“For us, it’s a matter of getting back to where we’re at,” Coby said. “We won the championship last year for a reason and we’re in Loudon victory lane for a reason.”

“We’re coming back and we’re not going to let it be easy on anybody.”

Coby also gave a nod to another Ryan in the field, Cup competitor Ryan Newman, who finished fifth in his No. 7 Menards/Wix Filters Chevrolet.

“Ryan Newman did not time trial well but then Ryan Newman blew right by me before the break,” Coby said. “Obviously they have tremendous equipment and he is a Cup driver so he knows what he’s doing here.”

“It’s great to have him in our field,” Coby continued. “They take it very serious and want to win races.”

“And I’m sure they’re just as unhappy as every other Modified team that didn’t win today.”

Ted Christopher, veteran driver of the No. 3 Silver Dollar Construction/Cape Cod Copper Chevrolet, came in second and Ryan Preece, who was also making his debut in the Nationwide race, finished third in his No. 16 East West Marine/Diversified Metals Ford.

“Our cars usually do put on a show,” Christopher said. “Just came up a little short.”

“Really want to thank the guys for giving me a car capable to win here in a bunch of years,” Christopher continued. “The last cautions just brought everybody closer but it was the three of us at the end.”

“Anytime you have a day where you can take the car off the trailer, run up front and lead laps is a good day,” Preece said. “We had a head gasket that went in practice, so we had to swap motors.”

“For them to put that back up motor and time trial twelfth, I knew we had a good race car,” Preece continued. “We were fourth on that restart and then made our way up front in the top three.”

“It’s great to be a part of this team and I’m looking forward to running 200 laps in that Nationwide race.”

Andy Seuss and Ryan Newman rounded out the top five and Woody Pitkat, Eric Berndt, Chuck Hossfeld, Richie Pallai Jr., and Jamie Tomaino completed the top-10 finishers in the Town Fair Tire 100.

July 14, 2013
Kevin Harvick Opens Door While Door Shuts on Ryan Newman

The old saying of one door closing and another opening was most fitting for both Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Harvick officially announced that the door has been opened for him at Stewart-Haas Racing while Ryan Newman acknowledged that the door has been shut for him at that team.

“It’s nice to officially end all the speculation,” Harvick, the new 2014 driver of the No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing, said. “For me, Stewart-Haas was intriguing just for the fact that you have Tony (Stewart) as a teammate who’s been a big part of what we did at KHI to get it started.”

“We have a friendship that goes beyond the race track,” Harvick continued. “Obviously Gene Haas makes it very intriguing with the guarantees that he made to make the deal happen to put the car on the race track.”

“When you have a family and you start seeing those guarantees of sponsorship for the car, it makes you think about things,” Harvick said. “I think not only about those two pieces, but also the Hendrick tie with the engines and the support.”

“I think the potential is really high with all those resources and relationships and things that go with it.”

“I got a phone call from Tony (Stewart) on Wednesday about 20 minutes to seven and we talked for basically 20 minutes,” Newman said. “That was it.”

“His phone call was about making the announcement and that I would not be a part of Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014.”

Both drivers acknowledged that they have the highest regard for Tony Stewart, both as a friend, racer and team owner.

“I feel like our relationship is going to help progress things as they move forward on the performance side,” Harvick said. “Tony balances a lot of things and I’ve been in that boat.”

“I think it’s going to allow me the time to help him and be able to make it better.”

“We only ever argued over how hard we race,” Newman said. “That is the kind of friends Tony and I are.”

“His stress was the importance of our friendship and that to me will never change.”

Both drivers talked a great deal about sponsorship as for Harvick, his major sponsor Budweiser will be following him to Stewart-Haas Racing while Newman is currently unsure about the status of any of his sponsors.

“We’ve had three years with Budweiser and looking forward to moving forward with them as a sponsor,” Harvick said. “Those guys at SHR took full responsibility to have the car funded and that made my life a lot easier.”

“We have great sponsors in Quicken Loans, Wix Filters, Aspen Dental, Code 3 Associates, and Outback,” Newman said. “They have all done us well.”

“There are no answers that I have,” Newman continued. “Obviously I have my own homework to do.”

“I want to be competitive,” Newman said. “I’m not just going to go out there and just find a ride.”

“I want to find a ride with somebody that has the same goals and perspectives as I do.”

Both Newman and Harvick had nothing but praise for their current teams, Stewart-Haas Racing and Richard Childress Racing respectively. And both intend to race as hard as possible for their owners and teams.

“I’ve had a good run,” Newman said. “I look forward to finishing out this year.”

“Look forward to the opportunity to make the Chase, win races and putting ourselves to have a chance to win a championship,” Newman continued. “That’s my ultimate goal and it always has been.”

“We’re going to go out and race every week as hard as we can,” Harvick said. “It’s not like we detached ourselves from what we’re doing and those guys on the team, they don’t care about the politics of the sport; they just want to win races.”

“They like spraying beer in Victory Lane and as a group we’re going to do that until we get to Homestead,” Harvick continued. “We’ll start working on the future plans when that race is over.”

The two drivers, however, expressed very different emotions about the transition, with Harvick on one hand talking about the change as rejuvenation while Newman showing his upset about the uncertainty of his future.

“It wasn’t anything personal from Richard (Childress, team owner) or a team standpoint doing anything wrong,” Harvick said. “It was just me needing to rejuvenate myself to get to the race track and really be excited to show up.”

“Just like everybody else’s job, sometimes you just need a change to get going again.”

“I do not know what my future holds,” Newman said. “I have no idea right now.”

“That’s something that weighs on my shoulders,” Newman continued. “That is part of racing and part of the situation that I’m in.”

While the door is opening for Harvick and closing for Newman in 2014 at Stewart-Haas Racing, both drivers have to focus this weekend on competing at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the 21^st Annual Camping World RV Sales 301.

In fact, Ryan Newman is doing double duty at the Magic Mile, racing both in the Cup Series and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

“For me, it’s a track position race,” Newman said. “You get a limited number of chances to adjust on your race car and tune your race car and work in those windows that either the cautions or the green flag runs give you.”

“Excited it’s a big race this weekend for Wix Filters and they are also sponsoring the modified which is a lot of fun for me.”

“We know that we have to come back here and race for the Chase so obviously this is an important weekend to kind of evaluate where we are with our short track program,” Harvick said. “Flat tracks are a big part of the Chase.”

“I think this is an important weekend to fully understand what we need to do going forward.”

So, what will the future hold for Harvick as a new door opens and Newman as a big door closes?

“I can’t say I’m happy with how everything unfolded,” Newman said. “There will be a change for me in 2014 and I don’t know what that change is.”

“It’s nice to be in this position to be able to focus on racing a car and getting the performance and doing the things we need to do,” Harvick said. “It’s worked out well.”

July 12, 2013

Crunching The Numbers: New Hampshire & Iowa

After celebrating the Fourth of July weekend on the high banks of Daytona International Speedway, the three national NASCAR series head to short, flat tracks in separate parts of the country this weekend. New Hampshire Motor Speedway will host the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series, while the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Iowa for a standalone weekend of their own.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – Camping World RV Sales 301 at New Hampshire

For the first time this season, the Sprint Cup Series makes its way to the flat one mile oval in Loudon, N.H., the eighth of eight tracks that the series has already visited this year that will also be in the Chase for the Sprint Cup that starts in September. Drivers that have won the July race here have gone on to win the championship four times, with success in this race carrying over to the track’s Chase date in September. The track has also featured 10 different winners since 2008, so will we finally see a repeat winner or will this mark 11 different winners?

Driver	Races	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Pole	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
Denny Hamlin	14	2	7	10	0	417	13.6	7.9
Jimmie Johnson	22	3	8	15	0	321	11.1	9.5
Jeff Gordon	36	3	16	21	4	1316	9.9	10.5
Tony Stewart	28	3	14	17	1	1218	11.2	11.4
Ryan Newman	22	3	6	15	6	720	8.0	12.7
Kevin Harvick	24	1	5	12	1	319	14.1	13.7
Jeff Burton	36	4	8	13	0	783	19.4	13.8
Matt Kenseth	26	0	5	12	0	89	21.1	14.0
Brad Keselowski	7	0	2	4	1	10	15.6	14.0
Carl Edwards	17	0	2	3	0	70	15.2	14.5

Who To Watch: As he mounts what may be his last stand to make the Chase, and his Chase hopes rapidly dwindling thanks to some unfortunate circumstances that have befallen him this season, Denny Hamlin has to be happy to be heading to a track where he tops the list statistically. Hamlin’s New Hampshire career has featured two wins, seven top fives, 10 top tens, 417 laps led, and an average finish of 7.9 in 14 races. Hamlin is also coming off of a stellar 2012 campaign at the track with a second place finish in the July race and a win in the September race.

Winner of last weekend’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona and four-time winner on the season, Jimmie Johnson, comes in just behind Hamlin with three wins, eight top fives, 15 top tens, 321 laps led, and an average finish of 9.5 in 22 starts.

Others who run well in the Granite State include: Jeff Gordon, with three wins, 16 top fives, 21 top tens, four poles, 1316 laps led, and an average finish of 10.5 in 36 starts; Tony Stewart, with three wins, 14 top fives, 17 top tens, one pole, 1218 laps led, and an average finish of 11.4 in 28 starts; Ryan Newman, with three wins, six top fives, 15 top tens, six poles, 720 laps led, and an average finish of 12.7 in 22 starts; and Kevin Harvick, who has one win, five top fives, 12 top tens, one pole, 319 laps led, and an average finish of 13.7 in 24 starts.

Matt Kenseth, who is tied with Jimmie Johnson for most wins on the year, doesn’t have a stellar career at New Hampshire (0 wins, five top fives, 12 top tens, 89 laps led, and 14.0 average finish in 26 starts), but with the success that he has had in his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing, Kenseth would be another to keep an eye on this weekend.

NASCAR Nationwide Series – CNBC Prime’s “The Profit” 200 at New Hampshire

As the Nationwide Series heads to New Hampshire to share in the companion weekend with the Sprint Cup Series, we have a couple of storylines that will be playing out this weekend. First, New Hampshire marks the second leg of the Nationwide Insurance “Dash 4 Cash”, in which the highest finisher out of eligible drivers will be able to win a $100,000 bonus. The eligible drivers for this weekend are Daytona “Dash 4 Cash” bonus winner Elliott Sadler, Austin Dillon, Kyle Larson, and Sam Hornish, Jr. The other storyline will be the Cup regulars who will be running on Saturday and when looking at the statistics for this track are evenly distributed among the Nationwide regulars. As is the case anytime there is a Sprint Cup/Nationwide companion weekend, it is the battle between the Cup regulars and the Nationwide regulars, who will come out on top this week?

Driver	Races	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Pole	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
Sam Hornish, Jr.	1	0	1	1	0	0	6.0	4.0
Kasey Kahne	5	0	2	4	0	53	9.6	6.8
Brian Vickers	2	0	1	1	0	0	7.0	8.0
Trevor Bayne	2	0	1	1	0	58	12.5	9.0
Justin Allgaier	4	0	0	3	0	0	9.8	9.2
Kyle Busch	7	3	4	4	1	273	5.4	10.7
Matt Kenseth	7	1	3	5	0	55	17.9	11.4
Joey Logano	3	0	2	2	1	111	3.7	11.7
Reed Sorenson	5	0	0	2	0	0	10.8	12.6
Austin Dillon	2	0	1	1	0	1	10.0	14.0

Who To Watch: Currently sitting second in points, Sam Hornish, Jr., is tops statistically at New Hampshire with a sixth place start and a fourth place finish in his lone start at the track last year.

Cup regular Kasey Kahne comes in right behind Hornish with two top fives, four top tens, 53 laps led, and an average finish of 6.8 in five starts. Nationwide regulars Brian Vickers, Trevor Bayne, and Justin Allgaier are next with average finishes of 8.0, 9.0, and 9.2 respectively.

Cup regulars and Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth, are the only two in the top ten statistically at New Hampshire with a win. Busch has three wins, four top fives, four top tens, one pole, 273 laps led, and an average finish of 10.7 in seven starts. Kenseth, winner of last weekend’s race at Daytona, has one win, three top fives, five top tens, 55 laps led, and an average finish of 11.4 in seven starts

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – American Ethanol 200 at Iowa

While the Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series are enjoying New England this weekend, the young guns of the Camping World Truck Series will be in America’s Heartland taking on Iowa Speedway in a Saturday night showdown that is sure to be full of great racing, as the racing always is at this short track.

Driver	Races	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Pole	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
Ryan Blaney	1	1	1	1	0	50	2.0	1.0
Johnny Sauter	5	0	5	5	0	24	5.2	3.8
Matt Crafton	5	1	3	5	0	56	8.6	4.4
Ty Dillon	2	0	1	2	0	0	12.0	4.5
Joey Coulter	3	0	1	2	0	0	9.3	8.7
Miguel Paludo	3	0	0	1	0	0	10.0	12.7
Timothy Peters	5	1	1	2	1	87	7.0	13.2
Ross Chastain	2	0	0	0	0	0	21.0	13.5
James Buescher	5	0	1	2	0	98	10.2	14.6
Brendan Gaughan	1	0	0	0	0	0	19.0	16.0

Who To Watch: Ryan Blaney surprised everyone last year at Iowa Speedway when he became the youngest winner in series history in only his third career start. Blaney, who now has a full time ride with Brad Keselowski Racing could very well make it two in a row this weekend and give Ford their first win of the season and first win since pulling factory support from the series some years back.

Others who run well at Iowa are Johnny Sauter, with five top fives, five top tens, 24 laps led, and an average finish of 3.8 in five starts; Matt Crafton, with one win, three top fives, five top tens, 56 laps led and an average finish of 4.4 in five starts; Ty Dillon, with one top five, two top tens, and an average finish of 4.5 in two starts; and Joey Coulter, with one top five, two top tens, and an average finish of 8.7 in three starts.

Of course, the rookies of the series Jeb Burton, Darrell Wallace, Jr., and Chase Elliott will be strong this weekend, as they have been all season long.

July 10, 2013

Jeff Burton Is All Atwitter Over Kwikset Sponsorship and Sweepstakes

Jeff Burton not only has a new sponsor this year in Kwikset, a major manufacturer and supplier of residential locks, but he is also all atwitter over their sweepstakes “I Heart the Mayor.”

The special Twitter promotion will be ending this weekend at the July 6^th Daytona race. In celebration of the sweepstakes finale, Kwikset will be the primary sponsor on the hood of the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet for the Coke Zero 400.

“Quite simply, any fan can go to www.iHeartTheMayor.com and from there you can send a tweet which goes directly to me,” Burton said. “You hashtag #TweetToWin and then you’re done.”

“Hopefully you’ll be chosen and the winner will come to Richard Childress Racing for the October race weekend in Charlotte for a behind the scenes tour of how we build our race cars, how we build our engines, and how we get ready to race,” Burton continued. “And then from there the fans will go to the winery and have lunch, which is a very special treat.”

“Finally the winners will wrap up the weekend as the guests of Kwikset at their VIP hospitality area for the Bank of America 500 race,” Burton said. “They will really get an inside look at the race and at the shop and get to do it in a VIP way.”

“It’s a neat deal that Kwikset has done and somebody is going to have a really great time.”

While Burton is atwitter about the sweepstakes and what it may mean to one of his lucky fans, he also is thrilled to have Kwikset come on board as a sponsor, for his team as well as for the sport.

“Over the years, the economy took a downward turn and we haven’t seen a lot of new companies come in to NASCAR,” Burton said. “So, to have a company like Kwikset come in, a big company with name recognition because people have their product on their front doors, as the primary sponsor at Daytona is good for us and good for the sport.”

“I’ve been really fortunate in my career to represent some ‘who’s who’ in American business,” Burton continued. “I’ve been blessed with that and this is another example of a company with quality products and cool, innovative stuff that they will talk about this weekend that makes the product more usable.”

Kwikset also feels fortunate to have a driver like Burton, known for his advocacy for safety, as a spokesperson for their product.

“Family, safety and innovation are Kwikset’s core tenets,” Greg Gluchowski, President of the Hardware & Home Improvement Group at Spectrum Brands, said. “Once we learned that Jeff had similar passions, we knew this partnership would be beneficial for both parties.”

“The ‘I Heart the Mayor’ sweepstakes is a fun way for motorsports and Kwikset fans to learn more about our products and Jeff, while also giving them the opportunity to win a once-in-a- lifetime experience.”

In their special promotion, Kwikset has indeed capitalized on one of their driver’s most notable monikers, ‘Mayor’ of the NASCAR garage area. Burton’s ‘Mayor’ moniker has evolved over time and goes back to one of the darker times in the sport when Dale Earnhardt was tragically killed at Daytona.

“It all started a long time ago as it related to safety, prior to Dale Earnhardt’s death,” Burton said. “I was working hard and trying to make things happen and when Dale was killed, I was one of the more outspoken in the sport about safety.”

“We had been working on new seat technology and I was involved in the very first carbon seat brought into NASCAR,” Burton continued. “I ran the very first head surround that is now the rule.”

“So, I was ahead of the curve and I was willing to talk about it because I knew we had major problems,” Burton said. “Some people thought I was committing professional suicide by doing it but I never felt like that or that I’d wake up with the horse head in my bed so to speak.”

“Someone had to speak out and be educated about it and I was that person at that time,” Burton continued. “That got me into the media coming to talk to me about difficult things and the topic of the day.”

“So, that’s what started the ‘Mayor’ label.”

“I think we always have to stay ahead on safety,” Burton said. “NASCAR has done a phenomenal job on becoming the leader in motorsports as it relates to safety.”

“In the past they were followers and were reactive but now they are so proactive,” Burton continued. “My role is now to just remind all that we don’t quit and keep on it.”

While Burton is passionate about his mayoral role and has the ear of the sanctioning body, he also feels that NASCAR needs to pay attention to the voice of the fans as well.

“I have a good relationship with NASCAR and we talk about ways now to make the sport even better,” Burton said. “We don’t always agree but they always listen and that’s all you can ask.”

“I think it’s important for our sport,” Burton continued. “We have to have the competitors involved and able to give their opinion but we don’t always need to be listened to.”

“One of the major problems with other sports in my opinion is that they listen to the athletes and the owners too much instead of listening to the fans,” Burton said. “In our sport, the fans get a vote before I do and I’m OK with that.”

While Burton has been atwitter about this social media campaign with Kwikset, he has also been pretty pleased about his performance on the track, in spite of not always getting the finishes he and his team would like.

This past weekend at Kentucky, Burton rebounded from two speeding penalties to run in the top-five until several pit and on-track incidents left him to take the checkered flag in the 19^th position.

“The speeding penalties were just a mistake on our tachometer,” Burton said. “We recovered and got ourselves in the top five.”

“Then it went downhill quickly after a brush up with Kasey Kahne on pit road and having a hole knocked in the nose,” Burton continued. “So, now instead of being a fifth place car, we were a tenth place car.”

“And then on the last restart, Ryan Newman and I went three-wide into Turn 3 and Montoya didn’t know we were three-wide,” Burton said. “And we all crashed into each other, I got the right side of my car all torn up, and we went from running ninth to finishing 19^th.”

“It wasn’t a good finish but we did run well,” Burton continued. “We’ve been running well lately and last week I think we could have won the race.”

“I feel good about what we’re doing but we’re just a little late doing it.”

Burton is also looking forward to some strategy plate racing at Daytona and hopes to come out of it just a little better than his other experiences so far this year on the superspeedways.

“Daytona is a little bit of a crap shoot,” Burton said. “You have to miss the wrecks.”

“It’s just a tough race,” Burton continued. “I’ve been in two restrictor plate races this year and got caught up in two wrecks not of my doing.”

“Last year, we had an average finish of fifth at plate races and this year we haven’t been able to finish a race because of wrecks,” Burton said. “We’ve just got to go there, put ourselves in position to be running at the end of the race, and then anything can happen.”

But what Burton hopes most of all this weekend is that his fans take to Twitter, just as he does, and participate in Kwikset’s special sweepstakes.

“I’ve really become interested in social media and check Twitter at least two or three times a day,” Burton said. “I follow the people that I want to follow and I follow the organizations that I want to follow.”

“I get a lot of my news through Twitter, following different news and sports outlets,” Burton continued. “I really don’t watch the news anymore because I follow it on Twitter and then investigate it further.”

“There are some things that are disappointing but overall it’s a very positive outlet and I’ve really been impressed with it.”

And this race weekend, Burton will be even more closely watching his Twitter feed, especially with the hash tag #TweetToWin as all of his fans have the opportunity to participate for a chance at one of the most unique behind-the-scenes experiences in the sport.

For more information about Kwikset’s sweepstakes in partnership with Jeff Burton, visit www.iHeartTheMayor.com.

July 3, 2013

Crunching The Numbers: Sonoma & Road America

That time of the year has come again when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series head for the first road courses of the season in Sonoma, CA and Elkhart Lake, WI, respectively. Many of the road course races in recent memory have turned into races that resemble short track races than the follow the leader races of old and this weekend’s events should be more of the same beating and banging all the way to the finish. Add in the addition of so called “road course ringers” and the road courses make for very entertaining races.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma

This weekend marks the annual trip to California Wine Country and Sonoma Raceway’s lone Sprint Cup date. With the advent of double file restarts, this race has become a must see event due to the narrow course that these drivers are trying to navigate while running two wide. That factor often leads to cars being spun off course and tempers flaring among the drivers. In addition to that, the Sprint Cup Series will debut group based qualifying this weekend and this will also be the Sonoma debut for the Gen6 car, which throws more uncertainty into this race that has not seen a repeat winner in the past eight races.

Driver	Races	Win	Top 5	Top 10	Pole	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
Jeff Gordon	20	5	12	16	5	450	7.4	8.6
Clint Bowyer	7	1	4	5	0	73	17.1	9.7
Tony Stewart	14	2	5	9	1	82	11.1	10.9
Marcos Ambrose	5	0	2	4	1	46	5.0	12.8
Ryan Newman	11	0	2	5	0	11	10.8	12.9
Juan Pablo Montoya	6	1	1	4	0	9	18.8	13.2
Jimmie Johnson	11	1	4	6	0	85	16.0	13.8
Greg Biffle	10	0	2	4	0	9	16.4	14.9
Kevin Harvick	12	0	3	4	0	10	16.7	16.1
Joey Logano	4	0	0	2	1	5	11.8	17.0

Who To Watch: Four-time Sprint Cup champion, Jeff Gordon, has proven himself to be one of the best on road courses, especially at Sonoma, with five wins, 12 top fives, 16 top tens, five poles, 450 laps led, and an average finish of 8.6 in 20 races.

2012 winner, Clint Bowyer, has also proven his mettle at Sonoma with one win, four top fives, five top tens, 73 laps led, and an average finish of 9.7 in seven races.

Others who run well on the road course include: Tony Stewart, with two wins, five top fives, nine top tens, one pole, 82 laps led, and an average finish of 10.9 in 14 races; Road course ace Marcos Ambrose who has yet to win at Sonoma, but has two top fives, four top tens, one pole, 46 laps led, and an average finish of 12.8 in five races; Ryan Newman, with two top fives, five top tens, 11 laps led, and an average finish of 12.9 in 11 races; 2007 winner, Juan Pablo Montoya, with one win, one top five, four top tens, nine laps led, and an average finish of 13.2 in six races; and Jimmie Johnson, with one win, four top fives, six top tens, 85 laps led, and an average finish of 13.8 in 11 starts.

NASCAR Nationwide Series – Johnsonville Sausage 200 at Road America

For just the fourth time, the Nationwide Series will be making the trek to Wisconsin to take on the daunting 4.048 mile road course, the longest on the circuit. The field will be full of drivers who have never raced at the track or only have one start, leaving the field wide open for a new winner. With none of the Sprint Cup regulars attempting the double and a few “ringers” joining the field, the odds are high that one of the Nationwide regulars will find themselves in Victory Lane for the third race in a row.

Driver	Races	Win	Top 5	Top 10	Pole	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
Nelson Piquet, Jr.	1	1	1	1	1	19	1.0	1.0
Reed Sorenson	1	1	1	1	0	1	12.0	1.0
Brendan Gaughan	1	0	1	1	0	0	6.0	3.0
Owen Kelly	1	0	1	1	0	0	9.0	5.0
Sam Hornish, Jr.	1	0	1	1	0	3	8.0	5.0
Cole Whitt	1	0	0	1	0	0	14.0	9.0
Elliott Sadler	2	0	1	1	0	0	10.0	9.5
Brian Scott	3	0	0	1	0	10	13.3	12.0
Max Papis	2	0	1	1	0	1	3.5	13.5
Blake Koch	1	0	0	0	0	0	24.0	14.0

Who To Watch: With a win and a pole in his only race at the track last season, Nelson Piquet, Jr. is at the top of the list statistically of the drivers who have competed at Road America. Piquet led 19 laps en route to victory last season and is looking to become the first repeat winner at the track in the short history that the Nationwide Series has there.

The only other driver in the field with a win is Reed Sorenson, who along with his one win has one top five, one top ten, one lap led and an average finish of 1.0 in one start.

Others who run well at Road America, but have yet to win include: Brendan Gaughan, with a third place finish in his lone start; Owen Kelly, piloting Kyle Busch’s No. 54, with a fifth place finish in one start; Sam Hornish, Jr., currently sitting second in points, with a fifth place finish in one start; Cole Whitt, who recently returned to the Nationwide Series, with a ninth place finish in one start; and Elliott Sadler, who is the highest ranking driver with more than one start and has one top five and one top ten in his two starts at the track.

June 19, 2013

Surprising and Not Surprising: Party in the Poconos 400

With a picture-perfect race day after a qualifying rainout, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 32^nd annual Party in the Poconos 400.

Surprising: With good practice times and a decent starting position set on owner’s points, it was most surprising to see the No. 5 Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet head to pit road and then to the garage on the first lap of the race.

“We have no idea what happened with the car yet,” Kasey Kahne said. “The crew and engineers have been looking at things but they’re still unsure.”

“II know that when I took off, in second gear, I had no power and it was just vibrating like crazy,” Kahne continued. “The faster I went, the worse the vibration was.”

With the garage time, Kahne finished nineteen laps down in the 36^th position. He also lost two positions in the point standings, falling from the fifth to seventh spot.

Not Surprising: With the controversy of the Dover restart still ringing in his ears, Jimmie Johnson put it all behind him, leading a record setting 128 laps out of the total 160 at Pocono Raceway.

And with a lap leading percentage of 80%, there was no surprise that the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet found Victory Lane for the third time of the season and the third time at Pocono.

“I’m sure we’ve had some other really strong races like that, but not in recent memory,” Johnson said. “What a race car.”

“There are only so many tricks you have if you play by the rules with those restarts,” Johnson continued. “Fortunately, I was able to get the lead and have clean air again at the end.”

Surprising: With all the struggles of team Ford, it was most surprising to see Greg Biffle, in the No. 16 3M Ford, surge at the end to score the runner up position.

“We had some good restarts and we were lucky with the lane choices and my car ran pretty good on restarts,” Biffle said. “Clearly we’re not celebrating that we finished second quite yet and have our cars figured out, but this is definitely a step in the right direction.”

“We certainly ran better here than we have been all season and certainly that’s a positive for us going to next week, so hopefully we’ll continue to build on that.”

Not Surprising: With a third place finish in the books, NASCAR’s most popular driver pronounced it all good, as well as predicting that the momentum might just carry the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet into Victory Lane soon.

“We are all right,” Dale Earnhardt, Jr. said. “We know what we need to do.”

“Confidence is there so all the fans can rest assured we feel like we are on the right track,” Junior continued. “We want to get a win, man.”

“If we keep getting close, we are going to get one.”

Surprising: The announcement of Toyota Racing Development backing down the horsepower to improve reliability surprisingly came at the worst time for Denny Hamlin, who has been battling intently to recover from his injury and make the Chase.

“We weren’t competitive,” the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota said after finishing eighth. “We’re just trying to do everything we can and grind and finish good when we don’t have a winning car.”

“And by no means did we have a winning car this weekend.”

Not Surprising: Fellow Toyota teammate Kyle Busch was the top Toyota finisher, bringing his No. 18 M&Ms Toyota Camry home in the sixth position.

“The car was loose in turn three all day, but we got the car feeling pretty good towards the end,” Busch said. “We probably had a seventh place car all day long.”

“I just couldn’t get going on that last restart,” Busch continued. “I just didn’t do a good job there and we found ourselves in sixth.”

“We’ll take that and go on to Michigan.”

Surprising: Stewart-Haas Racing had a surprisingly good time at the Party in the Poconos, with Tony Stewart finishing in fourth, Ryan Newman finishing fifth, and Danica Patrick finishing on the lead lap at her first ever try on that tricky track.

“It’s one thing if one car runs good, but to have two or all three of us running good shows that we are gaining momentum,” Tony Stewart, team owner and driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, said . “Really proud of our group at SHR.”

Not Surprising: Kurt Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet, once again faced adversity, this time with a problem on pit road. And not surprisingly, he and his team rallied yet again to finish top-10.

“We had a fast car again, ran up front but a mistake on my part on pit road stalled our momentum,” Busch said. “But we battled back with a solid finish.”

“The good news is that we know how to overcome adversity and the more we perform the way we have been, the better we’ll get.”

Surprising: Matt Kenseth had an uncharacteristically and surprisingly tough day, doing some synchronized spinning with Juan Pablo Montoya and then wheel-hopping on pit road and having some contact with Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

“I mean, disappointing,” the driver of the No. 20 Home Depot/Husky Tools Toyota said. “I thought we had a top-five at the very worst or seventh or eighth-place car.”

“Whenever you don’t finish where you are running, it’s always disappointing.”

Not Surprising: Earnhardt Ganassi Racing just keeps gaining ground, this week with Jamie McMurray finishing thirteenth and Juan Pablo Montoya finishing fourteenth.

“We just have to execute,” Montoya said. “Each person has got to do its own little thing.”

“We just have to keep our heads down and keep doing our work and we will be fine.”

Surprising: AJ Allmendinger had a surprisingly difficult day in the No. 51 Phoenix Construction Services Chevrolet, finishing a disappointing 33^rd. The ‘Dinger was responsible for the next to the last race caution after experiencing significant tire troubles.

In spite of this, Allmendinger was surprisingly chosen to replace Bobby Labonte when the Cup crowd heads to Michigan next weekend. JTG Daugherty Racing’s leadership apparently selected ‘Dinger to shake down the car to see if and how the performance can be enhanced.

“I have raced for Phoenix Racing some this year and feel confident I’ll be able to provide JTG Daugherty Racing with a good comparison,” Allmendinger said. “I’m thankful for this opportunity to work with the team and Bobby.”

Not Surprising: For Chad Knaus, crew chief, and team Jimmie Johnson, the focus still remains on the point standings. And this team not surprisingly knows exactly how important their points lead is, now 51 points ahead of Carl Edwards.

“As far as points go, it’s always important,” Knaus said. “We’ve got some very tricky race tracks coming up and we want to make sure that we get as many points accumulated as possible.”

“That’s just the way we roll.”

June 11, 2013
Jimmie Johnson Party of One in Pocono Victory Lane

After dominating at Dover last week and not getting the result he wanted due to a restart penalty, Jimmie Johnson ordered up a table for one at the Party in the Poconos 400 Presented by Walmart, right in Victory Lane.

Although challenged by some late race cautions, Johnson dominated the race, leading a career high 128 laps.

He also dominated the race weekend, from being quickest in first practice to being at the front of the field in the final practice session. And thanks to the rainout of qualifying, the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet also started from the pole, which was critical for track position.

The win was Johnson’s 63^rd career victory, his third win of the season, and his third checkered flag in 23 races at the Tricky Triangle.

“What a race car,” Johnson said. “Not only the car and the handling and the grip that it had, but also the engine and what was under the hood.”

“When I would lean on the throttle, this baby would yard anybody and everybody,” Johnson continued. “Today everything worked out.”

Not only did Chad Knaus, Johnson’s crew chief, concur but he also enjoyed every minute of the Pocono competition.

“Wow, it was a lot of fun,” Knaus said. “I really love this race track.”

“It’s always been one of my favorites,” Knaus continued. “When you come up here you have to have a race car that will handle, great horsepower and so many cool things that come into play.”

“When we showed up on Friday, we realized that we had a great car,” Knaus said. “Jimmie did a fantastic job and his car control was second to none.”

Greg Biffle, who had a great run at Pocono, particularly on the last restart, finished in the runner up position with his No. 16 3M Ford. Although this was his fifth top-10 finish in 21 races at Pocono and his fifth top-10 finish of the season, Biffle acknowledged that the good finish did not come quite as easily as he would have liked.

“It was definitely a struggle for us,” Biffle said. “We had two pit stops that weren’t the greatest and hung a lug nut.”

“We were struggling for track position all day,” Biffle continued. “Turns 3 and 4 (or whatever you call it) was where we struggled.”

“I was terrible there and anything I would gain in turns 1 and 2, I would lose.”

Biffle acknowledged that he simply did not have anything for the 48 bunch. But he took the runner up finish as a positive, particularly going into Michigan next week, a track where he has had success in the past.

“The 48 was super fast,” Biffle said. “He just drove away from everybody.”

“We had some good restarts and we were lucky with the lane choices, but most of the top five cars were faster than us on sheer speed,” Biffle continued. “We still have work to do but this is a step in the right direction.”

“That’s a positive for us going to next week.”

Fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. led the Hendrick Motorsports team in the finishing order, taking the checkered flag third in the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet. This was Junior’s 10^th top-10 finish in 27 races at Pocono.

But even with the top-five finish, Earnhardt Jr. acknowledged that the restarts at the Tricky Triangle were the most challenging for him to overcome.

“Them last restarts were kind of tough,” Junior said. “Being on the inside on the front row really ain’t the cat bird’s seat.”

“The guys behind you can get good runs and put you three-wide,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “So, I was more in defense mode there and Greg (Biffle) just got around us on the outside.”

“But I’m pretty happy with the way we ran,” Junior said. “Just looking forward to going to Michigan, a track we run pretty good at, next week.”

Stewart-Haas Racing had a great time at the Party in the Poconos, with Tony Stewart, in the No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, finishing fourth and teammate Ryan Newman, in the No. 39 HAAS Automation Chevrolet, finishing fifth.

“The restarts got tight,” Stewart acknowledged. “The good thing is we got confidence from the last three weeks in a row.”

The third member of the Stewart-Haas team, Danica Patrick, finished 29^th in her first ever run in a Cup car at Pocono. She did, however, bring her No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet to the checkered flag on the lead lap.

“For Ryan and I to finish in the top five and Danica doing better, we’re just gaining on it,” Stewart said. “I’m just proud our group had a good run.”

Stewart’s teammate Ryan Newman did indeed have a good finish, playing both the speed and strategy cards throughout the race, even on the restarts.

“Well we did have the speed today,” Newman said. “Strategy worked out to our benefit.”

“I thought I was going to be in the middle of a Busch (brother Kurt and Kyle) sandwich there at the end going into Turn 2,” Newman continued. “But I have to thank them for giving me a little bit of room.”

“Strategy worked to our benefit with the yellows there at the end,” Newman said. “Just a good rebound for us and that’s really what we needed for this team.”

The Busch brothers, Kyle and Kurt, finished sixth and seventh respectively. Both, however, had their share of adversity from which they had to battle back.

“We just kept working on our M&M’s Camry all day,” Kyle Busch said. “We probably had a seventh-place car all day long and found ourselves in third on the last restart.”

“I just couldn’t get going for some reason,” Busch continued. “I just didn’t do a good job there and we found ourselves in sixth.”

“We’ll take that and go on to Michigan.”

“We had a fast car again, ran up front but a mistake on my part on pit road stalled our momentum,” Kurt Busch said, after overshooting his pit box on Lap 126. “But we battled back with a solid finish.”

“We’ve made great strides in the past month and need to continue the progression,” Busch continued. “I don’t see any reason why we can’t.”

Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, Kevin Harvick, behind the wheel of the No. 29 Rheem Chevrolet, and Joey Logano, just back from Iowa in time to jump behind the wheel of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford rounded out the top ten finishers for the 32^nd annual Party in the Poconos.

June 9, 2013
The fall of Ryan Newman, aka ‘Rocket Man’

When Ryan Newman first came on to the NASCAR scene in 2002, we all saw Newman as a shining light in the sport. Newman was a kid who had the potential to be a champion in the sport. He was so good at qualifying that we gave him the name ‘Rocket Man’. What has happened to the ‘Rocket Man’? From 2002-2004, Newman had 26 pole starts and 11 of his 16 victories came within those three seasons, including a season-leading high of eight wins in 2003. He has only visited victory lane five times since 2004 and his only victory in 2012 came with the help of wrecking the entire lead pack at Martinsville on a green-white-checkered finish.

His attitude at the race track makes me question if he really wants to be in this sport any longer. We have seen him act out against NASCAR, and other drivers in very disrespectful fashion. In 2010, Newman got in a mini-altercation with Joey Logano at Michigan after an incident entering turn 3. Logano got loose and spun Newman. Newman began to lecture Logano but in a very disrespectful way. When NASCAR officials broke the two apart Newman replied, “I’m just trying to teach this kid how to drive.” Newman did not make any productive comments about better driving. Instead, Mr. Newman took jabs about his driving abilities and suggested that he go back to the Nationwide Series and race there a little longer, then Newman jabbed at Logano because he said the incident took place halfway through the race when the incident indeed took place at Lap 70 of the 200 lap event. “It wasn’t halfway through the race. It was 70 laps. Get your story straight.”

When Logano replied, “Okay. That’s still a long way to go.” Newman replied, “Yeah. No it’s not. No it’s not.” Newman’s behavior was childish and reflects the attitude of his owner, Tony Stewart. Also, Newman said, “I race hard. There is something called a championship.” In other words, you suck Joey and you don’t understand this sport as well as I do. Logano isn’t the only driver Newman has taken childish shots at. Newman has also taken shots at Juan Pablo Montoya.

During the 2006 Ford 400, Montoya made his Sprint Cup Series debut in the No.32 Texaco-Havoline Dodge. Early in the race, Montoya got Newman aero loose and spun off turn 2. Newman then preceded to wreck Montoya on purpose. Was that a good thing to do? No. Newman treats new drivers in this sport like garbage. Who does that remind you of? Tony Stewart. Newman and Montoya had another dust up in 2011 at Richmond when Newman refused to let Montoya go and hooked him into the wall. It’s very ironic given Newman’s staunch policy of give and take racing which is just as laughable as Tony Stewart’s policy on blocking. Montoya got payback and turned him around into the fence. I felt that was well deserved. I applauded what Montoya did. Newman gave an interview and was asked if this incident stemmed from their incident in 2006. Newman responded, “I don’t know if he can even remember back that far.” Newman also said that his retaliation, “Didn’t show much class.” This particular interview was with FOX SPORTS’s Matt Yocum. Newman was heading to the hauler to talk to NASCAR about how to “handle” the Montoya situation.

How about this past Sunday at Dover, everyone? Newman was just irritated by the small-team being in front of him. After all, Newman did graduate from Purdue University with a degree in automotive engineering. I’m higher class than this David Gilliland guy. I’m going to constantly hit him and make him get out of my way. Oh, Mr. Gilliland is refusing to cooperate? I’ll just dump him. I have lost all respect for Newman. All of it. And for his supposed “spokesperson” to come out and say that a “steering failure” caused the crash is just pure BS. Anyone with a brain knows that Newman wrecked Gilliland on purpose. Newman was foolish enough to do it coming off turn 2. Many people have tried doing it and many people have failed miserably at it. Turn 2 is a treacherous place at Dover International Speedway. Does the 2008 Best Buy 400 ring a bell when Gilliland and Elliott Sadler made contact? It’s so hard to slow down coming off turn 2 if there is indeed an accident which is why qualifying is so important at this race track. Newman could have taken out more than just him and Gilliland on Sunday.

His reunited effort with Matt Borland has not met much success so far and it’s not Borland that is the problem. It is Newman. It is his attitude that causes team morale to go so low. During a recession, I certainly wouldn’t want him as my financial adviser. Newman made disparaging comments about NASCAR in my opinion following Talladega. Does Newman really think we can stop cars from turning over? Doesn’t he have an automotive engineering degree? If two cars run into each other at over 195 mph, I’m sorry there is going to be some major problems with that. That is basic physics and how Talladega has been since the track opened in 1969.

Remember when Newman took shots at Auto Club Speedway fans and said that we shouldn’t be racing there because the fans that attend those races aren’t true fans of the sport? Those comments upset the fans. Now, I don’t blame Newman for the bad attendance ratings that came from Auto Club Speedway, but he certainly didn’t help. If NASCAR were consistent with their rulings, they would have fined Newman for actions detrimental to stock car racing in the blink of an eye. Oh, Mr. Newman has a history of stirring up the pot doesn’t he? Newman needs to get back to racing. If he does not change his attitude or get his mind back into racing, it will be too late. Newman will have lost his ride in the No.39 and if he wants to continue to race, he’ll probably get a ride in the No.78 car. With the departure of Kevin Harvick from RCR, I see Kurt Busch getting the No.29 ride over Newman. And Newman does not like it when a guy with less qualifications gets the best of him. He has made that perfectly clear many times that he is willing to risk his reputation for one position on the race track.

Also, there are fans that legitimately go to NASCAR races for crashes. That is a fact. I know people that like NASCAR for wrecks. Newman doesn’t want those fans in the stands. He made that clear after yet another accident at Talladega in 2009. That also did not help the problem with growing attendance problems. Granted, the economy was in bad shape, but the last thing you need to do is add more fuel to the fire. How about adding water to it and start encouraging fans to come to the track? And that doesn’t mean that Kurt Busch goes out to sell hot dogs, or Kasey Kahne goes out go-carting, but make it more affordable. Take out some regulations that lessen the excitement of the sport. Create a poll on nascar.com and actually take those polls seriously and work on the sport accordingly. Newman recently has become notorious for blowing off his fans.

Fans come from all over the country to watch their favorite drivers race, and other fans pay more money for a pre-race pit pass to tour the garage area, take family photos, and get autographs from their favorite drivers. Newman was carrying his child and told a group of fans he would not sign any autographs because he was holding his kid. Now, Mr. Newman has two hands and two arms. NASCAR drivers are trained to sign autographs without even looking at the paper. That was extremely unkind and just unconscionable. It’s become clear that Newman just does not care.

Newman owes Gilliland a sincere apology, his entire Stewart-Haas Racing team, and his remaining fans. While I’m for drivers having more control over their emotions and a “Boys Have At It” approach, I do not condone wrecking people intentionally in these cars. Racing is still a dangerous sport and I hope Newman finally sees the light and begins to focus back on racing.

June 5, 2013
Surprising and Not Surprising: FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks

With the temperatures soaring and the ‘monster’ on the prowl, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 44^th annual FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway.

Surprising: With even the drivers predicting that the ‘usual suspects’ would run well at Dover, there was a most surprising and surprised driver in Victory Lane instead.

“If somebody would have told me it was going to be this way, I would have told them they were crazy,” race winner Tony Stewart declared in Victory Lane. “This was not a car that could win the race.”

Stewart had not won a race at the Monster Mile since 2000 and has struggled for the most part at the track. This was not only Smoke’s first win of the season but, also surprisingly, his first top-10 finish in 2013.

“Our guys at the shop have been digging, “ the driver of the No. 14 Code 3 Associates/Mobil 1 Chevrolet said of his team. “That is what carries you to days like today at the end of the day.”

Not Surprising: Restart gamesmanship, which has been discussed all season long this year, played a major factor as well at the Monster Mile. This time the games played out between then race leader Juan Pablo Montoya and Jimmie Johnson, the latter of whom was undoubtedly the strongest car on the track.

Late in the race, NASCAR deemed that Johnson jumped the restart and black flagged him, forcing him to serve a pass through penalty. Johnson ended the race in the 17^th position while Montoya finished second after the late pass on the high side by race winner Stewart.

“Jimmie (Johnson) was laying off about nearly a car length from me, and I knew he was trying to jump the restart,” the driver of the No. 42 Energizer Chevrolet said. “When we got to the line, I think he wanted to time it and he timed it too well.”

“He wanted to get the jump on me and he just jumped it too much,” Montoya continued. “I would have tried to have done the same.”

“It’s one of those deals that when you time it too good, it actually hurts you.”

Johnson of course had a different take on the restart gamesmanship, blaming Montoya instead.

“I was at half throttle,” Johnson said. “At some point you have to go.”

“I’m waiting for Montoya and he never comes,” Johnson continued. “Chad (Knaus, crew chief) told me to take off and not worry about it.”

“Not a good way to lose the race,” Johnson said. “We had the strongest car.”

Surprising: Jeff Gordon, this week driving the No. 24 AARP Credit Cards from Chase Chevrolet, was surprisingly the best finisher amongst the Hendrick Motorsports group.

Gordon finished third, while teammates Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished tenth, Jimmie Johnson finished 17^th and Kasey Kahne took the checkered flag in 23^rd after spinning out on lap 318.

“Yeah it was a fantastic finish for us,” Gordon said. “We battled hard all day long.”

“Today was a great race for us, just because we were sitting there 12^th, 13^th, 14^th, and we stayed out and all of a sudden, here we are third.”

“So that’s a great lesson for us to learn when we go to other tracks as well.”

This was Gordon’s 23^rd top-10 finish in 41 races at Dover International Speedway. The third place finish was also critical to Gordon, who jumped from fifteenth to eleventh in the point standings.

Not Surprising: Another parts failure played a role in Kyle Busch’s failure to score the finish that he wanted. In spite of that, however, he did end the race in the top—five, finishing fourth.

“We must have broken a right front bump stop or something,” Busch said. “Just past halfway, that’s when it took a dump on us.”

“I hate it,” Busch continued. “It’s unfortunate we weren’t able to capitalize on getting a win.”

Surprising: Kyle Busch was not the only Toyota driver to experience mechanical failures as both Matt Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr. surprisingly suffered blown engines.

“Something let go in the motor,” Truex Jr. said. “Just dropped a cylinder and started smoking all at once.”

“We were one or two adjustments away there from having something for them,” the driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota said. “Damn, I wish we could have made it to the end.”

“Something broke in our engine too,” Kenseth said. “Pretty disappointing.”

“Something went wrong with a part,” the driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota said. “There’s nothing I can do about it.”

Not Surprising: Michael Waltrip Racing, with the exception of Martin Truex, Jr., showcased their survival skills at the Monster Mile , with Clint Bowyer and Mark Martin finishing sixth and ninth respectively.

“We got a pretty decent finish but we just didn’t run very good all weekend long,” Bowyer said. “Definitely need to go back and do our homework and figure some things out for our 5-Hour Energy Toyota.”

“It was a really great effort by our team,” Martin said. “Our Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota had more potential at the end than we were able to show.”

“We’re making progress.”

Surprising: Denny Hamlin, who described himself as being on a mission to win and who snagged the coveted pole position, had a surprisingly bad day at Dover.

On lap 378, Hamlin blew a tire and hit the wall, bringing out the seventh caution of the day. The driver of the No. 11 FedEx Freight/Autism Speaks Toyota finished 34^th and fell to 26^th in the point standings.

Not Surprising: With the temperature being so high, it was no surprise that tempers ran a little hot as well. Ryan Newman, manhandling his No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet without power steering, had his own temper flare-up while trying to pass David Gilliland, behind the wheel of the No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford.

And when the two drivers touched, they both went spinning and crashing hard.

“We just got wrecked,” Gilliland said. “It is a shame.”

“Unfortunately someone lost their patience a little bit,” Gilliland continued. “It is too bad but that is just the way it goes I guess.”

Newman declined comment after the incident.

Surprising: Brad Keselowski was the highest finishing Ford, bringing his Blue Deuce to the checkered flag in the fifth position. He also had his crew chief Paul Wolfe back atop the war wagon after serving his penalties and suspension.

“We drove hard all day, we just didn’t have the speed needed to go win the race,” Keselowski said. “ But we had the speed we needed to have a solid day.”

“The guys did a great job executing today,” Keselowski said. “We wanted to win too so we will keep working to find a little more speed and get up there.”

Unfortunately, Keselowski’s good run was marred by NASCAR’s announcement that his car did not pass post-race inspection as its front was too low. Penalties were just announced and include a fine of $25,000 for crew chief Wolfe and the continuation of his probation until year-end.

The team has also been docked six driver points and six car owner points.

Not Surprising: Joey Logano, who won the Nationwide race the day before, exceeded his own expectations, battling back from a flat tire and using the lucky dog position to finally finish the race in the seventh position.

“We fought all day basically trying to get a lucky dog after that flat tire,” Logano said. “We would get one back and then go down two and then get one back.”

“This weekend I thought we were going to finish about 15 laps down,” Logano continued. “We weren’t any good in practice and Todd (Gordon, crew chief) and all the guys did a good job making it better for me.”

“By the end it was a top-five car and we just ran out of time,” Logano said. “ I feel like that we could have finished in the top-five but considering where we were, we will take that all day.”

June 4, 2013
Tony Stewart Outsmoked Juan Pablo Montoya for Monster Mile Win

Tony Stewart defied all odds, coming from a 22^nd starting position at the Monster Mile, to battle Juan Pablo Montoya to win the 44^th Annual FedEx benefiting Autism Speaks race. This was Smoke’s first victory of the season and only his third top-10 finish in 2013.

“This was not a car that could have won the race,” Stewart said. “Just great pit strategy at the end.”

“Steve Addington (crew chief) made a great call there that last caution and gave us the opportunity to race for it up there.”

“Just really proud of the Code 3 Associates Chevy,” Stewart continued. “Code 3 has done such an awesome job of getting everybody in Oklahoma back on their feet.”

“I couldn’t think of a better wayto celebrate their work.”

Stewart acknowledged that this has been a tough season, however, the win will certainly prove that the team is headed in the right direction, thanks to their perseverance.

“Our guys at our shop have been digging,” Smoke said. “None of these guys get down.”

“That is what carries you to days like today at the end of the day.”

Juan Pablo Montoya, finishing second in the No. 42 Energizer Chevrolet for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, benefitted from a black flag of the strongest car in the race when NASCAR ruled on lap 381 that Jimmie Johnson jumped the restart. The penalty sent Johnson through the pits for a pass through penalty and Montoya to the race lead.

Montoya, however, could not hold off Tony Stewart and had to settle for the runner up race finish instead. And he admitted that it was a struggle in spite of testing earlier at the Monster Mile.

“Our car was OK,” Juan Pablo said in the media center after the race. “We came here and did a test before the race.”

“It was a lot cooler, so when we unloaded we had to do quite a bit of work on the car,” Montoya continued. “We struggled with loose all day.”

“We were really, really loose and the longer we would run, the looser we would get,” Montoya said. “It was a bit of a hit and miss.”

“On one of the runs under green, we decided to make a couple changes on the car and it just came to life,” Montoya continued. “It came to life at the right time.”

“It was a shame to lose but I just couldn’t hold Tony off.”

While Juan Pablo Montoya thought that Johnson was trying to time the restart just right, he admitted that he would have done the exact same thing given the circumstances.

“Jimmie was letting off and I knew he was trying to jump the start,” Montoya said. “And I backed up a little bit for him and when we got to the line, he wanted to time it and he timed it too well.”

“He wanted to get the jump on me and he just jumped it too much,” JPM continued. “I would have tried to do the same thing.”

Runner up Montoya also traded paint with Kurt Busch, in the No. 78 Furniture Row/Sealy Chevrolet, who finished 12^th.

“It’s weird, I got to his bumper – I don’t think I touched him, got him loose, got into turn three and he gave me a tap and I’m like, I don’t think I hit you,” Montoya said. “But it’s OK.”

“It’s racing hard.”

Montoya also credited his good finish to the growing chemistry with his crew chief Chris Heroy. But that relationship has been a struggle as they found ways to work together to get the car to Montoya’s liking.

“When we started, we sucked and it was hard,” Montoya said. “He had a certain mentality as to how the car should be set up.”

“He didn’t get that if he set it up that way, I couldn’t drive it,” Montoya continued. “You have to give me something that I can drive and be comfortable.”

“It took a little time but now we’re clicking real well,” Montoya said. “And we’ve been getting good results every week.”

Although the car was a handful, Montoya was pleased with the race finish and acknowledged that it bodes well for their continuing success.

“It was a hell of a finish,” Montoya said. “It’s been awhile since we finished this good.”

“We’ve had near misses but I think the wins are coming.”Montoya continued. “I’ve said this before, you’ve got to get top-5s and top-10s to be able to add wins.”

“Today we gave ourselves a good chance but the car was a little too much of a handful there at the end,” Montoya said. “We tried.”

This was Montoya’s third top-10 finish in 13 races at Dover and his third top-10 finish of the season.

Jeff Gordon, driving the No. 24 AARP Credit Cards from Chase Chevrolet, finished a strong third, ahead of all of his other Hendrick Motorsports teammates. This was Gordon’s 23^rd top-10 finish at Dover.

“Yeah it was a fantastic finish for us,” Gordon said. “We battled hard all day long, hovering 13^th, 14^th, I think we got to maybe 10^th at one time.”

“I knew that clean air was making a huge difference,” Gordon continued. “So, we were fortunate there where we only had a few laps on the tires and we decided to stay out.”

Gordon acknowledged that this run was exactly what he was hoping for to turn his season around.

“It’s certainly a great feeling,” Gordon said. “We just have to fight.”

“We fought hard today, very hard and this is a tough place,” Gordon continued. “It was not an easy race but this team never gave up.”

Gordon jumped four spots in the point standings, from 15^th to 11^th, now within striking distance of Chase contention.

Kyle Busch, driving the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, finished in the fourth position, in spite of yet again some sort of parts failure.

“We must have broken a right front bump stop or something,” Busch said. “Just another parts failure for us.”

“It’s unfortunate we weren’t able to capitalize on getting a win today,” Busch continued. “I felt like we had something for the 48 but it didn’t come down to having to race the 48.”

“Just seems to be our two years continuing today.”

Brad Keselowski in the Blue Deuce, with his crew chief Paul Wolfe back at his side, finished in the fifth position. But the reigning champ was most complimentary of past champ Stewart after the race.

“We drove hard all day but didn’t have the speed to win the race,” Keselowski said. “It’s good to see Tony win.”

“That was a good race,” Keselowski said. “I was having fun watching him.”

After the race, however, NASCAR reported that Keselowski’s No. 2 was found to be too low in the front in post-race inspection, with potential penalties to be announced later in the week.

Certainly, one of the most dramatic moments of the race was the black flag of Jimmie Johnson, who had worked his way through the pack and looked to be the car to beat. Understandably, Johnson saw the restart just a bit differently fromJuan Pablo Montoya.

“No, I was half throttle,” Johnson said of the restart. “At some point you have to go.”

“I’m waiting for him and he never comes,” Johnson said of Montoya. “Chad (Knaus, crew chief) told me to take off and not worry about it.”

“Not a good way to lose the race,” Johnson lamented. “We had the strongest car.”

There were also several engine issues in the race as well, including Matt Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr., both with Toyota engines.

“Something let go in the motor,” Truex said. “Just dropped a cylinder and started smoking all at once.”

“Same thing happened to the 20 it looked like,” Truex continued. “Pretty disappointing.”

Truex Jr. finished 38^th while Kenseth finished 40^th.

“Something broke in the engine,” Kenseth said, sounding eerily similar to Truex’s report. “You have to finish these things.”

“Man, it’s disappointing.”

The other dramatic moment in the race occurred between Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet, and David Gilliland, driver of the No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford, who traded paint and then wrecked each other.

“We just got wrecked,” Gilliland said. “It is a shame.”

“We had a fast race car and a great run going and unfortunately someone lost their patience a little bit and we got wrecked.”

“It is too bad but that is just the way it goes I guess.”

Ryan Newman declined to comment after the incident.

Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top ten finishers in the FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway.

June 2, 2013