Greg Ives, the current crew chief of JR Motorsports driver Chase Elliott in the Nationwide Series, has been announced as Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Sprint Cup crew chief at Hendrick Motorsports starting in 2015. Ives is replacing Steve Letarte, who switched from the #24 of Jeff Gordon to the #88 car in 2011, and is joining NBC as a commentator for their NASCAR coverage next year alongside Rick Allen and Jeff Burton. Letarte announced his transition from crew chief to commentator in January, a month before he and Earnhardt pulled off a win in the Daytona 500.
Ives was previously part of the engineering team of Jimmie Johnson at Hendrick from 2004 to 2010. At the tail end of the 2012 Nationwide season he became the crew chief for the #7 car driven by Regan Smith at JR Motorsports. Hendrick and JRM have had an alliance since 2008, when Earnhardt moved to Hendrick from Dale Earnhardt Inc., the team founded by his late father. Rick Hendrick said Ives was their "number-one choice" to replace Letarte.
Earnhardt has won three Cup races with Letarte: at Michigan in 2012, and this year at Daytona and Pocono, where the Cup Series is racing again on Sunday. Now, people will probably wonder whether Earnhardt can win with Ives has his new crew chief, and continue this peak in his racing career.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Denny Hamlin, crew members fined and put on probation
Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 car owned by Joe Gibbs, has lost 75 points in the Sprint Cup championship standings after officials discovered several violations, specifically some improperly installed parts, during post-race inspection after Sunday's Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis. Also, Hamlin's crew chief Darian Grubb and car chief Wesley Sherrill have been fined $125,000 and suspended for the last six races before the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins, from Pocono this coming Sunday to Richmond on September 7. Since the violations were discovered after the race, the penalties for Hamlin were increased by 25 points and $75,000. It is a P5 penalty, the second-highest in NASCAR's rulebook, making it a huge blow to the #11 team.
Hamlin finished third in Sunday's race, in between teammates Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth. He is now down to 22nd in the regular point standings, and 9th in the 16-driver Chase grid, which will officially debut at Chicagoland in September, the first race of the Chase. Hamlin won at Talladega in May, and is one of 11 Cup Series winners so far in 2014. Thanks to that, he is still almost certain to compete for the championship this year. But he will have to try to secure his Chase spot with some substitute crew members due to the penalties that have been handed out to him and his team.
Hamlin finished third in Sunday's race, in between teammates Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth. He is now down to 22nd in the regular point standings, and 9th in the 16-driver Chase grid, which will officially debut at Chicagoland in September, the first race of the Chase. Hamlin won at Talladega in May, and is one of 11 Cup Series winners so far in 2014. Thanks to that, he is still almost certain to compete for the championship this year. But he will have to try to secure his Chase spot with some substitute crew members due to the penalties that have been handed out to him and his team.
Monday, July 28, 2014
Carl Edwards leaving Roush Fenway Racing at season's end
Carl Edwards, a two-time winner so far this year in the Sprint Cup Series, will no longer be driving for Roush Fenway Racing in 2015, it was announced Sunday, prior to the Brickyard 400. Edwards and teammate Greg Biffle had been rumored to be leaving Roush since last season, but now Biffle will remain with Roush next year. Edwards will not announce until at least September who he will be driving for in 2015, but he has been rumored to be headed to Joe Gibbs Racing.
Edwards has driven for Roush throughout his entire Busch/Nationwide and Cup careers. He made his Cup debut at Michigan in August 2004, replacing Jeff Burton in the #99 car. Edwards won four races in his first full-time Cup season in 2005, including a sweep of Atlanta. Edwards also won the 2007 Busch Series title with Roush, and finished the 2011 Cup season in a tie with Tony Stewart, however Stewart won the title because he had won more races than Edwards that season. Edwards and Biffle have been Roush's best drivers over the past several years, with Matt Kenseth, who drove for Roush until 2012, also being a dominant driver during much of the same period.
Roush's 2015 Cup lineup will consist of Biffle driving the #16 car for a 13th full season, along with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the #17 car previously driven by Kenseth, and Trevor Bayne driving the reactivated #6 car in his first full-time Cup season, after driving part-time for the Wood Brothers since late 2010. This will make the #99 team inactive, like the #6 team was in the Cup series last year and this year.
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Jeff Gordon wins fifth Brickyard 400, 90th Sprint Cup race overall
Today, NASCAR fans honored the 20th anniversary of Jeff Gordon's win in the inaugural Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1994. Gordon went on to win the race for the fifth time in his career, breaking a tie with Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson for most wins in the race. It was also Gordon's 90th career win in the Sprint Cup Series, proving that even after more than two decades in the series, he still knows how to win.
Gordon also won the Brickyard 400 in 1998, 2001 and 2004. He won his third and fourth championships in '98 and '01, and was also a title contender in '04. Gordon's win today contains three milestone points: it comes just before the 20th anniversary of his win in the first NASCAR race at the Brickyard, it once again makes him the driver with the most wins in the race, and it puts him just 10 wins from a potential 100th Cup Series victory. Gordon is now the third driver, along with Richard Petty and David Pearson, to win 90 races in NASCAR's top series.
In addition, Gordon extends his points lead in the series, once again making for talk that 2014 could see him win his fifth series championship. Also, Gordon now only has to attempt to qualify for the next six races to officially be locked into the Chase for the Sprint Cup, which fans know he will. Gordon, along with Hendrick teammates Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne, now look to have another good race next week at Pocono, where the last four races have been won by each one of them.
Gordon also won the Brickyard 400 in 1998, 2001 and 2004. He won his third and fourth championships in '98 and '01, and was also a title contender in '04. Gordon's win today contains three milestone points: it comes just before the 20th anniversary of his win in the first NASCAR race at the Brickyard, it once again makes him the driver with the most wins in the race, and it puts him just 10 wins from a potential 100th Cup Series victory. Gordon is now the third driver, along with Richard Petty and David Pearson, to win 90 races in NASCAR's top series.
In addition, Gordon extends his points lead in the series, once again making for talk that 2014 could see him win his fifth series championship. Also, Gordon now only has to attempt to qualify for the next six races to officially be locked into the Chase for the Sprint Cup, which fans know he will. Gordon, along with Hendrick teammates Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne, now look to have another good race next week at Pocono, where the last four races have been won by each one of them.
Saturday, July 26, 2014
How prestigious is the Brickyard 400?
The Brickyard 400 has been a special race ever since its inaugural running in 1994, because the race is held at the world-famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the just as world-famous Indianapolis 500. But just how much prestige does a stock car race at Indianapolis have? People don't seem to care that tomorrow's NASCAR Sprint Cup race is only the 21st running of the series at Indy; as long as a race is held as a famous venue, that race, it seems, is famous in itself.
Back in the 1980s and '90s, NASCAR's top series, then known as the Winston Cup Series, had four events it regarded as "crown jewels": the Daytona 500, the Winston 500 at Talladega in the spring, Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte on Memorial Day weekend (when the Indy 500 is also held), and the Southern 500 at Darlington on Labor Day weekend. These were the four races where a driver could get one million dollars (in addition to normal prize money) for winning three of them in the same year, and it was known as the Winston Million. It was replaced in 1998 by a different program called the Winston No Bull 5, which featured five eligible drivers competing for a $1 million prize at five races, which varied every year, but included the Brickyard 400 in its first year. The No Bull 5 was discontinued after 2002.
The Brickyard 400 and the Southern 500 co-existed for eleven seasons. What many fans consider to be the last "true" Southern 500 on Labor Day weekend took place in 2003. In 2004 it was held in November as the penultimate race of the season, and in 2005 the race weekend was moved to Texas. The "Southern 500" name was applied to the spring race at Darlington in 2009, but fans do not think this makes it as prestigious as the Labor Day race. Since 2005 or maybe earlier, fans have either referred to the three remaining former Grand Slam races (Daytona, Talladega and Charlotte) as NASCAR's "Triple Crown", or considered the Brickyard 400 to be the new fourth major as Darlington's replacement. This is where some of the Brickyard 400's prestige comes from despite it being a relatively new race.
So the reasons people think the Brickyard 400 is special, almost as much as the Daytona 500, is because of its location at a more than 100-year-old speedway with a huge amount of racing history, combined with its consideration to be upgraded to one of NASCAR's major races due to being held at this historic speedway. Basically, fans believe it's more about historical value than the age of the race when it comes to fame and prestige. And that is why the Brickyard 400 has always been thought of so highly.
Back in the 1980s and '90s, NASCAR's top series, then known as the Winston Cup Series, had four events it regarded as "crown jewels": the Daytona 500, the Winston 500 at Talladega in the spring, Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte on Memorial Day weekend (when the Indy 500 is also held), and the Southern 500 at Darlington on Labor Day weekend. These were the four races where a driver could get one million dollars (in addition to normal prize money) for winning three of them in the same year, and it was known as the Winston Million. It was replaced in 1998 by a different program called the Winston No Bull 5, which featured five eligible drivers competing for a $1 million prize at five races, which varied every year, but included the Brickyard 400 in its first year. The No Bull 5 was discontinued after 2002.
The Brickyard 400 and the Southern 500 co-existed for eleven seasons. What many fans consider to be the last "true" Southern 500 on Labor Day weekend took place in 2003. In 2004 it was held in November as the penultimate race of the season, and in 2005 the race weekend was moved to Texas. The "Southern 500" name was applied to the spring race at Darlington in 2009, but fans do not think this makes it as prestigious as the Labor Day race. Since 2005 or maybe earlier, fans have either referred to the three remaining former Grand Slam races (Daytona, Talladega and Charlotte) as NASCAR's "Triple Crown", or considered the Brickyard 400 to be the new fourth major as Darlington's replacement. This is where some of the Brickyard 400's prestige comes from despite it being a relatively new race.
So the reasons people think the Brickyard 400 is special, almost as much as the Daytona 500, is because of its location at a more than 100-year-old speedway with a huge amount of racing history, combined with its consideration to be upgraded to one of NASCAR's major races due to being held at this historic speedway. Basically, fans believe it's more about historical value than the age of the race when it comes to fame and prestige. And that is why the Brickyard 400 has always been thought of so highly.
Friday, July 25, 2014
Indianapolis Motor Speedway has a cool new scoring pylon
2014 has been eventful for the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Two months ago, it was the host of a competitive Indianapolis 500. A couple of weeks before that, it held a new Grand Prix race on a newly modified road course. Then, the old scoring pylon, installed in 1994, was removed after 20 years of service, and has quickly been replaced with a new full-color dynamic LED one.
The old pylon was all black and only used electronic displays for lap counting, speeds and driver numbers. It showed positions 1 through 33 (the number of cars in the Indy 500) constantly, and had two additional electronic displays at the bottom that continuously switched between positions 34 and 43 during the NASCAR Brickyard 400 race, whose inaugural running was also in 1994. The new pylon is fully electronic on all four sides. Like the old one, it has room to display up to 33 spots at once, but only shows the top 10 constantly, and cycles between positions 11-33 and 34-43 in NASCAR competition. The new pylon can also expand to two lines per driver to show distances behind the leader and lap times.
In addition to the new scoring display system, the new pylon has many graphical improvements. It can show the exact logos of each car number during a race, qualifying and practice in single or double-line mode, although it sometimes just shows the numbers of each driver in plain white font. The pylon is also capable of displaying animations and can display special graphics during a flag change, such as yellow or checkered. One of the first things the new pylon displayed upon installation was a simple graphic with the text "INDIANAPOLIS" going vertically down each side.
The speedway is now working on installing digital video boards with the same LED capabilities along the track, which should be ready for next year's Indianapolis 500. There has certainly been no hesitation to modernize this more than 100-year-old speedway, and there is a lot of buzz about the new scoring pylon heading toward the Brickyard 400 on Sunday.
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Once again, Eldora Speedway does not disappoint
After an exciting inaugural race last year, which saw Norm Benning race his way in with an underfunded team and Austin Dillon become NASCAR's first national series dirt track winner since 1970, it was time for another Camping World Truck Series Mudsummer Classic race at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. The race is the only scheduled weekday race in any of NASCAR's three national touring series. The dirt track is owned by Sprint Cup star Tony Stewart.
Erik Jones, driving one of the two Toyota Tundras owned by Kyle Busch, had a fast truck and won the first qualifying heat race. Jeb Burton won the second heat, followed by veteran Ron Hornaday, Brad Keselowski driver Ryan Blaney, and Burton's ThorSport teammate Johnny Sauter in the third, fourth and fifth heats. Finally, John Wes Townley won the last chance qualifier to complete the field. One notable part of these six races was Joe Cobb, father of Jennifer Jo Cobb, spinning three times, once during his qualifying heat, then twice more during the last chance race.
After a break, the 30 trucks who made it in hit the track for the main event. They formed a four-wide pack during the pace laps as a fan salute. Then, the green flag waved to start the 75-mile, three-segment race. Polesitter Erik Jones spun twice during the first segment to bring out the first two cautions. During the second segment, Ty Dillon and Kyle Larson got into each other causing Larson to spin, and then Dillon's crew had to put his old tires back on because they were only allowed to change them and refuel during a competition caution. At the end of the second segment, last year's champion Austin Dillon encountered a sway bar issue and spent some time on pit road. During the third and final segment, Larson got back in contention, but it was Darrell Wallace Jr., teammate of Erik Jones, defeating Ron Hornaday to get his second win of the season and third overall. Toyota has still won every Truck Series race this year.
With the truck race out of the way, the attention of NASCAR fans now turns to the Brickyard 400 Sprint Cup race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which is coming off an action-filled Indianapolis 500 that took place two months ago. The Nationwide Series will also hold their third race at the speedway on Saturday, after formerly racing at the nearby Indianapolis Raceway Park from 1982 to 2011.
Erik Jones, driving one of the two Toyota Tundras owned by Kyle Busch, had a fast truck and won the first qualifying heat race. Jeb Burton won the second heat, followed by veteran Ron Hornaday, Brad Keselowski driver Ryan Blaney, and Burton's ThorSport teammate Johnny Sauter in the third, fourth and fifth heats. Finally, John Wes Townley won the last chance qualifier to complete the field. One notable part of these six races was Joe Cobb, father of Jennifer Jo Cobb, spinning three times, once during his qualifying heat, then twice more during the last chance race.
After a break, the 30 trucks who made it in hit the track for the main event. They formed a four-wide pack during the pace laps as a fan salute. Then, the green flag waved to start the 75-mile, three-segment race. Polesitter Erik Jones spun twice during the first segment to bring out the first two cautions. During the second segment, Ty Dillon and Kyle Larson got into each other causing Larson to spin, and then Dillon's crew had to put his old tires back on because they were only allowed to change them and refuel during a competition caution. At the end of the second segment, last year's champion Austin Dillon encountered a sway bar issue and spent some time on pit road. During the third and final segment, Larson got back in contention, but it was Darrell Wallace Jr., teammate of Erik Jones, defeating Ron Hornaday to get his second win of the season and third overall. Toyota has still won every Truck Series race this year.
With the truck race out of the way, the attention of NASCAR fans now turns to the Brickyard 400 Sprint Cup race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which is coming off an action-filled Indianapolis 500 that took place two months ago. The Nationwide Series will also hold their third race at the speedway on Saturday, after formerly racing at the nearby Indianapolis Raceway Park from 1982 to 2011.
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Chase Elliott continues Nationwide success
Chase Elliott, son of the legendary Bill Elliott, has quickly made a name for himself in NASCAR. Just two years ago, the highest NASCAR series Chase had competed in was the K&N Pro Series East. Last March (2013) he made his national-level debut in a Truck Series race in Martinsville, Virginia. In January, Dale Earnhardt Jr. decided that Elliott was ready for the Nationwide Series, and signed him to drive the full 2014 schedule for his team JR Motorsports, in Earnhardt's new fourth car, the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet.
Some people were surprised that Elliott got up to Nationwide so fast, because he hadn't run a full Truck schedule. But the 18-year-old from Georgia proved he was ready for NASCAR's number two series by winning back-to-back races in April at Texas and Darlington, in less than ten starts. After three months, Elliott won his third race yesterday at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois after leading the most laps. This also marks Elliott's 13th top-ten finish in 18 series starts.
Elliott's quick success in Nationwide competition as a rookie has made him a contender for both the series championship and the Most Popular Driver award, an award two other JR Motorsports drivers, Danica Patrick and Regan Smith, have won in the last two seasons. There has been speculation for more than a year that Sprint Cup car owner Rick Hendrick plans for Elliott to replace Jeff Gordon, another one of NASCAR's best, in the #24 car Gordon has driven his entire Cup career (and which no one else has driven) upon Gordon's retirement, which isn't expected until at least 2016. But fans know for sure that Chase Elliott will be very competitive and achieve a similar level of success to that of his father when he gets to Cup racing, especially based on his Nationwide season so far.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Should NASCAR have more night races?
This may seem like an arbitrary topic to this post, but I picked it because New Hampshire, the last track the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series visited, is looking to install lights to allow it to host a night race possibly starting in 2015. New Hampshire has two Cup dates, the other being in September, and the town of Loudon currently prohibits the track from night activities, something that is trying to be changed, with great support from many NASCAR fans.
NASCAR has become overrun with night races in the past 20 years as more tracks install lights for night racing. Kansas is the latest track to make a foray into night racing, and other tracks without lights are hoping to get them. One at which fans probably want to see a night race the most is Talladega, the sister track of Daytona, which got its lights in 1998 and moved the summer 400-mile race to Saturday night. While some people think night races make for added drama and excitement in NASCAR, others believe there should be more races held during the day, as was the custom in NASCAR's classic years. These people actually have gotten their wishes a couple of times in the past couple of years, with races like Chicagoland and the spring dates at Texas and Phoenix both moving back to daytime after being held at night for a few years.
It looks like right now, NASCAR itself is all for night racing, and will do whatever it takes to make more proposed night races a reality. One reason some people do not like this is that they believe night racing is focused more on the sense of drama racing under the lights gives rather than the actual racing, and that NASCAR just wants to get ticket sales back up. But there are some night races that I believe are truly deserving, like for example the wildly popular summer race at Bristol (one of NASCAR's first night races in 1978) and both races at Richmond. I like those "short track Saturday nights." But others like New Hampshire, Kansas and Talladega I think should be exclusively daytime tracks. And I think that sums up my thoughts on that.
NASCAR has become overrun with night races in the past 20 years as more tracks install lights for night racing. Kansas is the latest track to make a foray into night racing, and other tracks without lights are hoping to get them. One at which fans probably want to see a night race the most is Talladega, the sister track of Daytona, which got its lights in 1998 and moved the summer 400-mile race to Saturday night. While some people think night races make for added drama and excitement in NASCAR, others believe there should be more races held during the day, as was the custom in NASCAR's classic years. These people actually have gotten their wishes a couple of times in the past couple of years, with races like Chicagoland and the spring dates at Texas and Phoenix both moving back to daytime after being held at night for a few years.
It looks like right now, NASCAR itself is all for night racing, and will do whatever it takes to make more proposed night races a reality. One reason some people do not like this is that they believe night racing is focused more on the sense of drama racing under the lights gives rather than the actual racing, and that NASCAR just wants to get ticket sales back up. But there are some night races that I believe are truly deserving, like for example the wildly popular summer race at Bristol (one of NASCAR's first night races in 1978) and both races at Richmond. I like those "short track Saturday nights." But others like New Hampshire, Kansas and Talladega I think should be exclusively daytime tracks. And I think that sums up my thoughts on that.
Monday, July 14, 2014
Goodbye, TNT
Yesterday's Sprint Cup race in Loudon, New Hampshire marked the last race broadcast for TNT, as this was the last year of their current NASCAR contract and it was not renewed. The next ten years will see Fox and NBC split the Cup schedule. It also marks the end of more than 30 years of NASCAR broadcasts by Turner Sports.
Turner's original channel for NASCAR was TBS, from 1983 to 2000. TNT then started broadcasting Cup races in 2001 as the cable partner of NBC. They televised a few races during the second half of the season in NASCAR's first unified contract, from 2001 to 2006. When NBC pulled out after the 2006 season, TNT was given six races in the middle of the season for the next eight years (2007-2014) that was called the Summer Series. Yesterday's race was TNT's 48th and final Summer Series race.
ESPN, whose contract also ends after this year, will broadcast the last 17 races of this season. After that, NBC will return to NASCAR to broadcast the second half of the season until 2024. The only broadcaster staying through all of this is Fox, which is my favorite NASCAR broadcaster.
Turner's original channel for NASCAR was TBS, from 1983 to 2000. TNT then started broadcasting Cup races in 2001 as the cable partner of NBC. They televised a few races during the second half of the season in NASCAR's first unified contract, from 2001 to 2006. When NBC pulled out after the 2006 season, TNT was given six races in the middle of the season for the next eight years (2007-2014) that was called the Summer Series. Yesterday's race was TNT's 48th and final Summer Series race.
ESPN, whose contract also ends after this year, will broadcast the last 17 races of this season. After that, NBC will return to NASCAR to broadcast the second half of the season until 2024. The only broadcaster staying through all of this is Fox, which is my favorite NASCAR broadcaster.
Friday, July 11, 2014
On to the second half of the Sprint Cup season
The first half of the 2014 Sprint Cup season was very eventful, to say the least. The craziness started during the preseason events of Speedweeks at Daytona. It ended with the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona on Sunday, which in itself was a very wild race. It made other races like the Daytona 500 earlier this year look like nothing.
I did a summary of the first eight races of the season on my other blog when NASCAR was off for Easter. So now here's one of races 9 through 18, plus the All-Star Race.
Richmond, April 26: Kyle Larson gets the pole as a result of qualifying being rained out, but he gets spun by Clint Bowyer at the very beginning of the race. Later, many drivers like Bowyer and Reed Sorenson have fires during a caution, with Bowyer ending up finishing dead last and Sorenson having to escape from his car. After a late-race caution, favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. gets shuffled back on a restart. The last few laps are a battle between Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, and Penske teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski. Logano gets the win and Keselowski and Kenseth exchange heated words on pit road. Meanwhile, Marcos Ambrose punches Casey Mears in a fight by the garage, and they get slapped with fines.
Talladega, May 4: Brian Scott, a Nationwide Series driver, surprises fans by winning the pole in the first ever knockout qualifying session at a restrictor plate track. Danica Patrick also qualifies seventh. Early in the race, Brad Keselowski gets into Patrick and spins, going several laps down during repairs. Later, a big crash strikes when Keselowski spins in front of Trevor Bayne, also taking out other drivers like Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon. Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano, Carl Edwards and others get into later wrecks. Denny Hamlin ends up winning, his first points win in a plate race. The race was also notable for Josh Wise's "Dogecoin" paint scheme which was popular among fans.
Kansas, May 10: The first night race at the 13-year-old track has a slightly delayed start due to lightning in the area. Around the middle of the race, the lights go out on the backstretch, but the race continues, and the lights eventually come back on. Later, A.J. Allmendinger triggers a crash involving hard hits by David Gilliland and Justin Allgaier; they were okay but their cars were not. With less than ten laps to go, Jeff Gordon passes Kevin Harvick and holds him off to score his 89th Cup Series win, close to the 20th anniversary of his first one at Charlotte in 1994.
All-Star Weekend at Charlotte, May 16-17: Clint Bowyer wins the Sprint Showdown, the first to be held the day before the All-Star Race, with A.J. Allmendinger transferring in with his runner-up finish and Josh Wise being voted in by NASCAR fans on Reddit who set up his Dogecoin paint job. The next evening, there is plenty of action on the track with drivers like Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and Joey Logano getting into crashes. Kevin Harvick dominates early, but soon Carl Edwards has the best car. During the final ten-lap segment, Jamie McMurray passes Edwards for the lead and takes the checkered flag to win one million dollars.
Charlotte, May 25: The big story before the race is Kurt Busch, who finished sixth in the Indianapolis 500 earlier in the day in his IndyCar debut, and then flew to Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR's longest race. Also, Danica Patrick qualifies third. The first half of the race is pretty clean. On lap 235, a crash takes out Patrick along with others like Marcos Ambrose and Landon Cassill. On lap 274, Kurt Busch, Patrick's teammate, blows his engine, denying him the completion of all 1,100 miles of racing he attempted. After a late caution, Jimmie Johnson passes Matt Kenseth to pick up his first win of the season as the defending series champion.
Dover, June 1: The last race of the season on Fox has a lot of action. Clint Bowyer and Kyle Busch collide on lap 125, and then a crash involving Roush teammates Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth, and other drivers puts out the red flag. The race is stopped again a little later when Jamie McMurray opens up a pothole on the track. A four-lap dash to the finish ends with Jimmie Johnson winning again.
Pocono, June 8: This was the first race of TNT's last "Summer Series" of the current television contract. Danica Patrick has problems throughout the race, which is dominated once again by Brad Keselowski. Late in the race, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards get into a wreck. With a few laps remaining, Keselowski decides to stay behind Patrick, allowing Dale Earnhardt Jr. to get by him and take the win, his second of the season.
Michigan, June 15: Brian Vickers and Travis Kvapil crash on the first lap. Kasey Kahne then continues his bad luck by crashing a few laps later with Kyle Larson. Just past halfway, Alex Bowman wrecks himself yet again. The last caution is a debris one with 50 laps to go. Then come the last green-flag pit stops, with rookies Larson and Austin Dillon leading a couple of laps. The race ends with Jimmie Johnson getting his third win in four races, after going winless in the first 11.
Sonoma, June 22: The first of the two annual road course races see the Chip Ganassi and Michael Waltrip cars, as well as A.J. Allmendinger and eventually the Hendrick cars driving up front. On a restart, Dale Earnhardt Jr. gets into Matt Kenseth, causing Kenseth to spin and hit a barrier hard. A few laps later, dominant drivers Clint Bowyer and Jamie McMurray get into a wreck with Kevin Harvick. Then Bowyer's teammate Brian Vickers tangles with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. In the end, Carl Edwards takes his first road course win, with Hendrick drivers Jeff Gordon and Earnhardt right behind him.
Kentucky, June 28: This was the first Cup race with less than 43 cars in it since the 2001 season finale, as J.J. Yeley's withdrawal reduced the field to 42 drivers. Just before a competition caution due to earlier rain, Denny Hamlin hits the wall, ending his race. The next driver to crash is Kyle Larson, followed by Larson's teammate Jamie McMurray along with Kasey Kahne, Alex Bowman, and Aric Almirola, who later crashes again. The Penske cars of Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano dominate, with a number of long green flag runs, and Keselowski takes his second win of the year. He later cuts his hand on a champagne bottle while celebrating, and goes to the infield care center for stitches.
Daytona, July 6: David Gilliland, Reed Sorenson, Landon Cassill and Bobby Labonte make up the first two starting rows as a result of rain-shortened qualifying. The race is then rained out from Saturday night to Sunday late morning/early afternoon, making it the first daytime summer race at Daytona since 1997. After a short stoppage for rain, a 16-car crash involving drivers such as Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and others takes place on the frontstretch. After a couple of debris cautions, another huge crash, this time with 26 cars involved, occurs along the backstretch when Joey Logano and Kasey Kahne get into each other. At the end of the crash, Cole Whitt gets into Kyle Busch causing Busch to go upside down, but he was not injured. Other drivers in the second crash are Clint Bowyer, Brad Keselowski, Jamie McMurray and David Ragan. There were only a handful of drivers not involved in crashes during the race. Soon, more rain comes, and NASCAR calls it official with Aric Almirola leading. Almirola gets his first Cup Series win at his home track, and puts Richard Petty's famous #43 car in victory lane for the first time since 1999, and the death of Dale Earnhardt. The win also came just after the 30th anniversay of Petty's last win at Daytona.
So those are my summaries of the rest of the first half of the 2014 Cup season. It took me a while and I know it's pretty long and boring but I think you get my point. I can only wonder what the second half of the season has in store, especially with the upcoming debut of the new 16-driver, four-round Chase format, and a shakeup in the points standings and Chase grid after the last couple of races. With that, the second half kicks off at New Hampshire on Sunday.
I did a summary of the first eight races of the season on my other blog when NASCAR was off for Easter. So now here's one of races 9 through 18, plus the All-Star Race.
Richmond, April 26: Kyle Larson gets the pole as a result of qualifying being rained out, but he gets spun by Clint Bowyer at the very beginning of the race. Later, many drivers like Bowyer and Reed Sorenson have fires during a caution, with Bowyer ending up finishing dead last and Sorenson having to escape from his car. After a late-race caution, favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. gets shuffled back on a restart. The last few laps are a battle between Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, and Penske teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski. Logano gets the win and Keselowski and Kenseth exchange heated words on pit road. Meanwhile, Marcos Ambrose punches Casey Mears in a fight by the garage, and they get slapped with fines.
Talladega, May 4: Brian Scott, a Nationwide Series driver, surprises fans by winning the pole in the first ever knockout qualifying session at a restrictor plate track. Danica Patrick also qualifies seventh. Early in the race, Brad Keselowski gets into Patrick and spins, going several laps down during repairs. Later, a big crash strikes when Keselowski spins in front of Trevor Bayne, also taking out other drivers like Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon. Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano, Carl Edwards and others get into later wrecks. Denny Hamlin ends up winning, his first points win in a plate race. The race was also notable for Josh Wise's "Dogecoin" paint scheme which was popular among fans.
Kansas, May 10: The first night race at the 13-year-old track has a slightly delayed start due to lightning in the area. Around the middle of the race, the lights go out on the backstretch, but the race continues, and the lights eventually come back on. Later, A.J. Allmendinger triggers a crash involving hard hits by David Gilliland and Justin Allgaier; they were okay but their cars were not. With less than ten laps to go, Jeff Gordon passes Kevin Harvick and holds him off to score his 89th Cup Series win, close to the 20th anniversary of his first one at Charlotte in 1994.
All-Star Weekend at Charlotte, May 16-17: Clint Bowyer wins the Sprint Showdown, the first to be held the day before the All-Star Race, with A.J. Allmendinger transferring in with his runner-up finish and Josh Wise being voted in by NASCAR fans on Reddit who set up his Dogecoin paint job. The next evening, there is plenty of action on the track with drivers like Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and Joey Logano getting into crashes. Kevin Harvick dominates early, but soon Carl Edwards has the best car. During the final ten-lap segment, Jamie McMurray passes Edwards for the lead and takes the checkered flag to win one million dollars.
Charlotte, May 25: The big story before the race is Kurt Busch, who finished sixth in the Indianapolis 500 earlier in the day in his IndyCar debut, and then flew to Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR's longest race. Also, Danica Patrick qualifies third. The first half of the race is pretty clean. On lap 235, a crash takes out Patrick along with others like Marcos Ambrose and Landon Cassill. On lap 274, Kurt Busch, Patrick's teammate, blows his engine, denying him the completion of all 1,100 miles of racing he attempted. After a late caution, Jimmie Johnson passes Matt Kenseth to pick up his first win of the season as the defending series champion.
Dover, June 1: The last race of the season on Fox has a lot of action. Clint Bowyer and Kyle Busch collide on lap 125, and then a crash involving Roush teammates Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth, and other drivers puts out the red flag. The race is stopped again a little later when Jamie McMurray opens up a pothole on the track. A four-lap dash to the finish ends with Jimmie Johnson winning again.
Pocono, June 8: This was the first race of TNT's last "Summer Series" of the current television contract. Danica Patrick has problems throughout the race, which is dominated once again by Brad Keselowski. Late in the race, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards get into a wreck. With a few laps remaining, Keselowski decides to stay behind Patrick, allowing Dale Earnhardt Jr. to get by him and take the win, his second of the season.
Michigan, June 15: Brian Vickers and Travis Kvapil crash on the first lap. Kasey Kahne then continues his bad luck by crashing a few laps later with Kyle Larson. Just past halfway, Alex Bowman wrecks himself yet again. The last caution is a debris one with 50 laps to go. Then come the last green-flag pit stops, with rookies Larson and Austin Dillon leading a couple of laps. The race ends with Jimmie Johnson getting his third win in four races, after going winless in the first 11.
Sonoma, June 22: The first of the two annual road course races see the Chip Ganassi and Michael Waltrip cars, as well as A.J. Allmendinger and eventually the Hendrick cars driving up front. On a restart, Dale Earnhardt Jr. gets into Matt Kenseth, causing Kenseth to spin and hit a barrier hard. A few laps later, dominant drivers Clint Bowyer and Jamie McMurray get into a wreck with Kevin Harvick. Then Bowyer's teammate Brian Vickers tangles with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. In the end, Carl Edwards takes his first road course win, with Hendrick drivers Jeff Gordon and Earnhardt right behind him.
Kentucky, June 28: This was the first Cup race with less than 43 cars in it since the 2001 season finale, as J.J. Yeley's withdrawal reduced the field to 42 drivers. Just before a competition caution due to earlier rain, Denny Hamlin hits the wall, ending his race. The next driver to crash is Kyle Larson, followed by Larson's teammate Jamie McMurray along with Kasey Kahne, Alex Bowman, and Aric Almirola, who later crashes again. The Penske cars of Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano dominate, with a number of long green flag runs, and Keselowski takes his second win of the year. He later cuts his hand on a champagne bottle while celebrating, and goes to the infield care center for stitches.
Daytona, July 6: David Gilliland, Reed Sorenson, Landon Cassill and Bobby Labonte make up the first two starting rows as a result of rain-shortened qualifying. The race is then rained out from Saturday night to Sunday late morning/early afternoon, making it the first daytime summer race at Daytona since 1997. After a short stoppage for rain, a 16-car crash involving drivers such as Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and others takes place on the frontstretch. After a couple of debris cautions, another huge crash, this time with 26 cars involved, occurs along the backstretch when Joey Logano and Kasey Kahne get into each other. At the end of the crash, Cole Whitt gets into Kyle Busch causing Busch to go upside down, but he was not injured. Other drivers in the second crash are Clint Bowyer, Brad Keselowski, Jamie McMurray and David Ragan. There were only a handful of drivers not involved in crashes during the race. Soon, more rain comes, and NASCAR calls it official with Aric Almirola leading. Almirola gets his first Cup Series win at his home track, and puts Richard Petty's famous #43 car in victory lane for the first time since 1999, and the death of Dale Earnhardt. The win also came just after the 30th anniversay of Petty's last win at Daytona.
So those are my summaries of the rest of the first half of the 2014 Cup season. It took me a while and I know it's pretty long and boring but I think you get my point. I can only wonder what the second half of the season has in store, especially with the upcoming debut of the new 16-driver, four-round Chase format, and a shakeup in the points standings and Chase grid after the last couple of races. With that, the second half kicks off at New Hampshire on Sunday.
Sunday, July 6, 2014
A wet, wild weekend at Daytona
The Nationwide and Sprint Cup series went to Daytona for some Fourth of July weekend racing. It turned out to be yet another wild race weekend to end the first half of the Cup season.
Back on Tuesday, Tropical Storm Arthur, later a hurricane, formed off Florida's east coast, and the Daytona Beach area was under a tropical storm warning. Fortunately, Arthur moved away from the area by early Wednesday morning, so there was no threat from that anymore. This is when I thought the weekend would go smoothly. I had no idea how wrong I would be.
First, the second Cup practice on Thursday was postponed due to rain, but then it rained again, and the practice session was canceled. Then on Friday, a sudden rain shower during the first round of Nationwide knockout qualifying caught everyone off guard, and caused a crash coming off turn 2 onto the backstretch, forcing several teams to break out their backup cars. The rain also canceled the other two rounds, giving Dakoda Armstrong the pole, but the track was dried in time for Cup qualifying.
Since it was the first time the Cup series did knockout qualifying at Daytona, the first round saw some poor driving. Then another round of rain came, which forced the cancellation of the other two rounds and handed the pole to David Gilliland. Joining him in second through fourth were Reed Sorenson, Landon Cassill and Bobby Labonte, which surprised many fans including myself.
It was still raining when the Nationwide race was supposed to start at 7:30. The Air Titans dried the track and the race finally started, about 90 minutes late. The first half went caution-free, and then there were three cautions, the last of which was for a crash caused by Chase Elliott running out of fuel on a restart, and set up a green-white-checkered finish. On the final lap, Cup driver Kasey Kahne caught up to JR Motorsports teammate and February race winner Regan Smith, beating him by 0.021 seconds to steal the win and deny him a season sweep of Daytona. The final lap was the only lap Kahne led during the entire race.
Then last night, it was time for the Coke Zero 400 Sprint Cup race. The story during the day was if Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. could pull off the Daytona sweep. But then, it rained again. I thought the rain was done by then and I was frustrated when I learned it wasn't. Just after 9:00, after more than an hour of waiting, NASCAR postponed the race until 11:00 this morning. This marked the first time the summer 400-mile race at Daytona would be held during the day since 1997.
So the drivers got back in their cars this morning to try it again. The race didn't get started until about 11:20. Then a caution came out after a few laps for rain, and then the red flag was thrown briefly. Once they got back racing, it didn't take long for a big crash to happen on the frontstretch. Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Larson, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and more drivers were involved. The crash was cleaned up and after a couple of debris cautions, another huge crash took place on the backstretch when Kasey Kahne and Joey Logano spun. The crash ended with Cole Whitt tapping Kyle Busch, causing Busch to flip on his roof. Others involved included Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin, Jamie McMurray and Ryan Newman. When all was said and done, more than 30 cars had been involved in the two crashes.
On lap 110, a caution was thrown for rain with Aric Almirola leading. Three laps later another red flag was displayed. Soon, NASCAR called the race official, giving Almirola his first Cup win and the first win for Richard Petty's #43 car since 1999. It also came on the 30th anniversary of The King's 200th and final win in the same race.
This race weekend at Daytona will be talked about among NASCAR fans for a long time. It may have even been more memorable than Speedweeks earlier this year.
Back on Tuesday, Tropical Storm Arthur, later a hurricane, formed off Florida's east coast, and the Daytona Beach area was under a tropical storm warning. Fortunately, Arthur moved away from the area by early Wednesday morning, so there was no threat from that anymore. This is when I thought the weekend would go smoothly. I had no idea how wrong I would be.
First, the second Cup practice on Thursday was postponed due to rain, but then it rained again, and the practice session was canceled. Then on Friday, a sudden rain shower during the first round of Nationwide knockout qualifying caught everyone off guard, and caused a crash coming off turn 2 onto the backstretch, forcing several teams to break out their backup cars. The rain also canceled the other two rounds, giving Dakoda Armstrong the pole, but the track was dried in time for Cup qualifying.
Since it was the first time the Cup series did knockout qualifying at Daytona, the first round saw some poor driving. Then another round of rain came, which forced the cancellation of the other two rounds and handed the pole to David Gilliland. Joining him in second through fourth were Reed Sorenson, Landon Cassill and Bobby Labonte, which surprised many fans including myself.
It was still raining when the Nationwide race was supposed to start at 7:30. The Air Titans dried the track and the race finally started, about 90 minutes late. The first half went caution-free, and then there were three cautions, the last of which was for a crash caused by Chase Elliott running out of fuel on a restart, and set up a green-white-checkered finish. On the final lap, Cup driver Kasey Kahne caught up to JR Motorsports teammate and February race winner Regan Smith, beating him by 0.021 seconds to steal the win and deny him a season sweep of Daytona. The final lap was the only lap Kahne led during the entire race.
Then last night, it was time for the Coke Zero 400 Sprint Cup race. The story during the day was if Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. could pull off the Daytona sweep. But then, it rained again. I thought the rain was done by then and I was frustrated when I learned it wasn't. Just after 9:00, after more than an hour of waiting, NASCAR postponed the race until 11:00 this morning. This marked the first time the summer 400-mile race at Daytona would be held during the day since 1997.
So the drivers got back in their cars this morning to try it again. The race didn't get started until about 11:20. Then a caution came out after a few laps for rain, and then the red flag was thrown briefly. Once they got back racing, it didn't take long for a big crash to happen on the frontstretch. Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Larson, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and more drivers were involved. The crash was cleaned up and after a couple of debris cautions, another huge crash took place on the backstretch when Kasey Kahne and Joey Logano spun. The crash ended with Cole Whitt tapping Kyle Busch, causing Busch to flip on his roof. Others involved included Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin, Jamie McMurray and Ryan Newman. When all was said and done, more than 30 cars had been involved in the two crashes.
On lap 110, a caution was thrown for rain with Aric Almirola leading. Three laps later another red flag was displayed. Soon, NASCAR called the race official, giving Almirola his first Cup win and the first win for Richard Petty's #43 car since 1999. It also came on the 30th anniversary of The King's 200th and final win in the same race.
This race weekend at Daytona will be talked about among NASCAR fans for a long time. It may have even been more memorable than Speedweeks earlier this year.
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Restrictor plate tracks are easy, yet tough
After winning Saturday night's Sprint Cup race in Kentucky, Brad Keselowski cut his hand on a bottle of champagne. He had to go to the infield care center to get stitches, and then showed up at the media center with his bandaged hand. When asked whether it would affect his driving at Daytona this upcoming Saturday evening, Keselowski said he didn't think he would have any problems because Daytona is "probably the easiest track you could ask for".
Quite a few NASCAR fans disagree with Keselowski's comment, especially since Dale Earnhardt Jr., a dominator at Daytona and sister track Talladega during much of his time with his late father's team Dale Earnhardt Inc., won the last Cup race there, the Daytona 500 in February. But there are also the people who think anyone can luck into a win in a restrictor plate race.
Restrictor plate races weren't even called that until 1988. That's when restrictor plates were implemented at Daytona and Talladega following Bobby Allison's Talladega crash in 1987. The main goal of restrictor plates is to slow down the cars and make it somewhat harder to pass. This is why some NASCAR fans think only so many drivers have the right skills to succeed in plate races.
But there are many examples that support the opposite argument about how anyone can win a plate race. Last year, the spring race at Talladega saw a surprise winner with David Ragan scoring an upset win for an underfunded team with a last-lap pass, with teammate David Gilliland right behind him. Another notable example is the 2000 fall Talladega race, which saw Dale Earnhardt go from 17th to the lead in four laps en route to his 76th and final Cup Series win. This after his son and driver Dale Jr. and teammate Mike Skinner traded the lead a few laps earlier. Then there's the 2007 Daytona 500 with 34th-place starter Kevin Harvick going from 6th to first in half a lap, and the next year's Daytona 500 with Kurt Busch pushing then-teammate Ryan Newman past Tony Stewart on the final lap to give Newman the win.
So maybe restrictor plate racing comes easy to some drivers, but for others it's all a matter of luck and hoping they'll get a good draft to get into the lead and have a chance to win. That makes racing at Daytona and Talladega easy, but hard at the same time.
Quite a few NASCAR fans disagree with Keselowski's comment, especially since Dale Earnhardt Jr., a dominator at Daytona and sister track Talladega during much of his time with his late father's team Dale Earnhardt Inc., won the last Cup race there, the Daytona 500 in February. But there are also the people who think anyone can luck into a win in a restrictor plate race.
Restrictor plate races weren't even called that until 1988. That's when restrictor plates were implemented at Daytona and Talladega following Bobby Allison's Talladega crash in 1987. The main goal of restrictor plates is to slow down the cars and make it somewhat harder to pass. This is why some NASCAR fans think only so many drivers have the right skills to succeed in plate races.
But there are many examples that support the opposite argument about how anyone can win a plate race. Last year, the spring race at Talladega saw a surprise winner with David Ragan scoring an upset win for an underfunded team with a last-lap pass, with teammate David Gilliland right behind him. Another notable example is the 2000 fall Talladega race, which saw Dale Earnhardt go from 17th to the lead in four laps en route to his 76th and final Cup Series win. This after his son and driver Dale Jr. and teammate Mike Skinner traded the lead a few laps earlier. Then there's the 2007 Daytona 500 with 34th-place starter Kevin Harvick going from 6th to first in half a lap, and the next year's Daytona 500 with Kurt Busch pushing then-teammate Ryan Newman past Tony Stewart on the final lap to give Newman the win.
So maybe restrictor plate racing comes easy to some drivers, but for others it's all a matter of luck and hoping they'll get a good draft to get into the lead and have a chance to win. That makes racing at Daytona and Talladega easy, but hard at the same time.
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