Offseason Edition of Winners & Losers

12/13/2011 By 1 Comment

The NASCAR offseason is usually a pretty quiet affair with little personnel movement and little news of note. Most of the significant changes for the coming year tend to be announced mid-season or a tad bit afterwards. This is a far cry from the stick-and-ball sports where free agency doesn’t occur until after the season has concluded.

This offseason, however, has been quite a bit different. Since the checkered flag waved at Homestead and officially closed out the 2011 season, we’ve seen the crew chief of the team that just won the championship let go, a recent series champion given his walking papers and numerous other high-profile happenings which has caused many a media member and fan to ask, “When is the offseason going to start?”

With last Friday’s announcement that Darian Grubb has taken his toolbox over to Joe Gibbs Racing to be the crew chief for Denny Hamlin, just about every prominent position in the garage has been filled. The two positions still open are that of Stewart-Haas’ new competition director and who’ll be Danica Patrick’s crew chief in the 10 Sprint Cup races she will compete in next season.

So as a way to recap everything that’s transpired since the end of the year, as well as a few moves that were made towards the end of the season, let’s bring back an old column favorite of mine, and start naming some winners and losers.

Winners

Darian Grubb
The consensus was after being booted from Stewart-Haas Racing Darian Grubb would eventually land on his feet. The problem this late in the game is his options were limited. My thought was unless a team made a move within their crew chief ranks with the sole purpose of bringing Grubb aboard, he was A) going to have to either take some time off altogether, or B) take a behind the scenes role, likely having something to do with engineering, until a spot opened up.

Early last week the choice became clear when Joe Gibbs Racing announced Mike Ford was being released from his role as the crew chief for Denny Hamlin. The instant this became known, it was a given Grubb would be Ford’s replacement. Three days later, JGR announced that in fact, Grubb would be calling the shots for Hamlin in 2012.

With a plethora of resources and money, along with a driver in Hamlin entering the prime of his career, hungry and fully capable of winning a championship, Joe Gibbs Racing is an absolutely perfect landing sport for the man who just got done guiding Tony Stewart to a historic third title.

Denny Hamlin
It’s no secret Denny Hamlin has been in a funk since of the end of 2010. And it’s no secret the relationship between Hamlin and Mike Ford had soured to the point a change was desperately needed atop the No. 11 pit box. This team was simply too good not to be winning multiple races each year and contending for the championship. Now, with the hiring of Grubb, Hamlin has a crew chief who knows what it takes to win a championship, and maybe more importantly, knows how to deftly manage the ego of a high-strung driver.

Not to discredit Ford who is one of the better crew chiefs around, but there is a reason Grubb is on the very short list of best crew chiefs in the garage. Hamlin will be a better driver in the long run and will now likely reach his full potential working with Grubb.

Mike Ford
Let’s get this out of the way. The issues within the No. 11 team last season had more to do with Denny Hamlin’s psyche and the mechanical gremlins which plagued the entire Joe Gibbs operation than anything Mike Ford did or did not do as crew chief.

Whether he wants to admit it or not, it has to be some sort of relief to Ford to finally not have the vultures continually circling around him. Ever since Phoenix in 2010, when Hamlin ran out of fuel while leading and opened the door for Jimmie Johnson to win his fifth straight title, it was inevitable that Ford was going to be the scapegoat. That he made it through the entire ‘11 season is a miracle.

It’s also worth noting Hamlin has won a race and made the Chase every full year he’s raced in Cup and that’s a testament to Ford’s leadership and knowhow, as much as it is to Hamlin’s ability behind the wheel.

Like Grubb, Ford won’t be out of work for long. Hopefully for a team and driver who appreciates him a lot more than his previous employer did.

Penske Racing
There is no more respected car owner in all of motorsports than Roger Penske. The man cuts no corners and he spares no expense. To drive for him is an honor; with his only rule, don’t do something which embarrasses him and his sponsors.

Too often in the last couple of years Kurt Busch used, abused and embarrassed everyone who works for Penske Racing. Whether it was his temper tantrums over the radio, picking fights with drivers and media members, or explicitly cursing out a reporter who only wanted to interview him on national TV and give him and his sponsor valuable exposure, there was no shortage of reasons to kick the 2004 champion to the curb.

Something needed to be done, and not only did Penske do it, he did it with the knowledge that whomever he got to replace Busch would certainly not come close to producing the same results as the former series champion.

Brad Keselowski
With Kurt Busch’s abrupt removal, the onus of the two-car organization falls on the shoulders of Brad Keselowski. Coming off a breakthrough season in which he won three races and made the Chase for the first time, the 27-year-old driver is clearly the number one driver for Roger Penske’s stockcar team.

It’s a role perfectly suited for the outspoken – yet very respectful driver. Expect big things from him in 2012.

It will be his job to lead, motivate, and if all goes well, replicate the success he had this past season. If he can successfully do that, Penske Racing will be just fine without Busch. If not, this organization could easily fall into the abyss.

Steve Addington
Speaking of Kurt Busch and Penske Racing, no one was on the receiving end of Busch’s tirades more than his former crew chief, Steve Addington.

Following Homestead, it took Addington all of 2.3-seconds for him to resign his position at Penske and leave for the much more serene surroundings of Stewart-Haas Racing where he will take over as Tony Stewart’s new crew chief.

Just having the foresight to get away from Busch when he did is reason enough for me to include Addington on my list of winners.

Small Teams
Because of the economic cutbacks many a top team has been forced to undergo, there is a surplus of capable drivers and crewmen on the market. As a result, there is no time like the present for a small team to strengthen itself. Although they may not have the payroll of a Hendrick or a Roush, with jobs at a premium what the underfunded teams of the sport do offer is an opportunity to receive a paycheck, stay involved and prove to a top team that they made a mistake in letting them go. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.

Michael Waltrip Racing
With the additions of Clint Bowyer, Mark Martin, crew chief Brian Pattie and competition director Scott Miller, arguably no team has strengthened itself more than Michael Waltrip Racing. Whether they parlay this into a successful 2012 season, which includes the team’s first Chase berth remains to be seen. For now, the future looks promising for the team owned by the two-time winner of the Daytona 500.

David Ragan
Before Penske Racing handed Kurt Busch a pink slip, David Ragan was relegated to having to fight for a ride with one of NASCAR’s lesser teams, teams with little chance of consistently challenging for victories and no chance of contending for a spot in the Chase. Think Phoenix Racing, Front Row Motorsports, TRG Motorsports, etc.

Except with Busch now vacating the Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger, Ragan is the frontrunner to replace him.

My, oh, my how things can change in less than a week.

Losers

Kurt Busch
For a complete recap of why Kurt Busch finds himself on the loser’s side of this ledger, just go back and read my column from last week. It will tell you in detail everything you need to know as to why Busch is in the position he now is in and why he’s staring at an uncertain future in NASCAR.

Mike Ford
Everything I said above about Mike Ford above is absolutely true. That being said, it’s never a good thing to be out of work this late in the year. The game of musical crew chiefs is about to come to an end, and it looks like Ford will be left without a seat. However, if you believe the rumors and he ends up being named the crew chief for Danica Patrick, just disregard this paragraph.

Clint Bowyer
For a quick refresher on what happens when a driver makes decisions based solely on money, let me tell you the tale of Brian Vickers.

It wasn’t too long ago when Vickers, the 2003 Nationwide Series champion, was considered an up-and-coming driver with a very bright future. Then driving for Hendrick Motorsports and the low man on the totem pole on a team with Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, Vickers wanted more. Specifically, more money along everything else that goes along with being the top dog on a multi-car team.

So in the fall of 2006, he announced he was leaving the powerful Hendrick juggernaut to join the upstart Red Bull Racing. In his first year with his new team, Vickers failed to qualify for 13 races. All told, in five years he won just one race and when the team announced this past summer it was shutting its doors, Vickers was left to find a new team for the coming season. As of now, with the season little more than two months away, he still hasn’t found a Cup ride.

Michael Waltrip Racing has always been full of promise. The problem is they’ve rarely, if ever, actually delivered on said promise. Maybe Clint Bowyer will be the missing piece and will take MWR to the next level.

However, the likelihood is Bowyer will soon regret pricing himself out of a ride at Richard Childress Racing for a team that really hasn’t accomplished much in five full seasons of Cup.

Is it really that farfetched to think in a few years Bowyer will come to lament his decision to leave RCR much the way Vickers must now regret leaving Hendrick? I say no.

Gil Martin
In his two full seasons at the helm of the No. 29 team, Gil Martin has led Kevin Harvick to seven wins the last two years and consecutive third-place finish in the standings. Yet, it wasn’t enough to prevent Harvick from going to team owner Richard Childress and demanding a change for 2012. Childress obliged, and the end result has seen Martin reassigned within RCR.

Tony Stewart
This isn’t a knock on Tony Stewart The Driver, but a knock on Tony Stewart The Car Owner. Yes, I know the 14 team struggled for much of 2011 and it took an extraordinary Chase to overcome their regular season woes. Still, the end result was a championship for an organization in just its third year. No matter, it wasn’t enough for Stewart who cut bait with Darian Grubb. Making for one of the most uncomfortable post-race title celebrations in NASCAR history: Instead of basking in the brilliance of his impressive triumph, the driver/car owner continually had to laud a guy who he unceremoniously fired just weeks prior.

Trevor Bayne & Ricky Stenhouse
Both of the drivers in question are incredibly talented, great with sponsors and both deserving of job security with a team who can provide them with race-winning equipment. Yet, neither knows what their respective futures hold for the coming year.

Due to a lack of sponsorship, car owner Jack Roush has been forced to trim his Sprint Cup operation from four fulltime teams to three and his Nationwide Series effort from three to two. Meaning, there’s no guarantee as of now that either driver will be able to run a full slate of races in 2012.

I know this isn’t the fault of either NASCAR or Jack Roush, but instead speaks volumes about the lack of opportunities in this sport for young drivers without a company to foot their bill. But regardless, last year both Bayne and Stenhouse proved they belong and instead of being rewarded for their efforts, both are unfairly staring a very bleak future.

Steve Addington
Steve Addington not only has the pressure of being the crew chief for Tony Stewart, a three-time series titlist and someone who has won a race every year he’s competed. He’s also taking over as the top guy for a team which is coming off a season in which they went to Victory Lane five times, and, oh yeah, won the championship. Good luck with that, Steve.

David Reuitmann & Brian Vickers
Here’s the link to what I wrote in November about where the careers of David Reutimann and Brian Vickers are headed. Nothing has changed since.

 

If you would like to contact the author of this post, simply click here, and you can also follow The Racing Geek on Twitter.

Photo courtesy of NASCAR Media/Getty Images

Filed Under: NASCAR, Sub-Feature, Winners and Losers

Winners and Losers From New Hampshire

09/21/2010 By Leave a Comment

Round one of the 2010 Chase for the Sprint Cup is in the books and what an opening race it was. The frequently overlooked and underrated Clint Bowyer staked his claim as this year’s surprise contender. Much like he did in 2007. Though, it didn’t come as a complete shock to all of us.

Denny Hamlin overcame a harrowing spin in front of the field to finish in the runner-up position. Kurt and Kyle Busch both persevered through numerous mishaps to finish in the top-15. Whereas Jimmie Johnson wasn’t able to do the same and came home a disappointing 25th.

All in all, the Sylvania 300 has to be considered one of the more entertaining races of the year and offers everyone plenty of storylines to gnaw on before the green-flag flies next Sunday at Dover. Before we start to do that though, let’s digest this week’s winners and losers.

Winners

Clint Bowyer
As noted above, Clint Bowyer is used to being overlooked. That comes with the territory when coming into this weekend, you’ve only won two Sprint Cup races in five years and your last victory was 88 races ago. Add into the equation that he drives for one of the more legendary owners in NASCAR history and his teammates, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton, have won 14 and 21 races respectively and its easy to see why Bowyer’s name is frequently glossed over when discussing who the top drivers in the sport are.

However, after leading a race-high 177 laps and notching his third career victory, he ensured that he wouldn’t be sharing the spotlight with anyone else. That is, at least for one day any way.

Denny Hamlin
Entering into the Chase, all Denny Hamlin talked about was how he had to avoid the early pratfalls that have come to define him in the Chase and put himself in a position the last five races or so to make a viable run at the championship.

So when the No. 11 Toyota went for a spin on Lap 215 it looked similar to years prior, when Hamlin would somehow find a way to self-destruct his title hopes. Except, in this case there was no implosion. The points leader managed to keep his car off the wall, used pit strategy to recoup his lost track position and raced his way to a second-place finish.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
That was no misprint in the boxscore; Dale Earnhardt Jr., fourth, actually finished a race in the top-five. It is just the third time he’s done so this season and the first time in 40 Cup starts that he’s finished in the top-five on a non-restrictor-plate track. Is this just an aberration or a sign of things to come? Who knows? But a week after perhaps his worst day as a Sprint Cup driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. looked like the driver everyone expected him to be when he joined Hendrick Motorsports three years ago.

Kevin Harvick & Kyle Busch
Listening to Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch talk to their crew Sunday reminded me of a teenage girl whose parents had just grounded her for breaking curfew. We heard a lot of screaming, there was some foot stomping and just overall, bitchiness all around. The funny thing is, both drivers finished in the top-10, and are in excellent shape points-wise heading into Dover.

Sam Hornish Jr.
With sponsorship lacking, it appears as if Sam Hornish Jr.’s days with Penske Racing are numbered. But despite all the uncertainty surrounding the future of the former Indy 500 champion, it didn’t prevent him from scoring his best finish of the year. Although a 10th-place finish isn’t something to get excited about, but after the year Hornish has had, you can perhaps appreciate the excitement.

Losers

Tony Stewart & Darian Grubb
On a track like New Hampshire, where passing opportunities are limited and track position is hard to come by, you can understand why Tony Stewart and crew chief Darian Grubb were hesitant to pit for tires and fuel as the race came to its conclusion.

That being said, the risk versus reward in deciding not to pit wasn’t worth it. If Stewart pits, yes, he would have had to contend with traffic, which on this day was no easy task. But few drivers are as good at avoiding trouble on the track as the two-time series champ. As things shuffled themselves out, he would’ve at the very least left the Magic Mile with a top-10 finish instead of 24th like he did. And he certainly wouldn’t be in the position he finds himself in now, sitting 11th in points, 124 behind Hamlin.

This isn’t Monday Morning Quarterbacking simply because the 14 car ran out of fuel leading with the white flag waving. From the moment Stewart’s Chevrolet stayed on the track when the majority of the cars behind him pitted, it was a decision I immediately questioned. You’re risking far, far too much by gambling that you make it 92 laps on fuel.

Matt Kenseth
The driver most everyone has finishing 12th in the Chase did absolutely nothing Sunday to prove his legion of doubters wrong. A complete non-factor all day, Matt Kenseth never ran higher than 14th and his average running position was an ugly 22nd.

Jimmie Johnson
Finishing 25th is of course not the way Jimmie Johnson wanted to start the playoffs. Regardless, the result has the four-time defending champ 92 points out of the championship lead and has given further proof to the competition that while Superman may not have completely lost his powers, he’s noticeably weaker than in years past.

If you would like to contact the author of this post, please feel free to email him at jordan@theracinggeek.com and you can also follow The Racing Geek on Twitter.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images/NASCAR Media

Filed Under: Bowyer, Busch, Earnhardt Jr., Grubb, Hamlin, Harvick, Hornish Jr., Johnson, Kenseth, NASCAR, New Hampshire, Stewart, Winners and Losers

Dale Jr. Needs A Change and The Winners and Losers From Richmond

09/14/2010 By 4 Comments

Before we delve into this week’s winners and losers, now seems as good a time as any to talk about the career of Dale Earnhardt Jr. that is spiraling out of control and who may very well have hit rock-bottom after finishing 34th, six laps in arrears of race-winner Denny Hamlin.

Things were so bad for NASCAR’s most popular driver Saturday night, at one point he was convinced his team had the wheels on the wrong side of the car.

All this coming on the heels of team owner Rick Hendrick adamantly saying that changes weren’t needed and weren’t going to happen anytime in the near future to turn around Junior’s fortunes.
What perplexes me is if changes aren’t in the works, how is this hot mess of a situation going to fix itself?

It’s more evident now than ever before that Earnhardt and crew chief Lance McGrew simply cannot coexist. It has nothing to do with them not liking one another, because their relationship off the track is strong, and more importantly they have a mutual respect for one another.

What it comes down to is communication. Which as any woman will tell you is the key to a successful relationship.

Listening to the radio banter between Earnhardt and McGrew, it’s as if one is speaking Japanese while the other is speaking Spanish. As a result, figuring out the proper changes to make to the car – an already difficult proposition considering how finicky the CoT is – becomes an almost impossible task.

While “The Godfather” (Rick Hendrick) may not want to admit, making changes is the only way at all to possibly revive what has become an almost unsalvageable situation.

Obviously if he were to do something, it isn’t going to be replacing the guy who’s sitting behind the wheel. Not with National Guard and Amp paying upwards of $30 million in sponsorship money at a time when Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, both former champions, can’t find full funding for next season.

Thus, the time has come to replace the guy who sits atop the 88s pit box every week and calls the shots. It’s not as if there isn’t cause to do so.

Rarely this season has the 88 team shown up to the track and had a fast racecar from the moment they’ve unloaded. Too often Earnhardt and McGrew are playing catch-up while everyone else is fine-tuning their car for that weekend’s race.

There’s no better example of this than what happened at Richmond, a track Earnhardt that has won on three times prior. On Friday afternoon, in the opening round of practice, the 88 car was 38th on the speed charts and set the tone for what was to come. Completely unacceptable for a team with the amount of resources that the 88 has at its disposal.

It’s a lot easier to point fingers than it is come up with answers, but the answer to this dilemma is a fairly easy one.

With 10 races left in the season, and with both Earnhardt and teammate Mark Martin not in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, the best move, and frankly the only move, is to bring over Martin’s crew chief Alan Gustafson and pair him with Earnhardt.

Unlike McGrew, Gustafson is a proven commodity, who has continually shown that he knows how to build fast racecars that can win races and compete for the championship. Since 2005, with Gustafson in charge, the 5 car has been to victory lane nine times and has made the Chase on three different occasions (2006, ’07 and ’09).

By naming Gustafson as Earnhardt’s crew chief, it will definitively determine what kind of driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. actually is. Be it the driver who has won 18 career Sprint Cup races and three times has finished in the top-five in the standings? Or, the driver who hasn’t won a race in 82 starts and finished a career-worst 25th in points a year ago?

Gustafson, who is regarded as one of the best minds in the garage, and has a clear understanding of the CoT, will help us all answer this question hopefully once and for all.

What this also does, is allow The Godfather to bring aboard crew chief Kenny Francis and let him start rebuilding the 5 team how he sees fit, so that when the driver who he currently works with, Kasey Kahne, joins the Hendrick fold in 2012, the groundwork is already laid for Kahne to jump right in and start winning races.

In the end, this simply makes too much sense for everyone involved for it not to happen. Meaning the likelihood of it actually happening is nil. And so we can continue to expect Dale Earnhardt Jr. to drive like he has an anchor attached to his car every weekend and wallow in mediocrity for the rest of his career.

Winners

Denny Hamlin
One win on a short track doesn’t alleviate the reliability concerns that surround this team, but what this victory does is give them the No. 1 seed in the Chase thanks to the six victories they’ve racked up this season.

Adding a cherry on top of the sundae is for the second year in a row, Denny Hamlin was able to win a race on the track he considers his “home track.” Making Saturday’s win even sweeter and has to have him feeling pretty good heading into New Hampshire.

Clint Bowyer
I can’t tell you how impressed I am with how remarkably calm and cool Clint Bowyer was last weekend. Not once did he let the pressure of being on the Chase bubble affect him. Granted, having a sizable lead helps, but one mistake on the track and that door would’ve been opened wide for Ryan Newman to drive right thru. To his credit, Bowyer never bobbled, handled the situation and all the pressure that goes along with it like a pro and finished sixth.

Richard Childress and The Entire Richard Childress Racing Organization
A year after perhaps his worst season as an owner (2001 excluded for obvious reasons), Richard Childress not only has placed all three of his cars in the Chase, he has an excellent opportunity to win his seventh series title as a car owner.

As for RCR as a whole; it has been a simply remarkable turnaround from where they were at this time a year ago. All three cars are in Chase compared to zero in ’09. Kevin Harvick has dominated the regular season, winning three times and accumulating a nearly 300-point lead. Only silly mistakes and bad luck have prevented Jeff Burton from having multiple victories; while Clint Bowyer continues to be one of the most underrated drivers in the garage.

Joe Gibbs Racing
It’s easy to forget in all the hoopla Saturday night with this being the regular season finale and Denny Hamlin securing the No. 1 position in the Chase, that Joe Gibbs Racing had its drivers finish first, second and fourth in the Air Guard 400.

While certainly this year’s championship race appears to be more wide-open than in years past, JGR is the only team that can legitimately claim that it has two drivers, Hamlin and Kyle Busch, who have a real chance of capturing the championship.

Hendrick has just two cars in the Chase compared to three a year ago, and until Jeff Gordon starts winning again, it’s hard to consider him a real title threat. Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer, like Gordon, haven’t won a race this season and have had bouts of inconsistency. And Carl Edwards is the only driver from Roush Fenway Racing who looks semi-capable and consistent enough to do so. Add it all up, and another championship banner might soon be hanging in the Joe Gibbs shop.

Mattias Ekstrom
The Swedish
import, in his first race of any kind on an oval, handled himself fairly well. He stayed out trouble, never caused a caution, and most importantly, on a night in which a lot was on the line, avoided becoming mixed up in something which could have had serious ramifications for drivers, both positively and negatively.

Joey Logano
After a rough summer stretch that saw him finish no better than ninth and a somewhat disappointing sophomore campaign overall, a fourth-place run was exactly what the doctor ordered for Joey Logano. Whether this is a sign of things to come or a just a blip on the radar remains to be seen.

Losers

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
See above.

Hendrick Motorsports
On a night where the three Joe Gibbs cars finished in the top-five, and three Childress and Roush cars all locked themselves into the Chase, Hendrick Motorsports had just one car finish in the top-10 (Jimmie Johnson, third) and will have only two cars in NASCAR’s version of the playoffs. Have I mentioned that only one Hendrick car has won a race in ’10?

Jeff Gordon
It was once thought that maybe Jeff Gordon could win the championship without winning a race. That was before though, when the four-time titlist was finishing in the top-five seemingly every week. Currently, he’s struggling just to finish in the top-10, and hasn’t finished better than sixth since Chicagoland, eight races ago.

Ryan Newman
On night where he needed to lead as many laps as possible, and put himself in position to finish as close to the front as he possibly could if he had any hope of making the Chase, Ryan Newman led as many laps as you and I did and finished a non-descript 11th. A lot of the blame can be placed on his shoddy pit crew, which turned out one slow stop after another Saturday. Regardless, you win as a team, you lose as a team.

Matt Kenseth/Tony Stewart/Kurt Busch/Mark Martin/Kasey Kahne/Joe Nemechek Each of the above drivers is a former race winner at Richmond, and each struggled for a variety of reasons this past weekend. Of the six drivers above, the best finish among them was Matt Kenseth’s 14th-place finish.

If you would like to contact the author of this post, please feel free to email him at jordan@theracinggeek.com and you can also follow The Racing Geek on Twitter.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images/NASCAR Media

Filed Under: Bowyer, Childress, Earnhardt Jr., Ekstrom, Gibbs, Gordon, Hamlin, Hendrick, Logano, NASCAR, Newman, Richmond, Winners and Losers

Winners and Losers From Atlanta

09/08/2010 By Leave a Comment

For the past 50 years, NASCAR has been racing twice per season at Atlanta Motor Speedway. But with the track seeing one of its two race dates shifted to a sister-track located in Kentucky next year, there was some mixed emotion surrounding the Emory Healthcare 500.

Whether it was that emotion or simple happenstance, the action that transpired on the track this past weekend was fantastic. And a worthy way to honor one of the best tracks on the Sprint Cup schedule. With that in mind, let’s sort through this week’s winners and losers.

Winners

Tony Stewart
With his first win of 2010, and with the consistency that he has exhibited throughout the summer, we’d be remiss if we didn’t include Tony Stewart’s name on the list of possible championship contenders. He doesn’t necessarily deserve to be atop that list, but he certainly belongs on it somewhere.

Carl Edwards
In finishing second, the Emory Healthcare 500 is further proof that Carl Edwards has returned to the form he exhibited in 2008, when he won eight races and ended with him finishing second in points to Jimmie Johnson. Its worth noting, that in the last eight races, Edwards’ worst finish is a 12th Bristol, and his average finish overall in those same eight races is fifth.

Jimmie Johnson
One third-place finish doesn’t erase what we’ve seen from the 48 team the in last month-and-a-half. But what it does do, is reconfirm my belief that no matter how mortal they’ve looked – they’ve looked mighty mortal as of late – this team is still the favorite until someone shows they can topple them when it matters the most.

Clint Bowyer
Jamie McMurray, Mark Martin and Kasey Kahne all stubbed their toes and sealed their Chase fate. By finishing seventh, Clint Bowyer capitalized on the opportunity that presented itself and all but locked up the 12th and final postseason spot. Now, all he has to do at Richmond is finish 28th or better.

Kyle Busch
The “Old” Kyle Busch would’ve packed it in after a pit road speeding penalty and problem on a pit stop left him a lap down. The “New” Kyle Busch maintained his composure and raced his way to his seventh top-five finish of ’10. I guess that’s what we call maturity.

Jeff Burton & Kurt Busch
Both drivers fell a lap down early, but both worked on making their cars better, used pit strategy to their advantage and left Atlanta with top-10 finishes. For Burton (4th), it was his first top-five finish since Daytona on Fourth of July weekend. While Busch (6th) posted his third top-10 finish in four races.

Reed Sorenson
Coming off the heels of a 15th-place finish at Bristol, Reed Sorenson (14th), in his home state of Georgia, drove to his second straight top-15 finish.

For his efforts, what does the 24-year-old get? He gets replaced at Richmond by a German Touring Car driver (Mattias Ekstrom), who’s never started a NASCAR race on an oval.

Dave Blaney
For many drivers crossing the finish line in 24th is a disappointing day. But for Dave Blaney, finishing 24th marks his best finish in a Sprint Cup race since he finished 22nd at Homestead in the season finale of the 2008 season.

Atlanta Motor Speedway
Of the seven mile-and-a-half tracks that are on the Sprint Cup schedule, Atlanta Motor Speedway is by far the raciest of them all. (The good kind of racy mind you, not the bad kind.)

Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin exchanged the lead throughout the early portions of the 500-mile race. Later, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Carl Edwards put on a three-man duel for second-place, which will go down as some of the best racing we’ve seen all year. Except…

Losers

Atlanta Motor Speedway
… sadly though, despite annually hosting some of the best and most memorable races of recent years, the track can’t get enough people to buy tickets to warrant two races at the facility.

Bruton Smith
Bruton Smith is one of those guys who like to shoot-from-the-hip. The majority of time, the stuff he says, though controversial, is spot-on and is something that needs to be said for the good of the sport.

But when asked Saturday about the track he owns in Las Vegas hosting the finale Sprint Cup race of the season, something Smith is adamantly in favor of, here was his quote, “If you’re going to do a championship, you’ve got to do it at the proper place, and I don’t think North Cuba is the proper place.”

Funny? Sort of. Appropriate? No. And unquestionably something a mover-and-shaker of Smith’s magnitude should never say in front of the media.

When he had a chance to make amends for his comment on Sunday, Smith, of course, didn’t back away.

“I was just speaking the truth,” he said. “I was actually complimenting them. It was actually based on location, so I was just kind of being kind to the location. That’s what it was.”

Here’s what needs to happen: Someone needs to take Smith aside and explain to him that not only do loose lips sink ships, and they also don’t get track owners the dates they oh so covet from NASCAR.

Mark Martin
After a mediocre 21st-place run Sunday, Mark Martin is all but guaranteed not to be making a return trip to the Chase.

There are a lot of reasons to explain why Mark Martin has not come anywhere close to matching his performance from a year ago, when he won five times and finished second overall in the standings. But at the end of the day, all the excuses that could possibly be given are nothing more than that, excuses.

Jamie McMurray
Like a lot of guys Sunday night Jamie McMurray was befuddled by a myriad of problems. But unlike some of the guys listed above in the winner’s portion of this column, the reigning Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 champion wasn’t able to recover enough (15th-place finish) to give himself a reasonable chance to make the Chase this coming Saturday night at Richmond.

Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin came into this weekend talking big on how he and his team were treating this race like a Chase race. When he won the pole Saturday, and proceeded to lead 74 of the first 140 laps, it looked as if all that talk was in fact reality. Perhaps even a shot across the bow to the competition of what was to come when the Chase begins in two weeks.

Instead, Hamlin’s motor went kaboom and regulated him to 43rd in the final rundown.

If you would like to contact the author of this post, please feel free to email him at jordan@theracinggeek.com and you can also follow The Racing Geek on Twitter.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images/NASCAR Media

Filed Under: Atlanta, Blaney, Bowyer, Bruton Smith, Burton, Busch, Edwards, Hamlin, Johnson, Martin, McMurray, Sorenson, Stewart, Winners and Losers

Bristol Winners and Losers

08/24/2010 By 1 Comment

Typically a race at Bristol features fried nerves, temper tantrums and plenty of twisted and mangled racecars. To the disappointment of many, we didn’t really see any of the above – Jimmie Johnson excluded. But what we did witness was a driver doing something that’s never been done in the history of the sport. Of course, I’m talking about Kyle Busch. Who appropriately, leads off this week’s list of winners.

Winners

Kyle Busch
If there were another race at Bristol this past weekend, the odds are that Kyle Busch would’ve found a way to win. A fair assumption considering Busch became the first driver to win Truck, Nationwide and Sprint Cup races all in the same weekend.

As I wrote in my Monday recap, no matter what you think of Kyle Busch – good, bad or indifferent – there is no denying that his talent behind the wheel of a racecar is special.

David Reutimann
If I get a hangnail, I’m laid up on the couch for a week moaning in pain. David Reutimann gets food poisoning, at Bristol nonetheless, and drives to an impressive runner-up finish. Thus further confirming what we already knew: I’m a wuss and racecar drivers are tough.

Jamie McMurray
Jamie McMurray’s third-place run Saturday night was the seventh time this season that he’s finished a race in the top-five. It’s worth noting that he has more top-five finishes than either Kyle Busch or Tony Stewart has in 2010.

The finish moves the Daytona 500 winner to 13th in the standings; exactly 100 points behind Clint Bowyer in the race to claim the final Chase position. With two races left, it’s not an impossible task to overtake Bowyer, but it isn’t going to be easy.

Clint Bowyer
While running in the top-10 early in the race, Clint Bowyer was nailed for speeding on pit road during the first round of pit stops. This could have easily derailed his day and his chances to make the Chase. Instead, Bowyer remained composed, avoided any trouble on the track – no easy feat at Bristol – and drove back through the field to finish fourth.

Even better, he put some noticeable distance between himself and 13th-place in the standings, now occupied by Jamie McMurray. Bottom-line is, as long as Bowyer doesn’t suffer a mechanical failure or wreck at either Atlanta or Richmond, he will make the Chase for the third time in four years.

Brad Keselowski
It takes some real moxie to call another driver an ass before the race starts, and that is exactly what Brad Keselowski did when introducing himself to the crowd prior to the race.

Losers

Jimmie Johnson & Denny Hamlin
They may be five-time winners this year, but both drivers, who were once considered the co-championship favorites at one point this season, are suffering through a serious case of inconsistency. While logic dictates that they should find their mojo once the Chase begins, it’s still disconcerting to see each hobble along like they have as of late.

Mark Martin
The popular belief was that once Rick Hendrick announced that Kasey Kahne would be at Team Red Bull next season and not in the seat that Mark Martin currently occupies, it would allow Martin to focus all of his attention on racing his way into the Chase.

There’s just one problem. Instead of improving his on-track performance, he’s actually gotten worse. At Michigan, he hit the wall early and finished 28th. And Bristol wasn’t any better, as he was a complete non-factor and came home 23rd.

A year after winning five races and finishing runner-up to Jimmie Johnson in the championship order, Martin not only has not won a race, but will be merely a bystander when the Chase starts next month at Loudon.

Brad Keselowski
If you want to call fellow drivers names, I’m all for it. It’s good for the sport, it’s good for the fans, and it gives me something to write about. The problem is, when you haven’t had a single top-10 finish this season; I don’t think you should go around picking fights with drivers of Kyle Busch’s ilk.

So let’s make a edit called the Keselowski Decree. From this day forth, you’re not allowed to make fun of, ridicule or mock another driver who has won a race in a given season until you yourself have actually done something tangible on the track in that same season. And no, leading the Nationwide Series standings does not count. That’s the equivalent of Albert Pujols leading the minor leagues in homeruns.

If you would like to contact the author of this post, please feel free to email him at jordan@theracinggeek.com and you can also follow The Racing Geek on Twitter.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images/NASCAR Media

Filed Under: Bowyer, Bristol, Busch, Hamlin, Johnson, Keselowski, Martin, McMurray, NASCAR, Reutimann, Winners and Losers

Winners and Losers From Michigan

08/17/2010 By 1 Comment

After one of the more exciting Michigan races in recent memory, there is no shortage of candidates for this week’s Winners and Losers feature. So without wasting anyone’s time, let’s get right to it and sort through who did well and who did badly this past weekend in the Irish Hills.

Winners

Kevin Harvick
Before his win last Sunday, it had been nearly four years since Kevin Harvick last won a race on a track that didn’t require a restrictor-plate. With his third victory of 2010, the series points leader became the first driver to officially clinch a spot in the Chase, and sent a strong message to the garage that the 29 team and that there is really no reason that anyone else should be considered the team to beat when the playoffs start in four weeks.

Denny Hamlin
In scoring his best finish since winning here in June, Denny Hamlin flashed the form that won him five races earlier this season. Whether Sunday was an aberration or a sign of things to come, remains to be seen.

Jack Roush
Just weeks removed from surviving a harrowing plane crash, Jack Roush returned to the track for the first time since his accident. Although the longtime Sprint Cup owner still has a very long way to go before he completely recovers from his injuries, just seeing the Cat in the Hat back was a nice way to start the weekend.

Roush Fenway Racing
The best medicine Jack Roush has received to date was seeing how strong his fleet of Fords ran on Sunday. Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth finished third, fourth and fifth. With his three Chase drivers peaking at the right time, making a run at the title isn’t as farfetched a proposition that it once seemed.

Elliott Sadler
Question: When does a ninth-place finish get you a spot on the winners list for the week? Answer: When it’s your first finish inside the top-10 in almost a full season.

For Elliott Sadler, the good run and finish came at a good time as he continues to knock on doors in an attempt to find a ride for next season.

Losers

Hendrick Motorsports
Not a single Hendrick Motorsports car finished in the top-10. Mark Martin saw his road to the Chase become that much more difficult after tagging the wall and finishing in 28th-place. Jeff Gordon saw his impressive drive to the front from his 36th starting position go away after his tire did the same. The 48 car of Jimmie Johnson continues to get worse, not better as the race moves towards its conclusion. And Dale Earnhardt Jr. needs not only a new crew chief, but some couch time with a therapist.

Ryan Newman/Joey Logano
After these two got together on the track, with Ryan Newman getting the worse of it as he went for a spin, they exchanged some words following the race. Understandably, Newman, who’s racing for a spot in the Chase, was not happy with had transpired.

It was then that these two manly men exchanged “shoves,” (I use that word very, very loosely) which would have made a fifth-grade schoolgirl jealous.

Kurt Busch
After a strong runner-up finish the week prior at Watkins Glen, Kurt Busch experienced his second DNF in three weeks. This one came courtesy of a faulty engine that left him 40th in the final running order.

Scott Speed
Was basically told earlier in the week that his job is dependant on how he performs the next two months. With that in mind, the former F1 pilot went out and finished 25th. Considering that’s his sixth straight race where he’s finished 25th or worse, I would recommend to Scott Speed that he start updating his résumé.

Clint Bowyer
Yeah, Clint Bowyer moved into 12th in the standings. But so what? On a day when the guys he’s competing against for the final Chase position, particularly Mark Martin and Ryan Newman, were all experiencing their own troubles, Bowyer had a perfect opportunity to strengthen his grip on 12th.

Instead, in a race where a top-10 was a must, all Bowyer could do was finish 13th. In doing so, he gave a reprieve to Martin and Ryan Newman.

Mark Martin
Hitting the wall on Lap 5 of a 200 lap race that you need a good finish in is something a driver with very little experience would do. It’s a gaffe that a driver of Mark Martin’s acumen shouldn’t make in that situation.

If you would like to contact the author of this post, please feel free to email him at jordan@theracinggeek.com and you can also follow The Racing Geek on Twitter.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images/NASCAR Media

Filed Under: Bowyer, Busch, Hamlin, Harvick, Hendrick, Logano, Martin, Michigan, Newman, Roush, Sadler, Speed, Winners and Losers

Watkins Glen Winners and Losers

08/10/2010 By 1 Comment


Yesterday morning Chicagoland Speedway officials, in conjunction with NASCAR, verified what we already knew to be true. In 2011, the track will be the starting point in the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup.

As I wrote last week, from a marketing/media perspective, naming Chicagoland the first Chase race makes perfect sense with the track being less than an hour from the country’s third-largest city.

However, this was with the assumption that the race would be held on Saturday night like it has been for the past few years. Not on Sunday, when the city’s beloved NFL team the Chicago Bears, would playing its second game of the season.

What doesn’t make sense is why NASCAR and track officials would purposely schedule a race for a Sunday afternoon and deliberately compete head-to-head with a team that consumes the entire region whenever they play. My guess is NASCAR’s TV partner ABC/ESPN wanted the race on Sunday afternoon where it had no programming in place, instead of Saturday night when college football dominates their airwaves.

If the White Sox and/or the Cubs are playing a meaningful game on that Sunday (I know that’s a huge if Cubs fans) the task at hand becomes that much more difficult, if not borderline impossible to not only draw 70,000 people to the Joliet track, but to get the media coverage NASCAR is hoping to receive.

I can only hope that I’m wrong in thinking this. The sport needs this race to kickoff the Chase in grandiose style, in a way that the previous first Chase races at New Hampshire were never able to do.

However, all signs point to me being 100 percent right. If that is the case, than everyone involved, NASCAR/fans/media/competitors will be losers in the end.

With that natural transition, let’s get to this week’s weekly winners and losers.

Winners

Juan Pablo Montoya
It was two birds, with one stone proposition this weekend for Juan Pablo Montoya.

The first bird involved him winning his first NASCAR race in over three years. He did so in dominant fashion; leading 74 out of a possible 90 laps and winning by a breezy 4.7-seconds.

The second bird was Montoya making amends with his crew, who he had verbally whipped last week over the radio.

Kurt Busch
The majority of the post-race attention has been focused on Juan Pablo Montoya (for obvious reasons) and third-place finisher Marcos Ambrose; but let’s give Kurt Busch some love for his strong runner-up finish.

The two-time winner this season only ran outside the top-10 during green-flag pit stops, and his average running position was fifth. Anytime you can finish on the same podium with road course racers of the caliber of Juan Pablo Montoya and Marcos Ambrose, you know you’re in select company.

Carl Edwards
When it comes to what he does on the track, I’m not certain Carl Edwards can do anything quietly. Do I need to remind you of what happened at Atlanta and Gateway? But somehow, he’s managed to stealthy piece together a run recently of five consecutive finishes of seventh or better including a fifth-place finish Sunday.

Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing
The organization’s win Sunday was their third of the season. This is more than Richard Childress Racing, Roush Fenway Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing and every other team in NASCAR with the exception of the Hendrick and Gibbs squads.

Kyle Busch
A problem with the suspension necessitated the No.18 Toyota having to make a pit stop before the green flag even flew. In doing so it required Kyle Busch to start shotgun on the field. He recovered nicely, making 62 green flag passes and coming home in the eighth position.

Richard Petty Motorsports
They locked up AJ Allmendinger to a long-term contract on Friday and provided a good enough car for “Dinger” to finish fourth on Sunday.

The team also is close to signing the guy who finished third, Marcos Ambrose, to replace the departing Kasey Kahne. If they keep making wise moves like these, I might have to seriously consider dropping my Team Dysfunctional moniker I have for them.

Mark Martin
While I’m typing this, it has become public knowledge that Rick Hendrick has reached a deal with Team Red Bull to field a car next season for Kasey Kahne. This will allow for Mark Martin to remain in the 5 car just as he has proclaimed all season.

Martin, who finished 19th yesterday, also moved ahead of Clint Bowyer by 10 points in the fight to claim the 12th and final Chase position.

Watkins Glen
The legendary track hosted another great road course race before what looked to be a great crowd. Watching the racing action we saw on Sunday, makes one wish there were more tracks on the schedule where the drivers had to turn left and right.

Losers

Marcos Ambrose
If the Australian driver was going to win a race this year, let’s be honest, it was either going to be at Infineon and Watkins Glen. He went 0-2 and consequently ended up on this side of the ledger.

Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing
As mentioned above, Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing has more combined wins this season than every team except the Hendrick and Gibbs operation. All those wins are nice – especially considering that two of them came in NASCAR’s two biggest races – neither of the EGR cars will be competing for the championship when the Chase rolls around next month.

Kyle Busch
I have a hard time tolerating drivers who continually berate their crew whenever something goes wrong. Granted, there’s no reason for a driver to have to pit to fix their car before the pace car has even left the track, but still.

And berate is exactly what Kyle Busch did. “Absolutely freaking pathetic! You ought to be ashamed of yourselves!,” Busch screamed at his crew before the start of the race.

Even mid-race when he was up to 14th, it didn’t stop Busch from expressing his frustration, “Why don’t we all quit so we don’t make the Chase because we don’t deserve it. God Almighty!”

It’s nice to hear that Kyle’s people skills are as good as his skills wheeling a racecar.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Post-race Dale Earnhardt Jr. was quoted as saying his car was better than it had been all weekend and that he was happy he was able to “compete.”

If finishing 26th is competing, then that says all that needs to be said about where the 88 team is at compared to his three Hendrick teammates, who currently are all in the Chase.

If you would like to contact the author of this post, please feel free to email him at jordan@theracinggeek.com and you can also follow The Racing Geek on Twitter.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images/NASCAR Media

Filed Under: Ambrose, Busch, Earnhardt Jr., Edwards, Martin, Montoya, NASCAR, Petty, Watkins Glen, Winners and Losers

Pocono Winners and Losers

08/03/2010 By Leave a Comment


After a road trip to Iowa to witness the Nationwide Series action firsthand, and after enduring yesterday’s Sprint Cup race, which at times resembled more of a marathon than an actual NASCAR race, there are plenty of Winners and Losers to sort through this week.

Winners

Greg Biffle
There is an abundance of “name” drivers that are in the midst of winless streaks; chief among them are Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Burton. So Greg Biffle’s drought often got overlooked when compared to these other more popular drivers.

But with a win Sunday, Biffle is overlooked no more. Now that he’s returned to the winner’s circle, and taking into account his past success in the Chase – he finished second in 2005 and third in ’08 – there’s real reason to believe that he could be a force when the Chase starts next month.

Ford
The transition to the much-maligned FR9 engine has been a long one. After all the trials, tribulations, false hope and engine failures the FR9 finally powered a car to victory lane. With Biffle and Edwards running significantly better lately, it shouldn’t take nearly as long to get another win.

Jack Roush
The odds of surviving two plane crashes are slim, and Jack Roush miraculously did it. In the same week he escaped death, he capped it off with his Roush Fenway team finally winning a Cup race after a 23-race slump.

Elliott Sadler
Sadler survived the scariest looking accidents we’ve seen in years. When you can walk away from a wreck that’s so violent your engine is separated from your car, you more than deserve to be referred to as a winner for the week.

Tony Stewart & His Entire 14 Team
They’ve yet to show the same speed that won them four races a year ago. That hasn’t prevented them from finishing second three times this season, and finishing in the top-10 nine times in the last 11 races. This is something which could pay dividends when the Chase begins in six weeks.

Kevin Harvick
Like he’s done the majority of the year, Kevin Harvick was just so-so in the beginning of the race, but by race end he was running solidly in the top-five (fourth).

Although you’d like to see him lead laps and challenge for wins more often than he has, there’s a lot to be said for finishing in the top-10 with regularity. Harvick has done this in all but six races this season.

Mark Martin
This year has been nothing like the fairytale season Mark Martin enjoyed last year. After a rough June and July, where not once did he finish in the top-10, a seventh-place finish has left him in a good position for a run to the Chase. He now stands just 34 points behind 12th-place Clint Bowyer with five races remaining.

Nationwide Version of Kyle Busch
In 17 Nationwide Series starts this season, Kyle Busch has won nine of them. This means that he statistically has a better shot to win the race than the rest of the field.

Iowa Speedway
For the second straight year almost 56,000 people packed the grandstands to watch the Nationwide Series compete on the 7/8 mile oval. With the drum beat continuing to get louder for NASCAR to massively re-shift some dates on the Sprint Cup schedule, the case further gets made that Iowa Speedway deserves a place at the big boys’ table.

Trevor Bayne
The talented 19-year-old driver for Michael Waltrip Racing has won the pole and finished in the top-five the last three weeks. It’s no secret that Bobby Labonte is only keeping the seat warm at JTG Daugherty Racing until Bayne is ready to make the move up to Sprint Cup.

Losers

Pocono Speedway & NASCAR
It’s absolutely inexcusable that Pocono doesn’t have SAFER Barriers lining the backstretch retaining wall. It’s only by the grace of God that Elliott Sadler walked away from his horrific accident.

The blame not only lies with Pocono Speedway, it also falls on NASCAR for continuing to let the track skate by with minimal safety improvements. It shouldn’t take two bad wrecks to force changes to be made. It’s something the sanctioning body should have demanded a long time ago.

Jeff Gordon/Steve Letarte
For the longest time, taking four tires on a track like Pocono was a no-brainer. But times have changed. Witness last week’s race at Indianapolis. The fastest car, driven by Juan Pablo Montoya, took four tires and never recovered. Jamie McMurray went with two and ran away with the victory.

Yesterday, with 20 laps remaining and threatening weather looming in the area, track position was everything. Especially when taking into account how difficult it was to pass.

If you wanted to have a chance to win, the call to make was two-tires and not four. Jeff Gordon and Steve Letarte elected to go with four, and because of that, they finished sixth.

Jimmie Johnson/Chad Knaus
There was a time when this duo was considered unflappable. Now, between rookie mistakes on the track, sloppy pit stops and adjustments that make the 48 worse not better, there are some legitimate questions about this team’s ability to win the championship this season.

Roush’s Nationwide Rookies
On the year, the two rookies Roush Fenway is campaigning in the Nationwide Series have a combined 11 DNFs due to crashes.

To witness the carnage that both Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Colin Braun inflicted Saturday was a sight to behold as each was directly responsible for destroying two racecars on the day.

My favorite moment occurred after Stenhouse cracked up his second machine –because his primary car was wrecked in the opening minutes of practice – during his qualifying attempt. Thus for the race, he was forced to use Carl Edwards’ backup.

Members from all four teams converged on what was now car No. 3 on the day in attempt to prepare it for the race. One of the things that needed to be done was removing the decals which depicted Edwards’ sponsor Fastenal and replace them with stickers for Stenhouse’s sponsor Citifinancial.

While observing this it was noted by the person with me that it looked like an arts and crafts project (pictured above). An apt description of what was unfolding in front of us.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
A 27th-place finish all but ensures that the sports most popular driver will only be an observer when the Chase rolls around. Horse. Kicked. Dead.

That is, unless some kind of miracle happens. But I think Jack Roush and Elliott Sadler may have used up all the miracles for the year escaping from their respective accidents.

If you would like to contact the author of this post, please feel free to email him at jordan@theracinggeek.com and you can also follow The Racing Geek on Twitter.

Filed Under: Biffle, Busch, Earnhardt Jr., Ford, Gordon, Harvick, Iowa, Johnson, Knaus, Letarte, Martin, NASCAR, Pocono, Roush, Sadler, Stewart, Winners and Losers

Brickyard Winners and Losers

07/27/2010 By Leave a Comment


The Brickyard 400 is over and done with for another year. Before we shift our attention onto this week’s race at Pocono, let’s recap the winners and losers from what was a very memorable weekend in Indianapolis.

Winners

Jamie McMurray
In golf and tennis you’re judged by how you do in the four majors. If that were the same standard in NASCAR, Jamie McMurray would unquestionably be the Driver of the Year regardless of his position in the standings.

In McMurray’s case, he’s 16th in points and has wins in the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400. At the same time he finished second in both the Southern 500 (Darlington) and Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte).

Kevin Harvick
Kevin Harvick ran a great race on Sunday. He ran in the top-10 almost the entire afternoon, and his average running position in the race was sixth. If it weren’t for Juan Pablo Montoya hitting the wall, Harvick would have likely been celebrating his second Brickyard win.

Greg Biffle
For the first time since Bristol, Greg Biffle finished a race in the top-five. What might be an even better sign for Roush Fenway Racing, and the No. 16 team in particular, is that they have appeared to have turned the proverbial corner as they led 38 laps in the race.

Even better, the third-place finish went a long way towards him solidifying a place in the Chase.

Joe Gibbs Racing
In the first 10 laps Kyle Busch spun out, and both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin had to make unscheduled pit stops due to overheating. At that point it didn’t appear as if the Brickyard 400 was going to be a good race for anyone associated with Joe Gibbs Racing.

At the end of the race though, all three cars rallied back nicely and finished in the top-15, with Busch crossing the line eighth, Logano ninth, and Hamlin 15th.

They may not have won, and they didn’t even lead a lap, but it was an impressive day nonetheless.

Clint Bowyer
Before Sunday, Clint Bowyer had never finished in the top-five in back-to-back races. But with a fourth-place run at Indianapolis that followed a fourth at Chicagoland, Bowyer can now cross that off the list of things he’s never done in Sprint Cup.

Chip Ganassi
With wins in the Daytona 500, Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400, I’m going to walkout on a limb and say that 2010 has been a pretty good year for Chip Ganassi. Again, it’s a pretty small limb, but I’m going to go ahead and do it anyway.

Carl Edwards
Three straight top-10s are nice, but what’s nicer is the fact that Carl Edwards went through an entire race without intentionally wrecking another anyone.

Richard Childress Racing
All three Richard Childress-owned cars finished sixth or better on Sunday, and four of the top-six cars were powered by an RCR engine.

While other organizations may have more victories this season, there may not be a more consistent organization in 2010 than Richard Childress Racing.

Losers

Juan Pablo Montoya
Two straight years Juan Pablo Montoya has had the car to win one of the more prestigious races in racing. Yet, he’s been shutout both years. There really isn’t anything else to say.

Hendrick Motorsports
It doesn’t happen often, but it was a rough, rough day for a team that was expected to be in contention for the checkered flag. Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon were never competitive. Dale Earnhardt Jr. overheated early and got tagged by Juan Pablo Montoya late. And Mark Martin, after a strong start to the race that saw him run up front early, faded back to 11th by the race’s conclusion.

David Reutimann
Following his win at Chicagoland two weeks ago, there was a belief among many pundits that David Reutimann was going to make a late push to get into the Chase. But after finishing 28th due to getting entangled in the Turn-2 crash on Lap 1, his Chase hopes are now nothing more than a pipedream.

Bruton Smith
Why is Bruton Smith on this list you’re asking yourself? Well, on Sunday following a meeting with NASCAR about getting another race for his track located in Las Vegas, Smith was quoted as saying NASCAR has a “moral obligation” to give a second date to Las Vegas.

Huh?

I would love to have an explanation as to why NASCAR has a moral obligation to give Las Vegas another race. If Smith wants a second race at Vegas so bad, then why doesn’t he move a date from another one of his many tracks? Perhaps Atlanta, which has had an extremely tough time selling tickets the last few years?

If you would like to contact the author of this post, please feel free to email him at jordan@theracinggeek.com and you can also follow The Racing Geek on Twitter.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images/NASCAR Media

Filed Under: Biffle, Bowyer, Bruton Smith, Childress, Edwards, Ganassi, Gibbs, Harvick, Hendrick, Indianapolis, McMurray, Montoya, NASCAR, Reutimann, Winners and Losers

Chi-Town Winners and Losers

07/12/2010 By 1 Comment

Reflecting on the LifeLock.com 400, its uncanny how a race can change in a single instance, or in this case, a few instances.

For the first part of the race, it appeared as if Jimmie Johnson was going to win going away. Even after he went for a spin through the Turn-2 grass, most assumed the driver of the 48 Lowes Chevrolet would rally back for his sixth victory of the season. At the very least, the assumption was he would at least make things interesting.

But that never happened. Instead, Johnson hit the wall and with it, his chances of victory went out the window

At that point, it appeared as if things had aligned for Jeff Gordon to get his first victory in over a year.

That too never came to fruition, as Gordon and crew chief Steve Letart weren’t able to keep up with the changing racetrack, and the 24 slid back to third.

All of which left the door open for David Reutimann to drive into victory lane, which is exactly what he did, leading 52 of the final 67 laps. A win no one in the garage, the media center, or at home would have predicted.

Winners

David Reutimann
It was a big weekend for David Reutimann on a lot levels. One, he proved that nice guys can and do finish first. Second, with his second career win, he’s now only 96 points outside of qualifying for the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Something a Michael Waltrip Racing car has never done before.

Carl Edwards
For the first time in 2010 Carl Edwards finished a Cup race sixth or better in back-to-back weeks. More importantly, for the first time in a long while, he resembled the driver who won eight races and ended the year second in points two seasons prior.

Jeff Gordon
Yeah, a win would have been nicer, and something Jeff Gordon needs in the grand scheme of things, but it’s hard to quibble with a driver who hasn’t finished outside the top-five in the last five weeks.

Clint Bowyer
Like Richard Childress Racing teammate Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer hasn’t necessarily had the finishes that reflect how well he’s run this year. On Saturday night though, Bowyer’s fourth-place finish was an accurate reflection of his performance.

Denny Hamlin
Unlike his teammate Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin didn’t have the best of cars this weekend. Unlike his teammate though, Hamlin didn’t rant and rave at his crew, and instead worked on making his car better. He was rewarded for his efforts, and attitude, as he left Chicagoland Speedway with his first top-10 finish since his win at Michigan, three races ago.

Jimmie Johnson
You only get to be a first-time father once, and Jimmie Johnson experienced that high last Wednesday. As someone who has a mortal fear of changing dirty diapers, the only thing I have to say is best of luck with that.

Paul Menard
Paul Menard quietly had a very good weekend. Friday, he qualified a very solid seventh, and then on Saturday ran in the top-15 the entire evening and scored his third top-10 of the season. Which coincidently, have all come on mile-and-a-half tracks.

Regan Smith
All season long, driving for a single-car team with a limited budget, Regan Smith has gotten the most out of his inferior equipment.

Saturday was no different. Starting 41st, Smith once again left with a respectable finish, this time finishing in the 20th position.

Losers

Kurt and Kyle Busch
When you’re regarded as championship contenders you’re not supposed to perform how the Busch Brothers did this past weekend. Both struggled in qualifying, clocking in at 22nd and 33rd respectively.

Come raceday, both were, simply put, abysmal. Neither found the handle on their cars and both spent much of the 400-mile race screaming at their respective crew chiefs about how miserable they were performing. In the end, Kyle crossed the line 17th, while older brother Kurt finished two laps down in 26th.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I thought the days of the 88 team looking inept and clueless were over. Apparently not, as the results of this weekend suggest this team is still closer to the bottom than it is to the top.

Kevin Harvick
Here is what I tweeted Saturday night about the night Kevin Harvick was having: “If the 29 car Kevin Harvick is driving tonight were a horse, it would be on its way to the glue factory.”

This was before problems with his fuel pump took him to the garage temporarily.

Jimmie Johnson
Maybe it was flying back to Charlotte Friday night and then back to Chicago on Saturday? Maybe it was the lack of sleep due to the new baby? Or maybe it was simple a bad day at the office that happens to all of us? Whatever it was, Jimmie Johnson had a better car than the boxscore indicates. It certainly wasn’t a 25th-place car, which is where the 48 finished.

Juan Pablo Montoya
Mark Martin is not above making a mistake. No driver is, no matter how talented they may be. But for Juan Pablo Montoya to suggest to Martin that he needs to take driving lessons from him is, at the very least, a joke. If anything, Montoya should be taking lessons from Martin, considering Montoya is still looking for his second win, three years after he got his first.

If you would like to contact the author of this post, please feel free to email him at jordan@theracinggeek.com and you can also follow The Racing Geek on Twitter.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images/NASCAR Media

Filed Under: Bowyer, Busch, Chicago, Earnhardt Jr., Edwards, Gordon, Hamlin, Harvick, Johnson, Menard, Montoya, Reutimann, Winners and Losers
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