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Tag: Tony Stewart

  • What the Sprint Unlimited Taught Us

    What the Sprint Unlimited Taught Us

    The 2014 Sprint Unlimited is in the books and we can put this one under the “odd” category….but I’m sure the ominous full moon above the track had nothing to do with it. We had big wrecks, angry Earnhardt’s, three wide passes for the lead, the pace car going back to the garage on the hook, and even a dancing orange cone. Yeah, it was a wild and wacky night.

    Expect More Passing in This Year’s Daytona 500

    This year’s Sprint Unlimited was a big step up from its 2013 predecessor, which was fairly forgettable. There was passing galore and cars were able to suck up to each other better and actually bump draft, contradictory to last season. The closing speed was hard to judge for spotters and drivers alike, which resulted in a massive pileup in the tri-oval during the second segment. Slingshot moves for the lead were abundant and even after the crash that left just eight raceable cars on track, the drivers continued to put on a heck of a show and race hard for the lead. The race was very exciting and bodes well for what we will most likely see in the Daytona 500, when we put 43 cars on the track and dangle a Harley J. Earl trophy in front of them.

    When in Daytona, Start Stuff on Fire

    Well, this is becoming some kind of odd tradition at Daytona International Speedway – in the last two years, we’ve watched a jet dryer, the race track, and now, the pace car catch fire during a race. While Brett Bodine led the field under caution, smoke started to pour out of his Chevy SS pace car, so he and his co-pilot bailed out of the machine as the trunk area started to burn. A statement from Chevrolet regarding the strange incident…

    “The pace car experienced a fire in the trunk area, which contains a purpose-built auxiliary electrical kit to operate the numerous caution lights during the race. The pace car driver and passenger safely exited the vehicle. An assessment is underway.”

    2013 Injuries Not Bothering Stewart & Hamlin Anymore

    The Sprint Unlimited was Tony Stewart’s first race back since he broke his leg last summer and not surprisingly, he was one of the first to try to mix it up early on, picking off drivers who were riding around the outside one-by-one. During the second segment though, Matt Kenseth cut across Joey Logano’s nose and consequently, carnage ensued. Nine cars, including Stewart were involved; seven of which were destroyed. Tony was unhurt in the crash and walked away under his own power. Denny Hamlin, who suffered a broken back at Auto Club Speedway last year, picked up where he left off in 2013 when he won the season finale. He took the pole (due to a fan vote), and then won the every segment en route to the victory after an enthralling three wide pass for the lead with less than two laps to go.

    Fox Sports New Running Order Graphic Needs to go Away

    Fox Sports has decided to replace the ticker that runs across the top with a box that takes up the entire far-right side of the screen. Many fans have complained about it, Brad Keselowski has expressed his displeasure with it, and hopefully it will be changed before the Daytona 500. Brad Keselowski tweet – “Not cool- @FOXSports1 new graphic that covers the right side of the screen.”

    Jimmie Johnson’s Love-Hate Relationship with Daytona Continues 

    Jimmie Johnson and Daytona International Speedway have had an interesting relationship since 2006. In the last eight Daytona 500’s, he has finished 27th or worse six times. The two races that he finished higher than that were wins. In this year’s Sprint Unlimited, he was attempting to make a pass on Denny Hamlin for the lead at the end of segment one when he lost control and crashed into the inside wall off of turn four. It was the third time in as many years that the six-time series champion has DNF’ed in the exhibition race.

  • NASCAR 2014 Season Predictions

    NASCAR 2014 Season Predictions

    *Kyle Busch leads 54 laps and passes Ryan Newman on the final lap to win the Daytona 500, his first Sprint Cup win at the season opener. In a post-race interview with Erin Andrews, Busch announces that he and his wife Samantha are pregnant with their first child. Busch beams to Andrews that “I’m sure I’ll be a good father, because I know what it’s like to be a baby.”

    Busch finishes second in the Sprint Cup point standings, winning five races, and caps his year with a win at Homestead and his first Sprint Cup championship.

    *Tony Stewart vows to win his third Sprint Cup championship in 2014, and fans and other drivers notice his new attitude. Former teammate Ryan Newman quips in an interview at Daytona that Stewart seems to be “walking with a purpose, as well as a limp.”

    Stewart wins at Watkins Glen and qualifies for the Chase, but finishes a disappointing seventh in the final standings.

    *Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s No. 88 car gets a new sponsor just in time for the Daytona 500 when an online funeral planning service signs on for 12 races. The service, known as “Final-E” sees a boom in business after their logo appears on Earnhardt’s Chevy.

    Earnhardt finishes second in the Daytona 500, and wins at Daytona in July on his way to a fourth place finish in the Sprint Cup points standings.

    *Kevin Harvick coins the name “Two Men And A Babe, And Kurt Busch” to describe the Stewart-Haas Racing stable of Stewart, Harvick, Kurt Busch, and Danica Patrick after a heated drivers’ meeting following wreck at Fontana initiated by aggressive driving from Busch.

    Harvick, aided by new buddy Stewart, exacts his revenge the following week at Martinsville, where the two craft an elaborate hoax in which a phony façade of Busch’s hauler placed in front of a Port-A-Potty lures Busch into a trap. Once inside, Busch is fork-lifted to an outer parking lot, and is forced to walk back and misses qualifying.

    *E! Network and ABC collaborate on a new reality show called “Keeping Up With The Chase Format: Extreme Makeover: NASCAR Edition.” In the show, host Brad Daugherty roams around NASCAR events asking fans if they understand not only the Chase For The Cup format, but Daugherty’s hayseed, mountain drawl.

    *Richard Childress Racing rookie Austin Dillon bulls his way to the win in a wreck-filled race at Bristol on March 16, as only 22 cars are running at the end. In Victory Lane, Dillon salutes his detractors with a middle finger, then pops the top on a beer before shouting “Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!”

    The outburst makes Dillon a sensation, but also saddles the driver of the Childress No. 3 Chevy with the nickname “The Imitator.”

    *In an interview promoting a partnership between the No. 48 team and Caesar’s Palace before the March race in Las Vegas, Jimmie Johnson coins his quest for his seventh Sprint Cup championship “VIIni, VIIdi, VIIci.”

    Later, after International Speedway Corporation CEO Jim France makes Smith an insulting offer for Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Smith slaps France, leading a fallen France to quip, “Et tu, Bruton?”

    Johnson leads the points standings for most of the year, and heads to Homestead with a chance to win No. 7, but engine trouble ends his day. He finishes third in the points standings.

    *Danica Patrick and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. elope in Barbados on April 19th at a ceremony presided over by Russell Brand and streamed live on GoDaddy.com. Patrick wears a Vera Wang gown crafted from fire-suit material and accented with a HANS device and also featuring a plunging neckline that leaves little to the imagination.

    Patrick’s good fortune continues when she wins at Talladega on May 3rd, darting from 23rd to first on the final lap as a wild pileup eliminates half the field. A wild celebration ensues in Victory Lane, where Patrick delivers a message to her competitors, “There’s a party at my house. I hate to be ‘Petty,’ but no one’s invited, so you can all go home.”

    *In a new advertisement for ESPN’s Sportscenter, Clint Bowyer leads a spin class in the ESPN company workout facility, while Michael Waltrip is seen guiding a tour group from Finland around ESPN’s headquarters. The commercial ends when Bowyer and Waltrip dupe the tour group into paying a second admission fee before they’re busted by Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman, who accuse the MWR duo of “manipulating the Finnish.”

    *Carl Edwards is scheduled to make an appearance in the March 2nd episode of AMC’s The Walking Dead, in which he portrays the leader of a brainless following of half-dead dimwits, a group eerily similar to the Carl Edwards Fan Club.

    To publicize the event, the No. 99 sports a Subway/The Walking Dead paint scheme bearing the slogan, “Subway: Eat Flesh” at Phoenix. Edwards leads 88 laps and wins in a race that features only three lead changes. In Victory Lane, Edwards performs his trademark back flip while disappointed fans file out like zombies.

    *Matt Kenseth wins the Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 6th, and is presented the winner’s trophy by “Duck Dynasty” patriarch Phil Robertson, who oddly comments that his favorite parts of the 1.5-mile track are the “straights.”

    *After a crash at Kentucky Speedway on June 28th, Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards are summoned to the NASCAR hauler for a talk with NASCAR officials. Keselowski creates a firestorm when he tweets a picture from inside the hauler, a photo which shows he and Edwards smoking cigars and playing ping-pong while officials in the background relax in a hot tub.

    Keselowski is placed on probation for two weeks, while NASCAR bans cell phones and all liquids in excess of 3.4 ounces. 5-Hour Energy shots takes advantage of the opportunity, and becomes the official drink of drivers called to the NASCAR hauler.

    *June’s road race at Sonoma is delayed for three hours after a mild earthquake strikes the region, causing slight damage to the circuit’s surface. Swan Racing part-owner 50 Cent is seen inspecting a fissure in the track along pit road, leading to TNT’s Kyle Petty to make the controversial statement, “Well, he was a crack dealer.”

    50 laughs off the comment, and later in the year makes a big splash when, as honorary starter at Dover in June, eschews waving the green flag and instead fires a starters pistol nine times. In doing so, 50 becomes the first rapper to be “shot nine times” twice.

    *Gene Haas abandons his plan to enter Formula 1 and instead opts to field a funny car in the NHRA. Haas car flops, failing to qualify for a single final, and becomes the laughingstock in the drag racing garage, leading to the nickname “Funny Haas Haas.”

    *A healthy Denny Hamlin wins four races on the season, including March’s Martinsville race, where he fights off a challenge from Joey Logano, than challenges Logano to a fight after the race. Hamlin and Logano settle their differences in a charity 1-on-1 basketball game, which ends in a tie, 1-to-1.

    Hamlin qualifies for the “Elimination Round” of NASCAR’s revamped Chase For The Cup format, and wins at Phoenix on November 9th, but tweaks his back shaking an oversized champagne bottle and struggles the following week at Homestead.

  • NASCAR BTS: Bob Pockrass ‘Humbled’ by NMPA Writer of the Year Honor

    NASCAR BTS: Bob Pockrass ‘Humbled’ by NMPA Writer of the Year Honor

    This week’s NASCAR Behind the Scenes focuses on one of the sports hardest working reporters Bob Pockrass, who received the National Motorsports Press Association’s highest honor this past weekend as Writer of the Year.

    And as is his typical style, Pockrass found the honor to be, in one word, humbling.

    “Well it means a great deal to me,” Pockrass said of the recognition. “When your work is put side by side with some of the other great writers that are in NMPA and that entered that contest, it’s very flattering and very humbling to have people think that you are worthy of that honor.”

    While flattered and humbled, however, Pockrass put the award in perspective, reflecting the real vision of how he approaches his writing and his work in the sport.

    “It’s great to be honored by people in the field but you always know that these decisions are a couple of people’s opinions so you don’t let it go to your head too much,” Pockrass said. “It’s just like the Oscars or the Golden Globes.”

    “You don’t write the stories to win awards,” Pockrass continued. “You write them to inform people.”

    “This is just a validation that you’ve done a good job in performing for the people who read the stories.”

    Pockrass has spent most of his career telling the stories of NASCAR to his readers and his knowledge of racing runs deep, from short tracks to the storied Indianapolis Motor Speedway where he grew up.

    “I’ve always had an interest in racing,” Pockrass said. “My older brother had done some journalism work for the school paper and was working for the Indianapolis News and so I kind of followed him because I had the same interest in journalism and in sports.”

    “I got my first job at the Daytona Beach newspaper and I worked there covering high school and college sports,” Pockrass continued. “And in January and February, I found myself at the race track helping out to cover NASCAR.”

    “I had some racing experience because at Indiana University I did some stringer work for UPI at Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” Pockrass said. “I spent one summer working for Gannett at the Speedway too.”

    “I always had an interest in racing and when NASCAR Scene had a job opening in 2003, they knew my work and that’s how my NASCAR-centric career got launched.”

    In addition to his NMPA Writer of the Year award and other accolades, Pockrass is probably most well-known for the time he puts in each and every weekend at the track, from being the first one at the media center to typically being the last one to leave at night.

    So, what drives this passion and dedication to telling the stories of NASCAR racing?

    “It’s really easy,” Pockrass said. “One of the first stories I did at Indiana was on the crop walk for hunger. And so I wrote about that in advance of the event and I had to go cover it.”

    “And when I got to the event, there were a couple of people there who had clipped the paper and signed up to do the walk,” Pockrass continued. “And I think that showed me the power of journalism and the power of being able to have an influence.”

    “And if you keep those people, those readers, in mind and know that you can influence what people do through what you write,” Pockrass said. “They may decide whether to go to a race or they may decide if they’re going to root for Jeff Gordon or boo Jeff Gordon or whether or not they will buy a Dale Earnhardt Jr. T-shirt or never buy one.”

    “I think that responsibility is what makes me want to do everything I can to be knowledgeable, that I’m writing with accuracy and with a passion for it,” Pockrass continued. “If I didn’t care, then I’m doing those people who read me a really big disservice.”

    “If you think about the people that are reading what you’re writing, it’s real easy to be there early and stay late because you owe it to them,” Pockrass said. “You owe it to your readers to give your best effort.”

    While Pockrass has told many stories over his years of covering NASCAR so passionately, there are several that have stood out as ones that touched him deeply.

    “The most memorable story was Dale Earnhardt’s death,” Pockrass said. “That was one day you just don’t forget.”

    “You don’t forget the scene of that evening and everything that surrounded that race,” Pockrass continued. “You don’t often see reporters crying when they’re writing.”

    “I’ll never forget seeing Ken Schrader outside the medical center and you could just tell,” Pockrass said. “His face was so white and his expression was that this was not good.”

    “That was one of those days that you never forget.”

    There are also stories that have been incredibly difficult to tell due to the personal connections that evolve after years of being in the garage area and getting to know the racers and team members on a weekly basis.

    “One of the other hardest stories that I had to write was the day that Rodney Orr died in Daytona,” Pockrass said. “He was from the area and I had talked to him several times.”

    “He had died a couple of days after Neil Bonnett died and we had talked about that in the garage,” Pockrass continued. “That was a pretty tough thing because he was a driver that I had known very well and one of the first drivers that I had known well that died on the race track.”

    With all that history and knowledge, including the highs and lows of the sport, fans might just be hoping that Pockrass would step back a minute and put his musings all in one place and join others in the sport who have written books on the subject.

    “I guess I might have a little bit of a desire to do a book, but I’m so busy with what I’m doing now that I need to give one hundred percent to,” Pockrass said. “So, I’ve never really thought about it very much because I enjoy doing what I’m doing.”

    “As long as I’ve still got the pen and the paper to do what I’m doing, I don’t know that I’d have the time to devote to a book.”

    Pockrass is also enjoying the new and evolving ways to interact with his readers, including social media and the popular ‘tweet ups’ that he hosts at almost every track, sharing the location of the event through Twitter.

    “The great thing about Twitter and the tweet ups is that I talk to more fans now than I ever did and get a better feeling about what the fans are thinking,” Pockrass said. “I embrace that.”

    “Sometimes it’s a juggling act between finding out information in the garage and meeting with the fans,” Pockrass continued. “But I think there are very few people who write and don’t interact with fans because they just don’t even know you or your writing are even there anymore.”

    Pockrass, along with his media brethren, are currently involved with the NASCAR media tour, meeting with all of the teams in preparation for the Daytona 500 and the start of the 2014 season. Looking into this own crystal ball, Pockrass has some predictions about the major story lines that he intends to cover for his readers and followers.

    “I think Tony Stewart coming back is going to be a major story line,” Pockrass said. “The new aero package for the cars and the new qualifying procedures will be story lines.”

    “And the changes to the Chase will be a major story line.”

    As the season gets underway, however, Pockrass took a moment to reflect again on the honor that he received this past weekend from the National Motor Sports Press Association for his work in telling the stories of the sport.

    “That’s what I do,” Pockrass said. “If you have that passion, it’s not hard.”

    “While it’s always good to be recognized, it is also humbling,” Pockrass continued. “But it’s a nice feeling.”

  • Sprint Media Tour Day One – Stewart-Haas Racing

    Sprint Media Tour Day One – Stewart-Haas Racing

    The first day of Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Sprint Media Tour involved three teams—Stewart-Haas Racing and a joint media event with JTG Daugherty Racing and Leavine Family Racing. Following the usual presentation by each team where an opening statement was made with questions from those present, all drivers and team principals were available for breakout sessions.

    First up was Stewart-Haas Racing. The new four-member team of Tony Stewart, Danica Patrick, Kevin Harvick, and Kurt Busch was announced to the multitudes present. The first question fielded by Stewart was the obvious one. Will the team be a clash of egos as the season goes along?

    “We do have four alpha drivers here, but we understand each other,” Stewart said. “It’s like a support system.”

    Stewart went on to say since the drives know each other so well, it will tend to make them stronger rather than weaker.

    Stewart was asked about his health after last summer’s injury and if he was cleared to compete in the Daytona 500 in February. His first response was, “Read the internet,” followed by, “I got released a couple of weeks ago. I feel great and I’m ready. It was harder not being in the car than it will be getting in the car. We’ve all had injuries.”

    Patrick was asked how she viewed 2014 and what she expected for the new season.

    “Kurt and Kevin have been a big help already,” Patrick said. “I have so much to learn from this group since they have all this experience already. I’m growing.” She was upset that the team got better in the middle part of the schedule in 2013, but floundered as the season ended.

    Team co-owner Gene Haas also took the stage, which was unusual. He has been taking more of a hands-on approach of late, but insisted no changes were going to be made in the management area.

    “I’m the kind of guy who hires great people and lets them do what they do best,” Haas said. “I’m there and I take part in all the big decisions, though.”

    Haas also commented on his publicized desire to form a Formula One team. He made it clear that he would not want to buy an existing team, nor would he move the team from North Carolina, but said it was going to be a tough road getting a team.

    “Mr. Ecclestone made it clear that he didn’t think I could get a team. I don’t know if that was his way of just showing me how tough it was going to be or what,” Haas said. “I’m interested in that form of racing because it’s the most difficult racing in the world. It would show the world Haas Automotive could compete with the best and it might open markets worldwide for our products.”

    Harvick and Busch admitted they were excited to start the season with Stewart-Haas. Harvick, who was fast at Daytona, was beaming.

    “I’m really excited to start (2014). This team is what I have been seeking for a long time. I think we can go out and be fast immediately and challenge for a championship. I can’t wait for the season to start.”

    The day began with a noon luncheon presented by Charlotte Motor Speedway. Attending were the Governor of North Carolina, Charlotte’s mayor, and the staff at CMS, as well as other Speedway Motorsports facilities. At the luncheon, Governor Pat McCrory admitted he saw his first race at CMS by sneaking in the speedway. He offered SMI’s CEO, Bruton Smith, the price of a ticket since he was honored at the luncheon. Later on, McCrory offered Smith $5 for the ticket—half of the cost of admission because he only saw half the race.

    The media met with JTG Daugherty and the Leavine Family Racing principals later on and will be reported on in a separate article.

  • The Final Word – The only 25 drivers’ names you need to concern yourself with this Cup season

    The Final Word – The only 25 drivers’ names you need to concern yourself with this Cup season

    When the 2014 Cup season begins, we will have new faces, old faces in new places, along with a cast of characters still where we last saw them. However, when they are done determining who is in and who is out each week, only 25 drivers on ten teams will actually matter. The rest will simply be hamburger helper sprinkled amongst the real meat.

    The steak that will sizzle is once again expected to be provided by Team Hendrick, led by 6-time champion Jimmie Johnson. Four-time king Jeff Gordon, fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr, and 16-race winner Kasey Kahne will all be behind the wheel of Chevrolet SS models, but this quartet is all Corvette. 189 career wins and 10 championships between them. Enough said.

    After a 13 year absence, Dale Earnhardt’s old slant No.3 returns with his old boss, with the team owner’s grandson in the driver’s seat. All 23-year old Austin Dillon has done to deserve the opportunity was to show Grandpa that he can win championships, as he did last year in the junior series and the year before in the trucks. Okay, he looks rather goofy in a cowboy hat, I admit, but when he pops on a racing helmet the lad is solid gold. Add to the mix Ryan Newman and Paul Menard and this should prove an interesting season for this outfit.

    Joe Gibbs has his own trio of note, as Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, and Denny Hamlin all have shown star quality on the track. Kenseth was the chief contender to Johnson last year, Kyle is always in the mix, and Hamlin was the last guy we saw in Victory Lane last year, despite what was for him a season of misfortune.

    Jack Roush drivers claimed three wins in 2013, even though 9th was the best season showing from a lineup that boasts Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. None have won a Cup crown, all are hungry to change that, and the pressure will be on to be succeed this season.

    2014 brings us Kyle Larson, as the 21-year old joins Jamie McMurray with Chip Ganassi. He won one of two truck races he ran last year, but still is best known for being sent up into the fence and spreading car parts into the stands during Daytona’s junior series opener last year.

    Roger Penske has a two car operation, with former champ Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano driving again for him. Richard Petty is back with Marcos Ambrose and Aric Almirola. Michael Waltrip had himself an annus horribilis, as Queen Elizabeth might say, in 2013. Still, while NAPA may be gone, Clint Bowyer and Brian Vickers remain. No sponsor, no Martin Truex Jr, but he wound up with Furniture Row, and along with the rest mentioned here should be more than relevant when they roll off the line.

    No, I have not forgotten about Tony Stewart, nor Gene Haas who made himself relevant by hiring his own boy, namely Kurt Busch, for the team. Along with the mending co-owner and the arrival of Kevin Harvick, this should be quite a team to watch, both on and off the track. Call this the good, the bad, and the ugly, but I will leave it to you to determine who is who.

    Did I miss anyone? Well, actually, no. I am with Kyle Petty when it comes to 31-year old Danica Patrick. She is a marketing machine but she has yet to prove she can race when there are others out there to compete against. Despite the quality equipment she has, and I am talking about that provided by Stewart-Haas not God Almighty, her results have been pedestrian, at best. A single Top Ten in 46 Cup races, 7 for 60 in the junior league, one win and 7 podiums in 115 IndyCar events does not a legend make. However, until another woman arrives on the scene, and I see none even close just yet, she will remain. At least she will until the novelty runs its course and she faces the same expectations as, say, 24-year old Landon Cassill, 22-year old Cole Whitt, 22- year old Trevor Bayne or 21-year old Ty Dillon.

    Ten teams, I say, but what about Tommy Baldwin? If you expect Michael Annett or J.J. Yeley to do something, then maybe. I just do not see it. Swan Racing is running two teams, but will Whitt or Parker Kligerman outlast even start and parker Joe Nemechek? There will be Front Row (with David Ragan and David Gilliland), BK and Daugherty teams attempting to qualify and even making it, but will they add to your race experience? I doubt it, but wouldn’t it be nice if someone made a liar out of me? Anyone?

    There will be a lot of story lines this season, such as Johnson’s quest to reach NASCAR immortality, Junior seeking a win, the rookie seasons of Dillon and Larson, Roush veterans seeking a title, the Stewart-Haas potential drama, if Furniture Row can maintain, and so much more. However, just as important will be the answer as to whether Patrick is the real deal or a 3 dressed up as a 9 and if Baldwin, Swan, or Front Row can make the jump to actually matter. We are down to just weeks before the results start trickling in.

    In the meantime, enjoy the Super Bowl.

  • If by chance the France proposal had come to pass…in 2013

    If by chance the France proposal had come to pass…in 2013

    A year or two ago, let us say that Brian France had a brainwave. He came up with a proposal to allow 16 drivers into the Chase, first determined by wins gathered up to and including Richmond. The rest would get an invite due to the points accumulated. Let him add another twist. Let him have the rank of contenders drop by four after three Chase events, another four after six, with four more gone just as they headed to Homestead. In the big finale, an artificially engineered four driver showdown for all the marbles would take place, also featuring 39 also-rans out there to keep them company.

    So, after the race in Richmond in 2013, they would have set the sweet 16, to steal yet another concept from another sport. A dozen would wind up getting a pass based on having won at least once up to that moment. Welcome David Ragan to the derby for his win at Talladega. Tony Stewart would limp in, though he would be gone after the third race of the Chase for obvious reasons.  Just like Clint Bowyer, not enough penalties could have kept Martin Truex Jr out, due to his win at Sonoma. The remaining four spots get in on points, which would mean no help needed by Jeff Gordon as he would join Dale Earnhardt Jr, Kurt Busch, and Bowyer..

    Three races down in the Chase, and four drivers would be eliminated. Stewart is officially gone, to be joined by Ragan, who in three races earned only 53 points more than the idle Smoke.  A lousy day at Loudon finished Kasey Kahne’s hopes, while Joey Logano started the Chase bad and that was all that was needed. Then, to keep us all on the edge of our seats, they evened up the points to put the final dozen on an equal footing.

    12 left, with four more about to go by the time they left Talladega. A bad day in Chicago was all that was needed to eliminate Ryan Newman while Truex had a tough time just finishing in the Top 20 in those initial Chase weeks. Chicago also meant the end of Kyle Busch’s hopes, as the second stage also would have spelled adios for Greg Biffle. For the eight that remain, the points are again evened out as they all start from scratch, season be damned.

    While Johnson would have cruised through the next segment with a win and a pair of Top Fives, Kurt Busch was just so-so, so he had to go. Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards both had Texas disasters, while Bowyer was good at a time he needed to be great. 12 drivers and nine races down and it was down to NASCAR’s manufactured “game seven”…even though no other sport actually attempts to engineer such a thing. There is the Super Bowl, I guess, but I can’t help but notice that only the contenders ever hit the field on game day and most often the two teams are meeting for the first time that year. Still, I digress.

    So, off they would have gone to Homestead, just four still alive in the hunt for the paper title. Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Matt Kenseth in a one race showdown. What a wonder for the ages it would have been, that is if the fans had bought into the nonsense.  All four were on the lead lap on the final day, and while in-race observer Denny Hamlin was out in front at the end, the third place Junior was putting on a furious charge in an attempt to catch the second place Kenseth on the track. He would come up just short. Matt would no doubt have been overjoyed to win his second title, while Johnson finished ninth in the one race spectacular. Despite an average finish of 5.1 over the final ten races, it just would have not been good enough under the new France system. Would it have been a good enough finish for you?

    While Matt celebrated and Johnson pondered what could have been, Dale Earnhardt rolled over in his grave. As for Richard Petty, he was just happy that the 1967 season was run under different rules. If it had not been, Bobby Allison’s sixth win that year in the Weaverville, North Carolina finale would have trumped the King’s 27 to claim the title that year. Petty finished second in the race, but even the best season in NASCAR history would have been reduced to a mere footnote.  Still, imagine the excitement and joy of the fans in watching that “game seven” spectacular. Imagine the legitimacy of the championship.

    Just imagine.

  • The Top 20 Sprint Cup Drivers entering 2014

    The Top 20 Sprint Cup Drivers entering 2014

    This was pretty tough to put together. Honestly, anybody in the top 10 outside of first could be ranked in any order, and so many teams are so good it’s tough to put them in order.

    One thing I’ve noticed is that the good drivers keep getting better. In 2005, Tony Stewart won the championship with five top-fives and seven top-10s, with no wins during the Chase. Eight years later, Jimmie Johnson wins the championship with two wins, seven top-fives, and nine top-10s, with all 10 races in the Chase being top-15 finishes. While the quality of racing may not be as good as it was in 2005, nobody can argue the competition has become more fierce.

    Remember though, that this list is my opinion. You are allowed to disagree and give me yours in the comment section below.

    I ranked this using Chase Results, overall season stats, off-season changes and my opinion on the driver. This is not my predictions for final 2014 points, only who is the best going into the season. I do not count Nationwide Series results unless the driver raced for points in that series last season; this is why Kyle Busch isn’t first and Larson and Dillon are where they are.

    Honorable Mention: AJ Allmendinger

    What a comeback year for the 32 year old driver from California. After losing the ride of a lifetime in 2012 after failing a drug test, he gets rehired by Penske Racing to run a few IndyCar and Nationwide Series races and over performs. He won both of his Nationwide races last season and might have won the Indy 500 if it were not for a broken seat belt. Then he gets hired by JTG-Daugherty and gives them the best runs in that car since Marcos Ambrose ran it, with a shot to win Watkins Glen in particular. All of this without mentioning his top-15 runs helping to put the tiny James Finch team in the top-10 in Sprint Cup owner points in the early portion of the 2013 season.

    20: Jamie McMurray

    The 2010 Daytona 500 champion enters 2014 as the veteran driver of Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR). Outside of Loudon and his Talladega win, he really didn’t do much in the Chase. He can make the 2014 Chase, but his two main problems are constituency and he needs to turn top-20s into top-10s, and top-10s into top-fives.

    19. Carl Edwards

    My, how the mighty have fallen. After tying with Tony Stewart for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship in points in 2011 (losing on tiebreaker), he missed the Chase in 2012 and had the single worst point finish of any Chaser in history. (Nobody has finished worse than 12th before, Edwards finished 13th).

    18. Greg Biffle

    Biffle is the quietest guy in the Cup Series. I almost completely forgot about him when making this ranking. If he wants to move from 10th in points to top five, he needs to do better than 16th or worse in three Chase races.

    17. Kyle Larson

    This guy has a lot of talent, as has been said before. He’s a huge question mark this season. Is it too early? Can CGR compete with other teams? “The Knife” could have a typical rookie season, be incredibly successful or be like Danica Patrick and finish 27th in points.

    16. Kasey Kahne

    Next year’s champion?  Every single year I see people say this will be Kahne’s season, almost more so than a certain driver in a bright yellow Toyota. In reality, almost every season he struggles to make the Chase. Then if he does make the Chase, he usually doesn’t do much or is too inconsistent to do much. Last season in particular, I think his big hurdle is that when it gets down to it, he can’t close and get the win. Just look at his awesome duels with Kenseth all throughout 2013 and who ended up going to Victory Lane in every one of them.

    15. Ryan Newman

    It was a roller coaster season for the “Ogre from South Bend.” First he loses his ride, then that very week he wins at his home track in Indianapolis. Then he gets screwed out of the Chase due to Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) shenanigans, but was put in it anyway. Now he’s with a new Richard Childress Racing (RCR) where the only returning driver is Paul Menard. It’s going to be interesting to see what Newman will do in the No. 31 compared to Jeff Burton, who did a lot of nothing over the past two years.

    14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    Here’s my crazy prediction for this season – Stenhouse will contend for the Chase and win a couple of races. He’s got a year under his belt now and he has his old Nationwide championship winning crew chief now. He scored all three of his top-10s in the last 11 races of the season. I think he’s also going to continue being way ahead of Danica Patrick. When she said that she wanted to be the one among the two who got the first victory, I really doubt I was the only one who out and out belly laughed.

    13. Denny Hamlin

    Everything since 2010 Homestead has been downhill for Hamlin. Yes he won five races in 2012, but only one of those was in the Chase. Winning races is good and all, but at this point in Hamlin’s career, you need to be competing for championships year in and year out. Even if he wasn’t knocked out of action at Auto Club Speedway, I really doubt he would have competed for one in 2013. The only reason he’s this high on the list is because of four top-10s in the final six races along with a win at Homestead.

    12. Joey Logano

    Logano finally buckled down and made the Chase last season, even though he was too inconsistent to do much. He didn’t make many friends last season at all, but he finally grew as a driver and is starting to live up to his potential while breaking the 22 car curse. A great thing going for him is his teammate. Say what you will about Brad Keselowski, but it isn’t like Logano had a former champion to help him out back with Gibbs.

    11. Clint Bowyer

    This team might have very well won the championship or at least could have been a contender before Richmond. It took a lot of momentum from MWR as a whole and Bowyer’s team might have suffered the most with them being in the center of the controversy. He may change things in 2014 but he enters it at an all time low.

    10.  Austin Dillon

    Dillon is the favorite to win Rookie of the Year (ROTY) and the Nationwide Series championship. Yes, he didn’t win a race last season in Nationwide, but that’s primarily because of Sprint Cup drivers winning 26 races last year (28 if you count AJ Allmendinger, which I don’t.) He’s going to have enormous pressure coming into this season, as would any driver stepping into that No. 3 Chevy.

    9. Kurt Busch

    He took a tiny team into the Chase and gave all of the bigger teams a run for their money. Now he’s finally back in a car with the best equipment in the business and with a championship winning team in Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR). Don’t call it a comeback, because he never really left.

    8. Brad Keselowski

    The 2012 Champ started off 2013 wrong and it just kept getting worse and worse. Part of the problem has to have been Roush-Yates engines not being ready to support two more full time teams, as the Fords in general struggled this year.

    7. Tony Stewart

    Okay, he might be a strange choice to be in the top 10, but let me explain. I think he’s one of the best pure drivers in NASCAR, and I think he’s going to enter this season ready to make up for lost time.

    6. Jeff Gordon

    Just missing out on a top five spot in 2013, Gordon’s Chase personified his career the past few years. He’ll do consistently well, even winning a race, before something happens, in this case, a wreck at Texas on lap 75. If you don’t count that, he’s in the top 15 in every single race from Bristol onward.

    5. Matt Kenseth

    Yes, I know I’m going to get a lot of hate mail for this. It seems really strange having the runner-up in points who won seven races last year, only fifth, but I think the runner-up hangover is just too strong to get over. Bowyer couldn’t, Edwards couldn’t, and it’s still affecting Hamlin four years later. I don’t see how he’s going to be that different.

    4. Kyle Busch

    The 18 team are the Dallas Cowboys of NASCAR. They either fail to make the playoffs against all odds, or they do and choke away the championship either way.  And like Dallas, it’s really sad to see it happen, because outside of the play-offs they are supremely talented and always a threat every week. You also either love them or hate them. There is very little middle ground.

    3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    I think Earnhardt’s big problem this year is the new crew chief search. That will always distract a driver when it happens to them, in some way. It’s a shame too, because he and Letarte finally started clicking together this season, the final eight races in particular.

    2. Kevin Harvick

    The only problem Harvick might have next season is that SHR is spreading itself a bit thin. Otherwise, he has all the momentum and now he’s in absolute top of the line equipment, not the RCR stuff that only he can win with.

    1. Jimmie Johnson

    Who were you expecting to be up here? If Jimmie wins nine races and the championship this season, he’ll match Earnhardt Sr. in wins and championships in roughly five less full-time seasons. And the scary thing is that I think nobody in the entire sport would be shocked if he has that kind of season. Case in point: his worst finish in the Chase was a 13th at Talladega, the place where luck takes priority over talent or equipment. Other than that, he had seven top-fives, a sixth at Kansas and a ninth at Homestead, where he was more concerned with finishing the race rather than getting the best result possible. Can anybody stop Johnson? Possibly but I wouldn’t bet on it.

  • Looking Back at NASCAR’s 2013

    Looking Back at NASCAR’s 2013

    Looking back at the 2013 season, NASCAR had the usual ups and downs but this year would be different. NASCAR unveiled its new GEN-6 car to mixed reviews and fans waiting to see what this new car would bring to actual racing.

    It started with the horrific wreck during the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) season opener at Daytona International Speedway (DIS).  Unfortunately, we watched the same scene played out at most restrictor plate tracks like Daytona, only this time when the “big one” happened the fence didn’t hold and fans were hurt, some seriously.  Everyone waited and listened the rest of the day for updates on those injured and looked back in amazement that the car of Kyle Larson, which had hit the fence, was destroyed, yet he walked away.

    The next day at the Daytona 500 we all waited and watched, held our breath and prayed that the scene the day before would not repeat itself and thankfully it didn’t. The 55th running of the Daytona 500 went off without any major issues with Jimmie Johnson in his 400th start taking the prize. That perhaps was a sign of the year to come.

    It was the fifth race of the season in Fontana, California that Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin got together with six laps to go and ended up wrecking each other. Denny Hamlin suffered a compression fracture in his back that most thought would sideline the driver for the season.  But Hamlin worked hard at his recovery and was able to return to race at Talladega.

    Talladega was a rainy day and eventually the race was red flagged due to the rain. The red flag was three hours and 36 minutes long and darkness had started to fall but with the rain stopped, NASCAR made the decision to go ahead and race. A late race caution bunched the field up with 20 to go. By this time the skies were even darker and the “big one” happened sending Kurt Busch flipping and landing on top of Ryan Newman’s car. In all 14 cars were involved and Newman went on to criticize NASCAR for continuing the race in the dark.

    It was at Iowa Speedway where Tony Stewart crashed hard into a car that spun in front of him. Stewart was taken to the hospital where it was determined by doctors that he had broken both his tibia and fibula in his lower right leg. Stewart would be sidelined for the rest of the season, after undergoing several surgeries and then physical therapy, so that he would be ready for the 2014 season.

    There was a lot of hype over Danica Patrick joining the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) for the 2013 season. There was a lot of expectation put on her but she was still a rookie and ended up with a best finish of 8th, her only top-10 finish, which came in the Daytona 500 where she had also won the pole.  Her boyfriend, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, competed with Patrick for Rookie of the Year in which Stenhouse took home the prize.

    Jamie McMurray won at Talladega, his second at that track, and his seventh win overall in his NSCS career. The win snapped a 108 winless streak for McMurray.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. would see the 2013 season close without a win.  But it was a consistent season overall and he ended up fifth in the series standings.

    We had the announcement that Mark Martin had decided to retire along with Ken Schrader. Martin ended a long career with NASCAR starting in 1981 in North Wilkesboro and giving him a career with 40 wins, 453 top 10′s and 56 poles. Schrader started his career in 1984 in Nashville and went on to have four wins, 184 top 10′s, and 23 poles. NASCAR will not be the same without these drivers and they will both be missed in 2014.

    To everyone’s astonishment we also had what was dubbed “Spingate” which was Michael Waltrip Racing’s (MWR) attempt to manipulate the chase for the championship. This not only marred MWR but their reputation was further damaged by Clint Bowyer who is believed to have spun to cause a caution in order to get a teammate into the chase.  These issues actually made NASCAR add a 13th spot to the chase, to the benefit of Jeff Gordon being that 13th driver. This put another mark on NASCAR for adding the 13th spot but with the chase outcome in question, it was the only course of action NASCAR could see to attempt to right what MWR had attempted to change. The biggest loser in that whole deal was Martin Truex Jr. who had done no wrong but paid a penalty all the same.

    Matt Kenseth probably had one of his best years of his career and in the end was truly the only driver in contention with Johnson to take home the big prize. Kevin Harvick, having a good run of his own, was unable to catch Kenseth and Johnson. Kenseth did everything he could and came out strong at the end but it was Johnson who would bring home the 2013 Sprint Cup Series trophy, the sixth of his career, making him at the moment the only driver with the chance to tie or surpass Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt’s seven championships.

    When we look back on the year there were tragedies as well.

    On June 12th 2013 on a Wednesday night we heard of a serious crash at Bridgeport Speedway involving former NASCAR driver Jason Leffler in a Sprint car. We would find out later that Jason “LEFturn” Leffler had died from the injuries that he sustained in the accident. He left behind one son, five year old Charlie. The biggest tragedy of all is learning that if Sprint cars used the same neck restraints as NASCAR does, he may have survived the accident.

    It was May 16th that I learned of the death of my friend, Richard Leroy Trickle, aka Dick Trickle; he had taken his own life after years of struggling with chronic pain. He had raced in NASCAR becoming the oldest Rookie of the Year at age 48 in 1989. He was best known for his career in the Midwest. Known best as “the White Knight,” it is estimated that he ran well over 2,200 races in his Midwest short track career and his many loyal fans will remember not how he died, but how he lived.  He will be remembered wearing snakeskin boots, a cigarette in one hand, and a cup of coffee or barley pop (beer) in the other, signing autographs and even going down to his knees to be eye level with children who wanted an autograph.

    With a new season beginning, questions remain to be answered.

    • What will the 2014 NASCAR season bring?
    • Which rookie will come out on top, maybe Kyle Larson or perhaps Parker Kligerman?
    • Who will win their first race this season?
    • Will Austin Dillon, driving the number three, live up to the expectations of fans that are waiting to see if he will do the number three proud?
    • Who will take it all? Matt Kenseth or maybe it will be Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s breakout year, or will it be Jimmie Johnson again, tying that seventh championship.
    • What new rivalries will form, and what old rivalries will manage to put it behind them?

    Hopefully in 2014 there will be no injuries or tragedies as we’ve seen this year. Perhaps it will be NASCAR’s best year yet. We won’t have to wait long as it’s right around the corner!

  • SHR continues to get stronger

    SHR continues to get stronger

    On the last edition of The Inside Pass (www.theinsidepass.net), heard on Tuesday November 26th, my co-host Randy Miller and I spoke at length with veteran spotter Tim Fedewa. The conversation ranged from the new Gen 6 car and the struggles of the Ford camp to find speed through out the season to what Tim is looking forward to doing during the off season (hunting for those wondering).

    The telling point in the interview was when Randy Miller asked Tim what his plans were for next season. Tim broke the news that he would be moving to the number 4 car and would be spotting for Kevin Harvick moving forward into the 2014 season. Tim is still currently under contract with Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) until the end of the year, which for those that do not know the NASCAR year typically ends on December 31st of each year. Tim expected to be spotting for RPM during the early December testing at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Tim believes that he will be spotting for Aric Almilrola during that testing session, but nothing is firmed up yet. During the off air conversation, Tim also confirmed that this would be a year to year contract.

    When asked Tim stated that he is excited about thae move, and that he is very appreciative of everything that working at the legendary Richard Petty Motorsports has done for him personally and professionally. He enjoyed working with Marcus Ambrose and felt strongly that they as a team were really close to getting the Australian driver his first oval track win. As the interview progressed, I asked Tim exactly what does a spotter do to help build the level of trust up that is needed between a spotter and a driver moving into the January testing at Daytona, which is where Kevin and Tim will be working together for the first time. Tim’s response was enlightening, they are going to be sitting down to lunches together along with recently named crew chief Rodney Childers, who is leaving Micheal Waltrip Racing (MWR), along with the car chief to try and get on the same page moving forward.

    As the title of this article implies gaining a veteran spotter such as Tim bodes well for the fans of Kevin Harvick and does not bode well for the rest of the field. Tim has been spotting in the national series dating back to when the Sprint Cup was known as the Nextel Cup.  Tim is a former racer turned spotter.  He understands how to help a driver navigate the traffic and track in order to help his team and driver get the very best out of the car.  When teamed with a driver who is known for taking care of his equipment and being “there” at the end of a race, this could potentially be the new powerhouse driver/spotter combination.  When asked what he had already been doing to prepare for the potential move to Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), Tim replied that he had been scanning the 29 cars channels in order to pick up on the lingo and the meter that Billy O’Dea and Kevin used throughout the latter stages of the year so that he would be better prepared for his new role with Kevin.

    Tim’s pedigree in racing is not a short lived one, he was born into a racing family.  His father Butch raced in several series eventually reaching the ARCA/ReMax series before retiring and began helping Tim with his racing career.  Tim made limited starts in the Camping World Truck and some 300 Nationwide Series starts, with four wins in that series, along with one start in the Winston Cup Series, and also ran in a relief role for John Andretti with Petty Motorsports at the Coke 600 in 2000 when John was injured.  Tim understands the nuances that help make a car go fast, this role with the new number 4 team is not something that Tim simply fell into over night.  He has been doing this for awhile now, and he has the respect of his peers atop the spotter’s stand.  While NASCAR may have mandated rules changes that there would no longer be “deals” made from the spotters stand, I hope no one is naive enough to think that the spotters don’t work together to try and help their driver out when trying to make their way through the field.

    When you take a look at the cache of talented members continuously being added to the stables over at Stewart-Haas Racing, I think that we could see a few new/old faces challenging Jimmie Johnson (six time) for the championship next season.

  • Matty’s Picks 2013 – Race 35 AdvoCare 500 – Phoenix International Raceway – November 10, 2013

    Matty’s Picks 2013 – Race 35 AdvoCare 500 – Phoenix International Raceway – November 10, 2013

    The West Coast swing of the 2013 Chase for the Sprint Cup is on this weekend as we head for the one-miler in the desert. This thing is coming down to the wire between five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion, Jimmie Johnson, and seven-time 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race-winner Matt Kenseth. Just seven points separate the two heading into this weekend’s AdvoCare 500, and ironically, this was the same margin Jimmie Johnson had over 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion, Brad Keselowski heading into the 9th race of the Chase last season.

    Phoenix has been an important race since the series swapped to the Chase setup, as the worst finish in a Chase race by the eventual series champion at Phoenix International Raceway is 10th, by Kurt Busch in 2004. Adding to the importance this weekend is the fact that the average Chase race finish by the eventual series champion at Phoenix International Raceway is 3.7! The catalyst in all of this is the fact that in each of previous three seasons, the eventual NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion was sitting second in the points standings following the 8th Chase Race. Jimmie Johnson erased a 33 point deficit over the final two Chase races in 2010 to score his fifth and most recent NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship. Tony Stewart was three points behind Carl Edwards in 2011 and erased the deficit in the final race at Homestead-Miami to capture his second Chase Championship, and as mentioned previously, Brad Keselowski sat seven points behind Jimmie Johnson entering this race last season. So, will it be Jimmie Johnson flipping the trend over the last three seasons to exit the 8th Chase race and not look back, or will it be Matt Kenseth keeping the streak alive to take the trophy next weekend and erasing the seven-point deficit over the next two weeks?

    As far as Phoenix, specifically, its 100% advantage Jimmie Johnson this week if you’re looking at the career histories at Phoenix. Johnson leads the series in six loop stats, (Average Running Position, Driver Rating, Fastest Laps Run, Average Green Flag Speed, and Quality Passes) he’s had top-five finishes in 12 of the last 14 races at Phoenix International Raceway, and far and away owns the better record than Matt Kenseth in career victories, top-fives, top-tens, average finish, and laps led. Also keep in mind, Matt Kenseth’s last top five finish at the desert one-miler was all the way back in 2007, his one and only win (three less than Jimmie Johnson) at PIR came in 2002, and his average finish is 17.2, so not only is Kenseth battling the Goliath named Jimmie Johnson this week, but he’s battling an Achilles heel of his own this weekend.

    Enough about the points battle, on to my picks this week…

     

    Winner Pick

    I may be completely out of material for my winner pick this week, outside of practice and qualifying…you guessed it, tough not to like Jimmie Johnson this week. He was fastest in practice on Friday, broke the track record in qualifying to capture the pole for Sunday’s AdvoCare 500, and carries the momentum of last week’s perfect win. Seriously, Johnson scored a perfect 150 Driver Rating in his dominating win last week at Texas Motor Speedway, the fourth ever perfect Driver Rating in Chase history.

    Denny Hamlin commented on the state of the No.48 team following Friday’s qualifying session, “I think everyone in the garage kind of knew (the No.48 team) could turn it up at will”. Joey Logano also commented on how the Hedrick Motorsports team is in “kill mode”, Logano says “(Johnson) has that next notch and extra speed that nobody else can find. His intensity level picks up.”

    Well boys, I’m right there with you this week and even though I didn’t find a header in the stats column entitled “kill mode”, I’m going with the overwhelming favorite, and now pole-sitter Jimmie Johnson this week. One piece of history besides Johnson’s impressive history at PIR that I do have to help my cause this week is the fact that seven of the 34 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Phoenix have been won from starting positions on the front row….not that I need any help in making my point this week.

     

    Dark Horse Pick

    Now, if you’ve been listening to my preview of the race each week with Greg on the Prime Sports Network, you may have noticed an ongoing trend since mid-June or so. Each time when we reach the time to talk about Denny Hamlin, you’ve probably heard me laugh or say “steer clear of Denny this week”. Well, this week I have a bit different take on Denny Hamlin for a few reasons.
    Number one, Denny Hamlin has been coming around down the stretch here in the Chase, and is certainly a far cry away from where he was at a couple months back. Three top 5’s in the last four races mark’s Hamlin’s best stretch of runs since he ran second at Darlington, finished fourth in the Coke 600, and finished eighth in the June Pocono race. He’s climbing back to relevancy in the latter stages of this year’s Chase, and will use these remaining two races this season to springboard his team into the 2014 season.

    The number two reason for picking Denny Hamlin is his career history, not only at Phoenix but as a top tier driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Since his first full season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2006, Denny Hamlin has managed to find Victory Lane at least once in each of his seven full seasons in the Cup series. Out of the two remaining racetracks this season, Phoenix is certainly the better chance for Hamlin to keep his streak alive. He’s got an average finish of 5.8 in the last five races at PIR, including a win in 2012, three additional top 5’s, 116 total laps led, and an average driver rating of 104.2 over that same five-race stretch, so Hamlin has the recent stats worth a look this week.

    Adding to my statement this week is the stat I mentioned above….over 20% of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at PIR have been won from starting spots on the front row, and Denny Hamlin just happens to be starting second on Sunday. Not only did Denny qualify well, but he also practiced well on Friday to earn my nod as the Dark Horse play of the week.

     

    That’s all for this week, so until we head to South Florida for the 2013 Grand Finale….You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!