Tag: Same Hornish Jr.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Pure Michigan 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Pure Michigan 400

    [media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”217″][/media-credit]From the older pole sitter Mark Martin, celebrating thirty years of racing at MIS, to Kid Rock giving the command, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 43rd annual Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

    Surprising:  It was surprising that the race winner, standing in Victory Lane in the Irish hills of Michigan, had another city, Las Vegas, on his mind.

    Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford, capitalized on the Jimmie Johnson’s engine woes to score his second victory of the season and his third at Michigan International Speedway.

    He is now 20 points ahead of his teammate Matt Kenseth in the point standings and has a Vegas-style championship celebration on his mind.

    “It’s an important win,” Biffle said. “We have been working really hard to get back into Victory Lane.”

    “We are going to make a run at the title,” Biff continued. “I know they don’t talk about us a lot, but they will when we get to Vegas.”

    Biffle’s win also catapulted Roush Fenway Racing to its 12th win at MIS, breaking a tie with the Wood Brothers for most wins at that race track.

    Not Surprising:  For the second week in a row, Brad Keselowski was the enthusiastic runner-up, heading quickly to Victory Lane to congratulate the race winner.

    “He just did a great job,” Keselowski said of Biffle. “He had a fast car and passed me legit and I couldn’t keep up with him.”

    “I tell you what, it felt good to be racing up there at my home track here at Michigan,” The driver of the Blue Deuce continued. “It’s an honor to race with guys like Greg and be door-to-door.”

    “I feel like the best is yet to come.”

    This was Keselowski’s second top-10 finish in seven races at Michigan and his best finish at his home track. He has now finished 1st, 8th, 5th, 9th, 4th, 2nd and 2nd in the last seven races.

    Surprising:  Mr. Hendrick found himself in a surprising role, that of referee between two of his drivers, veteran Jeff Gordon and the sport’s most popular Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

    The two tangled on the track after a restart, which led to consternation from the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet and confusion from Junior and company.

    “He took me four-wide and then he slid up in front of me,” Gordon said after the race. “I didn’t think it was very smart what he did.”

    “I didn’t feel like I did anything wrong,” Earnhardt, Jr. said. “I thought there was plenty of room.”

    Not Surprising:  Marcos Ambrose, winner of last week’s race at the Glen, continued riding the wave of momentum on his mission to try for a Chase berth. Ambrose, in the No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion, finished fifth and currently sits 17th in points with one win.

    “It was a really strong day,” Ambrose said. “We came off a win and sometimes you struggle to keep that mojo going.”

    “It’s great to run top five, but winning is what it’s all about now for us.”

    Surprising:  While races can sometimes be full of challenges and surprises, Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet, sure had his hands full in the Irish hills.

    Kahne was caught up in the one of the major wrecks of the day, yet was still able to overcome to finish third, his eighth top-10 finish in 18 races at MIS.

    “Man, there was a lot that went on for us,” Kahne said. “Slid through the grass and thought it destroyed my car.”

    “Fortunately it just pushed the right fender in,” Kahne continued. “The guys were able to pop it up out and we came back to third.”

    “Solid day, solid recovery.”

    Not Surprising:   In spite of a wreck that could have been devastating, with his car practically impaled, the ever effervescent Mark Martin had only praise for his team after getting out of his fiery, destroyed race car.

    “I just want to thank all the race fans,” the driver of the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota said. “Michael Waltrip gave me a chance to drive an awesome race car.”

    “I’m glad I’m OK too and I’m glad I got to drive this thing.”

    Martin was rewarded for his efforts with a deal announcement that he will drive 22 races for MWR in 2013.

    Surprising:  With an engine shop that is usually the gold standard, it was surprising that drivers were in defense mode of the Hendrick motors after four failures during the race.

    Tony Stewart was one of those drivers affected by a broken valve spring in his No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet, relegating him to a 32nd place finish. This was Stewart’s first DNF in 42 races.

    “It’s not something that’s the norm,” Smoke said. “I appreciate everybody at the Hendrick engine department.”

    “We have the best engine department in the world, definitely in the series, and they did everything they could,” Stewart continued. “It was just a bad day.”

    Not Surprising:  In spite of his teammate’s engine troubles and his own flu-like symptoms, Ryan Newman said hello to an eighth place finish at MIS. This was also his eighth top-10 finish for the season, keeping him in potential Chase contention in the wild card spot.

    “I’m better,” Newman said after stepping out of the car. “I think adrenaline took over for the most part.”

    “Finishing eighth, I think we’re proud of that.”

    Surprising:  Traditionally at a track like Michigan, four-wide racing is the norm. But surprisingly, MIS may have become the new Bristol, thanks to the beating and banging on the track and the feuds developing in the aftermath.

    One such duo that tangled at MIS was Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, and young Joey Logano, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet.

    “He came down on me twice,” Logano said of Montoya. The youngster soldiered on after a hard hit to the wall to finish 31st.

    “Well anything that could go wrong today did,” JPM, who finished 26th, said. “It was a rough day.”

    Not Surprising:  Sam Hornish Jr. continued to show just how badly he wants to retain the seat of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger. After finishing second in the Nationwide race in Montreal, Hornish returned to MIS and worked his way up from the back of the field to finish 12th in the Cup race.

    “Not a bad day,” Hornish Jr. said. “I felt like it was pretty good from the point that we started in the back and worked our way up and by the midpoint of the race, we were running in the top five.”

    “We just got off on our strategy and that kept us from getting the finish that we wanted.”

    “Hopefully I get the opportunity to be here in the Cup Series.”

     

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Kansas STP 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Kansas STP 400

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Tyler Barrick/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]From the command to start engine from Victory Junction Gang campers to Brad Keselowski manning the tank to rip up the Kansas track after the race ended, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 2nd Annual STP 400.

    Surprising:  While Kansas may be known as the Land of Oz, it was more like the land of highs and lows for this race day, with an extremely high number of engine failures and pit errors to a record low number of cautions.

    Dale Earnhardt, Jr., driver of the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard, was one of the first to struggle on pit road, missing it completely as he attempted to pit early in the race. Other drivers, such as Kasey Kahne and Kevin Harvick barely made it to the pits after running short on fuel. And even five-time champion Jimmie Johnson had his own set of pit woes with his team struggling with a loose lug nut.

    There were also an extremely high number of engine problems, affecting  drivers from Bobby Labonte and Mark Martin to four-time champion Jeff Gordon, all of whose engines either sputtered or just plain blew up completely.

    And as for cautions, there were only three, the lowest ever for a Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway. Although there was the lowest number of cautions, on the flip side, the average speed was surprisingly the highest at Kansas, 144.126 mph, a new track record.

    Not Surprising:  On the rough surface of the Kansas Speedway, it was not surprising that tires made all the difference in the outcome of the race. Just ask Martin Truex, Jr. whose tires fell off after leading 173 laps, costing him the race win and handing it to Denny Hamlin with just 31 laps to go.

    “We put that last set of tires on and it wasn’t anything like it had been all day long – just bad, bad loose,” the driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry said. “We had them. I don’t know what happened with that last set of tires but they were terrible.”

    With Truex’s tire troubles, Denny Hamlin capitalized, scoring his 19th victory in 231 Cup Series races. This was the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota driver’s second victory and fourth top-10 finish in the 2012 season. It was also the first time his manufacturer, Toyota, was in victory lane at Kansas.

    “I knew that he was driving his heart out as well as I was driving mine,” Hamlin said. “What got me the lead was driving hard and that’s kind of where we were able to stretch it out.”

    Surprising:  After scoring the pole position, it was surprisingly heartbreaking that the troubles that have been omnipresent for A.J. Allmendinger continued. The driver of the No. 22 AAA Dodge for Penske Racing went from race leader to a 32nd place finish because of engine troubles.

    “Man, it’s just starting to feel like ‘Ground Hog’s Day’,” Allmendinger said. “We were off to such a great start and then the gremlins hit us.”

    “Not sure how to explain it other than you’re on the pole one minute riding around leading laps and then the next thing you know your car isn’t right,” Dinger continued. “I just couldn’t believe it. Like I said, ‘Ground Hog Day.’

    Not Surprising:  With his confidence growing, it was not surprising to see fellow Penske racer Sam Hornish Jr. have a respectable run in his one off deal for the team. The driver of the No. 12 SKF Penske Dodge scored a 19th place finish.

    “We had a decent day,” Hornish Jr. said. “We led some laps and made a very respectable effort.”

    “It was good to get back in a Cup car again.”

    Surprising:  Since everyone wants to win in front of their friends and family, it was surprising that no home town heroes were in victory lane at Kansas Speedway. Carl Edwards, who was able to drive to the track from his home, finished ninth and Clint Bowyer, fellow Kansas native, had engine troubles, finishing in the 36th spot.

    “It was just a major bummer,” Clint Bowyer, the driver of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota, said. “I just wish it wouldn’t have happened here.”

    “It wasn’t a great result but a really good effort,” Edwards said of his run in the No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion. “I wanted to win here more than anything but we get to come back.”

    “It’s humbling and I can’t wait to come back,” Edwards continued. “We’ll do it.”

    Not Surprising:   The quest for the 200th win for Hendrick Motorsports is not surprisingly beginning to resemble the streak that Susan Lucci experienced with her Daytime Emmy awards. While Hendrick Motorsports had a fairly good day, with the exception of Jeff Gordon, the 200th victory still remains elusive.

    “It just didn’t happen,” the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger said. “As a group, we know it’s coming.”

    “It’s just when you have a target, it always makes it more challenging,” Gordon continued. “We’re trying not to put too much pressure on us with that and just trying to go out and do our thing and do our job.”

    Surprising:  While Hendrick Motorsports struggled to reach their 200th win marker at Kansas, it was surprising to note that there is another quest for a 200th victory. The race winning No. 11 car in fact now has 199 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories, breaking a tie for most wins all-time with the No. 43.

    Other drivers who have won in the No. 11 car include Cale Yarborough with 55 wins, Ned Jarrett with 49, Darrell Waltrip with 43, Denny Hamlin with 19, Junior Johnson with 11, Bill Elliott with 6, Geoff Bodine with 4, Terry Labonte with 4, Bobby Allison with 3, Buddy Baker with 2, A.J. Foyt with 1, Mario Andretti with 1 and Parnelli Jones with 1.

    Not Surprising:  Greg Biffle, to no one’s surprise, has continued his consistently good runs. The driver of the No. 16 3M Ford finished fifth and more important maintained his points lead.

    “It’s not a disappointing day for a fifth-place finish,” Biffle said. “But it’s probably a disappointing day for how the car ran.”

    “It feels good to be disappointed with a fifth-place finish,” Biff continued. “Fifth is OK but we wanted to compete better on the race track.”