Tag: Ryan Newman

  • SHR Hopes To Turn Season Around at Martinsville

    SHR Hopes To Turn Season Around at Martinsville

    2013 has not been a good year so far for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR).  Tony Stewart has one top 10 finish through five races, Danica Patrick looks like she’s somehow regressed and its been feast or famine for Ryan Newman who has either scored a top 10 or a DNF.  While their Hendrick allies seem to have this Gen 6 car figured out better than most, SHR struggles to find solid ground. The only driver in the stable that has had good runs on more than one occasion is Newman who posted three top 10’s so far but two DNF’s have him marred deep in the points. It looks like reuniting Ryan with his former crew chief, Matt Borland has helped the No.39 team perform better but why are the other two having so much difficulty?

    It’s no surprise that Danica is struggling to find success in Sprint Cup as a rookie with an open wheel background but not many people thought that she would be this bad. Towards the end of last season, Patrick showed improvement and found herself running inside the top 20 but now she has trouble putting the car inside the top 30. Last summer at Bristol, Patrick ran around the top 15 most of the night on the lead lap before she wrecked.  This past March, she finished a disappointing 28th five laps behind the leader. She actually had a fairly clean race and there were no major issues that would explain the lackluster performance. With three qualifying runs of 40th or worse since Daytona and sitting deep in the standings, there is a very real possibility that DP could DNQ if  she doesn’t step it up which would be a huge blow to the No.10 team. The reason why Patrick is probably struggling more than she did in 2012 may be the result of her trying to get a feel for this new car compounded with the fact that the SHR Chevy’s are lacking some speed.

    Stewart finds himself 22nd in the standings and has struggled to run up front most of the year. After five races, Stewart has only led laps in one event which hasn’t occurred since 2005, in which he won the championship. Bad luck, blown tires, crashes and simply not enough speed has hindered the efforts of the SHR trio in 2013 but the year is young and as the season progresses; I am confident that they will get a handle on it. With a 3-time NSCS champion, the 2008 Daytona 500 winner and Hendrick powered Chevy’s, I find it hard to believe these travails will persist throughout the rest of the year. Stewart said after Bristol, “If you’re not concerned, you’re not doing your job. But if you panic, you’ve got as much opportunity to go backwards as you do forwards.”

    Some people don’t understand why Hendrick Motorsports and SHR are so far apart speed wise but you have to remember that Stewart’s team gets engines from HM and that’s it…they set the cars up themselves and they are definitely behind the eight ball in 2013.

    The team had an off week which gave them time to work on a better package to bring to the next few races. Now, they look forward to the race that Ryan Newman is the defending winner of and will try to regain some confidence after a disappointing start to the season. Stewart’s results at the paper clip have been very sporadic recently with five top 5’s and five finishes of 26th or worse in his last 10 races. Newman on the other hand always seems to find himself near the front leading laps in five of the last seven Martinsville races. Danica has never raced at Martinsville in any division so she will certainty have a tough time adjusting to the unique challenge this historic speedway presents. Even if the three continue to lack speed, that won’t hurt them at a 0.526 mile short track where track position and a balance between patience and aggression is the key to reaching victory lane.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Fontana Auto Club 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Fontana Auto Club 400

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Matty’s Picks 2013 – Vol. 2  Phoenix International Raceway – SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500 – March 3, 2013

    Matty’s Picks 2013 – Vol. 2 Phoenix International Raceway – SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500 – March 3, 2013

    We head west this week for the first of two annual visits to the one-mile, low-banked, tri-oval that is Phoenix International Raceway, more commonly known as PIR. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series makes its first stop on the west coast this season (Phoenix also happens to be the final west coast stop on the tour as well) and NASCAR fans will get their first look at the new GEN6 car on a more traditional style track this weekend.

    One interesting fact about the two races at PIR is that contrary to the more traditional NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races measured in miles, the ‘500’ in SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500 is actually in kilometers. This makes Phoenix the only oval to have its race distances measured in kilometers and not miles or laps as, both road course races at Sonoma and Watkins Glen have their races measured in kilometers. So 500 kilometers or 312 laps is the distance this week and with a new car, a perfect weather forecast, and with last fall’s race full of fireworks, I expect Sunday’s SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500 to be just as exciting as last week’s kickoff to the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ season in the Daytona 500.

    Daytona Recap

    It was a fantastic start to the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series campaign last week and I was able to get past my hatred for restrictor plate racing and actually really enjoyed watching the Daytona 500. There were so many unknowns surrounding the race last week that added to the drama of this year’s kickoff to the season that it was hard not to try and gain some new fans of the sport in my non-NASCAR friends and family. Who would win the first race in the new GEN6 car? How would the field of drivers handle the return to pack racing at the plate tracks? How would Danica Patrick handle the pressure of being the first woman to start on the pole of a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race? Did she have a legitimate shot at winning the Daytona 500?

    All the questions were answered last week, and I must say I was thoroughly impressed with the performance of the new car, the return of the pack style racing, and Danica’s performance in the Daytona 500. I completely discounted her being a contender last Sunday, and she absolutely proved me wrong with her performance last week, despite her reaction in the post-race interview.

    As for my picks, I was able to pare down the list of potential winners by using a historical trend formula I was able to develop in the 3 month off-season leading up to last week’s Daytona 500. I made the call that the winner would not come from the front row, would not be Kevin Harvick (the winner of the Sprint Unlimited and one of the Duel races), and the winner of the Daytona 500 would have taken home the Harley J. Earl Trophy once before. This left seven drivers for me to pick as my Winner Pick last week (Matt Kenseth, Trevor Bayne, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Michael Waltrip).

    I went with Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was the second-best pick last week out of the group of elite drivers my formula pared the field down to, and I can’t complain about picking the runner-up given the new car, the style of racing, and the uncertainty surrounding the race at Daytona last week. I picked a Hendrick Motorsports driver to win the race last week, but came up just one position short of starting my season off with a win. Dale Jr. had this to say following his runner-up finish last week:

    “Real happy with the way the car run all day. You couldn’t pass much. But when I was able to really see what my car could do, it was plenty capable of winning the race. The guys did a good job all winter trying to prepare for running well. We got 1-2 out of our shop. Really happy with Hendrick and all our effort.”

    My Dark Horse pick was just that, a true Dark Horse pick. I went with JTG Daugherty driver, Bobby Labonte who had a respectable points day and managed to dodge all the troubles that come along with a restrictor place race, but did not earn me a Dark Horse top 10 last week. Running as high as sixth with less than 25 laps left in the Daytona 500, Labonte finished his day in the 15th spot as a result of a late-race shot on the right front of the No.47 Kroger/USO Toyota Camry. Not a bad finish, but not exactly what I am looking for going forward.

    Phoenix Picks

    Phoenix to me is a big short track, if that makes sense. It’s a one-mile tri-oval with a tricky configuration, including inconsistent banking throughout and the 9-degree banked ‘dogleg’ on the backstretch. Fine sand plays a major role on tire wear, after all, the track is in the middle of the desert. Some of the guys you think of when you think recent dominance on short tracks in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, you think Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Brad Kesolowski, Jimmie Johnson, and Clint Bowyer.
    For Phoenix in particular, it is tough not to make a case for Jimmie Johnson as he has an average finish of fifth in seventeen starts at PIR, and it has been only been three races since Johnson has visited Victory Lane in consecutive weeks. What is holding me back from picking Johnson this week at PIR is his recent history in the desert, as since the reconfiguration in 2011, Five-Time has finished 14th, 4th, and 32nd in the three races since the repaving.

    Winner Pick

    The other guy likely to be a favorite when the final odds are released this evening is Denny Hamlin. He is the defending champion of this race, a race he won by 7.13 seconds last season, and is the guy I will turn to for the win this week. Mark Martin was the pole-sitter last season when Hamlin won the Subway Fresh Fit 500, and he will look to become the first driver to start inside the first four rows to go on and win a race at PIR since the track’s reconfiguration in 2011. Before the facelift in 2011, just two drivers had won a race at Phoenix after starting outside the top ten, the last being Jeff Gordon in the final race before the repaving in 2011. Since the SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500 is such a short race, the woes of the Joe Gibbs Racing cars from Daytona should not play a factor in this week’s race.

    Dark Horse Pick

    Why not look at the guy starting first this week at PIR as a guy who may be overlooked by most handicappers as he has not won a race in over 2 years, but has a storied history in the desert. Mark Martin is 9th best in driver rating over the past eight years at PIR, and has really set the stage all weekend for all of Michael Waltrip Racing drivers. In practice today, teammate Clint Bowyer radioed in to crew chief Brian Pattie that if his car was set up any differently than Martin’s, to immediately change the setup to whatever Martin was running. Though the temperature for today’s first practice session was far lower than what is forecasted for race time tomorrow, Martin has looked fantastic since he unloaded on Friday. Watch for Martin to start up front and stay up front for the majority of the day tomorrow.

    That’s all for this week, stay tuned for next week’s picks when we roll the dice in Vegas! Until next time, you stay classy NASCAR NATION!

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Daytona 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Daytona 500

    In the double nickel running of the Great American Race, with the first female ever to start from the pole, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 2013 Daytona 500.

    Surprising:  While drivers, crew chiefs, and teams scrambled through Speedweeks into the Daytona 500, surprisingly, the busiest people in Daytona were once again the track workers.

    Just as in previous years, from the infamous pot hole in 2010 to the jet dryer flame out last year, the track crew was again called upon to work their miracles.

    This time, however, their skills were put to the test the day before the big race after a horrific crash at the finish of the Nationwide race, shearing young driver Kyle Larson’s car in thirds and sending his engine, tire and other car parts into the crowd.

    The track workers not only had to tend to the injured fans but also had to make major repairs to the catch fence itself, working tirelessly into the early morning to ensure that the Great American Race would go on without a hitch the next day.

    “You try to prepare for as much as you can,” Kerry Tharp, NASCAR spokesperson, said. “You also take away and learn from every incident.”

    Not Surprising:  With the ‘one team, one shop’ philosophy prevalent throughout the Hendrick Motorsports organization, it was not surprising to see the 48/88 team finish 1/2 at the Daytona 500.

    “I was waiting for the run,” two-time Daytona 500 winner and five-time champ Jimmie Johnson said. “The 88 got a big shove and was coming up the inside.”

    “I moved down to defend that and we were able to get a one-two for Hendrick Motorsports,” Johnson continued. “For the 48/88 shop so very happy. There are a lot of people put a lot of effort into these cars and I want to thank them all.”

    Surprising:  While she may have been forging a new path as the first woman on the pole and the first to lead a green flag lap at Daytona, rookie Danica Patrick surprisingly seemed to have more in common with veteran four-time champion Jeff Gordon.

    Both the rookie and the veteran had no friends in the final laps of the race, both getting freight-trained to finish 8th and 20th respectively.

    “I kept asking what was working,” Patrick said. “You needed a hole and you needed people to help you out.”

    “I had a little bit of help here today here and there,” Patrick continued. “I had a feeling I was going to get freight-trained.”

    “It’s a really tough race,” Jeff Gordon said. “We lost track position and it didn’t seem like we were ever going to get it back.”

    “Then we finally did and those last two restarts just didn’t go very well.”

    Not Surprising:  With a driver rating of 96.5, second best at Daytona, and a good Speedweeks, finishing fourth in the Sprint Unlimited and fifth-fastest in time trials, the driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet had high expectations for the big race.

    So it was no surprise that Tony Stewart was absolutely smoked after being taken out early in the race, finishing 41st.

    “The hell with the season, I wanted to win the Daytona 500,” Stewart said. “I was happy with our car, just waiting for it to all get sorted out again.”

    “I don’t know what started it, but we just got caught up in another wreck.”

    Surprising:  At a track known for white knuckle racing and passes galore on every lap, it was surprising just how difficult the drivers found it to pass, especially on the bottom of the track. In fact, a portion of the race was surprisingly run in the single file formation.

    Veteran driver Mark Martin summed it up best.

    “One of the things that made it hard to pass was nobody would get organized on the bottom,” Martin said. “The top groove was the preferred groove.”

    “The problem was that the car on the inside of the frontline wasn’t the fastest car,” Martin continued. “If you would have had the fastest car in the field on the inside, you would have had a whale of a race there at the end.”

    Not Surprising:   For two years in a row, team owner Chip Ganassi has been lamenting the performance of his race team. Unfortunately, the bad run continued at the 2013 Daytona 500 with drivers Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya, finishing 32nd and 39th respectively.

    Both were in a significant wreck early in the running of the Great American Race.

    “You could see it coming,” Montoya said. “They were all checked up and I thought, ‘Somebody isn’t going to check and screw up.”

    “And then they did.”

    Surprising:  Things also went surprisingly awry for two out of the three Joe Gibbs racers. The defending Daytona 500 winner and newest member of the JGR team Matt Kenseth looking incredibly strong, leading many laps during the race until mechanical problems did him in.

    And then almost immediately afterwards, teammate Kyle Busch also had mechanical failure, leaving teammate Denny Hamlin to be the lone top 15 finisher.

    “It’s really unfortunate,” Busch said. “We were running 1-2-3 and it felt like we were dropping like flies.”

    “Something inside the motor broke that’s not supposed to break,” Busch continued. “It’s a little devastating.”

    Not Surprising:  Since the Daytona 500 can make dreams come true (just ask Trevor Bayne), it was not surprising that there was a Cinderella story and his name was Michael McDowell.

    With an underfunded team but a sponsor filled with faith, the driver of the No. 98 K-LOVE Ford finished ninth in the Great American Race.

    “We had a fast car,” McDowell said. “This was a great run and a great effort. For us, an under-funded team to come here to Daytona and get a top-10 finish is pretty cool.”

    Surprising:

    While it may have been no surprise that blooming onions would be on tap for Monday at Outback due to Ryan Newman’s top five finish, it was surprising that kids got to eat at Golden Corral thanks to J.J. Yeley’s top-ten finish in the Daytona 500.

    “After a long, hard-fought day at day at Daytona, we were able to log a top-ten finish for our first outing with our new team and Golden Corral on board,” Yeley said. “The best part of it all is making lots of kids happy when they eat for free as part of J.J.’s Monday.”

    Not Surprising:  Brad Keselowski, champion and NASCAR Ironman, proved he was both yet again, muscling his damaged No. 2 Miller Lite Ford around the track to finish fourth.

    “You want to make excuses for not being successful you could do that or you can go out there and put it all on the line and try to win,” Keselowski said. “You just drive it.”

  • Matty’s Picks 2013 – Vol. 1 Daytona International Speedway – Daytona 500 – February 24, 2013

    Matty’s Picks 2013 – Vol. 1 Daytona International Speedway – Daytona 500 – February 24, 2013

    It’s another NASCAR season, and I’m proud to be kicking off the third season of my weekly column devoted to picking a couple drivers with the potential to make some noise on Sunday afternoon. Before I begin my outlook on the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Season and tomorrow’s 55th running of the Daytona 500, I’d like to share my thoughts and prayers for all those fans injured today at Daytona International Speedway on the final lap of the NASCAR Nationwide Series’ DRIVE4COPD 300. It is extremely unfortunate when fans who show up to be entertained, actually become a part of the action.

    After a stellar rookie season in 2011, my sophomore season as a NASCAR handicapper saw its ups and downs, which is why I am excited for a clean slate to start off this 2013 season. We’ve got a new reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion for the first time since 2004, a few newcomers to the Sprint Cup Series, a new driver/driver relationship known as “Stenica”, a few team changes, one less manufacturer, and an entirely new race car to start off this 2013 season. With so many unknowns to start this 2013 season, selecting winners this season is looking to be my toughest task yet as a sports journalist.

    Nothing to recap this week as I move out of my three-month NASCAR hibernation (which couldn’t come soon enough this year as my Buffalo Bills finished at the bottom of the AFC East standings with a dismal 6-10 record, and my fainted Buffalo Sabres currently fight to lift themselves from the bottom of the NHL’s Eastern Conference Standings) so, we’ll move into my thoughts on the 55th running of the Daytona 500.

    Daytona Picks

    I absolutely loathe restrictor plate racing as it tends to be more mayhem than actual racing talent, but I will not take away from the excitement surrounding the start of the 2013 campaign and reserve my comments for the time being.

    Though it is said that the four restrictor plate races on the schedule are “a roll of the dice” in picking winners, but I tend to pare down the potential list of winners using historical trends. For instance, it has been twelve years since the last driver took home both the Daytona 500 and the Sprint Unlimited (formerly the Budweiser Shootout) in the same year. This feat has been claimed five times by four different drivers, but the last time a driver won at Daytona in consecutive weeks, dates back to 2000 when Dale Jarrett took home the Daytona 500 and Sprint Unlimited in the same year for the second time in his storied career. For this reason alone, I eliminate Kevin Harvick as my Winner Pick for tomorrow’s Daytona 500.

    It has also been a dozen years since the winner of the Daytona 500 has come from the front row, and if you’ve ever solicited advice at the Roulette wheel, anyone with experience will tell you to never bet against the recent trends . Dale Jarrett not only won the Sprint Unlimited and Daytona 500 in the year 2000, but he did it by starting from the pole position of The Great American Race. It was the second year in a row that the winner of the Daytona 500 came from the first starting spot, and for this reason I’ll eliminate Danica Patrick and Jeff Gordon from contention tomorrow.

    Last year’s Daytona 500 marked the first time in seven years a repeat winner took home the Harley J. Earl Trophy, the second-longest streak of first-time winners (the longest streak of new winners being seven races, from the inaugural race in 1959 to The King’s second Daytona 500 victory in 1966). Sticking with historical trends, I am making a prediction that the winner of tomorrow’s race will have taken home a Daytona 500 at least once already. This means that the winner will come from either Matt Kenseth, Trevor Bayne, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., or Michael Waltrip. The two other drivers with Daytona 500 wins (Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick) have been eliminated from my list of potential race winners under previous historical trends.

    Winner Pick

    So, we’ve got the list down to seven potential winners based on my historical trend formula, and out of these seven drivers, I’m most comfortable saying Dale Jr. will walk away as the second driver in two years to win their second Daytona 500 win. Dale Jr.’s first Daytona 500 win came back in 2004, giving DEI their final Daytona 500 victory before merging with Chip Ganassi Racing, forming Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. He has visited Gatorade Victory Lane more recently than 2004 as he started off his career with Hendrick Motorsports with wins in both the Sprint Unlimited and his Budweiser Duel race prior to the 2008 Daytona 500. He was also the runner up in both his Duel race and Daytona 500 last season.

    This year, Jr. has looked extremely comfortable in the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet, and the No. 88 car has looked comfortable in the pack draft. This is the style of racing the Earnhardt family is known for and the Hendrick camp has put a truly magnificent product on the track again for Dale Jr. He’s been in the mix of the faster cars all week, including winning the final practice session on Friday for the 55th Annual Great American Race. I’ll be watching the No. 88 to immediately work his way to the front from his starting spot in the middle of the pack, and for Jr. Nation to start their 2013 season off with a win.

    Dark Horse Pick

    It is tough to call a past NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion a Dark Horse, but there is a guy making his 65th start at Daytona International Speedway this week who has shown he can keep his nose clean and finish the race strong. Bobby Labonte will be another driver starting mid-pack on Sunday, and will look to keep the nose of his Kroger Toyota clean in order to finish strong in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota Camry.

    Now, is been 324 races since his last victory, so I’m stretching here for a Dark Horse pick, but Labonte’s recent history at The World Center of Racing has be believing he might play a factor in Sunday’s race. Drivers like to draft with guys with experience, and experience Labonte has. Watch for the No. 47 to mix up the front of the field come lap 199 on Sunday.

    That’s all for this week, so until we head west for the second stanza of the season, you stay classy NASCAR NATION!

  • 2013 Sprint Cup Team Preview: Stewart-Haas Racing

    2013 Sprint Cup Team Preview: Stewart-Haas Racing

    Photo: Andy Lyons, Getty Images
    Photo: Andy Lyons, Getty Images

    Our 2013 Sprint Cup team previews continue today as we profile Stewart-Haas Racing, which will field three full time teams in 2013 for drivers Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, and Danica Patrick.

     

    Tony Stewart

    After winning the championship in 2011, Tony Stewart came out of the gate on fire in 2012, winning two of the first five races of the season at Las Vegas and Auto Club Speedway, but only found Victory Lane once more at Daytona in July. The 2012 season would be considered a disappointment for Stewart as the first year teaming with crew chief Steve Addington was a roller-coaster of a year.

    Stewart will team up with Addington once again in 2013 and his #14 Chevrolet will be sponsored by Mobil 1 and Bass Pro Shops, who moves over to SHR from Jamie McMurray and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. Look for Stewart to find Victory Lane and qualify for the Chase once again in 2013.

     

    Ryan Newman

    In 2012, Ryan Newman was able to take his #39 Chevrolet to Victory Lane just once, winning at Martinsville in the spring. Besides that highlight, Newman was able to finish in the top 10 in less than half of the remaining races. Tony Gibson was the crew chief for Newman for the majority of the season before giving way to Matt Borland, who will be crew chief for Newman in 2013 as well. If you will remember, Borland was crew chief for Newman during his days at Penske Racing and the two won many races together. The hope is that they can restore the previous magic they had and get back in winning form. Newman will have a change on the sponsorship side of things for 2013, with the US Army stepping down and Quicken Loans picking up more races to go along with Outback Steakhouse and Haas Automation.

     

    Danica Patrick

    After a part time Sprint Cup campaign in 2012, Danica Patrick will race full time in 2013 in the #10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet. After crew chiefing for Patrick in the last 5 races of the 2012 season, Tony Gibson will once again be crew chief for Patrick in 2013. Patrick will be in the running for Rookie of the Year honors in 2013, but this year will be a learning year as she gets accustomed to the intricacies of the new Gen6 Sprint Cup car.

  • NASCAR Stars Put Fa La La in the Season

    NASCAR Stars Put Fa La La in the Season

    Biffle_LimoPhoto Credit: Action Sports Photography

    What’s a NASCAR driver to do in the off season? For many, there are sponsor commitments, testing, and just plain relaxing with family and friends.

    But for some of NASCAR’s brightest stars, this time of year is all about putting the ‘fa la la’ in the holiday season, especially for those in need.

    Greg Biffle, who usually spends his time behind the wheel of the No. 16 3M Ford for Roush Fenway Racing, decided instead to spread some holiday cheer by serving as chauffeur for one of his fellow RFR employees for the company’s holiday bash.

    The colleagues at Roush Fenway Racing took a chance on a ride with the Biff by purchasing raffle tickets, with proceeds benefitting the Salvation Army Angel Tree Program to needy children. The raffle winner got chauffeured to and from the party in Biffle’s 1983 ‘Boss Hogg’ style limo, complete with horns on the front of the car and a horn playing the theme from the ‘Dukes of Hazard.’

    “We decided to raffle off a ride for a Roush Fenway employee to the company party this year and use the money to buy gifts for the Salvation Army Angel Tree program,” Biffle said. “Roush Fenway agreed to match the proceeds.”

    “I had wanted to do something for a local family this holiday season and I thought it would be fun to raffle off a ride in this old limo,” Biffle continued. “I saw it at an auto auction and thought it would be fun to drive around.”

    The winner of the Biffle ride was Brian Steager, who has worked for RFR for nine years in the paint and body department.

    “It was a very good ride,” Steager said. “We got there safe and sound and it was an excellent experience all the way around.”

    USO 2012 NASCAR TourPhoto Credit: USO Photo by Michael Clifton

    The holiday ride with the Biff raised over $2,000 for the Salvation Army, which will grant the holiday wishes of several children this year.

    “It was a lot of fun,” Biffle said. “It went to a very worthy cause and hopefully we’ll do it again soon.”

    Two of NASCAR’s young guns decked the halls with their own version of holiday cheer. Nationwide champ and Cup up and comer Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and new Penske Cup driver Joey Logano put the ‘fa la la’ in the season for troops serving overseas.

    Logano and Stenhouse Jr. traveled with the USO to the Middle East and Germany to meet and thank those in uniform. The two drivers visited six bases in all, meeting hundreds of men and women in the military to thank them for their service.

    “We had the chance to meet some amazing men and women on our USO tour,” Logano said. “I have so much respect for our troops; they do their jobs day in and day out without complaint and are always giving it their all.”

    “We are lucky to have these men and women serving and protecting our country and I can’t thank them enough for all that they do.”

    This was Stenhouse’s first holiday tour of USO duty and the young driver thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

    “It was an honor to meet our troops and see them in action,” Stenhouse said. “The service and sacrifice of these men and women and their families are inspiring.”

    “I have nothing but admiration and gratitude for what they do for our country.”

    Michael Waltrip, former driver, Daytona 500 winner and now principal in Michael Waltrip Racing, also granted a few holidays wishes of his own. He and his colleagues participated in ABC’s ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’ to help a family in Lincolnton, North Carolina, who had a big heart for foster children but needed an even bigger home.

    The Friday family, foster parents to over 30 children took in a teenage boy and his five siblings. Their ranch home, however, needed that bit of a NASCAR makeover in order to have room for the family to celebrate Christmas.

    And thanks to Michael Waltrip and his MWR team, the Christmas miracle of a home big enough for all of its children was granted.

    Ryan Newman put the final ‘fa la la’ into the holiday season with his annual Ryan Newman Foundation dinner and auction, raising over $340,000 for animal welfare, education and conservation activities. The event also featured a charity fishing tournament, with 148 teams competing.

    “Krissie and I appreciate everyone who participated in the fishing tournament,” Newman said. “The weather was perfect.”

    While the experts were fishing, Neman actually was schmoozing with sponsors and other fans on a luxury yacht, all in the name of charity.

    “I didn’t know what to think of the yacht event,” Newman said. “But it turned out to be a good thing.”

    “It was a good way to have some one on one time with me and check out Lake Norman.”

    Even the NASCAR race tracks have gotten into the holiday spirit. Charlotte Motor Speedway, in the heart of racing country, has not only been decked out in holiday lights but will also be showing holiday movies throughout the season, all to benefit Speedway Children’s Charities.

    The track’s light show, featuring over 800 displays and more than 3 million lights, has been on display, with movies such as ‘A Christmas Story’, ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ and ‘Christmas Vacation’ shown through the end of December.

    NASCAR driver Ryan Newman, however, best summed up the sentiments of all of the NASCAR community hoping to spread some good cheer and ‘fa la la’ spirit for the holidays.

    “It’s something I think we’ll do again next year.”

  • Tony Stewart Closes Championship Year and Opens Door to New Season

    Tony Stewart Closes Championship Year and Opens Door to New Season

    With the 2012 champion Brad Keselowski officially crowned, it was time for Tony Stewart to close the door on being the past champion, give new the new champ a little advice, and move on to the exciting events of the 2013 season.

    “I feel good,” Stewart said in the media room after making his ninth place remarks at the banquet in Vegas. “I’m not used to being done by now.”

    “I get to go back and enjoy everybody’s speeches and not be nervous about giving my own.”

    Of the new champion to whom he has now passed the baton, Stewart has just one word. He finds Keselowski simply “refreshing.”

    “It’s nice to see somebody that speaks from the heart,” Stewart said. “That’s the way all of us should.”

    When asked if he and past five-time champion Jimmie Johnson had been indoctrinating the new champion Keselowski into his new role, Stewart noted that “Brad has had a busy enough week.”

    “It is a long week for a champion,” Stewart said knowingly. “You wouldn’t trade it for anything obviously but by Thursday night you’re starting to get worn out.”

    “And you can see it in Brad’s eyes that he’s getting tired.”

    “The one thing that Jimmie and I sat down and told him was to enjoy every minute of it,” Stewart continued. “It seems like when you look at the schedule in the morning you think, “Oh my God, they’re wearing me out,” but every moment you have to enjoy and have fun with it because there are 40 plus drivers that want to be where you are this week.”

    Stewart also had a few words of advice for the media when it came to their treatment of the new champion Keselowski.

    “To be perfectly honest, I hope you (the media) continue to treat Brad the way that you are now,” Stewart said. “That gives him the opportunity to be himself and that’s what the fans want to hear.”

    “I’m so scared that at some point somebody is going to turn on him,” Stewart continued. “And then it goes downhill from there.”

    “So, I hope you guys in the media keep doing what you’re doing,” Stewart said. “I’m proud that you are giving him the chance to be open and I think it’s great for our sport.”

    “The sponsors and the fans really enjoy that,” Stewart continued. “I think there’s always a lot more positive stuff than negative each week but sometimes that gets overshadowed.”

    “I hope Brad is able to keep doing what he’s doing.”

    Although the NASCAR season has officially come to an end with the banquet, Stewart said he has just a little bit more racing to do before closing out 2012.

    “I’ve actually still got three races before the end of this year is over,” Stewart said. “I’m going to be almost at 95 races.”

    “I’m excited about that,” Stewart continued. “That’s still what I love to do.”

    While in Vegas to celebrate the new champion, Stewart took a little time out to raise money for charity, at both Keselowski’s and Jimmie Johnson’s PR rep’s expense. During the After the Lap celebration at Planet Hollywood, both Stewart and Johnson pledged donations in order to see champ Keselowski and Kristine Curley share a dance together on stage.

    “Between Jimmie Johnson and myself, I raised my donation to $10,000 and Jimmie donated $5,000 to Victory Junction Gang Camp,” Stewart said. “So, we both ended up raising $15,000.”

    “Yes, it’s been a fun week and we always have a lot of fun with our PR reps obviously,” Smoke continued. “It was a fun moment.”

    Stewart also took the opportunity to reflect on many of the past season’s accomplishments, from those of his competitors to his own team and drivers.

    “I thought there were some great performances,” Stewart said of the 2012 season. “I think Marcos (Ambrose) and Brad (Keselowski) at Watkins Glen was a great example and Jeff Gordon’s run at Richmond to get into the Chase was a great performance.”

    “There were a lot of those individual examples this year that were noteworthy and made for a good year.”

    “I think winning Las Vegas was great for Stewart-Haas Racing,” Smoke said. “To win at a track we hadn’t won at before was special for me personally.”

    “To get Ryan another win and see Danica progress and gain confidence towards the end of the season was great too.”

    Stewart admitted that as much as he has enjoyed his reign as 2011 champion and the past year, he is most certainly looking forward to the new season ahead. One of the biggest challenges will be adjusting to the new car, which was just unveiled earlier in the week by Chevrolet.

    “It can be big,” Stewart said of the new 2013 Chevrolet  SS. “Anytime you start with anything completely new, it’s an unknown variable.”

    “So, it’s something that’s going to take a lot to figure out.”

    “Nobody knows who is going to find the right combination with this new car,” Stewart continued. “So, until we get a couple races, we won’t know.”

    “Even with that, a lot will change during the season.”

    “You have to establish a base first,” Stewart said. “The hardest thing is getting cars built right now.”

    “We’re sitting there with a race shop full of bare chassis that don’t have sheet metal on them yet,” Smoke continued. “And here we are at the beginning of December, so we have a lot of work to do in a short amount of time.”

    While he may be stressing about the 2013 season and building new race cars, Stewart has been most excited about other promises that the next year will hold. One area of excitement is that several sponsors have extended their commitments to his team and the other is that the Truck Series will be racing on dirt at his beloved Eldora track.

    Stewart-Haas Racing recently announced that four sponsors will return in the New Year for Ryan Newman and his SHR No. 39 team.

    “Obviously, we’re very proud to have WIX Filters, Outback Steakhouse, Aspen Dental and Code 3 Associates back with our race team,” Stewart said. “We work really hard to deliver on the racetrack, but we work just as hard to understand each one of our sponsor’s businesses so we can help them accomplish the goals they have, be it in racing or with their customers.”

    “It’s great seeing these partnerships grow and we look forward to another year of success with each of them.” And finally, Stewart will most look forward to serving as host as the NASCAR Truck Series, which will make its dirt debut at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. The half mile track, owned by Stewart, will be the host to the first of two Wednesday night races, with the Eldora race being held the Wednesday before the Indy weekend.

    “It’s just really a dream come true for us not only as a promoter but to imagine that 42 years later we’re going to be taking a national NASCAR series back to a dirt track at Eldora Speedway is a huge honor for us,” Stewart said.

    So, what will Stewart miss most as he closes the 2012 season and opens the door to the 2013 season? Well, one thing is certain and that is that he will not miss the close encounters of the media kind, with the exception of the off microphone conversations at least.

    “Oh God no,” Stewart replied when asked if he would miss the media, many with whom he has had a somewhat mercurial relationship.

    “But as much as I like to battle with you all season, there are a lot of times when we don’t have microphones and we all talk about different things other than racing,” Stewart said.

    “So I will miss that.”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Ford EcoBoost 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Ford EcoBoost 400

    [media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]In a weekend full of champion-crowning, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the NASCAR Sprint Cup season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    Surprising:  For a driver known, as ‘bad’, brash and cocky, there were some surprisingly humble moments from the 28 year old driver who brought Penske Racing its first ever NASCAR championship.

    “It means the world, it really does,” Bradley Aaron Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge and Sprint Cup Champion, said after finishing 15th and securing the ultimate prize. “I’ve got the best team in racing and I’m just so thrilled to be a part of it.”

    “From the top down, Roger Penske, Paul Wolfe, everybody else, the crew guys and my family, that means so much,” Keselowski continued. “You can’t do this sport by yourself no matter how good you are.”

    “My family made incredible sacrifices and I’m just so fortunate to have them around me,” Keselowski said. “Without them, none of this is possible and they deserve way more credit than I do.”

    Keselowski’s parents, who gave up their lives to their son’s racing career, were equally proud and humble in Victory Lane.

    “How many people get to realize this dream?” Bob Keselowski, Brad’s dad and a racer in his own right, said. “There’s a million short track racers out there.”

    “I’m just so blown away.”

    “He has reached the pinnacle of success and I’m so unbelievably proud of my son,” Brad mom’s Kay said. “I’m ecstatic, just ecstatic.”

    “I was holding my breath all race long and praying to God that it would all come together.”

    Not Surprising:  Of course, once the Miller Lite started to flow in celebration of his championship, Keselowski, sporting a good-sized beer glass, returned to his usual self, tweeting from the media center and wise-cracking in fun with all.

    “I’ve got a little bit of a buzz going on right now,” Keselowski said after his victory on the show LIVE on ESPN. “I’ve been drinking for a little bit.”

    After checking his phone and adding about 6,000 new followers on his Twitter account, Keselowski, with 5 wins, 13 top-five and 23 top-ten finishes, discussed how he will now approach being the NASCAR champion.

    “Expect the unexpected,” Keselowski said, with his trademark grin. “That’s my MO, right?”

    And on how being the NASCAR champ might change his life, Keselowski replied, “I’ve always wanted to date a celebrity….but not a Kardashian.”

    And finally, Keselowski revealed his surprising powers of prediction, especially as it related to the points needed to secure the Sprint Cup.

    “I predicted that the champion would need 2400 points to win,” Keselowski said. And that was the exact number of points, 2400 total, that the second driver in history to win the Cup and Nationwide championships had when the checkered flag flew.

    “I feel like the best is yet to come,” Keselowski said as he wrapped up his media availability for the final time of the 2012 season.

    Surprising:  While not surprising to see team owner Rick Hendrick in Victory Lane, it was surprising that he was not there to see his driver Jimmie Johnson crowned six time champion.

    Hendrick instead celebrated his team’s first ever win and the first ever win at Homestead-Miami Speedway for driver Jeff Gordon, commemorating his 20 year partnership with sponsor Dupont in the HMS No. 24 Chevrolet.

    “Yeah, it’s disappointing,” Mr. H. said. “If you let that destroy you, you’ll never be able to win again.”

    “It’s racing,” Hendrick continued. “I’m celebrating Jeff’s win and letting the other deal go.”

    Driver and four-time champion Jeff Gordon might have been surprised to even be in the race, let alone Victory Lane, after his fracas the week before with competitor Clint Bowyer. The four-time champ was able to put the drama behind him, however, to score his 87th career victory and his second win of the 2012 season.

    “This is just huge,” Gordon said. “It’s been an emotional week and a hard one; one of the hardest ones I’ve ever gone through just looking back on my decision.”

    “So to come here and focus on the car with this silver commemorative paint scheme for 20 years of Dupont and to be able to end in Victory Lane, it was just an awesome team effort.”

    Not Surprising:  Even though starting the race behind the leader in the point standings, five-time champion Jimmie Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus seemed on target to parlay some pit strategy into that coveted six pack.

    But an uncharacteristic lug nut issue and an even more unusual oil leak that proved fatal closed the door on the championship hopes for the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet. And Johnson, not surprisingly, found it a bitter pill to swallow.

    “You know, to be close, it just sucks to be close and not get it,” Johnson said. “Pretty heartbreaking.”

    “We were doing what we needed to and certainly in position to put a lot of pressure on the No. 2 car.”

    “Stuff happens,” Johnson continued. “It’s racing.”

    “I just have to reflect back on an amazing year.”

    Surprising:  Probably the most surprised driver coming out of the Ford EcoBoost 400 was none other than Clint Bowyer. Not only did he finish second in the race to nemesis of the week before Jeff Gordon, but he also scored second place in the point standings in his first season with Michael Waltrip Racing.

    “To be honest, I didn’t even think I could reach second,” the driver of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota said of his runner up spot in the points. “That was the goal I’d set.”

    “And I just wanted to catch the 24,” Bowyer said of his runner up race finish. “That was the only what-if that went through my mind at the end.”

    “Probably went through your mind too.”

    “Now I’m going to do whatever I want to do next week.”

    Not Surprising:   As with every end to the season, there were plenty of farewells to be said. Ryan Newman, who finished third in the season finale, bade farewell to the US Army as his sponsor.

    “The US Army Chevrolet, four years strong,” Newman said. “We’re proud to represent them and proud of their support and we wanted to finish on a great note.”

    Another farewell was said by Matt Kenseth, leaving the only race team home that he has ever known with Roush Fenway Racing and moving on to Joe Gibbs Racing.

    “The team really proved that they gave me all they’ve got this season regardless of my plans for the future,” Kenseth said.

    Joey Logano, who leaves Joe Gibbs Racing to partner with new champ Keselowski at Penske Racing, had some interesting words to mark the end of his tenure in the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota.

    “And that’s the way the cookie crumbles,” Logano tweeted. “Thanks to all of @JoeGibbsRacing for 7 great years.”

    The final farewell was most poignant, however, as Dodge won the championship and bid adieu to the sport of NASCAR.

    “It’s been a long run,” Ralph Gilles, President and CEO of the SRT Brand and Senior Vice President of Design at Chrysler Group, said. “I’m still pinching myself.”

    “It’s not bittersweet,” Gilles continued. “If anything, it’s an exclamation point on an effort that’s 11 years in the making.”

    Surprising:  Another Hendrick Chase driver was surprisingly upbeat, particularly since his teammate lost the championship to Keselowski.

    And in spite of missing two races due to a concussion, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was also upbeat about finishing the season with a top-10 in his No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet.

    “I want to congratulate Brad on his championship,” Junior said. “He’s a buddy of mine and he did everything he had to do to win this thing.”

    “This has been a really good season for me personally,” Dale Junior continued. “I’ve had a blast.”

    “I can’t wait to test the new car and get to Daytona,” Junior said. “It will be a whole new ball game.”

    Not Surprising:  Yet again, Kyle Busch led the most laps in the race and failed to find Victory Lane, instead coming in fourth. In fact, this was the ninth race in a row where the driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota led the most laps and did not win.

    “I think I’ve said it the last five weeks – that’s our year,” Busch said. “It’s just a shame that we were not able to come out here and put it in Victory Lane like we should.”

    “We’ll have to see what we look forward to next year.”

    Surprising:  The driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet not only finished ninth but had a surprisingly record-setting day in the process. Kurt Busch scored his third straight top-10 finish, the first time ever that Furniture Row Racing has had three consecutive top-10 finishes.

    “Finishing the season with three straight top-10s and four straight top-15s – you just can’t ask for much more in a short period of time together,” Busch said. “We’ve made a tremendous amount of progress in the last six weeks and that gives us all plenty of confidence heading into the off season.”

    Not Surprising:  The young driver of the infamous No. 43 for Richard Petty Motorsports continued his great streak of race runs, finishing seventh in the season finale.

    “We had a strong car all day,” Almirola said. “That was a great way to go out.”

    “I’m excited about next year,” Almirola continued. “These guys give me great race cars so we’re gonna win races.”

    As the 2012 season comes to a close, here’s to a Happy Thanksgiving, a blessed Christmas and a truly amazing New Year! See you at Daytona in 2013!

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Phoenix Advocare 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Phoenix Advocare 500

    [media-credit name=”Simon Scoggins” align=”alignright” width=”244″][/media-credit]In the next to the last race on the one miler in the Valley of the Sun, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 25th annual Advocare 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

    Surprising:  Although avoiding the shower of sponsor product, baby Keelan had his first ever visit to Victory Lane, celebrating with his dad Kevin Harvick, driver of the Richard Childress Racing No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet.

    “It was great to be back in Victory Lane and to have Keelan there for our first victory celebration as a family,” Harvick said. “He was fine until everyone started screaming.”

    “That made him cry.”

    Surprisingly, this was Harvick’s first victory of the 2012 season, breaking a 44 race winless streak. Also surprisingly, this was Richard Childress Racing’s first win of the year as well.

    Harvick’s victory came on the heels of a surprising announcement prior to the race, one that will see him leave RCR for Stewart Haas Racing in the 2014 season.

    “It has been a struggle and an interesting weekend to say the least,” Harvick said. “Regardless of what happens in 2014, we have the end of this year and we’ve got all of next year.”

    “We want to win races and we want to be competitive and that is what we are here to do.”

    Not Surprising:  The theme of survival, which has been his mantra since Talladega and throughout the Chase, continued with the driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge.

    Brad Keselowski finished sixth in the Blue Deuce and also grabbed the points lead in the championship race after competitor Jimmie Johnson hit the wall to finish 32nd. Keselowski also had to navigate a wild last lap wreck, in which he was dinged, to take the checkered flag.

    “I raced pretty hard last week at Texas but that was borderline ridiculous,” Keselowski said. “We survived and I’m proud of everyone on the Miller Lite team for that.”

    “I felt very lucky to make it through the carnage today.”

    Surprising:  For a driver, crew chief and team that is so often totally in control, it was most surprising for the championship contending Jimmie Johnson and team No. 48 to come out of Phoenix feeling totally out of control.

    “We were cruising along and I think going to have a top-10 day if things worked out,” Johnson said. “I had a slight vibration and then as I was coming off of turn four, it went down and straight in the wall I went.”

    “Unfortunately, we lost a lot of control or all control in the championship,” Johnson continued, now 20 points back of point leader Keselowski. “It’s way, way out of our control with the problem we had.”

    “That’s racing,” Johnson said. “We will go to Homestead and do all we can down there and see how things pan out.”

    Not Surprising:  As with any fracas, there are a variety of ways to see the incident, depending on your point of view. And the melee on and off the track between Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet, and Clint Bowyer, pilot of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota, was no exception to this rule.

    “It’s just that things have gotten escalated over the year and I’ve just had it,” Gordon said after wrecking Bowyer and participating in a bench-emptying brawl in the garage area. “Clint’s run into me numerous times.”

    “I’ve had it and was fed up with it and got him back.”

    “For him to act like that, I barely touched him,” Bowyer said. “Next thing I know, Brett (Griffin, spotter) is telling me that he’s waiting on me.”

    “It’s pretty embarrassing for a four-time champion and what I consider one of the best the sport’s ever seen to act like that.”

    For those directly and not so directly involved in the disagreement, other perceptions prevailed.

    “When I was young, I thought Jeff Gordon was the best driver,” Joey Logano, whose No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet was collateral damage in the Gordon/Bowyer madness, tweeted after the race. “Now I’ve lost a lot of respect for him.”

    “The 24 should be parked!” Denny Hamlin tweeted after the race. “He took out 5 cars in that BS!”

    One driver, however, seemingly enjoyed the hoopla and the sparring.

    “I like fights,” Kevin Harvick, race winner, said to the media with a devilish grin. “We should have more fights.”

    “They’re not always fun to be in, but fights are what made NASCAR what it is.”

    Surprising:  While Denny Hamlin had much to say about fellow competitor Jeff Gordon via Twitter, he also had a lot to say about the track, even with a second place finish.

    “The track is just so slick,” Hamlin said after the race. “Treacherous. The race track is extremely treacherous.”

    “You can’t – with these hard tires – you just can’t get a grip on the race track.”

    “Everyone’s just sliding around and sliding into each other.”

    The driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota also had some choice, but perhaps not politically correct words, for the track conditions on the final lap, which led to multiple wrecks and many torn up race cars.

    “There was oil all over the track,” Hamlin said. “Ray Charles could see that.”

    “Holy cow, it was a mess.”

    Not Surprising:   After dominating for the first third of the race, the intrepid Kyle Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota, had to settle for a third place finish. This was Busch’s 10th top-10 finishes in 16 races at Phoenix International Raceway.

    “Great day,” Busch said simply. “Guys gave me an awesome car.”

    “Obviously, having a car that’s the class of the field – you expect to win and you’re supposed to win,” Busch continued. “I guess I just didn’t know how to win it today.”

    “So, it seems to be the way the year goes.”

    Surprising:  For as bad of a season and weekend that Jeff Burton was having, the driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet pulled off a surprisingly good 13th place finish in the Advocare 500.

    Burton had to start from the rear of the field after multiple accidents in both Friday and Saturday’s practices.

    “Just a solid effort this weekend from the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet team,” Burton said. “We wrecked two cars on Friday and Saturday.”

    “For these guys to come back and give this kind of effort was amazing.”

    Not Surprising:  Kurt Busch continued to settle in with his new Furniture Row race team, recovering from a lug nut problem to finish eighth in the Valley of the Sun. This was his second straight eighth-place finish, giving his team its best back-to-back finishes in the team’s history.

    “That was a wild ending,” the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Farm American Chevrolet said. “I just stayed on the gas to get to the finish line.”

    “We definitely had a car that was capable of winning,” Busch continued. “We battled back to notch our second straight top-10.”

    Surprising:  Another Cup rookie had a surprisingly good day, in fact the best yet in her young career in the top tier of the sport. Danica Patrick, in the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, finished 17th, her best result to date.

    “We had a green-white-checkered, so it was a nice exciting finish for the fans,” Patrick said. “The No. 31 went in too deep and clipped my left rear, spun me around and I just tried to limp back to the line.”

    “Still our best finish,” Patrick continued. “But you always want more.”

    Not Surprising:  Ryan Newman, often known as the ‘Iron Man’ of the sport, proved he was as tough as all the veterans’ pictures on his camouflaged car. After qualifying in the 12th position, the driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet worked his way to the front to finish fifth in the Advocare 500.

    “That was a good run for our Quicken Loans Chevrolet,” Newman said. “It was a special Veteran’s Day paint scheme and I’m really proud of everything there.”

    Surprising:  Chaser Martin Truex, Jr., racing no doubt with a heavy heart for his home state of New Jersey ravaged by Hurricane Sandy, saw his day end before it even got started. The driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota had an engine failure and finished 43rd.

    “Well, the engine started laying down on like the second lap and something broke in the top end, so we were done for the day,” Truex said. “It’s a shame.”

    “Just one of those deals – probably a parts failure or something.”

    Not Surprising:  Greg Biffle showed his mettle behind the wheel, coming back from a miserable start to the race to being the highest finishing Ford, scoring a top-10 finish.

    “It was actually a hard fought day,” the driver of the No. 16 Filtrete/3M Ford said. “We came back from not having a very good car to being really good.”

    “We kept working on it and working on it,” Biffle continued. “I never thought we’d get that good.”

    “That was remarkable.”