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2013 Sprint Cup Team Preview: Stewart-Haas Racing

Photo: Andy Lyons, Getty Images

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

Tony Stewart

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

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

Ryan Newman

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

Danica Patrick

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

January 17, 2013
Tony Stewart Closes Championship Year and Opens Door to New Season

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“So I will miss that.”

December 1, 2012
A Champion of Change – Greg Zipadelli

[media-credit name=”Jerry Markland Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”102″][/media-credit]They say that life is about changing and that nothing ever stays the same. The key to being successful is being able to change and adapt and continue to grow and be successful. In the last several years no one is more adept at change than Greg Zipadelli. He has gone from working with an established champion to bringing up another rookie to making a huge change in jobs, in teams, in responsibilities. To now he is in his final race of perfecting communication and providing comfort zones for NASCAR’s newest super star Danica Patrick.

Greg Zipadelli doesn’t bounce around much. He never has. His loyalty to teams and drivers doesn’t allow for that. It’s always been that way, from the time he won his first championship with Mike “Magic Shoes” McLaughlin in 1988 all the way today. Zippy as he is known has always been around for the long haul.

Many think that Zipadelli’s major success was with Joe Gibbs Racing and a guy who would play a role in his career all the way through today, Tony Stewart. But the truth is Greg Zipadelli has been winning championships and races since he was 21 years old, having been the crew chief for McLaughlin, Mike Stefanik and of course Tony Stewart, and Joey Logano.

When Zipadelli and Stewart were paired up by Joe Gibbs Racing in 1999 to challenge for Rookie of the Year honors, it was not Zippy’s first foray into what was then Winston Cup. In fact he came to Joe Gibbs Racing from a position of Chassis specialist for Jeff Burton with Jack Roush Racing.

Zipadelli would help build the No.20 Home Depot team literally from the ground up. With a rookie driver, a rookie crew chief and in a lot of ways a rookie team, Zippy and Stewart would pull off a historical feat. They won three times in their rookie year to claim the Rookie of the Year honors. Something no one else had ever done.

The relationship would last until 2008. When Stewart would make the move into ownership with his newly formed Stewart-Haas Racing team, it was a difficult thing for Stewart to leave his friend and crew chief behind after 9 years and 33 wins and two championships. But contractual restrictions would prevent him from taking Greg Zipadelli with him, at least for right then.

The seat would then be filled by another young man who came to Zippy a rookie. Joey Logano had a big reputation in late model stocks, but he had even bigger shoes to fill. Shoes that were so big that there were times you could see him struggle not to trip. Always there with a calm and reassuring manner was Zipadelli. It would be that calm demeanor that would lead Logano to his first career win in his first season with JGR. When Zipadelli left Logano, he did so with 17 top-5’s, 36 top-10’s and one win over the three year period.

In 2011, the call came from old friend Tony Stewart. Negotiations had been completed allowing Zippy to leave JGR and join SHR as the competition director, a position that had been left open after the termination of Bobby Hutchens. But the separation was not as easy as you might think. J.D. Gibbs called the progression difficult. “It’s hard, it’s hard for him in a lot of ways – this has been his home for a long time. And it’s hard for us.”

“Joe Gibbs always says that you win with people, and Tony Stewart is a winner,” Zipadelli said in the Stewart-Haas statement. “We won a lot together at Joe Gibbs Racing, and it was a sad day when (Stewart) left.

“But Tony had an unbelievable opportunity with Stewart-Haas Racing, and he’s obviously made the most of it. To become a part of what he’s already built, but to do it in a new role with a new set of responsibilities, was a challenge I wanted.”

Tony Stewart and Greg Zipadelli were together longer than any other crew chief driver pairing in the garage having been together for 9 years and forming a relationship that those close to them referred to as more like brothers than co workers. Stewart said of the move, “Greg knows all that goes into the job, understands the importance of team work and communication across all levels of the organization and is ultimately someone I have a great deal of trust in.”

But how difficult was the transition from crew chief to competition director? “It’s not really difficult, it’s just different. The difficult part is that you’ve been a crew chief so long you just kind of do what you do. Now you have to look at things differently. I like to explain it as I use to be selfish, just worry about my car and my group. Now you’ve got to worry about everybody’s car you know. Luckily you don’t have the immediate highs and lows like you do calling the race. Now you’re affected by all of them. Instead of just the car you’re working on. In that aspect it’s different,” stated Zipadelli

The job of competition director is a big one. It’s a job that is crucial to the teams themselves. “I think for where the casual fan doesn’t understand is that not every car owner can be at the shop every day and can be down on the floor every day and handling financials all the way down to the people that sweep the floor at the end of the day. The competition director is very crucial in that connection between what is going on down on the floor and what is going on in the upper office. He is managing the crew chiefs, managing the teams, managing the different departments at the race shop. He is that connection between downstairs and upstairs. Especially on a race weekend, if we have any kind of a problem that is the guy, and in our case with Greg Zipadelli, he is the acting role as the car owner from my side. He is very crucial in that role and having the right person in that role if very important to each organization” stated Tony Stewart.

But the challenges of moving from crew chief to competition director according to Zipadelli were a little different for him, “The challenging part is just learning what you can do to help the others, and not be selfish. I think having this limited deal with the Sprint Cup car (short stint as Danica Patrick’s crew chief) kind of helped me put something’s off and allowed me to still do a little bit and then go back and forth from that part of it. It’s been a help to me personally because I enjoy this part of it. The other thing is that it changes so much. What you are working on and the people part of it. So much of our sport today is people. You’re always working on people moving them around and expansion what we need to be working on and those types of things.”

Greg Zipadelli has had both ends of the spectrum with drivers. He has had the ultra skilled highly successful Stewart whose wins and championships in multiple series on multiple surface types made him a given success. He has had a true rookie in the sport with Danica, whose limited stock car experience is a challenge for both her and her team. And he has had the youthful late model success story in Joey Logano. But Zipadelli is honest about what it took to bring them all up in the ranks. “Success wise, obviously Tony was (the easiest to guide into Cup racing), because he had so much racing experience in so many other series and had been so successful. He knew how to win and he knew how to win championships, we just had to figure out what he liked in a race car and give it to him and he could do the rest. I don’t know if it’s fair to compare the three of them. They are all so different in their experience level the success level they have had in different series. They are all drastically different.”

Every ship needs a captain to help ease the strain of change. Change requires a steady hand on the wheel. A leader must have the confidence to calm the jittery. He must have the strength to lead the hesitant. It takes a knowing ear to hear and ease the fear before it becomes a habit, to spot the anger and intervene. It takes a champion to lead a group to greatness through the storms of human nature and the intangible variables of racing. Greg Zipadelli has been down that road as a crew chief. Now he will blaze the path for three instead of one.

Now he will teach and guide an organization instead of a team. In the end, the job is the same the scope is just bigger. “We’re capable of taking bad days and making them into ok days or even great days,” said Zipadelli. With that kind of confidence and belief in his team, his drivers and himself, Greg Zipadelli has already proven he is the man to guide the ship at Stewart-Haas Racing.

October 24, 2012
Surprising and Not Surprising: Charlotte Bank of America 500

[media-credit name=”Greg Arthur” align=”alignright” width=”241″][/media-credit]In a race now known as one without an Earnhardt and without a North Carolina born driver, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Surprising: At his worst track statistically and on a mile and half track where he has never won, this driver, although thrilled to be in Victory Lane after a fuel mileage battle extraordinaire, seemed also to be strangely depressed.

“I can’t do a burnout,” Clint Bowyer said woefully after having his No. 15 5-Hour Energy/Avon Foundation for Women Toyota pushed to the winner’s circle. “The thing doesn’t have enough fuel in it to do a burnout.”

“I’d like to practice a burnout,” Bowyer continued ruefully. “It’s so much fun burning rubber.”

“Oh hell, I don’t care,” Bowyer then said. “It’s a lot more fun getting handed that trophy – that’s what it’s all about.”

Not Surprising: Although Chaser Clint Bowyer survived on fumes to end the race, it was not surprising that his other Chase contenders, in fact the top three in the points battle, were also challenging their own fuel demons, literally having to slow down in order to finish the race.

“Yeah, you’re just running the race backwards basically,” Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, said after finishing second. “You’re just seeing how slow you can go and maintain your track position.”

“It’s tough because I’m sitting there thinking I can go by this 15 (Bowyer) or catch him just about any time I want, but Darian (Grubb, crew chief) is screaming at me to back off.”

“We started saving with double the distance to just be cautious,” Jimmie Johnson, who finished third in the No. 48 MyLowe’s Chevrolet, said. “We didn’t want to go up there and chase the No. 11 (Hamlin) and get ourselves in trouble.”

Brad Keselowski, usually known as an excellent fuel-mileage racer, actually sputtered, coasting to pit road after running out of fuel. “I didn’t know what was going on,” the driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge said. “I think we probably would have finished fourth or fifth if we didn’t run out of fuel.”

“I had to coast for quite a ways and it wouldn’t start when I got back to pit road.”

This small fuel sputter, along with having to stop for fuel in the waning laps, cost Keselowski a top-5 finish, landing him in the 11^th spot instead when the checkered flag flew.

Yet, in spite of the fuel challenges at Charlotte, Keselowski maintained P1 in the Chase standings but is now just seven points ahead of Jimmie Johnson and fifteen points ahead of Denny Hamlin.

Surprising: Jeff Gordon and team 24 Drive to End Hunger made some surprisingly costly errors in the Bank of America 500. Gordon, fighting an ill-handling race car most of the night, incurred a speeding road penalty and struggled to regain track position from that point on.

“We missed the setup at the beginning, but we worked on it and worked on it and had it driving good there at the end,” Gordon said. “We just couldn’t catch a caution to get us back on the lead lap.”

“It was just one of those nights.”

Gordon finished 18th, his fourth finish of 18^th or worse in his last five races at Charlotte. He also fell three positions, from sixth to ninth in the Chase standings, 50 points back from the Chase leader.

Not Surprising: Pole sitter Greg Biffle had a good enough run to actually swap point’s positions with Jeff Gordon in the Chase standings. The driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion finished fourth, gaining three Chase positions, from ninth to sixth in the standings, 43 points out of the lead.

“We had the fastest car, but couldn’t make it on fuel,” Biffle said. “We had the fastest car at the end, but didn’t quite get there.”

“It hurts to get beat on fuel mileage, but we were the first car behind the three that made it on fuel mileage, so I feel pretty good with fourth.”

Surprising: Stewart Haas Racing faced some surprising challenges at Charlotte Motor Speedway under the lights.

SHR Chase driver Tony Stewart started from deep in the field and got into an accordion-style accident on a restart that damaged the front of his No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet.

“I was following the 2 car (Keselowski) there and he had to check up,” Smoke said. “Man, I drilled him and it screwed up the nose of our race car.”

SHR teammate Ryan Newman forfeited a great starting spot in the front of the field due to an engine change, which forced him to the rear of the field in a race where track position was key.

“We definitely took a hit with the engine change,” Newman said. “We had a really fast car in practice and qualifying and it wasn’t the same in the race.”

“It was a tough night for us.”

Stewart rallied to finish 13th, while Newman, in the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet, finished a disappointing 20^th.

Not Surprising: Kyle Busch, in the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota, finally had a good finish, in fact a top-five finish, to show for his efforts in front of the home crowd.

“The car was really good,” Busch said. “I felt like we had a winning car barring circumstances and how they played out.”

“But that just wasn’t there for us at the end with the strategy and everything,” Busch continued. “We came home okay.”

Surprising: With every other driver so fixated on fuel, it was surprising that this driver, who finished seventh, could have cared less.

“We got good fuel mileage, but that wasn’t our focus,” Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford, said. “Our focus was going as fast as we could and I think we showed a little more promise than we have in a long time.”

“It’s been a long time since we’ve been this competitive on a mile-and-a-half, so I’m very happy with it.”

Not Surprising: With Dale Earnhardt, Jr. out of the race car due to a concussion, it was no surprise that all eyes were on Regan Smith, substituting for Junior in the No. 88 Amp Energy/National Guard Chevy, and also on Kurt Busch, who took over Smith’s No. 78 Furniture Row/Farm American Chevrolet ride for the first time this season.

Busch finished 21^st while Smith finished 38^th with an engine failure.

“The important part was that we had a really fast race car,” Smith said. “It’s disappointing and it’s a shame.”

“Finishing 21^st might not appear that we made progress,” Busch said. “But the fact of the matter is that we did in our first three days together at the track.”

“It was an uneventful race, but an eventful weekend.”

Surprising: With the shuffling of Kurt Busch to Furniture Row and Regan Smith to Dale Earnhardt Junior’s seat, there was one surprising opening for a driver that needed a second chance.

A.J. Allmendinger, returning from suspension after completing NASCAR’s Road to Recovery program, took the wheel of the No. 51 Phoenix Construction Chevrolet and finished 24^th at Charlotte under the lights.

“I have a lot of unfinished business,” the ‘Dinger said. “I have a lot of things I want to accomplish still.”

“It’s not going to be easy,” Allmendinger continued. “I’m going to have to do a lot of work for it, but I’m willing to do it.”

Not Surprising: Michael Waltrip Racing had another stellar day at the race track. One MWR driver, Clint Bowyer, was in Victory Lane while the other two MWR drivers both had top-ten runs.

Mark Martin, in the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota, finished sixth and Martin Truex, Jr., behind the wheel of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, finished tenth.

“We started racing in 2007 and here we are in 2012 racing for a championship,” Michael Waltrip, team owner, said. “There are a few things that have happened to me over my racing career that are really special and this is one of those.”

October 16, 2012
Surprising and Not Surprising: Federated Auto Parts 400

[media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”221″][/media-credit]In a race full of twists and turns, including rain delays and wild card drama, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 55^th annual running of the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond.

Surprising: It was surprising what a dramatically different reaction this driver had to a second place run this weekend as compared to the last.

Jeff Gordon, piloting the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, went from kicking himself for his second place finish behind Denny Hamlin at Atlanta to being thrilled with his Richmond runner up run, especially since it clinched his wild card spot in the championship Chase.

Gordon, Alan Gustafson (crew chief), Eddie D’Hondt (spotter) and the entire 24 team demonstrated the ‘never give up’ mantra, taking a car that was admittedly ‘junk’ at the beginning of the race, cutting the chain on the rear sway bar on a pit stop, and getting the car back up through the field after the rain delays to finish in the second spot and secure the final wild card berth in the Chase.

“We went from last week to being the most disappointed I’ve ever been to finish second to the most excited I’ve ever been to finish second,” Gordon said. “Wow, what a race for us.”

“I still can’t believe we actually did it.”

Not Surprising: As elated as Jeff Gordon was, the driver who fell out of the Chase was equally deflated, if not more so. Errors on pit road, including a lug nut problem that created a lengthy pit stop, cost Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota, the chance to compete for the Cup this year.

Busch, who finished the race in the 16^th position, fell back to the 13^th spot in the point standings, losing his wild card berth to Gordon.

“We missed it,” Busch said simply, after gathering his composure enough to make a brief statement. “That’s it, plain and simple.”

“There’s no right way to handle this situation.”

Surprising: While many were surprised that all four of the Hendrick Motorsports cars scored spots in the Chase, the bigger surprise was that Michael Waltrip Racing achieved a similar feat, getting both of their race cars into Cup contention.

In fact, one of their drivers, Clint Bowyer, in the No. 15 5-Hour EnergyToyota, powered through an incident with Juan Pablo Montoya and almost running out of gas, to make his way right toVictory Lane.

“”To win this last race before this Chase is unbelievable,” Bowyer said. “We had a lot of adversity we had to bounce through.”

“This is a good way to get things bounced back headed into this Chase,” Bowyer continued. “You never give up in this sport.”

Bowyer’s Michael Waltrip Racing teammate, Martin Truex Jr., also never gave up and achieved his goal of a Chase spot.

“Man, I feel good,” the driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts MWR Toyota said. “The way our cars are running and as fast as we’ve been the last six or seven weeks, we’re dangerous.”

“Looking forward to going out and having some fun and hopefully we’ll be in the hunt.”

Not Surprising: Although thrilled that the team that bears his name raced two cars into the championship hunt, co-owner Michael Waltrip had another driver and good friend on his mind as he reflected on just how far his team had come over the years.

“I’m so proud of what we’ve put together,” Waltrip said. “I’m obviously really happy with having two cars in the Chase.”

“But my inspiration for having a team from the beginning was Dale Earnhardt,” Waltrip continued. “I always wanted to have a team like Dale had.”

“So anytime something goes good, I always think about what all he meant to me.”

Surprising: Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota had a surprising new attitude about not only his race, in which he led 202 laps but finished 18^th, but also his bid for the championship.

“For the most part, I think I’ll just be a lot more relaxed this time around,” Hamlin said. “What do we have to lose?”

“We’ve never won a championship,” Hamlin continued. “We’re going out there to try to win our first.”

“I’m going to race week-to-week and just not think about a championship until I get to Homestead.”

Not Surprising: While Richmond was good to Stewart Haas Racing, it was not quite good enough to get one of their teams into the Chase.

Tony Stewart, piloting the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, finished 4^th at Richmond and became the 3^rd seed in the Chase standings.

“Really proud of Steve Addington (crew chief) and all of our guys at Stewart-Haas Racing,” Smoke said. “Just proud of the effort tonight.”

Teammate Ryan Newman, however, did not fare so well. Although he brought his No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet home in the 8^th position, he missed out on a spot in the Chase.

“It’s disappointing,” Newman said. “I don’t really know what to say other than that.”

“We gave it all we had and we didn’t get the win we needed to make the Chase.”

Surprising: One driver who has been admittedly struggling all year had a surprisingly good Richmond run. Jeff Burton, driving the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, finished top-10, in the sixth position to be exact.

“I’ve been saying week after week how strong this team is getting and we proved that tonight with a hard-fought top-10 finish,”Burton said. “I am happy and proud of everyone.”

Not Surprising: Although Kasey Kahne focused mightily on his No. 5 race car all night and into the morning, he was, not surprisingly, focused on another number, four, after the race.

“Four Hendrick cars in the Chase,” Kahne said. “Four Chevrolets too.”

Kahne finished 12^th at Richmond, but more importantly secured the 11^th seed in the Chase, making him one of those four Hendrick Motorsports drivers in the hunt for the championship.

Surprising: Ford had a surprisingly divided run to the Chase, with two Fords in and two Fords out. Matt Kenseth, in the No. 17 Best Buy Ford, finished fifth and will be seeded 8^th in the Chase. Greg Biffle, in the No. 16 3M Ford, finished 9^th and is seeded fifth in the Chase.

The two Fords out, however, were Carl Edwards in the No. 99 Kellogg’s Ford and Marcos Ambrose in the No. 8 MAC Tools Ford. Edwards finished the Richmond race in the 17^th position and Ambrose finished top-15.

“I’m obviously disappointed,” Edwards said. “We just let too many points get away for a bunch of different reasons.”

“We will just go try to build the best team we can for next year and try to make sure a Ford wins this championship.”

“I just tried my hardest,” Ambrose said. “It wasn’t our night.”

“Obviously we wanted the win, but it wasn’t meant to be.”

Not Surprising: One driver was not only happy to be in the conversation, but has just been plain having fun as well. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished 14^th in the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard Chevrolet and picked up the 7^th place in the Chase.

“We ran good,” Junior said. “I’m proud of the effort the whole company put forward this year.”

“I’ve had an awesome time,” Junior continued. “It’s been so much fun.”

“We are in the conversation and we’re going to work hard to still be in that conversation at Homestead.”

September 12, 2012
Surprising and Not Surprising: Brickyard 400

[media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”254″][/media-credit]At one of the most storied tracks on not just the NASCAR schedule but the motor sports circuit overall, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 19^th Annual Crown Royal Presents the Curtiss Shaver 400 at the Brickyard.

Surprising: It was surprising that the emerging points leader after the race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway enhanced his proud team owner’s sleep habits.

Hendrick Motor Sports principal Rick Hendrick had just one thing to say about his driver, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who assumed the coveted lead by 14 points after a fourth place finish at the Brickyard.

“I will be able to sleep better tonight,” Mr. H. said simply after the race. His HMS driver has not led the point standings since September of 2004 after the race at New Hampshire.

Junior echoed his team owner’s sentiments of pride, while reiterating that he not only wants, but needs more wins to keep that top spot.

“I’m proud of that because it says a lot about our body of work,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. “I have felt that way about our position in points all season long.”

“But we need to win more races,” Junior continued. “If we want to win the championship, we have to.”

“We’d like to step it up just a little bit more.”

Not Surprising: While making history with his fourth Brickyard win and tying teammate Jeff Gordon and idols Al Unser, A.J. Foyt and Rick Mears for four victories, it was not surprising to see this driver’s little girl Genevieve steal the show during the post-race ceremonies.

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, simply could not convince his daughter to kiss those hot, gritty bricks in spite of his intense coaxing.

“I don’t really think she knew what was going on,” Johnson said. “The asphalt was pretty hot, so she got her hands down on it and I think that scared her.”

“She’s a very cautious girl and that is going against everything we’re trying to teach her,” Johnson continued. “She just wasn’t in to it.”

Surprising: It was most surprising that the second place finisher was so ecstatic about his finish that he wanted to do his own ‘victory’ burnout after the race.

Kyle Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota, posted his career best finish at the Brickyard and his best finish of the season since his third place finish at Charlotte in May.

“It feels so good to actually run well and finish well,” Busch said. “We’ve been needed to do this for so long.”

“It felt like a win to us,” Busch continued. “I wanted to do a burnout, but I’ll save that for when we really do collect the checkered flag.”

Not Surprising: Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford, proved one NASCAR adage true, that loose is fast. Biff came in third, his sixth top-10 finish in ten races at Indy.

“We were pretty loose all day long,” Biffle said. “It was unfortunate we were that free and we couldn’t fix it.”

“We were too loose to get it done so we came in third.”

Surprising: With a great qualifying run, an outside pole starting position and a brand new crew chief in Chad Norris on the box, it looked like nothing could derail Carl Edwards from finally pulling out a decent finish and a good day in the points race for the Chase.

But a surprising mechanical problem forced the driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford to go laps down early in the race and finish 29th.

“We didn’t know what was wrong with the engine and we were kind of points racing but also racing for the win,” Edwards said. “We stayed out there with seven cylinders or so and then got caught up on pit road again and went another lap down.”

“That was pretty much the death knell for the whole thing.”

Not Surprising: As is so often the case, being at the back of the pack leads to trouble. And that’s just what Matt Kenseth experienced on lap 134 when Joey Logano lost control, slid into Trevor Bayne, Bobby Labonte and ultimately Kenseth.

“The farther that we went back, the dumber people drove,” Kenseth said after exiting his fiery No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford. “You could see it was just a matter of time before the wreck happened.”

Kenseth finished the race in the 35^th position and, not surprisingly as a result, fell to second in the point standings.

Surprising: Jeff Gordon surprisingly has not posted a top-3 finish in his last 23 races and he continued the longest stretch of his career in that mode with a fifth place finish at Indy.

“I’m pretty disappointed really,” the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet said. “It’s always nice to finish in the top five but at this point in the season, I feel like it was a little bit of a missed opportunity.”

Not Surprising: So much uncertainty continued to reign for the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Penske race team, even at the Brickyard. Although Sam Hornish, Jr. was still behind the wheel, finishing 16^th, the cloud of the A.J. Allmendinger indefinite suspension for the failed drug test continued to hang over the proceedings.

“There are so many questions,” Roger Penske, team owner said after the drivers’ meeting at Indy. “Our phone is ringing off the hook with people who are interested in the ride in the No. 22.”

Penske has since made the decision to release Allmendinger as their driver and have named Hornish Jr. the driver for the remainder of the 2012 season.

Surprising: Only one driver could compare the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway to a junk yard but Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Jimmy Johns Chevrolet, did just that, at least when it came to his 13^th place car.

“We were junk all weekend,” Harvick said. “No matter if we were turning left or going straight.”

“That pretty much summed up today.”

Not Surprising: Stewart Haas racers Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman showed their Midwestern pride by scoring top-10 finishes at the Brickyard.

Stewart, who qualified his No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot in the 28^th position, rallied to finish tenth and teammate Newman, in the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet, finished seventh.

“We just were a little bit tight in the center of the corner and that’s kind of what we fought all day,” Smoke said. “So, I was proud of the gains we made.”

“I’m from the Midwest and so is Quicken Loans so it was nice to get a top-10 finish,” Newman said. “We just didn’t have quite the speed we needed.”

This was Newman’s sixth top-10 finish of the season and his second top-10 finish in 12 starts at the Brickyard.

The Cup Series will next take on the ‘Tricky Triangle’ at Pocono Raceway.

August 1, 2012
Surprising and Not Surprising: Quaker State 400

[media-credit name=”Adam Lovelace” align=”alignright” width=”200″][/media-credit]Racing, rather than traffic, ruled the day at the second annual running of the Quaker State 400. Here is what was surprising and not so surprising from Kentucky Speedway.

Surprising: It was surprising the odds that Brad Keselowski played to get to Victory Lane. He finished No. 1 in the Quaker State 400 in the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge to score his No.3 win for the 2012 season.

Keselowski, in a back-up car after a practice accident with Juan Pablo Montoya, scored his first ever win at Kentucky.

“Who’d have figured my best finish would have came in the hardest race but that just shows the importance of teamwork,” Keselowski said. “The group of guys that I have on this Miller Lite Dodge, they’re just bad asses.”

“They put together a back-up car from last year in the hundred degree heat in an hour’s time,” Keselowski continued. “And that’s what got us to Victory lane today and I’m proud of these guys for it, damn proud of ‘em.”

“I think that sums it up.”

Not Surprising: Penske Racing’s other car, with A.J. Allmendinger behind the wheel, also beat the odds at Kentucky. The ‘Dinger brought the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge home in the ninth position, in spite of running out of gas on the last lap.

“I was happy with the way most of the day went, especially around here because I haven’t been good around here,” Allmendinger said. “A lot of the credit goes to Brad helping me out. He’s obviously really good.”

“But for a track that I’m not very good at, that I really struggle at and tough conditions, running inside the top 10 for pretty much all of the day and getting a ninth out of it, which I’d like to have been a little bit better, but it’s something to build on.”

Surprising: Stewart Haas Racing had a surprisingly bad day in the Blue Grass State. Tony Stewart, in the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, had ignition problems early in the race which led to his 32^nd place finish.

With that dismal finish, Smoke became NASCAR’s biggest loser, dropping four positions to ninth position in the point standings.

Teammate Ryan Newman, behind the wheel of the No. 39 Tornados Chevrolet, finished 34^th after blowing his engine and careening into the wall. Although Newman was not physically hurt, his psyche took a hit with his second DNF of the season.

Not Surprising: On the flip side, Hendrick Motorsports had a fabulous day at Kentucky Speedway, with Kasey Kahne finishing second, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fourth, Jeff Gordon fifth, and Jimmie Johnson sixth.

This was Kahne’s first top-10 finish in two races at Kentucky and his eighth top-10 finish of the season.

“Well, we had a really good Quaker State Chevrolet,” Kahne said. “We had to pass a ton of cars and came up a little short.”

“But the team was awesome.”

Kahne’s HMS teammate and four time champ Jeff Gordon echoed his sentiments.

“It was a pretty flawless night for our Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet,” Jeff Gordon said. “I was pretty excited that we came home with a fifth place finish, battling up front like we did.”

Surprising: After three straight engine issues in a row and a smack against the wall at Kentucky, Kyle Busch, who was dominant early in the race, finished with a surprising top-10.

“It was definitely not any fun – not as much fun as we were having early on,” Busch said. “We just had to persevere and try to get through it the best we could.”

“So, tough night again for these M&M’s guys,” Busch continued. “We salvaged a heck of a finish for what all we had to go through.”

Not Surprising: Every race, even in the heart of horse country, has its share of drivers unhappy with one another. And this race was no exception, with drivers Joey Logano and Ryan Newman getting into it.

“I’m not really sure what’s going on with the boy in that No. 20 car,” Newman said. “He’s got a few things to learn and I’m going to have to be the one who teaches him.”

Surprising: Matt Kenseth’s announcement that he would leave Roush Fenway Racing at the end of the season for pastures unknown had surprisingly no effect on him on the track. Kenseth, in his No. 17 Fifth Third Ford Fusion finished 7^th and maintained his points lead in the Chase standings.

“It was a huge struggle for us tonight,” Kenseth said. “I am happy to finish seventh for as big of a struggle as it was.”

Not Surprising: Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, announced via Twitter prior to the race that he would be staying on with Joe Gibbs Racing and, to no one’s surprise, finished third in the Quaker State 400.

This was Hamlin’s first top-10 finish in two races at Kentucky Speedway.

“Our car was really strong,” Hamlin said. “I’m proud of this FedEx team. We needed a finish and that was my first priority on that last run.”

“Anybody that follows me on Twitter – I like to give them the information first,” Hamlin continued. “A proud moment for us and Joe Gibbs Racing to sign an extension and know where we’re going to be for the foreseeable future.”

“Hopefully we’ll win a championship together.”

Surprising: Forget the consistent points racing, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has a surprising new attitude – he just wants to win. Junior, behind the wheel of the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard Chevrolet, finished fourth, however, still had his Michigan win of two weeks ago on his mind.

“It was really fun,” Junior said of his top-5 at Kentucky. “But we’re just ready to win.”

“I really had fun winning the other week,” Junior continued. “I’m ready to get back to Victory Lane. I ain’t going to be as patient this time.”

Not Surprising: Martin Truex Jr., in the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, continued to fly the flag for Michael Waltrip Racing, finishing eighth.

“We weren’t very good all night,” Truex Jr. said. “We had a good finish – – I guess.”

“We were just really tight all night and we couldn’t do anything to fix it.”

Surprising: Carl Edwards and company made a rare mistake on pit road, having to come for a splash of gas to finish the race. The No. 99 UPS Ford Fusion took the checkered flag in the 20^th position at race end.

“We had a pretty good car at the end,” Edwards said. “Bob (Osborne) called me onto pit road.”

“He knew we should have pitted that last time but I was already so far around that cone that I just didn’t feel right cutting across traffic and slamming the splitter down to make it to pit road.”

“We were put in a box,” Edwards continued. “I am real frustrated. We need to get this in gear.”

Not Surprising: After a 21^st place finish, it is not surprising to lose positions in the point standings. And Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 American Red Cross Ford Fusion, did just that, falling to the fourth spot in the Chase.

“We qualified a little better this year than we did last year but the end result was the same,” Biff said. “We were off a little bit and just couldn’t get a handle on it.”

The Cup Series next travels to Daytona International Speedway for the Coke Zero 400 for another Saturday night of racing under the lights

July 1, 2012
Stewart-Haas Racing Finds Success Early in the Season

[media-credit id=24 align=”alignright” width=”226″][/media-credit]Early in the season, all eyes are on Tony Stewart and his Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) team following the late domination last year and so far this year. At Martinsville this past weekend, Newman added to the win column to give SHR their third win in the first six races.

“The strength overall for Stewart-Haas, it’s a two-mile racetrack and a half-mile racetrack, and Stewart already won on a mile-and-a-half racetrack,” Newman says. “So we have a good strong start to the season when it comes to looking at the racetracks and the places that we race at, and that makes a difference. Some guys are only capable of winning at certain racetracks and we have proved that Stewart-Haas is capable of a lot.”

For Newman’s crew chief Tony Gibson, it is all about having solid equipment each week.

“We know we are working hard as a company to make sure both these cars are as close as we can get, other than what the two different drivers need, little things,” he says. “We have everything there we need to win every week. It’s hard to win every week, but we have got the equipment and the drivers to do it. We just have to execute and make sure it happens.”

One of the benefits that helps SHR is both Stewart and Newman are good at a variety of tracks. In Newman’s 16 career victories, he has won at 11 different tracks.

“I have got some tracks I like better than others, but there’s not a track out there that I dislike,” Newman says. “That just goes to show you when it comes to my stats, I’m a contender at a lot of racetracks and that’s — I think the best I’ve ever run in the championship is sixth, but just goes to show if we get the right situation and package together for the last ten, with the difference and versatility in the racetracks, we’ll be in good shape. I look forward to it.  We just have to keep our nose to the grindstone.  This is a great step in the right direction but ultimately this is just one small steppingstone and we have to build a pretty nice sidewalk.”

Meanwhile, Stewart has won at a variety of tracks, too, from road courses to short tracks and mile-and-a-halves. This year, Stewart won at both mile-and-a-halves, Las Vegas Speedway and Auto Club Speedway. These two wins come after winning five of the final 10 races last season on the way to winning the championship.

“To go through an offseason and pick it back up and to have some pretty big personnel changes in the middle of all that so, it’s pretty big right now,” Stewart says. “You know the hard part is that you just don’t want it to end, you want it to stay like this.”

Even with winning the championship, Stewart fired crew chief Darian Grubb and hired Steve Addington to take his place. Despite having the run to the title, Stewart felt that communication wasn’t there with Grubb as they struggled the majority of the year.

As people focusing towards this year’s chase, many people are looking at the win column early this year to see who will be in the Chase come September. Newman says for him, he just worries about being consistent.

“I think our team is definitely a Top-10 contending team,” he says. “We have proved that the first six races of the season or whatever we are at now.  If we have to, then we do. But if we have to, and it’s tough to say because of what Stewart went through last year if you have to; usually if you have to do that, my point is, you’re not a championship-contending team. So I would rather much rely on how strong we are each and every week than rely back on a win or multiple wins to get into the Chase.”

Newman’s crew chief Tony Gibson thinks that Newman and team can put together a good solid run into and throughout the Chase this year.

“We know we can do it; we have said it time and time again, the equipment is there and everything we need to do to win,” he says. “We just have to put it in place and execute.  We have struggled a little bit at that.  We had 27 and a half great races last year and we failed in the Chase.  We didn’t run as good as we needed to run, and Stewart took off like a ball of fire.

“It was disappointing for us — he’s still on fire.  It’s disappointing for us because we know we have the same equipment and we know we should be winning those races, too.  It puts pressure on us and makes us work harder and think, why aren’t we winning, and they are winning.”

April 3, 2012
Lap by Lap: Goody’s Fast Relief 500 won by Ryan Newman

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”100″][/media-credit]Ryan Newman survived the pair of Green-White-Checkered finishes at Martinsville Speedway to score the 16th victory of his career.

Green flag

Lap 1 Kevin Harvick leads lap over Kasey Kahne, Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer and Ryan Newman.

Lap 5 Jeff Gordon passes Brad Keselowski for sixth

Lap 7 Gordon passes Newman for fifth

Lap 11 Bowyer and Gordon pass Hamlin for third

Lap 16 Harvick leads Kahne, Bowyer, Gordon, Hamlin, Keselowski, Newman, Kyle Busch, Paul Menard and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Lap 16 Gordon passes Bowyer for third

Lap 17 Keselowski passes Hamlin for fifth

Lap 18 Newman passes Hamlin for sixth as Earnhardt Jr. passes Menard for ninth

Lap 20 Harvick leads Kahne, Gordon, Bowyer, Keselowski, Newman, Hamlin, Busch, Earnhardt Jr., Menard

Lap 23 Gordon takes the lead from Harvick

Lap 28 Gordon leads Harvick, Bowyer, Keselowski, Kahne, Newman, Hamlin, Earnhardt Jr., Busch and Martin Truex Jr.

Lap 60 Kurt Busch to pit road with a flat tire

Lap 68 Hamln passes Harvick

Lap 69 Gordon leads Keselowski, Bowyer, Kahne, Hamlin, Harvick, Newman, Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch and Jeff Burton

Lap 88 Gordon leads Keselowski, Kahne, Bowyer, Hamlin, Newman, Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Burton, Harvick

Lap 95 Hamlin passes Bowyer for fourth

Lap 98 Caution Kyle Busch into the wall due to a broken rear track bar. Pit stops…..Gordon leads Hamlin off pit road. Gordon chooses to start on the inside….Two penalties: Newman too fast entering, Johnson too fast exiting

Lap 105 Restart as Gordon keeps the lead over Hamlin though turn one.

Lap 111 Gordon leads Hamlin, Kahne, Bowyer, Keselowski, Truex, Burton, Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart.

Lap 114 Kahne passes Hamlin for second

Lap 121 Gordon leads Kahne, Hamlin, Bowyer, Burton, Truex, Earnhardt Jr., Keselowski, Kenseth and Stewart

Lap 159 Gordon leads Hamlin, Bowyer, Earnhardt Jr., Kahne, Burton, Truex, Keselowski, Stewart, Kenseth

Lap 169 Keselowski passes Truex for seventh

Lap 173 Earnhardt Jr. passes Bowyer for third

Lap 177 Kenseth passes Stewart for ninth

Lap 179 Kahne passes Bowyer

Lap 180 Gordon leads Hamlin, Earnhardt Jr., Kahne, Bowyer, Burton, Keselowski, Truex, Kenseth, Stewart

Lap 189 Keselowski passes Burton for sixth

Lap 220 Gordon leads Earnhardt Jr., Hamlin, Kahne, Bowyer, Kenseth, Keselowski, Almirola, Stewart, Johnson

Lap 221 Bobby Labonte hits pit road

Lap 223 Kahne passes Hamlin for third

Lap 225 Harvick and Truex pit

Lap 229 Earnhardt Jr. passes Gordon for the lead

Lap 230 Kahne. A.J. Allmendinger and Joey Logano pit

Lap 233 Earnhardt Jr., Edwards, Greg Biffle, Regan Smith and Gordon pit, handing the lead to Hamlin

Lap 235 Marco Ambrose, Hamlin, Johnson and Edwards pit, handing the lead to Bowyer

Lap 237 Bowyer, Rains, Keselowski, Hermie Sadler and Kenseth pit, handing the lead to Almirola.

Lap 239 Almirola pits, handing the lead to Gordon.

Caution Lap 245 Dave Blaney goes for a spin. Kahne goes behind the wall due to a motor issue. Some lead lap cars pit, others decide to stay out.

Restart Lap 255 as Gordon pulls the lead early over Earnhardt Jr.

Lap 260 Gordon leads Earnhardt Jr., Bowyer, Kenseth, Keselowski, Hamlin, Johnson, Truex, Almirola, Stewart

Lap 262 Bowyer passes Earnhardt Jr. for second

Caution Lap 264 Juan Pablo Montoya hits the inside wall after contact from Ken Schrader. Newman gets the lucky dog.

Restart Lap 272

Lap 275 Gordon leads Bowyer, Earnhardt Jr., Keselowski, Kenseth, Hamlin, Johnson, Truex, Stewart and Allmendinger

Lap 280 Hamlin and Johnson both pass Kenseth

Lap 281 Stewart passes Truex for eighth

Lap 287 Johnson passes Hamlin

Lap 289 Johnson passes Keselowski

Lap 290 Gordon leads Bowyer, Earnhardt Jr., Johnson, Keselowski, Hamlin, Kenseth, Stewart, Truex and Allmendinger

Lap 300 Allmendinger and Almirola pass Truex

Lap 310 Gordon leads Bowyer, Johnson, Earnhardt Jr., Keselowski, Hamlin, Kenseth, Stewart, Allmendinger and Almirola.

Lap 314 Johnson passes Bowyer for second

Caution Lap 316 Kahne blows up…..Gordon leads Johnson, Bowyer, Earnhardt Jr., Keselowski, Hamlin, Kenseth, Stewart, Allmendinger and Almirola….Keselowski too fast in the pits

Restart Lap 328

Lap 333 Gordon leads Johnson, Earnhardt Jr., Hamlin, Bowyer, Kenseth, Stewart, Almirola, Allmendinger and Truex

Lap 340 Hamlin passes Earnhardt Jr. for third

Lap 348 Bowyer passes Earnhardt Jr. for fourth

Lap 355 Earnhardt Jr. passes Bowyer for fourth

Lap 356 Johnson passes Gordon for the lead

Lap 357 Johnson leads Gordon, Hamlin, Earnhardt Jr., Bowyer, Kenseth, Stewart, Almirola, Newman and Allmendinger

Caution Lap 361 Travis Kvapil spins. Edwards gets the lucky dog…..All of the leaders pit……Hamlin leads Gordon, Johnson and Stewart off pit road

Restart Lap 368 and Hamlin leads Gordon off of turn two

128 to go Hamlin leads Johnson, Gordon, Kenseth, Bowyer, Newman, Stewart, Truex, Earnhardt Jr., Allmendinger

122 to go Bowyer passes Kenseth for fourth

112 to go Hamlin leads Johnson, Gordon, Bowyer, Newman, Kenseth, Earnhardt Jr., Keselowski, Truex and Stewart

107 to go Johnson passes Hamlin for the lead, Gordon also passes Hamlin.

103 to go Johnson leads Gordon, Hamlin, Bowyer, Newman, Keselowski, Kenseth, Earnhardt Jr., Truex, Biffle

101 to go Bowyer passes Hamlin for third

99 to go Earnhardt Jr. passes Kenseth

89 to go Truex passes Kenseth; Allmendinger passes Biffle; Keselowski passes Newman

88 to go Johnson leads Gordon, Bowyer, Hamlin, Keselowski, Newman, Earnhardt Jr., Truex, Kenseth, Allmendinger

81 to go Earnhardt Jr. passes Newman

75 to go Keselowski passes Hamlin

72 to go Earnhardt Jr. passes Hamlin

68 to go Newman passes Hamlin

67 to go Johnson leads Gordon, Bowyer, Keselowski, Earnhardt Jr., Newman, Hamlin, Truex, Kenseth, Allmendinger

63 to go Kenseth passes Truex for eighth

52 to go Earnhardt Jr. passes Keselowski for fourth

50 to go Johnson leads Gordon, Bowyer, Earnhardt Jr., Keselowski, Newman, Hamlin, Kenseth, Truex, Allmendinger

44 to go Earnhardt Jr. passes Bowyer for third

40 to go Allmendinger passes Truex for ninth

36 to go Johnson leads Gordon, Earnhardt Jr., Bowyer, Keselowski, Newman, Hamlin, Kenseth, Allmendinger and Almirola

20 to go Kenseth passes Hamlin for seventh

15 to go Allmendinger passes Hamlin for eighth

3 to go Gordon and Johnson side-by-side for the lead as the caution comes up for Reuitmann being stalled. Stewart gest the lucky dog.

Green-White-Checkered…..Gordon and Johnson stay out as everybody else pits.

Restart……..Bowyer took Gordon and Johnson three-wide, sending all three for a spin……Keselowski just ran out of fuel while running third

Restart…….Newman and Allmendinger are side-by-side for the lead.

Ryan Newman wins over Allmendinger and Earnhardt Jr.

April 2, 2012
A Chain Reaction Victory for Newman

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]The shortest track on the circuit, the oldest track on the circuit, but Martinsville delivered a short track shot in the arm for NASCAR’s faithful. It was a shot that the power house of Hendrick Motorsports had a bad reaction to.

The class of the field this weekend was without a doubt Jeff Gordon. Towards the end Jimmie Johnson powered by under green even after a pit road penalty. But 7 laps from the end Jeff Gordon would make the pass on the 5 time champion to retake the lead. But that was when everything exploded.

With 7 laps to go David Reutiman came to a stop on the race track after limping around the track for nearly 3 laps. Bringing out the caution flag and setting up the Green White Checker finish. Reutiman had a left front tire that was practically falling off the car and had limped around the track for 3 laps in an attempt to maintain top 35 in owner points.

“Number one, I just hate it. I don’t even know how the race ended up finishing, but I just hate that I was involved in anything that changed the complexion of the race so I got to apologize to the guys that it affected. It broke a tie rod or something like that. I was just trying to limp around there. We needed to finish next couple of laps to try to stay in the top 35. Then the motor had been breaking up for the last couple of laps. Broke a timing belt or whatever down the back straightaway, and the motor just quit. I would not have stopped on the freaking racetrack. I would have limped it around there and come to pit road, which is what I was trying to do. The thing quit going down the back straightaway, and it shut off. I just didn’t stop there intentionally. I know it sucks. I hate it for everybody that it affected, but I mean I can’t get out and push the thing. You know, it shut off. It’s that simple. Gosh, I can’t believe I’m — I was just trying to finish the day out and trying to stay in top 35, which is why we were trying to limp around out there. They gave me the black flag. We were coming to pit road, and it shut off. And that’s far as I could go,” stated Reutiman post race.

The top two cars would not pit on the caution flag. They had over a hundred laps on their tires. Everyone behind them pitted for fuel and at least 2 tires. On the restart, Jeff Gordon stated, “I spun my tires there on the restart and I knew he (Clint Bowyer) was there. I just didn’t have anywhere to go and Jimmie didn’t have anywhere to go.” The melee sent the top three cars of Gordon, Johnson, and Bowyer to the back of the lead lap cars with significant damage.

The second Green White Checker finish would finish the race and see Ryan Newman as the winner. A.J. Allmendinger would finish a career high second. And HMS’s banner would be carried by the 88 of Dale Earnhardt Jr. who finished a very strong 3^rdafter leading early in the race.

The victory by Ryan Newman would mark the 3^rd in 6 races for Stewart Haas racing. “We were not a dominate race car,” Newman said. “Clint kind of cleared out Turn One for us and we were fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time.”

The issue this race is the no. 10 car staying on the track even though he had an obvious problem. Spotters reported from the roof that the left front wheel was trying to fall off the car. But instead of pitting Reutiman was instructed to stay out as long as he could to secure the top 35 in points position. In the process of trying to continue to make laps way under speed the car sustained an engine failure and died on the back stretch of the track Reutiman says he coasted as far as he coast and that they had received the black flag and were trying to get to pit road.

I have a couple problems with this. One why would you even try to continue to drive a car that had steering issues or the left front wheel trying to come off when there are that many cars on that small of track? You put yourself and others at huge risk.

And although John Darby of NASCAR stated to Claire B Lange, “”it was a situation he couldn’t avoid and I don’t think it affected the outcome of the race.” Darby continues that anything could have happened, someone else might have spun, etc, so it’s “unfair to point fingers” at Reutiman. I respectfully disagree. First of all it did affect the outcome of the race. The wreck that ensued on the restart would not have happened if the caution had not come out allowing other teams to stop for fuel and tires. Could the front two have stopped? Sure they could have but track position is a premium in our sport today and it would have been incredibly risky for them to stop.

Secondly, you don’t call a driver to the hauler because their actions were all good.

Third, why was there a delay in throwing the caution by NASCAR? I understand not wanting to disrupt the flow of the race. I understand not wanting to affect the outcome of the race. But by not throwing the caution, NASCAR contributed to the risk that the other drivers and indeed Reutiman himself were in.

Do I think this makes David Reutiman a bad person? No I don’t. I think this makes David Reutiman a victim of circumstances. He has a co driver that apparently no one believes has the ability to qualify for a race without car owner points, which is pretty sad when you think about the fact that she is only a rookie in the series not in a race car. Frankly, if I were her I would be insulted that no one believed I was capable of that fundamental act. However, she apparently is lacking something because they are bound and determined she has to have that cushion. Who am I to argue with Greg Zipadelli’s success? He nailed it on the head in Daytona after all.

Congratulations to this weeks winners, Sammy Swindell in World of Outlaws in Merced, Kevin Harvick in Camping World Trucks, Will Power in Indy Car and Ryan Newman in Sprint Cup. Don’t forget Newman’s victory entitles you to a free Bloomin Onion at his sponsor, Outback Steakhouse on Monday if you mention his victory.

That said, to all the competitors in all the series thanks for giving us everything you have to give, you are our heroes. Most importantly, thanks to all the families who shared their loved ones with us so we could cheer our favorite driver and favorite teams. You are the true heroes of the sport and we are forever in your debt.

April 1, 2012