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Tag: Sonoma Raceway

  • Finley Factor: Putting A Muzzle On The Dog

    Finley Factor: Putting A Muzzle On The Dog

    The lottery is really just a volunteer tax. Every week thousands upon thousands of people attempt to win it, in spite of the one in million(s) odds. Every week, these same thousands upon thousands of people don’t win the big money and decide to try again next week.

    NASCAR’s version of the lottery? The free lap rule.

    It’s a fairly easy rule to explain – like the lottery – to explain to those playing. If a caution comes out and a driver is the first a lap or more down (and they did not cause said caution), they become the “lucky dog” and gain a free lap.

    Like the lottery, most “lucky dogs” win it by pure luck with no actual indicator of skill. They are simply lapped right before the caution comes out and if it had been even another lap, the leader would have lapped yet another driver. And if there are multiple cautions in a single period, congratulations, everybody gets their lap back!

    The reality is that no driver has won a race after winning the free pass in five years now. Kevin Harvick was the last to do so, at Daytona in 2010, and only eight times in the 12-year history of the rule has a driver won after being the “lucky dog”.

    If anything, the only factor the free pass rule has on most races is that lapped cars now have extra incentive to “race” each other. This is a code word for “ignore other cars and just get in the way of lead lap cars.”

    Other than that, it has no real effect on racing and only serves to make racing sound better in PR statements – “We’ve had X amount of cars finish on the lead lap this year, we’re at the most competitive point in racing history”- and overall is just a waste of time.

    Like the lottery.

     

    Sonoma Raceway Preview:

    Favorite

    Jeff Gordon has to be the favorite this week. Even though he has not won at Sonoma in the past five years, he has an incredible 3.8 average finish over that same period, making Sonoma his best track on the Cup schedule.

    Sleeper

    Jimmie Johnson only has a single win at a road course but it came here, and like Gordon, he is riding a streak of five top-10s in the last five years here.

    One to Watch

    I’m interested to see how Kevin Harvick does this week. This is a good track for him, but he only finished 20th here last year. Now that this team has some experience together, they should definitely improve on that.

     

    I’m getting tired of writing about Danica Patrick, especially because I feel she is performing decently this year, but here we go again.

    I would like to provide a rebuttal to an article posted on motorsport.com, in particular, one written by news manager Steven Cole Smith about Danica Patrick possibly being a future Hall of Famer.

    Overall I feel Mr. Smith didn’t exactly provide a good argument, as there are plenty of holes in his article that should be pointed out. The Orlando Sentential has already looked at one of them, I’m going to do the rest of the hard work.

    “And while she may not yet have compiled sheer statistics that would send her to the NASCAR Hall of Fame, the fact that she has been the first female driver to prove that a woman – particularly a woman that isn’t built like a roller derby jammer – can survive season after season in what has always been, and still is, a man’s sport.”

    Granted she has finished no higher than 27th in practically Hendrick equipment the last two seasons, but hey, it isn’t like her boss is doing a lot better this year.

    “All that said, yes, Patrick doesn’t have a win, but look at her stats this season: As we approach the halfway mark, she is 19th in points, ahead of Greg Biffle (20th), Sam Hornish Jr. (25th), her car owner, Tony Stewart (26th), and her boyfriend, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (28th).

    That shows competence. And for a slot in the Hall of Fame, I contend that’s plenty for a pioneer. I’m not remotely saying that her situation mirrors the struggle that Hall of Famer Wendell Scott faced as the first black driver to make a living in NASCAR, but there are similarities.

    But Scott’s first real season with NASCAR in 1961 when he competed in 23 of 52 races that year, winning $3,240, came a stunning 52 years before a woman ran a full season, when Patrick did in 2013.”

    Competence should never be the skill level of a driver in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The reality is that Wendell Scott was a good driver; he didn’t have the hard stats (i.e. wins) to prove it, but you have to remember his situation. He was running cars out of his backyard and had his children as his primary crew working on them.

    Just the fact that he was able to make it to the racetrack was remarkable, never mind his three top-10 points finishes and an average finish of 15th throughout his career.

    Granted, those results were a little inflated due to smaller fields and fewer drivers running full time versus today, but Scott still had 147 top-10 finishes in 495 starts, roughly a top-10 every 3.3 races.

    Scott was a very consistent driver, similar in many ways to other “strokers” in Cup at the time, including James Hylton and Richard Childress. Nobody had the money the big teams had; they only raced out of pure love for the sport.

    Meanwhile, Patrick, save for a fuel mileage win in IndyCar at Motegi, hasn’t won a professional race in 10 years of trying. And for at least the past 10 years, from Motorola to GoDaddy to whatever will be on the No. 10 next season, she has always had big money sponsors.

    In seven years in IndyCar, she had an average finish of 10.6 in usually a 20 or so car field, only seven podiums, and a pathetic 124 laps led.

    The fact is that she has been a journeyman driver, and as I’ve said, I think her peak is ultimately going to be at the Paul Menard level, she is an incredibly average driver that will contend for a spot in the Chase but probably won’t get it.

    “Add to that the attention Patrick brought, and is still bringing, to stock car racing. She arguably brought along her IndyCar fans, as well as female fans who identified more with her than, say, Jimmy Spencer.”

    How long did these IndyCar fans stay? Apparently not very long since ratings were down in 2014 after being slightly up in 2013, her rookie year. And even then, with the introduction of the Gen 6 and a few other things, the rating increase in 2013 may not have been only because of Patrick.

    Not to mention – what IndyCar fans? NASCAR has been heads and shoulders above IndyCar when it comes to the pure number of fans for many years. IndyCar has been stuck on Versus/NBCSN for years and the only reason NASCAR is going on that network to begin with is to build said network up to someday compete with ESPN. And, of course, I’d cite attendance numbers, but NASCAR doesn’t publically give them out anymore. mainly because of how embarrassing the numbers are, nd are actively tearing down grandstands to reduce seating capacity.

    None of this is Patrick’s fault of course, but she definitely brought in either no fans, a miniscule amount of fans long term, or the people she brings in are being outpaced by the people not caring about racing anymore, which is pretty frightening if true.

    As far as female fans…. There has always been roughly a 30-40 percent female audience for NASCAR since the 90’s. I’m not going to argue that there are women who became a fan of Patrick when she made the switch, but that doesn’t make a huge difference when the overall number of fans is going down.

    “And speaking of IndyCar, no migrant to NASCAR has been able to duplicate the success of Tony Stewart, including Juan Pablo Montoya, Dario Franchitti and Indy 500 winner Hornish, who is still struggling to establish himself. Patrick has.”

    Hold up, hold up. Granted Montoya didn’t “duplicate the success of Tony Stewart,” but he still won races and made the Chase in 2009. Somehow he isn’t as successful as Patrick, who did “duplicate the success of Tony Stewart.” By this point in his Cup career (97 starts), Stewart had 10 wins and 33 top-fives, with a highest points finish of fourth and was in the middle of a season where he’d be the runner up for the championship. Patrick has no wins, no top fives, has a highest points finish of 27th and is on track to finish the current season in the high teens in points. Granted this is a very unfair comparison but I’m not the one making it, I’m just adding numbers to said comparison.

    “Is there anyone who can say Danica Patrick hasn’t been very, very good for racing in general, NASCAR in particular?”

    Ford has been very, very good for racing in general but I don’t think we’ll be seeing anybody from the Ford family inducted into the Hall of Fame anytime soon.

    “Based on what she has done up to now, Danica Patrick is Hall of Fame material. But she’s young (33) and still has time to wow us, possibly by doing the Memorial Day double – the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600.”

    To begin with, doing the double is nice but I don’t see Robby Gordon getting the nod to go into the Hall of Fame, and both Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart will go in for their overall body of work.

    If I were judging today’s drivers based off of Hall of Fame merit, only 8 full time drivers come to mind as being Hall of Famers as of right now. These drivers are:

    Jeff Gordon

    Jimmie Johnson

    Tony Stewart

    Matt Kenseth

    Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    Kevin Harvick

    Kurt Busch

    Kyle Busch (Remember it’s a NASCAR Hall of Fame, not just Cup merits matter).

    Bobby Labonte (Not full time but should be mentioned as he will be going in with his brother whenever he decides to hang up the fire suit for good).

    After that there are a few borderline candidates, such as Brad Keselowski or Carl Edwards. But the reality is that it’s unfair to judge all but these select few, because their careers are in progress.

    Who really knows what could happen from here on out. Patrick could go win five races and win the championship this year. But you can’t judge careers now, and even if you want to, Danica doesn’t come close in my opinion.

    But don’t just take my word for it. Read both mine and Smith’s articles and come to your own conclusion on the matter. My own conclusion is that Danica should not be put into the Hall of Fame simply for having something no woman before her has ever had in NASCAR… money.

    All stats cited in the Finley Factor are as per Racing Reference unless otherwise noted.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Sonoma Toyota/Save Mart 350

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Sonoma Toyota/Save Mart 350

    With plenty of wine and whining on and off the track, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 26th Annual Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.

    Surprising: The winner of the race, his first ever at Sonoma and his second of the season, effectively locking him into the Chase, seemed surprisingly star-struck in Victory Lane.

    “It means a lot to me,” Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Aflac Ford for Roush Fenway Racing, said. “And then the real special part to me was to stand in Victory Lane at Sonoma and have Jeff Gordon come and give me a handshake as the second place finisher means a lot.”

    “I grew up watching Jeff Gordon and specifically watching how he drove this racetrack and all the successes he had here, so I mean, that’s really super,” Edwards continued. “It definitely meant a lot to have Jeff Gordon in my mirror.”

    “It’s something I’ll never forget.”

    With his victory, Edwards kept the consecutive new winner streak alive at Sonoma, being the eighth consecutive first time winner on that road course.

    Not Surprising: As Edwards paid tribute to him, Jeff Gordon seemed to get a kick out of it, which he could afford to do after posting a runner up finish to Edwards, as well as maintaining the point standing lead.

    “I’m starting to hear that a lot more,” Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Panasonic Chevrolet, said of Edwards comments about watching him race in his growing up years. “I hear things like he was born when I won my first championship or watching me as a kid.”

    “You know what, I love racing here,” Gordon continued. “I love being competitive, leading the points and having a shot winning races 22 years into my Cup career.”

    “We’re having fun.”

    Gordon scored his 14th career top-5 finish at Sonoma and his 12th top-10 finish for the season. He is now 20 spots ahead of six-time champ and teammate Jimmie Johnson in the point standings.

    Surprising: While Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s aggressiveness certainly played a role in this third place finish, he also credited his own road course education for helping to achieve his first ever top-10 finish at Sonoma.

    “This is a real technical track where the corners are lined up one after the other, and if you make a mistake in Turn 2, you really don’t clean it up until Turn 4,” the driver of the No. 88 Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet said. “So everything sort of has to line up and that takes a certain mentality and a certain understanding of road course racing that guys like myself don’t have coming from late models and oval tracks and stuff like that.”

    “You have to go to school,” Junior continued. “You have to study. You have to listen to people. You have to run as many laps as you can at practices and tests and stuff like that to adapt and understand. We were fast all weekend and just kind of put it together.”

    “Aside from holding a trophy, this is like a win for us.”

    Not Surprising: Kevin Harvick took to the California stage and starred yet again in his own version of ‘Groundhog Day’. On Lap 72, the driver of the No. 4 Outback / Budweiser Folds of Honor Chevrolet entered his pit stall in the fourth position and promptly lost spots after another miscommunication with his over-the-wall team.

    “We basically sat on the jack for about three seconds waiting on fuel and we didn’t need to,’’ Rodney Childers, Harvick’s crew chief said. “Bad, bad miscommunication or decision on some of the pit crew member’s part.’’

    After that bad pit stop, Harvick restarted further back in the field and then was collected in an accident to finish 20th.

    “All in all, we got to get it together,’’ Childers said. “The pit crew has worked really hard to get their pit stops better. We got that better and now we’re doing stuff like we did to take us out of the win.”

    “Everybody keeps saying that the pit crew is messing up,” Childers continued. “The pit crew is not actually messing up. We had a great pit stop, and we just sit there on the jack, waiting for the gas man to say it was full.”

    “If we wouldn’t have sat there and waited, we would have beat (Jeff Gordon) off pit road and he almost won the race,’’ Childers said. “We had a way, way, way better car than (Gordon) did.’’

    Surprising:  Austin Dillon, not Kyle Larson, was the highest finishing rookie of the race. Dillon, in his iconic No. 3 Dow Chevrolet, finished 17th while Larson, in his No. 42 Target Chevrolet, finished well behind in the 28th spot.

    With that finish, Larson slipped from eighth to tenth in the point standings and Dillon also slipped one notch from 17th to 18th in points.

    Not Surprising: Although Marcos Ambrose, known for his road course prowess, did not have the best of days, he echoed what many in the Ford camp were definitely thinking.

    “I’ll take eighth,” Ambrose said after crossing the finish line in his No. 9 DeWalt Ford. “We came here with a strategy because we had the fastest car for a couple of laps, but it would fade away really bad. We came with a really soft package and I was hanging onto it all day, too.”

    “We’re gonna keep working at this place to try and make ourselves better, but congratulations to Carl,” Ambrose continued. “He did a great job in the race and it’s great to see Ford back in Victory Lane.”

    Surprising: Clint Bowyer was the highest finishing Toyota and he had to make an incredible comeback after a flat tire and on-track incident with Jamie McMurray to finish in the tenth position in his No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota.

    We had a fast 5-hour ENERGY Camry this weekend,” Bowyer said. “We got ourselves in position and had a flat. It was going down and I was all over the place.”

    “Jamie (McMurray) just kind of finished me up and got me out of the way, I guess,” Bowyer continued. “Bad luck, man.”

    “The way our season has been, we’ve been the lap closer here lately and if they keep bringing cars like that to the race track, we’ll be just fine.”

    Not Surprising:   With her IndyCar experience, especially on the road courses, it was no surprise that Danica Patrick not only had a decent day at Sonoma but also scored her personal best with an 18th place finish.

    “I think we kind of salvaged something there,” the driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet said. “It would be good for a couple laps and then would just go away. We got lucky getting the Lucky Dog and then just pitted a couple of times for fresh tires and fuel and wound up 18th.”

    “It’s not the best day, but I think we keep improving.”

    It was Patrick’s best road course finish in the Sprint Cup as she bettered a 29th-place finish last year at Sonoma and a 20th-place result at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.

    Surprising: Even Kasey Kahne, the only Hendrick driver who has struggled this season, got into the act at Sonoma, finishing sixth and ensuring that all Hendrick Motorsports drivers were in the top-10 when the checkered flag flew. And he did so in spite of some contact mid-race with Casey Mears.

    The driver of the No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet even finished higher than Jimmie Johnson, who came in seventh after starting 22nd in his Lowe’s Chevrolet.

    Not Surprising: With NASCAR’s close association with those in uniform, it was not surprising that the sport paused to honor its five year association with the Armed Forces Foundation, particularly the Troops to the Track program, a year-round recreational group therapy program that honors service men and women, veterans and military families at races throughout the country.

    “Troops to the Track presented by Bank of America showcases NASCAR’s commitment to our nation’s military and we are proud of our joint effort the past five years to serve the military,” Patricia Driscoll, President of the Armed Forces Foundation, said. “Here at the Armed Forces Foundation, we constantly strive to ‘serve those who serve,’ and with the support from NASCAR and Bank of America, we will be able to provide more opportunities for service members and their families around the country to get away from the stresses of injuries and deployments while enjoying the patriotism of the NASCAR community.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Carl Edwards And The AFLAC Duck Win At Sonoma

    Carl Edwards And The AFLAC Duck Win At Sonoma

  • McMurray Wins Coors Light Pole Award for Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway

    McMurray Wins Coors Light Pole Award for Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway

    Jamie McMurray won his second consecutive pole at Sonoma Raceway after a final run in the closing minutes of Knockout Qualifying with a track record qualifying speed of 96.350 mph. This is his third pole at Sonoma and his tenth series career pole.

    McMurray is the eleventh different pole winner this season and his qualifying speed set the eleventh track record this year.

    He spoke about the challenges of the new qualifying procedure, saying, “This Knockout Qualifying is just an emotional roller coaster, from not making it into the top twelve and then having to go out and bump your way in, to then being on the pole. There’s a lot of highs and lows that go into it.”

    McMurray hopes to translate this pole into a better finish than his previous two poles that resulted in disappointing finishes of 37th and 25th.

    “This race is about having good strategy and having a little bit of luck,” he explained. “It’s about not getting run into in Turn 4 or Turn 7 on a restart.  I’ve run enough races here that I’ve had every issue you could have.”

    He concluded by stating, “You have to put it all together. You have to have good strategy, you have to have a good car and you have to make good decisions as a driver.”

    AJ Allmendinger will start on the outside pole in second place. “

    I felt like I put in two good laps out there. You can nitpick and say I lost a little bit here and there but Jamie put in a hell of a lap, congrats to him,” Allmendinger said.

    McMurray’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, rookie Kyle Larson, qualified third. Larson was happy with his starting position but realizes that the race will provide an opportunity to improve and gain valuable experience.

    “I’ve still got a lot more to learn, especially when I get a few laps on the tires,’’ Larson said. “I struggle with that. I’m sure I’ll learn a lot throughout the race. I’ve just got to try to stay out of trouble.’’

    Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch round out the top five for Sunday’s starting lineup. Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, Brian Vickers, Paul Menard and Joey Logano complete the top ten starting positions. Danica Patrick and Casey Mears will start in eleventh and twelfth, respectively.

    The teams were unsure what to expect with the new qualifying format at Sonoma but the two sessions ran smoothly with no on-track incidents. Surprisingly, no Hendrick Motorsports Cars advanced to the final round of top twelve drivers.

    Other notables who did not advance to the last session include Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle and Brad Keselowski.

    Television pre-race coverage for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race will begin at 2 p.m. ET on TNT.  The green flag start is scheduled for approximately 3:19 ET.

    Complete Starting Lineup for Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway

    1 1 Jamie McMurray 96.350 74.354
    2 47 AJ Allmendinger 96.088 74.557
    3 42 Kyle Larson # 95.942 74.670
    4 99 Carl Edwards 95.857 74.736
    5 41 Kurt Busch 95.704 74.856
    6 4 Kevin Harvick 95.655 74.894
    7 31 Ryan Newman 95.616 74.925
    8 55 Brian Vickers 95.574 74.958
    9 27 Paul Menard 95.528 74.994
    10 22 Joey Logano 95.417 75.081
    11 10 Danica Patrick 95.414 75.083
    12 13 Casey Mears 95.327 75.152
    13 2 Brad Keselowski 95.617 74.924
    14 20 Matt Kenseth 95.605 74.933
    15 24 Jeff Gordon 95.552 74.975
    16 11 Denny Hamlin 95.479 75.032
    17 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 95.461 75.046
    18 78 Martin Truex Jr. 95.451 75.054
    19 16 Greg Biffle 95.432 75.069
    20 18 Kyle Busch 95.378 75.112
    21 14 Tony Stewart 95.308 75.167
    22 48 Jimmie Johnson 95.296 75.176
    23 9 Marcos Ambrose 95.247 75.215
    24 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 95.136 75.303
    25 15 Clint Bowyer 95.044 75.376
    26 3 Austin Dillon # 95.028 75.388
    27 38 David Gilliland 94.992 75.417
    28 95 Michael McDowell 94.972 75.433
    29 43 Aric Almirola 94.897 75.492
    30 5 Kasey Kahne 94.865 75.518
    31 34 David Ragan 94.793 75.575
    32 26 Cole Whitt # 94.734 75.622
    33 98 Josh Wise 94.568 75.755
    34 83 Ryan Truex # 94.562 75.760
    35 51 Justin Allgaier # 94.491 75.817
    36 33 Alex Kennedy 94.147 76.094
    37 40 Timmy Hill – DC1 94.012 76.203
    38 23 Alex Bowman # 93.867 76.321
    39 44 David Mayhew – DC2 93.741 76.423
    40 36 Reed Sorenson 93.498 76.622
    41 32 Boris Said 93.377 76.721
    42 7 Michael Annett # 92.282 77.632
    43 66 Tomy Drissi 91.115 78.626

     

     

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Sonoma Toyota Save Mart 350

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Sonoma Toyota Save Mart 350

    Under unexpected cloudy skies and even some rain drops, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 25th annual Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.

    Surprising:  Martin Truex Jr. was in surprisingly esteemed company with his 218-race winless streak, the second longest in the Cup Series to Bill Elliott’s 226-race winless streak.

    But Truex managed to avoid that number one winless record spot by grabbing the brass ring on the road course, attaining his second career victory, his first at Sonoma, and his first of the season.

    And according to the driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, the win marks the beginning of the new winning Truex.

    “I can’t even put it into words,” Truex said in Victory Lane. “I have so many people to thank who have stuck with me.”

    “The team is just phenomenal,” Truex continued. “It feels damn good to get one finally.”

    “Today was just our day and our time,” Truex said. “Our car was flawless.”

    “We’re going to get a bunch of them now, I can tell you that much.”

    Not Surprising:  The remainder of the MWR Race team also had a good day at the race track, with Clint Bowyer, defending Sonoma winner, finishing fifth in his No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota and Brian Vickers, fresh off his sixth place Nationwide finish at Road America, finishing 13th in the No. 55 RKMotorsCharlotte.com Toyota.

    “We had a fast car all weekend long,” Bowyer said. “We got close but we pitted and nobody came with us.”

    “A long time coming for Martin and happy to see him in Victory Lane.”

    MWR driver Vickers may not have had quite the finish he wanted but he got something even more important, a ringing endorsement from his team owner Michael Waltrip after the race.

    “We want Brian Vickers to be a part of this organization in the future,” Waltrip said after the race. “He’s our guy.”

    “We’re trying to put the pieces together.”

    Surprising:  Jeff Gordon, who had an eventful day of having to overcome a pitting too early penalty, also achieved a surprising record of his own.

    This was the Gordon’s 302nd career top-five finish, breaking the tie he had for third with Hall of Fame driver David Pearson.

    “This is one of those crazy types of races where pit strategy goes all over the place and you never know what might happen,” the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet said.  “The way things have been going on the track for me haven’t been great and they way things have been going with the calls haven’t been going his (crew chief Alan Gustafson’s) way either.”

    “But wow, we finally had a race car that was fantastic,” Gordon continued. “We had a lot of fun out there.”

    This was Gordon’s 17th top-10 finish in 21 races at Sonoma.

    Not Surprising:  Carl Edwards started where he finished, third and third, in his No. 99 Aflac Ford. This was his fourth top-10 finish in nine races at Sonoma and he was officially the highest finishing Ford in the race.

    “I would have liked to have made a couple spots up,” Edwards said. “It feels weird to race that hard all day and finish in the same spot you started.”

    “That’s the true story,” Edwards continued. “It was a pretty dynamic race.”

    “Eventually we will win one of these races.”

    Even with his third place start and finish, Edwards remains in the second place in the point standings, 25 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson.

    Surprising:  Kurt Busch was, by his own admission, surprisingly fast both on and off the track. He endured not one but two pit road speeding penalties , and in spite of that managed to claw his way back to the fourth finishing position in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing/Sealy Chevrolet.

    “Yeah, we were fast, even on pit road, twice,” Busch said. “I messed up, flat out.”

    “I didn’t hit my tachometer right and I was speeding both times,” Busch continued. “I just put myself in a position that was poor trying to get too much on pit road.”

    “But man this Furniture Row Chevy was fast.”

    Not Surprising:   Juan Pablo Montoya had a fast race car but that was not quite enough to finish the Sonoma race. The driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet needed some additional gas in his vehicle, running out on the last lap and dropping from the front of the field to a 34th place finish.

    “It’s just heartbreak,” Montoya said. “Our Target Chevy was really good today.”

    “You’ve got to defend them in the way they do the fuel calculations,” Montoya continued. “It should have been a little smarter.”

    “We’ve got tools to prevent things like that from happening.”

    Surprising:  Kyle Busch, who finished 35th in his No. 18 M&Ms Toyota after contact with both Montoya and Edwards sent him spinning, took to Twitter to battle those who were criticizing him.

    His first tweet of “Awww. My heart melts for @jpmontoya who ran out of gas. Only thing I got for Carl is “aww crap,” sent the tweet war off and running with some of his followers.

    After a few barbs back and forth, however, Busch showed his more jovial side, ending the Twitter visit with “Brought to u in part by mms. LOL” in response to this tweet @queers4gears: Does @KyleBusch’s twitter feed come with popcorn? #Entertainment.

    Not Surprising:  Most likely the two most disappointed drivers at Sonoma were those that started on the front row. Jamie McMurray had a great pole run only to finish 25th due to a flat tire and damage, while Marcos Ambrose, who had tested at Sonoma and qualified on the outside pole, salvaged a seventh place finish.

    “It’s OK,” the driver of the No. 9 Stanley Ford said. “We got a top-10 out of it.”

    “The weather cooled down and lot and we just didn’t anticipate that when we set the car up,” Ambrose continued. “Of course I wanted to win but that’s the way it goes.”

    Surprising:  There were two surprising engine issues right at the start in the race. Bobby Labonte, in the No. 47 Kingsford Toyota, did not even make a lap before his engine expired.

    Joining him was Jacques Villeneuve, who made it to Lap 19 before having his No. 51 Tag Heuer Avant-Garde Eyewear Chevrolet pushed into the garage with gear and engine woes.

    Not Surprising:  While Danica Patrick supposed that she was comfortable at Sonoma in that she at least knew where the ladies’ restrooms were, she finished a very uncomfortable 29th in her No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet.

    “It was a long day – a long weekend,” Patrick said. “We just couldn’t get the car to the point where I was comfortable with it.”

    “Having the cut tire and going into the tire barrier was just sort of salt in the wound,” Patrick continued. “Hopefully we have a better weekend next week at Kentucky.”

    Surprising:  Rookie Paulie Harraka, attempting his first Cup start in his No. 52 Hasa Pool Products Ford, had a surprisingly difficult start to the race, wrecking as the cars went out on track for the pace laps.

    “I don’t know what to say except that stuff happens,” Harraka said. “Somebody two cars ahead of me decided to stop in the go lane and why he did that I have absolutely no idea, but these cars don’t stop very well on the wet asphalt.”

    “Sometimes crazy stuff happens.”

    Not Surprising:  While Dale Earnhardt Jr. may not have scored a top-ten finish, he was still smiling after Sonoma with a 12th place finish at a road course which admittedly is not his forte.

    “It was a pretty good day,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet said. “This is definitely my worst race track, my least favorite track.”

    “We will take a top-15 here any week.”

     

  • Matty’s Picks 2013 – Vol. 13 Toyota/Save Mart 350 – Sonoma Raceway – June 23, 2013

    Matty’s Picks 2013 – Vol. 13 Toyota/Save Mart 350 – Sonoma Raceway – June 23, 2013

    On to the first of two road course races for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this week, Sonoma being the 1.99 mile road course on Sears Point this week. Possibly one of the best things about heading to Sonoma this week, is the track is a destination not only for California’s NASCAR fans, but also many racing enthusiasts in general.

    Sonoma Raceway attracts folks to its 11-turn stadium-like road course, because of it’s technical turns, elevation changes, and fantastic scenery. The blind corner entries, number of shifts, and finesse it takes to get around Sonoma efficiently make it one of the most difficult tracks to master for the drivers. In fact, all but one of the nine active NASCAR Sprint Cup winners at Sonoma participated in at least one or more races at the 1.99 miler, before visiting Victory Lane. Juan Pablo Montoya won at Sonoma in his rookie season and his first appearance, after starting 32nd, also the deepest in the field a race winner has ever started, back in 2007.

    Starting towards the front of the field at Sonoma has paid its dividends over the years, as 18 of 24 races have been won from a top-10 starting position. That trend hasn’t been as significant as of late with 3 of the last 6 race winners at Sonoma have started from outside the top-10. This weekend’s race is going to be one to watch with the delta shrinking between the road course specialists and the top guys in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and this new Gen6 car producing more down force than we’ve ever seen.

    Michigan Recap

    I only made one pick last week, and I went with the wrong Roush-Fenway driver. I picked Carl Edwards on Thursday last week (along with Greg Biffle as my number two pick, but failed to mention him in my column last week), which was looking even better after last Friday’s qualifying session. Edwards led some laps last Sunday, but the caution flag waived just after a mid-race green flag pit stop, and Carl spent the entire second-half of the race trying to gain back the track position he lost in the shuffle. He fought his way back to an eighth place finish last week, netting me a top 10.

    Sonoma Picks

    Winner Pick
    Marcos Ambrose and Juan Montoya are the obvious picks this week at Sonoma, and when deciding between the two, do keep in mind some of the luck Ambrose has had at Sonoma. For instance, remember back to 2010 when Ambrose opened up a 2+ second lead over Jimmie Johnson, when Brad Kesolowski spun and stalled in Turn 7, bringing out the caution with just 6 laps left. While trying to conserve fuel under caution, Ambrose shut down the engine and eventually lost pace with the caution car. He lost the race under caution in 2010, and luck just hasn’t been on his side at Sonoma over the years.

    It’s because of Ambrose’s misfortune that I am leaning towards Juan this week. Montoya is going through the best stretch of his season, and the fact that he will probably need two wins to secure a Wild Card for the Chase, is why I’m going to take Juan this week. He won in his first ever appearance at Sonoma back in 2007, and has been lighting up the charts so far this weekend. Montoya was second to Ambrose in the first practice session on Friday and fifth-fastest in happy hour, and rides a string of solid finishes into a track he’s been successful at over the years. He’s the guy to watch on Sunday.

    Dark Horse Pick

    This is a true longshot pick this week. Sonoma ranks as Jamie McMurray’s 6th-best track, and he’s inside the top-10 in a few of the traditional loop stats including green flag passes and average green flag speed. The practice speeds look even better as McMurray was 5th fastest in first practice yesterday, and followed up that practice session being shown second on the leaderboard after Happy Hour. This team has been coming around as of late, and could be a guy to knock off some of the road course ringers this week.

    That’s all for this week so until we head to the Bluegrass State…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

  • When The Weather Gets Hotter, Smoke Catches Fire

    When The Weather Gets Hotter, Smoke Catches Fire

    Tony Stewart; the man you should never count out no matter what. Tony said prior to the 2011 chase that he didn’t even deserve to be in it with how poorly he was running. Two months and five wins later, he was hoisting the Sprint Cup trophy at Homestead. This year, Stewart-Haas Racing has had a rough time finding their footing with these Generation Six cars and have been forced to endure some pretty bad days at the track. Tony went into the Coke 600 21st in the standings and with just one top 10 through the first eleven races. Since that race, he’s finished no worse than 7th and comfortably sits 10th in points. Now that’s an incredible turnaround.

    I believed that they would get their internal issues worked out which they have but I never thought he’d go on such a tear and make his way back into the top 10 before June was even half over! The resurgence of SHR after a dismal start is impressive and the results will only improve as the season rolls on. In the eight races preceding Charlotte, Tony had a best finish of 15th. Since that race, he’s finished 7th, 1st, 4th and 5th launching him up the leader board and into chase contention. History says that Stewart runs better when the weather gets hotter which is understandable considering the slick conditions that kind of weather creates has some similarities to running a dirt track where you have to muscle the car around every lap…a form of racing Stewart excels at. Now we go to a road course and after sifting through the ringers that show up for these events, full-timers such as Ambrose, Montoya, Busch (both of them), Gordon and Stewart become the obvious favorites.

    I don’t think Tony will pick up his second win of the year at Sonoma which would all but solidify him as a 2013 chaser but I do think he will have another good run padding his lead over 11th. That is, unless he lets his temper get the best of him like he did back in 2011 here. My advice to anyone that sees the 3-time champ in their mirror this weekend, do not block him or you’re going to have a very bad day. Last year, Tony brought home a runner-up finish at this 12 turned California venue and got to the bumper of eventual winner Clint Bowyer but no further. Temperatures this weekend at Sonoma will be in the 80’s which bodes well for an on the edge driver like Tony Stewart who has two wins and three 2nd place finishes at this unique road course.

    Will Tony Stewart be able to keep this remarkable performance going or will he begin to fall off again? I personally think he’ll snag another win or two before Richmond, make the chase and finish well in points but he won’t be sitting at the champion’s table in Vegas. I think someone with the last name of Kenseth or Kahne will have that honor but that’s a thought for a whole other conversation. Stewart has gained credence as a title contender and just a few weeks ago, everyone wanted to write him off as even procuring a chase berth. The dynamic of 2013 is changing…Ford’s are gaining ground, SHR are contenders again and JGR is losing the stranglehold they had on the field.

    Tempers will definitely flare this weekend as racing room is limited but at the same time, a necessity. Imprudent decisions will be made and drivers will get their feelings hurt. Whoever can survive this brutal event where pushing and shoving is the name of the game will find themselves in a very good position to obtain a solid finish or even a victory. If Tony isn’t in the middle of all the carnage and chaos, then he might just be that guy celebrating in victory lane.

  • Clint Bowyer ‘Happy to be Second’

    Clint Bowyer ‘Happy to be Second’

    [media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”227″][/media-credit]While it may have been Clint Bowyer’s first season ever with Michael Waltrip Racing, it was the best season of his career.

    And the driver of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota couldn’t be happier, finishing second in the Chase standings, just 39 points behind champion Brad Keselowski and a mere one point ahead of third place finisher and five time champ Jimmie Johnson.

    “Can you believe I beat Jimmie Johnson?” Bowyer said in the media session following his runner up speech at the banquet. “It was a whopping one point.”

    “That’s like winning.”

    Bowyer most likely never dreamed that he would finish the year so strongly, especially after leaving Richard Childress Racing at the end of 2011 and signing with new team Michael Waltrip Racing.

    “Those were nerve-racking times in the winter last year,” Bower said. “I had lost my ride at RCR and walked into a new program with a lot of unknowns.”

    “But I had a lot of confidence in what was going on,” Bowyer continued. “They paired me with Brian Pattie (crew chief) and a lot of good people and that’s what it takes to be successful.”

    Bowyer made the Chase with three victories in the year, including wins at Sonoma, Richmond and Charlotte. He also scored ten top-5 and 23 top-10 finishes for the 2012 season.

    Bowyer’s first win was one of his sweetest, coming at the road course of Sonoma, where he had never won before. He dominated that race, leading 71 or the 112 laps.

    “It was awesome,” Bowyer said of that first victory for MWR.”I run well at Sonoma.”

    “It’s one of those tracks where I’m comfortable from the very first laps I run,” Bowyer continued. “It just came effortless.”

    “You’re at the top of the board in practice and, if you’re not, you knew just what kind of adjustment you needed to put you at the top of the board,” Bowyer continued. “I’ve just always been able to find good speed there.”

    “I’ve learned to enjoy those road courses.”

    Bowyer has also learned to enjoy fuel mileage racing, winning his next two races at Richmond and Charlotte by saving gas and playing that strategy.

    At Richmond, Bowyer recovered from a spin midway through the race due to a cut tire in a close encounter with Juan Pablo Montoya, saved fuel at the end, and went on to Victory Lane. This win put Bowyer in the sixth position to start the run for the championship.

    “Thank you, Juan Pablo, for wrecking me and then winning me the race,” Bowyer said exuberantly. “It’s a good way to bounce back headed into the Chase after the bad race last weekend in Atlanta.”

    Bowyer’s third win, also in fuel conservation mode, came at Charlotte in October. The driver actually ran out of gas during his burnout celebration and walked with team owner Michael Waltrip to Victory Lane.

    For Bowyer, these three wins, as well as finishing second in the Chase were the capstones for his successful season.

    “My season highlights were all about winning,” Bowyer said. “Winning on my worst race tracks, a mile and a half and a road course.”

    “That says a lot about what we’ve got going on as a race team.”

    Unfortunately for Bowyer, however, there were also some lowlights of the season that have, according to the driver, almost overshadowed all of the accomplishments. And those lowlights involve fellow competitor and four-time champion Jeff Gordon.

    Interestingly, Gordon and Bowyer have had an interesting relationship throughout the season, clashing on the track but yet also having good runs together at the same time.

    When Bowyer won at Sonoma, he spied a picture of Jeff Gordon, five-time Sonoma winner, in the media center after the race, and noted how much bigger that made his win there.

    “I looked up and Jeff Gordon was there on the wall, won this race many times, he’s a champion of this sport and I just beat him,” Bowyer said. “You have no idea…I’m a young racer from Kansas.”

    “You don’t forget stuff like that.”

    Bowyer’s Richmond race was also intertwined with Gordon’s in that, while Bowyer stood in Victory Circle, Gordon scored his own brand of victory with Bowyer, beating out Kyle Busch for the final spot in the Chase.

    But it was the altercation with Jeff Gordon at Phoenix, the next to the last race of the season and in the Chase, that has consumed all of the attention, much to Bowyer’s chagrin.

    At that race, with Gordon intentionally crashing Bowyer late in the race, leading to a melee in the pits, and Bowyer’s now infamous run to catch Gordon, the spotlight shifted from accomplishment and finishing second place to the newest rivalry in the sport.

    “It’s a bad thing,” Bowyer said. “I want to get this behind me because I’ve had such a great year.”

    “And I hated that happened at the end of the year because that’s all you guys in the media wanted to talk about,” Bowyer continued. “That’s the story, but that’s what sucked for me, knowing how good of a year we had, how much pride we had, and because of a stupid thing there, that’s what we’re talking about, not how we ran in the Chase and in the season.”

    Does Bowyer think that the Phoenix altercation with Gordon cost him the championship? Although still smarting from it all, Bowyer definitely acknowledged that there were other factors that led to his second place Chase standing finish.

    “No, we got behind at Talladega and never really bounced back,” Bowyer said. “I knew that was going to be a hard one to overcome, especially as hard as Jimmie and Brad were running.”

    “But, look at the way we ran in the Chase,” Bowyer continued. “A bad race was sixth, you know.”

    “When you’re running like that, it’s pretty rare,” Bowyer said. “And if we can continue to build on that like I think we can, it gives me a lot of confidence and a lot of pride.”

    And that pride and sense of accomplishment is what Bowyer fully intends to focus on for the remainder of 2012, the offseason, and into the New Year.

    “When we made the Chase, my realistic goal was to be in the top five,” Bowyer said. “To exceed that…you can’t ask for more.”

    “I’m with a group that I can really enjoy,” Bowyer continued. “Anytime you’ve had success the way we’ve had success, you’re bound to have fun and build confidence within yourself.”

    “I feel like this year I ran the way I was capable of running and it was super-cool to be a part of it.”

  • Drivers to test new Sonoma layout before GoPro Indy Grand Prix

    Drivers to test new Sonoma layout before GoPro Indy Grand Prix

    On July 31st, it was announced that Sonoma Raceway will undergo three slight modifications to its track layout before the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma.  The changes made to turns seven, nine, and eleven were conducted with the intent to create more overtaking throughout the race weekend.

    [media-credit name=”indycar.com” align=”alignright” width=”250″][/media-credit]Ryan Briscoe of Penske Racing traveled to Sonoma at the end of July to speak out on the changes made to the California circuit.

    “As drivers, we should all be excited with the track configuration as it will help open up more areas for passing. With the new turn 7, it is going to be a slower corner with heavy breaking and later turning, which will become an added passing opportunity.  Turn 11 will also create a new challenge with a longer chute leading to carry more speed into the start/finish line.  I certainly welcome the new changes because they added to the beauty of driving the circuit,” Briscoe tells racer.com.

    With these new changes made to the track, the IndyCar teams have decided to test in Sonoma on Friday, August 17th.  The teams will look to gain vital practice and data acquisition in preparation for the Grand Prix on August 26th.

    The day long test will be open and free to the public.

    A driver of note that will make an appearance at the test is Sebastian Saavedra.  The Columbian racer will be a fourth entry for Andretti Autosport/AFS Racing.  Saavedra last competed in the IZOD IndyCar Series throughout the month of May for the Indianapolis 500.  Sebastian started 24th and finished 26th in the Greatest Spectacle in racing.

    Following the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, the IICS will have two races remaining.  The Grand Prix of Baltimore will be 2:30 PM ET on September 2nd and the season finale will be in Fontana, California on September 15th at 8:30 PM ET for the MAVTV 500.

  • Matty’s Picks 2012 – Vol. 17 Kentucky Speedway – Quaker State 400 – June 30, 2012

    Matty’s Picks 2012 – Vol. 17 Kentucky Speedway – Quaker State 400 – June 30, 2012

    For the second time in Kentucky Speedway’s brief 12-year history, the big guns of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will set their sights on the 1.5-mile, D-shaped demon. My forecast for the weekend, ‘it’s going to be HOT!’ Temperatures are slated to reach triple-digits all weekend in the Bluegrass State, and the heat will only add to the slickness of the racing surface in Sparta.

    It was a year ago that I had the privilege (or punishment) of covering the Inaugural Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway, and amidst the traffic issues, inclement weather and irritated race fans, I managed to have a good time. Jerry Carroll and now Bruton Smith have erected an absolutely magnificent facility in Northern Kentucky, and should be extremely proud to have been mentioned atop the list of sold-out races in 2011.

    Sonoma Recap

    I had a decent weekend last week in wine country, but did not have as good of a weekend as I would have liked. I’m supposedly a ‘Road Course Specialist’ so one would assume I could come up with some a decent finish in Sonoma.

    My Winner Pick last week was the guy that 95% of the entire NASCAR community had pegged to win the Toyota/Save Mart 350, but fell short in his effort to win from his second Coors Light Pole in as many weeks. Marcos Ambrose was the guy to beat going into last week’s 110 lap stanza, but Ambrose battled an ill-handling chariot early in his quest to make it two road course victories in a row for the Stanley team. Ambrose shuffled his way back to a race-low 16th position and rallied to start 13th before the green-white-checkered finish.

    Ambrose’s work with just two laps to work with showed me why I made the call to go with him last week. The Aussie was able to rebound from the ill handling racecar he had early on to finish 8th last week, earning me a much-needed top 10 in Sonoma.

    My Dark Horse was another driver with a roller-coaster of a day last week in wine country…

    Jeff Gordon started his day on the outside of the front row and quickly took advantage of Ambrose’s misfortune early on. Gordon snagged the lead on lap 12, and amidst his tenure leading the 2012 Toyota/Save Mart 350, managed to surpass 23,000 career laps led, the most among active drivers and ranking seventh on the all-time list. The No. 24 Chevrolet remained in the top 5 until lap 71 when his Impala sputtered on-track, a telling sign of an empty fuel cell. He was able to limp his car to pit road where he received a full tank of fuel and four tires, arming him for a run for the checkered. As the race shook out, drivers came to pit road, gained positions and following the green-white-checkered, the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet was shown 6th on the final leaderboard, giving me a double top-10 week last Sunday.

    Kentucky Picks

    With just one year of history to pull from in the Bluegrass State, it is tough to identify a guy who is ‘Good at Kentucky’. I’m going to do my best this week and pray for a win…

    Winner Pick

    Kyle Busch is where my money is going this week. He absolutely dominated the weekend last year in Sparta (winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ race after starting dead last, finishing second in the Nationwide race after finishing dead last, and by dominating the Inaugural Quaker State 400 from the pole) and is hungry to solidify his spot in The Chase for the Sprint Cup with a win on Saturday night. As I glance at current practice speeds from Kentucky, he had been shown third fastest in the first hour, but has slipped to 9th currently.

    Here’s what Busch had to say about returning to Kentucky as the Inaugural Race Winner:

    “I think it’s cool. You look at some of the new venues we’ve been to over the years and Jeff Gordon got to win a number of inaugural races, like the Brickyard, Fontana, and Kansas. He was always the guy who was known to figure out places the fastest, but we were able to be the ones to do that last year at Kentucky. There aren’t many opportunities these days to go to a new venue, so for us being able to win the first race there was extra special and, to put that M&M’s car in victory lane. We’d love to be able to come back there with our Red, White, and Blue M&M’s car and still keep us as the only winners there thus far in Sprint Cup.”

    Dark Horse Pick

    Why not make it an all Busch weekend this week and pick the No. 51 Finch Racing Chevy to win or bring home a top-5 this week? His Phoenix Construction Services Impala held together last week to finish 3rd in Sonoma, and barring suspension from NASCAR this week, I think Kurt Busch has a decent shot at a strong finish this week. As a glance at the practice speeds, its looking like KuBu has a decent car and is working on primarily race-trim, with the go-or-go homers soaking up a good portion of positions 10-20 on the practice leader board. He finished 9th last year in the inaugural race at Kentucky Speedway, driving for Penske Racing.

    That’s all for this week, so until we throw the restrictor plates on once again this year…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!