Tag: Ryan Newman

Surprising and Not Surprising: Subway Fresh Fit 500

[media-credit name=”Simon Scoggins” align=”alignright” width=”259″][/media-credit]With the 36 hours of Daytona in the rear view mirror, the Cup Series headed to the Valley of the Sun. Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Subway Fresh Fit 500.

Surprising: With the short interval between the Great American Race and the trek to Phoenix International Raceway, the amount of news made before the haulers even arrived in the Valley of the Sun was indeed surprising.

The first ‘surprise’ was for Chad Knaus, who was fined $100,000 and suspended for six races due to illegally modified C-posts found on the No. 48 Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson prior to the Daytona 500. Knaus and his team at Hendrick Motorsports have already agreed to appeal.

The second pre-race surprise occurred with Penske Racing announcing its move from Dodge to Ford in 2013. Roger Penske, the ‘Captain’ of the team, affirmed that he needed to make the manufacturer move for one reason only, to finally secure the Cup championship.

Not Surprising: With a championship level crew chief in Darian Grubb atop his pit box, it was not surprising that his new driver Denny Hamlin raced his way right to the checkered flag. After a spectacular burnout, the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota paid homage to his crew chief and team from Victory Lane.

“If you would have asked me, I would have told you I would have taken a 15^th place finish,” Hamlin said. “We just kept working at it.”

This was Hamlin’s 18^th career win in his 225^th start. It was the driver’s first win at PIR, having finished third four times before this victory.

With the win at Phoenix, Hamlin jumped to first place in the point standings. Although obviously very early in the season, Hamlin has not been at the top of the leader board since his losing championship battle two years ago.

“We’ve never been in this position at this point in the season,” Hamlin said. “We’re back this year.”

Surprising: While NASCAR nation has been waiting with bated breath, it was a bit surprising that the Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) reared its ugly head for none other than reigning champ Tony Stewart. The driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet fell prey to EFI difficulties, unable to re-fire his engine after attempting to save fuel.

“I just shut the car off to save fuel and it never re-fired,” Smoke, who finished 22^nd, said. “I don’t know why that was, but it definitely cost us a good day.”

Not Surprising: Although he did not quite live up to his moniker as ‘The Closer’, the driver of the No. 29 Rheem Chevrolet was pretty happy nonetheless. Kevin Harvick coasted on fumes to secure a second place berth in the Subway Fresh Fit 500.

“Finishing second and racing for a win in a place where we ran back in the twenties, was pretty good,” Harvick said. “You cut the fuel mileage that close, you’re figuring it right. Hopefully this is what sets the tone for the year.”

Surprising: Those drivers hooked up with new teams for the 2012 season did not fare well in the Valley of the Sun. Hendrick newcomer Kasey Kahne hit the wall in his No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet on Lap 22. Kahne ended up in the garage for many laps, finally finishing 34^th.

AJ Allmendinger, new pilot of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge, also had some calamity befall his Phoenix run. The ‘Dinger was caught up in the Paul Menard crash on Lap 132, relegating him to an 18^th place finish.

Not Surprising: After finishing almost dead last at Daytona and under the gun with his penalty, Jimmie Johnson was already 23 points in the hole before coming to Phoenix. Yet, to no one’s surprise, Johnson was in redemption mode yet again, scoring a fourth place finish in his No. 48 Lowe’s Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, moving him up to 38^th in points.

“We were concerned about fuel,” Johnson admitted. “We just tried to make sure we got some points.”

“We had a little hiccup on pit road but we really fought back.”

Surprising: It was surprising how well Michael Waltrip Racing performed at Phoenix, at least for the majority of the team members.

Martin Truex, Jr. scored his first top-10 of the year for his No. 56 NAPA Filters Toyota, coming in seventh. Teammate and pole sitter Mark Martin brought his No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota to a second-straight top-10, officially finishing ninth.

“We need to get finishes like this each week,” Truex Jr. said. “And hopefully there are even better ones to come.”

“Proud of the effort,” teammate Mark Martin said. “Any time you get a top-10 finish, you have to say it’s a reasonable run.”

The No. 56 and the No. 55 are now tied, at 71 points, for sixth position in the point standings.

Not Surprising: With the slipperiness of the race track, it was no surprise that several drivers, including the third MWR driver, suffered tire troubles. Most notably on the tire issue list was MWR driver Clint Bowyer, behind the wheel of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota.

Bowyer suffered tire failure not one, but twice, relegating him to a 30^th place finish. The MWR driver now sits 17^th in points, falling six spots back due to his tire woes.

Surprising: In addition to EFI and tire troubles, the Valley of the Sun seemed to cause some engine failures as well. Most notably were the blown engines of Jamie McMurray, Marcos Ambrose and Jeff Burton, all of whom had good runs going until the tell-tale smoke billowed out from their tail pipes.

“We blew up,” Ambrose, driver of the No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion, said simply. “We are here trying to run for wins and run for championships and to trip over ourselves like that, it just isn’t going to get it done.”

Not Surprising: Although not technically a short track, there were some short track tempers flaring at Phoenix International Raceway. Most notably was a flare up between Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Subway Ford for whom the race was named, and Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Wix Filters Chevrolet.

On lap 256, Newman brought out the seventh caution of the race, crashing after contact with Edwards.

“I’m 99 percent sure Carl Edwards didn’t do that on purpose,” Newman said. “But I trusted him.”

“Now he can’t trust me because there is a lot to be had and lost, and we lost today,” Newman continued. “We know plenty of times in this sport, what comes around goes around.”

March 4, 2012
Common Sense Rules for NASCAR

CIA Stock Photo

I was reading a NASCAR news story the other day and thinking to myself, ‘What ever happened to common sense?’ And then it occurred to me that the term common sense is an oxymoron.

Having the sense to do or say the right thing has become a characteristic that is rare in today’s society. NASCAR is a perfect example of this.

Common sense and truisms are closely linked so I thought I would share some of these truths as guidelines for the common sense impaired.

A closed mouth gathers no foot. This one is simple. Think before you speak (or tweet) and avoid those embarrassing headlines (Kasey Kahne-Breastgate).

Be careful who you step on while climbing the ladder of success; you’re liable to meet them on the way down. Kurt Busch

Don’t bite the hand that feeds you. Just ask Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman or Brad Keselowski-Secret fine recipients.

Expect the unexpected. Trevor Bayne wins the 2011 Daytona 500.

Good things come in small packages. Mark Martin

Hope springs eternal. Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans

Money talks. “It doesn’t matter if you have the most wins, pole positions, a championship or talent. If you have the money, you get a job.” Mike Skinner

Keep your hands to yourself. “Hold my watch.” Richard Childress

Nobody loves a winner who wins all the time. – Jimmie Johnson

Close, but no cigar. Carl Edwards

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. – Tony Stewart

If in doubt, remember this. There is nothing so small it can’t be blown out of proportion.

Mike Skinner quote courtesy of Angie Skinner-SiriusXM NASCAR Radio via Facebook

January 2, 2012
Surprising and Not Surprising: Kobalt Tools 500

With NASCAR traveling to the ‘Valley of the Sun’ for the next to the last race of the season, it was no surprise that the reconfigured race track was soaked instead with liquid sunshine. Yet, the track dried, veteran racer Adrian Fernandez uttered the four most famous words in racing, and the green flag waved as scheduled.

[media-credit id=40 align=”alignright” width=”221″][/media-credit]Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 24^th running of the Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Surprising: While it was no surprise that PIR was new and improved, with brand new pavement as well as a new track layout, it was surprising to see the new faces that showed up in Victory Lane this weekend.

From the Nationwide race with Sam Hornish Jr. scoring his first ever NASCAR win to young Ryan Blaney, son of Dave Blaney, notching the ‘W’ in the K&N Pro Series West finale, PIR definitely had some fresh-faced winners.

But most surprising was Cup winner Kasey Kahne, scoring his first win since 2009, his first victory of the 2011 season, and his first victory ever at Phoenix International Raceway. Kahne’s victory came in his next to the last ride in his No. 4 Red Bull Toyota.

“It feels great to get a win for Red Bull and get a win in the 4 car,” Kahne said. “To win a race at this level, as competitive as everything is right now, for myself, to see how happy all the pit crew guys were, the guys preparing the race cars at Red Bull, it was pretty cool.”

“Makes you feel pretty good to be a part of that.”

Not Surprising: To no one’s surprise, Carl Edwards, behind the wheel of the No. 99 Aflac Ford, and his championship Chase nemesis Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, stalked each other all race long, finishing second and third respectively.

And not surprisingly, thanks to that close finish, the championship will be decided at the final race of the season in Homestead, Florida. Edwards is currently just three points ahead of Smoke going into Ford Championship weekend, one of the closest margins between first and second in the Chase in NASCAR Sprint Cup history.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s a dead heat going in there,” Stewart said of the upcoming Homestead weekend. “We just got to do our job like we’ve been doing.”

“I’m still pumped up,” Smoke continued. “I want to go to Homestead tomorrow and start. I want tomorrow to be Friday. I’m excited about it and ready to go.”

“Yeah, Homestead is going to be a lot of fun,” Edwards said. “I really enjoy racing there.”

“The cool thing about Homestead, you’re going to be able to move around, pass, and not get hung up as badly in traffic as you can at other racetracks,” Edwards continued. “I don’t think there’s a better place to go than Homestead to fight for this championship.”

Surprising: After Phoenix, with only those two drivers remaining in contention for the championship, it is indeed surprising that five-time champion Jimmie Johnson will not be six-time champ.

Johnson, behind the wheel this weekend of a black No. 48 Lowe’s Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, finished 14^th in the race and sits currently in the fifth position in points, 68 points out of first and officially out of contention.

“Yeah, I’m definitely disappointed that we won’t be able to go to Homestead and race for our sixth, but that’s motorsports,” Johnson said. “It’s a very tough business.”

“What we did over the last five years was absolutely spectacular,” Johnson continued. “What we did over the last five years is abnormal. Now we’ll get a taste of normalcy.”

Also surprisingly, Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammates, especially Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. also had difficulty in the ‘Valley of the Sun.’ The driver of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet fared especially poorly, struggling with brake problems to finish 32^nd.

“We weren’t good when we got here,” Gordon said. “We were fighting and battling but then the brake problem happened and that pretty much ruined our day.”

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., in the No. 88 Retro Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard, also struggled and finished 24^th.

“We pitted and got caught with the caution and lost a couple of laps and just never got a chance to get it back,” Junior said. “We missed it. We didn’t hit it.”

Not Surprising: As bad as Hendrick Motorsports team members fared, it was no surprise that the other half of the Stewart Haas Racing duo fared well. Ryan Newman, with his No. 39 US Army Veteran’s Day Tribute car covered with pictures of vets, finished top-five yet again.

“The guys on the US Army Chevrolet, with the Veteran’s Day special paint scheme, that was an amazing comeback for us to come from 30^th to fifth,” Newman said. “I’m really proud of that.”

Surprising: Although the two tangled at Martinsville, it was surprising to see the feud continue between Brian Vickers, soon to be out of work with his No. 83 Red Bull Toyota team exiting the sport next week, and Matt Kenseth, race pole sitter, who was looking for a good run in his No. 17 Crown Royal Ford.

“My two year old could watch that and know it was intentional,” Kenseth said of his wreck with Vickers. “It was real pre-meditated.”

“I don’t understand what happened,” Vickers said of his Kenseth encounter. “He just stopped on the straight-away.”

“He wrecked me at Martinsville,” Vickers continued. “He got wrecked here. He just lifted halfway down the back stretch. I’ll count that one.”

Kenseth finished a miserable34th, dropping two positions to sixth in the point standings. Vickers soldiered on for a 23^rd place finish, languishing in the 25^th position in the points.

Not Surprising: Having had the most miserable week leading up to the race, from being parked to losing his sponsor for the last two races, it was not surprising that Kyle Busch’s most miserable weekend continued.

Busch had to start the race from the back of the field due to engine troubles caused by human error. He managed to work his way up through the pack, only to have the engine of his No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota expire on Lap 214.

“It’s just devastating,” Busch said. “To go through turmoil like this, all you can do is group together and pull through it and try to persevere and move on.”

“Catastrophic engine failure,” Busch continued. “It’s terrible to have one in a weekend, let alone two in a weekend.”

“It’s certainly a tough few weeks and all we can do is look forward to next week at Homestead.”

Surprising: It was surprising to see another crew swap during the race, this time for AJ Allmendinger, whose pit crew let him down during a stop, most likely costing the driver of the No. 43 Wix Filters Ford, a race win.

Allmendinger’s crew was swapped out for the crew of David Ragan, another Ford driver who was not in the hunt, helping the Dinger to a top-five finish.

“We were losing four or five spots on a stop,” Allmendinger said. “You can’t do that and win a race and those guys are pretty good.”

“Thanks to the 6 guys, our Ford teammates coming over and pitting the last two stops,” Dinger said. “They did a good job.”

Not Surprising: To no one’s surprise, Allmendinger’s Richard Petty Motorsports teammate Marcos Ambrose also had a good run at PIR. The driver of the No. 9 DeWalt Ford finished a respectable eighth.

“We had a good car today,” the Aussie said. “We were solid all day long. It bodes even better for the first half of next season.”

Surprising: Since Jeff Burton has had a fairly difficult 2011 season, it was a bit surprising to see the driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Global Mining Chevrolet end up with a fourth place finish. The top-five finishing driver hopes that the turnaround will continue right into the 2012 season.

“The Caterpillar Chevrolet was good, really, all day,” Burton said. “When things are tough, you find out what people are made of. My group has just kept digging and kept their heads up.”

“Nobody has quit on this team, not once,” Burton continued. “I’m real proud of that.”

“We’ve run really well the last month and hopefully we will build some momentum going into next year.”

Not Surprising: With no ride secured for next year, it was not surprising to see David Reutimann, ousted driver of the No. 00 TUMS Toyota Camry for Michael Waltrip Racing, drive his guts out for a seventh place finish in the next to the last race of the season.

“We qualified in the top-10 and we were able to stay up there all day long,” Rooty said. “I’m proud of the crew guys for the job they did today. They really stuck with me.”

“This is a great group of guys, probably one of the best in the garage and they’ve been with me a long time,” Reutimann continued. “We have one more week together and I want to go out on a high note at Homestead.”

November 14, 2011

Tony Stewart Wins Pole for the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte

Tony Stewart captured his thirteenth career pole Thursday evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway with a qualifying speed of 191.959 mph.

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”206″][/media-credit]Stewart was happy with his effort but a little surprised that the speeds did not noticeably increase from what they had experienced during practice.

“That was a pretty cool lap, obviously,” he said. But, Stewart continued, “Typically we see the pace pick up a little more in qualifying than what we saw tonight.”

Five of the top ten positions were claimed by drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Matt Kenseth will start beside Stewart in the second position followed by Carl Edwards in third. Ryan Newman qualified sixth and Jimmie Johnson secured the ninth starting spot.

The remaining Chase contenders qualified as follows:

Kevin Harvick – 14^th

Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 15^th

Denny Hamlin – 17^th

Kurt Busch – 20^th

Jeff Gordon – 23^rd

Kyle Busch – 25^th

Brad Keselowski – 26th.

Drivers Josh Wise, Scott Speed and Geoffrey Bodine failed to make the field.

The Bank of America 500 this Saturday evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway is the fifth race in the fight for the Sprint Cup championship.

Starting Lineup
Bank of America 500, Charlotte Motor Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=31
===========================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===========================================
1	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	191.959	28.131
2	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	191.918	28.137
3	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	191.87	28.144
4	43	A.J. Allmendinger	Ford	191.768	28.159
5	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	191.741	28.163
6	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	191.585	28.186
7	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	191.462	28.204
8	4	Kasey Kahne	Toyota	191.394	28.214
9	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	191.34	28.222
10	21	Trevor Bayne	Ford	191.259	28.234
11	6	David Ragan	Ford	191.002	28.272
12	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	191.002	28.272
13	5	Mark Martin	Chevrolet	190.9	28.287
14	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	190.894	28.288
15	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	190.833	28.297
16	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	190.82	28.299
17	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	190.799	28.302
18	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	190.638	28.326
19	33	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	190.611	28.33
20	22	Kurt Busch	Dodge	190.57	28.336
21	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	190.429	28.357
22	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	190.255	28.383
23	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	190.007	28.42
24	13	Casey Mears	Toyota	189.727	28.462
25	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	189.54	28.49
26	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	189.52	28.493
27	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	189.401	28.511
28	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	189.082	28.559
29	0	David Reutimann	Toyota	188.923	28.583
30	51	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	188.851	28.594
31	83	Brian Vickers	Toyota	188.772	28.606
32	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	188.725	28.613
33	34	David Gilliland	Ford	188.6	28.632
34	55	Travis Kvapil	Ford	188.271	28.682
35	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	188.239	28.687
36	30	David Stremme	Chevrolet	187.918	28.736
37	66	Michael McDowell	Toyota	187.454	28.807
38	38	J.J. Yeley	Ford	187.383	28.818
39	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	187.311	28.829
40	71	Andy Lally*	Ford	186.657	28.93
41	71	Hermie Sadler+	Ford	185.676	29.083
42	32	Mike Bliss+	Ford	185.44	29.12
43	7	Robby Gordon	Dodge	186.303	28.985

October 14, 2011

Surprising and Not Surprising: Dover AAA 400

In spite of the monstrously cloudy skies that yielded a bit of drizzle throughout the race, every lap of the AAA 400 was completed at Dover International Speedway. Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the track affectionately known as the ‘Monster Mile.’

[media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”223″][/media-credit]Surprising: It was surprising that a ‘Polish Victory Lap’ rather than a back flip capped the finish of the Cup race on the concrete. Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Dodge, surprisingly scored his first ever victory at the ‘Monster Mile.”

“It was just a perfect execution with making the car better during the race,” Busch said. “To win in a Sprint Cup race in the Chase, this is what it’s all about.”

“We knew that the 22 was a good car,” Travis Geisler, Director of Competition, Penske Racing, said. “It was a great day.”

Not Surprising: Although not a winner as he was in the Nationwide race the previous day, Carl Edwards, to no one’s surprise, finished a solid top-five. The driver of the No. 99 Aflac Ford rebounded from a pit road speeding penalty to finish third, which was good enough to keep him tied atop the leader board in the Chase point standings.

“It was a great day, other than that feeling I had when I ruined it there on pit road,” Edwards said sheepishly. “We were very, very fortunate.”

“As frustrated as I am with myself for messing that up, I’m really, really grateful for the give that was given to us with that caution and the ability to come back up there.”

Surprising: It was surprising to see a not-so-happy Harvick in the media center after the race, especially after assuming the top spot in the Chase standings. The driver of the No. 29 Rheem Chasing the Cure Chevrolet is now officially tied with Edwards but claims the top spot due to his higher number of wins.

After finishing tenth, Harvick seemed subdued and perhaps even a bit exhausted in the media center, complaining at one point about the flash of the photographers’ bulbs bothering his eyes.

“We circled this one as a place to come to overcome some things and the guys did a good job today,” Harvick said. “All in all it was okay.”

Not Surprising: To no one’s surprise, old ‘Five Time’ is back, even taunting the media after the race a bit, asking if he was still considered out of contention for his sixth consecutive championship with his third place finish at Dover.

Jimmie Johnson, behind the wheel of his familiar No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet, also seems to have reconciled well with his crew chief Chad Knaus, at least from the improved politeness during the radio chatter.

“It was a great day for us, to lead that many laps and to have great stops on pit road across the board,” Johnson said. “I wish that we could be one spot better but I just did not get two good restarts that the end of that thing and cost myself.”

Surprising: Although Tony Stewart predicted that Dover was not his best track, it was surprising just how badly both he and his teammate Ryan Newman ran at the ‘Monster Mile.”

The driver and team owner of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet finished 25th, with his teammate behind the wheel of the No. 39 US Army ROTC Chevrolet finishing just ahead of him in 23^rd.

“Even when we got the balance half-way decent, it didn’t have speed,” Smoke said. “So, we just missed it.”

Stewart’s crew chief, Darian Grubb, echoed his driver’s sentiments exactly.

“The biggest thing is just that we don’t have the concrete tracks figured out,” Grubb said. “At Bristol and Dover, we’ve just struggled for three years now with Tony there.”

Sounding very much like his teammate, Newman also seconded theme of totally missing the set up.

“We just didn’t have it right all weekend,” Newman said. “We tried a number of adjustments and pit strategies but nothing seemed to work in our favor.”

“We just have to put this weekend behind us and move on.”

Not Surprising: It is not surprising that A J Allmendinger, driver of the No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion, just keeps rolling along with solid finishes. In fact, not only did the ‘Dinger finish with a top-10, but so did his Richard Petty Motorsports teammate Marcos Ambrose in the No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion.

“It was a solid day,” Allmendinger said. “Obviously, we want to try to win but at least we were there all day.”

“We’ve been bashed up pretty good the last month, so it’s just good to come back with a solid day,” Ambrose said. “I’m proud of the team. They’ve stood by me after a tough month.”

Surprising: In a surprising version of ‘Chasers Gone Bad’, at least three of the drivers in contention had monstrously bad days.

Brad Keselowski, who had been wearing the Cinderella slipper, took a bit of a stumble at Dover International Speedway. After battling a power steering problem, the driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge came in 20^th.

“I finally caught the back end of the field, but when I got up to the rear of a car, I couldn’t do anything, couldn’t get around them,” Keselowski said. “It’s frustrating. I think we were good enough to get a solid run out of it but ended up 20^th.”

“That’s the way it goes.”

With his tough finish, Keselowski fell three spots in the Chase standings to the sixth position.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., driving the No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet, also battled mechanical issues, in his case a broken sway bar. Then towards the end of the race, he had a loose wheel, which caused him to finish 24^th, two laps down to the race winner.

“That’s racin’,” Junior said. “That’s all I can say. I’ve had a lot of shit happen to me over the years, good and bad. I’ve just kinda got to roll with the punches.”

Dale Junior fell two positions in the point standings to the 10^th position.

Junior’s teammate Jeff Gordon also struggled all day long in his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet. Starting from the 34^th position, Gordon rallied to finish 12^th, however, fell four positions in the point standings to ninth.

“Yeah, that’s been a struggle for us here at this track this year,” Gordon said. “It started off good and we worked our way forward pretty quick from the 34^th starting position, but once we got up there I made some mistakes and we just didn’t have it on the restarts.”

Not Surprising: Quiet Kenseth continued his Cup quest with a top-5 finish at the ‘Monster Mile.” The driver of the No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion maintained his seventh place in the Chase standings, just 14 points out of first.

Not surprisingly, Kenseth claimed “We got lucky.”

“We had a pretty solid day,” Kenseth continued. “We were able to lead a little bit. There were times in the race when we were pretty dominant.”

“I was hoping for a little better at times, but it’s important to get a good finish every week.”

October 4, 2011
Matty’s Picks Vol. 20 – Dover – AAA 400 – October 2, 2011

The Monster-Mile! Dover International Speedway is one of my favorite tracks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule, so yes I will watch the race this Sunday for the first time in three weeks.

[media-credit name=”doverspeedway.com” align=”alignright” width=”254″][/media-credit]A short 6-hour trek from where I grew up, Dover has been a popular destination for vacations of my family and friends. Dover’s high concrete banking offers endless passing potential, high speeds, and even a spot to pay for your trip in the casino located along the backstretch of the 1-mile concrete oval.

I was lucky enough, two years ago, to have the opportunity to ride shotgun in a two-seater, NASCAR Stock Car around the high-banks of Dover International Speedway. Monster Driving School offered members of the media complementary rides in the two-seater stock cars at the Monster Mile, and in turn gave me the utmost respect for stock car drivers. The experience is one that I will never forget and made my interest level in NASCAR go from insane to outright ridiculous.

Now for anyone out there that thinks the 43 guys that strap into the 750-horsepower stock cars each week are not actual athletes, THINK AGAIN. I had the opportunity to take 8-laps around the Monster Mile, and I will tell you I had all I could do to walk straight when I climbed out of the car. The exuberant amount of adrenaline I had flowing through my veins that day was the only thing aiding my head to stay straight and remotely close to my body. I have the utmost respect for those guys now after just 8-laps, I can’t fathom the physical strain 3.5 hours of petal to the metal action puts on a driver’s body.

So if you’re one of those people who think NASCAR isn’t a sport, I challenge you to climb into one of those 750-horsepower stock cars and THEN see what you think.

Loudon Recap

If I had fifty-cents for every time one of my picks ran out of gas in the past two weeks, I would have enough for one double cheeseburger at McDonalds. (My roommates’ favorite snack in college)

It was another terrible week for me in New England last week (even though I got my revenge by my Bills taking it to Tom Brady and the Patriots last week), marking my worst combined total finish in the 19 editions of Matty’s Picks.

Ryan Newman was my winner pick last week, and yes I did make the pick before the dramatic qualifying session that ensued last week, resulting with Newman starting on the pole for last Sunday’s Sylvania 300.

Newman led the following 62 laps, when a miscue on pit-road sent him back in the field, never to reach the lead again. The bad news continued to roll in for Newman when he cut a tire down late in the race while running in the top-10 with just five laps remaining. The catastrophe cost Newman an imminent top-10 finish, and a boost in the points standings as well. Instead, the misfortune caused Newman to drop from 8th to 12th in points.

Newman spoke earlier this week about his misfortune in the first two races of The Chase “The results have not equaled the performances for our team at the past two races,” said Newman. “We’ve put ourselves in a hole, but the good news is that we still have eight races to go to make up the difference. We’ve been known for our comebacks and the way we fight through adversity. One thing you always hear from our Soldiers is that you never quit and you complete the mission. That’s what this Army race team has done and will always continue to do.”

As for my Dark Horse pick, Clint Bowyer was poised to win the race Sunday but his gas tank did not agree with him winning the race.

After starting 11th, Bowyer wasted no time in breaking into the top 10 and was shown in 8th-place around the midway point in the race. It was at that time when crew chief Shane Wilson came over the radio and told Bowyer to save as much fuel as he could for the end of the race.

Bowyer flexed his muscles after a round of pit-stops near lap 250 when he took the lead, conserving fuel all the way. He was ahead of race-winner Tony Stewart by half a second when his engine was finally starved of fuel with just three laps remaining. Bowyer’s day ended on pit-road with a 26th-place result and he was short when speaking with the media following the race “It’s just not our year. I’m proud of this team. What a great car. It just didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to.”

Even Stewart had sympathy for fellow Chevy driver Clint Bowyer following his win last Sunday “I know exactly what that feels like. I know exactly how he feels (Clint Bowyer) right now. I saw him slow down the back and I thought ‘Oh, no, you’re kiddin’ me’. That is not the way you want to win it for sure.”

Dover Picks

The spring race at Dover back in May marked the debut of Matty’s Picks, and laid the groundwork for a successful regular season of picks this year. I am looking to rebound off the past two weeks of miserable picks and get back into championship contention down the stretch here in the final 8 editions of Matty’s Picks.

Considering five drivers (Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, and Matt Kenseth) have combined to win 15 of the last 19 races at the Monster Mile, it leaves little for question this week.

Winner Pick

Jimmie Johnson sits 10th in points going into Sunday’s race, a position he is fairly unfamiliar with this far into the Sprint Cup Schedule.

He leads all active drivers with 6 wins at the Monster Mile, including three of the last five after sweeping both races in 2009 and taking the fall race last year in Dover. The concrete mile has been kind to Johnson throughout the years (something that doesn’t always happen when your tires break loose due to the severe banking all around the track), making one of the most incredible saves in NASCAR history back in his 2006 qualifying efforts.

Johnson has an average finish of 9.6 at Dover, and sitting 10th in points is nowhere he wants to be for any period of time. “New Hampshire obviously wasn’t the finish we were looking for especially with how good we were throughout the weekend. I’m really looking forward to this weekend though. Dover has always been a good place for the 48 team and I really enjoy racing there. I’m not really sure why, but it has always just kind of suited my driving style” said the five-time champ earlier this week about his chances this weekend.

Jimmie Johnson’s quest for 6 in a row is underway, and now the time to make his statement, a win will do it.

Dark Horse Pick

Since the other four drivers are in The Chase that are a part of the statistic above pertaining to the past 19-races at Dover, I have to go with the only driver without a shot at claiming the Sprint Cup this year.

Greg Biffle’s trends at Dover have been rather interesting to look at this afternoon. It seems like he is more back and forth than a ping-pong match. In the past 5 races at the Monster Mile, Biffle’s finishes have been: 19th, 6th, 19th, 3rd, and 16th. In the 5 races prior to the start of the 2009 season, Biffle’s finishes were: 1st, 3rd, 6th, 2nd, and 8th.

Now, Biffle is not in the Chase, but is a serious contender to take the checkered this Sunday. His average career finish across 18 races is 11.4 and he currently sits 13th on the speed charts in Sprint Cup Final practice.

The Biff is also coming of an impressive third-place finish last week at Loudon, and sits just three points out of the top Non-Chaser points in 14th. Biff spoke about his success at Dover this week “I’ve had some success at Dover and it would be great to get the 3M Ford Fusion in victory lane there this weekend. It’s been a pretty up and down season for us so far but I feel like we’re moving in the right direction. A win would definitely keep the momentum going though. As a driver, you have to be on your toes in Dover. You want your car to be a little loose but at the same time, it can’t be too loose. I have high expectations for this weekend.”

That’s all for this week as I look forward to watching my first Chase race this season on Sunday afternoon because my Buffalo Bills are on the road this week in Cincinnati.

Until next time…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

September 30, 2011
Surprising and Not Surprising: Loudon Sylvania 300

While rain played a factor earlier in the race weekend, New Hampshire Motor Speedway was not only bathed in sunshine, but was hot enough to boil a lobster for the running of the 15^th annual Sylvania 300. Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the track dubbed the ‘Magic Mile’.

[media-credit name=”Credit: Gregg Ellman-Pool/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”228″][/media-credit]Surprising: While one five-time champion usually peaks in performance during the Chase competition, it was most surprising to see another driver, one who deemed himself unworthy of even being in the Chase, win his second race in a row.

Tony Stewart, behind the wheel of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet, took the checkered flag, giving him a perfect Chase record to date. This was Smoke’s 41^st Cup Series win and put him in the lead dog position in the point standings.

“I’ll be honest, we were about a 10^th place car the majority of the day,” Stewart said. “The closer to the front we got, the better it drove.”

“Man, what a day to win it,” Stewart continued. “Such an irony from last year where we ran out of gas coming to the white.”

Not Surprising: Speaking of fuel mileage racing, which happened all weekend long, it was not surprising to see this come into play yet again at the ‘Magic Mile.’ In fact, fuel mileage cost one driver the race and another Chase driver a possible win as well.

Most affected by the fuel mileage gremlin was Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet. Bowyer ran out of fuel with just three laps to go, allowing Smoke to blow by him for the win.

“It’s just not our year,” Bowyer said. “What a great car. It just didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to.”

The other driver who struggled with fuel mileage was Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet. As Gordon was moving forward at race end, his crew chief Alan Gustafson advised him that there had been a problem while fueling that may have resulted in his tank not being completely packed full.

Gordon immediately went into conservation mode, letting many of his competitors blow by him. Gordon finished fourth in the race and move dup in the point standings to the fifth spot.

“It is tough conditions to race in,” Gordon said. “I don’t think that we wanted to see back-to-back fuel mileage races like this, but it is kind of the name of the game these days.”

“We were just setting the pace so it is unfortunate that that happened,” Gordon continued. “It is something we need to be better at.”

Surprising: Although battling tire camber troubles all race long, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and his ever positive crew chief Steve Letarte seemed surprisingly pleased with their 17^th place finish with the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard Chevrolet. Earnhardt, Jr. fell three spots in the points, from fifth to eighth.

“We had a flat tire there at the end,” Junior said. “We had a fast car all day.”

“I was real happy with the car,” Earnhardt, Jr. continued. “We were real competitive. And I got to race up front.”

“I had an awesome car all day long and I’m happy about what my guys did.”

Not Surprising: After starting the race fuming because he his car was stuck in NASCAR technical inspection during the pre-race festivities, Kurt Busch continued his ‘Drive for Anger’ campaign in his No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Dodge.

Busch was so annoyed when he finally did get in the car to race that team ‘Captain’ Roger Penske had to come on the radio, telling his driver to “Keep your head in this.”

“It was a frustrating day,” Busch said. “We were late going through inspection and that set the tone for the day.”

“NASCAR wasn’t 100% happy with what they saw on one of their gauges,” Travis Geisler, Director of Competition for Penske Racing, said of the inspection delay. “So, we had to do a little work on it.”

Busch finished 22^nd, making him also the official ‘Biggest Loser’ in the points, falling from fourth to ninth.

Surprising: As a result of the Sylvania 300, three surprising basement dwellers emerged. Five-time champ Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet, was the first, finishing 18^th and falling to tenth in points.

In addition to his struggles on the track, Johnson also had some harsh exchanges with his crew chief, Chad Knaus, who goaded his drive to ‘prove’ that he could drive the car.

“Yeah, it wasn’t what we thought it was going to be,” Johnson said. “We just didn’t have the breaks go right and really get the track position as we needed it throughout the day.”

“I’m going 100 percent regardless of what’s being said on the radio,” Johnson continued. “I think he (Knaus) was just being optimistic there about what was left in my back pocket; but my suit doesn’t have any back pockets.”

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet, also became an official basement dweller. Newman, who started the race from the pole, finished 25^th and fell four spots to 11^th in the points.

“We just had a tough day,” Newman said. “We had a couple of slow pit stops and then we had a tire go down at the end.”

“It was just a disappointing day for us.”

Finally, it has been surprisingly painful to watch the ongoing implosion of Denny Hamlin and company. The driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, finished 29^th, remaining in the 12^th Chase spot.

“It was another tough day for us,” Hamlin said. “We’re just figuring out what we need to do to be a little bit more competitive.”

Not Surprising: To no one’s surprise, the ascent of the Keselowski continued at the ‘Magic Mile’. The driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger finished second to Stewart and catapulted himself to third in points.

“I feel really good about this one,” Keselowski said. “We struggled a little bit this weekend, but we executed and that’s what these races are about.”

“It’s been a good roll.”

Surprising: Mark Martin, behind the wheel of the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, looked surprisingly like the driver of old. Martin led a total of 46 laps, almost two times more than he had led all season.

Not Surprising: David Ragan’s ‘Drive for a Sponsor’ continued behind the wheel of the No. 6 UPS Ford. The young driver overcame being a lap down with the ‘lucky dog’ to finish seventh.

“We didn’t have the best of cars today but we showed that with some hard work and good strategy, we could overcome that,” Ragan said. “It feels good for the UPS team to get a top 10.”

“So it was a good job by everybody and now it’s on to Dover.”

September 29, 2011
Matty’s Picks Vol. 19 – New Hampshire – Sylvania 300 – September 25, 2011

Race No. 2 of the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup brings us back to Loudon, New Hampshire. On April 12, 1934 the highest wind speed recorded at ground level was recorded at Mount Washington, NH. The wind speeds were three times as fast as those in most hurricanes.

[media-credit name=”nhms.com” align=”alignright” width=”254″][/media-credit]The 750 horsepower engines of the NASCAR Sprint Cup racecars will not reach speeds nearly as fast as those at Mount Washington in 1934, but they will be going as fast as the wind speeds of most hurricanes, Sunday Afternoon.

I didn’t fare extremely well with my Dark Horse pick after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ first stop this season in New Hampshire, but I did manage to pick the Runner-up in the July race. I thought I had nailed my Dark Horse pick in the July race (even after submitting my picks before any on-track activities) after finding out Regan Smith would start in 11th for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301, but knew a Top-10 finish would be too good to be true.

My Winner Pick for the July race, Tony Stewart started outside pole and would finish exactly there. I had a 2nd and a 33rd place finish earlier this year, with Regan Smith giving me my first pick to finish outside the Top-30 cars.

Chicago Recap

Well, if you’re my winner pick, plan on finishing 22nd…

Two weeks ago, I picked Clint Bowyer to win the Wonderful Pistachios 400 at Richmond International Raceway; his result, a 22nd place finish.

Last week, I picked Kyle Busch to win the Geico 400 at Chicagoland Speedway; his result, a 22nd place finish.

I used up my mandatory once-a-month Kyle Busch pick last week only because it was the second-to-last race of the month, and I probably should have held out and picked the Las Vegas native this week. It was my mistake in thinking that the race at Chicagoland would not turn out to be another once of these fuel-mileage fiascos we see each race at these 1.5-mile cookie-cutter style racetracks.

As we all know, its checkers or wreckers for Kyle Busch each time he straps up his helmet to go racing. And that mentality really puts you at a huge disadvantage when you are trying to conserve fuel at the end of the race. Sometimes I feel like Rowdy’s right foot is made of lead, and he really cannot resist the temptation to jam his foot through the floorboards of his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry. He reached the point position early in the race on Monday, but when the race shook out (as it has historically); it was the guy with the most mustard left in the bottle that took the checkered.

Kyle explained his day after the 400 mile stanza: “We had a good car today and kept fighting back all day long. But, once we hit that debris it made the car really loose and I was doing the best I can. I still hoped we could finish in the top-10. I saved as much fuel as I could but I guess it just wasn’t enough and we ran out with two to go. Just really disappointing day.”

As for my Dark Horse pick last week, he was one of the 7-Chevrolets that finished in the Top-10 on Monday.

Mark Martin’s 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season has been one filled with questions, disappointments, and very few triumphs. Martin’s starting spot in Monday’s race wasn’t anything to write home about either.

I had made my decision on Martin early in the week last week and was put to ease after the first practice session on Friday, after he posted the 3rd best speed of the practice session. I knew all along that winning one of the final 10 races this season would be quite an achievement for the 52-year old whose career seems to be coming to its final chapter.

Many frustrations have plagued Mark Martin’s final season at Hendrick Motorsports, which in the early stages of the race I thought would be the case yet-again for my Dark Horse pick. After starting 25th in the Geico 400, Martin battled through potential damage on the front spoiler on his No. 5 Chevrolet to eventually lay down lap times that were as fast as the race leaders.

With all the fast cars running out of gas at the end, Martin had enough fuel left in the tanks to pass the wounded on the apron and bring home a Top-10 Dark Horse pick for me. Martin finished one-spot better than teammate Jimmie Johnson in 9th place, certainly a respectable finish after qualifying so poorly.

New Hampshire Picks

As I watch the practice speeds roll across my phone today, I can’t help but to notice the fire power the Chevrolets seem to be packing this weekend at New Hampshire. Eight of the Top-10 drivers in practice today have been piloting Chevrolets; I’m going with Chevy for Sunday…

Winner Pick

I’m really going out on a whim here this week and picking July’s race winner to take the checkered flag in Loudon, Sunday Afternoon (or Monday as it looks right now). He’s atop the leaderboard following Sprint Cup practice earlier today, and with that will do all he can to secure a favorable starting position for Sunday’s 3-hour nap window.

Ryan Newman won July’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway after starting from the pole. Since there is little-to-no passing opportunity at New Hampshire, starting up-front is key in a successful finish. No other driver has more poles than Newman at the 1-mile flat track in New England and he hasn’t finished outside the Top-8 in his past three trips to Loudon.

Newman loves racing at New Hampshire, and I would too if I had an average finish of 12.4 in 19 races. “New Hampshire has always been a good place for me. I’m not a hundred percent sure why. It’s the place of my first win, when I hadn’t won in a long while, 70 some races. I won again there. This past July we were able to qualify and finish 1-2 at Stewart-Haas. It’s a fun race; it’s a very finesse racetrack. You can’t overdrive the car there very much because it’s so flat”, said Newman just yesterday before he arrived at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Ryan Newman seems to have a rocket ship of a car this weekend, watch for him to lead the pack for the majority of the 300 laps on Sunday (or Monday).

Dark Horse Pick

As I said last week, I will finish the season by picking a driver that sits outside The Chase for the Sprint Cup as my Dark Horse each week.

Unlike my Winner Pick, whom I have yet to pick this year, I’ve spoke about my Dark Horse pick 4 times this season, second only to Kyle Busch in number of picks this season. His results for me have been like his results at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, really good or really bad, nothing in the middle.

Clint Bowyer has given me two Top-5 picks this year, but the other two times I’ve picked him in my column, he has given me a 36th and a 22nd-place finish. Bowyer is coming off the disappointment of missing The Chase for the Sprint Cup just two weeks ago, and has rebounded nicely from such disappointment by netting a 7th place finish last week at Chicago.

Bowyer’s stats at New Hampshire Motor Speedway are just as I described, really good or really bad. He won this race just a year ago, but finished 17th at Loudon in July. He has visited Victory Lane in New England twice in his Sprint Cup career, finishing in the Top-10 a total of four times in eleven tries.

Bowyer also described enjoying his trips to New Hampshire earlier this week: “Flat tracks like New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Richmond International Raceway always fit my driving style. I love racing up there. It is a lot of fun. Nothing in particular, it just fits my driving style.”

I picked Clint Bowyer to win the race just two weeks ago at Richmond, and he let me down. He will rebound for me this weekend and stick his nose in the mix for the win.

That’s all for this week as I set my sights on the two most important football games this season, my West Virginia Mountaineers hosting the Tigers from Louisiana State University tomorrow night in primetime, and my hometown Buffalo Bills take on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots here in Buffalo on Sunday Afternoon.

Until next time…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

September 23, 2011

Ryan Newman’s Loudon Love Affair Continues with Pole Run

In spite of the rain drops that yet again delayed action on the track, Ryan Newman continued his love affair with the ‘Magic Mile’, scoring a record-setting sixth pole.

[media-credit name=”Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Newman, behind the wheel of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet, turned a lap of 28.213 seconds and a speed of 135.002 mph.

This was Newman’s third pole in 2011 and his 59^th career pole, tying him for ninth all-time with Bobby Isaac, Hall of Fame Nominee. In spite of it being a personal career pole best, it was the drama of it all that most impressed Newman.

“In general, I don’t think I’ve seen that kind of drama going into the last five cars qualifying in my ten or eleven years of experience,” Newman said. “It’s kind of a tough situation, one hand you’re thinking other guys had to qualify in the sprinkles.”

“My track was dry,” Newman continued. “I don’t know if it was any faster. I think we picked up the same speed as the other guys did earlier in qualifying.”

The drama particularly played out with five-time champion Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet, who started his qualifying run but then pulled off the track, only to be resoundly booed and heckled by the crowd, who were desperate for the completion of qualifying.

“Some of them did and some of them didn’t go out, but in the end we’re supposed to have dry track conditions or at least not be raining when we go out on the race track,” Newman said. “So, I understand where Jimmie (Johnson) came from when he pulled in.”

“I’m just really proud of my team,” Newman said. “We backed up what we did here at least on Friday from the spring race and give the Haas Automation a good starting spot.”

The Red Bull teammates of Kasey Kahne, behind the wheel of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, and Brian Vickers, driving the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, were also part of the drama that played out in Loudon qualifying.

Vickers went out prior to the rain drops falling, where Kahne had to cool his heels with the five remaining cars awaiting the drying of the track. In the end, Kahne still scored the outside pole, while Vickers lost the provisional pole, falling to the third spot.

“Obviously the conditions were tough,” Vickers said. “I would have liked to have seen it play out just running straight through.”

“It is what it is,” Vickers continued. “Either way we started out better than we would have.”

“We ended up with a top-three start,” Vickers said. “So, that’s great and both Red Bull cars are up front.”

“But again, I would have liked to have seen our laps hold if we were heads up in the same position.”

Outside pole sitter Kasey Kahne was second quickest when he finally got to qualify, with a lap of 28.263 seconds and a speed of 134.763 mph.

“It was a good effort,” Kahne said. “We ended up right where we would have been if it would have ended up if it hadn’t rained.”

“The track was definitely slicker,” Kahne continued. “The way my car handled, we were definitely quicker in practice. But I’m glad we got qualifying in.”

Greg Biffle, driving the No. 16 Ford40MPG.com Ford, and Kurt Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Dodge, rounded out the top five for the 15^th annual Sylvania 300. The remainder of the top ten qualifiers were Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex, Jr. and Jimmie Johnson.

Starting Lineup
Sylvania 300, New Hampshire Motor Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=28
===========================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===========================================
1	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	135.002	28.213
2	4	Kasey Kahne	Toyota	134.763	28.263
3	83	Brian Vickers	Toyota	134.648	28.287
4	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	134.587	28.3
5	22	Kurt Busch	Dodge	134.382	28.343
6	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	134.354	28.349
7	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	134.16	28.39
8	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	134.146	28.393
9	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	134.146	28.393
10	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	134.075	28.408
11	33	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	134.056	28.412
12	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	133.981	28.428
13	43	A.J. Allmendinger	Ford	133.82	28.462
14	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	133.816	28.463
15	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	133.792	28.468
16	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	133.769	28.473
17	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	133.755	28.476
18	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	133.595	28.51
19	0	David Reutimann	Toyota	133.572	28.515
20	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	133.445	28.542
21	5	Mark Martin	Chevrolet	133.357	28.561
22	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	133.245	28.585
23	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	133.203	28.594
24	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	133.114	28.613
25	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	132.905	28.658
26	6	David Ragan	Ford	132.896	28.66
27	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	132.665	28.71
28	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	132.591	28.726
29	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	132.572	28.73
30	51	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	132.429	28.761
31	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	132.232	28.804
32	38	J.J. Yeley	Ford	132.213	28.808
33	34	David Gilliland	Ford	132.048	28.844
34	30	David Stremme	Chevrolet	131.856	28.886
35	66	Michael McDowell	Toyota	131.797	28.899
36	7	Robby Gordon	Dodge	131.352	28.997
37	13	Casey Mears	Toyota	131.293	29.01
38	55	Travis Kvapil	Ford	131.058	29.062
39	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	130.833	29.112
40	32	Mike Bliss	Ford	130.613	29.161
41	37	Josh Wise	Ford	130.55	29.175
42	71	Andy Lally+*	Ford	128.784	29.575
43	46	Scott Speed	Ford	130.305	29.23

September 23, 2011

Surprising and Not Surprising: Chicagoland Geico 400

After a valiant attempt to battle the rain drops and start the race as advertised on Sunday, NASCAR finally gave in and postponed the race until Monday. This is what was surprising and not surprising from the 11^th running of the GEICO 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.

[media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”229″][/media-credit]Surprising: Although without fuel for a burnout, smoke still surprisingly rose from Victory Lane as the driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, Tony Stewart, celebrated his first win of the season with crew chief Darian Grub and his team.

This was Stewart’s 40^th victory in 455 Cup races, tying him with Mark Martin for 16^th on the all-time victory list. This also ended 32-race winless streak, but extended Smoke’s streak of having one win every season for the past 13 years.

“You couldn’t pick a better weekend to get that first win of the year than here at Chicago,” Stewart said. “We’ve had a miserable year, by our standards. But the last three weeks we’ve really started coming into it.”

“At the end you hate to have to play the fuel mileage game,” Stewart continued. “We didn’t do any wild burnouts or anything like that and ran out before we ever got on pit road.”

“So, we were closer than I wanted to be,” Smoke said. “But I had a good enough car to get us there and Darian and his calls gave us the opportunity to get the lead. I was glad I saved as much as I did.”

Stewart’s win catapulted him up seven spots in the Chase point standings, moving from the ninth position to second, only seven points out of first.

Not Surprising: While driver and team owner celebrated in victory lane, it was not surprising to see the other half of Stewart-Hass Racing dynamic duo also have a good day at the office.

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 US Army Medicine Chevrolet, finished eighth. Newman led twice during the race, for a total of 18 laps.

Highlighting on his hood the medical men and women of the US Army, Newman also scored his 14^th top-10 finish of the season and his sixth top-10 finish in his 10 career Cup starts at Chicagoland Speedway.

Newman’s finish garnered him one step up in the Chase, moving from eighth to seventh. He is in a tie, however, with sixth place Keselowski, who has three wins to Newman’s one on the season.

Surprising: Granted that the race was delayed due to rain and decided by fuel mileage, it was still surprising the lack of impact qualifying had on the race finish. At one extreme was Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Crown Royal Ford, who not only qualified on the pole but also led off and on throughout the race only to be done in by fuel mileage but also by a penalty for being pushed by J J Yeley on the last lap. Kenseth finished 21^st and fell six positions in the Chase standings to tenth.

“It is really frustrating to be a race car driver and they drop the green on the last run of the day when you are supposed to put on a show for the fans and you have to run full throttle and can’t floor it or you will run out of gas,” Kenseth said. “It is pretty aggravating to do all the work and qualifying and pit stops and adjustments but none of it makes a difference.”

On the flip side of the coin was Kevin Harvick, behind the wheel of the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet, who qualified 30^th only to live up to his ‘Closer’ reputation to finish second in the race. This was Harvick’s seventh top-10 finish in 11 races at Chicagoland Speedway and his 14^th top-10 finish in 2011.

Harvick’s finish catapulted him into first place in the Chase standings.

“I knew that we had saved a little bit under caution and a little bit at the beginning of that run,” Harvick said of his fuel status at the end of the race. “Everybody on our Budweiser Chevrolet did a great job knowing exactly how far we could go, so good first race for us.”

Not Surprising: When it comes to fuel mileage racing, it is never surprising to see Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and his crew chief Steve Letarte go for broke and roll the dice. The race at Chicagoland was no different with the driver taking his No. 88 Amp Energy/National Guard Chevrolet to a 3^rd place finish.

“We worked real hard all weekend trying to be smart,” Junior said. “The car was a bit of a struggle in the middle part of the race but in that last run, we were one of the best cars on the track.”

“We started trying to save a little gas and we made it further than most,” Junior continued. “It was a good weekend for us.”

Surprising: The driver of the No. 18 Wrigley’s Doublemint Toyota and the driver of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet had a surprising statistic in common. Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon both lost eight positions in the Chase standings due to their Chicagoland race struggles, thanks to their 22^nd and 24^th finishing positions respectively.

“We had a good car and kept fighting back all day long,” Busch said. “I saved as much fuel as I could but I guess it just wasn’t enough and we ran out with two to go. Just a really disappointing day.”

Gordon echoed those sentiments, although he acknowledged that not only did he qualify poorly but his car was a handful all race long.

“It was just one of those days,” Gordon said. “We were just off.”

“We actually got the car halfway decent there at the end,” Gordon continued. “Then it came down to saving fuel and we obviously didn’t save enough fuel.”

Not Surprising: In spite of burying the hatchet with his nemesis Jimmie Johnson and having a decent finish, it was not surprising that controversy continued to dog the driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger. After skirmishing with the media at last weekend’s race, Kurt Busch skirmished instead with his crew chief and team, sharing a few choice words over the radio during the race.

“We had speed in the car early, but just didn’t keep up with the track,” Busch said after the race. “We just struggled with making adjustments as the race went on.”

Not surprisingly, Busch’s crew chief Steve Addington seemed to especially take the criticism to heart, falling on the sword for the team.

“It seems like we can get our cars tightened up, but can’t free them up at all and we struggled with that,” Addington said. “I’m disappointed that we led a lot of laps and should have had a better showing with the Shell/Pennzoil Dodge.”

“We just couldn’t stay on top of the race track like we needed to once the track got rubbered-in,” Addington continued. “I’m disappointed in myself.”

Surprising: It was surprising to watch the metamorphosis that took place for Brad Keselowski as he moved from the ‘Iron Man’ performance that got him into Chase contention to NASCAR’s version of Cinderella.

Keselowski, behind the wheel of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge finished the race in the fifth position. With that top-five finish, he also moved up five positions to sixth in the current Chase standings.

“Whew, an amazing day to get this Miller Lite Dodge Charger a top-five finish,” Keselowski said. “It wasn’t easy.”

“It really was a matter of trying to be patient,” Keselowski continued. “Our fuel mileage was awesome.”

“It was a good first step for us in the Chase.”

Not Surprising: With the futures of several drivers uncertain, it was not surprising to see them achieve some hopefully eye-catching finishes. Tops among those drivers who finished alongside the elite Chase contenders were Clint Bowyer, who took seventh, as well as Mark Martin with a top-10 finish and Brian Vickers with a top-15.

September 20, 2011