The Final Word – The Southern 500 featured SHR’s good, their bad, their ugly…and their boss
There is a reason we read the entire book, rather than rely totally on the CliffsNotes version. For example, the shortened description of Saturday night’s Southern 500 action at Darlington would read that Kevin Harvick dominated and went on to win his second of the season. That would be correct, yet it misses the fact Jeff Gordon had a shot, then Dale Earnhardt Jr had an opportunity, before Harvick charged ahead on fresh tires in the green-white-checker to run away with it in the end.
It has been feast or famine for Harvick in the opening eight. He won at Phoenix and Darlington, was 13th at Daytona and 7th at Martinsville. Then there are the four races where he wound up beyond 35th. At least in a season where Stewart-Haas drivers have had their share of adversity on-track, he has given some hope, even if it proceeded a feeling of hopelessness. He has been damned good in all, a force to be reckoned with in each, but too often some part fails and the day goes for naught. Saturday was not one of those days.
If not for Harvick, we would be telling tales of woe regarding his team mate Kurt Busch. He did have one of those days on Saturday night, when he crashed out in 31st, a week after crashing out in 35th in Texas. A bad engine left him 39th at Phoenix, and when he clipped his brother at Bristol, once again 35th was his fate. Still, he has that win and that is going to mean a lot over the next few months.
The CliffsNotes might have missed that little factoid, along with just how ornery that Lady in Black proved to be, especially to the rookie class. Both stand-out rookies Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon clobbered the fence coming off turn two, yet did finish 8th and 11th respectively…and respectfully.
When measuring the Danica Line, 25th or better usually finds one sitting ahead of her on the track. Not so on Saturday, when the third member of SHR finished 22nd. Of the other newcomers at Darlington, only the 23rd place of Justin Allgaier came close. Still, you have to show some respect to the other boys and their teams who are out there to race, to learn, to grow, to compete, and not just there to start and park and collect some undeserved cash. Of the 43 who ran, maybe one might have exited early due to having a bad hair day.
As for the driver in the owner’s seat, just where did Tony Stewart come from last weekend? Most of the night, he was trailing Danica, for goodness sake, but at the line Stewart recorded a Top Ten. How in blazes did that happen? Fortuitous and smart pit strategy brought him back from the dead.
Among those who do not get to hang with Gene Haas, Earnhardt and Gordon finished 2nd and 3rd, while Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, and Jimmie Johnson all had Top Ten days to remain high on the charts. Carl Edwards is still the best among single race winners, and he came home 13th.
It burns me that the Nationwide series is still a showcase for five or six Cup guys, but I am pleased to see they are now joined by Chase Elliott. Bill’s boy won his second straight when the series regular won at Darlington to lead the over-all standings. Elliott Sadler (2nd), Regan Smith (8th), Trevor Bayne (9th), and Ty Dillon (10th) also finished strong among the relevant performers.
If wins are the thing, then Harvick takes over the top spot in the Cup standings, while Gordon and Kenseth remain the best among those who have yet to shake up the bubbly post-race as we take the week off for Easter. A fellow might even have time to read a full sized book this weekend. Any suggestions?
|
|
Driver |
Races |
Wins |
Points |
|
1 |
Kevin Harvick |
8 |
2 |
186 |
|
2 |
Carl Edwards |
8 |
1 |
278 |
|
3 |
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. |
8 |
1 |
271 |
|
4 |
Kyle Busch |
8 |
1 |
269 |
|
5 |
Brad Keselowski |
8 |
1 |
246 |
|
6 |
Joey Logano |
8 |
1 |
245 |
|
7 |
Kurt Busch |
8 |
1 |
164 |
|
8 |
Jeff Gordon |
8 |
0 |
297 |
|
9 |
Matt Kenseth |
8 |
0 |
296 |
|
10 |
Jimmie Johnson |
8 |
0 |
270 |
|
11 |
Ryan Newman |
8 |
0 |
236 |
|
12 |
Austin Dillon |
8 |
0 |
235 |
|
13 |
Greg Biffle |
8 |
0 |
227 |
|
14 |
Brian Vickers |
8 |
0 |
224 |
|
15 |
Tony Stewart |
8 |
0 |
224 |
|
16 |
Denny Hamlin |
7 |
0 |
223 |
|
17 |
Kyle Larson |
8 |
0 |
223 |
|
31 |
Reed Sorenson |
8 |
0 |
118 |
Gene Hass’ Formula One Team Beginning To Form; Still Far From Announcing Driver
Gene Haas is determined and striving to create the first successful United States-based Formula One organization – and on Monday afternoon during a press conference he expressed the lengths he’d take to prove critics wrong.
“There’s going to be a lot of people following us from that skepticism to see if, ‘these guys are going to fail or not?’” Haas commented. “I’m sure that most people are betting that we do fail.
“That is why it is going to be successful because if we don’t fail, then we have done something other people haven’t.”
Haas, who’s a part-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), received approval of his request to form a Formula One team this past week. The, what most people consider outrageous, decision comes during a time period in which F1 is dominated by European franchises, not Americans, however, Haas is the least concerned about that.
“We’re not going to be an European-led team.” Haas explained during the conference. “We’re going to be an American-led team, and we’re going to do it the way we think is the most efficient.”
“We’re going to spend our money wisely, we’re going to do it with an American flair for design and efficiencies, and that’s how we’re going to control our costs.”
Haas, 61, explained that Tony Stewart, part-owner of SHR, will have no involvement in the team, now named, Hass Formula. He also eluded that it’s unlikely any SHR drivers will join the newly introduced team.
“What we would like would be to have an experienced Formula One driver, probably someone who is familiar with the current engine package rules (because) they change quite a bit even from last year,” Haas further explained about the driver situation. “Going forward, we certainly would like to have a young American driver. That would be the ideal situation.
“But at the moment, we haven’t really narrowed it down. We have had quite a few people talk to us.”
Guenther Steiner, former Formula One team executive, will be the new team principle for Haas – and the offices and shop will be orchestrated in Kannapolis, North Carolina, around SHR’s location.
Haas’ team will be required, by the FIA, to compete in at least two seasons, and will be expected to compete until the 2020 season.
The debut of the team is unknown, however, Haas believes it’ll be a challenge to have the full setup by 2015, but he didn’t rule it out.
“I would like to (be racing by) 2015 simply because I think the first year is going to be a difficult year no matter what happens,” Haas said. “It is a very big challenge. Part of that learning curve is just simply getting to the track and sorting out the logistics of going race to race.
Haas, owner of the multi-million dollar company Haas Automation, isn’t concerned necessarily with the cost of beginning the operation; he’s actually hoping to reveal his company worldwide, not just locally in the United States.
“Every week it goes up by another billion,” Haas said. “We have a budget and there’s a lot of unknowns in it. … The numbers I’ve seen are reasonable.”
“My basic goal is to change Haas Automation from just a machine tool builder into a premium brand,” Haas said. “I think Formula One can provide that, especially in the overseas markets. There are a lot of fans from China to South America to Europe to Eastern Europe to Japan to Malaysia that we really want to become a household name in.”
“That really is the ultimate goal, to take the image of Haas Automation and turn it into a brand that is desired and known throughout the world. The ultimate goal would be to double our sales for Haas Automation.”
Haas is obviously imagining limitless goals for his team, and he’s hoping to silence doubters by becoming a well-run, and long lasting, American Formula One team.
“I think we can beat the Europeans at their own game.”
Mike Conway scores second Grand Prix of Long Beach victory
In the midst of wrecks and fuel strategy, it was Mike Conway putting the perfect race together as he was able to put Ed Carpenter Racing back in victory lane in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. It marks Conway’s second victory in Long Beach and his third career win in the Verizon IndyCar Series.
“I can’t believe it,” Conway commented in victory lane. “Wow. Awesome job by the team. We weren’t sure what we had but we hung in there and it just seemed to come to us. I can’t believe it. 2-time Long Beach winner. It’s great to be back here.”
For car owner Ed Carpenter, it marks his second win as a car owner and his first since 2012 when he went to victory lane as an owner-driver in the season finale at Auto Club Speedway. Carpenter made the decision this season to only run the ovals while hiring Conway to run the street/road courses.
“You never know. you just got to push as hard as you can all the way to the end,” Conway added. “I just knew that I had to keep it clean and keep out of trouble.”
When the race started, pole sitter Ryan Hunter-Reay made it clear that he’d be the one to beat as he led early and kept a fair gap over second. Hunter-Reay would come down pit road with teammate James Hinchclife for the final pit stop with 26 laps to go. Josef Newgarden inherited the lead, pitting a lap later. As Newgarden came off pit road on cold tires, Hunter-Reay and Hichcliffe would quickly close up on his bumper.
As they headed into turn four, Hunter-Reay went to the inside of Newgarden when contact took place, resulting in both drivers wrecking.
“It’s racing – but what do you do when it’s your corner?” Newgarden’s car owner Sarah Fisher commented. “I think we need to making things clean from here on out. I’m just proud of this team and all their work. Josef is a helluva driver and I stand behind my drier 100%.”
“I was on cold tires. It’s very hard to control the car. I knew Ryan was on hot and would get by me,” Newgarden commented. “I just didn’t expect anyone to try and make a pass into four. You don’t really want to make a pass there with how tight that corner is. I tried to give him room, but perhaps he got in there a little hot. That shouldn’t happen up front. That’s not how it supposed to be.”
Michael Andretti noted that Hunter-Reay should’ve been a little more patient.
“I knew he was on cold tires through turn one and through turn three, he had some wheel spin,” Hunter-Reay explained. “I started to go to the inside then – half-car up a side of him and he just closed the door. I could’ve been more patient. We all could’ve given each other more room. I made the decision to go for it and that’s the type of driver I am – I go for it. I got others involved that I didn’t need to get involved – that’s what I feel bad about. You don’t know how down I am about sitting here talking.”
Hinchcliffe, being right on Hunter-Reay’s tail, was unable to miss the wreck and also was collected. It marks Hinchcliffe’s second straight poor finish after suffering mechanical issues in St. Petersburg. The Canadian had his wrist wrapped up post-incident, stating that he probably sprained it.
“I guess at the end of the day, patience is a virtue and someone wasn’t virtuous,” Hinchcliffe said. “It was a rookie movie. I feel bad for Josef, feel bad for Tony and it cost us big here as a team.”
The track was then blocked, collecting last year’s race winner Takuma Sato, Tony Kanaan and rookie Jack Hawksworth. Helio Castroneves also caught a piece of the wreck.
“I was on cold tires coming out of the pits, the guys did a great job on the stop,” Kanaan said. “We were all hit it – Sato hit it, the 98 car was close behind me and pushed me a little into it. Whoever made that move – it was a dumb move.”
Scott Dixon and Justin Wilson would inherit the lead having not pitted, while Will Power was the first to escape the wreck followed by Conway and Carlos Munoz.
“Luckily, Lee was on the radio down at the end and told me to stay right and I was able to sneak through there,” Conway said.
“I saw Hunter-Reay go to inside and it being there and Josef was on cold tires, I knew something was going to happen so I just stayed off them there,” Power commented.
The restart would come with 16 laps to go with Wilson looking for the lead on Dixon. There’d be contact between them resulting in Wilson getting into the wall.
“Sorry to Justin Wilson. I didn’t see him out there and wasn’t expecting him on the outside,” Dixon apologized post-race.
The race would stay green, though, till 13 laps to go when Graham Rahal would go for a spin. Rahal struggled throughout the weekend with trying to find speed.
The race restarted with 10 laps to go with Dixon getting a good jump over Conway and Power. Dixon would lead till two laps to go when he had to duck down pit road for some fuel, handing hte lead over to Conway. Conway then led the final two laps on his way to victory.
Will Power posted a second place finish following his win at St. Petersburg to extend his points lead to 27 points aheead of Mike Conway, 33 points ahead of Simon Pagenaud. Power struggled early on after qualifying 14th before making his way up to the top five in the second half.
Power did have some questionable contact with Pagenaud on lap 32 which resulted in Pagenaud getting into the tire barrier. Pagenaud was able to come back for a fifth place finish.
“I’m really sorry about what happened,” Power apologized post-race. “I thought he had a problem as he was going slow and went to his inside. I didn’t mean to get in there – my bad. I’m surprised I didn’t get to a penalty.”
“I think it’s pretty clear what happened,” Pagenaud commented. “I hate to complain to be honest – when you whine about people taking you out, you don’t take other people out. We had a really good car and he ruined our day.”
Rookie Carlos Munoz finished off the podium with his second career IndyCar podium.
“It was a really good race,” Munoz commented. “Really happy for the third place. Those last laps we were close to each other. I’m really happy to finish third. i have to thank my crew for their effort.”
After struggling two weeks ago, Juan Pablo Montoya put together a solid race on his way to finishing fourth.
“I paid the price in St. Pete and learned my lesson,” Montoya said. “Here, I was careful and had a good solid day.”
Pagenaud finished fifth, followed by rookie Mikhail Aleshin, Oriol Servia, Marco Andretti, Sebastain Saavedra, and rookie Carlos Huertas. Helio Castroneves finished 11th after serving a penalty late for jumping the start, followed by Scott Dixon.
“We were only a half lap short and the last thing I wanted to do was run out of fuel infront of the whole field,” Dixon commented. “We just had a messy day. we tried to stay out to try and jump some cars and it caught us out there.”
Dixon was the highest Ganassi car today as Kanaan got caught up in the wreck while Charlie Kimball suffered engine issues and Ryan Briscoe suffered electrical issues.
“The engine was losing power in the bottom end,” Briscoe commented.”We made a stop and changed electrical boxes and that didn’t fix it.”
Graham Rahal finished 13th, followed by Sebastian Bourdias. Bourdias was one of the quickest cars in practice, though suffered a pair of incidents after getting into the tire barrier.
Following a pair of dramatic weekends to start the season off, the drivers will get a weekend off before heading to Barber Motorsports Park.
Verizon IndyCar Series
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Results Sunday of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Verizon IndyCar Series event on the 1.968-mile Streets of Long Beach circuit, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (17) Mike Conway, Dallara-Chevy, 80, Running
2. (14) Will Power, Dallara-Chevy, 80, Running
3. (11) Carlos Munoz, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
4. (16) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dallara-Chevy, 80, Running
5. (6) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
6. (20) Mikhail Aleshin, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
7. (12) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
8. (8) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
9. (22) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Chevy, 80, Running
10. (21) Carlos Huertas, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
11. (9) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevy, 80, Running
12. (7) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Chevy, 80, Running
13. (23) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 79, Running
14. (3) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Chevy, 77, Running
15. (5) Jack Hawksworth, Dallara-Honda, 77, Running
16. (10) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 64, Contact
17. (18) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Chevy, 60, Running
18. (13) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevy, 55, Contact
19. (4) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Honda, 55, Contact
20. (1) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 55, Contact
21. (2) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 55, Contact
22. (15) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 55, Contact
23. (19) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Chevy, 41, Off Course
Race Statistics
Winners average speed: 82.362
Time of Race: 01:54:41.6418
Margin of victory: 0.9005 of a second
Cautions: 4 for 18 laps
Lead changes: 6 among 5 drivers
Lap Leaders: Hunter-Reay 1-26, Dixon 27-28, Hunter-Reay 29-53, Newgarden 54, Saavedra 55-57, Dixon 58-77, Conway 78-80.
Point Standings: Power 93, Conway 66, Pagenaud 60, Castroneves 55, Hunter-Reay 53, Dixon 51, Munoz 48, Montoya 47, Aleshin 46, Saavedra 42.
Darlington Raceway Rewind
There’s nothing like a weekend at Darlington Raceway to remind you why you love racing. The excitement begins to build as you drive through the tunnel. As you step out of your car and gaze out at the grandstands, your mind begins to fill with the memories of all that has gone before and the anticipation of things to come.
Will a first time winner be crowned? Will records be broken? Whose dreams will come true and whose hopes will be crushed?
A look back at some of the highlights from another historic racing weekend at Darlington:
Nationwide Series:
Kyle Busch scored his 37th career Nationwide Series pole and with 65 wins in the series was a serious contender for the win in the VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 race. But the “Lady in Black had other plans and he had to settle for a fourth place finish.”
Chase Elliott made it look easy Friday night winning in his first start at Darlington. He also etched his name in the record books becoming:
- The youngest driver to win two NASCAR Nationwide Series races at 18 years, 4 months and 14 days.
- The youngest driver to win a Nationwide Series race at Darlington
- The youngest driver to lead the series point standings.
- The fourth driver to win in his first start at Darlington. Johnny Mantz did so in 1950, Herb Thomas in 1951 and Dick Rathmann in 1952.
He now has two wins in only seven starts in the series but if you listen to team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. the best is yet to come.
“He has amazing car control. We saw that on several occasions out there tonight.” Earnhardt continued saying, “He’s got a great level head, good character and nothing really rattles him. So when it came down to the end there and it was time to really get after it, he kept his composure and did what he needed to do to make it work. That’s going to be tough to contend with for many years. I’d like to think that we’re going to hang on to him for a little bit and try to get him ready for the next level but he’s ahead of schedule.”
Sprint Cup:
Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson gave the crowd an electrifying finish at the Bojangles’ Southern 500 Saturday night as Harvick grabbed his second victory of the season in a green-white-checkered finish. He became the first driver to capture two wins this season which virtually assures him a place in the Sprint Cup Chase.
Harvick waxed poetic as he talked about the allure of Darlington.
“You’ve got to love it, gray racetracks”, he said. “You can almost see the sparkle of the rocks coming out in the asphalt. That’s so exciting. Maybe we need to spread the South Carolina sand on Kansas and Charlotte and all these other racetracks that haven’t aged as fast as this one. When you start to see that gray and you start to see the seams and you can see the sparkle of the small rocks in the asphalt, it just makes it fun. Darlington is what it was supposed to be tonight, the cars slipping and sliding and bouncing off the walls and hard to drive something, I don’t know.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second for the third time this season and Jimmie Johnson saw another race win slip away.
Earnhardt was clearly disappointed that he came up short but proud of the effort.
“It’s a little disappointing,” he admitted, “to come that close because I know I don’t really run that well here and the opportunities to win are going to be very few compared to other tracks. It hurts a little bit to come that close because we worked so hard to try to win races. Running second is great but nobody is going to really remember that. But we’re proud of it. ”
Johnson said that moving forward, their efforts would be focused on “unloading closer.” He explained, “We seem to find a way come race time to get a good finish and honestly have a shot to win some races. But showing up at the track a little bit closer is key for us. We’re really just trying to get a grasp on these rules, and we go home with what we’ve learned from a previous race, bring a new mousetrap, and unfortunately we’ve had to continue to work on it each week. That’s really our goal is to show up closer.”
2015 and Beyond:
Darlington Raceway continues to cement its place in NASCAR history and promises to deliver more with plans to “honor the track’s history and shape its future.”
As part of the celebration, Bill and Chase Elliott were introduced Saturday as the “face” of the program. Track president Chip Wile, along with Bill and Chase, talked about future plans which will include a retro ticket design for the 2015 Bojangles’ Southern 500 and a Classic merchandise product line that will focus on previous decades and will be available for purchase.
Wile encouraged fans to share their stories saying “We have the most passionate, loyal fans in all of motorsports and we look forward to the role they will play as we celebrate our past, present and future.”
If you have a story to share or an idea on how to celebrate the history of Darlington and NASCAR, you can send an Email to mailto:darlington1950@darlingtonraceway.com.
As I left the track and made my way home, my only regret was that it would be another year before I could reunite with old friends and make new memories together at “The Track Too Tough To Tame.”
Todd Gilliland Scores Pair of Late Model Runner Up Finishes at Ace Speedway
Third generation racer Todd Gilliland, son of David Gilliland and grandson of Butch Gilliland, got back to racing for the season at Ace Speedway, where he finished second in his late-model stock car (LMSC) debut and also in the 40-lap Limited Late Model race later that same evening.
“I raced in two classes, Late Model and Limited Late Model, and finished second in both,” the thirteen year old said. “I was happy, especially for my first race of the season.”
“Of course I wanted to win though,” the driver of the No. 98 Ford said, just a bit dejectedly.
The youngster had to battle mightily for his second place finish in the 75-lap LMSC race on the 4/10 mile track, starting in the eighth spot but dropping back to the 14th position early in the race. Once he got his bearings, however, be began his march up to the front and by halfway through the race, he returned to the top-10.
He then went on to run his second race and in that 40-lapper, again scored a second place, runner up finish.
“I’m really happy with how I did,” Gilliland said. “In the first race, I was mad that I fell back so far, but my car was really fast so I was able to get back up to the front pretty good.”
“I’m just really thankful for all the help my mom and dad and Chris (Chris Lawson, crew chief) have given me.”
“This is what I really want to do and it’s been awesome.”
Todd Gilliland does indeed look to his family for his racing support, particularly when it comes to working on his car. The eighth grader spends every minute possible working in the shop, which is located right at their home in North Carolina.
“I try to do as much work on the car as I can,” Gilliland said. “I’m still learning about all that stuff.”
“We got a new crew chief Chris Lawson and a bunch of guys helping on the car like my dad.”
“I’m learning how to do everything just like my dad does,” Gilliland continued. “I get under there and help and learn how to do it.”
“My favorite part is body stuff,” Gilliland said. “You always want to try to make it look nice. It’s fun to work with the metal.”
“You can pick all the colors,” Gilliland continued. “Our car is black because, I don’t know, I like black. Some people like the bright colors but not me.”
The youngest Gilliland celebrated his two runner up finishes with a relaxing weekend, watching his dad battle the ‘Track Too Tough to Tame’ at Darlington. His next race is in two weeks where he will return to Ace Speedway to yet again race those late models.
Until then, Gilliland is looking forward to spring break from school as he and his family have special plans.
“Spring break is in two weeks,” Gilliland said. “We’re going to Turks and Kakos. We’ve been there three or four times.”
“We stay at Beaches and go surfing, snorkeling and sometimes we just relax by the pool,” Gilliland continued. “I’m looking forward to that for sure.”
While Gilliland has no fear whatsoever at the track, he is just slightly worried about one event that is coming up in his young life.
“School gets out like June 10th or something and I will go to high school next year when I graduate from eighth grade,” Gilliland said. “I’m a little bit nervous about high school, but I was nervous about middle school too and I loved it.”
In addition to school, Gilliland is also busy drumming up support for his race team. He is grateful to several local companies, including Norfleet Developments, Country Chevrolet, Eibach Springs, Performance Racing Warehouse and Gear Tech that help out but he, like every other racer, is in search of sponsors.
“I’m out there looking,” Gilliland said. “I think they should come and work with me.”
And without a doubt, Gilliland’s finishes, including three consecutive runner-up finishes in his stock car career and a second place finish in a Limited Late Model race at Myrtle Beach Speedway last November, should definitely be attractive to some interested sponsor looking to bring a young talent to light.
But for now, the youngster is just looking ahead to Spring Break and finishing the school year as he continues to learn and grow as a racer, following in his family’s footsteps toward the checkered flag.
For more information about this young up-and-coming racer, follow him on Twitter @ToddGilliland or visit his website at www.ToddGilliland.com.
