Matt Kenseth Wins at New Hampshire
Matt Kenseth is the man to beat in the 2013; there is no doubt about that. He has now won both chase races with his teammate, Kyle Busch finishing 2nd just like Chicagoland last weekend. This is his 7th win of the season and the 31st of his career. Matt started 9th and wasn’t looked at as a favorite to win the race and wasn’t a factor until after the halfway point. He’s never gone to victory lane at New Hampshire until now and it just so happened to be his 500th career start as well.
The race kicked off with Ryan Newman on pole but he would quickly be overtaken by a hard-charging Kasey Kahne. Kasey led until the first caution of the day flew courtesy of Josh Wise going for a spin in turn 4. On the restart, Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing teammates Juan Pablo Montoya and Jamie McMurray made contact sending the No.1 spinning. Jamie kept it off the wall though and the car was fine until rookie Kevin Swindell ran into the back of him. McMurray rebounded and finished a solid 5th with a damaged rear end.
The next incident involved Bobby Labonte and David Gilliland on the front stretch. Labonte’s car was destroyed while Gilliland suffered some front end damage during the crash. Martin Truex Jr. led a bunch of laps before Jeff Gordon took control of the event. A rare pit road mistake by the 4-time champ ruined his race as he brought home a disappointing 15th place finish.
Late in the race, Kasey Kahne got loose underneath Brian Vickers and smacked the inside wall. He was very upset and didn’t have anything to say when he left the infield care center. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a fantastic restart with 30 to go and rocketed up to 2nd but he gave it all back within a few laps. It came down to a duel between JGR teammates Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch with the 2003 NSCS champion prevailing as Kyle desperately tried to get to him. Track position was key today and when you didn’t have it, you didn’t stand a chance.
The race featured eleven different leaders, seven cautions and nineteen lead changes. 28 cars finished on the lead lap and five failed to finish. Kenseth, (Kyle) Busch and Johnson have separated themselves from the rest of the chase field and are certainly living up to all the hype surrounding their chase chances. Matt has a 14pt lead over teammate Kyle and Jimmie Johnson faces a 18pt deficit. There’s a noticeable gap back to 4th place Carl Edwards who sits 36pts back. 10th on back are a full race’s worth of points behind the leader and Kasey Kahne is now last in the chase; 71pts back of Kenseth.
RACE RESULTS
1.) Matt Kenseth #20
2.) Kyle Busch #18
3.) Greg Biffle #16
4.) Jimmie Johnson #48
5.) Jamie McMurray #1
6.) Dale Earnhardt Jr. #88
7.) Brian Vickers #55
8.) Jeff Burton #31
9.) Carl Edwards #99
10.) Matin Truex Jr. #56
11.) Brad Keselowski #2
12.) Denny Hamlin #11
13.) Kurt Busch #78
14.) Joey Logano #22
15.) Jeff Gordon #24
16.) Ryan Newman #39
17.) Clint Bowyer #15
18.) Marcos Ambrose #9
19.) Juan Pablo Montoya #42
20.) Kevin Harvick #29
21.) Aric Almirola #43
22.) Paul Menard #27
23.) Mark Martin #55
24.) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #17
25.) Casey Mears #13
26.) David Reutimann #83
27.) Danica Patrick #10
28.) Travis Kvapil #93
29.) David Ragan #34
30.) Michael McDowell #51
31.) Dave Blaney #7
32.) Josh Wise #35
33.) JJ Yeley #36
34.) Landon Cassill #40
35.) Joe Nemechek #87
36.) Timmy Hill #32
37.) Kasey Kahne #5
38.) Kevin Swindell #30
39.) David Gilliland #38
40.) Bobby Labonte #47
41.) Tony Raines #33
42.) Johnny Sauter #98
43.) Scott Riggs #95
– Richard Petty is the only other driver besides Kenseth to win in his 500th start
– 4 of Matt’s 7 victories this season have all come at tracks that he had not won at until 2013
– Kenseth is the 12th different driver to win in the last 12 New Hampshire races
– This is the third time a chase driver has won the first two chase races…Biffle did it in 2008 & Stewart in 2011
Weighing the Options for Martin Truex Jr. and Michael Waltrip Racing
Michael Waltrip Racing might have lost more than just a sponsor. The team that has exceeded all expectations since their inception in 2007, is about to go backwards instead of forwards.
Martin Truex Jr.’s sponsor, NAPA, is leaving at the end of the year. Besides losing the sponsor which stuck with Waltrip’s team through thick and thin, the team may be losing the driver that helped expand their operation.
Truex Jr. was on pace to have his best season in NASCAR. He was going to be in the Chase for the Sprint Cup for the second consecutive season. Then, his team’s General Manager, Ty Norris, basically cost Truex a few million bucks, and the team a multi-million dollar contract. Now, Truex Jr. may have to find a new home thanks to Norris’ decision to tell Clint Bowyer to intentionally spin, and have Brian Vickers pit for no reason.
So what’s going to happen next?
Well, Truex Jr. is under contract with MWR until 2015. If he wants out, Michael Waltrip stated that he’d be willing to let Truex go. However, don’t expect Truex to leave the team. He’s a valuable asset for an organization that is going to need to prove themselves for the rest of this year and all of 2014. The team can’t afford to lose Truex, it’ll hurt their credibility too much.
“I really enjoyed my last four years at MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) and I feel like we’re getting to where we wanted to be when we started four years ago, and this is obviously going to set us back. But,I would love to be there. There’s no guarantees right now — it just depends on how everything goes down,” Truex said in a press release.
There’s a bright side to all of this though. The team can see what Truex’s value is on the free agent market. There’s not too many openings left which should help them retain the man that has only won two races in 288 career Sprint Cup Series starts. If sponsorship is found, the team won’t give him up. Yet, if a guy such as Elliott Sadler can bring sponsorship along, then the team may just end up booting Truex.
Truex could land at Furniture Row Racing if they opt to go with experience for their new driver. For some reason, it just doesn’t seem likely for that to happen. Waltrip’s team has the equipment to be successful, even though they’re losing several key members of the team by the start of next season.
It’s going to be interesting to see what will happen with this situation. It appears that Waltrip wants Truex to stay no matter what.
“I don’t know — it’s too early to tell to be honest with you. I wish I knew and I wish I could say, but a lot of circumstances have to play out and it’s so late in the game and late in the season. People already know what they’re doing next year — this is definitely not the time of year you want to find out that you really don’t have a ride next year, so to speak. I don’t know, it’s going to be tough, but we’ll have to deal with it and hopefully we’ll figure it out.”
Joseph Wolkin can be followed on Twitter at @JosephNASCAR and like him on Facebook..
Cole Custer Wins The North America 100 at New Hampshire
Just a month ago Cole Custer found victory lane in Iowa Speedway after starting on the pole writing his name into the history books as the youngest K&N winner at 15-years-old. New Hampshire was no different as he started on pole and found his way to victory lane for just the second time in his 12th career start. The California native is the son of Joe Custer who is a Stewart-Haas Racing executive.
Monroe winner, Daniel Suarez, was able to hold on for another impressive runner-up finish. That was Suarez’s 5th top five in the last six races in the K&N Series. Cale Conley had a strong run finishing 3rd, with rookie Ben Rhodes and Dylan Presnell coming home 4th and 5th.
Dylan Kwasnewski came into the race with a very impressive points lead, but all that dwindled to 23 when he wrecked on lap 34 while battling for the lead. Dylan’s competitor in the points standings, Brett Moffitt took advantage of the circumstances by finishing 7th. Rookies Gray Gaulding (8th), Mackena Bell (9th) and Ronnie Bassett Jr. (10th) rounded out the top 10.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will next race in the Drive Sober 150 at Dover International Speedway on Friday, Sept. 27.
The North America 100 at New Hampshire will air on TV Friday October 4th on Fox Sports 1.
Ryan Blaney takes the win in the Kentucky 300
19 year old Camping World Truck Series regular, Ryan Blaney puts on an impressive performance driving the No. 22 Discount Tires Ford in the Kentucky 300 at Kentucky Speedway. Blaney led 96 laps en route to victory. He also became the fourth different driver to win in the car this season and the tenth win of the season for the No. 22.
Blaney had to hold off strong challenges from his Penske teammate Sam Hornish Jr and Richard Childress Racing driver, Austin Dillon. At one point on a restart, Hornish and Blaney were side by side when Hornish got loose and almost took out both cars. Hornish, however, pulled off an amazing save and only lost a few positions.
A similar situation happened with Dillon as well, with Dillon getting loose under the No.22, he too was able to save the car. Blaney never faltered, held off all challenges and looked like a seasoned veteran while doing so. He never seemed to get rattled under the pressure.
When asked about the close calls Blaney responded, “The way the restart rule is now, you never know what’s going to happen. How big of a shove someone is going to give somebody, I was really worried on that last restart when the 33 was behind Austin there, their teammates and I thought they were going to push right passed me but I don’t think the 33 got a great restart. But yeah it was very tough to hang on the bottom in one and two, I think there were some water spots down there that definitely made it worse, and then you got a gut hanging on your outside that just gets you aero loose so there a couple hairy moments there but luckily we could … had a good enough car that to be at that point where it didn’t hurt us when they got loose under us.”
The win was Blaney’s first in 15 Nationwide Series starts and also another step toward the owner’s championship for the No.22. The team now holds a 23 point lead over the Joe Gibbs Racing entry No. 54.
The next stop for the series is the 5-Hour Energy 200 at Dover International Raceway on September 28.
All Penske front row for Kentucky 300
Penske Racing sweeps the front row for Saturday’s Kentucky 300 at Kentucky Speedway. Series points leader, Sam Hornish, secured his third pole of the season with a fast lap of 179.235 mph in the No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Ford.
Hornish was followed by his teammate and Camping World Truck Series regular, Ryan Blaney. Blaney turned a lap of 178.159 mph in the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford that has had a multitude of Penske drivers this season. Though Hornish leads the driver’s standings, the No.22 car is currently leading the owner’s standings by 13 points over the No.54 car fielded by Joe Gibbs Racing.
Richard Childress Racing took row two with drivers Austin Dillon and Brian Scott. Dillon turned in a lap of 178.042 mph and will start third. Scott rolls off fourth on Saturday night after posting a lap of 177.702 mph.
Another Truck Series regular, Matt Crafton, will start fifth in a third Richard Childress Racing entry. Crafton is returning to the site of his first career Nationwide Series starts where he finished third. Saturday’s race will be the third career Nationwide Series start for the Camping World Truck Series points leader.
Other notables:
- Drew Herring will start seventh in the JGR No. 54 that Kyle Busch has driven to ten wins this season.
- Justin Allgaier will start ninth in the No. 31 Brandt Chevy
- Brian Vickers will take the green in tenth driving the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota
- Championship contenders Elliott Sadler and Regan Smith will start 12th and 14th respectively
Sam Hornish will try to stretch his points lead as we head into the home stretch of the season.
The Kentucky 300 starts at 7:30pm local time on Saturday.
