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K&N West Recap – Patrick Staropoli Stuns Irwindale Crowd; Wins NAPA 150

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SM Staff
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Credit: @StevenBlakesley

Patrick Staropoli concluded all murmurs about him winning the PEAK Stock Car Dream Challenge was a fluke, and further ended any discussion of him not capable of performing well.

Staropoli shutdown these critics after winning Saturday night’s NAPA Auto Parts 150 at Irwindale Speedway in the NASCAR K&N West Pro Series. He inherited the race lead on the restart with 15 laps remaining. After controlling the lead, he pulled away from the field and never looked back until he crossed the start/finish line, first.

“Just and awesome night, I’ll never forget this.” Staropoli commented in the media center following the race. “I’m so excited to be standing here (in victory lane), I never would have imagined this a year ago.”

The Irwindale crowd expected Brett Thompson, who led over half the race, to score the victory. However, K&N West regulars like Greg Pursley and Dylan Lupton began marching through the field during the last stint of the race.

Thompson was shuffled outside the top five with 15 to go and eventually finished a dismal seventh. Ryan Partridge also was a contender during the mid-section of the race, but like Thompson, wasn’t a factor during the final restart and finished right behind Thompson in eighth.

David Mayhew finished 1.5 seconds behind Staropoli in second position after passing Greg Pursley in the final laps. Pursley, K&N West point’s leader, ended up third with Brandon McRenyolds, who won the pole for the race, and Lupton behind him.

“Running at Irwindale is just fun.” Pursley explained after climbing from his machine. “Good points night for us, and just glad we could be back here (Irwindale) in K&N competition.”

The K&N West Series returns to action on May 3rd at Stockton 99 Speedway, which is right down the road from Irwindale. Pursley will look to defend his points lead, and Staropoli will look to defend his first career K&N victory.

 

 

Kyle Larson hits bullseye with first career win in Treatmyclot.com 300

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SM Staff
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Photo Credit: Fred Blood

After getting close to winning last year, Kyle Larson would hold off Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch in an exciting finish to win the Treatmyclot.com 300 at Auto Club Speedway for his first career Nationwide Series victory.

“I wasn’t very happy when we got the last caution,” Larson commented. “I was on the bottom for the restart and that wasn’t a good spot so I was surprised to get the lucky dog. Man that was an awesome race! I had a heckuva race with those guys. The last 11 or so laps were the longest laps of my life. It was great racing them near the end. I thought I’d run away from them, but they were side-by-side and not going anywhere. That was a blast. Hats off to all these guys. That was a blast out there and I’m pretty sure tomorrow will be a heck of a race.”

With 20 laps to go in the 300 mile race, a caution would come out for debris bringing the leaders down pit road. Harvick would win the race off pit road, followed by Larson, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and Elliott. Once the field went back to green with 16 laps to go, Larson grabbed the lead and started to pull ahead in front of the field.

As the race wore down, Harvick and Busch closed the gap while battling for second and third and each took shots at passing Larson and each other all the way to the checkered. None of their tricks worked, as Larson used the momentum on the high side to keep ahead of them both just enough.

Kevin Harvick finished second for his third top five in three Nationwide starts this year for JR Motorsports so far.

“I’d rather win but when you’re involved in a race like that you can’t be too disappointed,” Harvick said.

Kyle Busch finished third after having to start at the rear of the field due not posting a time during qualifying as a result of failing pre-race technical inspection five times.

“Shouldn’t be anybody happier than the fans in the stands. The fans won,” Busch said afterwards. “He deserves it, he’s worked hard and that’s why he’s in the Cup series.”

Joey Logano finished fourth, followed by pole sitter Elliott Sadler. Rookie Chase Elliott came back to finish sixth following contact with the wall on lap 73 due to contact from Dylan Kwasniewski as Kwasniewski got loose.

Matt Kenseth finished seventh, followed by Ty Dillon, Trevor Bayne and Regan Smith. Bayne and Smith are now tied for the points lead.

Logano Forced to Backup Car After Happy Hour Incident

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SM Archive
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Brian Vickers to raise awareness about blood clots

By
SM Staff
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Photo Credit: Fred Blood

When Brian Vickers hits the track for the race on Sunday, he won’t just be racing for a good finish – he’ll be raising awareness about blood clots. Vickers will be driving a special No. 55 TREATMYCLOT.com/Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota in the Auto Club 500 this weekend.

“For me, I think the biggest message to get out there is if you have something wrong, go see the doctor,” Vickers said on Friday at Auto Club Speedway. “Since the first time I’ve had an incident, I’ve worked hard to raise awareness about clotting. Not only is it an under-diagnosed issue, it’s a unknown issue to a lot of people. It can affect anyone – whether you’re young, old, in shape or not – and a lot of people in this industry. I know I’ve had a lot of officials, crew members, truck drivers come to me and tell me my story.

“To the opportunity to partner  with TREATMYCLOT.com and Janssen Pharmaceuticals – it’s crazy to think my story will help some people – to have the full story online, for people to see that and raise awareness – it’s a good thing. I encourage people to check out TREATMYCLOT.com and learn about it.

“The biggest thing – if you think you have a problem, go see a doctor.”

Vickers has missed some races over the course of his career due to blood clots, beginning in 2011.

“I did what a lot of people do – I ignored the early signs and symptoms till it was too late,” Vickers commented. “I was finally forced to go to the hospital and I was – it pretty much got to the point where it was hard to breathe. I told the doctor, ‘Well, I’ve got to be at the track on Friday at Dover for practice. I can miss practice – but I have to there for Sunday’. He goes, ‘I don’t think you have any idea what you’re dealing with’.”

Vickers went through the healing process – which took six months with medicine and monitoring his blood and diet. Vickers was able to get back into a car last year, running part-time for Michael Waltrip Racing.

“I felt like it was the right move and it was a risk to come back and for even MWR to put me in a part-time car (last year),” he commented. “It felt so good to get that team to victory lane and I can’t thank the team enough for that opportunity.”

Of course, there was a small setback last fall when Vickers got another clot in his right calf.

“I did exactly what I was supposed to do this time and am doing exactly what I’m telling people now – I didn’t ignore the signs and symptoms,” he said. “As soon as I suspected I had something wrong – some slight swelling and redness – I immediately called the doctor. He said it was probably nothing but that I should get it checked out. I had been wearing a boot to stabilize my ankle, which can sometimes cause a clot. I took it off and I had some pain, some swelling and some redness. So it was very minor; you could almost miss it.”

Vickers went to the doctor and they did an ultrasound and sure enough, another clot.

“Needless to say, it was very frustrating because of the first time after going through the once ,” he commented. “This time, we caught it early because I did go to the doctor and didn’t ignore the signs and symptoms. This time I got different medicine, didn’t have the dietary  restrictions or blood monitoring.”

That treatment took three months, but Vickers was able to clear things up in time for the Daytona 500 and so far has ran each of the four races this season. Vickers hasn’t had the results he has wanted, so perhaps a change in the wave could come this weekend.

Janssen Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, which runs TREATMYCLOT.com, also announced this weekend a partnership with NASCAR to spread awareness about blood clots.

“It’s a life threatening condition that effects over 9000 Americans each year,” Gregg Ruppersberger, the Group Product Director for Janssen Pharmaceuticals Incorporated said. “It can affect you, me and young drivers so that’s why it’s important to talk about. Unfortunately, a lot of fans aren’t aware of the risk factor and what to do if they get a clot.”

NASCAR’s Chief Sales Officer Jim O’ Connell said that he is pleased with how Janssen Pharmaceuticals has come into the sport in an “integrated, authentic” way versus other partners that they’ve had in the past.

“We know from history that you can reach a lot of fans through being involved in the sport,” O’Connell added.

As part of the promotions that Janassen is doing, they will hold the title rights for Saturday’s Nationwide Series race at Auto Club Speedway – the TREATMYCLOT.com 300.

“I think that’s one of the things that special in this sport is the way that it connects with fans and creates a community,” Auto Club Speedway President Gillian Zucker commented. “This is a sponsor that is creating awareness and saving lives, and we’re very appreciative of it.”

Martin Truex Jr. Forced to Backup Car

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SM Archive
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Elliott Sadler scores pole for TreatMyClot.com 300

By
SM Staff
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Photo Credit: Getty Images

A Joe Gibbs Racing car took the pole for the TreatMyClot.com 300, but it’s not the Toyota that you’re thinking. This week, it was Elliott Sadler putting his No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota on the pole for his 16th career pole award. Sadler scored his first pole of the season with a lap of 40.680 seconds, 176.991 mph.

“The guys made a lot of great changes on this Toyota,” Sadler commented. “I wasn’t able to get these guys a Pole last year so hopefully to get one this early will give us some momentum. Its just a pole – but shows we have a lot of speed in this car. We ran well here last year so hopefully we have a good run here.”

Sadler will be joined by his JGR teammate Matt Kenseth on the front row. Joe Gibbs Racing drivers have won the last nine NASCAR Nationwide Series races at Auto Club Speedway, with five of the race winners starting from the pole.

Rookie Ty Dillon qualified third, followed by Joey Logano and Chase Elliott.

“Overall our NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet was good in qualifying,” Elliott commented. “I messed up in one and two on the last set of qualifying. We have good track position now; hope we have it when it counts today.”

Kevin Harvick qualified sixth and said after qualifying that his team missed the set-up for qualifying, but he feels that he’ll be fine in the race.

“We didn’t do any qualifying runs yesterday to save the tires,” Harvick added. “We paid for a little today but I’d rather have the tires when it comes to race time.”

Dylan Kwasniewski qualified seventh, followed by Kyle Larson, Brian Scott, Brendan Guaghan, Regan Smith and James Buescher. Trevor Bayne, who comes into the weekend second in points, qualified 13th.

Kyle Busch was unable to make an attempt as his team had trouble getting his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota through tech. Crew chief Adam Stevens told MRN radio that Kyle Busch’s car has wheel studs, then skew problems in tech inspection. Meanwhile, NASCAR’s John Darby said it was a rear axle housing issue. Busch will start from the rear of the field, but as noted at Las Vegas, Busch can easily get through the field rather quickly in a Nationwide race.

Preview and Predictions: Auto Club 400

By
SM Staff
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After bumping and grinding at Bristol Motor Speedway last week, the Sprint Cup Series heads to the 2-mile, low-banked oval of Auto Club Speedway. Despite being very similar in shape to its sister track Michigan International Speedway, the two tracks drive very differently. Since the repave at Michigan, the low and middle groove are the only fast ways of getting around the track. Auto Club Speedway has never been repaved since 1997, so it is one of the oldest surfaces on the Sprint Cup schedule.

In qualifying, I saw drivers using the high line to try and find some grip, even though it isn’t the shortest way around the track. Winning at Auto Club not only requires great horsepower to pull you down the straightaways, but also a great suspension package to help you get a good drive off the corners. We know that someone will get it exactly right on Sunday, and here’s three drivers that probably will.

Jimmie Johnson

There are some instances where it is actually difficult to pick a definitive favorite to win the race. This is not the case with the Auto Club 400. Jimmie Johnson has won four of the last 10 races at his home track, and five overall including his first victory back in 2002. He’s also finished in the top five 12 times and has an astounding average finish of 5.7. Some may argue that he’s lost his touch over the past couple of years, and that his prime at Auto Club came in the Car of Tomorrow era, but I believe they’ve found the magic yet again. Johnson was fastest in the first practice and ended up third in qualifying. There’s no question he’ll be a factor in Sunday’s race.

Matt Kenseth

Although Kenseth hasn’t won a race at Auto Club since 2009, his record at the track has been pretty solid over the past few years. His average finish over the past 10 races of 9.5 is third only to Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson. Joe Gibbs Racing has found some speed at the past few visits to the track, mainly with Kyle Busch, who won the race last year. However, looking at the first practice speeds, it appears that Kyle Busch may not have the speed he did last year. Kenseth, who qualified on the pole, will pick up the slack for his teammate.

Jeff Gordon

The inaugural winner at Auto Club Speedway is back at it again with a fast Hendrick Chevrolet. In practice, Gordon was second behind his teammate Jimmie Johnson, and he actually ran faster than the track record. In qualifying, he was consistently at the top of the charts until the final round, where he ended up sixth. The four-time Sprint Cup champion hasn’t even had a top-five at Auto Club since 2009, but I believe they have found the magic yet again. Although it looks like his teammate will be leading the way on Sunday, Jeff Gordon won’t be far behind.

Whoever shines brightest at Auto Club will be the driver that effectively communicates where the car is losing speed. That’s why Jimmie Johnson is so good here, because it isn’t just about pure speed. It’s about adjusting the chassis, the tire pressures and the wedge throughout the race so that you can develop a perfect drive off the corner. Then it’s all about what you’ve got under the hood to pull you down those long straightaways. There’s always one driver that hits the set up exactly right, and whoever that driver is, rest assured that they will be unstoppable on race day.

Statistics retrieved from racing-reference.info.

Denny Hamlin Seeking Auto Club Revenge; Starts 13th On Sunday

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SM Staff
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Denny Hamlin had an eventful final corner at Auto Club Speedway last season, to say the least. Hamlin and Joey Logano – who had a dispute the week before at Bristol – battled the entire white flag lap for the win, but eventually touched, putting Hamlin into the inside wall, Logano into the outside wall, and sending Kyle Busch to victory lane.

However, not snatching his first career Auto Club victory wasn’t the major setback for Hamlin. It was the fact the wreck caused him to suffer a back injury, forcing him to sit out of the car for around a month.

Now, a year later, Hamlin is looking for revenge in Fontana, California. And after qualifying 13th it seems he has the capability to convert.

“There’s more drive, there’s extra motivation (to win this weekend)” Hamlin explained about getting redemption at Auto Club.

Despite Hamlin wanting to score the victory this weekend, he doesn’t intend on holding a grudge with Logano, even though his season was destroyed by him last year.

“Really worrying about retaliating and holding grudges and things like that takes away from the time you need to be preparing for the upcoming event,” Hamlin explained in the media center on Friday. “When you’re on the track, it’s hard enough to pass in these cars, so you have to concentrate in these cars at all times and not (on), Hey I need to get to this guy or that guy to retaliate.”

With retaliation off his mind, Hamlin has his complete focus on winning this weekend, and he’s confident he can.

“We (Joe Gibbs Racing) look forward to coming here and running extremely well. We had a pretty good first practice, so we’re starting off on the right foot,” Hamlin expressed. “I’ve taken this race and circled it as one where you really would like to get a win and obviously be competitive when it comes Sunday. It’s nice to, instead of retaliating, to end in victory lane.”

Setting all redemption and retaliation aside, Hamlin is still trying to secure a spot in the Chase with a victory. He finished second in the Daytona 500, 19th at Phoenix International Raceway, 12th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and sixth last weekend in Bristol, Tennessee. Therefore, after an average start to 2014, he’s hoping to solidify himself as a championship contender this weekend.

Trevor Bayne looks to continue strong start to season

By
SM Staff
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Photo Credit: Fred Blood

So far this year, Trevor Bayne is off to a solid start with finishes of third, seventh and a pair of eighth place finishes in the Nationwide Series. For the driver of the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Mustang, it’s an okay start to a year – but at least it’s consistent.

“Starting at Daytona you set the bar for how your points racing will be the first half of the season and fortunately we came out better than we did last year with a third place finish,” Bayne commented. “The last three races I think we wanted to run a little better, obviously, seventh and eighth place finishes aren’t what we show up to do.”

Bayne feels that he could’ve finished stronger at Phoenix had the race not been shortened 35 laps due to rain, but feels that his eighth place finishes at Las Vegas and Bristol represent where their performance was.

Bayne is hoping that this weekend is a stronger performance for his Roush-Fenway Racing team as he feels that they should be finishing in the top five each week.

“The last race I ran here, last season, we ran top-five the majority of the day and got too loose at the end,” Bayne added. “Today it is going to be all about making the right race adjustments as the track changes and being able to fire off quicker on restarts. I feel like that is where we struggled a little last year. Over the long run we were pretty good. I think Chad Norris and I have a pretty good plan for this weekend.”

Well becoming a top five contender would be nice, a win would be even nicer and that’ll take beating Joe Gibbs Racing with their dominance as of late. Bayne feels that they’re having success due to the caliber of drivers to pass information between with Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch and Elliott Sadler versus Bayne’s teammates both being rookies this year.

“We need to get our teammates up to speed a little and our car up to speed where we can try three different things in a weekend and figure out which package is going to be best and what direction we need to go,” Bayne commented. “Hopefully we are going to be able to do that. We are trying to identify areas where our Nationwide and Cup cars are weak right now. At the end of the day, speed fixes a lot of that. It is a lot easier on the driver when you unload and the car is fast. Way easier on the crew chief. We just have to get a better base package when we show up at the track and be able to adjust balance.”

Bayne added that it is frustrating to lose to not only Cup regulars but anybody in the series, and his team is working hard on making sure that doesn’t happen in future races.

“We are working hard every day and I think Chad and I will get better with communication,” Bayne continued. “I think that is a bonus for me this season, how good we already are communicating. We just need to unload a little closer at these racetracks to beat those guys.”

The solid start, though, is welcome for Bayne as he entered this season with a new crew chief – Chad Norris, and Bayne says the communication has been great so far.

“We worked together in 2011 and that has helped us fire of quicker than some guys that are new with their crews,” Bayne commented. “Chad is pretty calm. Having Jason Hedlesky in the spotters stand has been great for me. He makes great decisions for me sometimes when I want to race a little bit harder than I need to early in the race. He will back me up a little and when I need to go after somebody he is great about giving me information. If the guy in front of me is struggling loose or tight or running the top or bottom, I know if I catch somebody I can make that pass a little quicker rather than ride behind them for five laps.”

Bayne feels that if they can keep the consistency and eliminate mistakes throughout the year, he feels that he will be in championship contention down the second half of the season.

Ryan Newman Not Focused On Winning Races; Starts 16th On Sunday

By
SM Staff
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Ryan Newman’s short tenure with Richard Childress Racing has been acceptable, and while winning a race would almost guarantee them a Chase berth, the No. 31 team continues to bank on consistent finishes and reliable results to be granted a spot in this year’s Chase. However, they’re holding a free and loose attitude heading to Auto Club Speedway this weekend.

“We’re here for the best possible finish we can get.” Newman explained during practice yesterday. “If it’s a win then great. If not, we’ll go for second or for third and so on. It’s not about man we should try harder to win or we should try harder to finish in the top 10 to get better points. We’re here to do the best we possibly can. We’ll lap the field if we can.”

Newman currently places ninth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings, and has a season-best finish of seventh at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway. And this weekend at Auto Club, he’s only hoping to improve that.

“I enjoy (Auto Club).” Newman told the media on Friday. “We’ll see. It’s typically been a fun place to drive and a good place to race and we’ve seen a lot of excitement here, more so than ever did at last year compared to the years before.”

Newman’s career-best placing at Fontana was established in 2004 when he drover for Roger Penske, the finish was third after he began the event seventh. After entering and competing at this race track for 11 races, he still sees flaws in his performance, which could be the reason he can’t find victory lane at this 2.5 mile beast.

“I like this race track. Everybody, for the longest time, compared this track (Auto Club) to Michigan and they were not even close to the same.” Newman said in the media center. “They are entirely opposite. Michigan has been repaved and this is the worn-out California, which it never was. It’s a fun racetrack now. And the most fun it’s ever been in my career of being here for 12-years. I look forward to (running here.”

‘Rocket Man’ is also excited for the multiple grooves this racetrack offers, and how the bumps make the track just that much more difficult to drive.

“(Auto Club’s) got a lot of character. So many race tracks now are repaved and have no character so to speak with bumps and things like that,” Newman explained when asked about how Fontana has changed. “We can move around the race track a good bit and have some fun.”

While fun, and a smile, remained on Newman’s face all during practice and qualifying, when the belts are buckled and the engines are fired you can expect the No. 31 to march to the front, and possibly steal a great finish.

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