Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: Tony Stewart

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Sonoma Toyota Save Mart 350

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Sonoma Toyota Save Mart 350

    [media-credit name=”Credit: By Ezra Shaw, Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”213″][/media-credit]From the land of wine, as well as left and right turns, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma.

    Surprising:  The most surprising thing about the first road course race of the season was just how surprised the winner of the race was in Victory Lane. In fact, he was so surprised that he forgot his car, which was out of gas, and walked to Victory Lane.

    “What the hell am I doing here,” Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, said. “I’m not a road racer!”

    “Never in a million years did I think I could come here and be the best of the best,” Bowyer continued. “This is a dream come true. It was meant to be.”

    This was Bowyer’s first victory for the 2012 season and his first victory at Sonoma.

    Not Surprising:  The second and third place finishers definitely had a mutual admiration society going on for each other after racing each other cleanly, particularly during the final green, white, checkered laps.

    Tony Stewart, in his No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, finished second while Kurt Busch, in the No. 51 Phoenix Construction Chevrolet, finished third.

    “I’m a little choked up,” Kurt Busch said after battling for the lead in spite of an injured race car. “I’m just glad we brought it home third.”

    “If I was smarter, I would have let Tony Stewart go a lap, a half-a-lap ahead,” Busch continued. “Maybe he could have got to Bowyer for a big finale.”

    “What everyone probably didn’t see was that something was wrong with his car,” Smoke said of Kurt Busch in the No. 51. “Something in the rear-end was breaking and he was driving the wheel s off that thing.”

    “I don’t know how he kept it on the race track,” Stewart continued. “He did a really good job of keeping that thing going.”

    Stewart scored his ninth top-10 finish at Sonoma and his third straight top-3 finish. Kurt Busch posted his fifth top-10 finish in 12 races at Sonoma.

    Surprising:  The seemingly strongest two cars on the road course had surprising struggles to contend with before finishing in the top-10.

    The fastest qualifier, Marcos Ambrose, struggled in race trim, yet finished eighth, while outside pole sitter Jeff Gordon ran out of gas, losing track time and position to finish sixth.

    “We really missed it,” the driver of the No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion said. “We missed it bad and we did good to recover and get a top-10 out of it.”

    “We had no speed in the car and we paid the price, “Ambrose continued. “I just feel bad for my Stanley team. It was just terrible.”

    “We went about a half-of a lap too far,” Jeff Gordon said. “It never fails, you run out just as you pass pit entrance.”

    “We were lucky to get back to pit road and get it fueled up,” the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet continued. “Luckily, we had enough laps to slowly work our way up into the top-10.”

    Not Surprising:  Since Dale Earnhardt, Jr., by his own admission, is not the biggest lover of road course racing, it was not surprising that last week’s Michigan race winner struggled at Sonoma. The driver of the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard Chevrolet finished 23rd after a late race accident.

    “I’m just mad because we didn’t run better,” Junior said. “We weren’t good all weekend.”

    “I mean I ain’t the best road course racer out there, but I can damn sure do better than that,” Dale Jr. continued. “We’ve just got to do a better job.”

    Surprising:  Joe Gibbs Racing teammates were surprisingly playing a different sport with one another. Late in the race, young Joey Logano, behind the wheel of his No. 20 Home Depot Toyota, tangled with not only Kyle Busch but also Denny Hamlin.

    “He really overshot the corner and got into us,” Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota, said of his teammate Logano. “Once you drive that extra 50 feet in, there’s nothing you can do to take it back.”

    “We were the bowling pins and he was the bowling ball.”

    Hamlin got the worst of the bowling tournament, finishing 35th, while teammate Kyle Busch, in the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, finished 17th. ‘Bowling ball’ Logano managed to finish in the tenth spot.

    Not Surprising:  While he has not been regularly driving a stock car, it was not surprising that Brian Vickers was able to parlay some of his Le Mans racing experience to his NASCAR performance at Sonoma.

    Piloting the No. 55 RKMotorsCharlotte.com Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, Vickers kept both his nose and his car clean to finish fourth.

    “It was great to run LeMans and then come here,” Vickers said. “I learned a lot about road racing.”

    “Everyone at MWR is putting great cars on the track,” Vickers continued. “They’ve all made it possible for me to take the RKMotors car and put it in the top-five.”

    Surprising:  Casey Mears, behind the wheel of the NO. 13 GEICO Ford Fusion had a surprisingly good go of it at Sonoma, finishing top-15.

    “We had a good car all weekend,” Mears said. “”It was a solid day for us. I am proud of what everybody did here and we will just keep improving.”

    Not Surprising:  To no one’s surprise, two Roushketeers ended up atop the leader board in the point standings.

    Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Ford EcoBoost Ford and NASCAR’s newest free agent, finished 13th at Sonoma but still leads his teammate Greg Biffle, who finished 7th in his 3M/US Stationary Ford, by 11 points in the standings.

    “We had a decent day,” Biffle said. “But we were just too loose all day.”

    “We need to work on our road course program a little bit.”

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Sonoma

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Sonoma

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson posted his eighth top-5 finish of the year with a fifth in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma. He is fourth in the standings, 25 out of first.

    “Clint Bowyer was solid in the 5-Hour Energy Toyota,” Johnson said. “But does that necessarily make him a contender for the Sprint Cup title? What’s more impressive? Doing it five times, or for ‘5-Hours?’

    “There’s a lot of drivers, Bowyer included, who have a single victory this year. They’re just a drop in the bucket. If five-straight Cup titles is a ‘reign,’ then one win is merely a drop of reign.”

    2. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth held on to the Sprint Cup points lead with a 13th at Sonoma. With ten races left until the Chase For The Cup, he leads Greg Biffle by 11.

    “As you know,” Kenseth said, “I’m leaving Roush Fenway Racing at season’s end. However, I’m not at liberty to discuss my contract situation. And that’s sad, because the one time I have something to talk about, I’m not able to.

    “In any case, when I do sign a new contract, it will be the first time I’ve been paid for my autograph in ages.”

    3. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: After snapping a 143-race winless streak with a victory at Michigan on June 17th, Earnhardt followed with a disappointing 23rd in the Toyota/Save Mart 350. Earnhardt was running 13th when he spun on the final lap. He is now third in the point standings, 14 out of first.

    “I can’t be too upset for not winning at Sonoma,” Earnhardt said. “No, not because I just won at Michigan, but because Junior Nation would never forgive me for drinking wine.”

    4. Tony Stewart: Stewart passed Kurt Busch with one lap to go to take the runner-up spot at Sonoma. Stewart chased Clint Bowyer to the checkered flags, but finished .829 behind, and is now eighth in the point standings, 74 out of first.

    “The hard part was getting around Busch,” Stewart said. “He’s never easy to overtake, unless it’s in a test of mental stability. I know Kurt is struggling to find sponsorship, but I think now is the time for Planter’s to get back into sport. What better sponsor for Busch than ‘nuts?’”

    5. Greg Biffle: Biffle’s No. 16 3M Fusion was the first Ford across the line at Sonoma, finishing seventh for his ninth top 10 of the year. He remained third in the point standings, and trails Matt Kenseth by 17.

    “I’m just happy I didn’t have a confrontation with Boris Said,” Biffle said. “I surely don’t want to wake with ‘Said Head’ almost as much as I don’t want to wake up with a ‘Said Head.’ His fans are crazy, and not even my type.

    “But I finished seventh, while Boris finished 29th. And Boris, of all people, knows a ‘whuppin’’ when he sees one.”

    6. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer dominated at Sonoma, leading 71 of 112 laps for his first win of the year. Bowyer pulled away from Kurt Busch on the green-white-checkered finish, and held off Tony Stewart down the stretch. Bowyer is ninth in the point standings, 84 out of first.

    “I’m proud to give Michael Waltrip Racing its first win,” Bowyer said. “You can best believe Michael won’t stop talking about this, ever. Now I can say I’ve won one for the ‘gabber.’

    7. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin suffered difficult day at Sonoma, spinning on lap 94 after contact with Joe Gibbs teammate Joey Logano, and finishing 35th after a DNF due to suspension failure. Hamlin tumbled three places to eighth in the point standings, 73 out of first.

    “Logano wrecked me,” Hamlin said. “By the way, he’s still in negotiations for a new contract with JGR. If he’s back with Gibbs, that will be two of us resigned—Joey re-signed to a new contract, and me resigned to being his teammate for longer.”

    8. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex led 15 laps in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 before fading to finish 22nd. He remained seventh in the Sprint Cup point standings, 68 out of first.

    “First,” Truex said, “Dale Earnhardt, Jr. wins at Michigan. Then, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. gets a ride at Roush Fenway Racing. It appears I’ll be the final ‘Junior’ to achieve glory in NASCAR. As ‘Junior’s’ go, they should start calling me ‘Martin Truex, III.’”

    9. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 16th in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 after running out of gas midway through the race, costing him several positions. Harvick and the No. 29 Rheem team salvaged a decent finish thanks to the Lucky Dog free pass on lap 83. He now sits sixth in the point standings, 64 out of first.

    “This is shaping up to be a forgettable season,” Harvick said. “Of course, when I say this could be the worst nine months of my life, I guess I should clarify that it’s me talking and not my pregnant wife DeLana.”

    10. Jeff Gordon: Despite running out of gas on lap 73, Gordon battled back to record a sixth-place finish at Sonoma. NASCAR’s all-time road course win leader posted his second consecutive sixth-place result as he tries to make a move towards a berth in the Chase.

    “I hear Matt Kenseth is leaving Roush Fenway Racing at season’s end,” Gordon said. “It’s unclear whether Matt is leaving under his own accord or was pushed out. Knowing Matt as I do, I’m almost positive he was pushed.”

  • Toyota/Save Mart 350 Review: Surprises at Sonoma

    Toyota/Save Mart 350 Review: Surprises at Sonoma

    Clint Bowyer surprised fans when he qualified in sixth position for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma. With the overall strength that Michael Waltrip Racing has shown in 2012, it wasn’t much of a surprise to the world when the No. 15 5 Hour Energy Toyota crossed the finish line first on Sunday. Like most races at Sonoma, fuel mileage was an issue in the closing laps when the race finished under green-white-checkered. Bowyer did run out of fuel – on his victory lap.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”317″][/media-credit]“It’s all about surrounding yourself with good people and we certainly have that. We have great partners, 5-hour ENERGY, Napa and Aaron’s, my teammates, Martin Truex and Mark Martin, I’m telling you, everybody is working very, very good together with this group.

    That’s something I’ve never been able to do before. I’ve had good teammates and I’ve had good stuff, but never like this at this magnitude. This is a young group. Michael stuck it out and I’m telling you, he’s fixing to reap the benefits. He’s worked hard. Our marketing department does a great job and this is I think the first of many to come. To have this dirt boy from Kansas in victory lane at this road course is big, trust me. “

    This is Bowyer’s first win for MWR and his first win of the season. With this victory, he has rocketed two spots in the standings to 7th position, 67 points behind the leader. If the 15 team were to drop out of the Top 10 in points standings, they now have the opportunity to take the wild-card position to be in the chase for the Sprint Cup.

     

    Smoke Rebounds at Sonoma

    Tony Stewart started Sonoma off on a rocky note with practice session speeds of 24th, 17th, and 21st position. The two time winner of this track qualified in 24th position and rebounded to finish in second position. With this finish Smoke shot up three spots in points, to fifth position, just 63 points behind the leader.

    “I was really pleased with it to be honest. The last two days we have not been real happy with our balance and just couldn’t seem to get the speed that a lot of the guys that were putting up big numbers at the top of the board were able to run. We couldn’t even run within a second of them the last two days.

    To end up running second like this is just a really good effort for all of our guys. Really proud of Steve Addington, never gave up this weekend. Nobody ever gave up on trying to find something that was going to be a little bit better. So him and Jeff Meendering and Greg Zipadelli and all of these guys on the team, just really proud of the effort they put forward this weekend.”

     

    Underdogs Fill the Top-10

    Brian Vickers, who is running a partial schedule with MWR, qualified his No. 55 Toyota in 21st position. His team fought hard to get to the front of the field, and came home with a fourth place finish. Vickers has two other starts this season, with finishes of 5th and 18th position. The former Red Bull driver is using this part-time gig to try and show other teams what he is capable of; so far, Vickers impresses the field with his finishes.

    Marcos Ambrose pleasantly surprised the NASCAR world once again we he qualified his Stanley Ford on the pole for the second week in a row. Although the “thunder from down under” couldn’t contend for the win, he was able to hold on to a strong eighth place finish. Ambrose has four top-10 finishes this season and is sitting 16th in points standings. If he were to grab a win before the Chase for the Sprint Cup, he could hold a coveted wild card, allowing him to contend for the championship.

    AJ Allmendinger is another driver who didn’t qualify well at Sonoma, starting in the 17th position. However, by the end of the race, he was racing the front runners and finished in 9th position. Moving to Penske this season, expectations have been high for the No. 22 Pennzoil driver. This season Allmendinger has scored two top-10 finishes and one top-5.

  • Kurt Busch: ‘I really wanted to deliver for my guys today’

    Kurt Busch: ‘I really wanted to deliver for my guys today’

    [media-credit name=”Credit: By Ezra Shaw, Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”242″][/media-credit]The last few weeks have been tough on Kurt Busch. From struggles with performance, saying the wrong things and getting suspended, he finally had a nice Sunday drive with no controversy.

    Busch came home third in his No. 51 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet. The bare red and white machine battled with the much better funded Michael Waltrip and Tony Stewart Racing teams and held its own. For Busch, it was bittersweet. A well-earned finish but a case of what could have been, too.

    “It was just a full weekend of road racing,” said Busch afterwards. “It was a solid day yesterday and even better day today. To have a nice, steady pace and to have smooth pit strategy from my Phoenix Racing guys reminded me a lot of last year and I thought I could deliver for them. We were in contention. We made it all the way to the final restart and today with all those long green flag runs, I thought the race would play into our favor.”

    The No. 51 Chevrolet was better suited for the longer runs, which he certainly showed. The defending race winner gave it his best shot as he led two laps and remained firmly in the top five for the second half of the event. Slowly chipping away, making a run at what would have been an improbably victory.

    “I just kept thinking, ‘He’s a dirt late model racer from the Midwest; there’s no way he’s going to be able to run the road course,’” Busch said of winner Clint Bowyer. “And he did. He did great. That car and our car, I think we separated ourselves from the pack today.”

    Then came the one moment in 112 laps that Busch would love to have back. One moment that took him from contender to third. While making a run on Bowyer for the lead late in the race, Busch hit the inside tire barrier in turn 11.

    The contact seemed much harder than in years past. Instead of the tires giving away, they stayed put. Busch’s machine suffered damage in the front and ended up breaking a bar in the rear of the car. Suddenly his 51 was slightly swinging back and forth, right before the final restart of the day.

    It ended up being the difference. Busch couldn’t do anything with Bowyer and he lost the spot to Tony Stewart. Afterwards Busch found that the sets of tires that sit on the inside of turn 11 were bolted down, no longer as giving as they had been in the past.

    “Today we came home third,” he said. “Chevrolet and Monster Energy and Tag Heuer, our three big brands with us this year – I’m a bit choked up. I just made a little mistake their in turn 11. Those tires have never been bolted down, ever and I clipped a set of tires and it broke the front suspension and the rear panhard bar and I couldn’t compete for the win after that; so a mistake there.

    “But if we pulled into Victory Lane with all-red car and no sponsor, here in California, I thought it was team tiger blood with Charlie Sheen around.”

    Busch backed up his solid eighth place finish on Saturday in the Nationwide Series race at Road America. Driving for little brother Kyle’s team, Busch flexed his muscle and sharpened his road course skills. Along with his Sonoma win last season Busch won at Watkins Glen in the NNS while subbing for then injured teammate Brad Keselowski.

    This time around he nearly did it again. And it would have been a whole bigger for Busch, who was clearly choked up.

    “When you show up and you’re a third of the budget and you almost bring it to Victory Lane, you can’t say that one guy does it out here,” Busch said. “It takes a full team effort. But I really want to deliver for my guys today, and being that close and make one mistake, it’s a tough game. That’s why it’s Sprint Cup.”

    Not to mention the team that has stuck behind him through the thick and the thin. Sunday’s finish was the first top five for Busch in 2012, they remain 27th in points heading into Kentucky.

    “They bring the best out in me,” said Busch of his Phoenix team. “This is a no nonsense group for a bunch of racers. The way this program feels is we are a bunch of boy scouts where we have to support each other and teach each other things and everybody has three jobs on this team.

    “Yeah, the closest family atmosphere I’ve ever had to racing with Kyle and my dad. We are not blood brothers or anything and cut fingers and tough and go team tiger blood or anything, but it’s really a neat group. Nick’s [Harrison, crew chief] leadership is just so much fun just to follow him and be a part of.”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Michigan Quicken Loans 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Michigan Quicken Loans 400

    [media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”237″][/media-credit]From blistering speeds to blistering tires, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 44th annual Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

    Surprising:  After the repaving, days of tire testing and several practices resulted in pervasive tire blistering throughout the garage, it was surprising the praise shared for Goodyear when they made the very difficult call to switch up the tires for the race.

    And although known for his sometimes hard-hitting rhetoric, second place finisher Tony Stewart had nothing but cheers for team Goodyear.

    “I think we need to give 100 percent credit to Goodyear for this weekend,” the driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet said. “I mean, what they had to do Friday night was a really hard decision to make.”

    “It was for the betterment of all of us as drivers and teams and for the sport,” Smoke continued. “So every one of us need to walk through the garage and stop at Goodyear and shake every one of their guys’ hands.”

    Not Surprising:  While Junior nation paced and held their collective breaths during the final laps of the Quicken Loans 400, no one was more anxious than team owner Rick Hendrick.

    “That was the longest 18 laps of my life,” Hendrick said of the waning laps before Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finally took that checkered flag, ending his four-year winless drought.  “I was doing laps around my couch, trying to end this race, man.”

    “I was too nervous to stand still,” Hendrick continued. “Linda and I were just watching it and saying ‘Come on, no problems.’ I was so afraid there was going to be a caution or something was going to happen.”

    “I thought Dale had a real shot at Pocono,” Hendrick said. “But this is like a huge load off our backs.”

    Surprising:  While his teammate basked in the glory of Victory Lane, Jeff Gordon celebrated a top-10 finish, as well as a surprising career milestone. The driver of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet scored the 400th top-10 finish of his Cup career.

    With his sixth place run, Gordon became the second youngest driver to achieve that milestone. This was also his fifth top-6 finish at Michigan International Speedway in the last seven races at that track.

    “It was not easy,” Gordon said, especially after having to move up from his 28th starting spot. “We had a really good race car today.”

    “I’m just glad we had a solid day,” Gordon continued. “It’s something to build on.”

    Not Surprising:  Always understated and never surprising Matt Kenseth had another solid run, finishing third in his No. 17 EcoBoost Ford. Kenseth also held onto the points lead, lording just four points over second place contender Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

    “We were pretty good in the beginning of the race and got shuffled back and it was tough to work traffic today,” Kenseth said. “They got the setup good on the last two runs and had good pit stops.”

    “We were able to stand on the gas and work our way up there to third.”

    Surprising:  One of the hottest drivers on the circuit surprisingly went from Victory Lane in Pocono and in the Michigan Nationwide race to hitting the wall and ending his Michigan Cup race with a DNF.

    “It was just the restarts,” Joey Logano said. “The slower lapped car – we all waved around and we’re all trying to turn down underneath him.”

    “I thought I had it saved and over-corrected and went in the wall,” Logano continued. “It’s a little frustrating.”

    “We’ll go back out there next week and win that one.”

    Not Surprising:   NASCAR is a family so, to no one’s surprise, several teams and crew members came to the aid of a driver in trouble. After wrecking, Denny Hamlin tried to drive to pit road only to be engulfed in flames in the race car.

    “There’s a lot of good safety stuff, but I’ve got to thank all of the crew guys that hauled ass over there and got me out,” the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota said. “It was just a tough day.”

    “I thought we had a car that could run top-three or four at times, but just didn’t have a great day and on fire is not a good way to end it.”

    Surprising:  Rough times surprisingly continued to plague the Busch brothers, from Pocono to the Irish hills of Michigan. Kurt Busch, who sat out of his car at Pocono due to a verbal altercation with a media member, wrecked on lap two of the Michigan race.

    Brother Kyle fared none better, experiencing engine failure for the third weekend in a row.

    Kurt Busch finished 30th and Kyle Busch finished 32nd. With the engine failure, Kyle Busch managed to hold on to 12th in the point standings, but barely remained in Chase contention.

    Not Surprising:  Jimmie Johnson, along with his lucky horseshoe, continued to triumph over adversity. The driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet managed yet again to pull off another top-5 finish.

    “Man, we were coming,” Johnson said. “We were really flying.”

    “And then I blistered the right rear again and had to just hang on,” Johnson continued. “And then I ran out of fuel going into Turn 3 and coasted around and made it to the finish.”

    “It was a tough day; but a good finish, so we’ll take that.”

    Surprising:  EGR racer Juan Pablo Montoya had a surprisingly good run at Michigan, finishing eighth.

    “It was good,” the driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet said of his top-10 run. “I will tell you the truth, yesterday when they changed tires, I was really worried.”

    “I called my dad to wish him a Happy Father’s Day and he said, ‘How is the car?’ I said, ‘If it handles the way it handled yesterday we are going to get lapped every 20 laps.”

    “Our team has a lot of potential and we showed a little bit of what we can do,” JPM continued. “I think we still have a lot of work to do, but I’m happy, really happy.”

    Not Surprising:  As the fastest racer in NASCAR, Marcos Ambrose not only scored the pole with a new track record, but also finished ninth in his No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion.

    “We will take the top-10 but we had a great car today and we lost a little bit of track position and it hurt us there,” Ambrose said. “I am proud of my Stanley team. We led some laps and looked good up there.”

    “It was a strong day for us, not quite what we wanted, but we will take it and move along to Sonoma.”

  • After four years and millions of tears, Jr. nation sees victory lane again

    After four years and millions of tears, Jr. nation sees victory lane again

    [media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”246″][/media-credit]Well after 143 races, rumors of conspiracy, alien abduction, and sabotage, Dale Jr found victory lane again today at Michigan International Speedway. As big a story as that is it is questionable whether it is the biggest story of the weekend. But it is without question a much bigger story than what his girlfriend thinks of his win or the fact that he kissed her in victory lane.

    Let’s take a look at the other stories the weekend brought to us. The first and probably the most important was the tire situation. Although Goodyear tested tires on the new surface at MIS in April the tire compound that they brought to Michigan was not suitable for the new surface in the heat of summer. The speeds and the ambient air temperature and the heat of the new pavement caused the tires to blister badly.

    A tire builds heat inside. That heat has to dissipate. If it has a thin enough face, or the surface of the tire that is on the track, the heat dissipates harmlessly through the face. If the face is too thick it dissipates through the face and blisters the layers of rubber, or it dissipates through the side walls. A tire that face blisters is at risk for blowing out. A tire that dissipates through the side wall will blow out.

    Goodyear recognized the problem on Thursday afternoon. They instructed teams to scuff in the tires and put them through a heat cycle in order to harden the surface of the tire. It was a logical solution and sound in principle. NASCAR was sure the speeds would drop as the weekend progressed and that would cool the tire down.

    But the speeds didn’t drop. In the heat of the day on Friday, Greg Biffle turned a mock qualifying lap of nearly 205 mph. The tires on his car were badly blistered. With qualifying to be the next afternoon, Goodyear could chance waiting no longer. They announced a tire change would take place on Saturday and there would be an emergency practice session on Saturday after the Nationwide Series race.

    The practice session was a chaotic mess of drivers who were limited in practice time because of engine concerns, drivers whose cars were vastly changed because of the new tire, and drivers who damaged engines seriously by practicing on the new tires. The outlook was bleak to say the least. The drivers were reduced from skilled pilots to helpless bystanders as crew chiefs and engineers scoped engines and designed changes and researched performances and histories. Many were unnerved and unhappy about it. But it was the same for all of them. No one would truly know what they had until the green flag dropped on Sunday.

    When the green flew there were a lot of cars that simply wouldn’t adjust to the new rubber. Then came the shock, the new tires fixed the left side of the car but not the right. Teams were blistering right rear tires now instead of the left side tires. After two competition cautions, the cards had been dealt. You had what you had or what your crew could give you.

    It was familiar faces that rose to the top of the mountain, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, and the days super hero Batman. Dale Jr climbed to the top of the mountain after falling back to 37th and he never looked back. Tony Stewart would challenge but would fall short in the long run.

    The Nationwide race was story number 2. Although they had no tire problems they seemed to have difficulties in getting cars to handle at those speeds. Danica Patrick would spin 3 times finally causing large amounts of damage to the Go Daddy car after spinning while being passed by Austin Dillon. Although there was no contact between the two cars the aero pull, pulled Danica into a spin when she sought the lower line while Dillon was going by on the low side.

    The three spin day prompted response from her crew chief Tony Eury Jr saying she wasn’t getting respect from other drivers because they didn’t like getting beat by her. He endorsed the Dale Earnhardt School of driving and response for his driver to take the respect he felt she deserved.

    Sadly, the skills needed for that school of competitive driving are severely lacking on the part of his driver whose statistics do not show her to be a proficient driver nor a good judge of competitive driving skills. A driver who claims to not be able to read a tachometer and to not know whether stock cars can roll over is probably not going to be accepted in the school or on the track until those skills are improved.

    The final story of the weekend was a bit sadder. When a TV broadcaster makes inappropriate comments about a driver’s girlfriend/wife/significant other on live TV, the professionalism of the journalism becomes zero. When a professional print journalist asks a question of a highly competitive driver who has just finished second if he is happy he finished second so another driver could win. The intelligence factor involved in that just hit the zero mark. When the driver being asked is known for being the king of deadpan humor and sarcasm what answer would you expect to get? For fans and journalists to then react negatively to that driver is unimaginable.

    First of all, as a journalist the lack of bias involved was phenomenal. Much more so than someone clapping and shaking a first time winner’s hand at the Daytona 500.

    Second, for fans of a driver who is known for his level of respect for other competitors and fans of those competitors to react with such venom and ugly was completely uncalled for.

    Third, for anyone to believe that every driver in that garage was not happy to see Dale Jr win is ridiculous. If for no other reason than they wouldn’t be asked if he was going to win anymore.

    Was the win of NASCAR’s legacy the biggest story of the weekend? Maybe but it certainly wasn’t alone on the top of the mountain, any more than Dale Jr was alone in victory lane.

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

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Pocono 400 Presented by #NASCAR

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Pocono 400 Presented by #NASCAR

    [media-credit id=26 align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]With a shortened race, a repaved track, a snazzy new Twitter partnership, and Doc Mattioli looking down from heaven, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Pocono 400 presented by #NASCAR.

    Surprising:  As the checkered flag flew at Pocono Raceway, it was surprising the history that was made by race winner and driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet. Joey Logano became the youngest Pocono winner ever at 22 years and 17 days, breaking the record set by Jeff Gordon, who won at 24 years of age.

    Logano also was the first pole winner in 31 races to go on to Victory Lane. The young driver led 49 laps, a career high, and will now race in the 2013 All-Star race.

    “Yeah, the moment is pretty surreal,” Logano said. “Not just crossing the line, obviously that’s an amazing moment, and I didn’t stop screaming until I got to about – well, victory lane, I guess.”

    “You work so hard to do this,” Logano continued. “To get a victory, it meant so much.”

    “Pulling the Home Depot car into victory lane at a Sprint Cup race and winning it the right way was just an amazing, amazing feeling that you can’t replicate and you can’t explain what it means.”

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising that the second place finisher was gracious as always, even in defeat. Veteran driver Mark Martin, behind the wheel of the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota, came out on the wrong end of a bump and run to the young driver that he has been touting for many years.

    “I’m just so thankful to have the opportunity that Michael Waltrip, first of all, and Aaron’s and Toyota have given me to drive competitive race cars,” Martin said. “It is so incredible to be in something that is strong enough that I can contend.”

    Surprising:  It was surprising how focused and disciplined Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and crew chief Steve Letarte were at Pocono, pitting to take fuel and still finishing with a top-10.

    “Well, we just didn’t want to run out of gas,” Dale Junior said. “I didn’t know the caution flags were going to be so long. And they were long enough to help them guys make it on fuel.”

    “We’re not taking those kinds of chances – just yet.”

    Not Surprising:  On a newly-paved race track, it was not surprising that passing was challenging and restarts were even more insane. Both drivers of the Stewart Haas team could most certainly attest to that.

    “The restarts were insane,” Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Modbil1/Office Depot Chevrolet and third place finisher, said. “But you had to take full advantage of them.”

    “That was the biggest opportunity to make gains and definitely big gains,” Smoke continued. “You could get three or four at a time if somebody got bottled up a little bit.”

    “You had to be on your toes for the restarts for sure.”

    Teammate Ryan Newman, behind the wheel of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet, also had a tough time on restarts. With just 40 to go, Newman fell from sixth to 11th place due to a crazy restart, finishing the race in 12th.

    “I told the guys that I just got too aggressive on that restart,” Newman said. “It ended up costing us some spots there.”

    “At the end of the race, we just didn’t have the track position that we needed and we didn’t get the top-10 finish that we felt we deserved.”

    Surprising:  Team Dodge had a surprisingly tough day at the race track. Brad Keselowski wheeled his No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge to an 18th place finish, while AJ Allmendinger took one of the most brutal hits of his racing career in his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge.

    “My team did a great job through all the adversity today,” Keselowski said. “We got caught twice on the timing lines and then we had some problems with the ignition.”

    “And at the very end, we lost brakes,” Keselowski continued. “It was just one fight after another.”

    “I’m not sure what happened,” Allmendinger said of his crash.”That was pretty hard, that might be one of the hardest hits I’ve had.”

    Not Surprising:   With over 22 speeding penalties meted out by NASCAR during the race, it will not be surprising to see crew chiefs galore on pit road at Michigan for the upcoming race weekend. One of the multiple speeding offenders was none other than five-time champ Jimmie Johnson.

    “Things were just repaved, everything has been redone and we need to physically walk down and mark it off ourselves to understand what happened there,” Johnson said. “We got nailed with a lot of other guys.”

    Surprising:  After a fitful start to the season, Jamie McMurray had a surprisingly good finish at Long Pond. The driver of the No. 1 Banana Boat Chevrolet finally pulled off a top-10 finish.

    “We had a really good Banana Boat Chevy today,” McMurray said. “I am proud of the effort from everyone one this team and feel good about the way we performed.”

    “It’s nice to walk out of here with a top-10 finish.”

    Not Surprising:  The monkey remained on the back of the driver of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet. In spite of running as well as top-five, Jeff Gordon and his team made the decision to pit for fuel with just 23 laps to go.

    That decision bit Gordon yet again, relegating him to a 19th place finish. The four-time champ has just 4 top-10 finishes in the last 17 races.

    And with the finish at Pocono, Gordon fell to 22nd in the point standings, with only wild card wins as his hope to get into the 2012 Chase.

    Surprising:  Kyle Busch and team No. 18 for Joe Gibbs Racing surprisingly suffered the second engine failure in a row at Pocono, finishing 30th.

    “It’s very frustrating,” Busch said. “We got knocked back on the first lap in traffic by a stupid move and we’re fighting our way back through and then we have another engine issue.”

    “We’re putting ourselves in a hell of a hole and it’s not going to be easy to come out of it.”

    Not Surprising:  With Greg Biffle’s valve train failure and 24th place finish, it was not surprising that a new points leader emerged after the checkered flag was waved at Pocono.

    Teammate Matt Kenseth, with his solid seventh place finish, took over the lead, ten points ahead of Dale Earnhardt. Jr., with Biffle falling to 16 points behind to third in the standings.

    “It’s unfortunate we fell back that far, but the points are so tight we knew that if we had an issue we were going to drop a lot,” Biffle said. “You’re vulnerable when you’re only one point or ten points ahead, but that’s racing.”

    “It’s better than being second,” Kenseth said of his points lead, “But I’m just kind of disappointed right now because I thought we had a shot to win.”

    “I couldn’t go on restarts,” Kenseth said. “We’ll keep working on it, but I’m happy we got a decent finish and took over the point lead.”

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Pocono

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Pocono

    [media-credit id=26 align=”alignright” width=”237″][/media-credit]Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson finished fourth at Pocono, posting his 10th top-10 result of the year. He remained fifth in the Spring Cup point standings, 30 out of first.

    “Pit road speeding penalties were the story at Pocono,” Johnson said. “I got nabbed twice myself. There are so many speed traps on pit road, I apparently wasn’t the only ‘5-timer’ at Pocono.

    “I got ‘busted twice.’ And I’m so good, they’ll be saying that again at my Hall of Fame induction ceremony.”

    2. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished seventh in the Pocono 400, and, with the struggles of Roush Fenway teammate Greg Biffle, is the new points leader. Kenseth holds a ten-point lead over Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

    “It’s one thing to lead the point standings now,” Kenseth said. “It’s another to lead at season’s end. And, as The Fixx once eloquently stated, let’s hope ‘One Thing Leads To Another.’”

    3. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt led 36 laps at Pocono, second only to Joey Logano’s 49, but settled for an eighth-place finish, his third-straight top 10 and seventh in the last eight races. Earnhardt improved one place in the Sprint Cup point standings and trails Matt Kenseth by 10.

    “We had the car to win the race,” Earnhardt said, “but, as a 143-race winless streak would seem to suggest, not the driver.

    “We had to play it safe and pit for fuel late in the race. I know Junior Nation wanted me to go for the win, but if they could just picture alcohol in the place of fuel, I think they’d understand.”

    4. Greg Biffle: Biffle led 19 early laps in the Pocono 400 before mechanical issues dropped him to a finish of 24th, his worst result of the season. After leading the point standings for 11 consecutive weeks, Biffle fell to third, and now trails Matt Kenseth by 10.

    “Up until Pocono,” Biffle said, “our engines have been pretty reliable. Usually, when there’s talk of ‘mechanical issues’ around here, it’s a comment on Kenseth’s personality.”

    5. Denny Hamlin: Perennial Pocono favorite Hamlin started and finished fifth in the Pocono 400, as Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano took the victory. Hamlin is fourth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 19 out of first.

    “Logano ran a heck of a race,” Hamlin said. “He was awesome. So awesome, in fact, that Joey was the only driver his father confronted after the race.”

    6. Kevin Harvick: Karvick finished 14th at Pocono, one of several drivers slowed by a record 22 pit road speeding penalties administered by NASCAR during Sunday’s race. Harvick moved up one place in the point standings to sixth, 53 out of first.

    “I was one of several drivers penalized for speeding on pit lane,” Harvick said. “I have to question NASCAR’s methods. Normally, when you say ‘speed trap’ in NASCAR circles, everyone assumes you’re talking about a member of the Mayfield clan getting busted for buying meth from an undercover cop. Not anymore.

    “Obviously, the timing mechanisms at Pocono need reviewing. That would make everyone happy. In other words, it’s time to ‘calibrate, good times.’”

    7. Tony Stewart: Stewart broke a streak of two consecutive 25th-place finishes with a strong third in the Pocono 400, his fifth top 5 of the year. He remained eighth in the point standings, where he trails leader Matt Kenseth by 75.

    “As you know,” Stewart said, “Kyle Busch won my charity Prelude To A Dream race at Eldora Speedway. So, Kyle’s name is ‘dirt’ while his brother Kurt’s name is ‘mud.’”

    8. Kyle Busch: Busch finished 30th after a blown engine ended his day on lap 76. He fell three places to 12th in the Sprint Cup point standings, 21 ahead of Paul Menard in 13th.

    “Off all people,” Busch said, “I was one who didn’t get a speeding penalty.

    “It’s old news that my brother Kurt was sent home for the weekend. Funny thing is, ‘home’ doesn’t want him around either.”

    9. Carl Edwards: Edwards was caught up in a lap 1 incident at Pocono that left him at the back of the field. But the No. 99 Kellogg’s/Cheez It team battled back, and Edwards bagged a solid 11th, and improved one spot to 11th in the point standings.

    “I bringing up the rear in the point standings among Roush Fenway drivers,” Edwards said. “My teammates, Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle, are still quite supportive. They greatly appreciate the distance I’ve put between us.”

    10. Joey Logano: Logano started on pole and led a race-high 49 laps at Pocono, but needed a late pass of Mark Martin to capture his first win since 2009. In a contract year, Logano made a strong case for Joe Gibbs Racing to resign NASCAR’s youngest Sprint Cup driver.

    “How about that bump I gave Martin before I slipped past him?” Logano said. “I kicked the old guard old school. If Mark’s upset, I’m sure I could get a note from my father excusing me.

    “My win should go a long way in getting a new deal with JGR. I’m expecting to get paid. Soon, there will be more ‘bread’ in ‘Sliced Bread.’”

  • Joey Logano Puts the Moves on Mark Martin to Score Pocono Win

    [media-credit id=43 align=”alignright” width=”268″][/media-credit]At the newly-paved Pocono Raceway, young Joey Logano put the moves on veteran Mark Martin, literally, to score the race win. This was career win number two for the driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota and his first win of the season.

    With the victory, Logano became the youngest race winner at Pocono.

    “That feels awesome to finally win one the right way,” Logano said. “You don’t know how much this means.”

    “I knew my car was better than his and clean air was worth so much,” Logano said of his battle with Martin. “I didn’t want to get in the back of Mark there.”

    “I saw the bobble coming off 3 and I knew that was my chance,” Logano continued. “I would have been on suicide watch if I would have given it away like that.”

    Logano’s crew chief, Jason Ratcliff, got his first Sprint Cup win as well.

    “We were saving the best Gibbs car for last,” Jason Ratcliff said, with a chuckle. “To get my first win at Pocono is a great experience and to get it with Joey was the best.”

    “It was a great weekend for us.”

    In contrast to the youngest race winner, Mark Martin, one of the veterans of the sport and driver of the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota, came in second after being moved out of the way by the youngster.

    This was Martin’s second second place finish at Pocono, posting his 34th top-10 in 51 races at Pocono. It is his fifth top-10 finish of the season.

    “We were racing hard,” Mark Martin said. “I wanted to win it so bad.”

    “I’d call it a bump and run,” Martin said of Logano’s move. “It’s not how I would have done it.”

    “If I had a fast enough car, he would have gotten a return,” Martin continued. “It was a great race and I’m very, very proud of my race team for putting me in something that would give me a shot.”

    “Maybe next week, we’ll be the ones with the trophy.”

    Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet, finished third. This was Smoke’s 19th top-10 finish in 27 races at Pocono.

    “It was frustrating the first half of the race until guys got their cars better,” Stewart said. “You really just kind of got stuck and then it seems like the longer the race went, the easier it got to pass toward the end.”

    “The restarts were insane,” Smoke continued. “All in all, for a freshly paved track, it was a pretty good race.”

    The day started with a bang at the ‘Tricky Triangle’, with a record two cautions in the first 15 laps, on for an accident involving Landon Cassill, Martin Truex, Jr. and AJ Allmendinger and the second for an accident involving Reed Sorenson, Tony Raines, and JJ Yeley.

    “Sometimes when you try to take it easy, you get yourself in trouble,” Cassill, driver of the No. 83 Burger King/Real Fruit Smoothies said. “I really hate this.”

    “This is two tough weeks in a row and it’s tough on my guys.”

    One of the other drivers involved in the early race melee, AJ Allmendinger, was very slow in exiting his car after his on-track incident in his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge.

    “I’m not sure what happened,” Dinger said. “I think I blew a right front.”

    “I’m just a little sore, had the wind knocked out of me,” Allmendinger continued. “That might be one of the hardest hits I’ve had.”

    The other big story from the Pocono 400 presented by #NASCAR was the incredible number of speeding penalties, some entering but most exiting pit road. The final tally for pit road speeding penalties total was 22 and affected drivers from Jeff Gordon to Jeff Burton.

    “I was obviously being told by my crew chief that a lot of guys were getting busted in that last segment,” Stewart said. “We just made sure we were a little bit on the conservative side.”

    “It just shows the guys are pushing the envelope on it so close,” Smoke said. “But it makes you wonder if something was going on because a lot of guys got busted in the same spot.”

    The other news from Long Pond was that a new points leader emerged after the Pocono 400 presented by #NASCAR. With Greg Biffle’s 24th place finish, his teammate Matt Kenseth, who finished seventh, scored the top dog position.

    “It’s probably the best we’ve ever performed at Pocono,” the driver of the No. 17 Ford EcoBoost Fusion said. “That was the positive part because we went up there and led some laps under green and thought we were pretty competitive.”

    In typical Kenseth style, his comment on assuming the points lead was “It’s better than being second.”

    “But I’m kind of disappointed,” Kenseth continued. “I thought we had a shot to win under the right circumstances.”

    “Us and the 88 (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.) were pretty strong when we were out front and it just didn’t happen,” Kenseth said. “We’ll keep working on it, but I’m happy we got a decent finish and took over the point lead.”

    Unofficial Race Results
    Pocono 400, Pocono Raceway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=14
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 1 20 Joey Logano Toyota 48
    2 6 55 Mark Martin Toyota 43
    3 22 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 41
    4 24 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 40
    5 5 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 40
    6 16 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 38
    7 14 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 38
    8 8 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 37
    9 3 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 35
    10 11 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 35
    11 2 99 Carl Edwards Ford 33
    12 18 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 32
    13 9 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 31
    14 21 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 30
    15 20 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 29
    16 7 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 28
    17 17 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 28
    18 31 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 26
    19 12 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 25
    20 23 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 24
    21 25 51 David Reutimann Chevrolet 23
    22 27 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 22
    23 36 38 David Gilliland Ford 22
    24 13 16 Greg Biffle Ford 21
    25 42 10 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 19
    26 37 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 18
    27 34 34 David Ragan Ford 18
    28 29 43 Aric Almirola Ford 16
    29 10 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 15
    30 4 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 14
    31 19 22 AJ Allmendinger Dodge 13
    32 40 36 Tony Raines Chevrolet 12
    33 43 33 Stephen Leicht * Chevrolet 11
    34 30 98 Michael McDowell Ford 10
    35 26 13 Casey Mears Ford 9
    36 32 249 J.J. Yeley Toyota 8
    37 33 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0
    38 28 119 Mike Bliss Toyota 0
    39 39 74 Stacy Compton Chevrolet 5
    40 38 23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 4
    41 41 32 Reed Sorenson Ford 0
    42 35 26 Josh Wise * Ford 3
    43 15 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 1
  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Dover

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Dover

    [media-credit name=”Tammyrae Benscoter” align=”alignright” width=”260″][/media-credit]Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson dominated atDover, leading 289 laps, including the final 76, to win for the second time this year and capture his seventh victory at the Monster Mile. Johnson is fifth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 33 behind Greg Biffle.

    “I got a great start when we went green for the last time,” Johnson said, “and we left Kevin Harvick and the Jimmy Johns No. 29 in our wake. What’s the difference in ‘Jimmie Johnson’ and ‘Jimmy Johns?’ Three letters….’W-I-N.’

    “You may have seen wearing a multi-colored wig to promote Madagascar 3. Many sports fans see a colored wig and expect to see a ‘John 3:16’ sign. Not in this case. However, you may see a ‘Johnson 6:12’ sign, after a capture my sixth Cup title this year.”

    2. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished third in the Fed Ex 400, posting his eight top-10 result of the year. He has not finished outside the top 11th since a 16th atCalifornia and now trails Greg Biffle by only a single point in the standings.

    “Jimmie Johnson certainly was dominant,” Kenseth said, “even while wearing a silly wig. The funny thing is, he made everyone else look like a clown.”

    3. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt finished fourth in the Fed Ex 400 atDoveron a stellar day for Hendrick Motorsports, as Jimmie Johnson’s win led the way for three HMS cars in the top 10. Earnhardt is now third in the point standings, ten behind Greg Biffle.

    “Doesn’t Jimmie look cool in a wig?” Earnhardt said. “If a narrow win is said to be by a ‘hair,’ then Jimmie’s margin of victory over Kevin Harvick must have been by a ‘wig.’

    “I can’t say I’m not jealous, because after 142 races without a win, I’m dying to ‘wig out’ myself.”

    4. Greg Biffle: Biffle finished 11th in the Fed Ex 400, just missing his ninth top-10 of the year. He narrowly remained atop the Sprint Cup point standings, ahead of Roush Fenway teammate Matt Kenseth by a single point.

    “Never underestimate the value of a single point,” Biffle said. “Carl Edwards never will.

    “I’m hanging on to the points lead by a thread. And, as Kurt Busch has said on countless occasions, “I sure hope I don’t lose it.”

    5. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin led two early laps at Dover, but struggled with handling issues before coming home 18th. He dropped one place in the point standings to fourth, 22 out of first place.

    “Jimmie Johnson’s win was historic,” Hamlin said. “His sevenDoverwins tied him with Richard Petty and Bobby Allison. It was truly one for the books. And speaking of ‘books,’ just call Johnson the ‘Librarian,’ because he checked out on everyone.”

    6. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex finished a solid yet disappointing seventh atDover, posting his eighth top-10 result of the year. He remained sixth in the point standings, 45 out of first.

    “Jimmie Johnson whipped the field easily,” Truex said. “His lead was so big, he was able to celebrate early. I think that’s called a ‘whoopee cushion.’”

    7. Kevin Harvick: Harvick took the runner-up spot atDoverafter Jimmie Johnson ran away from the No. 29 Jimmy Johns Chevy on the final restart with 31 laps to go. It was Harvick’s second runner-up finish of the year as he continues to search for the season’s first win.

    “Close, but no cigar,” Harvick said. “But no worries. As an expectant father, I can at least expect one cigar this season.”

    8. Kyle Busch: Busch’s engine expired on lap 205, sending the No. 18 M&M’s Toyotato the garage with a 29th in the Fed Ex 400. Busch fell one place to 9th in the point standings, where he is 80 behind Greg Biffle.

    “What can you say?” Busch said. “I say the same thing about engine failure that my brother Kurt says about his emotions: ‘I have no control over it.’ Kurt is truly psychotic. His car number shouldn’t be ’51;’ it should be ‘5150.’”

    9. Tony Stewart: Stewart was collected in a lap 10 wreck that involved 12 cars and left his No. 14 Chevrolet with considerable damage. He limped home with a 25th-place finish and is now eighth in the point standings, 79 out of first.

    “Kurt Busch has been suspended for one race,” Stewart said. “And deservedly so. NASCAR had no recourse but to punish him. Kurt forced their hand, just like he did mine when I punched him.”

    10. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer led a strong Michael Waltrip Racing charge at Dover, finishing fifth, as teammates Martin Truex, Jr. and Mark Martin finished 7th and 14th, respectively. Bowyer improved two places to 10th in the Sprint Cup point standings, where he is 81 out of first.

    “You probably saw Ryan Newman nearly run over one of my crewmen,” Bowyer said. “And that was the only time during the race that the words ‘That was close!’ were uttered. It was a scary moment, almost as scary as Jimmie Johnson’s dominance.”