Kyle Larson says they have strong cars – just need to minimize mistakes
With finishes of 38th, 20th, 19th and 10th, some would say that Kyle Larson’s rookie season isn’t off to a good start. Some may even argue that the young driver needs more experience in NASCAR’s lower-tier divisions.
While both are good points, only one remains correct. Larson says that he agrees that it hasn’t been a good start, but not due to the lack of speed. The No. 42 Target team has had quick cars all season – Larson just has made some mistakes.
“We’ve had really fast cars all year long,” Larson commented. “Just haven’t really caught the right breaks to get those top 10s. I feel at Phoenix and Vegas both we had top-10 cars. I got stuck a lap down there from mistakes.”
In the first three races of the year, Larson has found himself in the wall (Daytona), caught doing a pit stop under green before a caution flew (Phoenix) and fell a lap down after speeding on pit road (Las Vegas).
” After the first three weeks I realized to even get a top 15, you have to be almost perfect or have a perfect race,” Larson said. “It’s tough to come back from mistakes in this series. I learned that really quick.”
Larson also learned in the first three weeks of the year the importance of good communication in happy hour to make the car good for the race. Larson feels that they struggled with that at both Phoenix and Las Vegas setting them behind the eight-ball.
“It’s hard to come back from those,” he added. “Communicating well with your crew chief, even though I ran those Cup races last year, these really are the first four races I’ve got to work with Chris Heroy. I did some testing with him last year, but it’s totally different than putting yourself in situations in races and stuff. The communication part has been a big adjustment.”
Larson was able to put the pieces together at Bristol for his first top 10 finish together this past weekend at Bristol as he finished 10th after running inside the top five during the middle part of the race.
“I think with the good finish at Bristol, it’s really going to hopefully turn things around, hopefully bring a lot of consistency,” Larson said. “It’s definitely a good feeling going into the California, my home state, with a good finish at Bristol.”
Larson has been strong at Bristol in the past – a pair of second place finishes in the Nationwide Series to date – so having a shot to win on Sunday night was not a surprise to many fans. Larson had a legitimate shot to win but with 76 laps to go, he chose to pit while Edwards and other stayed out.
“There at the end maybe we pitted when we shouldn’t have and then it was tough to pass,” he commented. “It’s really actually exciting to be a little bit disappointed in a top-10 finish in the Cup Series. Like I said, this series is really competitive and hard to do well in. I thought we had a top-five race going for sure and ended up 10th.”
With four races behind him, Larson feels that the speed he has shown so far shows that he belongs at t the Sprint Cup Series level with the stars of the sport.
“I hope fans see that I’ve been competitive each week, maybe not at Daytona, but every week since then I feel like I’ve been pretty competitive,” he commented.
Will Power sweeps top of the chart honors at IndyCar Barber Test
On Monday, Will Power topped the speed charts in his No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet with a lap of 01:07.6492 seconds around the 2.3 mile road course. Today, Power once again would top the speed charts, this time with a lap of 1 minute, 7.0608 seconds.
“Coming back to Barber, hopefully we found a happy place,” Power commented. “Obviously the temperature will be a lot different, and I think that brings out imbalances in the car. It was so cold today and there was so much grip, I think it was hard to get good reads on changes. We’ll see where we go and head to St. Pete, it’s going to be really tight.”
Test was delayed both days due to fog and mist throughout hte morning, but the second day certainly showed the level of competition in the Verizon IndyCar Series.
Justin Wilson was second quickest in his Dale Coyne Racing Honda, four-hundreths off of Power’s quick time.
“I think it’s great, I just want to know where it puts me on the grid for the race here,” Wilson commented. “Obviously nowhere, so you just have to take it with a pinch of salt. We like the progress that we’ve made to the car and the work that the team is doing. It’s a complete new set of guys, working with Michael Cannon, that just keeps getting better and better every time we run.”
Defending Series Champion Scott Dixon was third fastest, followed by Takuma Sato and Ryan Briscoe. After running a part-time schedule last year, Briscoe will run the full schedule this year for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Helio Castroneves was sixth quickest, followed by Ryan Hunter-Reay, James Hinchcliffe, Juan Pablo Montoya and Simon Pagenaud. Montoya, entering his first season of open-wheel racing since 2006, used the two days of testing to get to comfortable with his new ride.
“We got behind the track there a little bit at the end, but overall I’m really happy,” Montoya commented. “The Verizon Team Penske did a good job. I feel that I’m ready and looking forward to St. Pete.”
Tony Kanaan was 11th quickest in his new ride with Chip Ganassi, followed by rookie Jack Hawksworth, Charle Kimball, Sebastian Bourdais and Marco Andretti. Andretti is one of the early championship favourites going into the season following a consistent year last season.
“Unfortunately we didn’t make a lot of progress the past two days,”Andretti summarized his test session. “A lot of the answers we found today, we’ll have to retest and come back when it’s hotter. We’re really questioning a lot of our reads just because of the low temperatures. Obviously we’re not really pleased with the pace, but we’re really making some strides with the Honda side…the drivability side – I’m really pleased with, we just need to get the balance right for when we bring the Snapple car back next month.””
The 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season kicks off next weekend with St. Petersburg.
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Bristol
Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.
1. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski was in shape for a top-5 finish before Kevin Harvick’s blown engine littered the track with oil. Keselowski’s No. 2 Miller Lite Ford rammed Jamie McMurray’s No. 1 car, which had checked up. Keselowski still managed a 14th and took over the Sprint Cup points lead from Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
“That was quite a lot fluid on the track,” Keselowski said. “At the ‘Bull Ring,’ that would be called ‘Oil Of Olé.’
“Harvick was ‘on fire’ at Phoenix, as well. The result was much different, however. He nearly burned the garage down after blowing his engine at Bristol, though. To sum it up, he went from ‘distinguished’ to ‘extinguished.’”
2. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt suffered two blown tires and finished 24th, four laps down, at Bristol. He fell out of the lead in the points standings, and trails Brad Keselowski by 10.
“Tires notwithstanding” Earnhardt said, “it’s been a ‘Goodyear’ for us so far.
“I find it hard to believe that someone accidentally hit a switch to make the caution lights come on. There have been rumors that there’s a ‘switch hitter’ in NASCAR; maybe this is confirmation.”
3. Jeff Gordon: Gordon finished seventh in the Food City 500, joining Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne in the top 10. This is the first time in his Sprint Cup career that Gordon has started the season with four top 10’s.
“There’s a first time for everything,” Gordon said, “but apparently not a fifth time.
4. Carl Edwards: Edwards stayed out during a caution with 76 laps to go and assumed the lead, which he held to easily win the Food City 500, his first win of the year. Edwards held off Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Aric Almirola, and survived a mysterious caution with two laps to go, for the win.
“It was a long day,” Edwards said, “but I was still able to perform my signature back flip. And speaking of ‘flips,’ someone accidentally ‘flipped’ a switch and turned on the caution lights with two laps to go. That sounds like ‘B.S.’ to me. Here in Bristol, that explanation had a ‘bull ring’ to it.”
“I hear my former teammate Matt Kenseth is going to be a father again. I hear he’s a great one. I bet he’s amazing with a pacifier. That’s probably why he’s such a ‘pacifist.’”
5. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson struggled at Bristol after blowing a right-front tire early in the race. He finished two laps down in 19th, his first finish outside the top 10 this season, and is now sixth in the points standings, 20 behind Brad Keselowski.
“After falling behind like that,” Johnson said, “I just wanted to get the race over. But then there were weather delays. I felt like saying what everyone said after my fifth straight Cup title: ‘Somebody stop this reign.’ That’s why they call Brad Keselowski, the driver that ended my five-year championship run, ‘Reign delay.’”
6. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth was leading with about 100 laps remaining at Bristol, but nearly crashed when a rear tire went down. Kenseth kept the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota off the wall, and remained on the lead lap to eventually finished 13th. He is ninth in the point standings, 25 out of first.
“I nearly lost it,” Kenseth said. “Hopefully, Toyota can ‘find it’ soon.
“As you might know, my wife and I are expecting a baby any minute now. I hope to be in the delivery room, but only under one condition: that Jeff Gordon is not in there with me. I absolutely don’t want to be in the same room as Gordon at a time when everyone is yelling ‘Push!’”
7. Joey Logano: Logano salvaged a 20th-place finish after early power steering problems sent him to the garage. He is now sixth in the point standings, 22 behind Brad Keselowski.
“Usually,” Logano said, “I don’t have steering ‘problems’ unless Denny Hamlin’s in my way. There once was a ‘wall’ between us. But we’ve crashed through that wall. Luckily, no one suffered a back injury this time.”
8. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin won the pole at Bristol and finished sixth, the top finisher among Joe Gibbs Racing cars. Hamlin is seventh in the points standings, 23 out of first.
“Caution lights ‘accidentally’ turned on,” Hamlin said. “The NASCAR conspiracy theorists should have a field day with this. Ironically, NASCAR conspiracy theorists don’t have a lot of light switches turning on in their heads.”
9. Kevin Harvick: Harvick was leading on lap 450 when his engine blew, spewing oil along his path. Harvick guided his burning No. 4 Jimmy John’s Chevy behind the pit wall, where it was doused.
“I really wanted to get out of that car,” Harvick said. “I’m not even talking about the No. 4 car, but the No. 29 car.
“Everyone was talking after the race about ‘Smoke.’ That’s because Tony Stewart finally posted a top-5 finish. And where there’s ‘Smoke,’ there’s an ornery car owner with a bum leg who’s still wondering how Kurt Busch ended up on his team.”
10. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.: Stenhouse trailed leader Carl Edwards when a phantom caution slowed the race with two laps remaining. The race ended that way, with Stenhouse taking second, his best finish of the year.
“I was hoping for another restart,” Stenhouse said. “I was prepared to use my bumper, if need be, to get by Edwards. Of course, maybe it would not have been wise to do that. If Edwards gets his tail punted, I might get my tail kicked.
“My girlfriend Danica Patrick finished 18th, her best finish of the season. I asked her to verify where she finished. She said 18th. I just wanted to make sure she ‘knew her place.’”
Ryan Blaney has impressive performance with fourth at Bristol
On Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway, it was a show that revolved around Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Kyle Larson. However, lost in that was the impressive run by a young up-and-coming star in NASCAR.
Ryan Blaney, making his first Nationwide Series start of the season, brought home the No. 22 Discount Tire Mustang in the fourth spot.
“I’m really excited about the finish, especially considering where we started,” Blaney commented post-race. “We started out really loose and we didn’t think it would go that way. We thought we made good adjustments to make sure it was tight enough in the race, but when we took off we were just so loose and fell back.”
Blaney fell from his fifth starting spot to seventh and with a long-green flag run to open up the race, he fell a lap down to Kenseth’s rapid pace. However, a well-timed caution at lap 96 would allow Blaney to get the lucky dog. From that point on, Blaney kept battling hard all the way to fourth.
“Jeremy Bullins and everyone on this No. 22 team did an awesome job of getting this thing where it needed to be,” Blaney commented. “I think if a couple cautions fell at the right time, we might have been able to run second. I don’t know if we had anything for the No. 54, but I’m proud of my guys on this Discount Tire / SKF Ford. I’m really looking forward to the next time I’m in it at Texas.”
While running the full Camping World Truck Series schedule for Brad Keselowski Racing, Blaney is expected to make 15 starts this year in the Nationwide Series. Blaney made three starts last season, scoring a top 10 in each race, including his first career win at Kentucky Speedway. In the truck series, Blaney finished sixth in points in his rookie season with a win and eight top fives. Blaney finished sixth back at Daytona in February’s season opener.
Blaney is one of the drivers that people are looking to see big things in the future – with a possible full-time Nationwide Series schedule in 2015 under the Team Penske banner. So far the second generation driver is living up to expectations.
Steckly to Return as Judge in Annual IS IT WORTH IT? Teen Driver Safety Program
