An 81 race winless streak snapped at PIR

Kasey Kahne is a winner in the Cup Series again, snapping a career long 81 race winless streak this weekend at PIR. Kasey, who failed to make the Chase this season, has been on fire during these final races, firing off finishes of 12^th, 15^th, 4^th, 2^nd, 4^th, 25^th, 3^rd, and his first win since 2009. Kasey’s finish of 25^th was his worse finish since September, when he was wrecked out of the Richmond race, finishing 38^th.

Title contenders Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart finished right behind him in second and third respectively. Coming into the race at Phoenix, Carl Edwards had a three point lead over Tony Stewart. Coming out, Carl has a three point lead over Tony. Carl and Tony were the only ones mathematically still in it to win the championship, meaning Jimmie Johnson wasn’t going to win his 6^th straight championship.

Kahne, who is making the jump to Hendrick Motorsports, has one race left with Red Bull Racing, Homestead-Miami. After a not so good regular season, Kasey surged in the Chase. Going into the last race of the season, Kasey Kahne has earned the third-most points behind Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart and has an average finish of about 7^th.

Kahne Nation came into full force after the race. Watching Kasey win that race on Sunday had to be one of the best feelings to have as a Kasey Kahne fan.

But Sunday wasn’t just about Kasey Kahne’s win. One of the biggest stories coming out of Phoenix is that Jimmie Johnson will NOT win a 6^th consecutive championship. Everyone has been eliminated from the Chase except for Carl and Tony. Vickernism came back when Brian Vickers wrecked Matt Kenseth. They go back to Martinsville when Vickers’ car became a demo car after a demolition derby. He had a few run-ins with Matt Kenseth, basically taking Matt out of the championship hunt. Vickers’ 2012 future is still unknown since Red Bull Racing is closing its doors after 4 full seasons in the Cup series. Cole Whitt made his Cup debut with RBR, finishing 25^th.

Who has the most momentum going into the final race in the Chase? Carl Edwards? Tony Stewart? Kasey Kahne? How will Homestead fair for the drivers? How will this race impact the championship? How will the other racers race the final two Chase drivers? Will Tony Stewart wreck Carl Edwards if he had the chance? Will Carl do the same? You’re just going to have to watch to find out.

Silly season keeps getting sillier

Everyone knows that this time of the season is where contracts gets signed, drivers move to different teams, and drivers just lose their rides. When you thought nothing could top last year’s big silly season story (Kasey Kahne signing a contract with Hendrick Motorsports), we get plenty this season. The biggest free agent was Carl Edwards. He didn’t know if he wanted to stay with current team Roush Fenway Racing or move to a different team. Joe Gibbs Racing was seeking interest with Edwards, even a rumor came about that Carl was going to take over the 20 car, moving Joey Logano to a fourth car. Eventually, Carl re-signed with Roush.

So, the biggest free agent after that was Clint Bowyer. Clint bowyer started his Cup career with Richard Childress Racing after Clint got a phone call from Childress at the body shop where he worked back in Emporia Kansas. Earlier this season, Clint had said that he wanted to finish his career with RCR. But, that all change when it was announced that Clint was leaving RCR and going to MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing).

Okay, so that takes care of 2 drivers. What about the rest?

Let’s talk about Mark Martin. Currently driving for Hendrick Motorsports, Mark’s future in the sport looked cloudy. Kasey Kahne is taking over the 5 car in 2012, leaving Mark out of a ride. What is he going to do? Was he going to go back to where everything started, the Nationwide series? Everything seemed to be falling apart for Mark, until…this. This weekend, it was announced that Mark Martin was going to be the driver of the 00 car for MWR for a limited schedule. 25 races over the next two seasons to be exact. But, wait? Doesn’t David Reutimann drive the 00 car?

Not anymore. It was also announced that David Reutimann would not return to MWR after the 2011 season. Now Reutimann is out of a ride.

Silly season is a way for owners to look for new talent and for drivers to look at new opportunities. Some drivers don’t get as lucky as other drivers. The only thing a ride-less driver to do is find a ride.

IZOD Indy Car Series loses one of their own, Dan Wheldon

Not much good can be said about what has happened in Las Vegas today. Dan Wheldon, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, died after suffering major injuries in a crash 13 laps into the last race of the 2011 season. Two drivers were going for the Championship, Dario Franchitti and Will Power; Danica Patrick was saying farewell to the sport, Dan Wheldon was going for the $5 Million, and 34 drivers going for a trophy.

Wheldon, a two-time Indy 500 winner, had gone into the catch fence head first. His and 14 other cars, Will Power’s including, were mangled on the back stretch. Crews scrambled to get the drivers out of their cars and the cars off the track. Cars were airborne, on fire, losing parts and pieces. The wreck took out almost half the field. Four of the 15 drivers involved in the wreck were transported to the local hospital: Pippa Mann, JR Hildebrand (JR lost the Indy 500 to Wheldon after crashing coming to the checkered flag), Will Power (He had gone later after complaining about lower back pain), and Wheldon, who was airlifted by helicopter.

Dario Franchitti clinched the championship, but no one was in the mood to celebrate. One of their own’s future was unknown at that point. Everything was uncertain. The uncertain condition of Wheldon. The uncertain condition of the race. What was going to happen to the rest of the race?

About two hours after the wreck, officials went into the Media Center to announce that Dan Wheldon had passed away at the hospital. This new rocked the social media world. Just like that, Wheldon was gone. Officials cancelled the rest of the race. The drivers decided to give Wheldon a 5-lap tribute. (here’s the video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2PMUNsuZWA)

Today was a sad day for only the Indy Car Series, but for the whole racing world in general.

Here’s what the fans had to say about Dan Wheldon:

Steph Piech first Indy Car driver i ever rooted for when i first started watching the series a few years ago! He seemed like a great guy... smile on his face... down-to-earth. it just seems like a dream :-/ i wish this was just some cruel joke and that he'd be racin' next year... :'-(

Larry Spencer III Hell of a driver, a class act

KristenKahne4 He inspired me. I cannot believe this is how it ended. It isn't supposed to go like that

kchamber2121 Dan Wheldon was an amazing race car driver and I had chills when he won the Indy 500. a truly wonderful driver and person

babbzabbz I keep thinking...what if that had been Johnson last night. :( So saddening.

nascarsweetie99 I didn't watch Indy races a lot. But I will always remember his smile and joy. He truly appreciated all that he had.

Courtnieebaby24 He will always be a champion. His family especially his two sons gained a guardian angel today <3 <3

cmmack426 he was a great guy, saw him win at Indy and no one booed, he was a loving father and husband and he will be missed

LeBron James: R.I.P to Indy Car Driver Dan Wheldon! Dies In 15-Car Crash At Las Vegas Race #tragedy. You'll be missed from Sports

Jerry Rice: My condolences goes out to the family of Dan Wheldon.

Reba McEntire: My heart and prayers go out to Dan Wheldon's family and everyone in the racing community. My heart hurts.

Kurt Warner: My heart & prayers go out 2 family & friends of Dan Wheldon who was killed 2day in a LV crash! That God b with u during this difficult time!

God may have taken you from us early, but you will always be in our Hearts, Dan Wheldon. You will be missed. As a final farewell, I will leave you with the words of Marty Reid.

'Many people ask me why I always sign off Till We Meet Again, because goodbye is always so final. Goodbye Dan Wheldon.'

What a Difference a Year Makes: Spotlight on Ricky Stenhouse Jr

What can I say about Ricky Stenhouse Jr. that hasn’t been said already? From being so close to losing his ride in his rookie year to being the series points leader with 10 races to go his sophomore year is incredible. Ricky’s whole career did a complete 180 when Ricky came back to racing in July of 2010 when he finished 3^rd. Ricky went on to win the Rookie of the year honors by a slim margin over Brian Scott. This year, Ricky is leading the points standings by a slim 5 points over former Cup driver Elliott Sadler.

Ricky went into Iowa back in May winless and ready to get that off his back. That’s exactly what he did. Ricky led the most laps and beat his teammate, Carl Edwards, to win his first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory. Ricky led the most laps at LOR, only to be passed on one of the final restarts by winner Brad Keselowski and runner-up James Buescher to finish third.

Ricky would have redemption the follow weekend and the track he scored his first career victory a few months before. Ricky beat Carl again, but this time just a little differently. Here’s the finish:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tonqUmFDcDA

Ricky’s been in a tight points battle with Elliott Sadler and Reed Sorenson for most of the season. Out of the three, Rick has the most victories with 2, Reed Sorenson has a victory, and Elliott Sadler is the only one of the three with no victories.

Let’s compare 2010 to 2011:

Ricky finished the 2010 season with 3 top 5’s, 8 top 10’s and 5 DNFs. 2010 was a roller coaster of a season, being benched after wrecking a few racecars. Ricky used this time to really put his career in perspective. Ricky came back to the series and scored a top 5, finishing third. After that, Ricky caught and passed Brian Scott for the Rookie of the Year honors. He had an average start of 14.2 and an average finish of 19.4.

In 2011, Ricky has excelled and now is just 10 races away from possibly his first NASCAR championship. So far, after 25 of 35 races, Ricky has two wins, 3 poles, 10 top 5’s, 17 top 10’s and had completed almost 99% of the laps this season. He has an average start of 7.5 and an average finish of 10.2. Such a MAJOR improvement from a year before.

Here’s what I think about Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ricky is a talented driver. Can he drive a racecar? Of course he can, better than a lot of the guys he’s racing again. Can he win the championship this year? I think so. Ricky has prove to all the haters and skeptics that he can pull himself out of that hole he dug himself into last year. Ricky can run with the best. I am 100% sure that Ricky Stenhouse Jr. can win the championship and be good Cup drive in the near future. I can say that a year ago, I wasn’t a big fan of Ricky. Look at what a year does. I am on the Stenhouse Jr. fan train I don’t think this girl will be getting off anytime soon.

David Ragan finally a Sprint cup winner

Last night, David Ragan redeemed himself for his mistake that cost him the Daytona 500 in February. Last night, we saw the two-car drafting again. It proved to be helpful and hurtful. Both Trevor Bayne and points leader Carl Edwards were two of the drivers who fell victim of the tow-car draft. Bayne suffered the most after contact with drafting partner Brad Keselowski, sending Bayne into the outside wall after further contact with the 33 car of Clint Bowyer, who crashed on the last lap. Carl Edwards had gotten spun out by teammate Greg Biffle, getting enough damage to take out the crush panel.

For people who don’t know, the crush panel is on the car to prevent the exhaust from the car to go inside the car. Without the crush panel, your whole car will fill up with carbon monoxide. Most cars have blowers which blow cool air into their helmets. Those blowers have carbon monoxide filters. Carl Edwards didn’t have a blower in his car. Without that blower, Carl potentially put his health in danger while driving the racecar.

Most of the race was pretty uneventful. We saw a lot of lead changes and two-car drafts, seeing Ryan Newman up front the most. When you look at the two-car drafting teams, you saw the obvious team-ups like: Kahne and Vickers, Ragan and Kenseth, Logano and Kyle Busch, Harvick and Menard, Bowyer and Burton; and then we saw some not so obvious team-ups: Hamlin and Newman, Stewart and Gilliland, Keselowski and Biffle (both lost their drafting partners early), Kurt Busch and Smith. In the final laps, both Joey Logano and Kasey Kahne had lost their drafting partners, so what did they do? They teamed up together. They did fairly well considering that they finished 3^rd and 4^th, respectively, with Kahne pushing Logano to the finish.

Some people still don’t like the two-car draft. I think it makes for more exciting racing instead of all 43 cars under a blanket. Two-car drafting allows you to make up time on the track fast. Look at Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon. With about ten laps to go, they were deep in the field. A handful of laps later, they were both in the top-ten, fighting to get the lead. They both crashed out though. See? Exciting racing!

David Ragan was there from the drop of the green flag to the checkered. He raced like a veteran and he won, with the help of teammate, 2003 NASCAR Cup champion Matt Kenseth. Matt pushed him to the victory, just like David would have done for Matt if the roles were reversed and in the Nationwide race the night before, Joey Logano getting the push from teammate Kyle Busch.

David has had so much heartbreak and he has struggled the last few years, but with this win, I think David saved his job. UPS is in a contract year and if David doesn’t perform, UPS may not come back. I think this win will help propel David farther and help keep UPS on board for a few more years. With his win, David is squarely in the top 20 in points and has the second wild card spot for the chase.

Congratulations David! You earned it!

Who will break their winless streak first?

Running out of gas in a green-white-checkered while leading. Running out of gas 500 feet from your first checkered flag in over 100 races. Everyone hates having a winless streak. Several drivers have them. Some drivers haven’t won in years, and some haven’t won at all. Some of the more notable drivers in that winless streak group are fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne, Jeff Burton, and Martin Truex Jr.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who drives the Number 88 National Guard Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports, has been winless since 2008 when he won a single race in that season at Michigan in June. The next two seasons were not stellar for the 36-year-old. 2011 has been a big turn-around for the driver. Sitting fourth in points, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been there to contend for wins.

Kasey Kahne, who drives the number 4 Red Bull Toyota for Red Bull Racing, has been winless since 2009 when won twice in the Cup series, the most recent coming at Atlanta in September. The 2010 season wasn’t a great one, despite a streak of 3 out of 4 races with a top 5 in the summer months. He finished his worst in the points standings last season, 20^th. Kasey signed with Hendrick Motorsports for the 2012 season, leaving 2011 undetermined. 2011 has been a sort of slow start for Kahne, though he’s had some almost wins.

Jeff Burton, the driver of the Number 31 CATERPILLER Chevy for Richard Childress Racing, has been winless since 2008, winning the Bank of America 500. With the success of his teammates, Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick and his new teammate Paul Menard, Jeff has been trying to keep up to par with the likes of them, but 2011 has been liking Burton this year.

Martin Truex Jr., the driver of the 56 Napa Know How Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, has been winless since 2007 when he won at what he considers his home track, Dover, which propelled him to his first and only chase seed. For the 2010 season, Martin made the move to Michael Waltrip Racing. In 2011, Martin has had some bad luck, wrecking at Martinsville, Texas; had pit problems several times, even fired his whole crew during a race.

The big question right now, with 13 races to go before the chase, is when are these four drivers going to break their winless streak, if at all. After 116 votes from my Facebook fan page, 62 people voted that Dale Earnhardt Jr. would go to Victory Lane before the others. 46 people said that Kasey Kahne would. Only one said Martin Truex Jr., and seven said Jeff Burton.

I picked Kasey Kahne. Why you may ask? It’s not because I’m a huge fan of his. It’s because there are so many tracks that are coming up that Kasey is really good at and has won at. Kasey has won at Pocono (where they are running this weekend), he’s won at Michigan (next week’s track), Sonoma, Atlanta, Richmond, Charlotte. There are some tracks that Kasey’s not very good at, but he always makes it up by running good at another track.

Whether you’re a Kasey Kahne fan or a Kyle Busch fan, you hate seeing your driver in a winless slump. It happens and there’s nothing you can really do about it. If the driver is good enough, that winless steak will end and a winning streak will start.

Is 2011 the year for the first-time winners?

The two biggest races in the Sprint Cup series were won by drivers that had never won a Cup race before. Is 2011 the year for the first-time winners?

Trevor Bayne, in his second cup start, won the Daytona 500 in the famed Wood Brothers 21, who up until then, hadn’t won a race in 10 years. You could consider Trevor Bayne is a rookie sensation, but after that win, his season hasn’t been stellar. If you look at the Nationwide Series, Trevor was surging until a mystery illness sideline the surprise 500 winner for six weeks. He is in his first race since April right now as I write this.

Regan Smith, who would have won a race back in 2008 if it weren’t for the double-yellow line, won the Southern 500 at Darlington. The race was dominated by Red Bull Racing’s Kasey Kahne. Smith, who drives for Furniture Row Racing, the only Cup team that isn’t based in North Carolina, but in Denver, Colorado, was at the right place at the right time to win the race.

If you even look at the Nationwide series, 2010 Nationwide Series Rookie of the year Ricky Stenhouse Jr., got his first win at Iowa.

If you look at all of these first time winners this year, there is something similar about them. It’s not the team the won for. It’s not the age of the drivers. It’s the driver who finished 2^nd to them. That guy? Carl Edwards. The Sprint Cup Series points leader.

On to what this blog is really about. Who will be the nest winner in the Cup series? Instead of doing the way I usually do to ask questions, I used one of the newest things on Facebook. I asked a question. I only had three options. David Ragan, Marcos Ambrose, and AJ Allmendinger. The results were tremendous. After 78 answers, the results were in. With a whopping 48 votes, David Ragan is pretty much everyone’s picks to be the next first-time winner.

A regular in the Cup series since 2007, David Ragan has had a roller coaster of a career. His sophomore season was a stellar one, finishing 13^th in points, being the high non-chaser in the final points. The next two seasons, however, weren’t as good. 2011 is a make-or-break year for the Unadilla Georgia native. This year, David earned his first career pole at Texas, a race that his teammate won, and earned his best career finish of second last week at Charlotte. Everyone has been saying ‘When will David Ragan break into Victory Lane?’ Here’s what some people said on why they picked David Ragan:

Cindy Huffaker

David Ragan...so much better this year....he's shown he's more than ready to be in VL

Steph Piech David has more experience in a stock car and I feel that he's got a stronger team and better equipment!

Gina Marie Navarra well since Roush Fenway is doing really good right now, why not Ragan? :)

Devin Bachman ragan mis i am picking ford kiss ass there and he win there would be sweet for jack there rouch racings rules there

Matt Kacar I chose Ragan because he has been fast all year long and he’s coming close to winning finishing second in last night race

Coming in second with 18 votes, Australian Marcos Ambrose has had his ups and downs as well. His first full season in the cup series was 2009. He’s been very competitive since then. In 2009, Marcos Ambrose finished 3^rd at Sonoma and 2^nd at Watkins Glen, road courses which are considered his best track. In 2010, after Kasey Kahne announced his departure from Richard Petty Motorsports, Marcos was named the driver for the 9 car. In the 2011, Marcos has been a factor at the end of most, if not all, of the races this season. Here’s what some people said about Ambrose:

Ashley Marie Shafer I picked Marcos Ambrose cuz I think he is doing great and I see him getting his 1st win when they go to a road course!! =) (If he doesn't screw up again like last year)
Melissa Goodwin I think that he is going to win this year at Sonoma

Eric Carlson I think if Hamlin doesn't win at Infineon, then it will be Marcos Ambrose that wins there. As long as he doesn't do what he did last year when he shut the engine off and could not get it restarted because he was on the hill and Jimmie Johnson passed him and won

The last driver in the poll was AJ Allmendinger with 12 votes. Starting his career with a generally new team, Red Bull Racing, Allmendinger’s start to his career wasn’t a very good one. After being dropped by Red Bull Racing, Allmendinger bounced around race teams until being picked up by Richard Petty Motorsports for the 2010 season. Now in 2011, AJ, like his teammate, has been running very well. (I would attach things people said about Allmendinger, but no one posted anything)

Will the poll hold true? Will David Ragan be the next first-time winner? Where will he get his first win? Only time will tell if anyone or all of these drivers get their first win in the Cup Series.

Talladega Nights: the two-car draft

With a new racing surface down in Florida, Daytona has now become just like Talladega. What we saw in February at Daytona, we saw in April at Talladega. Gone are the 30-pack cars fighting for the win, in it’s place is the Two-car draft. It’s new. It’s different. It’s…something we fans and the drivers haven’t seen before. Sure, it’s still bump-drafting 101, but it’s different than that. Instead of bump drafting in the straight-aways, the drivers bump-draft all around the track. That could get dangerous. Bump drafting leads to wrecks, spins, flips, cars that go airborne, etc… Anything that can go wrong, could go wrong. You never quite now what to expect when you go plate-racing. When the Cup series goes to Daytona and Talladega, you’re always wondering what’s going to happen. Are we going to see wreck fests? Are we going to see a 30 car train for 50 laps? You never know what’s going to happen. In February, we saw a surprise winner in Trevor Bayne. Two weeks ago, we saw the closest finish in NASCAR history, tying the record holder from 2003 at Darlington Raceway, Ricky Craven beating out Kurt Busch by .002 of a second. This time is was Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson beating Richard Childress Racing’s Clint Bowyer.

Like I always do, I take a subject that has everyone talking through out the whole weekend and I take it to the internet. This time, I asked what people thought about the two-car draft and here’s what some said:

Matt_Kacar I am not a fan of the Noah's Ark racing but it does produce great finishes at plate tracks

Speedys_Sweet82 the two-car draft is a great way for drivers to interact with non-teammates, yet it also can be dangerous if the drivers who are "dancing" don’t know what their partner is doing. Gotta be perfectly smooth in order to win or get a top 10 :)

jester_3 I like it, just sick of yellow line rules.

britt4875: hmm I don't really know what I think of them.. but I do think it gives great endings and restarts

denver2u ...It's makes for some really good finishes, but if you’re stuck with a slow car or no car to partner with ur screwed. Not good Or you're buddy gets into wreck..( KK n BV)..then who do u buddy up with? Just not my style of racing, but we are stuck

Joe Fisher I like it gonna take a while to get used to

Theresa Robinson LOVE IT!!

Evan Snider I like it. It keeps you on the edge of your seat for the entire race. You never know what's going to happen and it creates some great finishes.

Tyler Gray MUCH better than watching them run in a 30 car train around the top for half the race. I hope it will catch on, I think a lot of people are just having a tough time getting use to the change because you can't argue with the stats like lead c...hanges, passes, and of course the photo finishes that have occurred in almost every race since they started the 2 car drafting. As for the radio debate, I don't have any problems with it. It's pretty much necessary when you race like that and it can create some entertaining sound bites.

Scott Youngers I did not get to watch the race today. But I did get to listen to it on Sirius NASCAR Radio. I like the 2 car draft. I also liked the ability to listen in to the radio communications and hear the talking. I agree with Tyler that it is necessary for safety reasons.

11in11Embracer I'm still confused if I like it or not. I mean, we had 8 people fighting for the win at Dega, and a first time sprint cup winner and Daytona 500 champion, Trevor Bayne. In other ways though, I kinda miss the big packs. I miss seeing someone bump their way through the middle and get the win. So I will probably be undecided for a while.

For the drivers, it’s like riding a roller coaster for how many odd laps, not knowing when it will end. For some, it ends sooner than they think. For some, it takes them for a wild ride through the grass, through the air, anywhere. And for the those lucky few that make it through without any trouble, it’s very rewarding. When you go plate racing, expect the unexpected, because you never know which track is going to show up on race day.

History in the making: Jimmie Johnson

I want everyone to close their eyes and try to imagine the following scenario. You are in a tight three-way battle for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship with two very good drivers. You closed on the points leader at Phoenix and now you had your sights on that championship everyone thought wasn’t yours. You raced a great race at Homestead-Miami, keeping your two competitors behind you most of the race. You cross the finish line 2^nd in the race and first in the point standings, being the only driver to the win the championship after being second when the race started. You just made history by winning a fifth consecutive championship. Now open your eyes. Who did you see in the scenario? You? Or the driver who actually did this last season? Yes, I’m talking about the driver of the number 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, Jimmie Johnson; 5-time; Superman; what ever you want to call him. No one, and I mean NO ONE, can say they won 5 consecutive championships. Love him or hate him, you can not deny that Jimmie Johnson has to be one of the greatest drivers of our generation.

Though missing Rookie of the Year honors in 2002, Jimmie Johnson didn’t let that slow him down. He is the only driver to qualify every year for the Chase. In 2006, his 5^th season in the Cup series, Jimmie Johnson captured his first Cup championship, beating Matt Kenseth. In 2007, Jimmie Johnson outran his teammate and owner of his car*, Jeff Gordon for his second championship. In 2008, Jimmie matched the only driver to win 3 consecutive championships, Cale Yarbrough, by beating Carl Edwards, despite Carl winning the season finale race at Homestead. At this point, was anyone thinking he could do it again in 2009? I sure didn’t. But, in 2009, Jimmie Johnson won a record 4^th consecutive championship, beating his teammate Mark Martin. All of these championships, Jimmie was leading the points going into the final race. The 2010 season was totally different for Jimmie. Jimmie didn’t run away with the Chase. Though he did lead the points standings during the chase, Denny Hamlin led most of the Chase. After a miscue with Mike Ford at Phoenix and an early spin at Homestead, Jimmie Johnson just drove right through that door Denny Hamlin left wide open.

What makes Jimmie Johnson, well, Jimmie Johnson? Is it running for Hendrick Motorsports? Is it the 5 championship trophies? Is it his willingness to contend for the win every weekend? Between 2002 and 2011, Johnson has recorded 53 wins, 137 top-fives 206 top-tens, and 25 pole positions. That is quite a feat considering he’s only had 333 starts in the Cup series. Jimmie has spent about 62% in the top ten, 41% in the top 5, and 15% in Victory Lane. Get this. In 333 starts, Jimmie Johnson’s average FINISH is 11.7. He finished 11^th yesterday at Martinsville. He has NEVER been any lower than 6^th in the final point standings since 2002.

Every so often, I take a question to twitter to see what people think. Most of the time it’s about something that happened in the race. This time, it’s to talk about the 5-time champ Jimmie Johnson. I asked what everybody thought of him. 99% of responses from twitter and my Facebook fan page were…positive. You’d think more people, when given the chance, would say bad things. I was surprised that people didn’t take that chance. Here’s what some people said about the 5-time champ.

@jennyslaunwhite: Jimmie is a cool driver and he wins the clean way and seems good with his fans

@speeds_promdate: he’s a great driver. Has a ton of ability Always walks away with a positive attitude. No matter how bad a finish, he’s up beat

@denver2u: I think JJ is a very polite, down to earth kinda guy, who just happens to win! He’s been really cool to have on twitter and he’s funny, has a good attitude, is having fun an diaper duty. Oh yeah, he’s got talent as a driver. I like JJ

@britt4875: I guess I like him more of a person outside of racing (there was more to this, but I don’t think I should put it in)

11in11Embracer: I think he’s a good guy. I think he deserves the credit for winning 5 in a row, even though he beat [Denny] (again, there was more to this, but I only got a portion)

@nascarchick_3: he’s a good driver, just after winning 5 championships, I feel it’s time for someone else to win one

@KK_KFfan4: I think Jimmie is a great driver and he is funny. Not Vanilla

@Nascartalk10: Jimmie is an awesome guy, just wish he would let someone else have a chance at the cup trophy for once

From not being ‘vanilla’ to being an awesome guy, Jimmie Johnson is that kind of guy that people like as a person, not as a driver. Who can blame them, really? The guy is ‘Winning’ A LOT! 5 championships, 53 wins in 333 starts (and counting, I might add). He’s at the top of the sport! For the past few weeks, Jimmie Johnson started using twitter and has become quite popular (not as popular as Danica Patrick or the Daytona 500 winner, Trevor Bayne). Jimmie does what quite a few celebrities don’t do on twitter. He interacts with his fans. He tweets his fan when they tweet him. I actually have had the 5-time champ tweet me this past week, nothing too big. Follow him at http://www.twitter.com/JimmieJohnson. I’m sure if you just tweet him, you could get a tweet back.

*The first car Jimmie Johnson ever drove in the Cup series was an old Jeff Gordon car. Ever since then, Jeff Gordon has been listed as the owner of Jimmie Johnson's car.

Taking Dale Earnhardt to discussion for the next blog! Stay tuned!

Follow me on twitter!

http://www.twitter.com/HurriKahne4

Danica Patrick and Ryan Truex dust-up, who’s at fault?

Bristol is known for getting drivers wicked loose and making them wreck. It’s known for bringing out tempers. Saturday was no exception. Coming off her best finish in the series, Danica Patrick was just looking to finish her first race at Bristol ever. It look like she was going to finish when it happened. She was running rookie Ryan Truex down when he got a tad loose and got into the side of her #7 Go Daddy Chevrolet. That tiny amount of contact got Patrick loose, bringing her back up onto the race track, making her hit the wall, ending her day. Here’s where it got a at complicated. Under caution, Danica saw Truex coming. You would think she would pull her helmet off and chuck it at Truex’s car, right? She didn’t. This is what she did. ‘Patrick walked toward Truex’s car as it circled the track under the caution and held up her arms.’

“I felt like I got a run down the straight and it felt like he came into my right front,” Patrick said. “I don’t know exactly what happened.”

Here’s what Ryan Truex said about the incident in an interview after the race. “I got loose, came off the wall, came down on her, my fault. I didn’t mean to do it. If she’s mad, she’s mad. There’s nothing I can do about it now. I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry. I don’t know if she thinks if I did it on purpose or she was mad that it happened.”

This wasn’t the first time in the race these two raced against each other. “He just runs hard – he’s run hard every time I’ve been around him and it seems like overkill. If your car is good you’ll go forward, if your car isn’t, you’ll go back and that’s just a lot of NASCAR.” Patrick said. I have something to say about this statement of hers. Running hard in NASCAR is what you do. If you can’t handle other drivers running hard around you, you don’t belong in the sport.

Ryan admits that he made a mistake. “We were fighting loose through the center and off [the corner] the whole day,” Truex said. “It was really hard to drive on long runs and I was just trying to hold on to it for another pit stop so we can work on it. I was just real free off the corner, and we came off there side-by-side, and I got kicked out sideways. I just had to bring it down to keep it off the wall and she was down there. I hate it for her. She was probably having a good run.” For being the age he is, Ryan showed a lot of maturity after the race during his interview. He didn’t get mad that Danica was pissed off at him. He just simply took the blame and apologized. That takes true maturity.

I still wasn’t quite satisfied with what the two drivers had to say, so I took it to twitter. Yes, the magical powers of twitter! Here’s what that fans had to say:

RowdyKaren421: I didn’t get to watch the race but I saw the video on NASCAR.com and Ryan did nothing wrong

KK_KFfan4: it was Bristol an Danica needs to stay in Indy car

Speeds_promdate: I think Truex was just racing hard and good Danica needs to realize that’s how you race in NASCAR, hard and aggressive

TLaut23: my opinion on Patrick and Truex. Danica needs to realize that sometimes she’s at fault. Truex got a little loose, but for the most part it’s Bristol Baby. Bristol is a track for the strong not for the weak. Today Danica showed her weakness in her emotions

Doug Stump (Facebook): I think it was just a racing accident, that is the it goes a lot of times specially at Bristol

Selina Robison Pennington (Facebook): it’s nobody’s fault, it’s racing at Bristol

Katie_2835: I think Danica Patrick needs to get used to this style of racing. Don’t complain about guys racing you hard. This is how they race

Tyler Gray (Facebook): it is Ryan’s fault because he got loose and came down just enough and Danica happened to be there. That said it’s not like he meant to do it or anything like that, just close racing at Bristol

AngieLuvsMusic: I don’t think Ryan did anything wrong. He got loose and she was there

Everyone makes a very valid point when talking about the incident between Danica Patrick and Ryan Truex. Here’s what I have to say. They are BOTH at fault. No matter how you look at it, they are both at fault. Ryan got loose. Yes, we all know that. Danica was a tad too close to Ryan when he did. But, that’s what happens at Bristol. Drivers get too close to each other. That’s who they wreck. I’m not saying that the wreck was intentional because it clearly wasn’t. Danica may have gotten the worst end of it, but it’s both of their faults. I’m not a fan of Danica’s, but I’m not going to blame her for all of it because of that. I’m a big fan of Ryan’s, but I’m not going to sit here and say that he didn’t do anything wrong. I am simply stating facts and my own opinion here.

All quotes came from here: http://www.scenedaily.com/news/articles/nationwideseries/Danica_Patricks_Bristol_debut_ends_with_a_crash_Ryan_Truex_takes_blame.html

　

Is it time for a Kasey Kahne comeback?

After watching Kasey Kahne dominate the Truck race at Darlington Raceway this last Saturday night, something crossed my mind. Is it time for a Kasey Kahne comeback? Are we going to see the Kasey Kahne we saw back in 2006 when Richard Petty Motorsports was simply Evernham Motorsports? Did this truck win light a fire in Kahne’s belly, signaling it was time to start a new? When you really think about it, Kahne’s ‘bad luck’ all started in 2007, when Ray Evernham decided to sell a portion of his race team. Maybe all of this switching of team owners and makes and sponsors really got to Kasey’s head these past few years. Kasey’s 2010 season looked promising…until his decision to not to renew his contract with RPM. And when he decided to sign with Hendrick Motorsports for 2012 (the best thing he could have done in my eyes), that’s when it got really bad if you ask me. Fast forward to a few weeks before Kahne’s early release. Brake issues and a wreck in three of the last four races before Kasey left. Go ahead. You can say that Kasey left Richard Petty Motorsports on a bad note. Everybody has said it. Kasey will be making a one-year stint at Red Bull Racing before taking his place at Hendrick in the No. 5 car. Will 2011 be a turning point for Kasey Kahne? To get a look at this, I took the topic to Facebook messaging with a panel of junior experts: Stephanie Piech, Garrett Beishiam, Ashley Schindler, Laura Anthony, and yours truly. We all come from different parts of the US, but our mutual love of NASCAR and my love for Kasey Kahne, brought us together. Here’s what we kind of came up with in our 1 hour session.

First thing to discuss: With Kasey's dominating performance on Saturday at Darlington, are we going to see a Kahne comeback? the Kahne that we saw in 2006?

Steph Piech: I actually didn't get to see much of the race from Saturday, but the part that i saw, Kasey was up front and running' pretty fast! :-) well, I’ve been a pretty big Kasey fan since '04! I think Kasey has the right equipment and the tools to definitely get the job done at Red Bull Racing. I definitely think he's making a comeback, but i don't know if he's gonna win 6 or so races like he did in '06. He'll definitely have a strong year no doubt! RPM definitely didn't give him what he needed, and it sucked having to watch that... but I’m happy that he ended up with RBR this season and it seems like he'll be consistent and running' up front like he has been so far this year!!

Garrett Beishiam: i didn’t get to see ANY of the race...just got caught up by watching a few of the videos on Nascar.com I may not be the biggest Kasey Kahne fan but the next few years will be like 2006 again. He went to RBR since he has one more year till going over to Hendrick Motorsports. Kahne will do a lot for Red Bull Racing this year and i would love to see him get at least one if not two or three wins for that team. Vickers got one a few years back at(I believe it was Michigan) and that was a big headline not just for him but for his race team. So just imagine if Kahne(one of the top followed drivers in NASCAR) got a few wins for Red Bull this year it would be a big help for both him and his team.

Samantha Rae: if you really think about it, if Kasey makes the chase and does well, it will really propel RBR even further than when Vickers made the chase in 2009. I've been a BIG Kasey Kahne fan since May 28th, 2006 (yeah, i know the date) and seeing him get screwed over by RPM time and time again, I really hope that 2011 is a start of a Kahne comeback

Steph Piech: definitely!!! i agree with both of you!! :-) i also think it would have been really cool if Kasey hadn't had signed a contract with HMS for next year because i think him and Vickers would work well together as teammates and, like you guys have said, propel the organization to what i feel it's capable of in the near future, maybe even in a couple of years! ha-ha but I’m a little biased because I’m a fan of both Vickers and Kahne! :-)

Ashley Schindler: I missed the last 25 laps of the race, but I saw the rest of it. I agree with Steph and Garrett. I think he definitely started off the 2011 season in a really good way, this season is looking good for him and RBR. I mean, even if he's not the most dominant driver all year, and he gets two or three wins this year, it will be a huge step up from last year and a confidence booster because of his unfortunate suckish season last year.

Samantha Rae: I really hate to ask the second question I got from denver2u on twitter without miss Laura, but since you guys are here, here it is:
Who is RBR going to get to fill Kasey's seat next year?

Steph Piech: hhmmmm that's a reeaaalllyyyyy good question that i don't think i have an answer too! LOL i can't think of a specific driver, but i think they'll definitely look for a driver (like Kasey and Brian) who have had some Cup experience and maybe a driver who has a similar driving style to Brian or another driver that Brian can relate too. Maybe a guy like Casey Mears... him and Brian are pretty good friends. ha-ha great question because i really have nnnoooo idea!!!

Garrett Beishiam: cant say we will have to wait till we get closer to the end of the season to see who is looking for a ride..... i cant see Elliott Sadler in Red Bull but he moved down to Nationwide after his contract expired at the end of the season in 2010. But just not seeing him in cup is strange, but he does have the potential for a cup ride again. But like i said before we will have to see who is looking for a new ride at the end of the year

Samantha Rae: We all know this. Red Bull Racing will NOT bring Scott Speed back after he sued them for breach of contract. it would be kind of stupid to do that. I like Scott Speed, i really do, but i don't think RBR should bring him back. For all we know, they may decide to bring the young Cole Whitt up to Cup, but I'm pretty sure he is definitely not ready for that. maybe someone that they used in the 83 car last year Like Casey Mears or Reed Sorenson

Steph Piech: oh yeah, Reed would also be another good replacement. He was in Cup for a few years, and unfortunately, it didn't work out with Ganassi. But Reed is still young (mid 20s) and he's definitely running' in the top 5-top 10 every week in Nationwide!

Garrett Beishiam: there are so many people that could move up, i just think it is too early to say who could possibly be the 2nd driver at red bull

Samantha Rae: Reed is leading the NNS points right now, he was doing well in cup (he's 25). if Reed could get another chance at Cup racing, I thin he will do very good.

Laura Anthony: Alright well to answer question 1: yes! A huge comeback is gonna happen. Literally Kasey is going to be a hurricane and be a chase contender and win some more. He showed so much glitz at Darlington, he has to be on cloud nine and know he can do this in his cup car. Kahne will lead with emotion and power. I tell you all this is the start to one heck of a season for Kasey As for the second question: for RBR next year. Scott speed will not return, not only because of the lawsuit but also because of the fact he really wasn’t content with RBR. they took him under their wing in F1 and he was so grateful, after all the red bull stuff, I think Scotty is ready for a new sponsor and a new ride maybe in trucks or nationwide first. I could easily see Cole Whitt or someone else take over next season for cup. They got that motivation and drive to be there.

This could have gone on for a long while, bringing in so much more. There is no real way to know if we will see Kasey Kahne from 2006 comeback to 2011. Kasey’s truck win was his first win of any kind in a POINTS race since September of 2009 when Kasey won at Atlanta in the Cup series. Is this a turning point in Kahne’s career? Will Kasey be the one to beat this year? Or even next year when he moves to Hendrick Motorsports? Only time will tell if Kasey has gotten his mojo back. Here’s a pattern for you. 2004 and 2005: missed the chase, 2006: made the chase, 2007 and 2008: missed the chase, 2009: made the chase, 2010: missed the chase. If this pattern were to continue, Kasey should miss the chase this year. I really don’t want this pattern to continue. Kasey, break the pattern and make the chase this year. That’s all the fans are asking for.

Follow us all on twitter!

Steph Piech: www.twitter.com/Nascarlova2120

Garrett Beishaim: www.twitter.com/Nascartalk10

Ashley Schlinder: www.twitter.com/nascarchick_3

Laura Anthony: www.twitter.com/Speeds_promdate

Samantha Rae: www.twitter.com/LittleMissBayne

The Bayne Wagon: www.twitter.com/TheBayneWagon

My Facebook fan page!

NASCAR Racing IS a Sport!: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/NASCAR-Racing-IS-a-sport/357711772134

Kahne gets a little ‘Rowdy’

With no Cup or Nationwide race this weekend, the Truck series had all eyes on them. They were at Darlington, The Lady in Black, the track deemed ‘Too Tough To Tame’. Can anyone tame the so-called ‘Beast’ that is Darlington Raceway? At 19 years old, Cole Whitt earned his first career Truck pole, knocking Cup driver Kasey Kahne to 2^nd. Cole would lead the first 22 laps, before being over taken by the veteran. I don’t know if you would call Kasey Kahne a veteran in the Truck series. Before last night’s race, Kasey had made only three starts: twice in 2004 and once last year at Pocono. Then again, Kasey did have two wins and a second-place finish in the series before last night. As I sit here and write this, I kinda feeling like a nerd in my new ‘glasses’.

Anyway, in the true spirit of Darlington, you gotta have some wrecks. 10 to be exact. The most notable, at least the one I remember the most, was the one that happened on the front stretch. Ricky Carmichael gets lose and spins around, hitting the wall. Here’s where it gets interesting. Johanna Long, the 18-year-old, gets a tire cut down from another truck. She come down the front stretch. Ricky is just trying to get out of everybody’s way. BAM! Johanna hits Ricky. Big old pile-up. Red flags the race because there was no room for the trucks to go around the track with out running over a piece of debris.

Can you say D-O-M-I-N-A-T-I-O-N? What else would you call Kasey Kahne’s performance last night? Leading 95 of 147 laps, staying in the top-5 ALL night. That’s what I would call it, but then again I have been a Kasey Kahne fan for almost 5 years, so I just could be impartial to the guy. This was Kasey’s second race with Kyle Busch Motorsports (and hopefully not the last! I’m talking to you Kyle!), making his average start for KBM at 1.5 and his average finish with the team the same. His average finish in the series all together is slightly better, at 1.25. Thank you Ray Dunlap for saying that. With the win, Kasey becomes the ONLY driver to win 3 races in his first 4 starts in any top series. I’d say that is pretty damn good. That brings his overall NASCAR wins (Cup, NNS, and Trucks) to 21.

As a die-hard Kasey Kahne fan, I was THRILLED that Kasey won. Ecstatic! I haven’t seen him race a race like that in years. And when he did his post-race interview, I haven’t seen him THAT happy in a long time. Seeing him that happy, made me happy. You don’t feel happy unless your driver is happy, so lately, it’s been not so good for this girl.

What did the fans think of the race?

@Speeds_promdate: outstanding. Showed that anyone was capable of defeating the Lady in Black. All the drivers really pulled their best and some got close, but some failed. As for Kahne, we won and just did an outstanding job. Great truck race

@cruetten: pretty exciting

@TLaut23: not sure I’d call it a race. Not much racing went on. Mostly just crashing :P

@Matt_Kacar: pretty good race, glad Kasey won. Showed that now only [can] Kyle Busch win in his truck

@KK_KFfan4: I loved the truck race

@AngieLuvsMusic: I was thrilled to see Kasey win, especially at the track where he got his first truck win in 2004

@denver2u: a great night for Kasey and all us true fans. He’s got talent, is underrated, but with the right equip[ment], can kick serious butt. Aren’t all us KK fans still smiling today? Absolutely…now he needs a Cup win

@18Winning: I thought it was a good race, was glad Kasey won, but a lot of the inexperienced drivers crashing slowed the flow a bit

As you can probably tell, most people thought that race was good and was glad to see Kasey Kahne in victory lane. The question is now, is this the beginning of a Kahne comeback? This will be sort of answered next time. I will be introducing a round table discussion with a few of my fellow NASCAR bloggers. Stay tuned. You won’t be disappointed.

Talent Knows No Age

Daytona 500 champion. Two-time K&N Pro Series Champion. Grandson of a 6-time Cup champion car owner. Greatest thing since sliced bread. 2010 NASCAR Nationwide series Rookie of the Year. Son of a NASCAR Cup Champion. Talent knows no age. 20. 18. 20. 20. 23. 23. Trevor Bayne, Ryan Truex, Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Steve Wallace, among others. All of these drivers have been racing for years, despite what their age says about them. Some of them are young NASCAR champions, others young NASCAR winners.

Joey Logano, born May 21^st 1990. Sliced Bread. Youngest NASCAR Nationwide Series winner at the age of 18 years and 21 days and the youngest NASCAR Sprint Cup series winner at the age of 19 years and 35 days. Logano is now the youngest winner in two of NASCAR'S three top divisions. He is also the first NASCAR driver to be born in the 1990s to compete in NASCAR's three major divisions. Discovered by Mark Martin, Joey would become one of the biggest hypes of the sport in a while. When Logano was 15, Martin said “I am high on Joey Logano because I am absolutely, 100-percent positive, without a doubt that he can be one of the greatest that ever raced in NASCAR. I'm positive. There's no doubt in mind.” (wikipedia) Joey was signed by Joe Gibbs racing in 2008. Despite going winless in 2010, Joey Logano showed promise at the end of last season, posting 5 top-tens in the last 6 starts, crashing out of the season finale at Homestead. 2011 hasn’t gone the way Logano would have wanted, he is currently 30^th in Cup points. Logano has 8 Nationwide wins to his lone Cup win.

Trevor Bayne, born February 19^th 1991. T-Bayne. Youngest driver to win the Daytona 500, surpassing his childhood hero (most likely still his hero), Jeff Gordon by over 5 years. Trevor Bayne showed a lot of promise in his first full year in the Nationwide series, driving for Diamond-Waltrip Racing and then for Roush Fenway Racing. Trevor captured 4 poles, during of them came in the 2010 season right after each other. He was the first driver to do so since Jeff Gordon 19 years ago. His best finish in the series is third at Gateway, where he got the pole. At the age of 19, Trevor made his Sprint Cup debut at Texas Motor Speedway during the chase. Started 25^th and finished 17^th on the lead lap. Bayne is the first driver to be born in 1991 to compete in the top two NASCAR touring series. In his second Cup start, a day after his 20^th birthday, Trevor Bayne won the Daytona 500, giving Ford it’s 600^th win and giving them a 1-2-3 finish. After his 5th place finish at PIR last week, Bayne sits 6^th in Nationwide points.

Ryan Truex, born March 18^th, 1992. Brother of two-time Nationwide (then Busch) Series Champion Martin Truex Jr. Two-time K&N Pro Series Champion. Developmental driver for Michael Waltrip Racing, Ryan has some big shoes to fill. His brother’s, Cup driver Martin Truex Jr. Ryan won his first K&N championship at the age of 17, only to repeat in 2010. Ryan competed in 6 Nationwide Series races in 2010. He was hoping to run for ROTY in 2011, but that was put on hold when motocross stunt performer Travis Pastrana came into the mix. He will be racing 7 races in the 99. Ryan will also share seat time with older brother Martin as well as Car owner Michael Waltrip. We all hope to see more from the youngster very soon.

Austin Dillon, born April 27^th 1990. 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck series Rookie of the Year. Grandson of Car owner Richard Childress. Dillon currently races for his grandpa’s racing team, Richard Childress Racing, which was made famous by the late Dale Earnhardt. He made his first Camping World Truck Series start at Iowa Speedway, driving the #3 truck, the first time that the number has appeared in the three major series since Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in the Nationwide Series back in 2002. He would finish 12th. He got his first truck will there a year later. Austin claimed his second career Truck win at Las Vegas, leading 92 of 146 laps. He finished 2010 with 2 wins, 7 top 5s, and 16 top 10s.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., born October 2^nd, 1987. 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year. He currently driver for Roush Fenway Racing. 2010 was an up and down year for Stenhouse, crashing out of 4 of the first 10 races of the season. He was replaced at Brian Ickler for 3 races and Brian Johnson at Watkins Glen. With a veteran crew chief a top of his war wagon, Stenhouse came back, posting a 3^rd place finish at Daytona. He posted 7 top tens and was locked in a tight ROTY battle with Brian Scott, which in the end Stenhouse won after a 4^th place run at Homestead. After three races into the 2011 season, Ricky Stenhouse sits 2^nd in points behind Reed Sorenson.

Steve Wallace, born August 18 1987. Son of 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup champion Rusty Wallace. Wallace made his first Nationwide start back in 2005, when it was the Busch series, at Memphis. For the 2006 season, Wallace raced 17 races, sharing the car with Cup driver Jamie McMurray. His first full season was in 2007, where he nab two poles, the first at Bristol and then at Nashville. His first career top five came at Richmond International Raceway on May 2, 2008. Wallace made his Cup debut at Daytona International Raceway for the Daytona 500. As of March 13^th, Steve Wallace has posted 29 top-tens and 2 poles in the Nationwide series. He is currently 14^th in Nationwide points.

Brain Scott, born January 12^th 1988. 2010 Rookie of the Year runner-up. Brian first started competing in the Camping World Truck series in 2007, posting a win (in 2009) and 20 top-tens in the series before moving to the Nationwide series in 2010 for Braun Racing. His best finish in his career is 3rd at Chicago. In September, when Turner Motorsports purchased Braun Racing, it was announced that Brian Scott would be release after the September race at Dover. On September 29, RAB Racing hired Brian to drive its #09 Ford Fusion at Kansas and eventually for the rest of the season. Despite finished 14^th in points and ahead of Ricky Stenhouse, Scott lost the Rookie of the Year battle. Brian will race the #11 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing full-time in 2011. He is currently 11^th in Nationwide points

As you can see, Talent knows no age. Whether you’re 18 or 40, if you have talent, it will show. Good luck to all of these drivers in the 2011 season and beyond.

(information came from www.wikipedia.org)

4 tire stop cost Stewart a win at LVMS

Topic of the week. Stewart takes 4 tires on last pit stop, losing the race. It’s a big deal. He said they just gave one away. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqC4c9rICRY (Tony Stewart and Juan Montoya Press conference) Did the 14 crew shoot themselves in the foot two weeks in a row? Coming out of Stewart’s mouth, they did. He knew they couldn’t go 2 and a half fuel runs on the same left side tires. What did the fans think about the 14’s decision to take four tires on the last pit stop? Here’s what some of the fans said:

@Matt_Kacar: had no choice cause they couldn’t go two and a half fuel runs on the same lefts

@TLaut23: Dumb, I was yelling that the TV when he took 4 tires

@laura_sspeedfan: I thought it wasn’t the best move. Maybe 2 tires and fuel would of probably gained him the victory

@Nascartalk10: I thought it would help him if they got a caution but they never did so it kinda makes me mad he didn’t win

@nascarchick_3: I thought it was stupid, they took 2 all day, which worked, then decided at the last minute to take 4...I would’ve stuck with what worked

@JakesdogWally20: I think it cost him the race!! 2 probably would’ve been fine, and he probably would’ve kept his track position

@Dennyschick11: well I think he should’ve stuck with 2 because it worked for him the first time. And it wouldn’t have cost him so much time

@atugirl: I thought he was a sitting duck when he took 2. But the position was key. The last time taking 2 might have kept them in the lead, but the people with fresher tires may have driven him down

@kkjlluver: dumb, dumb, why didn’t he stick with 2 tires? Worked all day

@justinnett: I think it could have been interesting if they had taken 2 again. Idk how long they could make it on left side though

@cruetten: by changing four tires when everyone got 2, he gave up all the time he gained when he went with 2 tires on the previous stop. Once he got his track position from the two tire stop, he needed to protect that lead by doing what everyone else was doing no matter what. A very poor decision by the rarely-wrong Grubb

Dustin Rowdy Roberts (Facebook): very bad decision since it put them in a box when the competition would do the opposite

Bradley Huddleston (Facebook): he’s stupid cuz 2 worked before

@Noelle_McKee: well, I thought it was a good call but the mistake that his pit crew made, well, I think he could’ve won it

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. No one had the right or wrong answer.

Here’s what I think. Tony Stewart and 14 crew made the RIGHT decision by taking four tires. Everyone should know that you can NOT go two and a half fuel runs on the same set of tires. You could have a blow-out and ruin your racecar and a chance to win the race. What really HURT the 14 team was the miscue on pit road with the equipment leaving the box. What would have HELPED the 14 team was a caution at the end to bring him right back up to Edwards. I know Tony could have easily won the race, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be.

Tony, I know second sucks after the day you had, but try to be thankful that you didn’t have a wrecked racecar. With your second place finish, you’re leading the points after three races.

Race results

Points standings

PIR, snapping winless streaks and tempers

Phoenix International Raceway. PIR. Second race of the season. Strange, I know, seeming we were just there last November. With the changes to the schedule, NASCAR finds themselves in Arizona once again. Fresh off his Daytona 500 win, Trevor Bayne didn’t have the weekend he wanted. He crashed his primary Cup car and for the first time in his career, he had to go to a back-up car, which he crashed in the race. The Nationwide race didn’t go over as well either. While running seventh, Bayne’s tire blew, wrecking the car and ending his day. Now, let’s…

Sweep.

What does this word mean to NASCAR? How about: when a driver wins all three races at the same track in the same weekend. Or: when a driver wins both races at the same track in one of the touring divisions. Think really hard. Who did this (the first one)? I’ll give ya a hint. 18. It’s not his age or the number of times they were asked if they wanted the Senior Citizens discount at the grocery store. It’s his car/truck number. That’s right Kyle Thomas Busch. Mr. Rowdy Busch. He did it at Bristol last year and it looked like he was going to do it again, until the…

24.

Again not his age or the number of times girls ask them to marry him. It’s the number that has been on his car longer than the 2011 500 champ has been born. (that’s 20 years for those of you who can’t count or are too lazy to.) Jeff Gordon! The original Boy Wonder, who is now sponsor by AARP. He snapped a 66-race winless streak for the 39-year-old driver. He survived the wreck fest, that may have made new…

Feuds.

Love this word. Feud. We’ve seen a lot of this since NASCAR said, ‘Have at it Boys.’. I think those were the drivers favorite words, except for ‘Gentlemen, start your engines’, being said by a busty blond who probably doesn’t know how to turn a regular car on let alone a NASCAR car. Anyways, back to the feuds. I’m going to throw four names at you. Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, and Brian Vickers (Leprechaun!). Can you put the right names together?………..I’ll make it easier for ya and do it. First: Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch. Is there or isn’t there? Kyle gets lose and gets passed by Rocket Man Ryan Newman and I think he may have gotten a little pissed at hit Carl, sending him down into the grass, bringing him back up and collecting some of the other drivers. I don’t know what exactly happened there, but I don’t think there is a few going on between those two. BUT! I think Busch should stay away from Edwards at LVMS. Second: Matt Kenseth and Leprechaun, I mean, Brian Vickers. This one is GOOD! The two of them get together. Just a little. The piece of sheet metal sticking out on Kenseth’s car looks to have cut down Vickers tire. Vickers spins, making 12 other cars kind crash into each other. While being interviewed, Vickers blamed Kenseth for racing him too hard. Kenseth came over the radio and said he didn’t touch him. Everyone makes…

Mistakes.

Like this one. The front tire changer on JIMMIE JOHNSON’S car dropped a lug nut, making him lose about 6 spots on pit road. Nice going. The weird thing about it was, Chad didn’t seem angry, just a little upset. Weird. I was expecting Chad to go Carrie on them and kill them with his mind and then somehow set something on fire, further killing him. What wasn’t a mistake was that Kasey Kahne, yes Kasey is being mentioned it here (yeah, big surprise, NOT!) stay OUT of trouble at PIR to come home with a 6^th place finish, his first since the fall of 2006, where Kevin Harvick swept both Cup races. I guess, all these tracks with older racing surfaces are worried about…

Repaving.

Yes! Another track is being repaved, BUT, PIR is being reconfigured. The dog leg, what ever that really means, is being made different. I don’t know how, but it is. So, PIR will never be the…

Same.

Will the chase contenders be different this year or different? With new faces in the top 12, will it be a different year. Or, since we are only 2 races into the new season, just sort itself out and we will see the cream rise to the top? This is where it gets tricky. New points system makes it a little harder to catch up to the leaders. With the guys who are normally at the top at the bottom, will they have a chance to rise to the top, or is it already too late?

Next blog will take your opinions and hopefully get some answers!

Trevor Bayne wins Daytona 500 in his second career Cup start

Yes, you are reading the headline right. Trevor Bayne, 20, did indeed win the 2011 Daytona 500. The youngest driver to win the race, surpassing Jeff Gordon, who did it at 25. He had just turned 20 the day before, a teenager no more. Trevor is only scheduled for 17 races this season and right off the bat, Trevor finds himself in Victory Lane in the Cup series before the Nationwide series. This is the first 500 victory for the Wood Brothers since 1976. Trevor wasn’t even born yet. The whole day was full of two-car drafting and wrecks. Two big ones, collecting Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, David Reutimann, Michael Waltrip, and many others. Kevin Harvick, sporting the new sponsor Budweiser, lost his engine only 20 laps in to the 500, his teammate Jeff Burton’s engine expired 73 laps later, giving all the drivers with ECR (Earnhardt Childress Racing) engines something to worry about. The race saw records. Record number cautions, record number lead changes. A true Cinderella story today. No one would have thought that Trevor Bayne would have beat Cup Champions, former 500 winners to win the DAYTONA 500! I didn’t. I knew he could do very well in the sport, but to win the Daytona 500? Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable.

Trevor said on twitter: ‘Sayyyy what! I’m blown away at how amazing God’s plan is! 500 winner J can’t believe it!’ Trevor, God is behind you 100% in your life and career. By the way, you are the Daytona 500 CHAMPION! What we saw on pit road after the race kind of reminded me of a day about 13 years ago, when a man named Dale Earnhardt won his first Daytona 500 after 20 years of trying. Seeing all of those crew members standing on pit road, waiting to give Earnhardt a high five or a hand shake. I can tell you that Trevor was trending on twitter for about 4 hours after the race and quite a bit during the race.

“He's just got a tremendous awareness, I guess, in the car” one of the Wood brothers said of Bayne. “The great ones are like that. I've listened to a lot of drivers on the radio. He reminds me of the great ones. He will be a great one. I told somebody the other day that I felt like he just might be the next big deal, and I think he is.”

“The job the kid done today, I mean, you couldn't ask for anything else,” Wingo, a veteran crew chief, said. “There at the end, he hadn't had the lead all day or [gotten] pushed. [But] there at the end he did what he needed to do.”

“If you just watch the way he races, the biggest thing [with] these new guys coming in now, a lot of them can go fast, but they still struggle racing,” Wingo said. “He don't put himself in a bad position. I just think he adapts so well to certain situations. Just the racing part of it, he catches onto the racing part and don't put himself in a bad position. That's the sign of a good racer.”

“He was very calm,” Wood said. “Whoever he was pushing, he was relaying back to our spotter, to their spotter, how he needed it to be done … if he needed to be the guy to drag the brake or come back a little more, and he knew how to go fast.”

“That's what I noticed in him right off the bat. He knows how to do this,” Wood said. “I was talking to Richard Petty earlier in the week. We were talking about how well he did in the qualifiers and how do you do that your first time at doing it.

“We decided that he didn't know how to do it wrong. It's new to him. It's all brand-new. So however he did it was correct. He caught on to the way that everyone else was doing it.

“We were on top of the hauler during the first qualifier. He watched Matt Kenseth pull out to the right. He said, ‘You know, I think I'm going to do that.’ He went right out there and did it.”

“I have no idea other than the fact that we had a fast race car and everybody wants to be hooked up to a fast race car. When we qualified third, it kind of sparked everything. They were like, ‘Wow, maybe we need that 21 car pushing us.” Bayne said when asked how he became the best pusher in the field. “I don't want to say it's anything I did any different than any other rookie. We were just fast. I can't thank Jeff and those guys enough to put the trust in me.

“… All those guys that helped me along the way today, their trust in me showed other people could trust me. Jeff Gordon taking that first step showed everybody that, hey, they could work with me and we're here.”

(more quotes here: http://www.scenedaily.com/news/articles/sprintcupseries/The_next_big_deal_Trevor_Bayne_fulfills_promise_flashes_star_potential_with_huge_victory_at_Daytona.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter)

This is a big win for not only rookie Trevor Bayne, but for the Wood Brothers also, this being their 5^th Daytona 500 win in their 58 year career in the Cup series. Miss the race? Here’s a quick run down: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm7GGnQ7hmU

Trevor Bayne interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdzV4-TJRE4

Congratulations to Trevor Bayne and the whole Wood Brothers Racing team. You did an extraordinary job today and I am glad that you guys went with Trevor Bayne.

What are your thoughts about the race? Please comment!

TREVOR BAYNE IS THE 2011 DAYTONA 500 CHAMPION!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS! YOU DESERVE IT!

Kurt Busch wins Bud Shootout, Denny Hamlin black-flagged; Dale Jr. nabs Daytona 500 pole

NASCAR racing is finally back with some great racing at Daytona International Speedway. What we saw in the Shootout was a little different than what we usually see. Instead of seeing drafting packs, we saw two-car break aways, getting a whopping 20 miles an hour faster than the other cars, turning about 9500 RPMs, a dangerous number for racecars. The qualifications for the Shootout changed. The top 12 in points, past champions, whoever won a points race at Daytona, and former Rookies of the Year. Here was the line-up:
1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

2. Tony Stewart
3. Carl Edwards
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Kasey Kahne
6. Bobby Labonte
7. Clint Bowyer
8. Ryan Newman
9. Derrike Cope

10. Michael Waltrip
11. Greg Biffle
12. Jeff Gordon
13. Juan Pablo Montoya
14. Jamie McMurray
15. Jeff Burton
16. Kevin Conway
17. Kurt Busch
18. Kevin Harvick
19. Matt Kenseth
20. Mark Martin
21. Kyle Busch
22. Joey Logano
23. Jimmie Johnson
24. Regan Smith

The night before, Dale Earnhardt Jr. pulled the pole for the Shootout, but was taken out in a wreck in the second segment, along with Carl Edwards, Joey Logano, Regan Smith, Juan Montoya, and Kevin Conway. Kasey was out early with engine troubles. All night we saw two cars draft, getting more RPMs than single cars or cars in a bigger draft. Now, for the big ‘controversy’. last lap, coming to the checkered. Denny Hamlin pushing Ryan Newman. Jamie McMurray pushing Kurt Busch. This is where it gets interesting. Denny Hamlin, going for the win, is forced down below yellow, passes Ryan Newman, crossing the finish line before Kurt Busch. Denny Hamlin wins right? No. Kurt Busch does. Denny Hamlin is black-flagged for illegal pass, crediting him with a 12^th place finish. That was Kurt Busch’s first Daytona win.

Results:

1 Kurt Busch

2 Jamie McMurray

3 Ryan Newman

4 Jimmie Johnson

5 Greg Biffle

6 Jeff Gordon

7 Kevin Harvick

8 Jeff Burton

9 Clint Bowyer

10 Bobby Labonte

11 Tony Stewart

12 Denny Hamlin

13 Matt Kenseth

14 Derrike Cope

15 Michael Waltrip

16 Kyle Busch

17 Mark Martin

18 Joey Logano

19 Dale Earnhardt Jr.

20 Juan Montoya

21 Carl Edwards

22 Regan Smith

23 Kevin Conway

24 Kasey Kahne

　

Now, on to Daytona 500 qualifying. 48 entries. 48 qualifying cars. 96 qualifying laps. 192 tires. 240 miles. Top qualifying speed was given by Dale Earnhardt Jr., turning a lap of 48.364 seconds (186.089 MPH). Jeff Gordon turned a lap of 48.396 seconds (185.966 MPH). Cup Rookie Trevor Bayne, driving the legendary 21 Ford for the Wood Brothers, turned a lap of 185.445 MPH, the third fastest lap. He was good throughout practice, being fourth fastest in the final Daytona 500 qualifying practice, mirroring RCR driver Jeff Burton. The Gatorade Duels are on Thursday to determine the rest of the field.

Line-ups.

Gatorade Duel #1

Gatorade Duel #2

NASCAR 2010: What do you remember the most?

The 2011 NASCAR season is fast approaching. 100% of all race fans have been wanting more racing since Homestead. I know I have. I actually sort of filled the void of no NASCAR with a little football, seeing my favorite team lose one of the worst games I have ever seen and seeing my home team, the Green Bay Packers, win the Super Bowl. Now, that football is over, we can get all of our minds back on racing. A while ago, I took a poll. ‘Who do you think is going to win the Daytona 500?’. Most people said Kasey Kahne. This blog post isn’t really a poll. It’s just me wondering something.

Everyone has their favorite moments in NASCAR. Dale Earnhardt finally winning the Daytona 500 in 1998, Kevin Harvick winning at Atlanta after Dale Sr.’s death are some of my favorites. When you look back at the 2010 season, there were so many moments that stuck in race fans minds. Jamie McMurray winning three of the biggest races of the season, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick feud, Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton going at it, and Kasey Kahne leaving RPM early. I asked people ‘What was your favorite moment from last year’s NASCAR Cup season?’. I wasn’t seeing which moment was the most popular, I just simply wanted to know. I have to say, watching Jamie McMurray cry in Victory Lane at Daytona made me cry. It was so emotional for him. His dad had left the track before the race ended, so he wasn’t there. Some of the big headlines of the season made my list. ‘Kasey Kahne released from RPM early, goes to Red Bull Racing to finish the season’. Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick get into it at Pocono after Kevin spun Joey out to get a position. I have to wonder, what is going to happen in the 2011 season? Are we going to see more ‘Have at it, Boys!’? Are we going to see someone break into Victory Lane? Are we finally going to see someone beat Jimmie Johnson in the points? Action starts with the Bud Shootout, Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on FOX!

(Picture: Jamie McMurray crying in Victory Lane after winning the Daytona 500)