The next three races might not be the three an average NASCAR fan would pick to attend if he or she didn’t live nearby Pocono, Watkins Glen or Michigan, but they are important weeks on the NASCAR schedule.
With the exception of Daytona, Pocono Raceway is the first track the Sprint Cup Series visits for a second time in the season. It always feels like the haulers just pulled out of the infield before they come rolling back in today.
Since Jeff Gordon won the first race at Pocono in June, five of the six races have been won by a driver who was winless on the season going into that race. Kyle Busch’s dominating performance at Kentucky was the only race where a driver picked up his second win of the season. Overall, there have been 14 different winners so far this season.
Will this trend of a different face in Victory Lane nearly every week continue? Probably not, but there are still several drivers who usually have wins at this point in the season yet are still winless in 2011.
Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer and Greg Biffle all have cars capable of running up front more weeks than not, but so far the perfect scenario it takes to win a race has not come together for these drivers.
That’s not to say they are in dire trouble yet this season. Stewart has several tracks coming up where he has had success in the past, and his cars have been better lately as he’s made his way inside the top 10 in the points standings to head to Pocono in ninth.
Biffle also has reasons to be optimistic as the midway point of the Race to the Chase approaches. He won the second Pocono race a year ago, and the Ford cars continue to be strong at the larger tracks on the schedule. It’s just a matter of time before the end of a race plays out in Biffle’s favor.
That leaves Bowyer. He might be in the most trouble of these three drivers. The #33 car consistently comes to the front of the field at short tracks and flat tracks.
Unfortunately, Bristol is the only short track until the cutoff race at Richmond, and Pocono is also as flat as the tracks get until Richmond. Like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bowyer will need good, consistent finishes the rest of the way if he wants to be a factor for the Chase come Richmond.
If these three drivers do win, that will push the total number of different winners to 17 before the Chase starts. That is remarkable, and it could go beyond that since the series will visit Chicagoland for the first and only time this year to start the Chase, and then Talladega looms later in the Chase. Anybody could win that one, and the way things have been going this year, somebody different likely will.
Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Rating the Coca-Cola 600: 3 Stars ***
Memorial Day weekend is arguably the best racing weekend of the year, and it certainly has been this year with nail-biting finishes that literally came down to the final turn. The first three-quarters or so of the Coca-Cola 600 was worthy of 2 Stars and the finish was worthy of 4 Stars, so the entire race gets a 3 Star Rating.
Kevin Harvick usually comes out of nowhere to win his races, but this was the most unlikely win of them all. He sat between 20th and 25th for the first part of the race and was yelling at his team about how terrible the car was.
The next time we heard about him he was fifth in line for the final restart. Even at that point he wasn’t looked at as much of a threat because of all the cars and issues in the first two rows.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove one of those cars and took off on the final restart and drove away from the field. As he came through the frontstretch to take the white flag it looked like this was finally going to be that magical race Earnhardt Jr. fans have been waiting for so long. Some fans may have even done a double take.
Is that really the #88 car out in front on the final lap? After the years of disappointment, it looked like this win was finally possible. There was no lapped traffic, and the caution laps had to preserve some fuel, right?
Almost.
The #88 machine simply ran out of gas coming into Turn 3 and the guy who seems to always be in the right spot at the right time, Harvick, drove by to take a very unexpected victory.
Although there is heartbreak and frustration for Earnhardt Jr. fans to have their driver come so close to winning, it is a positive he drove a very good race and this team is starting to perform at a winner’s level week in and week out. That first win is always the hardest.
Harvick went through a similar stretch after his 2007 Daytona 500 win. It took until the spring race at Talladega last year to finally crack the code to Victory Lane again in a points event. Once that first win happened, several more followed, and now he is even running into a few just for having four wheels and an engine that runs.
Sure, Harvick drove a hard race to get into position to have a chance, but he said in Victory Lane this win was a gift. But, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good because any win, no matter the path, is very difficult to achieve.
As for the overall quality of the race, the majority of the 600 miles were similar to both the Dover race and the All-Star race the past two weeks. Maybe it’s because summer-type weather has finally arrived, but all of a sudden teams are having a difficult time keeping up with the racetrack and it is hurting the quality of racing.
Unfortunately, there’s little reason to think any of that will change next week in Kansas, and several of the same drivers should be a factor there. Kansas Speedway is the same length and a fairly similar configuration to Charlotte. Plus, Ford drivers have run well at Kansas in the past and right now they have the best cars in the field on intermediate tracks.
Kevin Harvick usually comes out of nowhere to win his races, but this was the most unlikely win of them all. He sat between 20th and 25th for the first part of the race and was yelling at his team about how terrible the car was.
The next time we heard about him he was fifth in line for the final restart. Even at that point he wasn’t looked at as much of a threat because of all the cars and issues in the first two rows.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove one of those cars and took off on the final restart and drove away from the field. As he came through the frontstretch to take the white flag it looked like this was finally going to be that magical race Earnhardt Jr. fans have been waiting for so long. Some fans may have even done a double take.
Is that really the #88 car out in front on the final lap? After the years of disappointment, it looked like this win was finally possible. There was no lapped traffic, and the caution laps had to preserve some fuel, right?
Almost.
The #88 machine simply ran out of gas coming into Turn 3 and the guy who seems to always be in the right spot at the right time, Harvick, drove by to take a very unexpected victory.
Although there is heartbreak and frustration for Earnhardt Jr. fans to have their driver come so close to winning, it is a positive he drove a very good race and this team is starting to perform at a winner’s level week in and week out. That first win is always the hardest.
Harvick went through a similar stretch after his 2007 Daytona 500 win. It took until the spring race at Talladega last year to finally crack the code to Victory Lane again in a points event. Once that first win happened, several more followed, and now he is even running into a few just for having four wheels and an engine that runs.
Sure, Harvick drove a hard race to get into position to have a chance, but he said in Victory Lane this win was a gift. But, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good because any win, no matter the path, is very difficult to achieve.
As for the overall quality of the race, the majority of the 600 miles were similar to both the Dover race and the All-Star race the past two weeks. Maybe it’s because summer-type weather has finally arrived, but all of a sudden teams are having a difficult time keeping up with the racetrack and it is hurting the quality of racing.
Unfortunately, there’s little reason to think any of that will change next week in Kansas, and several of the same drivers should be a factor there. Kansas Speedway is the same length and a fairly similar configuration to Charlotte. Plus, Ford drivers have run well at Kansas in the past and right now they have the best cars in the field on intermediate tracks.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
New schedule playing out well
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series took a collective breather this weekend as everybody came down from the high that has been the past month or so in NASCAR.
Every year people say this is the most exciting start to a season they can remember, but maybe they just have terrible memories. Can anyone honestly say any of the five years the series went to California for the second race of the season was anywhere close to exciting? No. Daytona may have been exciting, but that’s where it ended.
Truthfully, the Speedweeks for the past several years have been amazing and have ended with great finishes in the 500. But, the letdown fans may have felt this weekend used to happen in the second week of the season, and often those races at California were followed by an off week. Talk about a perfect setup to kill any early season excitement.
However, NASCAR drastically improved the beginning of the season’s schedule this year. Another great Daytona 500 was followed by an intense race at Phoenix that included a duel between Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch that ended with Gordon punting Busch out of the way for the win. Sure, Vegas may have been a bit of a letdown as far as the racing was concerned, but more often than not Vegas produces some very good racing. Plus, things will get even better next year if fans can wait an extra week for the season to start, because moving the Daytona 500 a week later will eliminate this off week.
NASCAR also couldn’t have asked for any better storylines in the first three weeks of the season. Rookie Trevor Bayne won the first and biggest race of the season, the Daytona 500, and was followed the next week by a win from Jeff Gordon, the longtime star of the sport who has fought whispers he might be coming into the latter stages of his career. With the two polar opposites of the sport covered age-wise, the championship contender in the prime of his career, Carl Edwards, won the race at Las Vegas.
In past years, the major players were usually defined at this point in the season. This is the first season since 2007 that has had three different winners in the first three races, and in prior years when there were three different winners, somebody jumped up and won another couple of races right away. Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch have all stunk up the show early on in a season before.
It will be interesting to see what happens this time around. Kyle Busch has been a factor in every race so far, but he has had the kind of luck that usually finds him once the Chase rolls around. He’s good at Bristol, though, so maybe he will pick up an early victory right away, but that would still give us another different winner this season.
In any case, it is difficult to find reasons why NASCAR isn’t finally on an upswing, and unless somebody finds a way to dominate several of the upcoming tracks, which could prove difficult because they include every different type of track the series visits, from half-miles to two-and-a-half-miles and everything in between.
With the way the schedule is set up this season, it’s possible we won’t know the favorites for the championship until the All-Star Race in May. If we do know by then, those contending teams will have definitely earned their spot in the standings.
Every year people say this is the most exciting start to a season they can remember, but maybe they just have terrible memories. Can anyone honestly say any of the five years the series went to California for the second race of the season was anywhere close to exciting? No. Daytona may have been exciting, but that’s where it ended.
Truthfully, the Speedweeks for the past several years have been amazing and have ended with great finishes in the 500. But, the letdown fans may have felt this weekend used to happen in the second week of the season, and often those races at California were followed by an off week. Talk about a perfect setup to kill any early season excitement.
However, NASCAR drastically improved the beginning of the season’s schedule this year. Another great Daytona 500 was followed by an intense race at Phoenix that included a duel between Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch that ended with Gordon punting Busch out of the way for the win. Sure, Vegas may have been a bit of a letdown as far as the racing was concerned, but more often than not Vegas produces some very good racing. Plus, things will get even better next year if fans can wait an extra week for the season to start, because moving the Daytona 500 a week later will eliminate this off week.
NASCAR also couldn’t have asked for any better storylines in the first three weeks of the season. Rookie Trevor Bayne won the first and biggest race of the season, the Daytona 500, and was followed the next week by a win from Jeff Gordon, the longtime star of the sport who has fought whispers he might be coming into the latter stages of his career. With the two polar opposites of the sport covered age-wise, the championship contender in the prime of his career, Carl Edwards, won the race at Las Vegas.
In past years, the major players were usually defined at this point in the season. This is the first season since 2007 that has had three different winners in the first three races, and in prior years when there were three different winners, somebody jumped up and won another couple of races right away. Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch have all stunk up the show early on in a season before.
It will be interesting to see what happens this time around. Kyle Busch has been a factor in every race so far, but he has had the kind of luck that usually finds him once the Chase rolls around. He’s good at Bristol, though, so maybe he will pick up an early victory right away, but that would still give us another different winner this season.
In any case, it is difficult to find reasons why NASCAR isn’t finally on an upswing, and unless somebody finds a way to dominate several of the upcoming tracks, which could prove difficult because they include every different type of track the series visits, from half-miles to two-and-a-half-miles and everything in between.
With the way the schedule is set up this season, it’s possible we won’t know the favorites for the championship until the All-Star Race in May. If we do know by then, those contending teams will have definitely earned their spot in the standings.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Welcome to Speedweeks 2011
Now that the Super Bowl and all that goes with it is finished, it’s time to quickly turn the page and get ready for the most wonderful time of the year — Speedweeks.
After enduring the 11 longest weeks of the year, its time for the world to start moving again. The cars will be all gussied up for the first time with glistening new paint schemes, the drivers will be ready to get after it and the racing surface will be as new and shiny as everything else this year.
These two weeks almost feel like a vacation. Beginning Thursday, almost all NASCAR television coverage will originate from beautiful Daytona Beach, Fla., where the sun will shine and the high temperatures aren’t expected to drop out of the 60s.
Also, the rest of the season doesn’t matter during Speedweeks, which is nice. There is plenty of time for people to complain about the points, the quality of the racing and which driver might switch teams.
For now, its just time to let the drivers take to the best racetrack in the world and put on a show that is unrivaled in motorsports.
Twenty-four of the eventual 43 starters for the Daytona 500 will get an extra 75 laps Saturday night in the Budweiser Shootout. Unfortunately, this even has been watered down in recent years after Budweiser quit sponsoring the Pole Award.
However, a 30-car field for a 75-lap shootout on new pavement at Daytona International Speedway could be a lot of fun, especially since qualifying is done by random draw. Shoot, Matt Kenseth could start from the pole position, which would be just the fifth time that has happened in his 400 career starts.
In any case, we are about to embark on a journey that will once again fill fans’ eyes with stars and end with a new Daytona 500 champion, something that will make that driver’s season a success no matter what happens.
So get ready. Practice begins Friday, the shootout is Saturday, qualifying is Sunday, the Duel is next Thursday and the following Sunday is the big one, the 53rd Daytona 500.
After enduring the 11 longest weeks of the year, its time for the world to start moving again. The cars will be all gussied up for the first time with glistening new paint schemes, the drivers will be ready to get after it and the racing surface will be as new and shiny as everything else this year.
These two weeks almost feel like a vacation. Beginning Thursday, almost all NASCAR television coverage will originate from beautiful Daytona Beach, Fla., where the sun will shine and the high temperatures aren’t expected to drop out of the 60s.
Also, the rest of the season doesn’t matter during Speedweeks, which is nice. There is plenty of time for people to complain about the points, the quality of the racing and which driver might switch teams.
For now, its just time to let the drivers take to the best racetrack in the world and put on a show that is unrivaled in motorsports.
Twenty-four of the eventual 43 starters for the Daytona 500 will get an extra 75 laps Saturday night in the Budweiser Shootout. Unfortunately, this even has been watered down in recent years after Budweiser quit sponsoring the Pole Award.
However, a 30-car field for a 75-lap shootout on new pavement at Daytona International Speedway could be a lot of fun, especially since qualifying is done by random draw. Shoot, Matt Kenseth could start from the pole position, which would be just the fifth time that has happened in his 400 career starts.
In any case, we are about to embark on a journey that will once again fill fans’ eyes with stars and end with a new Daytona 500 champion, something that will make that driver’s season a success no matter what happens.
So get ready. Practice begins Friday, the shootout is Saturday, qualifying is Sunday, the Duel is next Thursday and the following Sunday is the big one, the 53rd Daytona 500.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Most important days of 2011 season might be in January
Now that we can finally stop talking about 2011 and start living it, the time for NASCAR to make some of its most important decisions of the season is less than two weeks away.
The second round of testing will begin Jan. 20 at Daytona, and this time all of the teams will participate in three days of drafting in the large packs that will be a staple of the 2011 Daytona 500.
While the teams focus in on how to get their cars set up for the biggest race of the year on the new pavement at Daytona, the heads of NASCAR will announce the final few important decisions left before the season can start, including what method the sport will use to crown its champion in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide series, what time the races will start and what size the restrictor plates will be when everybody returns for Speedweeks in February.
The announcement about the possible changes to the Chase is scheduled for Jan. 21, but one can expect a variety of tidbits to come out of that session. For the first time in three years, there actually is testing at Daytona in January, but rarely, if ever, has that test session been as anticipated as it is this year. Not only will cars be back on the track, which eases every fans heart that life isn’t so bad and there is something to hope for in the coming weeks, but the news will be flying from the speedway as fast as a full 43-car drafting pack.
Last year this moment came during the NASCAR media days in Charlotte when NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton told the boys to “have at it.” This year that type of moment will likely happen in Daytona when the big announcements are made for the 2011 season.
How much impact will these announcements have? They might make Jan. 21 the most important day of the 2011 NASCAR season. Whatever NASCAR says that day could shape the sport and its fan base for the next 11 months. In every decision, some people will love it and others will hate it, but it’s not too often that one could polarize a sport to such an extreme.
The interesting thing about these announcements is they will affect everybody involved in the sport from the owners to the drivers to the fans to pit crews, etc. Most of the time announcements made during the season that come from one team or another affect one or two drivers, teams and their fans, but when NASCAR holds court, everybody’s season is at stake.
If changes are made to both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide series, they could effectively determine who has the best chance to win the championship, or at least in the Nationwide series who won’t win the championship.
Finally, although it’s extremely unlikely, no major changes could be made to the sport for this upcoming season. Last season came down to the closest battle in the short history of the Chase and anyone who cared about the sport was excited for the final two months of the season and couldn’t wait for the next race to start.
However, Brian France hasn’t been known to hold back from making drastic changes in the past, so a statement Jan. 21 that everything will remain status quo is unlikely.
In any case, the intrigue for the new season will start before the calendar has a chance to turn the first page.
The second round of testing will begin Jan. 20 at Daytona, and this time all of the teams will participate in three days of drafting in the large packs that will be a staple of the 2011 Daytona 500.
While the teams focus in on how to get their cars set up for the biggest race of the year on the new pavement at Daytona, the heads of NASCAR will announce the final few important decisions left before the season can start, including what method the sport will use to crown its champion in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide series, what time the races will start and what size the restrictor plates will be when everybody returns for Speedweeks in February.
The announcement about the possible changes to the Chase is scheduled for Jan. 21, but one can expect a variety of tidbits to come out of that session. For the first time in three years, there actually is testing at Daytona in January, but rarely, if ever, has that test session been as anticipated as it is this year. Not only will cars be back on the track, which eases every fans heart that life isn’t so bad and there is something to hope for in the coming weeks, but the news will be flying from the speedway as fast as a full 43-car drafting pack.
Last year this moment came during the NASCAR media days in Charlotte when NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton told the boys to “have at it.” This year that type of moment will likely happen in Daytona when the big announcements are made for the 2011 season.
How much impact will these announcements have? They might make Jan. 21 the most important day of the 2011 NASCAR season. Whatever NASCAR says that day could shape the sport and its fan base for the next 11 months. In every decision, some people will love it and others will hate it, but it’s not too often that one could polarize a sport to such an extreme.
The interesting thing about these announcements is they will affect everybody involved in the sport from the owners to the drivers to the fans to pit crews, etc. Most of the time announcements made during the season that come from one team or another affect one or two drivers, teams and their fans, but when NASCAR holds court, everybody’s season is at stake.
If changes are made to both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide series, they could effectively determine who has the best chance to win the championship, or at least in the Nationwide series who won’t win the championship.
Finally, although it’s extremely unlikely, no major changes could be made to the sport for this upcoming season. Last season came down to the closest battle in the short history of the Chase and anyone who cared about the sport was excited for the final two months of the season and couldn’t wait for the next race to start.
However, Brian France hasn’t been known to hold back from making drastic changes in the past, so a statement Jan. 21 that everything will remain status quo is unlikely.
In any case, the intrigue for the new season will start before the calendar has a chance to turn the first page.
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