Nascar

NASCAR – Jimmie Johnson Takes Home Hendrick’s 200th Win in Darlington

May 14, 2012 By Jay Tomchuk

Jimmie Johnson took home to trophy for the Southern 500 from Darlington, and the 200th win for the Hendrick's stable.

200 wins. Now there’s a lifetime achievement to be proud of. But in typical Rick Hendrick fashion, while the mile stone is great, he is already looking towards the next one.

”That guy’s something,” Johnson said about the owner. ”He said, `We won 200. Let’s get 250.”

Jimmie Johnson could not have been more proud as he beamed his trademark smile around everywhere after the race. Johnson presented his owner with a helmet signed by the 15 drivers who ran for Hendrick since he began his operation. ”Thanks, buddy,” Rick Hendrick said with a smile. ”This will definitely be the centerpiece of the mancave.”

The win brings Johnson’s personal total up to 56 wins, and he is the 8th different winner out of 11 races so far this season.

Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart each did their best trying to postpone the 200th victory celebration but we’re simply unable to run down Johnson in the late stages of the race.

Tony Stewart did everything he could to postpone the 200th Hendrick win, but lost fuel pressure and held on for a 3rd place finish.

“I was trying to postpone [No. 200] for another week by trying to get to Jimmie, but I just couldn’t do it,” said Tony Stewart. “The closer I got to him, the tighter I got. That was one of the best runs we’d had, but still I wasn’t strong enough.

“He had plenty of car left. He was just riding, trying to save fuel. They won it in dominating fashion. To win a 200th race, you don’t want to back into it. They dominated and took it the way they should.”

“I think it’s phenomenal, especially with the competition over here getting tougher and tougher,” said Stewart, who lost second position to Hamlin when his car temporarily lost fuel pressure coming to the final restart. “It’s getting harder and harder to win these races.

“Especially for it to happen in the Southern 500 — it’s such a historic race. It’s a pretty cool milestone.”

When asked how he felt about bringing home a third place finish at a track where he still has yet to mark a W in the win column, Stewart said he was happy with the way things worked out for him and his #14 Office Depot team.

“You know, considering the hurdles of the day, I’m pretty happy with a third-place run,” Stewart said.

“We kind of struggled there the first half of the race,” Stewart said. “We fought loose in [Turn] 1 and 2, really tight in 3 and 4. So it’s really hard to fix the balance of the race car when it’s doing two different things on two different ends.

“Really proud of [crew chief] Steve Addington. He just kept throwing things at it to try to get a direction.”

“It’s why we won a championship last year,” he said. “We never give up.”

Johnson was a bit worried when he saw the grille of the 14 car in his rear view mirror.

“I still was really nervous with the 14 behind me,” Johnson said. “He’s been the guy week after week that can go the distance. I was trying to pace myself off of him. It worked out.”

It was fuel pressure however that, in the end, cost Stewart the position on the track and the chance to really give Jimmie a run for his money.

“We ran out of fuel coming off of [Turn] 4,” Stewart said. “It didn’t run all the way out of fuel, but it laid down enough that it didn’t run a 100 percent going down into Turn 1. Once we got into 1, we got the fuel to the pickup, and we just lost our spot doing it.”

Filed Under: darlington, darlington raceway, Denny Hamlin, Hendricks Motorsports, jimmie-johnson, Motorsport, Nascar, Rick Hendrick, Southern 500, tony-stewart

NASCAR – Biffle Sets the Pace and Attempts to Tame the Lady in Black

May 12, 2012 By Jay Tomchuk

Greg Biffle has the pole for the Bojangles Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

It was beginning to look like an all Hendrick front row with Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne ready to lead the field to the green flag, until Greg Biffle showed up. Jimmie Johnson had taken the provisional pole from his teammate Kasey Kahne but was worried that he had not done his best, that he had left some speed out there on the track. That speed was found by Greg Biffle as he grabbed the pole for the Bojangles Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

“This is what a race car driver looks forward to, showing up every weekend and having a really fast car to drive,” said Biffle, the Sprint Cup Series leader. “They’re making me look good so far.

“It was a pretty uneventful lap. The car just had a ton of grip — it stuck to the race track really, really well. I felt like I was a little bit light down in Turns 1 and 2 — I should have been a little bit quicker down there — but I got a lot out of it in 3 and 4, so it was a great lap.”

”I feel that special season already. I certainly think that we’re going to be tough in competition all year,” said Biffle.

Johnson seemed to know that more speed could be found… just not who was going to find it.

Jimmie Johnson felt he left some speed out on the track. Greg Biffle found it.

”I left a little speed out there and Greg certainly found it,” Johnson said. ”It would’ve been nice to have a Hendrick front row. But it was a very productive day.”

Jimmie Johnson is looking to get the 200th win for team owner Rick Hendrick this weekend. He has help at the front with his teammate Kasey Kahne, but Kahne is also hungry for a win. And let us not forget the 9 time fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. who has been Mr Hendrick’s most consistent performer all season long, and is coming into Darlington with a 6 race top 10 streak under his belt.

“It certainly weighs on the team,” Johnson said before Friday’s practice at Darlington Raceway. “I’m not frustrated yet. I don’t want to see opportunities slip away. I certainly want to get 200 behind us as does everyone at Hendrick Motorsports because it’s lingering around.”

Johnson and Kahne will be starting 2nde and 3rd respectively. Dale Jr looks to have his work cut out for him if he wants to break his streak and obtain the 200th win for his team. Starting back in 24th Jr has not shown a lot of speed this weekend. Running 19th in first practice and 18th in the second, the 88 car looks like it will need a lot of adjustments on the fly to get it where he wants it to be during the race.

Ryan Newman and Kyle Busch will round out the top 5 for the start of the race.

Danica Patrick makes her return to the Sprint Cup Schedule. It seems her team owner Tony Stewart used his well known sarcastic sense of humor as he chose which track Danica would be driving at this season. However you never really learn if you take the easy road, and Danica seems up to the challenge. The experience she gains at the tougher tracks in the schedule should translate to better finishes at the easier tracks in the long run.

“This is a tough place and everything they said about it is true,” Patrick said between practices. “This Lady in Black is very intimidating. I’m just trying to get comfortable with what the car needs me to do — where to brake, how heavy to brake and those kinds of things. I’ve got my Darlington stripes, officially. It’s all the way down the right side of the car. We got that one over with.

“I’ve got everything in my corner, I just need time. I just need to get comfortable. It’s definitely not going to be an easy, breezy night. Like Tony (Stewart) said, I’m probably going to hate him by the end of the weekend. Come the future, I’m going to be glad for it.”

Team Owner tony Stewart agrees.

“She understands the value of why we picked this as one of the races,” Stewart said. “I think she’s keeping the big picture in mind. I think she’s doing a really good job of taking it all in stride, not letting her position on the time sheet get her down, realizing that the whole weekend is a learning experience and trying to just get at that time.

“I want her just to run as many laps as possible. The more time she can spend on track, the more experience that she’s going to get. So the good thing is, running both divisions, she’s getting a ton of track time.”

That may be true, but there is a huge difference between the Nationwide cars and the Cup cars when it comes right down to it.

“When you get to about half-throttle in the Cup car, that’s what a Nationwide car feels like,”Jimmie Johnson said with a laugh. “There’s a lot left from that point down in a Cup car. As far as tracks go, this track in my opinion has the highest sensation of speed over any other track we go to. And it’s due to it being so narrow. But it will be an eye-opening experience. Fortunately, she’s been real fast in other cars so hopefully it doesn’t affect her too much. But we’ve all looked at this race on her schedule and know it’s going to be tough for her. And it certainly will. This is not an easy race track to get around, but she’s going to do it and we’ll see how it goes.”

Filed Under: Bojangles Southern 500, Dale Earnhardt Jr., darlington raceway, Greg Biffle, jimmie-johnson, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, Motorsport, Nascar, Ryan Newman

NASCAR – Kesolowski Makes All The Right Moves to Win at Talladega

May 7, 2012 By Jay Tomchuk

Brad Kesolowski celebrates with a burnout after getting his second win of the season in the #2 Miller Lite Dodge.

Talladega has always had the danger, the excitement, and the reputation for the “Big One” with the potential for disaster. 43 cars entered the arena ready to do battle with the high temperatures Mother Nature provided and the other gladiators vying for a win. Everyone chose their dancing partners but for the first 3/4 of the race, chose to battle their own cars instead of those around them. Doing their best to keep the engines cool and their equipment ready for the final push at the end of the race. Those who tried and failed are amongst NASCAR elite. Jimmie Johnson lost his oil pump as did Ryan Newman. Jeff Gordon succumbed to over heating issues late in the race, only to be caught up in the first of 3 wrecks in the final stages of the race.

But in the end it was Brad Kesolowski who made a move that no one expected. He kept his engine cool, he stayed out of the carnage, and he made it look easy pulling away from Kyle Busch, the car that was pushing him to the lead, with a move that broke the momentum of the push and allowed the lead car to win the race instead of the slingshot pass we’ve become so accustomed to. Riding up the track to the outside of turn 3 and diving down towards the infield, Kesolowski broke the 2 car draft leaving Kyle Busch with a wall of air to slow him down, as the #2 Miller Lite Blue Deuce pulled away by what looked to be at least 3 car lengths. With the 5 previous races having been won by the car in second position after passing the car they were pushing, everyone was expecting a different outcome, but Brad had a plan.

”I had this whole plan if I ever got in that situation where I was leading; I thought about it and thought about it, dreamed about what to do, and sure enough, going into (Turn) 3, it was just me and Kyle,” Keselowski said. ”I knew the move I wanted to pull. It worked because the guy running second should have the advantage, but I had this move all worked up in my mind.”

”That allowed me to drive untouched to the checkered flag,” Keselowski said. ”It wasn’t easy to convince myself to do that, but it was the right move.”

”Two wins, with the wild card and all, that almost makes you immune to missing the Chase,” Keselowski said. ”This team is going to be strong come Chase time. The best is yet to come.”

Kyle Busch was caught flat footed by Brad Kesolowski's finshing move at the end of the Aaron's 400 at Talladega.

The move caught Kyle Busch completely off guard, even thinking he had screwed something up himself when Brad broke loose and ran away from him.

”I must have screwed something up, because we got to Turn 3 and came unhooked,” said Busch. ”Just gave the win away over there. Not sure exactly what happened. We definitely need to go back and figure out what it was.”

“I’m not sure he did anything,” Busch said. “If he did, he’s pretty smart. But I think our stuff just came unplugged.”

”If you’re leading, being pushed, plan on finishing second. That’s all there is to it. He’s no dummy, that’s for sure,” said Busch in post race interviews.

Matt Kenseth was still trying to figure out how his car, which had been the fastest all day and had led the most laps, was unable to close at the end. On the final restart his teammate Greg Biffle was pushing him from the line, but his car was too fast for Biffle to get up behind and push. The gap between the 2 Fords allowed Kesolowski and Busch to fly by and race themselves to the finish.

”I think we had the winning car, really just didn’t have the winning driver,” Kenseth said. ”I looked forward for a second, when I looked back, Greg and I were separated, those guys were already outside of him. With me not paying attention, keeping us hooked up, just cost us a shot at the win, cost Greg a shot at the win.”

”I wasn’t too fast. I was just too stupid I guess at the end to keep a win.”

Matt Kenseth led the most laps for the day but was unable to capitalize at the end.

“It’s hard to whine about leading most of the day and finishing third,” Kenseth said. “It’s just disappointing on the last restart when I had control over keeping Greg with me and I did a poor job of managing that. We got separated and got beat.”

“It probably didn’t help that we had a piece of the body break off on the B-post and had the fender tracked in a little bit,” Kenseth said. “That was my fault because I ran into [Mears] with the right front. It didn’t help us, but we had a fast car.”

“It was my fault,” Kenseth said. “I needed to drag the brake more and get off the gas more to make sure he stays attached. But honestly at Daytona, we came unattached and they couldn’t get a run back on me. When we did come apart, there really was no bottom lane. He lost all his speed.”

No for all the fans who have been complaining about boring long green flag runs, Talladega had a few of those, but the excitement of the last 40 laps made all the boredom fade. The fact that no one was injured as a quarter of the field was taken out of the race and all but 19 cars fell off the lead lap is a testament to the safety developments that NASCAR has been implementing over the past 10 years. Cars completely torn up and drivers walk away uninjured. It may be expensive for the owners, but the fans like to see the action, as long as no one is injured. The “Big One” is always a game changer as no one knows when it will happen, or who it will take out.

Take Jeff Gordon for example. He is having one of the most bizarre seasons of his career. Having won the Pole for the race, he faded back early. He showed signs of being able to get back to the front when he wanted to, but you can’t get to the front it you drive it into the wall.

“This is just one of the most bizarre years that this Dupont Chevrolet and Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet has ever gone through,” Gordon said. “I mean, it’s almost comical at this point.

“That was not fun. I didn’t like hitting the wall, but gosh, I thought I was clear. I was just kind of cruising by on the inside. It looked to me like somebody came down and got Martin [Truex Jr.], and that turned him into me. That’s just the way our season’s been going.”

Tony Stewart was his usual sarcastic self when talking about the wrecks in the final laps of the Aaron's 499.

In typical Tony Stewart fashion his sarcasm was in excellent form as he talked to reporters after the race. For those of you that missed it, earlier in the week Stewart lashed out at a reporter for asking if the lack of wrecks was costing NASCAR their fan base. After yesterdays race he had this to say.

“Sorry we couldn’t crash more cars today,” Stewart said. “We didn’t fill the quota for the day for Talladega.

“Honestly, I think if we haven’t crashed 50 percent of the field by the end of the race, we need to extend the race until we at least crash 50 percent of the cars. ‘Cause it’s not fair to these fans for them to not see any more wrecks than that. We still had over half the cars running. It shouldn’t be that way.”

“I’m upset that we didn’t crash more cars,” he said. “I feel like that’s what we’re here for. I feel bad if I don’t spend at least $150,000 in tore-up race cars going back to the shop so we definitely got to do a better job with that. …

“I had a blast. It would have been a lot more fun if I could have got caught up in one more wreck. If I could have done that, it would have been perfect.”

Filed Under: Aaron's 499, Brad Kesolowski, Dale Earnhardt Jr., jeff gordon, jimmie-johnson, Kyle Busch, matt kenseth, Motorsport, Nascar, talladega, tony-stewart

NASCAR – Talledega Heat Doesn’t Effect Gordon’s Speed as he Takes The Pole for the Aaron’s 499.

May 6, 2012 By Jay Tomchuk

Jeff Gordon set the fastest time around the biggest track in NASCAR to take the pole for the Aaron's 499 at Talledega.

The early spring Alabama heat wave has had people talking all week about how the heat was going to effect the cars at Talledega this weekend. How will they keep the engines cool? Will the drivers be able to handle the temps inside the cars? Will the heat cause engine issues in the pack or when they break to a 2 car push? Jeff Gordon had concerns about engine management, and how much tape there was on his front grille, but all of his worrying paid off in the end with him setting the fastest lap around NASCAR’s biggest and fastest racetrack in the circuit. With a time of 49.973 seconds at a speed of 191.623 mph posted the only sub 50 second lap time of the day, taking his 71st pole (third most of all time), and marking 20 straight seasons with at least one pole tying the record set by David Pearson.

“The temperatures are being managed from the moment that car goes on the track [Friday] till the end of that race,” Gordon said. “So even in qualifying we’re trying to manage ‘em and not get ‘em too hot. We chose to do that bottom lane, because we feel like it saves about three seconds of time, which is how much longer the engine’s running, building temperature.

“Plus, I feel like this track is big enough that you don’t have to run up high, like Daytona.”

With temperatures hovering around 86F during qualifying and expected temperatures predicted to be even higher for today’s race, keeping cool, both under the hood and under the collar, will definitely be a challenge.

“It’s so warm out, that I think most of the cars down pit road had to leave open a little bit of tape [on the grille], because they were going to push water too much,” said A.J. Allmendinger, whom Gordon knocked off the pole with his fastest lap. “I didn’t see if [Gordon] was fully taped up, or how much tape he had, but I think that’s kind of the idea that he had, that if you can fully tape up, you’re going to get a little bit of an advantage on everybody, and the only way you can do that is run low the whole time.

“It’s definitely a new strategy, but those guys are fast no matter what, so it’s not like they snuck up on us. We knew that was going to be one of the cars to beat there at the end. But it’s something to think about the next time we’re here.”

Is Talledega really Dale Jr's best shot for a win this year?

When it comes to restrictor plate tracks the names of the usual suspects begin to get tossed around. Dale Earnhardt Jr. hears it every time he comes here. Is this your best place to try and break the streak Jr? Is it your best chance?

“I never really took anything for granted. A lot of people have said that this weekend at the race track, but I don’t pay much attention to it,” Earnhardt said. “I know how this sport can be brutal and great all at the same time. You just hope you’re prepared and try to run a smart race. Hopefully then you can make the right moves and beat the odds and win the race.”

“This is probably one of our better shots,” Earnhardt said. “How the drafting and everything was changed before Daytona [this year], that suits me better. And it’s hotter, and I think that leans toward favoring pack racing over tandem racing, too. That’s kind of in my favor, so I’m looking forward to the race. I just don’t think our odds have necessarily increased because I’ve run so well this year.”

“I feel like I’m in the best equipment that’s out there, and that gives you a lot of confidence. I feel like I know what I’m doing when I come here,” Earnhardt said. “I feel like if I could create the best scenario for me to come to Talladega and win a race, this is it. I’ve got the best car and I know how to get around the race track.”

The other drivers seem to agree for the most part that Jr. knows his way around this track and will definitely be a contender at the end of the race.

Opponents like Denny Hamlin recognize the potential. “I think he’s obviously got a ton of experience and a ton of wins on this track. When you look at this schedule and you look at opportunities to win, I would say that this is one of his best shots to do it.”

Jimmie Johnson seemed to be in the minority with his opinion. He feels that while Jr may be really good at Talledega, his chances here have too many factors to be wary of.

“I think his best chance to win is on non-plate tracks, to be honest with you,” Johnson said. “Here, there are so many circumstances to deal with. We don’t know if you’re going to overheat, get the push at the right time, whatever it may be. What I’ve seen out of him, if you just look at this year alone and where he is in points and how fast his cars have been and how great he’s been driving, I put this lower on the list of where I would expect him to win.”

But when it comes right down to it, the driver who is going to win this race will be the one who has the best equipment at the end of the race, and a partner who can push them away from the pack where timing will be everything.

“I think the chemistry Junior and I both have, that our shop has, it was just another example of how strong that chemistry is and how much it continues to grow,” Johnson said. “I’m very happy to see how fast the No. 88 car has been week in and week out. Naturally, you think of him as a favorite here at this race track — but that No. 88 has been pretty strong everywhere. He is rising to be a favorite everywhere we go.”

Earnhardt Jr. tends to agree with his Hendrick Motorsports teammate.

“I maybe feel the same way because when you come to Daytona and Talladega, the cars are so equal,” Earnhardt said. “And even though pack racing definitely puts more in your hands and you definitely control your own destiny more when you’re just dealing with yourself and looking for No. 1 and being greedy and selfish, there still are so many things that can happen.

“Somebody could get the right push and do the right thing at the right time and win the race, and there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s a lottery, really. I’ve said that before, but it really is when you come to Daytona and Talladega, trying to win these races.

Filed Under: A.J. Allmendinger, Aaron's 499, Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr., jeff gordon, jimmie-johnson, Motorsport, Nascar, Talledega Super Speedway

NASCAR – Kyle Busch Wins in Richmond, Earnhardt Jr Takes Second on Track and in Points

April 30, 2012 By Jay Tomchuk

Kyle Busch took his first checkered flag of the 2012 Sprint Cup Season in Richmond.

It was Tony Stewart in the lead when a caution came out that no one expected. For 8 laps or more an empty water bottle had been sitting on the apron out of harms way, but as the race wound to it’s conclusion, someone from NASCAR decided it had been there long enough and called for a caution flag.

“I don’t know where that last caution came from, but it was our saving grace,” Busch said in Victory Lane. “It was a gift. We came down pit road and [crew chief] Dave Rogers and the guys went to work and gave us a great pit stop, got me out front.

“[That] gave me the lead so I could restart the race how I wanted to. That was the win right there.”

The caution flag had given Kyle Busch exactly what he needed to catch the leader, and he took full advantage. Stewart had been spinning his wheels on every restart in the race thus far, and Busch and Earnhardt Jr took full advantage of their collective opportunity putting car lengths between themselves and Stewart and making it a race of their own in the final stages of the race.

Jr gave it everything he had in chasing down Kyle Busch, but with brake issues causing him to lose ground he was unable to catch the leader.

Earnhardt Jr. looked like he had a shot to catch Busch until he came over the radio to tell his crew that his brakes had failed.

“We had some brake problems all race long,” Earnhardt explained. “I had a great restart, and I ran really great for one lap, and the pedal went back to the floor. I just had to pump it up all the way down the straightaway and I didn’t have any front brakes getting into the corner, so I couldn’t get in real hard.

“It would just get loose locking the rears up. So even with the brakes working, I think the No. 18 [Busch] was just a little bit better than us all night.”

Tony Stewart had taken over the lead on lap 201 from Carl Edwards and had what looked to everyone like the car to beat, the one that no one could catch on the long runs. The final caution cost him what would have been his third race of the season. Even Kyle Busch agreed.

“No catching Stewart without that caution,” Busch said bluntly after the race. “I was losing half a 10th [of a second] to a 10th on every lap to what Tony was doing up there. He was just so fast.”

Tony Stewart looked like the man to beat, until a late race caution tightened up thefield and cost him the race.

But in typical Stewart fashion, he made sure his feelings were known.

“When the caution is for a plastic bottle on the backstretch, it’s hard to feel good about losing that one,” said Stewart, who led Busch by more than a second when the yellow flag waved. “And we gave it away on pit road. So we did everything we could to throw it away; it got taken away from us.

“That’s the best car I’ve had at Richmond in a long time. So I’m really proud of that and [crew chief] Steve Addington, and I’m proud of our guys. But we’ve got some work to do on pit stops right now. I don’t know what their malfunction was but I’m pretty ticked off about it tonight. I felt really comfortable with [the car]. It was good right off the bat, and proud of Steve Addington [who] just kept making it better and better and better. ”

“We were where we needed to be at the end of the day,” Stewart said. “We stayed up with that trio of guys up front the last, I don’t know, 150 laps or so. That’s what you’ve got to do. I mean, it feels this is my favorite track, so it feels good to be running good here at Richmond again.”

Filed Under: Motorsport, Nascar