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Tag: Tony Stewart

  • ‘You got to learn how to be a good loser and it will make you a better winner.’ – Rex White

    ‘You got to learn how to be a good loser and it will make you a better winner.’ – Rex White

    Recently, I was honored to hear NASCAR Hall of Famers, 1960 Grand National champion Rex White and 1988 Winston Cup champion Bill Elliott, speak in the media center before the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. After the tumultuous events at the end of the race that resulted in behavioral penalties for Brad Keselowski and Tony Stewart, I couldn’t help but remember some timely words of advice from these two legends.

    “Any driver is going to lose more races than he wins, White said.  “You got to learn how to be a good loser and it will make you a better winner.”

    While today’s corporate sponsored NASCAR often bears little resemblance to its blue collar beginnings, the essence of racing remains unchanged.  There is only one goal; to win.  It’s that competitive passion that grabs you and doesn’t let go until the checkered flag waves. But therein lies the rub; there can be only one winner each race.

    Bill Elliott put it another way, saying, “Some days you just got to take your licks and go on to the next race.”

    But what does being a good loser mean?

    It’s a concept that most athletes and particularly racers, simply don’t understand. They are taught that winning is everything and in their minds, losing equals failure. Accepting a loss gracefully means acknowledging defeat. Or does it?

    Dale Earnhardt is famously quoted as saying that “second place is just the first loser.”

    The seven-time NASCAR champion, however, was no stranger to losing. Over the course of his Cup career he competed in 676 races, winning 76 times but losing 600. It took 20 attempts before he finally won the coveted Daytona 500 in 1998.

    Earnhardt earned the title of The Intimidator on the track and was arguably one of the most aggressive drivers in the history of the sport. No one hated losing more than him but he learned to accept the losses as a necessary evil and move forward once the checkered flag flew. A perfect example is his 19th heartbreaking loss of the Daytona 500.

    In 1997, Earnhardt was running second in the final laps of the Daytona 500 when he wrecked. Jeff Gordon, in third place, was trying to pass and Earnhardt made contact with the wall, got sideways and flipped his car in the chain reaction that ensued. After repairs, including taping the back deck onto the No. 3, Earnhardt was back in the car.

    “I got in the ambulance and I looked back at the car,” Earnhardt said, “and I said ‘man, the wheels are still on that thing.’ I got out of the ambulance and asked the guy inside the car that was hooking it up and said, ‘see if it will crank’ and he cranked it up and I said, ‘get out, give me the car back.’ So I drove it back around here and we taped it up.”

    “I don’t know that we could have won the Daytona 500,” Earnhardt continued, “but we was sitting there, ready for a shot. I think Gordon was a little impatient at that point but still he went on and won the race, he was running his race. That’s the way it goes.”

    The most passionate and successful champions in any sport refuse to be defined by their losses. Instead of placing blame on others they look inward, dig deeper and refuse to give up. No one expects these fierce competitors to accept losing gracefully but when a bad finish causes a driver to lose control of his emotions and engage in potentially dangerous behavior, it only compounds the significance of the loss.

    Michael Jordon, six-time NBA champion once said, “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

    Six-time Sprint Cup champ Jimmie Johnson, who has been eliminated from this year’s championship battle, echoed those sentiments, saying “I truly believe that those moments make you stronger.”

    “It’s great medicine for the 48,” he elaborated. “I don’t want to be in this position. But it’s great medicine to sit and watch this championship unfold. It’s going to motivate me, Chad (Knaus, crew chief) and the team, all of us on the 48 team. We’ll come back next year and be ready to roll.”

    Perhaps it’s all about perception. Loss is inevitable but it is also transitory. It can be viewed as failure or as an impetus to future success and that mindset is what truly separates the winners from the losers.

     

  • Hot 20 – Four of the Season’s Top Eight Could be Eliminated after Talladega

    Hot 20 – Four of the Season’s Top Eight Could be Eliminated after Talladega

    When the smoke clears at Talladega, and I mean that literally, four of our top eight drivers throughout the course of the season, might no longer be contenders for the championship. With four races to follow, five time winner Brad Keselowski could be toast, along with three time winners Dale Earnhardt Jr and Jimmie Johnson, as well as the winless yet resilient Matt Kenseth. If the 2007 New England Patriots and 1968 Baltimore Colts can fall short, if the 2001 New York Yankees can be denied, then why not? Welcome to the playoffs, where someone will get eliminated and voted off the island (for fans of the Amazing Race and Survivor).

    For Junior to advance, he has to win. He has said so himself. Same goes for Johnson, while Keselowski has a bit more wiggle room, but do not expect him to have many friends out there, outside of teammate Joey Logano. Kenseth can do it, as he is just a point behind Kasey Kahne in those standings. However, this is Talladega, where a contender could kick open the door for someone else with a finish somewhere beyond 30th due to circumstances beyond his control.

    Keselowski was a tad out of control at Kansas. His view that everyone else started it when they tried to pay him back was laughable. His observation of events was faulty, his hit on an unbuckled Kenseth and burn out in the garage after the race were both nothing short of reckless. His $50,000 fine was warranted. Tony Stewart’s $25,000 fine for bashing in the front of Brad’s car was warranted, too, but it was sure a joy to watch.

    It might not be the same for those out on the track, but for you and me, Talladega should also be a joy to watch. If only every race could be like the one we will be viewing on Sunday.

    *Race winners awarded 25 (rather than 3) bonus points
    Bold = Current Chase contenders

    Hot 20

    1 – Jeff Gordon – 4 WINS – 1184 POINTS
    2 – Joey Logano – 5 – 1154
    3 – Brad Keselowski – 5 – 1106
    4 – Dale Earnhardt Jr – 3 – 1075
    5 – Kevin Harvick – 3 – 1052
    6 – Jimmie Johnson – 3 – 1011
    7 – Carl Edwards – 2 – 982
    8 – Matt Kenseth – 0 – 950
    9 – Ryan Newman – 0 – 950
    10 – Kyle Larson – 0 – 940
    11 – Kyle Busch – 1 – 899
    12 – Kasey Kahne – 1 – 890
    13 – Greg Biffle – 0 – 880
    14 – Jamie McMurray – 0 – 867
    15 – Austin Dillon – 0 – 847
    16 – Clint Bowyer – 0 – 844
    17 – Denny Hamlin – 1 – 832
    18 – Paul Menard – 0 – 818
    19 – Brian Vickers – 0 – 806
    20 – Kurt Busch – 1 – 779

  • The Final Word – Charlotte was a Happy Place, Though it Made Junior Sad, and Some Mad at Brad

    The Final Word – Charlotte was a Happy Place, Though it Made Junior Sad, and Some Mad at Brad

    Charlotte in the night and what a web it wove. Essentially, you could sum up the action by first pointing out that Kevin Harvick once again had a dominant car. The difference this time is that he won the darn thing, the Closer closed, and the Happy boy is now locked into the Chase right through to the Arizona 500.

    Secondly, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had bad vibrations, bad enough to snap his shifter. It was not as bad as Kansas, but finishing 20th a race after coming home 39th is not what the lad was looking for. For either he or Jimmie Johnson to make the Chase, Kasey Kahne cannot. Harvick and Joey Logano are locked into the next round after Talladega, while the other five contenders are close to it, barring very bad things. Of course, Talladega is where very bad things are known to happen.

    Very bad. Some think that describes Brad Keselowski and the boys seemed to be lining up to kick the crap out of him. A come to Jesus meeting seemed to be in order, where one’s feelings were not the only things destined to be hurt. In hearing Brad tell it, all I heard was that everyone else started the problems by attempting to pay him back for things he had already done.

    With around 60 laps to go, Brad went either looking for an off ramp or he deliberately swung way wide on a restart to deliberately block Matt Kenseth and force him into scraping the wall. He then did a little tap-tapping on Denny Hamlin in his bid to move forward, causing an anxious moment or two late in the race.

    Somewhere in there, or so Keselowski says, Hamlin tried to retaliate, so as the race ended Brad tried to perform a P.I.T. maneuver on Hamlin’s auto. Then, he claimed Kenseth had torn off his right front, which seemed perfectly fine when it hit Matt’s parked car post-race on pit road. At the time, Kenseth had already taken off his restraining devices, making it truly a stupid move. Unfortunately for Bradley Aaron, he also caught Tony Stewart, even though he claimed it must have been Kenseth who hit him. As Brad backed up, Stewart put his own in reverse and made damn sure Keselowski’s front end was indeed torn up, causing the boy to get out of Dodge but quick.

    By the time he parked, Hamlin was hunting him down. There was pushing and yelling, but the two never seemed to get together. Brad was directed to his hauler, but hauled himself out to walk off into the night between the trailers. That is where Kenseth caught up to him, and they did get together. Another big crowd gathered, more pushing and yelling ensued, as the post-race action got more exciting than anything we had just seen out on the track.

    In the end, Brad gave his side of the story, NASCAR was going to ponder what took place, and no doubt nothing of consequence will come out of it. Do you remember how I recently mentioned that after initially not being much of a fan I was starting to warm toward Keselowski? Not today. The boy seems on the verge of becoming what Kurt Busch had once been, a malady that seems curable only by a treatment made popular by a certain Dr. James (Jimmy) Spencer.

    What we learned is that the next time Keselowski causes one of those racing deals, that block will result in him being sent into the wall. The next time he says what happened, I will want to see what really did happen, as ole Brad seems to ignore a few facts in his summation of events. I do not like his chances of advancing to the next round of the Chase, as I think he just lost a few friends from his Facebook list.

    Talladega is next, and sometimes things just happen at Talladega.

    The eight who rate…
    1 – Joey Logano – 1 WIN – 3088 POINTS – Locked in
    3 – Kevin Harvick – 1 – 3081 – Locked in
    2 – Kyle Busch – 0 – 3082 – 26 Points to the good
    4 – Ryan Newman – 0 – 3077 – 21 Points to the good
    5 – Carl Edwards – 0 – 3076 – 20 Points to the good
    6 – Jeff Gordon – 0 – 3074 – 18 Points to the good
    7 – Denny Hamlin – 0 – 3073 – 17 Points to the good
    8 – Kasey Kahne – 0 – 3057 – 1 Point to the good

    Four who need to do more…
    9 – Matt Kenseth – 0 – 3056 POINTS – 1 Point out
    10 – Brad Keselowski – 0 – 3038 – 19 Points out
    11 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 0 – 3031 – 26 Points out
    12 – Jimmie Johnson – 0 – 3031 – 26 Points out

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Charlotte

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Charlotte

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Joey Logano: With his spot in the Chase’s next round already locked up, Logano finished fourth at Charlotte, then watched as his Penske teammate went berserk afterwards.

    “Sadly,” Logano said, “Kes is going to get stuck with the nickname ‘Spoiled Little Brad.’ Brad’s not one to back down when he thinks he’s been wronged, and if that means crashing his car, he’ll do it. If nothing else, he has ‘scrap mettle.’

    “The post-race shenanigans were wild. It looks like my teammate is the bad guy. He really pissed some drivers off. When you say ‘Flair’ in Charlotte, you usually think of ‘Ric,’ not ‘tempers.’”

    2. Kevin Harvick: Harvick led 162 laps at Charlotte, and took the field to green on the final restart with two laps remaining. He pulled away from Jeff Gordon and won the Bank Of America 500 and a pass to the third round of the Chase.

    “They call me the ‘Closer,’” Harvick said. “They call Gordon the ‘(Can’t Get) Closer.’

    “With the win, I moved in to the Chase For The Cup’s round 3. Of course, that took a backseat to some of the post-race events, which looked more like round 1.”

    3. Kyle Busch: Busch won the pole at Charlotte and finished fifth in the Bank Of America 500, his second top-five in the last two races. He is second in the points, six out of first.

    “I’m in perfect position to advance,” Busch said. “The only thing that can keep me out of the ‘Eliminator’ round is a meltdown on the scale of the one that Brad Keselowski displayed. I’m confident that won’t happen. What worries me is that I know I’m capable of it.”

    4. Jeff Gordon: Gordon chased Kevin Harvick to the finish at Charlotte, but didn’t have enough to catch the No. 4. Gordon took second, and needs only a finish of 16th or better at Talladega to advance to the Challenger round.

    “What a wild night at Charlotte,” Gordon said. “I think NASCAR needs more races like this. I hear NASCAR is already looking to add a race on a track shaped not like an oval, but an octagon.”

    5. Carl Edwards: Edwards finished eighth at Charlotte and now stands fifth in the Sprint Cup points standings, 12 behind Joey Logano.

    “I’ve got to hand it to my future teammate Matt Kenseth,” Edwards said. “He really went after Brad Keselowski. From the man who is known for his backflips, that was the best ‘jump’ I’ve seen in awhile.”

    6. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished 19th after starting 42nd due to what NASCAR called an “unapproved adjustment.” After the race, Brad Keselowski hit Kenseth’s No. 20 as the cars were heading to the garage.

    “First of all,” Kenseth said, “NASCAR’s so-called unapproved adjustment was a decal. When I heard we had to go to the back of the field, I experienced a case of ‘sticker shock.’

    “Then, Keselowski started playing bumper cars. I won’t stand for that. I’m not a huge social media user, but I felt the need to post Brad’s new Twitter handle, ‘@hole.’”

    7. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson pitted on the final caution with seven laps to go, giving up fourth place in the process. He emerged 10th and dropped back to 17th at the checkered flag.

    “Obviously,” Johnson, “that wasn’t the right decision. It appeared to be the first of many judgment errors made by drivers at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    “We’ve placed ourselves behind the 8-ball. But we’ll have to scrap for everything at Talladega, and I’m confident we can do it. With the Keselowski-Hamlin-Kenseth dustup in mind, I still have some ‘fight’ left in me.”

    8. Kyle Larson: Larson led five laps and looked poised to challenge for the win until he brushed the wall late, throwing off the handling of his No. 42 Target car. He still finished sixth, and has a top-six result in all five Chase races.

    “Sure,” Larson said, “the events of Saturday night don’t reflect well on Brad Keselowski. He’s got at least three drivers upset with him. But there’s a positive to everything, and NASCAR drivers are always looking for a new sponsor. The heck with the milk industry, Keselowski should be the poster boy for the new ‘Got Beef?’ ad campaign.”

    9. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished ninth in the Bank Of America 500, then tangled with Brad Keselowski on the cool-down lap.

    “Ironically,” Hamlin said, “I threw a white towel at Keselowski in anger.

    “I’m not afraid to tell it like it is. I’m a straight-shooter. Keselowski needs a straightjacket.”

    10. (tie): Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Earnhardt suffered a broken shifter handle on lap 137, and the ensuing problems cost him dearly at Charlotte. He finished 20th, and now needs a win at Talladega to advance to the next Chase round.

    “Hey,” Earnhardt said. “Shift happens.

    “But I know what I have to do. It’s all or nothing at Talladega. I need a huge victory in the worst way. So, contrary to what is standard at Talladega, I welcome the ‘Big One’ at Talladega.”

    Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 16 in the Bank Of America 500 on a clearly frustrating night in Charlotte. On the cool down lap, Keselowski rammed Denny Hamlin, then hit Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart. In the garage moments later, Kenseth charged Keselowski, sparking a wild melee.

    “It looked like everyone wanted a piece of me,” Keselowski said. “What the heck happened? Did NASCAR just announce a new dispute-settlement philosophy, ‘Boys, have at ‘im?’”

  • Harvick Takes the Victory at Charlotte but Matt Kenseth Delivers the Final Blow

    Harvick Takes the Victory at Charlotte but Matt Kenseth Delivers the Final Blow

  • Transcript: Stewart-Haas Racing Media Availability With Tony Stewart

    Transcript: Stewart-Haas Racing Media Availability With Tony Stewart

    September 29, 2014 – An interview with: TONY STEWART

    THE MODERATOR:  Good morning, everyone.  I’m Mike Arning, Director of Communications for Stewart-Haas Racing and want to say thank you for your time this morning.  We’ll introduce Tony Stewart and start off with any questions you may have.

    1. Tony, since the accident, when you think of Kevin Ward, Jr., what comes to mind?

    TONY STEWART:  Honestly, before the accident I didn’t know Kevin.  I don’t even know how many times I had raced with him.  I race with that group a couple times a year.  They’ve always been a great group to race with, but I didn’t know him.  Obviously, after the accident I’ve read a lot about him, and from what I’ve read, I think he had a really promising career as a Sprint Car driver.  It sounded like he was doing a good job and learning a lot at a young age, so I think he had a lot to look forward to.

    1. Do you want to and need to talk to the Ward family to have any sort of closure?  If so, can you talk to him or will it be years before all the legal stuff is done before you can talk to them?

    TONY STEWART:  You know, I think at this point it’s — I want to be available to them if they want to talk about it.  At this point, I don’t need to talk to them for closure.  I know what happened, and I know it was an accident, but I’m offering to talk to them to help them, if it helps them with closure.  So I said it when we were in Atlanta, and I still believe that I want to be available to them if and when they ever want to talk.

    1. On the topic of closure, at some point the focus will turn back to your career as a race car driver.  Have you thought about when or how that can happen?

    TONY STEWART:  Well, I mean, we’ve been racing since Atlanta, obviously, but it’s not been business as usual by any means, and this is going to be a healing process for me.  It makes you think about a lot of things other than driving race cars, but the one thing that’s probably helped me more than anything is being back at the racetrack and being around my racing family and remembering that I have a passion for what I do.  So that’s probably helped me more than anything when it’s come to trying to make that next step to move forward.

    1. If you could do anything differently over the past couple months, what would it be?

    TONY STEWART:  I’d have stayed at Watkins Glen that night.  You know, I do this stuff and I go run those cars to have a good time and that’s all I wanted to do that night.  I wanted to go have fun.  I had just spent the week at Knoxville, and it gives you the edge and desire to want to go race.  It wasn’t a big paying race for Sprint Car standards.  I just wanted to go run my Sprint Car for a night.  I do it to have fun, and it didn’t end up being fun that night.

    1. How have you been spending the time since the accident happened, and will your routine change now that you’ve been exonerated?

    TONY STEWART:  Since we went back to Atlanta, basically, I go from the motorhome to the car, and the car to the trailer, and the trailer back to the car, and that’s literally all I’ve done since I came back.  Even after Wednesday here in Charlotte, I haven’t left my house.  It’s just an awkward feeling.  I think now I’ll start doing some more things.  I mean, I’ve got a lot of friends who have been supportive through this entire thing, and there are a lot of people that have shown how much they cared and it would be nice to go and visit and talk to those people again.

    1. Have you reconsidered or considered stopping driving sprint cars as a result of this and your injury the year before?

    TONY STEWART:  At this point I don’t really have — I’m not going to say I’m never going to get in one.  But when I got hurt, it was as soon as I got healed and as soon as things got settled in with the Cup car I was set that I was wanting to get in one, but right now I wouldn’t even be able to give you a small idea of if and when I’ll ever get back in a car.  So at this point I won’t be in one for a while.

    1. The life of a driver and an owner is extremely busy.  Press conferences, commercials, appearances, fan things, you haven’t done — have you done much of that?  When will you think you’d get back to that life?

    TONY STEWART:  I haven’t done any since the accident.  I think after talking with you guys today we’ll start getting back into doing meet and greets and appearances again.  I think it’s important for me to do that and to take — I think that’s another step of making forward progress is getting back to trying to resume what was the best of a normal life before this.  I think it’s important for me to do that and get back to doing it as soon as possible.

    1. What has been the biggest change within you and the biggest impact upon you as a result of this past month and a half?

    TONY STEWART:  I honestly think that when you’re — and I’m not going to speak for professional athletes in different forms of sports, but as a race car driver, driving a race car is all that consumed my life.  It’s all I thought about, it’s all I cared about, and everything else was second on down the list of priorities for me.  I think this has given me the opportunity to sit here and think about other aspects of my life and what they’re going to mean to me in the future.

    Not that I don’t love what I do, because I do love it, but it’s not — just like you guys, it’s not what we do all the time.  There are more things to our life than what we have as a profession.  So it’s made me think about some of those other aspects of my life that kind of have been put on hold for years.

    1. How would you characterize the weeks at home, Tony, following the accident?  You basically were in seclusion.  What was that like for you to go through that and what did you do?

    TONY STEWART:  I didn’t really do much of anything to be perfectly honest.  I think the first three days that I was home I really didn’t do anything.  I didn’t get out of bed.  I didn’t care if I took a shower.  I left my room to go get food, and that you almost had to make yourself eat.  It’s the first three or four days I didn’t want to talk to anybody.  Didn’t want to see anybody, I just wanted to be by myself.

    You finally get up and you finally start moving around a little bit and every day got a little bit easier, but it was a big, drastic change from what I was used to, for sure, not having the desire to do anything.  All you thought about is what happened and asking yourself why.  Why did this happen?  So you just sat there for entire days on end asking questions and trying to come to terms with what happened and why it happened.

    1. I was at Loudon a couple weeks ago and Jimmie Johnson talked about how people are starting to take sides, and I’m wondering during this process if things coming out on Twitter or people making comments in the media, did you keep yourself insulated from that or did you follow any of that?  How did that impact the time that you were at the track?

    TONY STEWART:  I tried to do my best to insulate myself from that.  But I finally started reading what was out there and what people were saying, and you didn’t control that.  Last Wednesday the facts came out and people still through the weekend, some people that had the same opinion before the facts came out still have the same opinion, no matter what side they think about.

    To me it’s worthless to pick sides.  A young man lost his life, and I don’t care what side you’re on, it doesn’t change that.  His family’s in mourning.  I’m in mourning.  My family is in mourning.  Picking sides isn’t solving or fixing anything.  It’s a waste of time to pick sides.  Instead of honoring a young man that had a promising racing career, people are picking sides and throwing — it’s like watching people throw darts at each other.  It’s disappointing at this point, honestly, because instead of supporting each other and the racing community is such a strong family, that it’s dividing people that on a daily basis would help each other.  There is no point in it.  It doesn’t solve anything.  It doesn’t fix anything.  At the end of the day, it’s not going to make anybody feel any better about it.

    It’s just people that — everybody’s entitled to their opinion, and we know that.  But everybody, and I’ve seen this for the last seven weeks now, everybody has made their decision and picked their side off of 100% of the information that they got, which is about 10% of all the information that’s truly out there.  And we all do it.  Our society does it.  We do it every day.  Whatever we see on the news we make our decision as people about what we see.  But it’s not — I don’t think any of us any day whatever topic we’re trying to come to a conclusion about, ever get all the facts.

    So you understand why people think the way they do, but I think more than not, I don’t think people realize that there is more information out there than what we all get on a daily basis about whatever it is.

    1. (No Microphone)?

    TONY STEWART:  I guess it was more disappointing to me than anything.  Even from people that were supportive of us.  I mean, listened and reading comments about the sheriff’s department and the district attorney, they did a good job of taking the time that they needed to do to get all the facts and to come to a very thought out conclusion of this.  You want to sit there and tell people, hey, let them do their job.  But it just shows how passionate people are.

    I mean, if they are on our side or on Kevin’s family’s side, they were passionate about that.  That’s something I don’t want to see go away.  I don’t want to see people lose their passion, but I think people need to understand that there are a lot more facts that they didn’t understand and haven’t seen.

    1. Tony, obviously the season is moving on.  Yesterday Kevin Harvick, great run, Kurt Busch, not as great.  How much have you let yourself be engaged in that side of the process right now as far as being the Stewart of Stewart-Haas Racing?

    TONY STEWART:  I’ve let my team down from that standpoint.  I haven’t been able to — I’ve been a little bit of a cheerleader, but that’s about all I’ve been able to contribute here the last seven weeks.  It’s just, like I mentioned earlier, it’s been hard for me to function day-to-day.  There hasn’t been anything normal about my life the last seven weeks, so it’s been very hard to try to do anything to be productive to help those guys.  You try to be a cheerleader, you try to keep them pumped up about what they’re do being, but other than that, I haven’t been able to contribute too much.

    1. Just wondering, you talk about being in seclusion and all that that’s meant.  What does today represent for you having us all here?  You called us all here together.  What does today represent for you in terms of going forward?

    TONY STEWART:  We knew everybody had questions and we knew that everybody was going to want answered to what’s going on.  But I think more than anything we wanted to be able to tell everything from the beginning.  But it’s, like I learned Wednesday, everybody’s got their opinions about what happened.  Obviously, the facts didn’t matter to a lot of those people.  They still had their opinions one way or the other.  We haven’t let anybody know what’s been going on the last six weeks.  We just kind of went through the motions as far as we’re concerned, and we knew a lot of you would have questions about what’s been going on the last six or seven weeks and how have we handled it.

    1. What was it like to learn from the district attorney that in the toxicology report, Kevin Ward was under the influence?

    TONY STEWART:  Honestly, for me, it didn’t change anything.  To me a young driver lost his life.  Didn’t matter why or what was going on.  The end result was the same.  No matter what was said, it was still a tragic accident.  I just know in my heart that it was a hundred percent an accident; that detail didn’t mean anything to me personally.

    1. You mentioned earlier the awkward feeling that’s come over you the past several weeks.  Can you explain that a little more?  Also, talk about will that ever go away given that Kevin Ward has passed away and that will not change?

    TONY STEWART:  It’s just been awkward because I know what a typical day was like for me and the things that were on my agenda for each day and what I thought about you kind of get in that pattern.  This was something that obviously changed that pattern drastically.  Everything you thought about, everything you worked on, you stop thinking about.  You stopped working on, and this is all you thought about.

    Ask me the second part again.

    1. Do you think that will eventually go away?

    TONY STEWART:  I think it will.  The reason I say that is I’ve had other people that I’ve known for years that have come to me and told me personal stories of tragedies that have happened in their life that a lot of us don’t know about.  Their experiences and their advice really has hit home for me.  I do believe as time goes on it will be different every day.  It may.  I don’t know if it will ever get back to normal, but it will get better.

    1. Since getting back in a car, rate your performance as a driver?

    TONY STEWART:  I could rate a before and after almost the same. My year hasn’t been a stellar year by any means.  When we came back, we had a decent day started in Atlanta, and had an incident that derailed it.  But I think yesterday was probably the best overall race from start to finish that we’ve run.  Probably one of the best ones this year that we’ve actually run.  I struggled on restarts.  I couldn’t get going very good the first three or four laps, but it seemed like after ten laps or 15 laps we were settling into a pace that was a top 5 race car.

    So we didn’t have any major dramas on either side during the whole race.  We actually put a whole race together.  I know the 14th or 15th place finish isn’t anything to brag about, but considering where our season has been, we finally put together a whole day that was consistent, and that meant a lot to us.

    1. Tony, it’s kind of a follow-up, Doug asked you about your NASCAR involvement with Stewart-Haas Racing.  Your short track industry, your empire with Eldora and your USAC teams, and the World of Outlaw teams, what’s that been like for you over the last seven weeks?

    TONY STEWART:  I’ve watched and paid attention to what was going on, but I haven’t been engaged in it.  I’ve watched our races that we had online at Eldora.  I’ve watched the Sprint Car races online and listened to them online, but haven’t been engaged with the teams, haven’t been engaged with the drivers.  Just kind of been an non-deal.

    1. I don’t know quite how to phrase this, but racing inherently is a dangerous sport.  You’ve seen guys get killed in accidents over the years.  If this would have been a situation where you guys were racing and he crashed, and he perished in the crash, would it be something you would feel different about?  Or does the nature of him coming out on the track, did that change at all for you?  Does that make sense?

    TONY STEWART:  Yeah, it does.  For me, I don’t think it would change anything.  I’ve worked really hard, especially when I got hurt last year, while I was healing, I spent all that time trying to defend Sprint Car racing and help — try to help other drivers through the off-season.  I do it because I’m passionate about it and I love it.  We all know what can happen every time we get in a race car, whether it’s an IndyCar, Stock Car, Sprint Car.  Anybody that races anything knows what that is and what that danger is and what can happen.

    I’ve had close friends die in race cars.  I’ve had teammates die in race cars, and there is nothing easy about it.  Like I said, the racing community is a very close-knit family.  Anytime you lose somebody in that family, there are drivers and team owners and crew members from other sports that may not have ever met that driver but feel for that family and that driver in their tragedy.

    So no matter what the circumstances, the end result is something that nobody ever wants to see.  Like I said, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to defend it and try to help promote the sport, and none of us want that to happen to anybody under any circumstances.

    1. This is a secondary thing, but it will be important if it hasn’t been already, how are you dealing with sponsors?  How are you talking to sponsors about moving forward and what kind of concerns do you have about them being loyal to the team after this?

    TONY STEWART:  It’s a legitimate question, for sure.  Our organization has stayed in close contact with the sponsors through this whole ordeal, and I’ve been able to talk to a couple of them as well.  Johnny Morris was one of the people that came to my house to see me while I was in Indiana.  We spoke to people from Mobil 1, and they came to see us the last couple weeks at the racetrack.  The support from them has been amazing.

    It’s obviously a tough circumstance for anybody to be a part of it, for a corporation to be part of it as well, but they’ve been very supportive through this whole process.  I can’t speak to what the future will be for them.  They’ve been supportive to this point and that’s something I’ve been very grateful for.

    1. First of all, welcome back.  Glad to see you.  Following up a little on what Steven said.  You own Sprint Car teams and own tracks and specifically Eldora.  It was almost a therapy for you to get to go up and ride around on a four-wheeler and get the shoes dirty and the hands dirty.  Has this incident taken away from the cleansing properties of that therapy?  Do you think you’ll ever be able to ride Eldora in the four wheeler and feel the same again?

    TONY STEWART:  I’m sure I will.  It’s just not right now.  That’s an important aspect of my life and something that’s very important to me.  Right now at this moment today there are other things that are important to me right now, and they still are.  But I’m not ready to go do that yet.  Going around in a Cup car right now is important to me, and the great thing Eldora and the dirt track teams and our drivers that do great things there, and that’s given me — afforded me the time to think about what I need to do right now.

    1. You talked briefly about your race yesterday.  It’s been the best race you’ve had in your five back.  Is there any correlation personally in how you performed yesterday to being able to move forward in the decision Wednesday?

    TONY STEWART:  I really don’t know if it does or not, to be honest.  Honestly, at the racetrack on Friday and Saturday we struggled.  Our qualifying effort was the best that I qualified at Dover in a long time, but we really struggled in practice leading up to that, and Saturday all day we struggled.  I thought Chad and the engineers did a good job Saturday night of taking all the information they learned on both days, and I could tell right off the bat on Sunday that the car was quite a bit different than the rest of the weekend.

    I don’t think it had anything to do with that, honestly.  I think getting back in the car every time I’ve gotten in there, it’s given me a chance to focus again, and that’s something that I’ve needed as a diversion.  But I think from the time that I went back to Atlanta, the first session there the car felt really good, and we had a good weekend in Atlanta until it got derailed.

    But I think at this point in my career as a driver, when you make that decision to put the helmet on you have to know in your heart that you’re ready to go, you’re ready to do it, and I felt comfortable in the car from day one.

    1. You’re a championship level driver on the track, and sort of a larger-than-life figure off of it, which is responsible for all of this.  Can you get back to that person that you were, that gregarious, likeable sort of guy, or is it going to be a while that you’re that personality that fans have been drawn to all these years?

    TONY STEWART:  I think the support we’ve had from our fans, I don’t know if they even care if we get back to that.  They’re just happy that we’re back right now, and that’s been very comforting for us and for me.  I’ve really appreciated their support and how they’ve helped welcome me back to the track.

    It’s hard to say to be honest.  I appreciate the fact that you said I was a nice guy.  This is a process that’s day-to-day.  You take it one day at a time.  Before the accident happened, a day would fly by, and now a day seems like two or three days.  The clock seems like the batteries are running low on the clock.  I honestly think every day things will get better, and things will get easier, and I think it will for Kevin’s family as well.  Time heals.

    Like I said, I don’t know that it will ever be normal again, but we’ll find a place to settle into and we’ll do the best we can like we have to this point.  Whether I ever get back to that or not, hopefully through this I will somehow be a better person.  That’s all I can hope for.

    1. Until last Wednesday, there was the very real possibility of facing charges, which seems very scary.  In your grief or in getting over what happened in the accident, were you able to separate that part?  Were you fearful of charges, and how did you deal with that aspect of it?

    TONY STEWART:  I think you said it best yourself right there.  Anytime you’re facing something like that and your fate is in someone else’s hands, it’s natural to be fearful.  But all along I knew what the facts are.  I knew what had happened, and I know what happened.  I think through the process of the sheriff’s department and the district attorney and going to a 23-person grand injury, all the facts were presented and their decision spoke.  It was what I knew.

    So I can’t say that — I would be lying if I said there wasn’t a piece of relief, but that was very short lived in my heart.  Because as quickly as it was relief in my heart, it was at the same time it went right back to the fact that we lost Kevin.  We lost a young driver that had a lot of talent.

    1. You discussed the early days and not wanting to do anything but being secluded.  What thought have you given to hanging it up all together and being done driving?

    TONY STEWART:  You know, even with the decision right now, I don’t know if and when I’ll ever get back in a Sprint Car.  I said the support from the fans and the support from peers and people that were around every day, I’ve had drivers I’ve raced with every week and drivers that I haven’t raced with for months that said don’t let this keep you from doing what you love.

    This is what I’ve done all my life.  This is what I’ve done for 36 years, and I wouldn’t change anything about it.  I love what I do.  I love driving race cars, but I think it might change right now as far as how much of it and what I do, but there was never a thought in my head about stopping.  That would take the life out of me.

    1. Along the lines of what Marty just said, one, how often do you think about the events of what happened?  How often do you replay it in your mind?  And for a guy that’s passionate about this sport, did it wane at all for the sport?

    TONY STEWART:  I don’t think your passion ever goes away.  Probably more than anything over (no audio), and I wish I could say it was once a day, but it’s not.  I think about it a lot every day.  That’s the great thing about getting back in the race car because it gives me time to forget about it for a minute and to stop thinking about it.  After you get done at the end of the day, you start thinking about it again.  It’s not something that goes away.  It will never go away.  It’s always going to be part of my life the rest of my life.  That’s the unfortunate part.

    It’s going to be a part of my life.  It’s going to be a part of Kevin’s families life, and it’s never going to go away for any of us, but hopefully it will get easier for all of us.

    1. You mentioned replaying what happened in your mind.  Have you watched the video of what happened?

    TONY STEWART:  I’ve seen the video of it, yes.

    1. You said you were disappointed by some of the reaction, but are you hurt by what’s been said about you and your role in this tragedy?  Since it’s a sponsor-driven sport, do you feel you need to do or can do anything to repair your reputation?

    TONY STEWART:  Ask me the first part again.  The two part things, I’ve got a short mind.

    1. You said you were disappointed by some of the reaction, but were you hurt by it?

    TONY STEWART:  Initially, yes.  Initially I was hurt by some of the things I read.  But then I looked at who they were from, and it’s people that never met me, never spent time with me, don’t know me, and they’re making a judgment off of either what they — either what was presented or what the facts were that they had, and they were people that didn’t like me to begin with and it didn’t matter what the facts were.

    I really stopped wasting my time worrying about it.  Like I said, I know what happened.  I know what the facts are and that’s all that matters.

    1. A lot of these press conferences that have happened throughout the past few weeks, a lot of your fellow drivers asked about this situation.  Some of them saying they attempted to reach out to you and talk to you.  Some saying they haven’t heard back and that kind of thing.  Have there been certain ones that have leaned on and talked to you and helped you get through this?

    TONY STEWART:  There have.  It’s been done behind closed doors and that’s the way I want to keep it on their behalf and my behalf.  Yes, there’s been a lot of support, especially when the accident happened.  Like I said, I didn’t want to do anything.  So there were a lot of text messages and people that have reached out that I’m now starting the process of getting in touch with them and thanking them for their support and explaining why I didn’t get back to them.

    That’s probably been one of the hardest parts.  The hardest part for me is not having that contact with my friends and my peers, and going to the racetrack was the first step in reconnecting with a lot of those people and being able to thank them for their kind words and their advice.  There’s been so much that I’ve learned from my peers, my friends through this whether it’s been through personal experiences or just kind words that they’ve said.  That is the advice that they’ve given us that’s really meant a lot.  And that’s something that the rest of my life I don’t think I could spend the rest of my life and accurately thank everybody for what they’ve done to help us get through this.

    1. Would you say it’s people inside NASCAR or outside NASCAR?

    TONY STEWART:  Both.  It’s been all across the racing community.  Inside NASCAR, outside NASCAR, people I’ve met along the way that aren’t involved in racing at all but are people that understand.  So that’s been a huge, huge part for me.

    1. I imagine a substantial moment of vulnerability for you must have been that introduction in Atlanta.  First time you’ve been in public, you don’t know what people are thinking.  What was it like to walk up there and hear what you heard from the grand stands?

    TONY STEWART:  At first I thought I accidentally walked out in Dale Jr.’s spot, but it was very overwhelming.  I’m glad I had sunglasses on.  But it was probably the most flattering and humbling part of my career was to walk out there and have that kind of reception.  Riding around in the back of the pick-up truck and seeing people against the fence that were cheering for us and they had Jeff Gordon shirts on and Carl Edwards shirts and Matt Kenseth shirts.  Didn’t matter what they had on, it really showed the support.  Hearing about at Bristol how something that I was really happy with was the fact that on the 13th lap, people held up 13 for Kevin, and on the 14th lap held it up for us.  And I think it shows the kind of bond that race fans and the racing community have with each other.

    It was very flattering in Atlanta for sure.  I’ll never forget that moment.

    1. You talked about in the article with the Associated Press last week about how (No Audio)?

    TONY STEWART:  I think our whole life I don’t think any of us ever read anything in a book at school or read anything on how to deal with a tragedy like this.  To have somebody there that could help us through that and help us be able to make forward progress was very important, and it’s still — we’re still using them.  It’s not something that gets back to normal overnight.

    It’s something we’ll deal with a for a long time, but it’s nice to have that kind of support and that kind of guidance that will help you learn how to cope with it, deal with it, and start moving on.

  • Hot 20 – After Dover, it is Over for Four Contenders

    Hot 20 – After Dover, it is Over for Four Contenders

    According to the Chase, a couple of Penske drivers lead the way in the standings with Sunday’s race at Dover to determine the dozen who advance to the next round. According to our season long standings, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano certainly are worthy of consideration. Penske thinks so, as Logano this week signed a contract extension that should keep the team mates together for some time.

    Of course, consideration should also be extended to Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. for their season efforts. In fact, Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick are not too far out of the conversation just yet, either, and odds are all will also advance to the next stage of the “playoffs.” The cream continues to rise to the top.

    Whatever they do next year, it will be without benefit of private testing sessions. If NASCAR or Goodyear is not testing, then nobody is. In fact, getting caught doing so will result in the harshest penalties NASCAR can hand out. A minimum of a $150,000 fine, 150 points, a six week vacation for the crew chief kind of harshness. The annual three day test at Daytona to clear out the cobwebs is also gone. You get the feeling that they are serious about this.

    The reasoning behind it is to reduce costs to teams, and few seem to disagree. It is expected to be a boost for the lesser funded operations. Reduced horsepower and reduced spoilers are also slated for next season in the hopes it creates less down force and thus, more passing opportunities. Anything that makes the action better is more than welcome.

    Welcome news that Jamie Little is bound for FOX after the ESPN boat finally sinks. There is nothing wrong with the pit reporters on that network, but their analysts and hosts are a disaster. To borrow the line from Dennis Miller, “…of course, that’s just my opinion. I could be wrong.” Sorry, I just made myself laugh there.

    It is rather enjoyable to have a column such as this. It is merely a fan’s view, my honest observations. It is true that I do not enjoy seeing Logano, Denny Hamlin, or Brian Vickers win. That does not mean they are not lovely gentlemen. I bet if I shared a beer with any of them my perspective could probably change. I honestly do not enjoy the ESPN broadcasts, I think they do a disservice to the sport, but I also doubt my comments are going to cause anyone to fire Rusty Wallace tomorrow. You can agree or disagree, and we can have some fun in doing so. Sometimes, though, real life does jump out and bite us.

    I am glad to hear the criminal case against Tony Stewart has ended with the grand jury decision not to proceed. I am sad to hear that the family of Kevin Ward Jr. do not accept the verdict. They firmly believe Stewart intentionally accelerated his vehicle in a bid to intimidate the younger driver and in doing so, struck and killed him.

    “This matter is not at rest and we will pursue all remedies in fairness to Kevin.” As a father of sons not much younger than Kevin, I understand the sentiment. If Stewart’s actions did not kill their son, the actions of their son are what got him killed. No father would want to accept that. I sure would not. I do not know if I ever could.

    The top nine of our Hot 20 remain in the Chase, and should be there after this Sunday’s action. From Kasey Kahne on back, that is another story. As for who to expect to be among the contenders on Sunday, I think Kyle Larson will continue to show why he is the best newcomer this season. It think we also should have an idea how Johnson will do in his bid for seven, considering he is a nine time Dover winner.

    As for a bold prediction, based on past history, expect Kurt Busch, Hamlin, Aric Almirola, and A.J. Allmendinger to miss the Chase, and Greg Biffle to race his way to another set of downs.

    Hot 20

    *Winning bonus expanded from 3 to 25 points
    1 – Jeff Gordon – 3 Wins – 1041 Points
    2 – Brad Keselowski – 5 – 1025
    3 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 3 – 1017
    4 – Joey Logano – 4 – 1004
    5 – Jimmie Johnson – 3 – 939
    6 – Kevin Harvick – 2 – 916
    7 – Carl Edwards – 2 – 872
    8 – Matt Kenseth – 0 – 854
    9 – Ryan Newman – 0 – 837
    10 – Kyle Larson – 0 – 821
    11 – Kasey Kahne – 1 – 809
    12 – Greg Biffle – 0 – 802
    13 – Kyle Busch – 1 – 783
    14 – Jamie McMurray – 0 – 782
    15 – Clint Bowyer – 0 – 781
    16 – Austin Dillon – 0 – 759
    17 – Paul Menard – 0 – 753
    18 – Denny Hamlin – 1 – 727
    19 – Kurt Busch – 1 – 717
    20 – Brian Vickers – 0 – 701

  • Tony Stewart Cleared of Charges by Grand Jury

    Tony Stewart Cleared of Charges by Grand Jury

    The Ontario County Grand Jury met this week and determined that no charges would be brought against Tony Stewart regarding the death of Kevin Ward Jr.

    Ward lost his life when he was struck by Stewart’s car during a sprint car race at Canadaigua Motorsports Park on August 9.

    Ontario County District Attorney Michael Tantillo announced the findings in a press conference Wednesday afternoon and began by reading the following statement.

    “The grand jury has today completed its investigation,” he said. “During the course of the grand jury presentation, approximately two dozen witnesses testified. These included a number of race car drivers, racetrack employees and volunteers, two accident reconstructionists, medical personnel and a number of police officers. In addition, the grand jury reviewed a number of photographs and video recordings as well as other documentary evidence. After listening to and questioning all of the witnesses and reviewing all of the evidence, the grand jury has determined there is no basis to charge Tony Stewart with any crimes. This case was therefore no-billed by the grand jury.”

    Tantillo further stated that, “The charges that were submitted to the grand jury for consideration were manslaughter in the second degree and criminally negligent homicide. In New York State, it takes 12 or more grand jurors to return those charges. So while I can’t tell you what their votes were, obviously you can deduce the fact there were not 12 votes for either charge.”

    He also revealed that toxicology reports indicated that “at the time of operation, he (Ward) was under the influence of marijuana and that the levels “were enough to impair judgment.”

    Another significant facet of the investigation that was presented to the grand jury centered on the two videos that were examined, one of which was posted on YouTube shortly after the accident.

    “Those videos were examined in detail. They were enhanced. They were run through programs that allowed the frames to be isolated. They were run at 75%, 50% and 25% speed,” the DA explained. “They were overlaid with grids and data, and they were an important piece of the evidence considered here. The videos did not demonstrate any aberrational driving by Tony Stewart until the point of impact with Kevin Ward, at which point his vehicle veered to the right up the track as a result of the collision. Prior to that, his course was pretty straight.”

    Stewart issued a statement saying, “This has been the toughest and most emotional experience of my life, and it will stay with me forever. I’m very grateful for all the support I’ve received and continue to receive.”

    “I respect everything the District Attorney and Sheriff’s Office did to thoroughly investigate this tragic accident. While the process was long and emotionally difficult, it allowed for all the facts of the accident to be identified and known.

    “While much of the attention has been on me, it’s important to remember a young man lost his life. Kevin Ward Jr.’s family and friends will always be in my thoughts and prayers.”

    Brett Jewkes, NASCAR Chief Communications Officer, said of the decision, “There are no winners in tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers remain with the Kevin Ward Jr. family and Tony Stewart as they as they all cope with this tragic incident at Canandaigua Motorsports Park. This has been a difficult time for everyone involved and we have respected the local authorities responsible for reviewing this case.”

    District Attorney Tantillo spoke to Ward’s family and acknowledged that Mr. Ward “was probably disappointed by the outcome, but he was very appreciative of the work that the Ontario County Sheriff’s Department and District Attorney’s office had put into the case.”

     

     

  • Hot 20 – Could the Best at Loudon and Dover be a Non-Chaser?

    Hot 20 – Could the Best at Loudon and Dover be a Non-Chaser?

    New Hampshire is the next stop on the Chase tour, and if anyone needs to rewrite expectations it would be Aric Almirola and AJ Allmendinger. Both have not done well at Loudon in the past, though Almirola was fifth in the race 15 months ago and the Dinger has one Top Ten. Still, both average beyond 20th there and after the results in Chicago came in they find their title hopes down to fumes. Yet, it is nothing that an unexpected win would not cure.

    Neither are among our Hot 20, based on the season to date. Brad Keselowski is, with back to back wins giving him five on the season. However, he is not the hottest based on this system of providing a 25 point bonus for a win. That remains Jeff Gordon, who despite having two fewer trips to Victory Lane, does have an average finish advantage of 9.7 to 13 over Keselowski in 27 races. Wins are big, especially in how we tabulate these standings, but being consistent also has its rewards. The difference is that Keselowski has finished outside the Top Twenty seven times this campaign, Gordon only three.

    Something tells me Brad is not too concerned, with last weekend’s win locking him into a Chase spot for the next five events. However, it is still too early to hand him the trophy just yet. No matter what he does at Loudon and Dover, Keselowski will have the same 3000 points as the other 11 gents left in the Chase when they move on to Kansas.

    Marcos Ambrose missed the Chase, and next year we will miss him as he returns to his native Australia. He is a fun guy with talent, especially when left hand turns lead to more to the right. Ambrose has a couple of Cup wins in 218 starts, both coming at Watkins Glen, and leaves to raise his family back on their native soil.

    Nothing is more important than family. The Ward family lost their young son Kevin in an accident involving Tony Stewart, a case that will go to a grand jury to determine if the case should proceed to trial. While what video evidence I have seen leads me to believe this was a tragic accident Stewart was not responsible for, I was not there nor do I have knowledge of all the facts. A family lost their young son that day, and they deserve a thorough, transparent review of what took place. I pray for justice for all involved.

    Sixteen drivers remain involved in the Chase, but do not expect much to change in the standings between now and the conclusion at Dover. Based on their track records, both Almirola and Allmendinger are done, with Greg Biffle in a fight for survival. I would expect over the next couple of weeks to see Jimmie Johnson absolutely shine. I would expect, based on past results, strong efforts from Gordon, Carl Edwards, Keselowski, and Matt Kenseth, with Ryan Newman coming on strong to beat out Kasey Kahne for the final spot to the next round. Of course, depending on who wins these races, all my speculation could wind up all out the window.

    There is a reason why non-Chaser Kyle Larson is among our Hot 20. Based on results from earlier this season, expect him to be the star on these tracks once again this weekend and next.

    BOLD = Current Chasers

    *Points awarded as during the regular season, except the winning bonus is 25 rather than 3 points.

    Hot 20
    1 – Jeff Gordon – 3 Wins – 1023 Points
    2 – Brad Keselowski – 5 – 987
    3 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 3 – 982
    4 – Joey Logano – 3 – 935
    5 – Jimmie Johnson – 3 – 900
    6 – Kevin Harvick – 2 – 873
    7 – Carl Edwards – 2 – 845
    8 – Matt Kenseth – 0 – 831
    9 – Ryan Newman – 0 – 811
    10 – Kasey Kahne – 1 – 788
    11 – Kyle Larson – 0 – 779
    12 – Greg Biffle – 0 – 774
    13 – Clint Bowyer – 0 – 764
    14 – Kyle Busch – 1 – 747
    15 – Jamie McMurray – 0 – 742
    16 – Austin Dillon – 0 – 726
    17 – Paul Menard – 0 – 724
    18 – Denny Hamlin – 1 – 719
    19 – Kurt Busch – 1 – 709
    20 – Brian Vickers – 0 – 701

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Chicagoland

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Chicagoland

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski dominated the late restarts at Chicagoland and cruised to the win in the MyAfibStory.Com 400. He built on his lead in the points standings, and now leads Jeff Gordon by seven.

    “I automatically advanced to the next round of the Chase,” Keselowski said. “So you can pencil my name on the bracket to the ‘Contender’ round. And speaking of things written in pencil, the Chase format has seen more alterations than Bruton Smith’s pants.”

    2. Jeff Gordon: Gordon finished second at Chicagoland, a solid start in his quest for a fifth Sprint Cup championship.

    “The ‘Drive For Five’ is still alive,” Gordon said. “But I have to be careful not to get ahead of myself. First, I have to make sure the ‘Drive For 12,’ is alive, then the ‘Drive For 8,’ then the ‘Drive For 4.’”

    3. Joey Logano: Logano finished fourth in the MyAfibStory.com 400 at Chicagoland as Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski took the victory.

    “My goal is to be one of the four drivers to make it to that final round,” Logano said. “Obviously, we can’t call it the ‘Final Four’ because the NCAA will sue. I say we broker a tie-in with that apocalyptic HBO series and call that final race ‘The Leftovers.’”

    4. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt finished 11th at Chicagoland as Penske Racing’s Brad Keselowski won. Earnhardt is fifth in the points standings, 17 behind Keselowski.

    “It was a decent start start to the Chase,” Earnhardt said. “It could have been better, but at least there were no fans climbing the fence. I bet if we scheduled a race in southern Texas, that certainly wouldn’t be the case.”

    5. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson finished 12th at Chicagoland. He is sixth in the Sprint Cup points standings, 18 behind Brad Keselowski.

    “Luckily,” Johnson said, “there was no hot air blowing into my helmet on Sunday. But if I don’t make a statement at Dover, it could be time for a ‘cold sweat.’ It’s no time to panic, though. Now, more than ever, I need to ‘be cool.’”

    6. Kevin Harvick: Harvick led a race high 79 laps and finished fifth at Chicagoland.

    “I switched pit crews with Tony Stewart,” Harvick said. “I’m happy about that, but my former pit crew is not. They worked 26 races to get me in the Chase. Now, they’re out. You could say they were ‘Un-Happy-ed.’”

    7. Matt Kenseth: On a strong day for Joe Gibbs Racing , Kenseth finished tenth at Chicagoland as teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch finished sixth and seventh, respectively.

    “The Chase format is new and improved,” Kenseth said. “First, you have the ‘Challenger’ round, then somewhere along the way there’s the ‘Eliminator’ round. I’m not sure what the other rounds are called, but I assume they’re named after ZZ Top albums as well.”

    8. Kurt Busch: Busch posted his eighth top 10 of the year with an eighth in the MyAfibStory.Com 400.

    “I made contact with my brother Kyle midway through the race,” Busch said. “That’s one instance where neither Kurt nor I can argue that a Busch was at fault.”

    9. Kyle Busch: Busch started on the pole with the highest practice speed after qualifying was rained out. He led 46 laps and finished seventh.

    “Not only did Kurt and I make contact,” Busch said, “Danica Patrick and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. got together to bring out the final caution. Neither was happy. But is anyone really surprised that there’s friction between them?”

    10. Kyle Larson: Larson led 20 laps at Chicagoland and engaged Kevin Harvick in a lively battle for the lead late in the race. While Larson and Harvick fought, Brad Keselowski slipped through the middle and led the rest of the way. Larson finished third.

    “Had I made the Chase,” Larson said, “I could have been an unlikely contender. Chip Ganassi Racing has often partnered with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. and Teresa Earnhardt, so if I can borrow Dale, Jr.’s evil stepmother, then this Cinderella story would have been in business.”