Sam Hornish Jr.

Watching NASCAR: The Pocono’s Tricky Triangle Awaits

August 3, 2012 by Greg Quick Leave a Comment

Some changes at the top of the Sprint Cup last week as it roared into the Brickyard, and Jimmy Johnson once again showed his love for the track by dominating the race and winning there for the fourth time in his career. He and Jeff Gordon are now tied with four wins apiece at the Brickyaed, a race that has only been running for less than two decades.

Pocono's Tricky Triangle

Despite a very strong showing all race JJ found himself looking at the back of Greg Biffle’s ride after a caution as Biffle beat him out of the pits to take the lead. Biffle took two tires to JJ’s four. That only lasted a lap or so and even with a second caution he pretty much had clear sailing the rest of the race.

Points leader Matt Kenseth fell from the top spot after being taken out of the race in a late by Joey Logano, dropping him to 35th in the race as Dale Earnhardt Jr. secured the top spot for himself after a very steady first half of the season, driving wise. The top five was filled out with Kyle Busch in second, followed by Biffle, Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon.

Next Week-Pennsylvania 400
The teams will be out at Long Pond at the Pocono Raceway for the Pennsylvania 400. Run on the 2.5 mile tri-oval it should make for some fun, wide opening racing.

Broadcast
Aug. 5, 12 noon ET ESPN

Car News
It sounds like there will be a new look for the cars next year as NASCAR has approved the designs for next generation Chevrolet SS, Dodge Charger, Ford Fusion and Toyota Camry models that will be seen on the track next year.

While the issue of meeting aerodynamic standards was very important, the most interesting fact is that NASCAR, and the auto companies, are taking a step back to their roots. The next generation cars will look very much like the street models that are available to the general public, something that has been a thing of the past for some time. Looking forward to Daytona next year to see them.

Twitter– Instead of pointing to a number of Twitter addresses as we have in the past it seems to make much more sense just to send you to a site that appears to have consolidated a who’s who of racing twitter addresses instead. So head over here for a list.

Sprint Cup Standings
1) Dale Earnhardt Jr
2) Matt Kenseth -14
3) Greg Biffle -22
4) Jimmy Johnson -27
5) Denny Hamlin -64
6) Kevin Harvick -78
7) Martin Truex Jr. -78
8 ) Tony Stewart -79
9) Brad Keselowski -82
10) Clint Bowyer -88

Nationwide
There were several controversial issues at the Indy 250 last weekend, all having to do with something that on the face of it seems pretty innocuous, spinning your tires. At the start of the race it looked as if Kyle Busch jumped the start over pole winner Kasey Kahne to take the immediate lead but NASCAR ruled that Kahne was spinning his tires.

This was repeated late in the race when Brad Keslowski, the leader at that point, appeared to spin his tires on a restart and Elliott Sadler shot past him for the lead. However on this ruling NASCAR said that while there was some spinning, it was not the cause of Elliott’s lead on the restart. This resulted in Sadler getting black flagged and finishing out of the top 10. He was notably upset after the race over the ruling and his Nationwide points lead was significantly whittled down as well.

Hornish finished second, Ty Dillon was third, Denny Hamlin was fourth and Austin Dillon fifth. Sadler continues to lead the series standings by one point over Austin Dillon.

Nationwide Standings
1) Elliott Sadler
2) Austin Dillon -1
3) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -13
4) Sam Hornish Jr. -28
5) Justin Allgaier -75

It is starting to seem that Danica Patrick’s most familiar move on the track is hitting a wall, literally not figuratively. She accomplished this feat once again at the Indy 250 last weekend. Unlike a number of people I know I do not actively root against her, but it seems that this is an increasingly common result in her race, with wrecks at Daytona and elsewhere this season.

What makes this particular crash so interesting is that she has said that she is considering returning to the Indy 500 next season. This along with her expected promotion to the Sprint Cup Series and possibly running select Nationwide races as well. I have to wonder how well she will be accepted in the Sprint Cup Series if she continues to her crashing ways?

This Week-US Cellular 250
The Nationwide teams head to the Corn Belt in Iowa for the U.S. Cellular 250 presented by the Enlist Weed Control System at the Iowa Speedway. While also on a tri-oval like the Sprint race the following day, but several states away, this track is much smaller, coming in at .876 miles.

Broadcast
Aug.4, 7:30 pm ET ESPN2

Filed Under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick, ESPN, Greg Biffle, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, NASCAR, Nationwide Series, Pocono Raceway, Sam Hornish Jr., Sprint Cup Series Tagged With: NASCAR, Nationwide, Sprint Cup

Watching NASCAR: Back to the Brickyard

July 27, 2012 by Greg Quick 1 Comment

This week: Crown Royal presents the Curtiss Shaver 400

The Sprint Cup Series took a holiday weekend last week so the teams should be rested and repaired for this week. This week’s race, held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the Crown Royal presents the Curtiss Shaver 400 at the Brickyard.

No introduction is needed for a track that is so regularly used, and one that so regularly provides a great deal of driving entertainment. There has been some tweaking to the teams however as JTG Daugherty Racing reported that Bobby Hutchens is the new general manager for its one-car team and Bobby Labonte its driver. Gone is Todd Berrier, who left for Furniture Row Racing to replace Pete Rondeau.

It is starting to look like the suspension of AJ Allmendinger may be a long term one if reports that are surfacing are true. ESPN is reporting, via Bleacher Report, that he also failed his “B” test and is in violation of the sport’s substance abuse policy. No idea if Sam Hornish Jr. will keep the wheel of the 22 car.

Broadcast
July 29 at 12 pm ET ESPN

An interesting side bar on this week’s race is that actor and film director Ron Howard will be driving the pace car to open the race. While he has not directed a film about NASCAR he has just completed filming a movie entitled “Rush” about F1 drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda with a very memorable crash scene.

Sprint Cup Series Standings
1) Matt Kenseth
2) Dale Earnhardt Jr. -16
3) Greg Biffle -40
4) Jimmie Johnson -51
5) Denny Hamlin -79
6) Kevin Harvick -85
7) Tony Stewart -89
8 Martin Truex Jr. -90
9) Clint Bowyer -93
10) Brad Keselowski -94

The Nationwide Series did not take a week off last week and points leader Elliott Sadler is happy about that. In a nail biting finish he held off the #3 in points Ricky Stenhouse on a green-white-checker finish to gain victory row at Chicagoland.

Towards the end of the race it certainly looked as if Stenhouse had enough car to catch and pass Sadler but the restart at the end and a push from Justin Allgaier was all that Sadler needed to clinch the win. The top five was filled out by Allgaier in third followed by Kenny Wallance and Michael Annett. Wallace’s car failed a post race inspection and penalties are expected.

Nationwide Series Standings
1) Elliott Sadler
2) Austin Dillon -11
3) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -19
4) Sam Hornish Jr. -42
5) Justin Allgaier -78

This Week Indy 250

Broadcast
July 28, 4 pm ET ESPN

Filed Under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., ESPN, Greg Biffle, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, NASCAR, Nationwide Series, Sam Hornish Jr., Twitter Tagged With: NASCAR

Watching NASCAR: Sprint is Off, Nationwide Running at Chicagoland

July 20, 2012 by Greg Quick Leave a Comment

A bad call was good news for Kasey Kahne last week at Loudon as rival Denny Hamlin’s miscommunication with his crew chief opened the door for Kahne’s second cup victory of the season. While leading in a dominating car, Hamlin went in for a pit stop during a caution and a misunderstanding led his pit crew to change all four tires rather than the two he was expecting.

While Hamlin returned to the track in 13th place due to the extra time it took, he almost made it all up with a rousing charge that saw him close to second place but the race ended before he could manage to regain the top spot. He led half of the laps during the race. After Hamlin the top 5 was filled out by Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brad Keselowski.

The results were great news for Kahne because it gave him a major boost for the Chase as he moved from 16th to 12th position. After the previous weeks second place he appears to be finding his stride at the right time of the season. Hamlin also managed to move up two places with his second place finish.

http://youtu.be/k814NNNqnoo

No race this week

Twitter– Instead of pointing to a number of Twitter addresses as we have in the past it seems to make much more sense just to send you to a site that appears to have consolidated a who’s who of racing twitter addresses instead. So head over here for a list.

The Nationwide race last week in New Hampshire saw Brad Keselowski win the checkered flag with a major assist from Amber Cope, who effectively blocked then race leader Kevin Harvick in heavy traffic, a move that enabled Keselowski to slip past Harvick for the lead and eventually the win.

Cope, who was a lap down at the time threw the winning block with about 20 laps left after Harvick had led for the last 30 laps. He was fuming about the rookie move and made his displeasure well know in his after race comments. The top five was filled out by Kevin Harvick in second followed by Austin Dillion, Sam Hornish Jr. and Rickey Stenhouse Jr.

This Week: STP 300
While Sprint Cup is off this week, Nationwide will be going forward with the STP 300 held at Chicagoland Speedway’s 1.5 mile tri-oval track. It seems that tempers from the Cope move, as well as a few other bumps from last week this could be a great day of racing.

Broadcast
July 22, 2 pm ET ESPN

Nationwide Cup Leaders
1) Elliott Sadler
2) Austin Dillion -3
3) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -16
4) Sam Hornish Jr. -32
5) Justin Allgaier -73

Filed Under: Chicagoland Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr., ESPN, Greg Biffle, NASCAR, Sam Hornish Jr., Tony Stewart

Watching NASCAR this week: Lenox Industrial Tools 301

July 13, 2012 by Greg Quick 2 Comments

There was a great finish last week at Daytona, with Tony Stewart making a last lap pass and then holding off a trailing gang of rivals to win his 18th race at the fabled track. Only Dale Earnhardt has more wins at Daytona. The win moved Stewart up 4 places in the driver standings.

The victory must have been even sweeter for Stewart since he was forced to start at the back of the pack due to a failed inspection, and it took him some time to fight his way to the front. He passed Matt Kenesth and then led to the finish. Jeff Burton managed to roar by Kenesth at the end for second followed by Joey Logano and then Ryan Newman.

There was some last minute prerace activity as NASCAR suspended driver AJ Allmendinger just prior to the race for failing a random drug test that he took on June 29, with NASCAR reporting that he had an illegal stimulant in his system. He has claimed that he does not take drugs and that there is an error in the test. Team Penske flew in Sam Hornish Jr in from Charlotte at the last minute, barely a half hour before the race started, to replace Allmendinger.

Since then Allmendinger has elected to bring in his own experts to test his “B” sample, something that is expected to happen next week at the earliest. If he fails he will face an indefinite suspension and need to take a program to get reinstated.

ESPN put up some interesting tidbits about the first half of the season and one that really jumped out at me was this one that points out how unimportant winning is compared to simply finishing. Brad Keselowski has three victories, five top-5s and eight top-10s this season, which is good for 9th currently. Kevin Harvick has zero wins, three top-5s and eight top-10s, but Harvick is 6th in the standings.

Lenox Industrial Tools 301
Next up is a trip to the New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 on a 1.05 mile, oval track. It is interestingly the largest sporting facility in New England and can seat 105,000 spectators. There is also a 1.6 mile road course on the site.

Broadcast
July 15 at 12 noon ET TNT

Sprint Cup Standings
1) Matt Kenseth
2) Dale Earnhardt Jr. -25
3) Greg Biffle -44
4) Jimmie Johnson -58
5) Tony Stewart -90
6) Kevin Harvick -90
7) Denny Hamlin -92
8) Martin Truex Jr. -92
9) Brad Keselowski -103
10) Clint Bowyer -104

Nationwide

Kurt Busch won last week in Daytona with a tremendous finish in a race that had 42 lead changes, more than its fair share of crashes and must have delighted any fan that watched. His car looked like it was about to blow at any second over the last few laps and he managed to reach the front of a greatly diminished field with a lap to go and then held on for dear life. The top five was filled out by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael Ammett, Austin Dillon and Joey Logano.

Broadcast
July 14, 2:30 pm ET ESPN

F.W. Webb 200
This week Nationwide will be featured in a shorter race in New Hampshire, the F.W. Webb 200. This may be old hand and I have just missed it but Nationwide is providing a nice behinds the scene view of teams activities with garagecam Head over here to take a look.

Nationwide Series Standings
1) Elliott Sadler
2) Austin Dillon -8
3) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -18
4) Sam Hornish Jr. -35
5) Justin Allgaier -72

Filed Under: Athlete to Follow, Dale Earnhardt Jr., ESPN, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, NASCAR, Nationwide Series, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Sam Hornish Jr., Tony Stewart Tagged With: NASCAR, Nationwide

Watching NASCAR this Weekend: Coke Zero 400

July 6, 2012 by Greg Quick 4 Comments

Driving a second car does not keep Brad Keselowski in second place. Despite destroying his primary car in a practice round last week in Kentucky and yet he managed to drive the backup to victory, something that you very rarely see.

Not only did he win but he led the last 55 laps but he did it with a limited gas supply in earning his third victory of the season. Kyle Busch looked very strong early but a bump into the wall and the resulting damage ruined any chance he had of a win. The top five for the week was filled out by Kasey Kahne in second followed by Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon.

Next up- Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola
This week the teams are back at a place they are very familiar with, Daytona for the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola. Not much that can be sad about the track that fans do not already know. It is a 2.5 mile tri-oval and if my math is correct this race marks the half way point in the season. The leader board is very tight and we will probably expand it to the top ten next week.

I did catch an interesting piece over at ESPN about a proposal to include mandatory cautions in races to add excitement. Burton Smith, a billionaire track promoter said that the inclusion would make the races more exciting, something that he believes long stretches of green flag racing is not. NASCRA official seem very cold to the idea, at least right now.

Broadcast
July 7 6:30 ET TNT

Sprint Cup Standings
1) Matt Kenseth
2) Dale Earnhardt Jr. -11
3) Jimmie Johnson -23
4) Greg Biffle –25
5) Denny Hamlin -68

Nationwide Series
The Nationwide race last week was an up and down day for Austin Dillon. He was absolutely dominating in the race, winning his first Nationwide Series race by leading it for 192 out of 200 laps. The win enabled him to take over the leader board from Elliott Sadler, at least for a very short while.

A look below at the point’s leader shows that Dillon fell out of the points lead. The reason for this was a six point penalty because his car failed an inspection following the race last week for having a car that was too low. The top five of the race was filled out by Kurt Busch in second with Kevin Harvick, Michael Annett and Justin Allgaier filling out the remaining positions.

This Week: Subway Jalapeno 250 powered by Coca-Cola

Broadcast
July 6, 7 pm ET ESPN

Nationwide Series Standings
1) Elliott Sadler
2) Austin Dillon -4
3) Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
4) Sam Hornish Jr. -31
5) Justin Allgaier -71

Filed Under: Athlete to Follow, Dale Earnhardt Jr., ESPN, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, NASCAR, Sam Hornish Jr. Tagged With: Daytona, NASCAR

Watching NASCAR this Week: The Quaker State 400

June 29, 2012 by Greg Quick 1 Comment

Clint Bowyer dominated the Sonoma racetrack at last weekend’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 in Sonoma yet still had to withstand a strong performance from Kurt Busch to earn the green flag. He led 71 of the 119 laps in a race that witnessed few cautions and 8 lead changes and which had an average speed of 86 mph, or as a friend said, lap car speeds.

It was a near thing for Bowyer as he ran out of gas at the end of the race and had to walk to victory lane. Busch, in an unsponsored car fell back at the end and the top 5 was filled out with Tony Stewart finishing second followed by Busch, Brian Vickers and Jimmie Johnson.

Quaker State 400 at the Kentucky Speedway.
Next up is the Quaker State 400 at the Kentucky Speedway. The track is a 1.5 mile tri-oval and will be the site of a great deal of speculation as to Matt Kenseth’s future. At the end of the season his contract with Roush Fenway Racing expires and will not be renewed. He is slated to be replaced on the team by Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

So far this season Kenseth has one victory and eight top five finishes and is the leading point’s leader. ESPN is reporting that now Kenseth is claiming that he has a deal for 2013 but is declining to say where. Let the second guessing begin-or is it still at first guessing level?

Twitter- Instead of pointing to a number of Twitter addresses as we have in the past it seems to make much more sense just to send you to a site that appears to have consolidated a who’s who of racing twitter addresses instead. So head over here for a list.

Broadcast
June 30 at 6:30 pm ET on TNT

Sprint Cup Standings
1) Matt Kenseth
2) Greg Biffle -11
3) Dale Earnhardt Jr. -14
4) Jimmie Johnson -25
5) Tony Stewart -63

Nationwide’s Road America race last week was won by Nelson Piquet Jr., a race that I missed because ESPN decided to broadcast it like something the late LeRoy Neiman would have painted (my cable company is having trouble with some ESPN broadcasts).

Piquet ran a solid race but at least some of the news has to do with Jacques Villenueve how was dominating for a time and racing for a top finish still on the last lap. Then on the last lap to go he was pushed into the grass and came back on the track and collided with Danica Patick, spinning her out from the 5th place position she was in-she eventually finished 12th. The top five was filled out by Michael McDowell in second, then Ron Fellows, Max Papis and Sam Hornish Jr.

Feed the Children 300 at Kentucky Speedway

Broadcast
June 29 7 pm ET ESPN 2

Nationwide Standings
1) Elliott Sadler
2) Austin Dillion -11
3) Rickey Stenhouse Jr. -23
4) Sam Hornish Jr. -34
5) Cole Whitt -75

Filed Under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick, ESPN, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, NASCAR, Sam Hornish Jr., Sprint Cup Series, TNT, Tony Stewart Tagged With: NASCAR, Sprint Cup

Watching NASCAR: The Pocono’s Tricky Triangle Awaits

Watching NASCAR: Back to the Brickyard

Watching NASCAR: Sprint is Off, Nationwide Running at Chicagoland

Watching NASCAR this week: Lenox Industrial Tools 301

Watching NASCAR this Weekend: Coke Zero 400

Watching NASCAR this Week: The Quaker State 400

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