It’s finally over. The Daytona 500 that would never start turned into the Daytona 500 that refused to end. There was rain, there was fire and there was racing, but the whole extravaganza only gets a 3 Star Rating.
Nearly 36 hours after it was scheduled to begin, the Great American Race ended with Matt Kenseth celebrating in Victory Lane. Too bad it took so long to get there, but my oh my there was some crazy action in between.
The race was good, but the circumstances that surrounded the race also made it an endurance test for not only the drivers, but also the fans.
This was Kenseth’s second Daytona 500 win, but that was about the only part of the race that was not a historical first. Basically everything else associated with the race was something nobody had ever seen before.
First, rain forced NASCAR officials to push the race back to Monday. That had never happened in the 54-year history of the race. That turned this year’s 500 into Monday Night NASCAR after rain continued throughout the morning and afternoon Monday.
Second, Juan Pablo Montoya had one of the wildest freak accidents in the history of the sport. As he drove down the backstretch under caution to catch back up with the field, something in the back of the car broke and he slid up into a safety truck with a jet dryer full of 200 gallons of fuel. That spells disaster.
Thankfully, and miraculously, nobody was hurt in the accident, but both Montoya’s car and the safety truck burst into a fire ball upon impact. The fuel then spilled out of the jet engine and a raging fire ensued.
Also miraculously, safety workers were able to get the fire under control and had the whole mess cleaned up in slightly more than two hours.
After all of that, there was still some racing left, and for the most part it was good racing.
The pack racing returned this year and made for a great Speedweeks. Even if all of the other crazy stuff had not have happened, this would have been an exciting race. The drivers drove in a tight pack all night, there were the typical big restrictor-plate wrecks and another close finish.
Overall, the Daytona 500 was a success, which is amazing. Any lesser event would’ve disintegrated into a never-ending marathon that people wished was already over.
Don’t get me wrong, this was certainly a marathon. But, the action was great on the track and most of the seats at the track were full. The number of fans who stuck around to watch the race, even as it moved into the early hours of Monday morning, was amazing. Most tracks can barely fill half of its seats for a postponed race, but the Daytona International Speedway still had the electricity that can only be found at the Daytona 500.
Also, congratulations to Kenseth. This win puts him on an exclusive list with only eight other drivers who won multiple Daytona 500’s. He had one of the strongest cars all week and certainly deserved the win.
Now the Sprint Cup Series can finally pack up and head out to a place where it likely won’t have to worry about rain. The tough part will be getting the logistics worked out to get all of the equipment out to Phoenix International Raceway. Everybody will be at Phoenix on Friday; it will just be more stressful than normal to get there.
Another benefit to the delayed Daytona 500 is now only three days stand between now and the next time Cup cars are on the racetrack.
Hopefully fans got as much out of Speedweeks as they wanted. Whether or not they liked the race, they will at least have great stories to tell about this year’s wild Daytona 500 experience.
Have a great week, everybody.
Showing posts with label Juan Pablo Montoya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Juan Pablo Montoya. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Sunday, December 11, 2011
NASCAR starting grid will look much different in 2012
After a year where hardly any sponsors stepped up to fund big-time rides for new drivers, there will still be a bunch of people on new teams come Speedweeks in February at Daytona.
Sure, there may be one decent ride available at this point after Kurt Busch left the #22 Dodge vacant, but whoever fills that spot will be the seventh driver among those who finished in the top 30 in points last season to either strap into a car for a different Sprint Cup Series team in 2012 or still be without a ride for next season.
In addition to the driver changes, at least 12 crew chiefs who worked for teams that finished in the top 30 in points last year will sit atop a different pit box during the Daytona 500 than the one they sat on at the beginning of the 2011 season.
That means nearly one-third of the teams in the field for the Daytona 500 will look different than they did at that race a year ago. That is amazing considering all of the talk of there being no opportunities to move in the sport and everybody better stick at their current job because there likely won’t be another option.
Of course, many of these moves weren’t made by the choice of the driver or the crew chief. The crew chiefs for drivers such as Greg Biffle and Juan Pablo Montoya were replaced mid-season and crew chiefs for Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin were let go from their respective teams once the season ended.
Team lineups have been relatively stable during the past several years, but 2011 will go down as the year where a bunch of crew chiefs lost their job, or at least changed teams. This sort of shuffle happens every few years, and the stability during Jimmie Johnson’s run of five championships is remarkable considering every other team lost for five years in a row.
Overall, the group of Sprint Cup Series drivers has also remained pretty stable in the last five or six years. Early in the last decade, NASCAR had a large influx of young drivers enter the sport, but once the group of drivers such as Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman and Jamie McMurray reached the Cup level, the pipeline of young drivers quickly shut off.
Just look at the rookies of the year for the past five seasons. Montoya and Joey Logano both finished 20th in the points in their rookie seasons, but the other three have failed to crack the top 30.
This current group of drivers might not have changed much in the past several years, but this year an entire new group of crew chiefs will take their spots atop the pit box for new teams.
One might think all of the crew chief changes could shuffle the running order at many of the races next season. However, just two of those changes happened to teams that finished in the top 10 in points, and one of them just won the championship. The teams that finished outside the top 10 needed to make changes because the current setup obviously wasn’t working too well.
All of the personnel changes could make for a season similar to 2011 where multiple drivers won their first race and no team really pulled away from the pack. Or, it could make for a season where the same top 10 teams dominate as the other teams work to build their chemistry and performance on the track.
For the sake of many race fans, here’s hoping we get another season where different teams show up at the front of the field each race.
Sure, there may be one decent ride available at this point after Kurt Busch left the #22 Dodge vacant, but whoever fills that spot will be the seventh driver among those who finished in the top 30 in points last season to either strap into a car for a different Sprint Cup Series team in 2012 or still be without a ride for next season.
In addition to the driver changes, at least 12 crew chiefs who worked for teams that finished in the top 30 in points last year will sit atop a different pit box during the Daytona 500 than the one they sat on at the beginning of the 2011 season.
That means nearly one-third of the teams in the field for the Daytona 500 will look different than they did at that race a year ago. That is amazing considering all of the talk of there being no opportunities to move in the sport and everybody better stick at their current job because there likely won’t be another option.
Of course, many of these moves weren’t made by the choice of the driver or the crew chief. The crew chiefs for drivers such as Greg Biffle and Juan Pablo Montoya were replaced mid-season and crew chiefs for Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin were let go from their respective teams once the season ended.
Team lineups have been relatively stable during the past several years, but 2011 will go down as the year where a bunch of crew chiefs lost their job, or at least changed teams. This sort of shuffle happens every few years, and the stability during Jimmie Johnson’s run of five championships is remarkable considering every other team lost for five years in a row.
Overall, the group of Sprint Cup Series drivers has also remained pretty stable in the last five or six years. Early in the last decade, NASCAR had a large influx of young drivers enter the sport, but once the group of drivers such as Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman and Jamie McMurray reached the Cup level, the pipeline of young drivers quickly shut off.
Just look at the rookies of the year for the past five seasons. Montoya and Joey Logano both finished 20th in the points in their rookie seasons, but the other three have failed to crack the top 30.
This current group of drivers might not have changed much in the past several years, but this year an entire new group of crew chiefs will take their spots atop the pit box for new teams.
One might think all of the crew chief changes could shuffle the running order at many of the races next season. However, just two of those changes happened to teams that finished in the top 10 in points, and one of them just won the championship. The teams that finished outside the top 10 needed to make changes because the current setup obviously wasn’t working too well.
All of the personnel changes could make for a season similar to 2011 where multiple drivers won their first race and no team really pulled away from the pack. Or, it could make for a season where the same top 10 teams dominate as the other teams work to build their chemistry and performance on the track.
For the sake of many race fans, here’s hoping we get another season where different teams show up at the front of the field each race.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Rating the Good Sam RV Insurance 500: 2 Stars **
The incredible storylines just keep coming this season as Brad Keselowski wins just days after a horrific crash at a test earlier in the week that broke his left ankle. However, the race took forever and the real battles didn’t happen until the very end. Race #2 at Pocono gets a 2 Star Rating.
Good strategy put Keselowski up front after a rain delay of nearly two hours, but after the rain Keselowski ran a perfect race to bring home his second win of the year after holding off a hard-charging Kyle Busch.
NASCAR couldn’t have asked for a better scenario to play out as the season heads toward the Chase. All of a sudden there are guys like Keselowski, Paul Menard and David Ragan in serious contention for a Chase spot.
That would have been unthinkable in past years. Guys like Greg Biffle and Clint Bowyer are supposed to fill out the Chase field, not newcomers and guys that have been second-tier drivers for several years.
Also, who would’ve guessed Keselowski and Menard would be two of the contenders for the Sprint Summer Showdown? All of a sudden they, a charity and a fan could each have an extra $1 million if they win Labor Day weekend at Atlanta. Maybe a regular suspect will once again grab a win and make the world feel normal again.
There is just something different about this season. In a normal year, Kyle Busch would have jumped out on the final restart and driven away, or he would have at least run Keselowski down, passed him and driven on to a relatively uneventful victory.
Not this year. This year anybody can win. Keselowski’s win Sunday is the sixth “surprise” win of the season, a win by somebody that doesn’t typically fill up the prerace shows or receive attention once the Chase starts to take shape.
Last year there were only five surprise wins, and that’s if you include Jamie McMurray’s three wins and Juan Pablo Montoya’s win at Watkins Glen.
One would think this crazy stretch of different winners will come to an end soon, but Watkins Glen is often a crap shoot. People may have thought a Penske Racing car might win at Pocono, but that would almost certainly have been Kurt Busch’s #22 car, especially with Keselowski trying to drive with a broken ankle.
Shoot, most people wouldn’t drive their passenger car with a broken ankle, much less spend what turned out to be five-and-a-half hours slogging through 500 miles while driving as fast as possible around one of the most difficult tracks in the country.
The other interesting deal in Sunday’s race was the final laps battle between Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch. They had a great battle, but started beating on each other between turns 1 and 2. That led to a discussion on pit road and a possible feud that could really spice up the rest of the season.
The five-time champion wouldn’t step into a feud late in the year, would he? Well, he’s certainly picked a battle with somebody who doesn’t worry about showing people he’s upset with them. Just think, Johnson and Busch in a tight battle during the Chase. Oh, that would be fun.
Good strategy put Keselowski up front after a rain delay of nearly two hours, but after the rain Keselowski ran a perfect race to bring home his second win of the year after holding off a hard-charging Kyle Busch.
NASCAR couldn’t have asked for a better scenario to play out as the season heads toward the Chase. All of a sudden there are guys like Keselowski, Paul Menard and David Ragan in serious contention for a Chase spot.
That would have been unthinkable in past years. Guys like Greg Biffle and Clint Bowyer are supposed to fill out the Chase field, not newcomers and guys that have been second-tier drivers for several years.
Also, who would’ve guessed Keselowski and Menard would be two of the contenders for the Sprint Summer Showdown? All of a sudden they, a charity and a fan could each have an extra $1 million if they win Labor Day weekend at Atlanta. Maybe a regular suspect will once again grab a win and make the world feel normal again.
There is just something different about this season. In a normal year, Kyle Busch would have jumped out on the final restart and driven away, or he would have at least run Keselowski down, passed him and driven on to a relatively uneventful victory.
Not this year. This year anybody can win. Keselowski’s win Sunday is the sixth “surprise” win of the season, a win by somebody that doesn’t typically fill up the prerace shows or receive attention once the Chase starts to take shape.
Last year there were only five surprise wins, and that’s if you include Jamie McMurray’s three wins and Juan Pablo Montoya’s win at Watkins Glen.
One would think this crazy stretch of different winners will come to an end soon, but Watkins Glen is often a crap shoot. People may have thought a Penske Racing car might win at Pocono, but that would almost certainly have been Kurt Busch’s #22 car, especially with Keselowski trying to drive with a broken ankle.
Shoot, most people wouldn’t drive their passenger car with a broken ankle, much less spend what turned out to be five-and-a-half hours slogging through 500 miles while driving as fast as possible around one of the most difficult tracks in the country.
The other interesting deal in Sunday’s race was the final laps battle between Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch. They had a great battle, but started beating on each other between turns 1 and 2. That led to a discussion on pit road and a possible feud that could really spice up the rest of the season.
The five-time champion wouldn’t step into a feud late in the year, would he? Well, he’s certainly picked a battle with somebody who doesn’t worry about showing people he’s upset with them. Just think, Johnson and Busch in a tight battle during the Chase. Oh, that would be fun.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Edwards stays put, leaves possible seat open at Gibbs
Finally, the first move of the 2011 NASCAR Silly Season happened Thursday, although it turned out not to be a move at all.
After weeks and weeks of speculation, Carl Edwards signed a multiyear deal to remain the driver of the #99 Ford for Roush-Fenway Racing.
However, his decision to stay with his current team might be more surprising than if he left. People knew Edwards’ contract was up at the end of this season, and even as far back as last year the speculation was that Edwards would remain with Roush.
Then Joe Gibbs Racing came into play.
All of a sudden reports started to surface that Edwards was going to sign with Gibbs and possibly take over Joey Logano’s current ride, with Logano moving to a fourth car in the organization.
This would have made for a powerhouse team at Gibbs. The team currently has three of the young guns in the sport with the brightest futures, and Edwards would have immediately shot to the top of that group.
But, Edwards decided to stay with the organization that brought him into NASCAR and might carry him to a championship as early as this November.
Now that Edwards has signed, the rest of the moves can follow. Every year there is one big-time driver everyone waits for to make a move before the rest of the puzzle pieces fit into place. A few years ago it was Tony Stewart starting his own team, then it was Martin Truex Jr. moving to the #56 car and last year it was Kasey Kahne leaving the #9 car.
Since Edwards stayed put, that might open the door for somebody else to hop on as the fourth driver at Gibbs, but it looks like many of the other big-name free agents will follow Edwards’ lead and stay with their current team.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Clint Bowyer are said to be close to finalizing their deals to remain at Hendrick Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing next year. Juan Pablo Montoya will also likely re-sign with Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing.
Still, however unlikely, the option of a fourth car at Gibbs is a possibility, and it would be a steal for a second-tier driver to get in that ride next year.
Right now it looks like all of the main championship contenders will remain in their same colors and with their same teams next year, but the extra car at Gibbs could keep the Silly Season at least a little bit silly.
After weeks and weeks of speculation, Carl Edwards signed a multiyear deal to remain the driver of the #99 Ford for Roush-Fenway Racing.
However, his decision to stay with his current team might be more surprising than if he left. People knew Edwards’ contract was up at the end of this season, and even as far back as last year the speculation was that Edwards would remain with Roush.
Then Joe Gibbs Racing came into play.
All of a sudden reports started to surface that Edwards was going to sign with Gibbs and possibly take over Joey Logano’s current ride, with Logano moving to a fourth car in the organization.
This would have made for a powerhouse team at Gibbs. The team currently has three of the young guns in the sport with the brightest futures, and Edwards would have immediately shot to the top of that group.
But, Edwards decided to stay with the organization that brought him into NASCAR and might carry him to a championship as early as this November.
Now that Edwards has signed, the rest of the moves can follow. Every year there is one big-time driver everyone waits for to make a move before the rest of the puzzle pieces fit into place. A few years ago it was Tony Stewart starting his own team, then it was Martin Truex Jr. moving to the #56 car and last year it was Kasey Kahne leaving the #9 car.
Since Edwards stayed put, that might open the door for somebody else to hop on as the fourth driver at Gibbs, but it looks like many of the other big-name free agents will follow Edwards’ lead and stay with their current team.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Clint Bowyer are said to be close to finalizing their deals to remain at Hendrick Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing next year. Juan Pablo Montoya will also likely re-sign with Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing.
Still, however unlikely, the option of a fourth car at Gibbs is a possibility, and it would be a steal for a second-tier driver to get in that ride next year.
Right now it looks like all of the main championship contenders will remain in their same colors and with their same teams next year, but the extra car at Gibbs could keep the Silly Season at least a little bit silly.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Rating the Toyota/Save Mart 350: 3 Stars ***
After three straight poles, Kurt Busch finished first on the other side of the race Sunday as he dominated another rough race at Sonoma. The first road course race of the season gets a 3 Star Rating.
Teams complained throughout the weekend about a softer tire compound that would make it more difficult to get around the winding racetrack. With that being the case, some teams were bound to hit the setup right while others would struggle throughout the day, and for the most part that is what happened.
However, the #22 team not only hit the setup correctly, but it also kept Busch out of harm’s way by staying out on the first caution after he charged from his 11th place starting spot. After the first caution, Busch was hardly ever outside the top five and led 76 of the 110 laps on his way to victory.
All of a sudden Busch is once again a legitimate contender for the championship. He started out the season well, finishing in the top 10 in the first four races of the season while leading the points, but then the wheels fell off and he had just one top-10 finish in the next seven races.
Now he’s finished in the top 10 in four of the last five races and it looks like the entire Penske organization might have finally found its groove to be competitive week in and week out. The other Penske car, Brad Keselowski’s #2, finished 10th.
After several weeks of ho-hum racing at tracks such as Kansas, Pocono and Michigan, we are back to the part of the season with more different types of tracks.
Sonoma and Daytona are two of the most unusual tracks coming up on the schedule, and while they might look completely different, the racing at the two tracks is relatively similar. Sure, Sonoma is a technical, road-course track where speeds get all the way down to about 30 mph and Daytona is a wide-open superspeedway where drivers hardly touch the brakes, but sometimes the way the races play out is similar.
Road courses often offer several different names in the top 10, cars can get torn up easily and several drivers walk away from the track upset. Well, next week at Daytona might not be too different.
Three of the first five finishers in the Daytona 500 haven’t been back in the top five since February, and David Gilliland is the only one of those who has recorded another top 10 since Daytona. Thirteen drivers officially did not finish the Daytona while only four recorded DNF’s this week, although plenty more had substantial damage.
Overall, the racing at Sonoma wasn’t any more intense this year than it was in 2010. Actually, it was probably a bit less because the tires made driving the car more difficult. Here was another instance where it would really behoove Goodyear to have a tire test before races like this one so we don’t continually have teams surprised by how the tire reacts once they show up to the track.
Anyway, what happened at Sonoma will likely stay at Sonoma. Yes, Kasey Kahne took a shot at Juan Pablo Montoya in his post-race interview, but certainly none of the pushing and shoving will carry over to the high banks next, and it’s unlikely Kahne would intentionally finish off Montoya at a later point. Right now Kahne wouldn’t have much to gain by wrecking Montoya. It would just extend a situation created by, as Kyle Petty put it, a “bonehead move” farther than it ever should.
Enjoy the holiday weekend with racing back at the greatest speedway in the world.
Teams complained throughout the weekend about a softer tire compound that would make it more difficult to get around the winding racetrack. With that being the case, some teams were bound to hit the setup right while others would struggle throughout the day, and for the most part that is what happened.
However, the #22 team not only hit the setup correctly, but it also kept Busch out of harm’s way by staying out on the first caution after he charged from his 11th place starting spot. After the first caution, Busch was hardly ever outside the top five and led 76 of the 110 laps on his way to victory.
All of a sudden Busch is once again a legitimate contender for the championship. He started out the season well, finishing in the top 10 in the first four races of the season while leading the points, but then the wheels fell off and he had just one top-10 finish in the next seven races.
Now he’s finished in the top 10 in four of the last five races and it looks like the entire Penske organization might have finally found its groove to be competitive week in and week out. The other Penske car, Brad Keselowski’s #2, finished 10th.
After several weeks of ho-hum racing at tracks such as Kansas, Pocono and Michigan, we are back to the part of the season with more different types of tracks.
Sonoma and Daytona are two of the most unusual tracks coming up on the schedule, and while they might look completely different, the racing at the two tracks is relatively similar. Sure, Sonoma is a technical, road-course track where speeds get all the way down to about 30 mph and Daytona is a wide-open superspeedway where drivers hardly touch the brakes, but sometimes the way the races play out is similar.
Road courses often offer several different names in the top 10, cars can get torn up easily and several drivers walk away from the track upset. Well, next week at Daytona might not be too different.
Three of the first five finishers in the Daytona 500 haven’t been back in the top five since February, and David Gilliland is the only one of those who has recorded another top 10 since Daytona. Thirteen drivers officially did not finish the Daytona while only four recorded DNF’s this week, although plenty more had substantial damage.
Overall, the racing at Sonoma wasn’t any more intense this year than it was in 2010. Actually, it was probably a bit less because the tires made driving the car more difficult. Here was another instance where it would really behoove Goodyear to have a tire test before races like this one so we don’t continually have teams surprised by how the tire reacts once they show up to the track.
Anyway, what happened at Sonoma will likely stay at Sonoma. Yes, Kasey Kahne took a shot at Juan Pablo Montoya in his post-race interview, but certainly none of the pushing and shoving will carry over to the high banks next, and it’s unlikely Kahne would intentionally finish off Montoya at a later point. Right now Kahne wouldn’t have much to gain by wrecking Montoya. It would just extend a situation created by, as Kyle Petty put it, a “bonehead move” farther than it ever should.
Enjoy the holiday weekend with racing back at the greatest speedway in the world.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Rating the Southern 500: 5 Stars *****
After a start to the season where the Sprint Cup Series drivers and teams minded their manners and forgave any mistakes on the track, Juan Pablo Montoya lit the fuse and the sport has gone wild once again. The 2011 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway was one of the best races the sport has seen and gets an obvious 5 Star Rating.
The first two Saturday night races following the off weekend for Easter were the first two night races of the season, and everybody’s emotions have come alive as the lights came on. They say Saturday night’s alright for fighting, and that has been the motto for several drivers the last two weeks.
Montoya and Ryan Newman had their very public battle at Richmond and in the meeting that followed with NASCAR on Friday, drivers such as Martin Truex Jr. and Kurt Busch lost control of their emotions and snapped with profanity laced rants on their radios at Richmond, and now Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch then met fender-to-fender and face-to-face Saturday for a classic NASCAR showdown.
Harvick had given Busch a few nudges in the waning laps of the race, but then Busch pulled a Montoya move a lap later and intentionally turned Harvick up into the fence. Now, as far as penalties go, I can’t see how NASCAR would justify penalizing Busch, even with probation, after it gave Montoya a free pass after Richmond. These were nearly the exact same incidents. We could argue Montoya should have been penalized in some manner, but NASCAR shouldn’t create a double standard with these two incidents.
In other and much more positive news, Regan Smith and the #78 team finally got a much-deserved victory, and it came in one of the greatest of all NASCAR races. This win ranks right up with Trevor Bayne’s Daytona 500 victory to start the season, maybe even more amazing because the draft doesn’t work at Darlington.
Smith’s crew chief, Pete Rondeau, made one of the best strategy calls of the season when he told Smith to stay out on a caution with just six laps to go while nearly the rest of the lead-lap cars came in for tires. Smith leads the series with an 8.7 average starting position, and the one race he qualifies outside the top 20 is the race he comes back to win.
The race at Darlington kind of summed up what NASCAR is all about. Virtually everybody who runs full-time in the sport has a chance to win. Of all races to predict a surprise winner, the Southern 500 certainly wouldn’t have been even near the top of anybody’s list. Sure, strategy got Smith to the front, but he had made steady progress from his 23rd starting spot to get near the top 10 by the time he stayed out under caution, but he drove the wheels off of his car to hold off Carl Edwards on the final two restarts and definitely deserves to hold that trophy.
Also, it showed that the people in the sport are passionate about what they do and they will battle hard to get to the top each week. There are no longer any restrictions about how the drivers can and can’t act, and it has brought the personality of the sport back.
The races don’t get any easier as the sport heads north to battle the Monster Mile at Dover. This is another demanding race track, and I don’t see any reason why all of this drama won’t continue, unless everybody plays nice on Sundays and only light it up on Saturday nights. Plus, the All-Star race is in two weeks and there will be as much intrigue heading into that race as there has been in a long time, maybe ever. Have a great week everybody, this is good stuff.
The first two Saturday night races following the off weekend for Easter were the first two night races of the season, and everybody’s emotions have come alive as the lights came on. They say Saturday night’s alright for fighting, and that has been the motto for several drivers the last two weeks.
Montoya and Ryan Newman had their very public battle at Richmond and in the meeting that followed with NASCAR on Friday, drivers such as Martin Truex Jr. and Kurt Busch lost control of their emotions and snapped with profanity laced rants on their radios at Richmond, and now Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch then met fender-to-fender and face-to-face Saturday for a classic NASCAR showdown.
Harvick had given Busch a few nudges in the waning laps of the race, but then Busch pulled a Montoya move a lap later and intentionally turned Harvick up into the fence. Now, as far as penalties go, I can’t see how NASCAR would justify penalizing Busch, even with probation, after it gave Montoya a free pass after Richmond. These were nearly the exact same incidents. We could argue Montoya should have been penalized in some manner, but NASCAR shouldn’t create a double standard with these two incidents.
In other and much more positive news, Regan Smith and the #78 team finally got a much-deserved victory, and it came in one of the greatest of all NASCAR races. This win ranks right up with Trevor Bayne’s Daytona 500 victory to start the season, maybe even more amazing because the draft doesn’t work at Darlington.
Smith’s crew chief, Pete Rondeau, made one of the best strategy calls of the season when he told Smith to stay out on a caution with just six laps to go while nearly the rest of the lead-lap cars came in for tires. Smith leads the series with an 8.7 average starting position, and the one race he qualifies outside the top 20 is the race he comes back to win.
The race at Darlington kind of summed up what NASCAR is all about. Virtually everybody who runs full-time in the sport has a chance to win. Of all races to predict a surprise winner, the Southern 500 certainly wouldn’t have been even near the top of anybody’s list. Sure, strategy got Smith to the front, but he had made steady progress from his 23rd starting spot to get near the top 10 by the time he stayed out under caution, but he drove the wheels off of his car to hold off Carl Edwards on the final two restarts and definitely deserves to hold that trophy.
Also, it showed that the people in the sport are passionate about what they do and they will battle hard to get to the top each week. There are no longer any restrictions about how the drivers can and can’t act, and it has brought the personality of the sport back.
The races don’t get any easier as the sport heads north to battle the Monster Mile at Dover. This is another demanding race track, and I don’t see any reason why all of this drama won’t continue, unless everybody plays nice on Sundays and only light it up on Saturday nights. Plus, the All-Star race is in two weeks and there will be as much intrigue heading into that race as there has been in a long time, maybe ever. Have a great week everybody, this is good stuff.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Rating the Matthew and Daniel Hansen 400: 3 Stars ***
The Sprint Cup Series rolled into Richmond Saturday night for the final short-track race of the first half of the season. A quiet first half of the race and a loud second half that included six of the eight cautions adds up to a 3 Star Rating.
Maybe the drivers and teams were just dipping their collective toes into the water during the first half of the event. As is typical in a race where a bunch of big-name drivers qualify in the back, most of the drivers who started at the front fell back while others came forward, including the two leading Joe Gibbs Racing cars of Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin. Both made steady progress toward the front and by the time the racing began to heat up, they were in front of the craziness.
Staying on the lead lap throughout the long green-flag stretches was crucial because more than half of the was already a lap down by the time Ryan Newman got into the back of Juan Pablo Montoya coming out of Turn 2 on lap 103, and teams had to work some creative strategies to try and get back in contention.
The Richmond races are generally some of the more confusing races during the season because of the size of the track and how the pit strategy usually works out, but that has been enhanced recently because of new rules, including the lucky dog and wave-around rules. With the pit window around 90-105 laps, teams can short pit or stay out when a rash of cautions breaks out as it did between laps 238-314 when Matt Kenseth, Jeff Burton and even Newman made appearances at or near the front of the field.
Eventually the strongest cars made their way back to the front, however, and it was another Gibbs show for the final quarter of the race as Busch and Hamlin checked out and stretched their fuel mileage to the end.
As for Newman, the battles between him and Montoya were the most heated of any we’ve seen this season. It would have been remarkable to get through Bristol, Martinsville and Richmond without a little bad blood developing, and there certainly is now between these two teams.
Both drivers handled the situation fairly well after the race though as they avoided fisticuffs or a shouting match in the garage area. Immediately after the race, Newman went to NASCAR to discuss the situation while Montoya pulled a bit of a Kyle Busch move as he blew off reporters and took a quick golf cart ride out of the track.
It will be interesting to see how this situation is handled. Montoya made a move very similar to the one Carl Edwards made on Brad Keselowski last year at Atlanta and sent Keselowski flying into the fence. NASCAR put Edwards on probation for the rest of the year and should do the same here. The penalty should not be based solely on the result of the driver’s actions. Yes, Keselowski’s wreck was much more spectacular and dangerous looking, but Edwards didn’t expect to send Keselowski flying when he wrecked him just as Montoya didn’t expect to flip Newman.
The severity of the wreck shouldn’t be a factor because each wreck has the potential to be dangerous. Had Montoya gotten to Newman going into Turn 3 rather than coming out of Turn 4, Newman could have easily ended up in the same position as Jeff Gordon, who slammed driver-side first into the inside wall, which did not have a SAFER barrier.
That brings up another point. Why do we have to wait for somebody to wreck in an unsafe part of the track before improvements are made? Gordon found an unprotected wall at Las Vegas a few years back, and he and a few other drivers found another one at Watkins Glen. Even Pocono waited too late to improve the safety of its track after Kasey Kahne went over the wall on the backstretch last spring. Had the track been more proactive, it may have been able to avoid the Kahne incident, as well as Elliot Sadler’s wreck last fall when he hit the inside barrier nose-first and knocked the engine out of the car.
Anyway, next week it’s on to the racetrack with the best nicknames in the sport. The Lady in Black will be Too Tough to Tame during the Southern 500 the evening before Mother’s Day. Any race at Darlington is a fun one, and there’s no reason to think this one will be any different.
Maybe the drivers and teams were just dipping their collective toes into the water during the first half of the event. As is typical in a race where a bunch of big-name drivers qualify in the back, most of the drivers who started at the front fell back while others came forward, including the two leading Joe Gibbs Racing cars of Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin. Both made steady progress toward the front and by the time the racing began to heat up, they were in front of the craziness.
Staying on the lead lap throughout the long green-flag stretches was crucial because more than half of the was already a lap down by the time Ryan Newman got into the back of Juan Pablo Montoya coming out of Turn 2 on lap 103, and teams had to work some creative strategies to try and get back in contention.
The Richmond races are generally some of the more confusing races during the season because of the size of the track and how the pit strategy usually works out, but that has been enhanced recently because of new rules, including the lucky dog and wave-around rules. With the pit window around 90-105 laps, teams can short pit or stay out when a rash of cautions breaks out as it did between laps 238-314 when Matt Kenseth, Jeff Burton and even Newman made appearances at or near the front of the field.
Eventually the strongest cars made their way back to the front, however, and it was another Gibbs show for the final quarter of the race as Busch and Hamlin checked out and stretched their fuel mileage to the end.
As for Newman, the battles between him and Montoya were the most heated of any we’ve seen this season. It would have been remarkable to get through Bristol, Martinsville and Richmond without a little bad blood developing, and there certainly is now between these two teams.
Both drivers handled the situation fairly well after the race though as they avoided fisticuffs or a shouting match in the garage area. Immediately after the race, Newman went to NASCAR to discuss the situation while Montoya pulled a bit of a Kyle Busch move as he blew off reporters and took a quick golf cart ride out of the track.
It will be interesting to see how this situation is handled. Montoya made a move very similar to the one Carl Edwards made on Brad Keselowski last year at Atlanta and sent Keselowski flying into the fence. NASCAR put Edwards on probation for the rest of the year and should do the same here. The penalty should not be based solely on the result of the driver’s actions. Yes, Keselowski’s wreck was much more spectacular and dangerous looking, but Edwards didn’t expect to send Keselowski flying when he wrecked him just as Montoya didn’t expect to flip Newman.
The severity of the wreck shouldn’t be a factor because each wreck has the potential to be dangerous. Had Montoya gotten to Newman going into Turn 3 rather than coming out of Turn 4, Newman could have easily ended up in the same position as Jeff Gordon, who slammed driver-side first into the inside wall, which did not have a SAFER barrier.
That brings up another point. Why do we have to wait for somebody to wreck in an unsafe part of the track before improvements are made? Gordon found an unprotected wall at Las Vegas a few years back, and he and a few other drivers found another one at Watkins Glen. Even Pocono waited too late to improve the safety of its track after Kasey Kahne went over the wall on the backstretch last spring. Had the track been more proactive, it may have been able to avoid the Kahne incident, as well as Elliot Sadler’s wreck last fall when he hit the inside barrier nose-first and knocked the engine out of the car.
Anyway, next week it’s on to the racetrack with the best nicknames in the sport. The Lady in Black will be Too Tough to Tame during the Southern 500 the evening before Mother’s Day. Any race at Darlington is a fun one, and there’s no reason to think this one will be any different.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Rating the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen: 2 Stars **
After the long trek that was the race at Pocono a week ago, the race at the Glen Sunday finished in nearly half the time. But, half the time did not mean twice the excitement; the top six finishers were in the top six nearly all 90 laps. The final road course race of the season gets a 2 Star Rating.
On a positive note, Juan Pablo Montoya’s victory was huge for himself and the entire #42 team, including his crew chief, Brian Pattie. The season has been a struggle for this team, and lately it seemed every call Pattie made turned out in a negative fashion. Sometimes the world seems lined up against someone, and Pattie has been fighting it for the past month or so.
However, this week everything came out perfectly for Pattie and the #42 team. Plus, Chip Ganassi’s magical year continues as he adds not only another win in 2010, but he also became the first car owner in NASCAR to have each of his teams win a race this season. This marks the first time an owner has accomplished such a feat since Roger Penske, of all people, did it with Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch in 2008. No matter where the #42 and #1 end up in the final standings, this has been a special season for the Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing organization.
As for the race itself, the battle between Montoya and Marcos Ambrose early in the race was as good as it gets on a road course. Two of the best road course drivers in NASCAR were going at it as hard as possible. For Ambrose, although he didn’t win, this was still a very successful weekend. A win in the Nationwide race and third in the Cup race is something many drivers would consider a dream weekend. And, if Ambrose does stay in NASCAR and makes a move to the #9 car, he is still going to have an excellent chance to win races in his career.
The theme of the 2010 season has been drivers’ battles on the track that lead to heated moments off of it. This week Boris Said and Tony Stewart, along with Jeff Burton and Kyle Busch, came home with different views of how the race went Sunday. Said and Stewart locked horns coming out of Turn 1, and Stewart spun Said into the fence. Later in the race, Busch and Burton, now in their third spat this season, collided as Busch tried to push the issue out of Turn 6, nudged Burton into Jimmie Johnson and spun the #48 out.
Overall, the racing for much of this season has been better than in past years, and now we have a battle for the final spot in the Chase on our hands. Mark Martin and Clint Bowyer are now separated by only 10 points with four races until the cutoff. It never fails. If NASCAR set the limit at 25 drivers in the Chase, the battle for that 25th spot would be as tight as any throughout the standings.
Next week things straighten out as the series moves to Michigan. Expect plenty of green-flag racing with a possibility of a fuel-mileage finish. There haven’t been many fuel-mileage races this season with all of the late cautions. That just means we’re due for one right about now, and Michigan seems to be the last realistic chance of such a finish before the Chase begins.
On a positive note, Juan Pablo Montoya’s victory was huge for himself and the entire #42 team, including his crew chief, Brian Pattie. The season has been a struggle for this team, and lately it seemed every call Pattie made turned out in a negative fashion. Sometimes the world seems lined up against someone, and Pattie has been fighting it for the past month or so.
However, this week everything came out perfectly for Pattie and the #42 team. Plus, Chip Ganassi’s magical year continues as he adds not only another win in 2010, but he also became the first car owner in NASCAR to have each of his teams win a race this season. This marks the first time an owner has accomplished such a feat since Roger Penske, of all people, did it with Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch in 2008. No matter where the #42 and #1 end up in the final standings, this has been a special season for the Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing organization.
As for the race itself, the battle between Montoya and Marcos Ambrose early in the race was as good as it gets on a road course. Two of the best road course drivers in NASCAR were going at it as hard as possible. For Ambrose, although he didn’t win, this was still a very successful weekend. A win in the Nationwide race and third in the Cup race is something many drivers would consider a dream weekend. And, if Ambrose does stay in NASCAR and makes a move to the #9 car, he is still going to have an excellent chance to win races in his career.
The theme of the 2010 season has been drivers’ battles on the track that lead to heated moments off of it. This week Boris Said and Tony Stewart, along with Jeff Burton and Kyle Busch, came home with different views of how the race went Sunday. Said and Stewart locked horns coming out of Turn 1, and Stewart spun Said into the fence. Later in the race, Busch and Burton, now in their third spat this season, collided as Busch tried to push the issue out of Turn 6, nudged Burton into Jimmie Johnson and spun the #48 out.
Overall, the racing for much of this season has been better than in past years, and now we have a battle for the final spot in the Chase on our hands. Mark Martin and Clint Bowyer are now separated by only 10 points with four races until the cutoff. It never fails. If NASCAR set the limit at 25 drivers in the Chase, the battle for that 25th spot would be as tight as any throughout the standings.
Next week things straighten out as the series moves to Michigan. Expect plenty of green-flag racing with a possibility of a fuel-mileage finish. There haven’t been many fuel-mileage races this season with all of the late cautions. That just means we’re due for one right about now, and Michigan seems to be the last realistic chance of such a finish before the Chase begins.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Rating the Brickyard 400: 3 Stars ***
With the mid-summer break behind it, the Sprint Cup Series got back on track at the most famous and historic track in the world. As with any special track, she giveth and she taketh away, and Juan Pablo Montoya has been well-versed in that lesson. The Brickyard 400 gets a 3 Star Rating.
Things got wild early as seven cars couldn’t make it through the first two corners without sustaining damage. Kyle Busch and Sam Hornish Jr. got together and clogged the entire track for everyone behind them. Then, on the next run it seemed like nearly half the field had to come down pit road under green to wipe grass off the grill because Busch and a few other cars slid through the grass during the wreck and cars were clipping the loose, wet grass.
After the big lap 1 wreck, things settled down and Montoya took his rightful place at the front of the field at Indy. But, his day was not an easy one. He needed a debris caution early in the race to remain up front because he had a tire start to come apart. Then, once he was back in pit sequence with the leaders, he and Greg Biffle drove away from the field. Had the race stayed green, Montoya or Biffle probably would have kissed the bricks Sunday.
The worst was still to come for Montoya, however. Surprisingly, on the final debris caution of the day, six drivers took only two tires on what would be the final pit stop. Montoya was not one of them. With 22 laps to go, Montoya restarted seventh and four laps after the restart, he was in the fence. He finished 32nd.
Sometimes a track is just mean to a particular driver, and the Brickyard is certainly been that way to Montoya, which is ironic given the previous success he has at the track. His crew chief, Brian Pattie, felt like he had made the wrong call to take four tires on the final stop. But, he would not have had much to gain if he’d taken two tires. The way the tires were falling off this weekend, 22 laps was going to be a long time to try and hold off anyone who took four tires. I still think Pattie made the smart call with so many laps left and his driver in the lead. Unfortunately, things beyond his control ruined the team’s day.
For the other half of the Chip Ganassi team, Jamie McMurray had his second-greatest day of 2010. He sure has come up big in the big races this year. He won the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400, and he came in a close second in the Coca-Cola 600. For the first time in his career, McMurray is truly a factor this season. Yes, he nearly made the Chase in 2004 and 2005, but he didn’t win races those years. Whether he makes the Chase or not, McMurray has had a very good season. Plus, the fact that he changed teams in the offseason makes it all the more remarkable, considering how dismal he performed at Roush-Fenway Racing.
Finally, congratulations to Ganassi. To win Daytona and both races at the Brickyard is pretty amazing. And, he didn’t back into any of them. He actually had a better chance of winning with Montoya this week, but when he crashed there was another driver ready to take the point. That is a unique feat that has made Ganassi’s year a big success no matter what happens the rest of the way.
So, the final race of July is in the books and now it’s time to visit tracks for a second time. The series will head back to Pocono and Michigan with Watkins Glen in the middle. This usually isn’t a great stretch of races, and Denny Hamlin will probably win again next week at Pocono, but at least its Cup racing. That off week seemed to take forever. Glad there is only one more of those left this season. Have a great week everybody.
Things got wild early as seven cars couldn’t make it through the first two corners without sustaining damage. Kyle Busch and Sam Hornish Jr. got together and clogged the entire track for everyone behind them. Then, on the next run it seemed like nearly half the field had to come down pit road under green to wipe grass off the grill because Busch and a few other cars slid through the grass during the wreck and cars were clipping the loose, wet grass.
After the big lap 1 wreck, things settled down and Montoya took his rightful place at the front of the field at Indy. But, his day was not an easy one. He needed a debris caution early in the race to remain up front because he had a tire start to come apart. Then, once he was back in pit sequence with the leaders, he and Greg Biffle drove away from the field. Had the race stayed green, Montoya or Biffle probably would have kissed the bricks Sunday.
The worst was still to come for Montoya, however. Surprisingly, on the final debris caution of the day, six drivers took only two tires on what would be the final pit stop. Montoya was not one of them. With 22 laps to go, Montoya restarted seventh and four laps after the restart, he was in the fence. He finished 32nd.
Sometimes a track is just mean to a particular driver, and the Brickyard is certainly been that way to Montoya, which is ironic given the previous success he has at the track. His crew chief, Brian Pattie, felt like he had made the wrong call to take four tires on the final stop. But, he would not have had much to gain if he’d taken two tires. The way the tires were falling off this weekend, 22 laps was going to be a long time to try and hold off anyone who took four tires. I still think Pattie made the smart call with so many laps left and his driver in the lead. Unfortunately, things beyond his control ruined the team’s day.
For the other half of the Chip Ganassi team, Jamie McMurray had his second-greatest day of 2010. He sure has come up big in the big races this year. He won the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400, and he came in a close second in the Coca-Cola 600. For the first time in his career, McMurray is truly a factor this season. Yes, he nearly made the Chase in 2004 and 2005, but he didn’t win races those years. Whether he makes the Chase or not, McMurray has had a very good season. Plus, the fact that he changed teams in the offseason makes it all the more remarkable, considering how dismal he performed at Roush-Fenway Racing.
Finally, congratulations to Ganassi. To win Daytona and both races at the Brickyard is pretty amazing. And, he didn’t back into any of them. He actually had a better chance of winning with Montoya this week, but when he crashed there was another driver ready to take the point. That is a unique feat that has made Ganassi’s year a big success no matter what happens the rest of the way.
So, the final race of July is in the books and now it’s time to visit tracks for a second time. The series will head back to Pocono and Michigan with Watkins Glen in the middle. This usually isn’t a great stretch of races, and Denny Hamlin will probably win again next week at Pocono, but at least its Cup racing. That off week seemed to take forever. Glad there is only one more of those left this season. Have a great week everybody.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Rating the Lenox Industrial Tools 301: 3 Stars ***
The Sprint Cup Series got back to normal Sunday on the oval in New Hampshire. For the most part, the rivalries among drives simmered under the surface for the time being. So, with a few touches of action late in the day, the June race at the Magic Mile squeaks out a 3 Star Rating.
One of the bright spots of Sunday’s race was the record-setting time between cautions. Without the water-bottle caution on lap 34, the race would have gone green up until lap 235, more than two-thirds of the way through the race. The 201 laps in between the first two cautions was a record for most consecutive green-flag laps at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Unfortunately, at that track, sometimes green-flag racing is as exciting as caution laps some other places. I’ve said for a long time, the best thing about New Hampshire is that Daytona is next.
As for the paybacks that many expected, nothing really materialized. Reed Sorenson made sure he got mentioned during the race, as he took out Juan Pablo Montoya and pretty much put the nail in the coffin of Montoya’s Chase hopes.
As far as rough racing goes in general, Mark Martin said before the race to expect more and more rough driving as the season progresses. There have been rough races every few weeks, but these cars are tough and the pressure to perform will only get greater as the season progresses. Plus, drivers such as Montoya will be plenty frustrated that their season is basically over. So far this has been a good season, and things are shaping up for the second half to continue that trend.
Before the second half of the season begins, NASCAR will take one final spin around the Daytona International Speedway before it is repaved. For those who like a strung-out restrictor plate race, this may be the final chance to enjoy that excitement for a while. When the series returns for Speedweeks next year the surface will be pristine and I expect packs at Daytona the size the sport has never seen outside of Talladega.
First, however, the best race of the summer part of the schedule will take place Saturday, and Friday will feature Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the #3. Also, the Nationwide Series unveils its new car platform. These cars are sweet, and their influence on the Cup cars should make those much better. At this point next year the COT car that began this season will look like an antique, thankfully.
O yeah, Jimmie Johnson won the race Sunday. Congratulations. He used the bump-and-run, which was nice, but it was hard to envision him not getting back around Kurt Busch to win that race.
Seriously, though, Johnson is putting together a remarkable career. In 10 years the NASCAR population will think of him along with the absolute best in the sport, and he will be treated as such. Jeff Gordon, except for Sonoma, has started to be recognized and those heated boos 10 years ago have turned into respectful applause. The same will happen with Johnson.
So, don’t hate the #48 too much, because eventually many fans will be telling their kids and grandkids that they saw the great Jimmie Johnson race. But, the fact that they didn’t appreciate him when he was winning will be pushed under the rug.
Anyway, next week is always one of the best weeks of the year. Daytona has a mystique unlike any other race track, and it feels like the sport is home whenever the race weekend comes along. Hopefully, the racing will be fantastic. The large restrictor plates could really make things interesting under the lights the night before our country’s birthday. Happy July 4th weekend everybody. Have a great week.
One of the bright spots of Sunday’s race was the record-setting time between cautions. Without the water-bottle caution on lap 34, the race would have gone green up until lap 235, more than two-thirds of the way through the race. The 201 laps in between the first two cautions was a record for most consecutive green-flag laps at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Unfortunately, at that track, sometimes green-flag racing is as exciting as caution laps some other places. I’ve said for a long time, the best thing about New Hampshire is that Daytona is next.
As for the paybacks that many expected, nothing really materialized. Reed Sorenson made sure he got mentioned during the race, as he took out Juan Pablo Montoya and pretty much put the nail in the coffin of Montoya’s Chase hopes.
As far as rough racing goes in general, Mark Martin said before the race to expect more and more rough driving as the season progresses. There have been rough races every few weeks, but these cars are tough and the pressure to perform will only get greater as the season progresses. Plus, drivers such as Montoya will be plenty frustrated that their season is basically over. So far this has been a good season, and things are shaping up for the second half to continue that trend.
Before the second half of the season begins, NASCAR will take one final spin around the Daytona International Speedway before it is repaved. For those who like a strung-out restrictor plate race, this may be the final chance to enjoy that excitement for a while. When the series returns for Speedweeks next year the surface will be pristine and I expect packs at Daytona the size the sport has never seen outside of Talladega.
First, however, the best race of the summer part of the schedule will take place Saturday, and Friday will feature Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the #3. Also, the Nationwide Series unveils its new car platform. These cars are sweet, and their influence on the Cup cars should make those much better. At this point next year the COT car that began this season will look like an antique, thankfully.
O yeah, Jimmie Johnson won the race Sunday. Congratulations. He used the bump-and-run, which was nice, but it was hard to envision him not getting back around Kurt Busch to win that race.
Seriously, though, Johnson is putting together a remarkable career. In 10 years the NASCAR population will think of him along with the absolute best in the sport, and he will be treated as such. Jeff Gordon, except for Sonoma, has started to be recognized and those heated boos 10 years ago have turned into respectful applause. The same will happen with Johnson.
So, don’t hate the #48 too much, because eventually many fans will be telling their kids and grandkids that they saw the great Jimmie Johnson race. But, the fact that they didn’t appreciate him when he was winning will be pushed under the rug.
Anyway, next week is always one of the best weeks of the year. Daytona has a mystique unlike any other race track, and it feels like the sport is home whenever the race weekend comes along. Hopefully, the racing will be fantastic. The large restrictor plates could really make things interesting under the lights the night before our country’s birthday. Happy July 4th weekend everybody. Have a great week.
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