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  • Previewing the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway

    Previewing the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway

    The 10th NASCAR Sprint Cup (NSCS) event of 2013 will be held at the meanest, biggest, wildest track on the circuit…..Talladega Superspeedway. At 2.66 miles in length and banking nearing 35 degrees, this tack certainly isn’t one for the faint of heart. The first race took place back in September of 1969 and it had its fair share of controversy. Superstars such as Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough and David Pearson all boycotted the race due to concerns over tires and safety. They looked at those intimidating high banks and turned away while a few brave men dared to take the monster of a track on. Bill France resisted the the pleas to cancel the race and drivers from a lower series were used to fill the field.

    Richard Brickhouse was a member of the boycotting group of drivers who called themselves the Professional Driver Association (PDA). He resigned from the PDA a day before the race and went on to win the inaugural event by 7 seconds over Jim Vandiver. It was the only victory in the North Carolina native’s 39 race NSCS career. Since that day, many strange and tragic incidents have occurred at Talladega and some believe it is due to a medicine man from an Indian tribe back in the 1800’s. Local legend tells that he that put a curse on the valley when President Andrew Jackson ordered the tribe to leave and forcing them to reservations. Talladega is feared by many and respected by all and this weekend marks the 88th event held at the legendary speedway. Here are some stats and facts regarding Dega that you should know as today’s racing superstars gear up for one wild ride this weekend!

    Talladega Superspeedway Track Facts

    Track Type: Tri-Oval

    Track Size: 2.66 miles

    Banking/Turns 1 & 2: 33 degrees

    Banking/Turns 3 & 4: 33 degrees

    Banking/Frontstretch: 16.5 degrees

    Banking/Backstretch: 3 degrees

    Frontstretch Length:  4,300 feet

    Backstretch Length:  4,000 feet

    Race Length: 188 laps / 500.08 miles

     

    Track History & Records

    Inaugural Race Winner: Richard Brickhouse by 7 seconds over Jim Vandiver in September of 1969

    Most Wins By a Driver: Dale Earnhardt (10)

    Most Wins By a Team: Richard Childress Racing with 12 followed by Hendrick Motorsports with 11

    Most Wins By a Manufactuer: Chevrolet with 38 followed by Ford with 19

    Youngest Race Winner: Bobby Hillin Jr. at 22 years, 1 month and 22 days in July of 1986

    Oldest Race Winner: Harry Gant at 51 years, 3 months and 26 days in May of 1991

    Least Amount of Cautions: None in April of 2001 and October of 2002

    Most Amount of Cautions: 11 in April of 2004

    – This will be the 88th NSCS race held at Talladega Superspeedway

    – 429 drivers have compteted at Talladega Superspeedway and 47 of them have won

    – Dave Marcis has made more starts at Talladega than any other driver with 61

    – The track has been repaved 4 times with the most recent one being in the fall of 2006

     

    Talladega Qualifying Stats

    Track Record: Bill Elliott with a lap time of 44.998 (2012.809mph) in May of 1987

    Youngest Pole Winner: Jimmie Johnson at 26 years, 7 months and 4 days in April of 2002

    Oldest Pole Winner:  Mark Martin at 52 years, 9 months and 14 days in October of 2012

    Inaugural Pole Winner: Bobby Isaac with a speed of 199.466 mph in 1969

    – 13 of the 87 NSCS races at Talladega have been won from the pole

    – 36 drivers have won poles at Talladega led by Bill Elliott with 8

    – 10 drivers have won consecutive poles at Talladega and  Bill Elliott holds the record for most consecutive poles with six

    – 13 different times has the pole sitter won the race with the last time being Jeff Gordon in May of 2007

    – The deepest in the field that a race winner has started was 36th by Jeff Gordon in April of 2000

     

    Top 10 Driver Ratings At Talladega

    1.) Jeff Burton…………………………… 91.4

    2.) Dale Earnhardt Jr…………………… 89.6

    3.) Matt Kenseth………………………… 88.9

    4.) Brian Vickers………………………… 87.3

    5.) Kurt Busch……………………………. 86.1

    6.) Brad Keselowski……………………. 85.6

    7.) David Ragan…………………………. 85.5

    8.) Denny Hamlin……………………….. 84.9

    9.) Tony Stewart…………………………. 83.5

    10.) Jeff Gordon………………………….. 83.1

     

    Best Average Finish Among Active Drivers

    1.) Brad Keselowski———–12.2

    2.) Dale Earnhardt Jr.——–15.0

    3.) Kevin Harvick————-15.4

    4.) Tony Stewart————– 15.8

    5.) David Ragan————— 16.0

    6.) Kurt Busch—————–16.1

    7.) Clint Bowyer————–16.1

    8.) Jeff Gordon—————-16.4

    9.) Jimmie Johnson———-17.7

    10.) Travis Kvapil————17.8

     

    Most Wins Among Active Drivers

    1.) Jeff Gordon—————-6

    2.) Dale Earnhardt Jr.——-5

    3.) Clint Bowyer————-2

    4.) Brad Keselowski——–2

    5.)  Jimmie Johnson——-2

    6.) Terry Labonte———-2

    7.) Matt Kenseth———–1

    8.) Kevin Harvick———1

    9.) Jamie McMurray—–1

    10.) Tony Stewart——–1

     

    Most Top 5’s Among Active Drivers

    1.) Jeff Gordon————–15

    2.) Terry Labonte———-14

    3.) Dale Earnhardt Jr.—–11

    4.)  Tony Stewart———-9

    5.) Michael Waltrip ——-9

    6.) Bobby Labonte——–7

    7.) Kurt Busch————-6

    8.) Kevin Harvick———6

    9.) Matt Kenseth———-5

    10.) Jimmie Johnson—-5

     

    Most Top 10’s Among Active Drivers

    1.) Terry Labonte———–24

    2.) Jeff Gordon————–23

    3.) Jeff Burton—————19

    4.) Michael Waltrip———16

    5.) Dale Earnhardt Jr.——15

    6.) Tony Stewart———–13

    7.) Kurt Busch————-13

    8.) Bobby Labonte——-13

    9.) Kevin Harvick——–10

    10.) Jimmie Johnson—9

     

    Laps Led Among Active Drivers

    1.) Jeff Gordon—————839

    2.) Dale Earnhardt Jr.——737

    3.) Terry Labonte———-362

    4.) Tony Stewart———–317

    5.) Matt Kenseth———–294

    6.) Jimmie Johnson——-234

    7.) Michael Waltrip——-233

    8.) Jamie McMurray—–221

    9.) Denny Hamlin——–204

    10.) Kevin Harvick——155

     

    I’d like to tell you what to expect this weekend but to be honest, I have no idea. The Gen-6 cars couldn’t pass each other at Daytona but I don’t believe it will be that difficult at Talladega. Dega is more about pure flat-out speed and less about handling which will help when it comes to trying to pass. Also, these teams had no clue what they were doing when we showed up for Speedweeks but they have learned so much regarding these cars over the last 2 1/2 months of racing and are more prepared. The race will be better than the 500 but don’t expect it to be like last fall when they were 3 and 4 wide 10 rows deep. Even with the lack of passing at Daytona, the “big one” still happened and it won’t be any different this weekend. It’s not a matter of if the big wreck will happen but simply when.

    Favorites heading into Talladega have to be Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Matt has dominated almost every single restrictor plate race over the past couple of years but due to circumstances out of his control, he failed to win every time. Jr. is an Earnhardt and when you have that last name, you have to be fast here. His father won here a record 10 times and Jr. is a contender every time they visit this track too. Last time NASCAR was at Talladega though, he was involved in a massive last lap crash that gave him a concussion forcing the driver of the No.88 to miss the next two races. Jeff Gordon is another driver with an impressive record at Talladega but this is a race where luck plays a major factor and that poor guy doesn’t seem to have any good luck as of late. You can bet he will be fast though with that Hendrick power under the hood and a 4x champion behind the wheel.

    Drivers that have struggled at Talladega include Kyle Busch, Marcos Ambrose, Martin Truex Jr., Paul Menard and Kasey Kahne. Just because they don’t have a great record doesn’t mean they haven’t been competitive though. A track clearing wreck is waiting around every corner and when it happens, a driver has little control over whether they emerge from the smoke unscathed or not no matter where they are running. Talladega is a track where you might as well blindly pick a driver out of a hat with how unpredictable it is. The race strategy is always the same and that’s survive. Some teams do it by hiding in the back which doesn’t always work out while others try to put their car out front hoping that the mess is behind them which doesn’t work out all the time either. Then there are the ones who throw caution to the wind and just go for it and hope that luck ends up being in their favor. It’s sure to be one wild weekend of racing from ARCA to Nationwide and ending it with the Cup guys battling on Sunday. This is definitely one race you don’t want to miss!

  • Dale Earnhardt Jr. suffers concussion

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. suffers concussion

    [media-credit id=22 align=”alignright” width=”221″][/media-credit]Sorry Larry’s parody was removed……. due to it being a little too controversial.  It was meant with no disrespect, just a take on Earnhardt’s unusual season and not the serious situation on hand.

    Below is the official Press Release:

     

    NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

    BANK OF AMERICA 500

    CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

    TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

    OCTOBER 11, 2012

    DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET met with media to discuss the fact that he will not be competing at this weekend’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway nor at next week’s race at Kansas Speedway after being diagnosed with a concussion following the Oct. 7 race at Talladega Superspeedway. Also included in the discussion: Rick Hendrick, Owner of Hendrick Motorspots, Steve Letarte, Crew Chief, and Dr. Jerry Petty, neurosurgeon. Full Transcript:

    KERRY THARP: Joining us up front we have Steve Letarte, crew chief of the No. 88; Dale Earnhardt, Jr., driver of the No. 88; team owner Rick Hendrick; and Dr. Jerry Petty, neurosurgeon. At this time I’m going to call on Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who has some things he’d like to share with everyone.

    DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: I guess I’ll just start out with where this all kind of began. We had a test at Kansas about five weeks ago, and we blew a right front tire going into Turn 1, and I remember everything about that accident and everything after that accident, but I knew that I didn’t feel — you know your body, and you know how your mind works, and I knew something was just not quite right.

    But I decided to just try to push through and work through it. I’d had concussions before and knew exactly kind of what I was dealing with.

    I felt pretty good after a week or two and definitely 80, 90 percent by the time the Chase started, and by the time we got to Talladega I felt 100 percent, felt really good.

    And then the accident at the end of that race, I was hit in the left rear quarter panel, and it was sort of an odd kind of a collision where the car spun around really quick and just sort of disoriented me, and I knew that I had sort of regressed and had a bit of a setback and knew — again, you know how your body is and you know when something is not quite right, and I knew as soon as it happened that I had reinjured myself, for lack of a better way to describe it.

    It didn’t feel — it was not even half of the impact that I had at Kansas, but it was enough to cause me some concern.

    So I went a couple days wondering how my body would react and sort of waiting for it to process what was happening. About Wednesday I was still having some headaches, just that was really the only symptoms that I was having was the headaches. So I took it upon myself to — I contacted my sister, and we talked about seeing a neurosurgeon, and we ended up getting steered toward Dr. Petty. Met with him, ran through a couple tests, everything was checking out, and did an MRI, everything looked good there. But I was really honest with him about how I felt and honest with him about the whole process from Kansas all the way on.

    He spent the night thinking about what we discussed and everything that we did on Wednesday and couldn’t clear me to race this weekend. I trust his opinion. That’s why I went to see him. He’s been a good friend of mine for a long time and has helped me through a lot of injuries before, so I believe when he tells me I don’t need to be in the car and I need to take a couple weeks off that that’s what I need to do.

    That’s pretty much the extent of it. I got a lot of support from my team. I’m excited about their opportunities the next couple weeks with Regan, and just looking forward to getting this cleared up and getting back in the car as soon as I can so I can get back to work with my team and getting back to competing on Sundays.

    Q. Dale, did you see anyone for the Kansas — the issues you had at Kansas, and if you knew immediately that something was off on Sunday, why did you wait until Wednesday?

    DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: No, I didn’t see anybody at Kansas. I was — I regret not seeing somebody after that happened. I was stubborn, and I’d had concussions before and knew what I was — thought I knew what I was dealing with and felt like that I was capable of doing my job.

    I had called Steve. We talked about how I was feeling, and I told him that I really — I felt pretty good, but I really wouldn’t know if I would be able to compete until I got into the car. When you have a concussion, the symptoms can be really mild, and then they’ll typically go away after a couple days and you feel perfectly normal. But then when you get in a car and you go around the track at a high rate of speed, you start to understand that some things just aren’t quite where they need to be and some reactions just aren’t as sharp.

    You really can’t get a measurement of that until you’re in the car. You can’t even — there’s just no way of knowing until you can drive. I wasn’t willing to — with the Chase coming up, I didn’t know how difficult — if I was to volunteer myself to medical attention and be removed from the car, I didn’t know how difficult it would be to get back in. But I was honest with Steve and told Steve, I said, when we get to Atlanta and if I don’t feel good, I’m going to be honest with you and tell you that we need to have something as a backup plan for me to get out of the car. I wasn’t going to drive the car if I felt like I was going to deal my crew chief and my team a shorthand that weekend.

    That’s kind of the same reason I waited until Wednesday. The shot at Kansas was — I think we got the data, but it was around 40 G’s, and the shot at Talladega was only around 20 G’s. It wasn’t really that big of a wreck, and the fact that I felt the way I did was what concerned me after the accident at Talladega because it wasn’t that hard of a hit.

    I wanted to process how I felt over a couple days. I went to the doctor Tuesday, actually.

    Anyways, we — you know, I just wanted to process what was happening, and I knew having them two concussions back-to-back was not a good thing. So I needed to go see somebody regardless of whether I wanted to get out of the car or not. Just for my own well-being, I couldn’t — if I didn’t need to go get in a race car and get hit again, I needed somebody to tell me that because I was going to have a hard time making that decision for myself. I feel perfectly fine, but I don’t want to keep getting hit in the head.

    Q. Because you drove your car away at Talladega, you weren’t required to go to the care center. We’ve come a long way from where drivers would lie and not say that they have concussions or Ricky Rudd taped his eyes open. What do you feel about concussions in general, and do you think you wouldn’t have made the decision yourself to have it checked out because you were able to drive your car away at Talladega?

    DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: I just felt like that once — if you have more than one in a small period of time, you need to take that quite seriously. That’s how — I mean, I had — the one in Kansas was really bad, and then to get shaken up so quickly over something to kind of trivial. That accident was — I’ve been through tons of last lap wrecks at Daytona and Talladega, and that one shook me up, and I just thought maybe I should take this seriously.

    Q. Dr. Petty, Dale has been saying he kind of knows what he’s dealing with as far as concussions. What is he dealing with and what does he need to do to be cleared to race?

    DR. PETTY: So far what we’ve done is Dale — the first thing he had was an impact test, which is a test that we’ve been using more and more with drivers. His exam was entirely normal except that his main thing — we were seeing him for symptoms. He had very few signs at that time. In other words, his neurological exam was normal.

    We wanted to get an MRI scan, and we did an MRI that following morning, a special MRI. I think we had to wait a while to get it because we wanted to get a special method they have of looking for previous injuries and so forth. That was entirely normal. The whole — that was very encouraging.

    Then we talked to Dale, and he — I couldn’t give you a better history than he just did. He had no amnesia on either side of either of the incidents, which is very important, and I think that there’s every reason to expect — what we’ll do now is we want him to have four or five days after he has no headache, and then we’ll give him some sort of test like to get his pulse rate up, see if we can provoke a headache, and then if we can’t, we’ll let him go out and drive a lap or two and see how that goes, and if that goes well, we’ll probably clear him to race.

    Q. For Mr. Hendrick, you’ve been racing a long time and you’ve done it with a whole lot of different men. What level of courage does it take for someone to take it upon themselves at the highest level, when all of them talk all the time about how terrified they are that somebody is going to take their wheels, for him to walk in and admit that he had this pain?

    RICK HENDRICK: Well, I think that’s one thing everybody admires about Dale is how honest and up front he is. He cares a lot about the team, his fans, and the sport in general. But when he knew that there was something not right, he went to see Dr. Petty here, and I admire him. I think a lot of guys would try to play hurt, but when the doctor tells you if you get hit again like right away, it could be catastrophic, so I think this deal has worked out extremely well as it could. I mean, we were so happy yesterday that the MRI was completely normal, no damage. We don’t have a problem there.

    And for these two guys to have the kind of year they’ve had, to lead the points and get in the Chase, we’ve got a lot of years left to race, I always want to be on the side of safety, and I applaud Dale for raising his hand and going in there and getting checked out.

    Q. For Dale, you said you’ve had other concussions in the past. We know there was the one in 2002. Have there been others in between then and now, and have there been other instances where you haven’t gotten it checked out and you’ve just known that the symptoms were going to clear and you’re going to be okay once you get back in the car?

    DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: Well, I can’t really recall precisely every run I’ve had. Me and Dr. Petty were trying to count them the other day. But those were really mild and you were fine in 48 hours. For whatever the reason the wreck at Kansas was just really severe and really surprised me how tough it was to get past that.

    I thought I was in the clear, but just that little accident at Talladega, I started having headaches and stuff immediately after the wreck, and then into the next day and into Tuesday, and I thought, man, this is pretty soon after the other accident in Kansas. I should probably take this really seriously and seek some professional opinions on this.

    Typically they only last 24 to 48 hours and go away, and sometimes you don’t even — sometimes to be honest you don’t even really know you have a mild concussion.

    Q. Concussions have been in the news quite a bit lately, particularly with the NFL. In light of that how much of a concern is this for your long-term health, and did that kind of play into it at all?

    DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: I think that you just — I don’t think that it played into it a whole lot. When something happens to your body, I want to live a healthy life so I’m going to make sure that I’m doing the right thing, and that’s all I felt like I was doing here.

    I think if I give myself time to get healed up, I can race for as long as I want to race, and that’s my objective.

    RICK HENDRICK: I think the real good news is it has come to light with the NFL and Dr. Petty handles NFL guys with the Panthers, too, and there’s another doctor here, too, with him, and there’s some things they can do to help it along and protect him, and he was explaining all that. So the good news is it’s — this is kind of preventative maintenance not to take a chance and there’s no damage.

    But I think when you find out that you’re okay, but if you were right away to have another one, it could be a big problem, then I think guys are going to have to pay attention to it, just like the NFL, just like I heard on SportsCenter talking this morning about two or three different people they were waiting to get cleared to play this weekend.

    So as Dr. Petty said, he can’t drive until these things happen. I think it’s good that it’s — all the safety stuff we have in the cars today, this probably was a lot of — I can remember in my career broken legs, broken arms, guys sitting out for different stuff, and we don’t have that. I remember Terry Labonte having to sit out when he had that inner ear problem, and I think the good news is the cars are so safe, the medical field is so advanced, and if we do what they tell us, we shouldn’t have any trouble.

    Q. For Dr. Petty, it seems like a lot of people when we talk about concussions make it seem to be a cut-and-dry thing, but in this instance, Dale Jr. talked about the tests being normal, and a lot of it seems to be him telling you the symptoms that he’s experiencing. I was just wondering in your dealing with athletes, is it mostly listening to them tell you the effects of after an incident, or is it a combination generally of test results and them telling you what’s going on?

    DR. PETTY: It’s a combination in some regard. If an MRI scan or a CT scan is abnormal, then it’s no longer a concussion, it’s a hemorrhage or a contusion. By definition it’s not a concussion.

    So some of the testing that’s done like the impact tests that Dale had, those are tests that we can follow, and if he should have an injury again in the future, we can use that as a baseline. What we’d want to make sure is that baseline doesn’t start to fall off and even fall off without being tested.

    The period of — what he has is really called a diffuse axonal injury, and it’s something that does not show on scans, and we don’t have test that will show that other than symptoms and signs. Sometimes there will be some residual signs left over, but Dale had none of those. He had no — his eyes did what they were supposed to do; his balance tests and so forth are perfect.

    The biggest — the one test, the one symptom that is more important than all the tests is headache, and as long as there’s any headache, the brain is not healed, and until that’s healed and had some time to rest and then you provoke it again and can’t make it happen again, then that’s — then you feel like you’re on the road to recovery.

    Q. When you look at Eric McClure, his concussion, you look at your concussions, Brad Keselowski broke his ankle, are the cars not as safe as they need to be right now?

    DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: Oh, the cars are fine. There’s just some things that you can’t control. I don’t know that you can have a race car that’s completely 100 percent safe. But there’s been so much — so many advances in the last 10 or 12 years that have made this sport incredibly safe. So I have no worries about that.

    Q. Dale or Rick, was there any consideration of having you possibly set out the rest of the season as opposed to just Charlotte and Kansas at any point in time?

    DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: No, not really. I would love to race this weekend, and I feel perfectly normal and feel like I could compete if I were allowed to compete this weekend. But I think that the basis of this whole deal is that I’ve had two concussions in the last four to five weeks, and you can’t layer concussions. It gets extremely dangerous.

    So I really don’t want to — I think that we could easily have chosen to do that, but I’d like to get back in the car and compete as soon as I can, as soon as the doctors feel like I’m able to do that.

    Q. Dale, what’s your situation going to be like in the next two weeks? Are you going to be keeping the same role as a driver and working with Regan any since he’s taking over the car? What’s your role going to be like? Is it going to change any?

    DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: Well, I really don’t know. I probably need to rest and relax as much as I can, allow my brain to take a break and get some healing done. You know, Regan doesn’t need any tutoring or anything like that. He’s ready to go. He’s going to do a great job. I’m excited for his opportunity. He’s a really good guy, been a good friend of mine for a long time.

    Under the circumstances I think this is a really, really neat opportunity for him, and I think that Steve and the guys will enjoy working with him.

    Q. Considering the incredible season you were having, did it make it even more difficult to make this decision the first time, the second time, and is it just frustrating because of how well you and Stevie were working together?

    DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: It’s frustrating. I really didn’t get to make the decision. I left it in the hands of the Docs, and I’m going to do what they tell me to do. But it’s frustrating; I just enjoy driving cars week in and week out. I enjoy being at the racetrack with Steve, so I’m going to really miss that.

    Q. I know in the NFL if you have a concussion they make you sit out six or seven days before you go back in. NASCAR drivers have kind of hid this fact like Dale did after the Kansas incident. Does there need to be more stringent rules that would prevent drivers from being on the track with concussions?

    DR. PETTY: We’ve patterned our rules after the NFL to a degree. We would do the same procedure about giving them five or six days without a headache and then doing provocative tests.

    I don’t think that, so far as I know, they’re not allowed to go back any earlier than some of the NFL guys are allowed to go back.

    Q. Dale, one question for you: I know you said you have to rest up a little bit, but will you come to the race this weekend to support the team? And for Steve Letarte, what have you had to do to the car to prepare for Regan Smith to race this weekend?

    DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: Yeah, I don’t have any plans of being here this weekend. I think that I’d be more of a distraction to the team and their efforts in the race. I think they’ve got a good opportunity to have a good run this weekend, and I feel like that — to minimize the distraction would help them out.

    STEVE LETARTE: As far as preparing for the car for Regan, there’s not a whole lot to do. He’s been at the shop early this morning just to sit in his seat versus Jimmie’s. We have a lot of options at the company, and he found the one that fits him the best, so we’ll probably change the seat, the pedals, just adjust things to his driving style. He’ll probably have to get on the race track to really fine-tune everything like he really wants it. They’re reasonably close to the same size, so it shouldn’t be much of a problem at all.

    Q. This is for Steve: When this happened at the tire test, it sounds like there wasn’t a lot of medical staff or he didn’t go to a care center. Is that standard for these tire tests; and is that something that you think should be changed? How does that usually work?

    STEVE LETARTE: Well, there was a medical staff there, and he was seen in the ambulance after his accident. I think he was seen there.

    As far as the care center and what should be standard, I kind of leave that to the experts above me. I stick with crew chiefing and race cars. I don’t know if I’m really the guy that can answer that question.

    I think injuries are complicated, and I think every situation can be different. We test all over the country, whether it’s a tire test or whether we’re by ourselves at a straight-line test or Nashville, any type of cars on track there’s a risk of injury. I don’t know if there’s any real — I wish it would be a cut-and-dry answer, but I don’t really think there is a cut and dry answer.

    Q. Rick, can you give us a precise as best you can remember timeline on when the decision was made yesterday, what time of day, when did you contact Regan? Kind of give us not a minute by minute but maybe an hour by hour progress of how all this came about?

    RICK HENDRICK: Let’s see. Dale went in to have the — I talked to Dr. Petty Tuesday night. He had — Dale had an examination Tuesday. Wednesday he had an MRI. I went down with Stevie and Kelly to his office and saw the MRI, and it was normal. At that point Dr. Petty had already said to me in the morning, that morning that he was not going to clear Dale to drive.

    But we were wanting to know if there was any damage or injury. Then because Kelly has been working with Regan and junior, I called James Finch last night about 10:00 and asked him could we use Regan. He agreed, and that’s — told Stevie last night at 8:00. So this morning he called Regan and we told him we’d had it cleared with James, and that’s where we are right now.

    Q. I was there when you went into the corner. Can you just talk about that track and the rebanking of it, and is it safe, and what should we look for next weekend?

    DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: I think it’ll be a great race. I think they did an awesome job on the track. I had a lot of fun when we were testing up there until the accident. I think they did a good job in Turn 1 and 2, sort of changing the banking of the track, and 3 and 4 seems relatively the same as it was before. But I really think it’s going to be a great racetrack. It was a good track beforehand, but I think they improved it.

    Q. You’re not blaming the track?

    DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: Absolutely not.

    Q. Just going back to the Regan Smith decision, I’m sure you had other choices. Why Regan, and what might be the future for him in your organization?

    RICK HENDRICK: Well, I think we’ve been talking about running him in the Nationwide car for a championship. He’s a good driver, and again, Dale likes him, and we’re familiar with him. So that was just — we knew he was going to be in James’ car. And that was just — it just seemed to fit. They’re about the same size.

    STEVE LETARTE: I don’t really know if I’m the guy — Mr. Hendrick makes those decisions, but I agree that Regan is a great guy with a great attitude. Seems to be a remarkable talent. He’s part of the Chevrolet family, which obviously helps when he comes and drives our car. We were just looking for someone that could come in and do a great job, and we feel he can, and the fact that Dale believes in him so much really made the decision that much easier.

    Q. What are your emotions right now? We’ve seen drivers on the verge of tears when they’ve had to give up their cars in mid-race and some very emotional feelings. How are you coping with that?

    DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: I’m really going to feel pretty odd not being in the car. I’m anxious, real, real anxious just to get back into the car and get back to — I think you learn not to take things for granted, and I just hate that this has caused such a fuss.

    Q. Dr. Petty, when it comes to concussions, are you more susceptible to them going forward when you get one?

    DR. PETTY: Yes.

    Q. And secondly, how much of diagnosing all this hinges on individual admission?

    DR. PETTY: 90 percent of a concussion probably depends on individual information. The headache — people around you might notice that you’re different. By and large it’s a patient’s — the history that the patient gives is the thing that tells you that they’ve had a concussion. A concussion can be seeing stars. A concussion can be just being addled for a minute. Any time the brain is not doing what it’s supposed to be doing after an acceleration or deceleration, that’s a concussion.

    THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much for being in here today, and good luck the rest of this season.

    About Chevrolet

    Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 140 countries and selling more than 4 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature spirited performance, expressive design and high quality. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

     

  • Kenseth scores the win at Talladega in wild finish

    Kenseth scores the win at Talladega in wild finish

    [media-credit id=100 align=”alignright” width=”222″][/media-credit]Matt Kenseth scores a much needed victory in the Good Sam’s Roadside Assistance 500 by avoiding a last lap crash triggered by contact between Tony Stewart and Micheal Waltrip.

    After a clean and calm race, but the “big one” finally came on the final turn of the final lap. In an interview immediately following the race, Stewart took full responsibility for the crash saying he came down on Waltrip trying to protect his position.

    “I just looked in my mirror and saw them coming at me three-wide. I kind of let Tony have his spot there. It didn’t look like he had a big push behind him and lined up with Kevin and we pretty much stayed locked together there until we got to turn three and I thought it was gonna be a drag race to the finish. I didn’t know what was gonna happen and I’m still not sure what happened. Somehow I think Tony got turned and caused a big wreck.” Kenseth said.

    Waltrip, however, says “I don’t blame Tony at all.” going on to say anyone else leading would have done the same thing.

    “I just screwed up. I turned down and cut across Michael and crashed the whole field. It was my fault, blocking and trying to stay where I was at.” Stewart said.

    Kenseth and his Roush-Fenway Racing teammate Greg Biffle ran strong for most of the day.with Kenseth leading three times for a total of 33 laps. After a a poor start in the Chase, this strong run was just what they needed to regain some momentum for the remainder of the Chase. The downside for the No.17 team is that points leader Brad Keselowski finished a solid seventh and only lost ten points to the winner Kenseth leaving a distant 62 points back.

    Jeff Gordon also made it through the carnage unscathed giving him three top three finishes out of four Chase races, but he too only gained five points on the leader Keselowski, he did however gain four spots in the standings.

    A long list of Chase contenders including Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr were all involved in the last lap crash and took hits in the points.

    “If this was what we did every week, I wouldn’t be doing it. I’ll just put it to you that way. If this was how we raced every week, I’d find another job. That’s what the package is doing. It’s really not racing. It’s a little disappointing. It cost a lot of money right there.” Earnhardt Jr. said.

    Keselowski now has a solid 14 point lead over Johnson and six more back to Hamlin. They have now separated themselves from the rest of the Chase drivers, and seemingly will be the three that contend for the 2012 title.

    “That’s pretty big. I just feel lucky to survive Talladega.” Keselowski said.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Good Sam 500, Talladega Superspeedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=30
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 15 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 47
    2 6 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 43
    3 13 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 42
    4 25 34 David Ragan Ford 41
    5 5 16 Greg Biffle Ford 40
    6 28 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 38
    7 22 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 37
    8 36 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 37
    9 2 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 35
    10 26 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 35
    11 23 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 33
    12 9 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 32
    13 1 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 32
    14 21 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 31
    15 32 38 David Gilliland Ford 29
    16 31 32 Terry Labonte Ford 28
    17 17 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 28
    18 40 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 26
    19 8 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 0
    20 18 43 Aric Almirola Ford 24
    21 12 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 24
    22 4 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 23
    23 3 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 22
    24 10 22 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 0
    25 11 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota 19
    26 19 13 Casey Mears Ford 19
    27 20 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 18
    28 16 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 16
    29 39 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 15
    30 38 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 14
    31 34 98 Michael McDowell Ford 13
    32 14 20 Joey Logano Toyota 12
    33 30 30 David Stremme Toyota 11
    34 24 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 12
    35 43 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Chevrolet 0
    36 7 99 Carl Edwards Ford 8
    37 41 10 David Reutimann Chevrolet 7
    38 27 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 6
    39 29 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 6
    40 42 33 Cole Whitt Chevrolet 0
    41 37 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0
    42 35 97 Timmy Hill Toyota 2
    43 33 26 Josh Wise * Ford 1
  • Talladega Tidbits – NASCAR’s “wildcard” race

    Talladega Tidbits – NASCAR’s “wildcard” race

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Chris Trotman/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”237″][/media-credit]As we enter race No.4 of the 2012 Chase, a definite separation in the points standings has become apparent. The front-runners, Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson, and Denny Hamlin are hoping to make it through NASCAR’s “wildcard” race unscathed. If things go well, they could solidify their lead and put themselves in a great position for the final six races. Though anything can happen at any race, Talladega has a statistical higher probability of being the fly in the ointment. If a team makes it through without losing anything, it takes away a little stress and quiets that small, annoying voice in the back of their mind. If disaster strikes, it can create much more pressure going forward.

    The irony is that the top three drivers didn’t qualify well. Johnson will start 17th, with Keselowski and Hamlin taking the green in 22nd and 23rd respectively. This puts them in the middle of the pack at the start on a track that received some rain last night making it more unpredictable than usual. These teams will be on edge until the pack settles down.

    Clint Bowyer who is 25 points behind the leader, is in the mid-pack position. He is not tight with the leaders, but within a moderately easy striking distance. Fortunately for Bowyer, he had a solid qualifying effort on Saturday and will start third. This will permit him to hopefully be in front of any early race altercations. Bowyer’s spirit were high in the garage area Saturday and his relaxed mood a key ingredient for a successful race at NASCAR’s largest oval.

    Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne are on top of the second group of drivers.  Stewart and Kahne are 32 points back. Kahne put his Hendrickcars.com Chevy on the pole and Stewart will roll off fourth. More importantly, Stewart will lineup behind his teammate Ryan Newman who qualified second.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. is 39 points back, but has a very successful record at Talladega. “I feel pretty good, because I have nothing to lose.” Earnhardt said yesterday. This attitude could be the formula he needs to have a solid day on Sunday.

    Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick and Roush-Fenway drivers Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth haven’t been very strong since the Chase started. They cannot afford to have anything go wrong and need the leaders to stumble or today’s race could be the end of their championship hopes. Biffle’s No.16 team has already changed their goal from championship to just trying to make it to the top five.

    Jeff Gordon is tenth in the points, 48 points back, however, Gordon’s performance has been solid. After getting caught up in a crash at Chicagoland, race 1 of the Chase, and finishing 35th, Gordon followed it up with second and third. The No.24 team were very happy with their car on Saturday and are very confident about Sunday’s race. Gordon will start sixth in the Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500.

    The feeling in the garage area is that there will be a shake-up in the points and that we will have a lot to talk about on Monday.  Roush-Fenway must step up their performance and RCR needs to find what they are missing to have any chance at moving up in the standings.

  • Kligerman scores first career win in the Fred’s 250 powered by Coca-Cola

    Kligerman scores first career win in the Fred’s 250 powered by Coca-Cola

    [media-credit id=100 align=”alignright” width=”211″][/media-credit]Parker Kligerman won his first career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) victory in Red Horse Racing’s “magic truck” at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday.

    “As you know, it’s been a long road to get to this victory. Two different teams and a lot of adversity, but today I was put with some of the best people I’ve ever worked with and some of the best people I’ve ever raced with. And, it starts at the top with Tom DeLoach (team owner) and this whole Red Horse Racing team. My crew chief Chad Kendrick right here and this entire team that we assembled mid-season to go after this championship when my situation changed.” Kligerman said.

    It wasn’t easy for Kligerman.  He battled through a bad pit stop, vibration and battery issues.

    “I can’t thank enough people for this win. There’s a ton of people that have made this possible to get to this point in my career. I can’t say enough about these guys. We fought every single possible thing you could fight. We had a vibration, we had a battery go down and had no alternator and we just went for it there at the end. Thank you to Johnny Sauter because he made that possible. That was pretty awesome. I can’t say enough about these guys. We’re going to go and fight for this championship for sure.” Kligerman said.

    This was the same truck that John King won with at Daytona International Speedway earlier this season. This was only Parker’s seventh start with Red Horse, but has been a threat to win each time out. Today also gave him his fifth top five in those seven starts.

    Kligerman started ninth and led once for two laps, the final two, the fewest led by a winner at Talladega.

    Johnny Sauter finished second, James Buescher third, Ty Dillon foourth and Timothy Peters finished fifth.

    After being released from the No.29 team earlier this year, Parker says he “…wasn’t sure if he would even still be in NASCAR” All of those worries are now over! He has made himself a solid championship contender in the NCWTS.

    Point leaders Ty Dillon and James Buescher seemed to be near each other all day and they finished the day with Buescher finishing third and Dillon finishing fourth, the points however remain the same showing Dillon with a one point advantage.

    Unofficial Race Results
    fred’s 250, Talladega Superspeedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/truckseries/race.php?race=18
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 9 7 Parker Kligerman Toyota 47
    2 29 13 Johnny Sauter Toyota 43
    3 3 31 James Buescher Chevrolet 42
    4 1 3 Ty Dillon * Chevrolet 42
    5 8 17 Timothy Peters Toyota 40
    6 19 29 Ryan Blaney Ram 39
    7 6 18 Kurt Busch Toyota 0
    8 23 151 German Quiroga Toyota 36
    9 16 2 Tim George Jr. Chevrolet 35
    10 5 33 Cale Gale * Chevrolet 34
    11 32 39 Ryan Sieg Chevrolet 33
    12 15 99 Bryan Silas * Ford 32
    13 27 27 Cole Whitt Chevrolet 0
    14 11 22 Joey Coulter Chevrolet 30
    15 31 57 Norm Benning Chevrolet 29
    16 22 168 Clay Greenfield Ram 28
    17 30 176 Ryan Hackett Ford 27
    18 25 88 Matt Crafton Toyota 27
    19 21 32 Miguel Paludo Chevrolet 25
    20 2 23 Jason White Ford 25
    21 35 93 Chris Jones Chevrolet 23
    22 17 81 David Starr Toyota 22
    23 20 220 Rick Crawford Toyota 21
    24 13 6 Justin Lofton Chevrolet 21
    25 18 9 John Wes Townley * Toyota 19
    26 4 5 Aric Almirola Ford 0
    27 36 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Ram 17
    28 10 9 Ron Hornaday Chevrolet 16
    29 12 84 Chris Fontaine Chevrolet 15
    30 24 1 Donnie Neuenberger Chevrolet 0
    31 14 30 Nelson Piquet Jr. Chevrolet 13
    32 34 7 Johnny Chapman Toyota 13
    33 7 11 Todd Bodine Toyota 11
    34 33 8 Ross Chastain * Toyota 10
    35 26 174 Mike Harmon Chevrolet 0
    36 28 225 Brandon Knupp Chevrolet 0
  • Kahne captures the Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 pole at Talladega

    Kahne captures the Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 pole at Talladega

    [media-credit id=100 align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Hendrick Motorsports driver, Kasey Kahne turns the fast lap of 191.455 mph, to edge out Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) driver Ryan Newman by only .061 sec. to score the pole for Sunday’s Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500. This was Kahne’s third pole of the season.

    “It was a great way to start the weekend. We had a good car yesterday in practice, felt good in the draft, felt good around Jeff Gordon, we were pushing each other and stuff. Things are good so far. It would be great to start first; I have never qualified first at one of these tracks.” Kahne said just after turning the lap.

    This is the 32-year-old driver’s first career pole award at Talladega Superspeedway and first at any restrictor plate track.

    “It’s my first pole at this track and at this type of a race track so it feels pretty good. We have tried for a long time to win one here and this shows how awesome that car is thanks to Hendrickcars.com and Chevrolet and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports we have some fast cars this weekend.” Kahne said.

    Kahne comes into the race sixth in points, 32 points behind leader Brad Keselowski who will start 22nd on Sunday.

    Chase contenders Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart, and Greg Biffle round out the top five.

    “I’m blown away, shocked that we were top-three. Very, very proud of (Brian) Pattie (crew chief) and everybody on our 5-hour ENERGY Toyota with the support of the Avon Foundation and everything we’ve got going on. We haven’t been qualifying very good on these restrictor-plate tracks and today it caught me off guard.” Bowyer said of his qualifying run.

    Chase contender Jeff Gordon just missed the top five and will start sixth.

    “It was a solid lap and effort. This team always does such an amazing job in coming to the restrictor plate tracks. Obviously, being on the pole last time we were here we were hoping to be there again, but this late draw and the wind you just can’t ever tell what is going to happen. We didn’t get the pole, but it’s still up there where we need to be.” Gordon said.

    Travis Kvapil, who led the first practice session and one of only two drivers to break the 200 mph mark, will start 36th. A team member confirmed that the No.93 BK Racing Burger King car wasn’t good by itself, but runs well in the draft.

    Other notables – Matt Kenseth starts 15th, Jimmie Johnson will start 17th, Kevin Harvick will take the green in 21st.

    “I was just real disappointed in the speed. Honestly, you don’t know if you run a 49-flat or 51-flat, you can’t tell in qualifying, but I was just disappointed in the speed.” Kenseth said.

    Starting Lineup
    Good Sam 500, Talladega Superspeedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=30
    ===========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time
    ===========================================
    1 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 191.455 50.017
    2 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 191.145 50.098
    3 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 191.119 50.105
    4 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 190.993 50.138
    5 16 Greg Biffle Ford 190.955 50.148
    6 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 190.848 50.176
    7 99 Carl Edwards Ford 190.784 50.193
    8 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 190.727 50.208
    9 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 190.662 50.225
    10 22 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 190.628 50.234
    11 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota 190.465 50.277
    12 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 190.427 50.287
    13 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 190.419 50.289
    14 20 Joey Logano Toyota 190.393 50.296
    15 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 190.37 50.302
    16 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 190.332 50.312
    17 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 190.298 50.321
    18 43 Aric Almirola Ford 190.298 50.321
    19 13 Casey Mears Ford 190.177 50.353
    20 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 190.17 50.355
    21 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 190.113 50.37
    22 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 189.778 50.459
    23 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 189.748 50.467
    24 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 189.74 50.469
    25 34 David Ragan Ford 189.616 50.502
    26 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 189.552 50.519
    27 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 189.38 50.565
    28 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 189.316 50.582
    29 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 189.025 50.66
    30 30 David Stremme Toyota 188.947 50.681
    31 32 Terry Labonte Ford 188.794 50.722
    32 38 David Gilliland Ford 188.727 50.74
    33 26 Josh Wise* Ford 188.649 50.761
    34 98 Michael McDowell Ford 188.638 50.764
    35 97 Timmy Hill Toyota 188.326 50.848
    36 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 188.296 50.856
    37 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 188.001 50.936
    38 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 187.986 50.94
    39 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 187.46 51.083
    40 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 186.991 51.211
    41 10 David Reutimann Chevrolet 186.783 51.268
    42 33 Cole Whitt Chevrolet 186.289 51.404
    43 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Chevrolet 185.942 51.5
  • Just a Simple Question

    Just a Simple Question

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”252″][/media-credit]Just call me a little inquisitive. For years, NASCAR has talked about the 200 mph standard. We’ve heard for years that the “insurance” NASCAR carries would not tolerate anything over the 200 mph limit, and yet speeds reached nearly 220 mph at Michigan this week and lap times at well over 200 mph. What gives?

    I mentioned this before without much comment, but the new pavement at Michigan International Speedway has given us speeds we haven’t seen since 1985. Those of us who have been around for awhile remember the runs by Buddy Baker and Bill Elliott that gave us those speeds at Daytona and Talladega in those days and how NASCAR couldn’t tolerate that much speed because of “insurance.” Well, these days it is a completely different story.

    In the words of NASCAR official Robin Pemberton, this was not a concern because the speeds would diminish in time. Oh, really? No restrictor plate was needed according to Pemberton because it would get slower and slower as time went on. What happened to the 200 mph limit? Did the insurance companies just waive that or we’re they lying to us?

    Way back in the 1980’s, when bobby Allison took out the front stretch catch fence at Talladega, all the talk was about insurance. The insurance people would not allow these races to go beyond that magic number, and now we’re hearing that no one is concerned about it. That’s interesting considering that Michigan, like Daytona and Talladega, are owned by International Speedway Corporation. What makes the difference? Is it the high banks of the other two tracks or is that Michigan is a relatively flat track? Not much information is coming from the folks in Daytona Beach, but it is a question that needs to be asked.

    I’d like to hear some explanation. Either it is insurance or something else, but we need to know. I have no problem either way, but it just makes sense that if insurance companies, something I deal with in my everyday life, had a problem with these speeds at the two high-banked tracks, would have a problem at Michigan. Let’s just say that it doesn’t make sense. I love high speeds, but several drivers have expressed a concern. Time for someone to fess up.

  • Green-White-Checkered Needs To Go

    Green-White-Checkered Needs To Go

    Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR
    A multi-car crash on the backstretch during the first green-white-checkered finish led to Eric McClure being sent to the hospital.

    When I worked in the backroom of a grocery store in high school, there was horsing around to be had. One of my former managers offered this sage advice: “It’s all fun and games until somebody gets hurt”. I scoffed at his suggestion at the time—no one had ever gotten hurt stocking canned corn. However, the advice he gave has some very real-world applications.

    When Eric McClure hit the wall during the first green-white-checkered finish, I gasped out loud. The last time I remember doing that was when Jeff Fuller crashed at Kentucky in 2006. McClure’s car appeared to hit the inside SAFER barrier full throttle. After a lengthy extraction process, McClure was transported by helicopter to a local hospital. NASCAR later reported McClure was conscious, alert, and talking to attendants en route to the hospital.

    For all the safety advances NASCAR has made in the past decade, whether it is mandated usage of the HANS device, the COT, or improved headrests, it puzzles me as to why NASCAR is favor of a two-lap banzai run to the finish, especially at a track such as Talladega. A large wreck is almost guaranteed. At the speeds run at Talladega, this would seem like a far from ideal situation.

    This is the same sanctioning body that throw caution flags for bottles of water and refuses to let cars race back to the caution flag, even the cautions for a one-car spin in which the car that drew the caution is already moving again. The inconsistency in safety decisions is something that needs to be discussed.

    NASCAR has acquiesced to the fans’ wishes too often over the last ten years and its time for this concept to die. With McClure’s serious crash at the end of this race, the fun and games are over. NASCAR needs to end the G-W-C finishes.

    Hornish, Patrick Clash

    As the cars came to the checkered flag, Sam Hornish Jr. moved up the track due to a tire problem and put Danica Patrick in the wall. In an apparent fit of retaliation, Patrick rear-ended Hornish after the race and put him nose-first into the turn one wall. Patrick doubted this version of events, telling Hornish “Yeah right”. A close inspection of the replay does indeed show Hornish with a tire down.

    After the race, Hornish said “Coming off four, the tire went flat. The 2 (Elliott Sadler) was pushing me which I appreciate, but at that time I didn’t need it. I was trying to get out from in front of him, but the car wouldn’t turn anymore. Then after the race was over, we got right-reared by the 7 car. I don’t know what she had in her head, but she decided to right-rear us, wreck the car after the race was over. That’s really frustrating.”

    This is NASCAR officiating at its finest. Patrick has a long history of incidents with other drivers on the track and has never been reprimanded for any of them. If Kyle Busch was the one that turned Hornish, he would have been ejected from the track and slapped with a fine. Patrick intentionally wrecked Hornish and won’t be receiving as much as a wrist slap. NASCAR needs to take a good, hard look at this incident and see what they might be setting themselves up for down the road if this act goes without penalty. If NASCAR penalizes anyone else for a similar move, NASCAR will once again be accused of favoritism.

    After the incident, Sprint Cup driver David Stremme tweeted “Maybe it’s just girls can have at it”. That might just be the case, as reportedly Patrick nor Hornish were called to the NASCAR hauler after the race.

    Looking back…

    Last week at Richmond, Morgan Shepherd, driver of the no. 89 Racing with Jesus Chevrolet extended his record as the oldest driver to lead a lap in the Nationwide series. Shepherd actually led a total of three laps. On leading the lap, Shepherd said “When the opportunity was there, we decided to stay out for the extra bonus point”. Unfortunately, Shepherd’s luck wasn’t as fortuitous at Talladega, as he was swept up in the first multi-car crash, ending up with a 35th place finish.

    And looking forward…

    The Nationwide Series heads to Darlington next week for the VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200. Denny Hamlin has won three of the last six races at Darlington and will figure to be a prominent player in this years’ race as well. The other three drivers to score victories in the last six are Sprint Cup drivers as well: Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, and Tony Stewart each have one victory as well.

    Mark can be found on Twitter @ SpdwyMediaModor.

  • Junior Has a Solution and Maybe a Leader is Born

    Junior Has a Solution and Maybe a Leader is Born

    All the talk at Martinsville Speedway this weekend was about Talladega. It wasn’t just the drivers, who did their share of talking, but it also included some media members and fans. Of course, a lot of it revolves around the sport’s most popular driver and the son of NASCAR’s most favorite legend, Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

    [media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”236″][/media-credit]Junior was in a mood this weekend, offering a solution to the “two-car tango” and why he and drafting partner hung around the back of the field too long to be a factor in the Talladega race. Junior offered a solution to break up the pairing to two cars that has been the fashion for the better part of a year. It was the spoiler according to Junior.

    “I think the spoilers are way too big,” Earnhardt said Friday at Martinsville Speedway. “When I look at that spoiler, I can’t imagine there was a lot of study that went behind how effective it would be and what it would do, it is just a big square piece of steel, as wide as it could possibly be, and pretty tall. Make the spoiler more narrow, or smaller, run some softer springs in the back to get the cars a little lower. They have to make the hole that we punch in the air a little smaller. Right now it is so giant it is very easy for another guy to fit up in that void and draft and push all the way around the race track.

    “They need to bring the ceiling down that the car creates by the hole it pushes in the air, the car just punches a hole in the air and they need to bring that hole closer to the ground,” he said. “Get a little bit more air on the second car’s windshield cause a little more drag on that car. I think the spoiler is just way too big. The corners on the ends, they could cut those off and round that spoiler off, going back to anywhere from 1998 to 2004, that type of spoiler was a little bit better, even smaller than that.”

    No comment from NASCAR right now, but Junior made a lot of sense here, and maybe grew up a little bit. My criticism has always been that not enough has been done to solve the problem that has been restrictor plate racing. If we need them, fine, but find a way to make it a better show. So far, it has appeared that NASCAR just doesn’t know the answer, and maybe that’s true. Far be it from me to make that decision. I am not an engineer and I’m sure NASCAR has plenty of those types in their employ.

    Junior, as many have published, wasn’t too keen on hanging in the back last week. Though he won’t come out and say it because it would be politically devastating, radio transmissions seem to show this. Just like the supposed team orders that Trevor Bayne was so upset with, it appears that Earnhardt was just as frustrated. His role was to push his teammates to a good finish or a victory, as he was held back.

    The killer quote was one that was published in an interview this week.

    “I’m certain that a lot of things would be different if the old man was still around.”

    Indeed. Dale Earnhardt, Sr. had the ear of NASCAR. It’s time for someone to step up and take that role. Maybe that’s what is needed today—a leader. And just maybe, Dale Jr. is assuming that role. It appears there isn’t a leader among the drivers. Maybe Junior grew up after the debacle in Alabama. And maybe that will inspire him to victory at Martinsville or somewhere else.

  • Jeff Gordon and Trevor Bayne Provide the Fireworks at Talladega

    Jeff Gordon and Trevor Bayne Provide the Fireworks at Talladega

    Clint Bowyer claimed the victory at Talladega and Richard Childress Racing captured its 100th Sprint Cup win. The real drama of the race, however, was provided by Trevor Bayne and Jeff Gordon.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”247″][/media-credit]Gordon had been instrumental in Bayne’s surprise win at the Daytona 500 early in the season so the two of them had some history working together.

    But Gordon probably knew what everyone had been hearing all week. The order had come down from Ford Racing that Fords would only work with Fords.

    Still, Gordon had lost his drafting partner and he probably figured it was worth a shot.

    So before the last restart of the race Jeff Gordon radioed Bayne and proposed that they work together on the final run.

    Gordon didn’t expect him to agree but when Bayne said, ‘Yeah man, I’m pushing you. We’re good,’ Gordon said, “I believed him. But I think they had a different plan.”

    Unfortunately, the partnership never really happened. Bayne, who insinuated that he was acting on team orders, left Gordon high and dry. Gordon finished a disappointing 27th and Bayne finished in the 15th position.

    Bayne posted on Twitter shortly after the race to explain his actions.

    @tbayne21: I’m not happy about what this has become… It’s too premeditated. We should be able to go with whoever is around (us).

    @tbayne21: I would have rather pulled over and finished last than tell @JeffGordonWeb I would work with him and then be strong armed into bailing.

    Gordon was understandably upset after the race.

    “I was going to go with (Casey Mears),” he said, “but Trevor lined up behind me and when he agreed to it, I said, ‘Hey, we can’t go with a better person than that. He’s got a fast race car; we already have history of working well together’ and I thought it was a no-brainer. But I probably should have known better.”

    When Gordon was asked if he thought Bayne was following team orders, he answered, “It would seem to me like that’s it.”

    But the story doesn’t end there.

    Kevin Woods, Senior Director of Corporate Communications at Roush Fenway Racing, was also on twitter following the race attempting a little spin control.

    When I questioned him about what happened he indicated that the choice was in Bayne’s hand, quite the opposite of what Bayne had said earlier.

    @PRKevinRFR @angiecampbell_ He could do what he needed, but NOBODY is going to hang out a teammate…not Gordon, not anyone…

    @PRKevinRFR @angiecampbell_ He made the deal before he knew Matt was going to have an issue. He did exactly what Gordon would have done for the 48,88,5

    I’m sure this is not the last we will hear about the matter but it does appear that Roush Fenway Racing is now the one leaving Trevor Bayne high and dry.

    Bob Pockrass with SceneDaily.com reported on twitter that Roush Fenway President Steve Newmark had this to say.

    “No one at Roush gave a specific instruction to Trevor about what he had to do in that situation.”

    The aftermath leaves several questions unanswered and the truth slightly unclear.

    Did Ford or Roush Fenway Racing give orders that Fords could only work with Fords or that teammates could only work with teammates?

    Was Trevor Bayne specifically told not to work with Jeff Gordon and help a teammate instead?

    Do fans really want to see manufacturers racing manufacturers or do they want to see individual drivers racing to win?

    Or should the entire situation be blamed on the two car tandem racing that is becoming the norm at restrictor plate race tracks? When a partner is a necessity at these types of races, is it any wonder that the team mentality comes into play?

    One thing is certain; NASCAR has some work to do at these types of tracks.

    Steve O’Donnell, Senior Vice-President of NASCAR, acknowledged this on twitter saying, “(I) know we have work to do on Superspeedway(s) and we’ll certainly stay after it.”