NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Kentucky
Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.
1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson finished tenth in the Quaker State 400, posting his 12th top 10 of the year. He is second in the points standings, 24 behind Jeff Gordon.
“Brad Keselowski cut his hand on a champagne bottle in Victory Lane,” Johnson said. “If Joey Logano is ‘Sliced Bread,’ then Keselowski has to be ‘Sliced Brad.’”
2. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt finished fifth at Kentucky, as Hendrick Motorsports placed three drivers in the top 10. He is second in the Sprint Cup points standings, 24 behind Jeff Gordon.
“I’m impressed with Brad Keselowski’s performance,” Earnhardt said. “But there’s no way he could be a member of Junior Nation. If Brad can’t hold his champagne, he certainly can’t hold his liquor.”
3. Jeff Gordon: Gordon posted his series-best 13th top-10 finish of the year with a sixth at Kentucky. He remained atop the points standings, and leads Hendrick teammates Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. by 24.
“Jimmie Johnson visited the White House last Wednesday,” Gordon said, “where he was honored by President Obama as 2013 Sprint Cup champion. Jimmie asked Obama about the ‘secret service.’ Obama replied: ‘Has Chad Knaus been illegally working on your car again?’”
4. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski dominated at Kentucky, starting on the pole and leading 199 of 267 laps on the way to his second win of the season.
“Kentucky is the home of horse racing,” Keselowski said. “On Saturday, though, it became the home of a ‘thorough-Brad.’ The No. 2 Miller Lite Chevrolet had plenty of speed for Kentucky Speedway. My car had the horsepower; I have the horse teeth.”
5. Carl Edwards: One week after winning at Sonoma, Edwards finished a disappointing 17th in the Quaker State 400. He is sixth in the Sprint Cup points standings, 82 out of first.
“Greg Biffle is still working on a contract extension,” Edwards said. “Greg has to ask himself: ‘should I stay or should I go’? On that note, as far as teammates go, I always seem to ‘Clash’ with them.”
6. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth overcame a slow start to finish fourth in the Quaker State 400. It was his sixth top-five result of the year and he is now fifth in the points standings, 63 out of first.
“I just signed a contract extension with Joe Gibbs Racing,” Kenseth said. “It was on Saturday, to be exact, but I’m not at liberty to reveal the financial details. So, as is the case with my season, it’s a matter of ‘Just when, baby.’”
7. Joey Logano: Logano finished ninth despite rising water temperatures that nearly compromised his engine. He is seventh in the Sprint Cup points standings, 99 out of first.
“Usually,” Logano said, “when I’m in hot water, it’s because of my father.
“It was a great day for Penske Racing. Brad Keselowski won the pole and the race, then sliced his hand open on a champagne bottle celebrating the win. So, both he and Roger Penske were ‘gushing’ after the race.”
8. Kevin Harvick: Harvick won the Nationwide race in Sparta on Friday, then finished seventh in the Quaker State 400 on Saturday night. He is ninth in the points standings, 109 out of first.
“How about TNT’s coverage of the race,” Harvick said. “Much like TNT, it ‘blows.’ And Kyle Petty’s analysis is lacking. Just like the sport of NASCAR itself, it needs more ‘color.’ In Petty’s book, ‘insight’ is saying ‘he’s just got to keep plugging along’ over and over.”
9. Kyle Busch: Busch led 31 laps at Kentucky and lost the lead to Brad Keselowski with 20 laps to go. Busch finished second, and is now 10th in the points standings.
“Keselowski was so much better than everyone else,” Busch said. “That was also the case in 2012 when he won here. At least at Kentucky Speedway, that Penske technology, much like a broken champagne bottle, was ‘cutting edge.’”
10. Ryan Newman: Newman scored his best finish of the year, speeding to a third in the Quaker State 400. He is now eighth in the points standings, 104 behind Jeff Gordon.
“Richard Childress Racing is still looking for our first win,” Newman said. “I’m sure Richard would love for Austin Dillon to be the first RCR victor this year. Then Richard can proudly say, ‘That’s grand, son.’”
Kevin Cornelius is crowned Don Biederman Memorial Champion at Sunset Speedway
After losing the Don Biederman Memorial Championship last year in a tie-breaker, Kevin Cornelius would come back stronger this year and score the feature victory on Sunday night at Sunset Speedway. The feature victory marks Cornelius’ second in the last three events and third straight top-two finish.
As a result of finishing second on Saturday night and winning on Sunday, the Shelburne native was crowned the 2014 Don Biederman Memorial Champion. Cornelius becomes the 10th different driver to win the race in the 16-year history.
The night started off with 2013 Don Biederman Memorial Champion and Saturday night’s feature winner Dwayne Baker edging out Glenn Watson to win the first qualifying race of the night. Andrew Gresel finished third, followed by Rob Poole, Jesse Kennedy, Dave Doucette, Tyler Hawn and Shane Gowan.
The second heat didn’t go smoothly as rookie Corey Jones would go for a spin on lap five after getting into the corner a little too hard. Jeff Hanley picked up the win ahead of Kelly Balson, Mike Beyore, Cornelius, Jones, Todd Campbell, Chris Burrows and Ethan Cournyea.
Come feature time, it’d be Dwayne Baker starting his No. 48 Zancor Custom Homes, B&B Towing, Nisco National Leasing, Clearview Heating & Cooling, Four Valleys Excavating, Baker Performance Parts and Knightworks Design SLM on pole ahead of Jeff Hanley, Glenn Watson, Kelly Balson, Andrew Gresel, Mike Beyore, Rob Poole, Kevin Cornelius, Jesse Kennedy, Corey Jones, Dave Doucette, Todd Campbell, Tyler Hawn, Chris Burrows, Shane Gowan and Ethan Cournyea.
Baker wouldn’t lead the first lap, though, as Jeff Hanley grabbed the advantage on lap one behind the wheel of his No. 70 Raylene Racing Inc and Carmen Auto Sales SLM. Baker would slip into second ahead of Balson while Watson and Beyore battled for fourth. Beyore would get the spot, though didn’t rest comfortably for long as Cornelius got alongside him, grabbing the fourth spot on lap four. Beyore would slip back to fifth, followed by Gresel, Watson, Poole, Jones and Kennedy. Cornelius would continue his climb to the front, passing Balson for third on lap six while Watson and Poole battled for seventh. Cornelius’ next pass came on lap 13, as he passed Baker to move into second. Watson and Poole kept their battle going for a number of laps, with Poole grabbing the advantage on lap 18 ahead of Watson, Kennedy and Doucette. Unfortunately, Todd Campbell saw his night come to an end at lap 24 as he headed down pit road under green.
The leaders would mostly run single-file, logging laps in the books till the first caution flew at lap 26 for Cournyea spinning Doucette in their battle for 10th. With 24 laps to go, Hanley would lead Cornelius, Baker, Balson, Gresel, Beyore, Poole, Kennedy, Hawn, Cournyea, Watson, Jones and Doucette.
Hanley would choose the outside lane for the restart, and it wouldn’t pan out well as Cornelius grabbed the advantage heading into turn one, however the caution flew once again for Doucette and Cournyea spinning in turns one and two.
The second attempt at a restart would see Cournelius take the lead heading into turn one once again behind the wheel of his No. 17 Halton Crushed Stone, Lee Sand & Gravel, Sandbox Tech Child Care, TripleCrete Ltd., Hanson Pipe & Precast, Alliston Transmission, Ed’s Automotive and MacMaster Pontiac Buick GMC SLM ahead of Hanley, Baker, Gresel, Balson, Beyore, Poole and Kennedy while Hawn and Watson battled for ninth. Three-time Sunset Speedway Thunder Car Champion Poole would get underneath Beyore for sixth at lap 30, clearing him a couple laps later while Watson cleared Hawn for ninth. With adjustments made underneath the yellow, Watson would get alongside Kennedy for eighth with two to go, though wouldn’t have enough to clear.
At the front of the field, though, it was all Kevin Cornelius as he held serve till the checkered flag to score the feature victory. Jeff Hanley finished second, followed by Dwayne Baker, Andrew Gresel, Kelly Balson, Rob Poole, Mike Beyore, Jesse Kennedy, Glenn Watson, Tyler Hawn and Dave Doucette.
Cayden Lapcevich scores first career OSCAAR Hanover Holiday Modified victory
In his first career OSCAAR Hanover Holiday Modified start on Sunday, Cayden Lapcevich would impress as he grabbed the lead late in the feature to pick up the victory. The 14-year-old becomes the youngest OSCAAR modified feature winner in series history.
It also marks the second straight event that OSCAAR has seen a first-time winner, following Terry Baker’s win in the Saturday night Sunset Speedway feature. Interestingly, Lapcevich was driving the exact modified that Baker drove the previous night, marking the second straight win for car owners Terry Baker and Kevin Jobs.
Lapcevich’s win also show the diversity of the OSCAAR Hanover Holiday Modifieds as he becomes the fourth different winner this year, joining Chad Strawn, Gary McLean and Baker. Dating back to McLean’s win at Barrie two weeks ago, the modifieds have seen three different winners in the last three races.
The night started off with Brent McLean finding victory lane in the first heat after struggling the previous night ahead of Gary McLean, Max Beyore, Matt Barton, Drew Stieler and Bill Burrows.
The second heat didn’t go smoothly as Gary Elliott would go for a spin on the second lap. Elliott had been fighting steering issues throughout the weekend and the teams worked to try and repair them, though the struggles would continue. Despite the struggles, Sunday night would mark a memorable night for the veteran as he’d make his 700th consecutive start, dating back to June 1987.
Ryan Dick didn’t have luck in the second heat either, as he would go for a spin on the third lap. Dick stated post-race that he was on old tires as he wanted to save his newer tires for the 30-lap feature later that night. Justin Demelo picked up the win ahead of Shane Stickel, Brian McLean, Davey Terry, Dick and Elliott.
The third heat saw the spin cycle continue as Branden Bullen got his experience on the eighth lap while running in the top three. Tommy Robb grabbed the win ahead of Lapcevich, Strawn, Bullen, Dustin Jackson and John Harper.
The spin cycle continued in the fourth heat with Stieler and Barton both going around off of turn four on lap two. Gary McLean picked up the win ahead of Brent McLean, Barton, Beyore and Stieler.
Davey Terry won the fifth heat ahead of Stickel, Dick, Brian McLean, Demelo and Elliott.
Lapcevich won the final heat to become the youngest OSCAAR Modified heat winner ahead of fellow teenager Dustin Jackson, Bullen, Robb, Harper and Strawn.
Come feature time, Justin Demelo would start pole ahead of Davey Terry, Tommy Robb, Shane Stickel, Gary McLean, Cayden Lapcevich, Brent McLean, Max Beyore, Branden Bullen, Matt Barton, Brian McLean, Dustin Jackson, Ryan Dick, Chad Strawn, Drew Stieler, John Harper and Bill Burrows.
Davey Terry would quickly prove why his No. 14 Wasteco, Castrol, Brennan Haulage, Keeler Electric, Mann Hydraulics, Terry Farms and Dominion Mini Storage Modified is quick as he grabbed the lead on lap two after a side-by-side battle with Demelo. Lapcevich began making quick work as by lap two, he was battling Stickel for third. Lapcevich would grab the spot on lap four ahead of Stickel while Beyore grabbed fifth from Robb, Gary McLean and Brent McLean on lap six. Bullen and Barton would round out the top 10 as they all started to spread out, single-file.
Unfortunately, Gary Elliott’s night came to an end on lap 13 as he headed down pit road with mechanical issues.
Back on track, Terry continued to lead at the halfway mark (lap 15) while Lapcevich had caught Demelo for second. Lapcevich grabbed the spot on lap 18 while Gary McLean and Stickel now rounded out the top five. McLean would get alongside Demelo at lap 19, passing him at lap 20 before the caution would fly for Stickel spinning in turn two.
On the restart, Terry and Lapcevich ran side-by-side for a couple lap with Terry grabbing the advantage as Gary McLean ran third, followed by Demelo, Brent McLean, Jackson, Barton, Bullen, Strawn and Harper. Brent McLean would get alongside Demelo for fourth and get by him, however contact ensued with Demelo sending McLean around for a caution at lap 28.
The restart would come with two laps to go and Cayden Lapcevich made the most of it behind the wheel of his No. 26 Baker Performance of Hamilton, Tim Hortons, Troy Cove Marine, Springers Meats, EPIC Racewear by OnePromo.ca and Cathcart Trucking Modified, clearing Davey Terry to pick up the victory. Gary McLean would grab second on the last lap from Terry, handing Terry a third place finish. Max Beyore finished fourth, followed by Dustin Jackson, Matt Barton, Tommy Robb, Shane Stickel, John Harper, Brent McLean, Drew Stieler, Justin Demelo, Branden Bullen and Chad Strawn.
T.J. Marshall wins Lucas Oil Canadian Vintage Modified feature at Sunset Speedway
Under a slight drizzle, T.J. Marshall would hold off a last lap charge by Adrian Donkers to grab the win in the Lucas Oil Canadian Vintage Modified feature at Sunset Speedway.
Donkers started the night in victory lane by winning the first heat ahead of Jason Keen, Rick Schurr, John Karley, Mike Williams and Daryl Henwood.
The second heat didn’t go smoothly as Jeremy Riopelle went for the spin. Al Shepstone, Ian Burney and Steve Trendell would avoid the spinning Riopelle, though each went for a spin of their own on the fronstretch, resulting in four spun cars. Everybody was able to get going except for Shepstone, who needed to be towed off. Marshall picked up the win ahead of Trendell, Brian Atkinson, Riopelle and Burney.
Come feature time, Riopelle would start on pole and hold down the early lead as Schurr and Marshall battled for second. Marshall would get the spot, bringing Donkers and Trendall through with him. The top seven ran single-file till the first caution for Schurr going for a spin.
On the restart, Riopelle held down the lead ahead of Marshall and Donkers while Trendall and Wiliams battled for fourth, though the caution would fly once again with 15 laps to go for points leader Atkinson spinning off turn four.
The second attempt at a restart went smoother with Riopelle continuing to hold serve ahead of Marshall and Donkers as Trendall and Wiliams resumed their battle. Trendall would get the spot, forcing Wiliams to battle with Keen.
Meanwhile at the front of the field, Marshall would get alongside Riopelle for the lead, grabbing the spot, leaving Riopelle to battle with Donkers for second. Donkers would get by, bringing Trendall with him before the caution flew for Wiliams spinning in turn two with two laps to go.
On the restart, Donkers would look for a way by, diving underneath Marshall through turns three and four. However, it wouldn’t be enough as T.J. Marshall grabbed the win ahead of Adrian Donkers, Steve Trendall, Jason Keen, Jeremy Riopelle, Brian Atkinson, John Karley, Rick Schurr, Mike Wiliams and Daryl Henwood.
Surprising and Not Surprising: Kentucky Quaker State 400
From the jaw-jarring bumps of the old pavement in which Kentucky Speedway takes such pride, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 4th Annual Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts.
Surprising: Dominance and redemption surprisingly co-existed in the Bluegrass state. Penske dominated, from qualifying to Victory Lane for Brad Keselowski, yet there was also redemption for several drivers, including Tony Stewart, who rebounded from an engine change to finish 11th, as well as Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick, who both had struggles in the pits and went on to finish sixth and seventh respectively.
“Yeah, what a really fast car,” Keselowski said after his second win of the season and his second win at Kentucky in the No. 2 car. “It feels really good, obviously, to get that second win.”
“We have got a really good stretch run going here over the summer, so it’s very exciting for me personally, very rewarding, and I feel like we’re in such a strong spot,” Keselowski continued. “A lot of momentum, and this was really a big night for us in so many ways.”
Stewart, Gordon and Harvick may not have been in Victory Lane, but all three felt redeemed nonetheless.
“I would’ve liked to have been a little better than what we were there at the end, but I think we definitely had to fight our way up there through the day,” Stewart said. “We never did anything tricky to get track position. We pitted every time the pits were open. We didn’t do any less than anybody else did on any stop.”
“All in all, I thought we had a pretty honest day there and I can’t complain about that.”
Not Surprising: Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota, played it fast and loose, right into the runner up position. This was Busch’s fourth top-10 finish in four races at Kentucky Speedway and his seventh top-10 finish of the season.
“I got to traffic, man, I just got too loose,” Busch said. “I was kind of loose the whole run, but I kept getting looser and looser throughout the run, where normally the rest of the runs prior to that throughout the race I was getting tighter throughout the run.”
“I was loose the whole race,” Busch continued. “I was loose, but it was a drivable loose, it wasn’t just a wrecking loose, until the end, and then I was wrecking.”
“For as loose as I was I had good grip and I was moving forward,” Busch said. “It looked like a lot of guys were struggling with the same issues I was but worse, so I was able to go by them, so I felt pretty good about it.”
Surprising: As a past champion, Brad Keselowski most certainly knows how to celebrate, but this time it resulted in some surprising bodily harm. Thanks to a broken bottle of champagne in Victory Lane, the victor ended up with four stitches to boot.
“We were playing around with some champagne bottles and as I told my good friend, ‘We should have stuck with beer,’” Keselowski said. “We were having too much fun with champagne and one of the bottles broke and I cut my hand open. It’s no big deal.”
“It’s all fixed now, so we’re good,” Keselowski continued. “Yeah, welcome to the party. It’s all good. I’m just glad we won. It’s a lot better story when you win and get hurt.”
Not Surprising: Usually race car drivers emerge after the race being mad at other drivers, but there was one driver who was just mad at himself after the Quaker State 400.
“The first wreck one of those lapped cars spun in front of us and when he spun he lit up his rear tires and made a huge smoke cloud,” Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 43 Eckrich Ford, said. “My spotter, Tyler, was telling me to go high and I was kind of in the middle of the race track to see what he was gonna do and at the last minute he was like, ‘Go high, go high,’ so I veered high and McMurray was out there.”
“I honestly had no idea he was out there and I ran into him, so I feel horrible,” Almirola continued. “I’m just mad at myself. I realize circumstances weren’t in our favor, but I should have done a better job of getting slowed down and not running into the 1 car.”
Surprising: Kentucky race weekend was certainly a good one for Ryan Newman, with Caterpillar Inc. renewing their sponsorship on his car, and with a third place finish, just his second top-10 at Kentucky Speedway.
“Just a good, solid night for the Caterpillar Chevrolet,” Newman said. “All the guys did a really good job strategy wise. Kept our track position all night.”
“Good job for everybody at RCR and ECR, and we’ll keep digging.”
Not Surprising: Clint Bowyer took to Twitter and told it like it was for his No. 15 5-Hour Energy race team after finishing 23rd.
“Got our natural asses kicked tonight,” Bowyer tweeted after the race. “Testing this week to get to the bottom of a few things. We WILL get it fixed!!!”
Surprising: After a tire issue sent rookie Kyle Larson hard into the wall and out of the race, Austin Dillon became the highest finishing rookie. The driver of the No. 3 Cheerios Protein Chevrolet took the checkered flag in the 16th position.
Larson does, however, still lead in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year battle and has scored Rookie of the Race honors eleven times to Dillon’s five.
“Blew a right front (tire),” Larson said dejectedly. “This is the first time that’s ever happened to me in stock car racing.”
“So, big hits,” Larson continued. “But it sucks. We were hoping for a good points day to pad our points were we are before we go to Daytona where it’s a real crapshoot. It’s disappointing to have two weekends that didn’t end up very well the last couple of races.”
“Oh, well. That’s how it goes,” Larson said. “We’ll try and go to Daytona and rebound and gain some more points.”
Not Surprising: Joey Logano proved that not only was his teammate powerful, but he had Penske power to boot, finishing ninth place in spite of being down a cylinder.
“I think Team Penske dominated Kentucky this weekend, it’s just unfortunate we dropped a cylinder there, but it’s still a top-10 out of being down one cylinder,” Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, said. “We’ll take that.”
Surprising: Matt Kenseth, in his No. 20 Dollar General Toyota, proved his worth to his sponsor, who announced prior to the race that they would increase their primary sponsorship from 27 to 30 races. Kenseth finished fourth and felt that “Overall, it was a positive weekend.”
“I feel like we’re gaining on it,” Kenseth continued. “I thought we had a pretty good car. They had a great stop and got me good track position and I was able to get up two or three spots for the restart and hang onto fourth.”
Not Surprising: Dale Jr. was fired up and ready to go after struggling mightily in practice, qualifying 29th, yet racing back to finish fifth, scoring his ninth top-five in 2014. And with that, Junior became the only driver so far with that many top-fives for the season to date.
“So Steve (Letarte, crew chief) and the guys did a good job in having to deal with me and trying to put a good car under me this weekend,” Junior said. “It was a lot of fun in the race.”
“It just fired me up … (and) they put a good setup under the car,” Earnhardt continued. “It wasn’t the best car out there, but we finished where we should have tonight with the speed the car the showed.”
The Cup Series next heads to Daytona International Speedway for the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca Cola on Saturday, July 5th. Happy Independence Day!
