matt kenseth

NASCAR – Newman Snatches the Win From Gordon’s Dominance at Martinsville

April 2, 2012 by

Ryan Newman (seen here on the track at Las Vegas) came from a lap down to win the race in Martinsville.

326 laps lead. Fastest car on the track all day. Dominance on every restart. Then came the first attempt at a Green White Checkered finish. Jeff Gordon was sure he had it won, but on the first attempt to finish under green, both Gordon and Johnson had slow restarts allowing Clint Bowyer to get under them and make a pass attempt, which erupted into chaos as Gordon was pushed up the track into Johnson causing all 3 cars to wreck, and allowing Ryan Newman to pass in the melee along with A.J. Allmendinger and Dale Earnhardt Jr. In what has become the typical Martinsville finish, the final pass to win the race came with under 4 laps to go.

Newman had been running inside the top 10 during the early stages of the race, but had fallen off the lead lap due to a pit road speeding penalty. As the race worn down to the final laps however Newman earned a free pass to get back on to the lead lap. A little bit of pit strategy and he was back in contention, running inside the top 10 again. Then as the first GWC restart happened Newman found himself in 5th position on the grid, and as it turned out, sitting in the cat bird seat when the fireworks started. As Bowyer slid up into Gordon, pushing Gordon into Johnson, Newman took advantage and passed them all on the bottom of the track bringing A.J. Allmendinger and Dale Jr. along with him through the mess.

“I felt like I wasn’t racing AJ on that restart — I felt like I was racing Junior behind me,” said Newman. “It was really important to me to not spin my tires and get a good start and race AJ and try to eliminate the No. 88 [Earnhardt] from the race for the win.”

Allmendinger raced Newman and Earnhardt Jr clean at the end resulting in a second place finish for the #22 Penske Dodge.

Allmendinger, Earnhardt Jr., and Newman raced each other clean to the end.

“He ran me really clean,” Allmendinger said. “He didn’t shove me up the race track like he could have. He gave me the opportunity to beat him on the outside there. We were just not turning good enough in the center [of the corners] there on the restart.

“But we had a shot at it. That’s all you can ask for.”

Allmendinger had decided to play by the unwritten racing Golden Rule…’Race teh other driver the way he is racing you’. Running clean and racing to the finish instead of forcing the issue and driving dirty for the win.

“That’s not the way I want to win a race,” Allmendinger said.

“[Newman] did everything clean on the restart. He could have drove me off the race track, and if he would have done that then it’s kind of like, ‘OK, it’s game on.’ But he gave me all the chances that I could to go beat him.”

“We came off the white [flag] side by side and he rolled [Turns] 1 and 2 really good, and that was it,” Allmendinger said. “You race people how they race you. And if he would have just drove into the corner, [run into the] left side of me and got me out of the way, then I would have probably run into him. He didn’t do that and he didn’t deserve to get wrecked.”

“For the way we ran all weekend even if the yellow wouldn’t have come out, we would have finished eighth where we were running — I was going to be happy because we were a top 10 car all day,” Allmendinger said. “We worked our way up there and did all the right things. From 27th on, from where we started, we didn’t have any fender damage. We were clean. I was going to be happy with that. At the end, you get a little bit lucky on a restart and you have a chance.”

Dale Jr had a great car all day long, staying inside the top 10 for most of the day, ending the day with a 3rd on the track and second overall in points.

Dale Earnhardt Jr looked good throughout the race, never really falling back too far and staying in the mix for the top 10 all day long.

“Yeah I’m really happy with our finish. We worked really hard all day, all weekend really, we worked hard to obviously get the best finish that we could. This is our first race with AMP on the hood so I’m real proud to get a good finish for those guys. Really, the race, the car was good on the long runs, we obviously drove up there and passed Jeff for the lead, and then at the end of the race we overcome a bad pitstop and drove back into the top three. So the car was really good on the long run speeds, we didn’t have enough short run speed to run with a lot of people in the first 20 laps or so but after lap 45 or more the car was really great, really comfortable and would do whatever I wanted it to do. It was a really fun racecar and this is a really fun race track, and I was enjoying how everything was playing out there, right up until the end. We tore both sides of the car there at the end and that felt really unnecessary.”

“Now that I think about it, the leaders had old tires, more than a 100 laps on them, the guys behind them had new tires at least on one side of their cars. Well all took of and ran into the backs of the leaders, all of us. Clint went to the inside and that was his perogative man, he was going for the win. I thought it was a good move, but there just wasn’t enough room for the three of them down there in the corner and all of them got together.”

“It’s disappointing for us to run as well as we did and not finish up there, I know Jeff is especially disappointed because of the way his season is going so far. Jimmie is trying to climb back into it, and they both had winning cars all day.”

With the third place finish at Martinsville, Jr. finds himself in second in points now only 6 points out of first. Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. are tied in points for the third position which will of course be adjusted by the number of wins and last season’s points position to give us the current positioning.

Next weekend brings us to the first race break of the season for the Easter holiday festivities. The next race on teh schedule will take us to Texas for the first Saturday Night under the lights race of the 2012 season.

Filed Under: A.J. Allmendinger, Goodys Fast Relief 500, jeff gordon, jimmie-johnson, kevin-harvick, Martin Truex Jr., Martinsville Speedway, matt kenseth, Motorsport, Nascar, Ryan Newman, tony-stewart

NASCAR – Kesolowski Wins Again At Bristol Despite Timing Changes – MWR Has Their Best Team Finish Ever

March 19, 2012 by

Brad Kesolowski's #2 Miller Lite Dodge proved to be the fastest at Bristol as he takes his second career Checkered flag at this track

When Brad Kesolowski won the race in Bristol in August 2011 almost everyone you talked to about it said it was because of how he took advantage of the timing lines on pit road and that his car was not good enough for the win, myself included. So NASCAR made changes to the timing lines, and Kesolowski went out to prove that he could win even without that advantage, and he did by winning the 2012 Food City 500 after leading the final 111 laps and holding off Matt Kenseth right up to the end. with a margin of almost 6 full car lengths at the finish line, Kesolowski proved how fast his #2 Miller Lite, Penske Racing Dodge, really was.

“I got on Twitter, and I got kind of PO’d at some people that said I won it because of the timing line,” Keselowski said. “I knew this Blue Deuce was fast enough to win the race last fall with or without timing lines. It feels so good just to prove it here in the spring race.

“This car here, this brand-new car that Penske Racing built — everybody back at the shop did a phenomenal job. The last few races have been really good, and I knew we had a shot at winning one if we closed the deal.”

“Matt didn’t make it easy,” said Kesolowski. ”That’s his job, to not make it easy on me. He raced me hard; I raced him hard, rubbed a little bit. That’s good racing.”

Matt Kenseth finshed second in Bristol in his #17 Roush Racing Ford.

Kenseth in his #17 Best Buy Ford, who finished second, felt he may have had a chance on the final restart if Kesolowski has chosen the bottom line.

”If I’d have been on the top, maybe I could have pinned him down there,” Kenseth said. ”But on old tires, I knew he was going to choose the top.”

“Yeah, he screwed that up,” Kenseth said, joking about the lane choice. “He should have started on the bottom for me. Unfortunately, he didn’t. I don’t know. I couldn’t run on the bottom, and Brad was really strong on the bottom of 1 and 2.

“I was thinking I could run outside of him, but he would roll through there so fast you could never get a run on him. I think he liked the bottom of 1 and 2, but I could never get around on the bottom of 1 and 2, so that was the right thing to do, to start on the top and leave me on the bottom — for him.”

Martin Truex finished 3rd and led his team to a 3-4-5 finish in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motorspeedway.

Michael Waltrip Racing had a banner day with all three of their cars finishing top 5. The 56 of Martin Truex Jr finished third followed by teammates Clint Bowyer in the #15 5 Hour Energy machine, and Brian Vickers making his return to racing in 5th in the #55 Aaron’s Dream Machine which he shares with Mark Martin this year.

“It was a great day for us. The only way it could have been better would have been to have the cars run one-two-three,” said Scott Miller, executive vice president of competition at MWR. “It was just a super-good day for us.”

“It’s been a long time coming,” Truex said. “I told a lot of people in the off season that we’ve done a lot of things to make our team better. We had a great end to the year last year and we’ve really just been carrying that momentum. I’ve got a lot of confidence in my team right now — and obviously we’ve got good race cars. That makes our job a lot easier.”

Clint Bowyer put a lot of emphasis on the team success over his personal finish. Having moved to the #15 car this year when RCR could not find the funding to run a 4th car full time in 2012, Bowyer moved from Chevy to Toyota with MWR and has not seemed to lose any momentum in the changes.

“The 56 bunch had a really good package for this race last year. We elected to go with that and it paid off pretty good,” Bowyer said.

An excellent return to the race track for Brian Vickers as he earned a 5th place finish in his first race in the 2012 season

Brian Vickers, however, was the talk of the garage. After losing his ride last yet to a combination of time off recovering from an illness, and a team pulling out of the sport, Vickers was left without a ride at the end of the 2011 season. In his first on track showing this year however he took a 25th place qualifying effort and turned it into a top 5 result. Vickers even led the second most laps of the race with 125, second only to the eventual winner Brad Kesolowski’s 232 laps led.

“It felt really good when we were out there leading,” Vickers said. “It would have been awesome to hold onto that, but it was my first time back so I can’t complain.

“What an organization. I’m so proud to be a part of getting all three cars in the top five. I can’t thank [team owners]Michael Waltrip and Rob Kauffmann and everyone at MWR enough. I don’t know those two guys that well, but I can tell a lot about them by the group of people they’ve assembled and the team they’ve built. What an incredible organization.”

Other notable names had mixed results in their finishes. Tony Stewart was unable to find the handle on his car this week and ended up 14th. Dale Earnhardt Jr was in the top 5 all day long, but on the final pit stop of the day Jr was caught speeding on pit road entry and was sent to the back of the lead lap as punishment. Unable to make up spots in traffic Jr finished as the last car on the lead lap in 15th place and dropped 2 positions in the points to 6th. Jeff Gordon and Dale Jr had an on track incident which was blown out of proportion by most of the fans and media. What was actually a minor rub on the track ended with Gordon cutting a tire on Earnhardt Jr’s tailpipe relegating the #24 car to a lackluster 35th place finish. While the media made a big deal out of Gordon’s initial comments, Gordon himself noted afterwards that it wasn’t intentional, wasn’t even a hard knock, and was simply a racing incident, the kind of thing one expects to happen at Bristol.

Filed Under: Brad Kesolowski, Bristol, Bristol Motorspeedway, clint bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Food City 500, matt kenseth, Motorsport, Nascar, tony-stewart

NASCAR – Matt Kenseth Wins The Raintona Firehundred in Daytona – Montoya Starts The 2012 Season With A Bang

February 29, 2012 by

The Daytona 500 that no one will ever forget ran finally after a 30 hour rain delay. In a race that had never before in 54 years been postponed by rain, the green flag flew on a Monday for the first time in history proving that Mother Nature really is not a fan of Motorsports. A race that was destined to break new ground by including the first woman driver in the history of the race. A race that many were worried would never start in the first place. A race that once it finally did start, the fans were wondering if it was ever going to finish. The fans had returned to the coliseum in record numbers to watch the long awaited starting race for the 2012 season and they weathered storms, rain delays, and even a firey crash and a 2 hour red flag clean up, and they stayed into the wee hours of Tuesday morning to see it through to completion.

The carnage started early when Jimmie Johnson got loose on lap 2, thanks to a love tap from Elliot Sadler, which sent him nose first into the wall in turn 2, collecting the 21 of Trevor Bayne, the 10 of Danica Patrick, the 51 of Kurt Busch, and the 34 of David Ragan, bringing out the first of 12 caution flags to wave over the Great American Race.

On Lap 13 Ryan Newman got loose all by himself on the back stretch after blowing out his right rear tire, spinning towards the inside wall but regained control and was able to keep it off the wall, and most importantly, on the lead lap.

Once everyone got the jitters out of their systems the race settled down and the fan were treated to a return of the pack racing of old. No more 2 car dances going on all over the track, this is what the fans came to see. An old school pack race, with 43 cars all trying to out manouver each other, chasing the glory and even a mid race bonus of $200000. Martin Truex Jr scored the midway prize .

Between lap 65 and 70 some of the cars from the lap 2 crash began to return to the track. Trevor Bayne brought his battered #21 Wood Brothers From back to the stage as did Danica Patrick, both prepared to run with the pack and keep the DNF column clear. Why would they return more than 60 laps down you ask?

“Every lap that I turn is a progression, that’s for sure,” Patrick said on pit road after the race. “That’s why I was so proud of everyone working so hard — and they were working hard — to get me back on the track. There wasn’t much to gain, as far as position-wise, but what there was to gain was for me to get the experience of running out there.”

“I’ve got to get further up the grid [because] the further you are up front, the less things happen,” Patrick said of her three days of wrecks. “Every time the accident happened I was further back in the field. The further up front you are the better off you are — but then again, you need that experience to get further up front, which is what I’m trying to get.”

“So I’m sure this is not new territory for a new driver, I just wish it could have gone better for everybody that was so excited — especially the fans. It was great to see them cheering all the way around the track, even when we were parked on the back straight [under a red flag with 40 laps to go]. But it would have been nice to have a solid finish.”

The on track action continued in the second half and it was just as unpredictable and crazy as the first half, if not even more so.

Jeff Gordon blew his engine in a flaming and spectacular fashion, pulling out of line and waving the other drivers by just before a complete catastrophic failure, flames billowing out either side of the engine from the fuel and oil spraying on the engine block, as Gordon managed to get the car off the track without further incident.

Lead changes were not happening as we had seen in pack racing of old. The outside line just did not seem to be able to catch the leaders. Running about 5 or 6 cars back the lead car on the outside line just never seemed to be able to make up the distance to challenge the front pack of 5 or 6 cars. The exception to this rule was Denny Hamlin being pushed by Jeff Burton, and it only happened once.

Then came the fireworks. On lap 160 Juan Pablo Montoya was returning to the track after a pit stop to try to correct a vibration he was feeling in the car. As he brought the #42 Target car up to speed to catch the pack which was running under caution, something broke in the rear end of the car and it slid towards the outside wall. Unfortunately the jet dryers which were removing the moisture from the track which had brought out the caution flag, were on the track and between Montoya and the wall. Slamming into the Jet Dryer at 150 mph the ensuing explosion was incredible to say the least. Montoya’s car exploded first, throwing car parts everywhere on the track and causing Montoya to come to rest on the infield grass, his car reduced to nothing more than a shell, as he walked away from it unharmed. The Jet dryer however did not get off as lightly. The driver of the jet dryer was helped from his truck and away from the flaming wreck as 200 gallons of Jet fuel, used to fuel the Helicopter Turbine engine, poured down the race track and ignited. The fire crews were on hand immediately and kept the fire from getting out of hand, putting it out as soon as the jet fuel burned away.

“I wasn’t even going that fast,” Montoya recalled. “It just felt really strange, as I was talking on the radio the car just turned right . . .I have hit a lot of things. But a jet dryer? No.”

Duane Barnes, the jet dryer truck driver, was pretty shaken up, but he did get to share an ambulance ride with Juan Pablo Montoya himself.

“He was pretty scared,” Montoya said. “ . . . I am sure he is pretty shaken and is going to be sore to his person, but I think he is OK.”

The came the final 40 laps, and 3 more caution flags. As is usually the case at Daytona, as the laps wear down, so does the patience of everyone in the race. Making moves to get to the front can put you or the car next to you into the wall, fast.

The real show however was out front. Dale Earnhardt Jr Pushing Greg Biffle and both of them were chasing Matt Kenseth. On the final restart Kenseth got out front of the tandem pair behind him and stayed there. Everyone was waiting for a move to be made, for the 2 cars to blow by the single after they hooked up, but it never came. In turn 4 for the final time Dale Jr made his move on Greg Biffle and got by him but just did not have enough steam to catch the 17 car of Matt Keseth, Leaving Earnhardt to settle for 2nd.

“Those Roush cars are just really strong,” Earnhardt said. “I could get in between them. I just couldn’t get in front.”

“Even on them restarts when Dale Jr. tried to push me, I tried to give him air and stay with him, but our car just ran so good, he couldn’t quite keep up and stay attached to us,” Kenseth said. “So I had to make other moves to keep the momentum up. I think when you come to plate racing, a huge, huge percentage of it is the car and how fast the car is. But I think Thursday was really good for us, because we learned some things in them last few laps that I think probably helped a little bit [Monday].”

Greg Biffle had the catbird seat witting in second, where every other race over the weekend was won from, but he could not capitalize on the opportunity.

“Once we got straight, I pushed the gas down, I thought that we’d drive up on the back of the No. 17 without a problem,” Biffle said. “It must have just pushed enough air out in front of my car that it pushed the No. 17 car out about five, six feet in front of me, and I couldn’t get any closer. I thought, well, I need to get out from behind him because then we’ll be able to go by him. So on the back stretch I moved up a little bit, and Matt is not stupid. We had no run at him. We were all going the same speed.”

“Then we could have moved up beside him coming off the corner, and then Junior and I would have had to dice it out to the line,” he said. “That’s probably what I should have done, is just anchored down the brakes down the backstretch and put distance in between us. [That's] the only way we probably would have got a run at him. But I thought for sure I didn’t need to do that. Of course, Monday morning quarterback, I’d do it now, but I didn’t think I needed to. I thought [Earnhardt would] shove me right up to his back bumper. He had all night. I had no doubt it would happen then.”

So how did Earnhardt Jr feel after all was said and done?

“I’m very happy,” he said. “I’m really in a good place. I’m not frustrated at all, I promise. I’m in a great mood. I run second here a lot, though, so I know I don’t feel it right now, but I know later [Tuesday] and [Wednesday] and the rest of the week it’s going to eat at me what I could have done to win the race. So that is kind of frustrating.”

Crazy things continue. Under caution while gaining on the pack Juan Montoya in teh 42 car slammed into a jet dryer after something broke in his car. REd Flag on lap 160. 2 hr delay

Filed Under: Carl Edwards, Dale Earhnardt Jr, danica-patrick, daytona beach, daytona-500, Greg Biffle, jimmie-johnson, Juan Pablo Montoya, matt kenseth, Motorsport, Nascar

NASCAR – The Field is Set, The Fans Are Ready, The Drivers Are Looking to Win! 2012 Here We Go.

February 24, 2012 by

The Shootout is completed. The Duels have been run. The Field has been set. Just a few more practice sessions, a Truck Series race and a Nationwide race, and we’re there. 3 Months of off season completed and the fans are ready to show their support for their drivers. Big time names have been floating around all week about who is running fastest laps, who has looked goon in the duels, where the qualifiers sit. Now all we need to do is race.

The Daytona 500 is the biggest race of the NASCAR season. Some may ask, “Why would you put your Superbowl at the beginning of the season?”

I am glad you’ve asked. NASCAR, unlike other sports, has 43 teams competing for a win, at the same time, every week. Other sports may have an equal number of teams competing over the course of a week, but this is 43 teams competing in the SAME race on the SAME day, week in and week out. The off season for NASCAR this year was 95 days. (Nov 21 2011 – Feb 26 2010) Having their biggest race of the season as their opener shows the dedication of the teams, and recognizes the work they have done, the advancements they have made, and the determination that they can win. 43 teams all have a shot to win it, and 43 teams put everything into making that happen.

Putting the events on for a full week before the first official race of the season adds even more to the excitement. The Budweiser shootout is a no holds barred, winner take all, big check and bragging rights race that reminds us all the the season is about to begin. Following the shootout the drivers prepare to qualify the next day to test the speeds their car has at the ready and to determine who will start on the front row. Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle, both from the Roush Racing stable, had the best qualifying times putting Ford out front to start the Great American Race.

The final factor deciding where the racers will begin their adventure from is the Gatorade Duel races. 2 races back to back, 60 laps each, determining the starting position of the rest of the field. First race is open to all of the drivers who qualified into an odd numbered position, and will place them in order of completion down the odd numbered side of the field to start the 500. With Tony Stewart being the winner of the first race this places him behind the pole sitter on the odd numbered side of the grid in 3rd, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr in 5th and so on down the line. The second race is for the drivers who qualified into an even numbered position and their starting positions mirror the first race. Matt Kenseth winning that one will start in 4th position behind his Teammate Greg Biffle in the second row, followed by Regan Smith in 6th and again, so on down the line.

This is the most confusing qualifying method of the year, but it certainly brings a ton of attention and pageantry to the week leading up to the Daytona 500. It draws additional television coverage, advertising dollars, and of course, the attention of the millions of devoted fans looking to see their drivers back on the track after the longest off season in NASCAR history.

36 races from here the Champion will be determined at Miami Homestead, the last race of the season, where Tony Stewart stood victorious in the closest points race in NASCAR history. While it had ended in a tie, Tony Stewart won it for having more wins than Carl Edwards. Carl Edwards is now seeking redemption and is looking to bring home his own Championship in 2012, but he has 42 other teams looking for the same result. Dale Earnhardt Jr is looking for a win, any win, any where, to break his more than 3 season long drought to an end.

Dale Jr's #88 car during the 2011 season

After finishing second in his Duel race Jr had this to say about his results.

“I feel good about running second and for bringing the car home in one piece. Hopefully we will get through the next couple of days without any troubles as far as we don’t want to bring out a back-up.We want to start the 500 in this car.”

“I just want to win – anywhere” said Dale Jr. “I just want to go ahead and get that done so, I can think about the next one and get the streak over with and get back to victory lane.”

“We lost over a million dollars last year by not being in the Winners Circle Program. The team could use that money. There are just so many benefits to getting in the winners circle. It’ll help our team, it will validate what me and Steve (LeTarte) have been trying to do the last couple of years.”

When asked if he would like to end his streak here in Daytona he said, “It’s the Daytona 500. It’s the biggest race of the year. It would be pretty spectacular for me personally to win it, but it would do so many other things that I can’t even list right now, for the team, for the company going forward. It would be awesome.

Tony Stewart in victory lane at Loudon New Hampshire after winning his second race of the Chase

Tony Stewart has been to victory lane here 17 times, in every race except the one he wants, the Daytona 500.

“Obviously having won here 17 times and not on the right day is proof it’s no guarantee, obviously. But it’s nice to win here, it gives you confidence going into Sunday” said Stewart after after winning his Duel race.

“I think we have shown the rest of the field that we have a car that has good speed. I want those guys to see that we’ve got strength. I think it’s an advantage to do that at this point in the game.”

So get the beers chilling, and get the snacks ready race fans. The wait is almost over, and our Superbowl is almost here. Let us all be ready to cheer on the beginning of the 2012 season and to cheer our drivers on to the win.

Filed Under: Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr., daytona-500, Greg Biffle, matt kenseth, Nascar, tony-stewart

NASCAR – Matt Kenseth Sets the Pace in Phoenix, Stewart Keeps Up the Trash Talk, Edwards Keeping Cool

November 13, 2011 by

Matt Kenseth – Image courtesy of JDTImages

Marcos Ambrose said the slick track was “pretty sketchy”. A.J. Allmendinger said his lap ”was insane.” Jeff Gordon, who won the last race here in February before the repave, called the surface ”treacherous” after qualifying 23rd. After watching the Nationwide race followed by the K&N West series race yesterday, it looks like we should be prepared for a wreck fest with a chance of a game changer.

Matt Kenseth set the fastest lap to win the pole but qualifying was not without Drama. Since being on the bottom line is so important, qualifying position means more than just who takes the green. Tony Stewart was sitting in 7th with Edwards behind him in 8th until Kenseth ran his lap. As Kenseth completed his lap and set the fastest time for the day, Edwards moved back on spot to 9th giving him the inside row on the start of the race with Stewart being moved back to the outside. It is only for the first start of the race and there is 300 miles of racing between there and the finish line, but every little advantage has to be counted on a track where no one can predict the outcome.

”That was my plan. I thought, `Man, if we can sit on the pole, that will really help him,’” Kenseth laughed.

”I planned that. I am that good,” Kenseth claimed. ”The bottom is probably going to be an advantage to get started, but it is still 300 miles and I think at some point in the race every car is going to be in the top groove for a little bit.”

A.J Allmendinger – Image courtesy of JDTImages.

A.J Allmendinnger had the second fastest time of the day and he was amazed at how much the track conditions had changed from Fridays practice sessions, to Saturday’s qualifying runs.

“It was definitely a huge surprise,” he said. “Obviously, the sun is out and it’s warmer, but for as much grip as the track had [Friday], you would think maybe it would be [just] a little slower. At night last night I think the quick time was like a 25.50 by Carl, so to be almost a second slower was a huge surprise.

“I was in the hauler watching the first 10 or 15 cars run, and you see Jimmie [Johnson] go sailing off and almost get in the wall. Every car seemed to get looser and looser. At that point you have what you have. We tightened it up from [Friday]. Marcos put up a good lap and fed back what the track was like, so I went in there with an expectation, and my first lap was worse than even I expected. It was definitely a lot different than [Friday].”

The 2 drivers that everyone has marked as the “true contenders” for this years chase have been heard tossing comments back and forth. Stewart’s trash talk has been keeping his face on camera and and reporters guessing about what he is going to say next. For example, while still in Vistory lane last week in Texas he quipped “It’s theirs to lose now” when asked about his chances and how strongly he feels about them.

Then on Friday he stated in a news conference that being a former championship winner gives him an advantage, but was very vague about his meaning.

Tony Stewart – Image courtesy of JDTImages

“It’s definitely an advantage. But I’m not going to tell you why ’cause that’s what I’m going to take to the next two weeks with me. We win this thing, I’ll tell you what the advantage is and why. But there’s an advantage.”

When asked directly about their rivalry however they each seem to have their focus where it needs to be. On themselves, their team, and on what it is that THEY can do, and not so much about what the other guy is going to do.

“I guess it’s a friendly rivalry, if you even want to call it a rivalry,” Stewart said at Phoenix International Raceway. “I don’t know what the true definition of rivalry is, but he’s a good guy to be in a point battle with, for sure. I respect him a lot as a driver and as a person.”

“We get along with each other at the race track,” Stewart said. “We’ve got the dirt racing that we’ve done together at Eldora, and stuff that we like. We talk about that stuff a lot.”

“I feel like we are [in control], to be honest. I think we showed that last week,” Stewart said, referring to his victory at Texas, and Edwards second place finish. “We’re not racing worrying about where they’re at and what they’re doing each day. We’re worrying about our car, what we’ve got to do to be fast, what we’ve got to do to win races and I think we’ve responded to that with our actions on the race track and what we’ve done. So I would like to say we are right now. We’ve been able to battle back from a couple of really bad races in this Chase to be where we are at.”

Carl Edwards – Image courtesy ofJDTImages

Edwards seems calm and collected, not bothered by Stewart’s comments and focused on the task at hand, finishing better than Stewart.

“I think Tony is a guy I have looked up to a lot. He has done a lot of the things as a racer that racers all over the country can look up to,” said Edwards, who at 31 is nine years younger than Stewart.

“I’ve learned a lot about Tony over the last couple years, and have come to respect him as a person. I would say we have a good, competitive relationship. For us, it is pretty neat to be holding off a two-time champ having the best Chase he has ever had. It is neat to be battling with him. If we can continue and hold him off and win this thing, if it truly comes down to the end like I believe it will, [and] I truly believe it will come down to the last lap at Homestead, that is going to feel good that it is Tony. It will feel good that it is a guy that has that many achievements in the garage, in racing.”

“I feel that they have obviously had flashes of great speed, and have won four races, and we haven’t. But the job that we have done, I am very proud of. We don’t have trophies lined up, but the recoveries we have made and consistency we have shown and the ability to come back from really tough days, I wouldn’t have been able to do it a year or two years ago. I am pretty proud of that. At the end of the day we are still leading the points. They have to overtake us and beat us.”

Now who does the rest of the garage think is going to be the winner? Once again the field is divided so it depends on who you ask. Either way it’s going to be a nail biter in Phoenix today and the unknown element of the track rears it’s head. Personally I am giving the advantage to Stewart today because of how much we all know he likes a slick race track. It suits his style of racing, and no on can handle a sideways car like he can. Edwards is also good on a slick track, but he does not have the years of experience behind him that Stewart does from driving on dirt tracks across the country, and wining races while doing it.

So where to the rest of the chasers chances lie mathematically?

Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman were mathematically eliminated at Texas. This week, it’s Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and even Johnson who find themselves in a situation where they cannot control their destiny.

If Carl Edwards finishes 34th or better — or Tony Stewart winds up 31st or better — Kurt Busch will be eliminated, even if he wins and receives the maximum number of points. If Carl Edwards finishes 28th or better — or Tony Stewart winds up 25st or better — Gordon is out, too.

Edwards can add Earnhardt to the elimination list with a 26th-place finish, or Stewart can do the same by finishing 23rd. And five-time champion Johnson could win Sunday but be eliminated from contention if Edwards winds up second.

The elimination scenarios for Brad Keselowski, Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick are more complicated, and involve multiple variables too complicated to explain here.

Finally, there is a very slim chance Edwards could make the season finale a coronation. If he wins and Stewart finishes 43rd — and Keselowski, Kenseth and Harvick are all subsequently mathematically eliminated — Edwards would clinch the championship at Phoenix.

Filed Under: A.J. Allmendinger, Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, jeff gordon, Kobalt Tools 300, kurt busch, Kyle Busch, Marcos Ambrose, matt kenseth, Motorsport, Nascar, Phoenix Speedway, tony-stewart