Well… That was a pretty good hire… Don’t ya think?
Pretty much a no-brainer, really. He did win races last year including the Daytona 500. He did make the “Chase” last year…
So the jump to the #20 was a good one for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Not bad for Matt Kenseth, either. Even after talk of getting used to a new car, new team, new suit, new sponsors… All that “new” and Kenseth still pops to the top to win the third race of the season at Las Vegas. (more…)
Was it a plan to begin with or simply a result of experience on racing?
Yes… Jeff Gordon overtook Danica Patrick on lap one of the Daytona 500 to lead it for the opening laps. Patrick seemed all too happy to ride along in the 2 spot between Gordon and Kyle Busch.
That was the start of the Great American Race as they turned those opening laps over an obvious light spot on the front stretch. That spot was the remnant of an airborne blender from the Nationwide Series race the day before. That incident was on everyone’s mind all morning long not because of the track damage so much as race fans were involved and injured. Drivers spin and crash as almost a matter of course but fans involved casts a shadow over it all…
In-race reports kept updates on those fans which still listed a few in the hospital but recovering well. (more…)
Saturday at Daytona the NASCAR Nationwide Series went green with the season opener DRIVE4COPD 300. A bunch of Cup drivers were in the field and a few went into the field…
Among the “Cups” that had their Nationwide day shortened early were Danica Patrick, Trevor Bayne and Kurt Busch.
However, the very real nature of the race, the day and the sport came in the run to the checkered flag. It started with an “out of the couch” moment at 5 laps to go wrecking the field and red lighting the rest.
The win under the sun and Florida heat went to Tony Stewart after a restart on the outside, getting taken over and chasing down inside the top 4 on a run to the finish. Regan Smith and Brad Keselowski touched and went loose out of the final turn and bunched up a melee of torn metal and battered fencing. The front of Kyle Larson’s #32 Chevy was left in the wall and fencing after going airborne in the mix, sending a wheel and brake assembly into the stands.
Stewart, in post race interviews, showed an almost complete disinterest in the win while almost tearful in concern for fans and other drivers. Other drivers showed real concern for fans as well through post race discussions. (more…)
Wow.
Is it a surprise that Danica Patrick rolls out on top of the grid for the Daytona 500? Perhaps… But her position as the pole sitter says something about her adaptation to the sport despite her general lack of experience compared to many veterans who drove laps behind her. However, it was just a year ago she was on the pole for the Nationwide Series opener at Daytona. How many times has a Nationwide Daytona pole winner come back in a Sprint Cup series car to win the pole the very next year?
The real surprise is the unwelcome response from too many “NASCAR” fans about Patrick and her mere presence inside a Sprint Cup car. What is it that makes some of these “fans” so adamant in their dislike? Is it that she is a woman? Is that really the only reason? Are they really that narrow? She is certainly not the first woman to get behind the wheel… (more…)
Martinsville. It can be a turn to turn slug-fest or a lap by lap run down trading positions. The classic scenario mixes the two for moves through the field and pushing the way to the front.
This weekend we got a bit of the classic Martinsville. Twenty-two lead changes, plenty of clashing bumpers with some spins and wall-hangers to an “anyone could take it” 20 lap final.
This was the Chase from Martinsville as the track celebrated 65 years of racing with Hall Of Famers, a showing of historic memorabilia at a local museum, a points grab on the line and a return to his car by one of the top stars of NASCAR.
If that wasn’t enough to make a full day throw in a constant threat of hurricane Sandy off the eastern coast and another front pumping through from the west. As the race ran through scheduled 500 laps it was raining 80 miles west and 100 miles east. Martinsville sat between the weather for racing but 15 minutes after the checkered flag the temperatures began to plummet and the wind was kicking it.
Martinsville fans are used to dealing with a little weird weather but this may have pushed it up a notch. (more…)
They waited until the white flag. It was as if someone said “last chance to smack it all silly!”
There were some close calls earlier in the race at Talladega. A touch, a spin, a slide up the track or down to the infield but somehow most checked or got by…
Until the last lap.
The racing had gotten hot. Gordon had made a run up. Earnhardt, Jr. had a run. Johnson was there at some point. Kahne started on pole and ran with it. Kenseth was there at the end but it looked like Stewart could make a run and go.
It was Tony Stewart, he had gone up the track a bit and was coming back towards the inside on the white flag lap. It was a green-white-checkered run following a touch-up with Jamie McMurray being tagged by Harvick.
Stewart, on a dive back to the inside, did not catch the speed that Michael Waltrip had worked up. The left rear of the #14 tagged the right front of the #55… (more…)
Rain… It is as necesary as air…
However, on race day for NASCAR Sprint Cup, it is as unwelcome as a Bud hat in a Miller campsite…
The entire season blew the storm of the Chase into Richmond with wildcards and points on the line. That storm was put off as another storm blew in and kept the race in the garage for almost two hours. NASCAR and RIR staff kept things tight as the rain moved out. After all, the plan was to run under the lights. The weather was watched and the decision was held. Jet dryers and utility vehicles did a number on the track to dry it out but even then they ran the first few laps under caution.
Finally they went green on a green track with any rubber from qualifying and the Nationwide race the day before thrown to the inner wall. The crowd braved the rain to watch Jeff Gordon blow by pole sitter Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Dale, Jr. to regain the lead shortly after. (more…)