Tag: Tony Stewart

NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Darlington

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Jeff Gordon: Gordon finished seventh in the Bojangle’s Southern 500 and held on to the lead in the Sprint Cup points standings. He leads Matt Kenseth by one point.

“I’m surprised Kenseth didn’t win a race sponsored by Bojangles,” Gordon said, “because he knows chicken better than anyone.

“But the ‘Drive For Five’ is still alive. And if I win the Sprint Cup title, you can best believe I’ll ride off into the sunset. If not, I might call it a day, anyway.”

2. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt took second at Darlington, posting his fifth top-3 finish of the season. Earnhardt is fourth in the points standings, 26 behind Jeff Gordon.

“I’m sponsored by the National Guard,” Earnhardt said. “Is Kevin Harvick sponsored by the Navy? Because his wife curses like a sailor.

“As Harvick proved, tires were the most important factor in winning. Maybe we should have put on those extra two tires. I guess you could say we failed. Of course, it’s surely not the first case of ‘blown’ tires this year.”

3. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson took the lead with a two-tire pit stop on a caution with ten laps to go at Darlington. Harvick eventually chased down Johnson and passed Dale Earnhardt, Jr. for the lead on the final lap. Johnson finished third and is now fourth in the points standings, 27 behind Jeff Gordon.

“I’m still winless on the year,” Johnson said. “But winning isn’t everything. Otherwise, I’d have everything. Harvick can have his four tires; I’ll take my six Cups. Unlike those tires, those Cups will last forever.”

4. Kevin Harvick: Harvick’s four tire pit stop on the final caution at Darlington proved the difference. Harvick, restarting fifth, chased down Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr, to secure the win in the Bojangle’s Southern 500.

“We were ‘great’ in ‘Darlington,’” Harvick said. “Taking four tires was a ‘good decision.’ Those weren’t the only ‘G.D.’s’ heard at Darlington.

“Gene Haas of Stewart-Haas Racing is planning to field a Formula 1 team in 2015. Gene’s got the money to make it work. He’s loaded. He has to be. Reportedly, he couldn’t pay Tony Stewart enough to have Kurt Busch as a teammate.”

5. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth claimed fourth at Darlington, posting his sixth top-10 result of the year. He is second in the points standings, trailing Jeff Gordon by a single point.

“The call Darlington Raceway the ‘Lady In Black,’” Kenseth said. “They call Delana Harvick the ‘Lady In Blue’ because of her language. Harvick may be the best driver never to win a Cup championship. Maybe he’s cursed.”

6. Carl Edwards: Edwards finished 13th at Darlington, as Roush Fenway teammate Greg Biffle was the only Ford in the top 10. Edwards is third in the points standings, 19 behind Jeff Gordon.

“How is Delana Harvick like the Aflac duck?” Edwards said. “They’re both ‘fowl-mouthed.’”

7. Kyle Busch: Busch finished sixth at Darlington, joining Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Matt Kenseth, who finished fourth, in the top 10. Busch is sixth in the Sprint Cup points standings, 28 out of first.

“My brother Kurt was wrecked by Clint Bowyer,” Busch said. “Rest assured, Kurt won’t take that lying down. Or at least not before an open-handed slap takes him off his feet.”

8. Joey Logano: Logano blew an engine with ten laps to go at Darlington and finished 35th, 15 laps down. He fell four spots in the points standings to eighth, 52 out of first.

“Hey,” Logano said, “I wasn’t the only one cursing my blown engine.”

9. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 17th at Darlington on a disappointing day for Penske Racing. Teammate Joey Logano suffered an engine failure, while Keselowski dealt with handling issues late in the race.

“With no top 10 finishes in the last five races,” Keselowski said, “I haven’t looked like a Cup contender. We’re heading to Easter for a much needed break, and hopefully I’ll be a lot better upon returning. Just call it a ‘Kes-urrection.’”

10. Kyle Larson: Rookie Of The Year candidate Larson finished seventh in the Bojangle’s Southern 500, scoring his second straight top 10 and fourth of the year.

“I earned my Darlington stripe,” Larson said. “The ‘Lady In Black’ always leaves an impression. But I think I did the same. Hopefully, this driver of the No. 42 Target car will leave a mark, and not just leave.”

April 15, 2014

The Final Word – The Southern 500 featured SHR’s good, their bad, their ugly…and their boss

There is a reason we read the entire book, rather than rely totally on the CliffsNotes version. For example, the shortened description of Saturday night’s Southern 500 action at Darlington would read that Kevin Harvick dominated and went on to win his second of the season. That would be correct, yet it misses the fact Jeff Gordon had a shot, then Dale Earnhardt Jr had an opportunity, before Harvick charged ahead on fresh tires in the green-white-checker to run away with it in the end.

It has been feast or famine for Harvick in the opening eight. He won at Phoenix and Darlington, was 13^th at Daytona and 7^th at Martinsville. Then there are the four races where he wound up beyond 35^th. At least in a season where Stewart-Haas drivers have had their share of adversity on-track, he has given some hope, even if it proceeded a feeling of hopelessness. He has been damned good in all, a force to be reckoned with in each, but too often some part fails and the day goes for naught. Saturday was not one of those days.

If not for Harvick, we would be telling tales of woe regarding his team mate Kurt Busch. He did have one of those days on Saturday night, when he crashed out in 31^st, a week after crashing out in 35^th in Texas. A bad engine left him 39^th at Phoenix, and when he clipped his brother at Bristol, once again 35^th was his fate. Still, he has that win and that is going to mean a lot over the next few months.

The CliffsNotes might have missed that little factoid, along with just how ornery that Lady in Black proved to be, especially to the rookie class. Both stand-out rookies Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon clobbered the fence coming off turn two, yet did finish 8^th and 11^th respectively…and respectfully.

When measuring the Danica Line, 25^th or better usually finds one sitting ahead of her on the track. Not so on Saturday, when the third member of SHR finished 22^nd. Of the other newcomers at Darlington, only the 23^rd place of Justin Allgaier came close. Still, you have to show some respect to the other boys and their teams who are out there to race, to learn, to grow, to compete, and not just there to start and park and collect some undeserved cash. Of the 43 who ran, maybe one might have exited early due to having a bad hair day.

As for the driver in the owner’s seat, just where did Tony Stewart come from last weekend? Most of the night, he was trailing Danica, for goodness sake, but at the line Stewart recorded a Top Ten. How in blazes did that happen? Fortuitous and smart pit strategy brought him back from the dead.

Among those who do not get to hang with Gene Haas, Earnhardt and Gordon finished 2^nd and 3^rd, while Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, and Jimmie Johnson all had Top Ten days to remain high on the charts. Carl Edwards is still the best among single race winners, and he came home 13^th.

It burns me that the Nationwide series is still a showcase for five or six Cup guys, but I am pleased to see they are now joined by Chase Elliott. Bill’s boy won his second straight when the series regular won at Darlington to lead the over-all standings. Elliott Sadler (2^nd), Regan Smith (8^th), Trevor Bayne (9^th), and Ty Dillon (10^th) also finished strong among the relevant performers.

If wins are the thing, then Harvick takes over the top spot in the Cup standings, while Gordon and Kenseth remain the best among those who have yet to shake up the bubbly post-race as we take the week off for Easter. A fellow might even have time to read a full sized book this weekend. Any suggestions?

	Driver	Races	Wins	Points
1	Kevin Harvick	8	2	186
2	Carl Edwards	8	1	278
3	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	8	1	271
4	Kyle Busch	8	1	269
5	Brad Keselowski	8	1	246
6	Joey Logano	8	1	245
7	Kurt Busch	8	1	164
8	Jeff Gordon	8	0	297
9	Matt Kenseth	8	0	296
10	Jimmie Johnson	8	0	270
11	Ryan Newman	8	0	236
12	Austin Dillon	8	0	235
13	Greg Biffle	8	0	227
14	Brian Vickers	8	0	224
15	Tony Stewart	8	0	224
16	Denny Hamlin	7	0	223
17	Kyle Larson	8	0	223

31	Reed Sorenson	8	0	118

April 14, 2014

Gene Hass’ Formula One Team Beginning To Form; Still Far From Announcing Driver

Gene Haas is determined and striving to create the first successful United States-based Formula One organization – and on Monday afternoon during a press conference he expressed the lengths he’d take to prove critics wrong.

“There’s going to be a lot of people following us from that skepticism to see if, ‘these guys are going to fail or not?’” Haas commented. “I’m sure that most people are betting that we do fail.

“That is why it is going to be successful because if we don’t fail, then we have done something other people haven’t.”

Haas, who’s a part-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), received approval of his request to form a Formula One team this past week. The, what most people consider outrageous, decision comes during a time period in which F1 is dominated by European franchises, not Americans, however, Haas is the least concerned about that.

“We’re not going to be an European-led team.” Haas explained during the conference. “We’re going to be an American-led team, and we’re going to do it the way we think is the most efficient.”

“We’re going to spend our money wisely, we’re going to do it with an American flair for design and efficiencies, and that’s how we’re going to control our costs.”

Haas, 61, explained that Tony Stewart, part-owner of SHR, will have no involvement in the team, now named, Hass Formula. He also eluded that it’s unlikely any SHR drivers will join the newly introduced team.

“What we would like would be to have an experienced Formula One driver, probably someone who is familiar with the current engine package rules (because) they change quite a bit even from last year,” Haas further explained about the driver situation. “Going forward, we certainly would like to have a young American driver. That would be the ideal situation.

“But at the moment, we haven’t really narrowed it down. We have had quite a few people talk to us.”

Guenther Steiner, former Formula One team executive, will be the new team principle for Haas – and the offices and shop will be orchestrated in Kannapolis, North Carolina, around SHR’s location.

Haas’ team will be required, by the FIA, to compete in at least two seasons, and will be expected to compete until the 2020 season.

The debut of the team is unknown, however, Haas believes it’ll be a challenge to have the full setup by 2015, but he didn’t rule it out.

“I would like to (be racing by) 2015 simply because I think the first year is going to be a difficult year no matter what happens,” Haas said. “It is a very big challenge. Part of that learning curve is just simply getting to the track and sorting out the logistics of going race to race.

Haas, owner of the multi-million dollar company Haas Automation, isn’t concerned necessarily with the cost of beginning the operation; he’s actually hoping to reveal his company worldwide, not just locally in the United States.

“Every week it goes up by another billion,” Haas said. “We have a budget and there’s a lot of unknowns in it. … The numbers I’ve seen are reasonable.”

“My basic goal is to change Haas Automation from just a machine tool builder into a premium brand,” Haas said. “I think Formula One can provide that, especially in the overseas markets. There are a lot of fans from China to South America to Europe to Eastern Europe to Japan to Malaysia that we really want to become a household name in.”

“That really is the ultimate goal, to take the image of Haas Automation and turn it into a brand that is desired and known throughout the world. The ultimate goal would be to double our sales for Haas Automation.”

Haas is obviously imagining limitless goals for his team, and he’s hoping to silence doubters by becoming a well-run, and long lasting, American Formula One team.

“I think we can beat the Europeans at their own game.”

April 14, 2014
Surprising and Not Surprising: Texas Duck Commander 500

In a rain-filled race day fit only for the ducks, so much so that the race was postponed from Sunday to Monday, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 18^th Annual Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Surprising: He may have finished second in the race, but Jeff Gordon achieved the top spot in the point standings, a position that he surprisingly has not held since 2009.

And with his runner up status, the consistent driver of the No. 24 No. 24 Axalta/Texas A&M School of Engineering Chevrolet scored his 12^th top-10 finish at Texas and his fifth top-10 finish for the season.

“It was a great second‑place finish for me,” Gordon said. “I knew it was going to be hard to hold those guys off.”

“Looked out my mirror, those guys were racing hard behind me,” Gordon continued. “At that point I was thinking, I just want to finish.”

“I feel very fortunate to have finished second.”

Not Surprising: It was after all the Duck Commander 500 race, so it was not at all surprising for the seventh winner in seven races to capitalize on that duck theme.

“Obviously these wins are so important this year to get into the Chase and to have both Team Penske cars with a win already is big, so we feel good about that,” Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford, said after celebrating his first victory of the season. “You kind of start getting your ducks in a row for Chase time and making sure you get everything ready for then.”

“You feel a little bit more comfortable now that we have won than what we would have been.”

This was Logano’s first ever win at Texas Motor Speedway and he also became the youngest winner in TMS history at the tender age of 23 years, 10 months and 14 days.

Surprising: Brian Vickers had a surprisingly good run, in fact the best of his season in fourth place. The driver of the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota also climbed four places in the point standings to crack the top-10 in points, currently sitting in the ninth position, 54 points behind leader Jeff Gordon.

“Really proud of everyone on this Aaron’s Dream Machine team,” Vickers said. “Just really proud of the effort. We probably didn’t have a car to win, but we made the most of it.”

“We’ll learn from this and we’ll move on to the next race and we gave it our best there at the end.”

Not Surprising: The ‘Kyle and Kyle’ show continued its run at Texas, with Kyle Busch battling young Rookie of the Year contender Kyle Larson yet again for a top-five finish.

Busch, who scored third place in his No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, posted his eighth top-10 finish in 18 races at Texas while Larson, behind the wheel of his No. 42 Target Chevrolet, finished fifth as the highest finishing ROTY candidate.

“It was a good afternoon for us,” Busch said. “Just drove the hell out of it there those last two laps and got all she could and come home third. Good, deserving finish for us here today.”

“We were really good today, pretty much good from the start,” Larson said. “Our Target Chevy was average on a short run, but long runs I thought we probably had the best car.”

“Just kept sticking with it, got it better and better each run,” Larson continued. “Put ourselves in position there on that last restart to get a good finish.”

Surprising: Two drivers were surprisingly up in smoke early in the race, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. hitting the grass and exploding in flames on lap 13 while Kevin Harvick’s engine expired in a huge puff of smoke just 27 laps into the race.

“Something happened with the engine right after that restart,” Harvick said. “The Jimmy John’s Chevrolet was really fast.”

“It’s frustrating. I don’t know what else I can say,” Harvick continued. “I didn’t get any indication that anything was going wrong.”

“We’ll take it back to the shop and figure out what happened. But that’s a disappointing end to the day.”

Earnhardt Jr.’s day also ended up in flames and smoke but for a very different reason.

“Just didn’t see the grass. Didn’t know the grass was down there,” Junior said. “With the way the A-post is on these cars you can’t really see that good to that angle. I just didn’t have a good visual of where the apron and the grass was and got down in there pretty good.”

“You can’t run through there the way they have these cars on the ground like that,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet said. “Just a mistake on my part. I just didn’t know I was that close to the grass, and made a mistake.”

Not Surprising: With rain in the air and the track changing throughout the race day, it was not surprising that gremlins in the flaps and hoods reared their ugly heads. In fact, because of the force of air from the jet dryers, at least four cars had hood flaps popping up, including the cars of Brad Keselowski, Ryan Newman, Danica Patrick and Justin Allgaier.

“I was definitely wondering what happened,” the driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford said on seeing his hood flap pop up. “I knew it was the jet dryer that caused it, but it was one of those freak deals.”

Surprising: As much as the race fans wanted to see the sun, it was surprisingly not Tony Stewart’s friend as his car fared better in the gloomier conditions.

“We had a really good racecar for what the track conditions were most of this weekend,” the driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet said. “I think we showed that with getting the pole on Saturday and then leading all those laps at the first part of the race.”

“But the track changed a lot and the setup we had didn’t really change with it.”

In spite of handling struggles late in the race, Smoke led 74 laps and did manage to finish top-10 for the day, advancing one position up in points to fourteenth.

Not Surprising: Along with his heavy heart on the untimely death of his brother-in-law due to a sky-diving accident, Jimmie Johnson had heavy damage to match, unfortunately being the recipient of the mud and debris from his teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s foray into the grass and wall.

Johnson finished the race with a disappointing 25^th place run in his No. 48 Lowe’s Spring is Calling Chevrolet.

“It’s kind of surreal what happened,” the six-time champion said. “Junior hit the grass there and something off his car like a splitter or something just destroyed my windshield and then something hit the nose of the car too.”

“We were in a good position and were running decent lap times when the right rear blew,” Johnson continued. “It was a day of bad luck. We had a fast race car, so there was a little silk lining in it, but it was a terrible finish.”

Surprising: The third time was not a charm for Kurt Busch, previous race winner at Martinsville, who suffered not one, not two, but three tire failures in the Duck Commander 500 and finished 39^th.

“That was a very disappointing day after having a fast Haas Automation Chevrolet all weekend,” Daniel Knost, Busch’s crew chief, said. “We brought out a backup car after a wreck early in the weekend due to a tire issue.”

“We took a little too aggressive setup today, and it cost us,” Knost continued. “I hate that we had a day like this, but we’ll continue to learn and get better each week.”

Not Surprising: While Aric Almirola and his Eckrich sponsor granted wishes for a local veteran injured in Afghanistan, the driver of the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford, had his own wish for improvement in his point standings come true as well.

“The car was loose all day,” Almirola said. “Our intermediate track program is still not where we want it to be, but this was a good improvement.”

“We hung in the Top-15 all day, and hopefully, a 12th-place finish will help us in the points.”

Almirola and his team indeed moved up four spots in the points standings to 22^nd as he and his fellow Cup compatriots head into the night race this upcoming weekend at Darlington Raceway.

April 7, 2014

Tony Stewart Wins Pole at Texas!

Tony Stewart won the Coors Light Pole award at the Texas Motor Speedway Saturday afternoon with a qualifying time 27.628 seconds or 195.454 miles per hour. He beat Brad Keselowski’s time of 27.636 at the last second as the third qualifying had expired. Stewart said, “I wasn’t sure I could on” the car was so fast. “This Chevy was fast today.” The pole was Stewart’s 15^th of his career and second at Texas.

Stewart-Haas Racing was fast as Kevin Harvick shattered the track record with a qualifying speed of 198.28 mph, the fastest average speed ever recorded at a 1.5 mile track for a NSCAR qualifying session. He was followed by Trevor Bayne, Carl Edwards and Ryan Newman in the first session. Toyota Racing and Joe Gibbs seemed to struggle for time as only Brian Vickers and Denny Hamlin had enough speed to move to that second round. Notable drivers that did not move on to the second round of qualifying (top 24 qualifiers only) were Kasey Kahne (32^nd), last year’s pole winner Kyle Busch (29^th) and Matt Kenseth (26^th). Kenseth said after that first session, “We missed the set-up and the track must have picked up speed after that rain shower earlier.”

The second session, which would only qualify the top twelve for the final session, was lead by the Ford of Greg Biffle who topped the charts at 196.235 mph. He was followed closely by the eventual pole winner Stewart, Harvick, Keselowski and his Penske team mate Joey Logano.

In the last session, which only lasts 5 minutes, Keselowski was quite fast until he was nipped by Stewart.

Line Up (per Nascar):

POS	Car No	Driver	Best Speed	Best Time	Behind

1	14	Tony Stewart	195.454	27.628
2	2	Brad Keselowski	195.419	27.633	–0.005
3	4	Kevin Harvick	195.298	27.65	–0.022
4	16	Greg Biffle	194.7	27.735	–0.107
5	99	Carl Edwards	194.637	27.744	–0.116
6	11	Denny Hamlin	194.623	27.746	–0.118
7	21	Trevor Bayne	194.503	27.763	–0.135
8	31	Ryan Newman	194.14	27.815	–0.187
9	9	M.Ambrose	194.056	27.827	–0.199
10	22	Joey Logano	193.743	27.872	–0.244
11	41	Kurt Busch	193.126	27.961	–0.333
12	24	Jeff Gordon	192.089	28.112	–0.484
13	27	Paul Menard	194.259	27.798	–0.170
14	42	Kyle Larson	194.084	27.823	–0.195
15	1	J. McMurray	194.021	27.832	–0.204
16	48	Jimmie Johnson	194.007	27.834	–0.206
17	43	Aric Almirola	193.59	27.894	–0.266
18	78	Martin Truex Jr	193.493	27.908	–0.280
19	88	Dale Earnhardt J	193.354	27.928	–0.300
20	3	Austin Dillon	193.154	27.957	–0.329
21	13	Casey Mears	193.154	27.957	–0.329
22	51	Justin Allgaier	192.981	27.982	–0.354
23	55	Brian Vickers	192.768	28.013	–0.385
24	10	Danica Patrick	192.761	28.014	–0.386
25	15	Clint Bowyer	194.988	27.694	–0.066
26	20	Matt Kenseth	194.637	27.744	–0.116
27	7	M. Annett	194.602	27.749	–0.121
28	95	M. McDowell	194.581	27.752	–0.124
29	18	Kyle Busch	194.539	27.758	–0.130
30	23	Alex Bowman	194.454	27.77	–0.142
31	17	R. Stenhouse Jr	194.44	27.772	–0.144
32	5	Kasey Kahne	194.028	27.831	–0.203
33	47	AJ Allmendinger	193.611	27.891	–0.263
34	35	D. Reutimann	192.954	27.986	–0.358
35	77	Dave Blaney	192.52	28.049	–0.421
36	30	P. Kligerman	192.219	28.093	–0.465
37	32	Travis Kvapil	192.171	28.1	–0.472
38	36	Reed Sorenson	191.748	28.162	–0.534
39	38	David Gilliland	191.625	28.18	–0.552
40	40	Landon Cassill	191.408	28.212	–0.584
41	98	Josh Wise	191.232	28.238	–0.610
42	26	Cole Whitt	189.036	28.566	–0.938
43	34	David Ragan	187.839	28.748	–1.120

David Ragan

Ford

To Bellac

187.839

28.748

–1.120

April 5, 2014

The Final Word – Kurt Busch breaks Johnson’s heart and Keselowski’s car at Martinsville

Winning races gets your name, and that of your sponsor out there. You run where they can see you, or you do something that causes the cameras to wander your way. If that is the goal, it was mission accomplished for Kurt Busch.

At the start, Kurt was in there somewhere but not yet up front. So, with 45 laps gone in a 500 lap event, he managed to find a way into the headlines. When Kasey Kahne turned left to head toward his pit stall, he cut in front of Brad Keselowski. That caused a minor bump. However, Kurt Busch saw room on Keselowski’s right and went for it. Unfortunately, Brad turned ever so slightly to his right and into Busch. Kurt thought he had ruined his chances for good things at Martinsville while Keselowski went to the garage for extensive repairs and a place to stew.

Thirty-odd laps later, Kurt was still not in front, but Keselowski was back on the track in what looked like a stripped down hot rod roadster. Needless to say, Brad was not happy. He tried to keep Kurt behind him when they met again. Kurt nudged Brad’s rear in return. Keselowski tried to brake check Busch, then they banged fenders, or whatever passed for a fender on the 2 car. Keselowski got downright cuddly as a kitten with Busch, if the critter was on catnip and some Colorado herbals. They met; they banged like William Hung, and kept this up until Kurt finally got away. Still not at the front, but he sure got lots of screen time for owner/sponsor Gene Haas. Not bad for being out in the weeds. As for Keselowski, he was the guy driving the No. 2…that white car with no fenders or hood. He was sponsored, was he not?

To maximize his exposure, Kurt’s crew managed to work on the car, got it better and better, and in the final laps he managed to slip past the most dominant car of the day. Jimmie Johnson finished second as his winless streak is now extended to nine whole races, going back to Texas last November. Busch won his first since October 2, 2011 at Dover, the 25th of his Cup career, and this puts him in a likely Chase place. Most important of all, anyone watching the race knew that Kurt Busch and Haas Automation were there.

I also noticed that Busch climbed onto the roof of his car in celebration. Isn’t that now illegal? As for Brad, he is making like Michael Buffer, calling to Kurt to get ready to rumble. Yet, when I rewatched the video, it was Brad’s slight right hand turn after hitting Kahne that caused the contact with Busch on pit row. A wrecked car, a ruined race, and now it is his fault…not that Keselowski would agree.

Carl Edwards was 13th, which gave Dale Earnhardt Jr a ten position jump on him on the track and moves Junior that many points ahead of Edwards on top in the over-all standings. The winless Matt Kenseth, with finishes this year ranging between fourth and 13th, is in second place, nine points back.

Busch is 20th, based strictly on points, and Kevin Harvick sits in 25th after finishing seventh at Martinsville. A Top 30 in the standings is needed for their wins to count toward making the Chase, but they hold 45 and 34 point cushions respectively in that department. As wins count more than points, they sit fifth and sixth in the standings.

Each week the media seems intent on telling us how much better Danica Patrick is each and every race over last year’s performance. She was 32nd on Sunday, and 12th in the spring race at Martinsville a year ago. She finished no better than 24th over the next eight races last year, so between now and Michigan all she needs to do is finish 23rd or better for this improvement talk to be taken seriously. It should be interesting to see how she does compared to the likes of Justin Allgaier, Michael Annett, and Cole Whitt over that span.

They go from the short track in Martinsville, Virginia to the 1.5-mile circuit in Fort Worth, Texas. Kyle Busch won there last spring, though Jimmie Johnson has won the past two fall events. Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, and Kasey Kahne are all currently outside our sweet 16 qualifying positions for the Chase, but all three know where Victory Lane can be found in Texas.

	Driver	Races	Wins	Points
1	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	6	1	227
2	Carl Edwards	6	1	217
3	Kyle Busch	6	1	189
4	Brad Keselowski	6	1	188
5	Kurt Busch	6	1	146
6	Kevin Harvick	6	1	135
7	Matt Kenseth	6	0	218
8	Jeff Gordon	6	0	216
9	Jimmie Johnson	6	0	209
10	Joey Logano	6	0	187
11	Austin Dillon	6	0	179
12	Ryan Newman	6	0	174
13	Paul Menard	6	0	168
14	Denny Hamlin	5	0	165
15	Brian Vickers	6	0	165
16	Marcos Ambrose	6	0	162

30	Reed Sorenson	6	0	101

March 31, 2014

NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: California

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Carl Edwards: Edwards took tenth in the Auto Club 400 on a wild day in Fontana. Edwards now leads the Sprint Cup points standings by one over Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

“It was an eventful day in Fontana,” Edwards said. “You had lead changes, exploding tires, malfunctioning lights, and Muppets. Of course, the only thing unusual about that in NASCAR is the Muppets.

“Tires played a huge role in Sunday’s race. I think a lot of cars were running on underinflated tires, and that caused the excessive tire wear. Unfortunately for them, they didn’t ‘air’ on the side of caution.”

2. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt finished 12th in the Auto Club 400, his second straight race outside of the top 10 after three top-2 finishes to start the season. He trails Carl Edwards by one in the points standings.

“Despite my fans’ high opinion of me,” Earnhardt said, “I’m no god. So, it was only a matter of time before I ‘came back down to Earth.’In fact, the only thing ‘hole-y’ at Auto Club Speedway last weekend were the tires.”

3. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski led 38 laps early at California and was poised for a likely top-5 finish before a flat left rear tire sent him down in the order. He finished 26th, and is now third in the points standings, four behind Carl Edwards.

“It was a frustrating day,” Keselowski said. “Not only did tires hurt us, NASCAR had another problem with lights. It’s a situation similar to that of NASCAR’s ‘Driver For Diversity’ program—they just can’t seem to get the ‘color’ right.”

4. Jeff Gordon: Gordon had the lead with two laps to go, but Clint Bowyer’s spin ruined his plan to finish on old tires. After frantic pit stops, Gordon lost track position and finished 13th. He is third in the points standings, two out of first.

“Bowyer cost me the race,” Gordon said. “I’d go so far as to say his spin was intentional. And movie gurus in Hollywood even noticed. Which leads to the tie-in for next Bruce Willis blockbuster: ‘Old Habits Die Hard.’”

5. Kyle Busch: Busch jumped to the lead on a green-white-checkered finish at Auto Club Speedway and took the win, his second straight win at California. Busch is now 7th in the points standings, 28 behind Carl Edwards.

“Kyle Larson almost stole the win,” Busch said. “That would have been a case of ‘Larson’y.’

“Tire problems were the story of the day. But we didn’t have any. Maybe that’s because we ran Goodyear’s recommended pounds per square inch inflation level. I’m glad we did, because I’m ‘pumped.’”

6. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson had the race in hand before blowing a tire seven laps from the finish, leading to a wild finish that Kyle Busch capped off for the win. Johnson finished 24th and is now eighth in the points standings, 21 out of first.

“We weren’t the only ones that suffered tire problems,” Johnson said. “Chad Knaus can certainly relate to our tire issues—they’re both ‘balding.’

“It was a crazy day in Fontana. ‘Gonzo’ the Muppet gave the order to start the engines. But what good is he to me? Sure, he can tell me how to get to Sesame Street, but I need to know how to get to Victory Lane.”

7. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth started on pole at California and finished fourth, while teammate Kyle Busch took the win. Kenseth is now fourth in the points standings, seven out of first.

“Is it me,” Kenseth said, “or is Michael Waltrip’s pre-race crowd surfing growing old? It was like the Sixth Sense out there—he sees dead people. Guess what, Michael? That wasn’t Donna Summer. You know why? Because she wouldn’t be caught dead at a NASCAR race.”

8. Tony Stewart: Stewart posted his second consecutive top-5 result, finishing fifth in the Auto Club 400.

“I was battling Kurt Busch for the lead on the final lap,” Stewart said. “The next thing I know, Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson went right by us. Eventually, Kurt finished third and I finished fifth. It was just like old times in the NASCAR hauler for the two of us—there was someone ‘separating’ us.”

9. Ryan Newman: Newman led three laps and finished 20th at California. He is seventh in the point standings, 36 out of first.

“Kyle Busch may be ‘Hell On Wheels,’” Newman said, “but that track is ‘Hell On Tires.’ Fontana’s surface is more abrasive than my relationship with Rusty Wallace.

“Michael Waltrip tried to chat me up on his pre-race walk through pit row. He wasn’t looking for the bathroom, but I told him where it was anyway. Michael just the opposite of a Goodyear tire—he’s ‘full of it.’”

10. Kyle Larson: Rookie sensation Kyle Larson finished second at California, nearly completing the weekend sweep after winning the Nationwide race on Saturday.

“I may have just clinched NASCAR’s Rookie Of The Year award,” Larson said. “I may be a rookie, but I certainly belong here with the big boys. I earned my seat in the car on merit. You hear me, Austin Dillon? The only thing my grandfather gave me was DNA.”

March 25, 2014
Stewart-Haas Racing Gets Back On Track At Fontana

Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) reassured their dominance in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on Sunday at Fontana after team owner, Tony Stewart finished fifth and first-year SHR driver Kurt Busch placed third. While the team didn’t cross the finish line first, the top five runs for Busch and Stewart may be all the momentum the entire team needs heading to Martinsville Speedway and beyond.

Busch and Stewart gained track position late in the going at Fontana, to try and win the race – as with the new system a win almost guarantees you a ticket into the Chase. However, on the ensuing green white-checkered shootout their two tire strategy couldn’t hold off the four tires of Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson, they were eventually passed and barley hung onto their top five positions.

“It was sketchy not knowing what was going to happen with two versus four (tires) but I was glad Chad (Johnston) made the right cal again two weeks in a row.” Stewart explained after climbing from his No. 14 Chevrolet SS.

Despite not scoring the win, as they anticipated by gambling, the entire organization has some positive to look back on heading forward.

“I was glad that we had two SHR (Stewart-Haas Racing) cars there in contention at the end.” Stewart furthered commented. “We hadn’t been a top-five car all day so really proud of these guys.”

The top five is the second straight for Stewart, while this is the first one on the season for the ‘Outlaw’ Busch – and a much needed one.

“It was an awesome finish racing your boss Tony Stewart for a win.” Busch told reporters after climbing from his No. 41 Chevrolet SS. “A little like happy, but sad, one of us should have brought it (the win) home for Stewart-Hass Racing and it just didn’t pan out with the four tires versus two.

While most attention followed Stewart and Busch’s runs, Danica Patrick had a quiet, but impressive, 14^th place finish, her season-best placing. And while it’s not an astonishing run, it’s still a confidence booster heading to a track she did fairly well at last season.

“It seems like some of our most trying weekends end up with our better results.” Patrick expressed following her career-best result at Fontana. “We will take it and we will know that there is so much more potential for those weekends where we feel like we are running a lot better.”

While most of the SHR camp had success at the tricky California track, Kevin Harvick had his struggles. He finished 36^th after having what seemed like a multitude of tire issues – which was common for many drivers throughout the event. However, the two dismal finishes at Bristol and Fontana don’t affect Harvick greatly, as he’s already (pretty much) locked himself into the Chase after winning in Phoenix.

“It’s kind of the same story as the last few weeks.” Harvick explained following the disappointing finish. “We’ll have a really strong run going, and something happens and we don’t get the finish that we deserve. It’s really frustrating.”

The SHR team prepares now for the catastrophic Martinsville Speedway where they are hoping to build off the impressive run at Fontana, and hopefully turn it into a victory.

March 24, 2014
Surprising and Not Surprising: Fontana Auto Club 400

From the unique race command from Muppet star Gonzo to Denny Hamlin’s pre-race trip to the hospital for a sinus infection and vision problems, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the Auto Club 400 in Fontana, California.

Surprising: There are not many drivers who, after winning a thrilling race in green-white-checkered fashion, can combine ‘Days of Thunder’ with faith-filled references right out of ‘Talladega Nights’. But Kyle Busch surprisingly managed to pull it all together in his Victory Lane remarks.

“Man oh man. The first thing that comes to mind when the caution came out with just a few laps to go — that was total Rowdy Burns ‘Days of Thunder’ right there,” the driver of the No. 18 No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry said. “There’s a couple laps to go — I’m not pitting.”

“Everybody has to pit, Cole (Trickle), we’re coming down for four tires because there’s a green-white-checkered coming,” Busch continued. “I knew four tires was going to win the race, so I’m glad Dave (Rogers, crew chief) called that.”

“I was able to keep Kyle Larson behind me. Man, what a shoe that boy is,” Busch continued. “If he drove it in further than I did, Jesus must have told him to stop.”

“I just can’t believe it. I thank the Lord for putting ourselves here and getting us locked in the Chase.”

This was Busch’s 29^th win in 334 Cup races but his first victory of the 2014 season. This was his third victory and 12^th top-10 finish at Auto Club Speedway.

Not Surprising: What double file restarts and shortening up the length of the race has done for Pocono Raceway, the rough, aged racing surface with multiple grooves and huge bumps has done the same, if not more, for Auto Club Speedway.

In fact, it seemed like just a few years ago when the track was criticized for boring racing and the grandstands were empty. This Cup race yielded some of the most exciting racing to date, with six and seven cars abreast, in front of a packed house, most of whom barely sat down for the entirety of the show.

Surprising: Kyle Larson went from thinking he was pretty much going to have a tough day to finishing as the highest running rookie, in P2 no less. This stellar finish came on the heels of his Nationwide victory over none other than Cup race winner Kyle Busch.

“I thought we were in trouble or not be able to get to the front,” the driver of the No. 42 said after the race. “I don’t know where everybody went on that last restart.”

“It went through my mind then that I might sweep the weekend,” Larson continued. “That last run, we got good enough to charge to the front. What a weekend.”

Not Surprising: Sam Hornish’s new mantra should be ‘have helmet, will drive.’ Originally, the currently unspoken for driver was on standby to drive for Matt Kenseth in the event that his wife Katie went into labor with their third child.

In the end, however, Hornish ended up substitute driving for Denny Hamlin, finishing a respectable 17th in the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota. This was his best finish since his 13^th place run in 2012 at Martinsville.

Surprising: The normally cool, calm and collected Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 43 Farmland Ford Fusion, had some surprisingly harsh words for competitor No 33 car driver Brian Scott after their accident brought out the fourth caution of the race.

“The 33 was obviously a dart without feathers and coming across the race track,” Almirola said. “Man, he came from all the way at the bottom of the race track and ran into me.”

“He’s not even racing this series for points,” Almirola continued. “He’s out there having fun because his daddy gets to pay for it and he wrecked us.”

Not Surprising: After tires blew out in practice as well as the race, the debate not surprisingly was on as far as what exactly led to so many tire issues, especially in the left rear.

Brad Keselowski, a driver that suffered particular tire problems in practice and the race, weighed in after the race to share his perspective.

“There were a lot of reasons why we blew a tire today or two or five over the weekend and the field did,’’ Keselowski said after finishing 26th. “I don’t know what to really say about it. As a driver you are left between the choice of driving your car to the limit and blowing a tire out or being a wuss and saving it.”

NASCAR’s most popular driver weighed in with a whole different take on the tire situation.

“I don’t think there is anything wrong with the tire OR the way we choose 2 use them,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. tweeted after the race. “My bet is it’s the bumps on the backstretch.”

“Those are more like jumps and ramps.”

NASCAR representative Vice President for Competition Robin Pemberton shared the more official perspective, saying that some teams were running tires with air pressures as low as 14 pounds, whereas Goodyear had commended tire pressures at 22 pounds for the race weekend.

And finally, Goodyear, echoing Pemberton’s assessment, advised that the problems were not tire-related but more team-related due to the very aggressive set ups.

“Every left-side tire that we’ve seen gone down or had issues with is kind of the same characteristics as (Saturday),’’ Greg Stucker, Director of Race Tire Sales for Goodyear, said. “The common denominator being aggressive on air pressure.”

“You’re in race conditions, so everybody is running a little bit harder.”

Surprising: For the second straight race, NASCAR official human error came into play. This weekend, a NASCAR official actually got his uniform stuck in the fence and he literally could not move to flip the pit road light switch to green.

Because of this error, Brad Keselowski, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer did not pit because there was a red light instead of a green light.

All three drivers went on to suffer less than ideal finishes, with Jeff Gordon finishing the best of the bunch in 13^th, Bowyer in 16^th and Keselowski in 26^th.

“We can’t seem to catch a break,” Bowyer said. “We lead for a while, we came back after confusion with the lights on pit road and were in contention to win at the end.”

“However, we started feeling a vibration with about four to go and it just didn’t make it,” Bowyer continued. “It just stinks for this team.”

Not Surprising: Bosses sometimes do influence the workplace even at the track. One of NASCAR’s most notable bosses, team owner Rick Hendrick, played the encourager role with driver Jeff Gordon, who started from the back not once but twice, passing at least 70 plus cars.

Kurt Busch, who finished third, was also quite emotional about racing with his boss Tony Stewart. “The amount of emotions running well today and we were face and then to race your boss for the win,” Busch said. “Neither one of us got the win but it was a genuine moment for us to race.”

The Cup Series heads next to Martinsville Speedway for the STP 500.

March 24, 2014

The Final Word – An all-Kyle finish at Fontana, as Bowyer spins his way to a Top 20

Tires, man. That was the story of the race at Fontana. If one was conservative in their set up, like those owned by Joe Gibbs, all was well. If not…well, they blew it.

California was not like Indianapolis a few years ago, when they could not keep the rubber inflated no matter what they tried. This time, if they messed around with air pressure and camber, they risked ill fortunate. The team of Kyle Busch did not, and that is a big reason why Rowdy claimed his 29^th career victory in extending his streak of claiming at least one win in a season to ten. Busch held off rookie Kyle Larson as both broke from the field during the green-white-check finish to get by Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart with one to go.

It was great racing, with the tire situation just adding to the excitement. As long as a driver did not fall multiple laps off the pace, chances were good they could come back from any miscue. However, one needed time, and when Jimmie Johnson blew a tire with seven to go, his time was up as one of the day’s most dominant cars finished 24^th.

Johnson lost a tire, kept the beast under control, and kept the race green. That allowed Jeff Gordon, who seemed to be nursing some ailing Goodyears of his own, to take his long-run auto onwards toward that checkered flag. Then, Ryan Newman blew a tire, but made it back without caution. Same for Bard Keselowski. Ditto for Marcos Ambrose. Even Clint Bowyer managed to save his car as Gordon charged toward the white flag. Then it slightly accelerated and it appeared Bowyer’s front wheels turned hard left, and the resulting slide caused caution to come out, forcing a green-white-checker.

There are those who might have seen it and thought maybe Bowyer had deliberately spun the car. That he had it saved but then touched the gas and cranked the wheel to make sure that he did not. That he purposely went for the yellow when others did not. According to Bowyer’s Twitter comment, that is not true.

“Love how “some” idiots on here think I really wanted to give up a much needed good run to screw you over.”

Of course, the idiots knew that his good run as over once the tire went flat. What the idiots are accusing Bowyer of is deliberately bringing out the caution so that he might be better able to recover from his flat. Johnson did not, and finished 24^th. Keselowski settled for 26^th. Ambrose was 30^th. As for Honest Clint…due to the caution he was able to salvage a 16^th place finish. That spin might have cost Gordon a victory, but it saved Bowyer at least 15 positions on the track. Then again, maybe the fans are wrong, maybe the car just got away from him, though the video sure looked suspicious. It is not as if Bowyer has done anything like this before. Or lied about it afterwards. Of course not.

While Gordon was strong on the long runs, everyone knew he would not be over a two lap dash. He wound up 13^th. Dale Earnhardt Jr was 12^th, and with Keselowski faltering at the end, Junior remains in second over-all in the standings a single point behind the tenth place Carl Edwards.

It is a good thing that a single win almost buys one a ticket to the Chase. Almost. One needs to finish in the top thirty to keep it valid, and right now Kevin Harvick sits 25^th after finishing outside the Top 35 for a third straight event. Danica was running around 20^th or beyond for most of the Fontana race, but in the end she brought it home for a season best 14^th.

As for Denny Hamlin, the guy could use a break. He had to miss five events last year due to a crash at this track, and this year he did not even get to run. A sinus infection that affected his vision took him out of the seat, and replaced by Sam Hornish Jr, who ran 17^th. Yet, despite being AWOL, Hamlin remains 12^th in the driver standings.

Great entertainment Sunday, great action on Saturday, where Kyle Larson beat out Kevin Harvick in a fight that also involved Kyle Busch, with Joey Logano fourth. Four Cup guys. The best Nationwide drivers were Elliott Sadler and Chase Elliott, finishing fifth and sixth. Both are within a dozen points of top spot in the standings, behind fellow Top Ten finishers Trevor Bayne, Regan Smith, and Ty Dillon.

Next Sunday, we turn to the short track at Martinsville, where the Cup boys have been stopping by since 1949. Jeff Gordon has been running there since 1993, 42 races, and more than half of those have been won by either Gordon himself (with 8, including last fall), Johnson (8), Hamlin (4), or Stewart (3). If they keep trying, they might eventually match the King’s tally of 15.

Here are our Sweet Sixteen as we head over to Virginia…

	Driver	Races	Win	Points
1	Carl Edwards	5	1	186
2	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	5	1	185
3	Brad Keselowski	5	1	182
4	Kyle Busch	5	1	158
5	Kevin Harvick	5	1	97
6	Jeff Gordon	5	0	184
7	Matt Kenseth	5	0	179
8	Jimmie Johnson	5	0	165
9	Ryan Newman	5	0	150
10	Austin Dillon	5	0	150
11	Joey Logano	5	0	146
12	Denny Hamlin	4	0	140
13	Jamie McMurray	5	0	138
14	Brian Vickers	5	0	137
15	Paul Menard	5	0	134
16	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	5	0	132

March 24, 2014