Can Kenseth, Stewart, others win again in 2015?

Some of the dominant Sprint Cup drivers in 2013 were not as good in 2014. One of these drivers was 2013 champion Jimmie Johnson, who finished 11th in the final standings, making it his first such finish outside the top ten in his full-time Cup career. Johnson, who also won every series championship from 2006 to 2010, still pulled off four wins, but it took him twelve races - a full third of the season - to get his first win of the year, which finally came in the Coca-Cola 600. After winning two of the next three races as well, Johnson made the chase with his three Hendrick Motorsports teammates, but was eliminated at Talladega in the second-round finale.

But Johnson, who has never been considered to have had a truly horrible season especially given his six championships, had it good compared to other drivers. Matt Kenseth, who was ultimately Johnson's main opponent for the championship in 2013, won seven Cup races last year, more than any other driver. And while Kenseth started 2014 with a win in the first Budweiser Duel qualifying race at Daytona, he didn't win a single points race all year, shocking many fans who believed he would be a championship contender again this year.

Then there's Tony Stewart, whose last Cup win came at Dover in June of last year. Since then he's been involved in a sprint car crash that broke his leg and caused him to miss the rest of the season, followed by another sprint car incident leading to the death of young driver Kevin Ward Jr., after which Stewart sat out three more NASCAR Cup races. Stewart's failure to win this year broke his streak of 15 consecutive seasons, starting in his 1999 rookie season, in which he won a race. He will certainly be hungry for wins in 2015 along with Kenseth.

Other drivers who won in Cup in 2013 but not 2014 are Greg Biffle, David Ragan, Brian Vickers and Ryan Newman. Clint Bowyer, Trevor Bayne, Marcos Ambrose and Paul Menard hadn't seen victory lane in NASCAR's top series in two or more seasons. Similarly, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kurt Busch broke winless streaks in 2014.

Paint scheme posts coming

Since there's no offseason news from any official NASCAR sources right now I'm going to start preparing a series of posts about my favorite NASCAR paint schemes that I've been thinking of doing   for a couple of months. I already posted a lot of them on some video slideshows that I uploaded to my second channel on YouTube. Most of the pictures on my blog will be the same exact ones on my YouTube videos. Now I have a chance to explain those pictures in greater detail on this page, like explaining why I like these schemes.

NASCAR drivers give thanks on Thanksgiving

Many NASCAR drivers had reasons to be thankful today. That especially goes for Kevin Harvick, who just won his first Sprint Cup Series championship in his fourteenth season on the circuit. Harvick is grateful to car owners Tony Stewart and Gene Haas as well as his crew chief Rodney Childers for helping him toward his championship, as well as the moments he has shared with his wife DeLana and son Keelan. Also posting pictures on sites such as Instagram and Twitter were Michael Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and other drivers. NASCAR themselves even photoshopped a bunch of raceday pictures from this year with Thanksgiving stuff like turkeys and kitchen aprons. It just goes to show that these people celebrate Thanksgiving with the rest of us.

Cole Whitt not driving for BK Racing or Front Row Motorsports in 2015

On Tuesday, a tweet on Twitter stated that Cole Whitt was leaving the #26 Toyota of BK Racing for the #34 Ford of Front Row Motorsports to replace David Ragan. While it's true that Whitt is no longer at BK Racing, Front Row Motorsports has denied that he has signed with them for the upcoming Sprint Cup season. It can be assumed from that that Ragan, who gave FRM their first Cup series win at Talladega last May, will stay in the #34 in 2015 for a fourth season with the team. It is unclear how the rumor that Whitt was headed to FRM was created, and why it was posted on Twitter without confirmation from NASCAR or NASCAR-related sources.

Austin Dillon to compete in majority of 2015 Xfinity races

Austin Dillon will pull double duty in NASCAR in 2015, running the full Sprint Cup schedule as well as most Xfinity Series races. Dillon is staying in the #3 Chevrolet owned by his grandfather Richard Childress, despite rumors to the contrary, and running for points in the Cup series. In Xfinity, Dillon will drive the RCR #33 Chevrolet that was mostly driven by Cale Conley and Dillon's Cup teammate Paul Menard in 2014. He drove the #33 at Texas three weeks ago, while Matt Crafton drove it at Las Vegas in March. Dillon will probably not compete in the standalone Xfinity races since he will continue to drive for points in Cup. He last ran for points in what was then the Nationwide Series in 2013, when he won the championship but not any races.

Phil Parsons replacing Darrell Waltrip at Fox?

We all know that unlike TNT and ESPN, Fox is keeping NASCAR coverage in 2015, adding more Cup races and also getting back the first half of what will soon be known as the Xfinity Series. But what could be uncertain is three-time Cup champion Darrell Waltrip's status as a commentator with Fox. Since its debut in 2001, NASCAR on Fox has featured Waltrip, Mike Joy and Larry McReynolds as its commentators in races (except standalone Xfinity races from 2001-2006) and some practices and qualifying sessions. But Waltrip's latest contract with Fox had him through the 2014 season, which is now over. Furthermore, fellow former driver Phil Parsons has appeared in place of Waltrip during many practice and qualifying telecasts on Fox Sports 1 this year.


Is this a sign that Parsons has been lined up to replace Waltrip in race broadcasts? It's possible since Waltrip has yet to sign another extension, but I don't want to start any rumors either. Either way, Parsons is no stranger to commentating. He first appeared on telecasts with Joy as early as 1984, a good three decades ago, and was one of the standalone Xfinity commentators on Fox/FX during their original six-season NASCAR television contract. Some things like Waltrip's famous "boogity boogity boogity" would be gone, and NASCAR on Fox wouldn't be the same as it once was. But maybe this is all speculation and Waltrip could be staying after all.

#17 Roush Cup team penalized

The #17 Sprint Cup team of Roush Fenway Racing has been penalized for rules infractions discovered following last Sunday's race at Homestead. It was a P3-level penalty that involved the confiscation of an unapproved rear suspension. While driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. managed to avoid a 50-point penalty, his crew chief Mike Kelley has been fined $50,000 and is on probation from January 1 through June 30, including every Cup race from the Daytona Speedweeks events in February to just after the series' first of two annual road course trips in Sonoma, California on June 28. Car chief Patrick Magee is also on probation during the same period.


The Roush penalties are part of a number of middle to upper-level penalties handed out by NASCAR in the organization's top series in 2014. These have also included a P5-level penalty given to the #11 team at Joe Gibbs Racing resulting in the suspension of Denny Hamlin's crew chief Wesley Sherrill, who along with Hamlin, fellow JGR driver Matt Kenseth and other crew members were later involved in two separate scuffles with Team Penske's Brad Keselowski following the Chase race at Charlotte in October, as well as penalties given to the #5 and #24 teams at Hendrick Motorsports for another incident with Keselowski, this time with #24 driver Jeff Gordon. The #5's crew chief Kenny Francis was notably put on probation and has since been moved to another position at Hendrick, putting an end to his professional relationship with driver Kasey Kahne.