Keselowski fights until the very end but misses the Chase
Brad Keselowski’s championship defense officially came to an early close on Saturday night in Richmond.
The 2012 champion will race the remaining 10 weeks but will not have a chance to win a second title. A 17th place finished in the Federated Auto Parts 400 along with a season of inconsistency kept him from making the Chase field. He fell to 16th in points and remains winless.
“I don’t really have any emotions right now. We weren’t good enough to make it and we didn’t. That’s the reality,” Keselowski said afterwards.
It wasn’t, however, without a lack of trying. The champion went down swinging. Keselowski and the No. 2 Miller Lite team did everything right through the first 300 laps of the race and were in control of their destiny, as they seemed to be getting a little help from the competitors they needed to have problems.
Coming in 15th in points and 28 from the top 10, Keselowski needed to throw a Hail Mary to make the Chase. All the 2 team could do was perform their best while hoping for the best.
Keselowski led a race high 142 laps and he fought for every position on the track, knowing every point mattered. His Ford became wide when he needed it to be, fighting off those charging behind him, even if they were faster. At one point going head-to-head with Kevin Harvick who Keselowski told his team he was going to use up when he got a fresh set of tires.
As the race took shape it became obvious that Keselowski was the class of the field. But when the complexion changed in a hurry during the last run of the race, Keselowski started to slide backwards. In order to make the Chase he needed to win and hope those he was battling in the wild card continued to run poorly. Instead, he slid right out of the top 10 and out of the race and Chase picture, for good.
“We were pretty good at the start and led a lot of laps,” he said. “I think we led the most laps but we just weren’t strong enough to really stay up there. We needed clean air to really run well and once we lost that we just weren’t strong enough.”
For the first time since 2006, Tony Stewart, does the defending champion fail to make the Chase field. Teammate Joey Logano now carries the banner for Penske Racing as Keselowski is left looking back at opportunities missed. And points taken away, inspections at Dover and Texas will haunt Keselowski fans, which played into the equation.
Keselowski lost 31 points in penalties this season. He missed the top 10 in points to Logano by 31 points. However, Logano had a race win.
The statistics, the number crunching and ‘what if’ scenarios – like should he have wrecked Kyle Busch for the win at Watkins Glen – no longer matter. The last few weeks as Keselowski saw his chances slipping away he vowed to fight until it was all over. He did exactly that on Saturday and almost seemed on his way to pulling off an incredible comeback until the car and circumstances again got away.
“That is just the way our cars have been this year. They haven’t been good enough and we haven’t executed as well as we needed to,” Keselowski said about the series of events.
“We have work to do. At the end of the day, the thing about points is it is the best measuring stick in sports. You know who deserves to be where because the results speak for themselves. We didn’t have enough results to get where we needed to be.”
Hudco Electric Supply 300 presented by G Oil postphoned till Sunday; Steckly leads practice
A persistant on and off light mist from mid-afternoon till the night time forced the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series to postpone tonight’s Hudco Electric Supply 200 at Barrie Speedway to Sunday afternoon.
Due to only being able to get practice in, the Canadian Tire Series will have their time trials at 11:30am on Sunday morning at Barrie Speedway. The green flag is then schedule for 1:30pm in the afternoon. With a sunnier forecast, Sunday looks like a much better day for racing.
Even with the showers, the Canadian Tire Series cars did get on track for their practice session and it was two-time series champion Scott Steckly pacing the field with a lap of 14.121 seconds. Steckly currently sits second in points, three points behind D.J. Kennington Steckly finished ninth last year at Barrie Speedway after being involved in the late race incident. He has also won a pair of races at Barrie Speedway in the past, winning both events in 2008. He has five top fives in eight starts as he looks for his third series championship.
Last week’s race winner L.P. Dumoulin was second fastest, 0.031 seconds off of Steckly’s quick time. Dumoulin has made two career starts at Barrie Speedway, finishing 13th in 2011 and 11th last year. Dumoulin currently sits third in points and could bring himself right into championship picture if Kennington and Steckly have problems this weekend.
Rookie Alex Guenette was third fastest, 0.045 seconds off of the quick time. The Quebec native makes his first career start at Barrie Speedway. He has run 10 races this year, scoring one top five and four top 10s.
Last year’s race winner Pete Shepherd III was fourth quickest as he looks to repeats last year’s success. Shepherd has made a pair of NCAT starts this year – Canadian Tire Motorsports Park Oval and Delaware Speedway – winning both of them.
Jason Hathaway rounded out the top five as he looks to gain points, currently sitting 17 points back of Kennington. Hathaway finished eight last year and has five top 10s in eight starts on the 0.333 mile tri-oval, including a second in 2011.
J.R. Fitzpatrick was sixth quickest, followed by points leader Kennington, Mark Dilley, Ron Beauchamp Jr. and Hugo Vannini. Vannini had a small spin in turn three during practice, but kept his machine off the wall.
NCATS Barrie 9/7/13 Practice
| Pos | No. | Name | Sponsor | Best Tm | Best Speed | In Lap | Laps | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 | Scott Steckly | Canadian Tire | 14.121 | 84.895 | 59 | 78 | |
| 2 | 47 | L.P. Dumoulin | WeatherTech Canada/Bellemare | 14.152 | 84.709 | 70 | 73 | 0.031 |
| 3 | 39 | Alex Guenette * | Kawasaki/Motos Illimitees, DLGL | 14.166 | 84.625 | 84 | 98 | 0.045 |
| 4 | 7 | Pete Shepherd III | National Exhaust/Rama Smoke Shop | 14.174 | 84.577 | 39 | 51 | 0.053 |
| 5 | 3 | Jason Hathaway | Snap on Tools/Rockstar Energy Drink | 14.176 | 84.565 | 44 | 60 | 0.055 |
| 6 | 84 | J.R. Fitzpatrick | Equipment Express | 14.211 | 84.357 | 34 | 53 | 0.090 |
| 7 | 17 | D.J. Kennington | Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors | 14.258 | 84.079 | 55 | 57 | 0.137 |
| 8 | 2 | Mark Dilley | Gaunt Collision/Leland/BDI | 14.297 | 83.850 | 67 | 67 | 0.176 |
| 9 | 60 | Ron Beauchamp, Jr. | Mopar/Exide/Pennzoil | 14.344 | 83.575 | 55 | 61 | 0.223 |
| 10 | 97 | Hugo Vannini | VTI Motorsports | 14.406 | 83.215 | 24 | 60 | 0.285 |
| 11 | 90 | Martin Roy | Batteries Expert/Veloce | 14.413 | 83.175 | 57 | 58 | 0.292 |
| 12 | 21 | Jason White | Bowers & Wilkins/Castrol | 14.448 | 82.973 | 37 | 42 | 0.327 |
| 13 | 5 | Noel Dowler | EMCO/Praxair/Safety Kleen | 14.527 | 82.522 | 36 | 49 | 0.406 |
| 14 | 9 | Ryley Seibert * | Lake Excavating/Emco | 14.527 | 82.522 | 73 | 89 | 0.406 |
| 15 | 28 | Dave Connelly | Schneider’s/Metro | 14.613 | 82.037 | 40 | 43 | 0.492 |
| 16 | 56 | Larry Jackson | OMVIV/Touchwood Cabinets | 14.629 | 81.947 | 47 | 52 | 0.508 |
| 17 | 50 | Joey McColm | Canada’s Best Store Fixtures/Espar | 14.762 | 81.209 | 5 | 6 | 0.641 |
| 18 | 29 | Ray Courtemanche Jr. | La Cite De Mirabel Inc. | 14.781 | 81.104 | 67 | 69 | 0.660 |
| 19 | 98 | Howie Scannell Jr. | OMVIC/Trailers by Jim Bray | 14.821 | 80.885 | 26 | 30 | 0.700 |
* Denotes rookie of the year contender
Kurt Busch and Furniture Row ‘achieved something very special’ at Richmond
Kurt Busch and Furniture Racing pulled off the impossible on Saturday night in Richmond when the single car team, based out of Denver, Colorado, made the 2013 Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship.
Busch and crew chief Todd Berrier had a nearly flawless night with their Furniture Row / Beauty Rest Chevrolet, qualifying and finishing second. They’ll start the Chase from the 10th seed.
“Well, how about them apples? Unbelievable. The way this team has grown, what we’ve been able to accomplish, it’s an amazing feeling,” said Busch after it was all over. “We achieved something very special tonight.”
Busch credited team owner Barney Visser and general manager Joe Garone for their vision. Hiring the right people and building a team that can compete with Hendrick Motorsports or Joe Gibbs Racing. Hiring veterans like Berrier.
“Everybody at the Furniture Row shop back in Colorado, it was a dream, now it’s a reality. It’s an amazing feeling to sit here at Richmond after such a long journey for myself, but to be able to deliver, to do my part along with these guys,” an emotional Busch said. “I can’t thank them enough. Very proud to have driven the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet into the Chase this year.”
When the night began Busch knew the situation he was in, already sitting in the top 10 in points they controlled their own destiny with a solid run. He qualified second to Jeff Gordon, who was looking to knock him out of the Chase. Through the first 50 laps Busch struggled with a tight car until adjustments on the first stop put him in the ballpark.
From there, Busch was a strong top five car, never falling lower than sixth when the team had a slow pit stop. His average position on the night was a 2.6 in which he led 73 laps and challenged for his first win of the season. After a wild last pit stop and restart that changed the Chase completion for many others, Busch grabbed another runner-up finish and completed the goal the FRF team had set when they hired him.
“It is a great accomplishment,” said Garrone. “As the team has grown, you start setting goals, after Kurt coming onboard, being able to bring Todd Berrier, some of the guys we’ve had come onboard at the shop, Barney making the comments, I expect to make the Chase.
“When you’re out in Colorado, you’ve gone through what we’ve gone through, you realize just how difficult of an accomplishment that is, to have a leader that’s got that kind of vision, we all just fell in right behind him. I don’t know that we had that vision. Maybe Kurt did with his experience, but we all filled in right behind Barney and his lead there. Dream comes true today.”
It’s story of redemption for Busch, who makes the Chase for the first time since 2011 when he drove for Penske Racing. He was fired at the end of the season and has been working to redeem himself and his image the last year and a half. Saturday night it all came back together. After being humbled with James Finch Racing to again seeing the promise land with RFR, the 2004 NSCS champion is back in the big picture.
He called it a journey, perseverance from a dark time in his life. Busch was constantly criticized and under a microscope. If the door was left open for mistakes to be made or for Busch to find himself in trouble, he often did. Saturday night, it all disappeared when he made the Chase, thanking good people around him such as girlfriend Patricia Driscoll and her eight-year-old son, Houston.
He’ll be winless entering the Chase, but Busch has started to win many over again. The next 10 weeks are a clean slate for each of the 12 drivers now competing for this year’s championship and Busch acknowledged that he has just a good a shot as anyone.
As for the team, FRR is a single-car team, who has an alliance with Richard Childress Racing. Busch has brought them to the Chase for the first time and they only have one career win as a company, courtesy Regan Smith at Darlington in 2011. They are the first single-car team in NASCAR history to make the Chase.
“It’s something special we achieved tonight, to put a single car into the Chase,” Busch said. “We have our friends, other drivers. But yet it’s every man for themselves out there. We have some muscle left in us.
“We have 10 weeks ahead of us. We have a test session we’ve saved. I think we can make a run through this Chase. We just have to do the same thing we did tonight: keep plugging away, let everybody else worry what has to happen and we’ll keep doing what we’re doing out in Colorado because nobody can look over our shoulder.”
Edwards wins Federated Auto Parts 400, Kurt Busch makes the Chase
Carl Edwards picks up his second win of the season in the Federated Auto Part 400 at Richmond International Raceway. He credited the win to his pit crew saying, “That’s my pit crew that won this race for us, just an awesome job by them.” The No. 99 team took four tires and still managed to get off pit road second to Paul Menard who took two in an effort to get track position.
The race was not without controversy, however, including the final restart with Edwards. As the green flew, Edwards clearly beat leader Paul Menard to the line. There was no call, however, and Edwards easily drove to the win. Edwards talked about the restart in the media center after the race saying, “What happened on the restart is Paul had two tires. I knew he was going to be at a big advantage with grip –big disadvantage with grip. He took off. I waited until he went to go. As we were going, his car actually touched my door. I think it surprised him a little bit or something. He turned a little bit. I heard his engine speed up. He spun the tires.”
Ryan Newman missed the Chase, losing a wildcard spot to Martin Truex Jr. on a tie breaker. Newman, who had taken the lead from Edwards before the last caution, looked to be on his way to a win and would have easily clinched the final wildcard spot. It was not to be however. The caution flew for a spin that involved Truex’s teammate, Clint Bowyer.
Many instantly believed that Bowyer spun on purpose to bring out the yellow to give his teammate an opportunity to beat make the Chase. According to ESPN reporter, Marty Smith, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said, “(15) was on the brakes in the middle of the corner, trying to slow it down so he could spin out without really getting into trouble.”
When asked about the controversy, Truex responded, “You know, I don’t know. I don’t have any thoughts on it honestly. I didn’t even know it happened until after the race. Marty (Smith) asked me that question. I was like, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Newman was asked about the possibility of Bowyer spinning on purpose to help his teammate, he responded, “They are teammates. I don’t know if he looked at the scoring pylon, knew I was leading, it doesn’t matter. If that was the case, I’ll find out one way or the other.” He continued, “At the same time we still had the opportunity and win it on pit road, and we didn’t.” Newman also stated on a television interview that to be a championship team, they needed a championship pit crew and they did not have that tonight.
Perhaps one of the biggest stories of the night was Kurt Busch who became the first driver to make the Chase with a single car operation. Busch has been up and down all season, but has been running strong in recent weeks. Busch came into the night with only a six point cushion over Jeff Gordon. Busch led 73 laps en route to a second place finish.
Gordon, who started from the pole, looked strong early leading the first 49 laps, but handling problems dropped him out of the top ten. He did have a chance late in the race thanks to a few lucky cautions that came out at just the right time. The last caution, however, allowed Joey Logano to take the wave around and pick up enough spots to knock Gordon out of the top ten.
The points have now been reset. Matt Kenseth with five wins is now the leader, followed by Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards.
When it was all said and done we had everything we could ask for – drama, controversy, success stories and heartbreaks. It was another exciting finish to the regular season. The Chase begins next week in the Geico 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.
Start and Park – To be or not to be?
There has been much talk over the last few years about start and park teams in NASCAR. One side of the argument is – It’s not fair for teams to come to the racetrack, make the field, run just a few laps, load up and go home. At the same time collecting a paycheck that, to us mere mortals, seems like a lot of money.
Critics also say that when teams do this, it is somehow taking away a starting spot for another team that wants to compete. We have even heard some fans say they do not like the fact that they pay to see 43 cars and they are being ripped-off when two or three pull out and had no intention of racing at all.
Supporters of the start and park action say – It gives the team an opportunity to earn enough money to start and run a full race in the future with a better prepared effort, plenty of new tires, a fresh engine etc.. Which will in turn give them an opportunity to run a little better and maybe, just maybe attract a sponsor that could someday permit them to run full-time.
We have definitely had teams that fit into both sides of the argument. Some teams have entered races with no intention of ever running a full race. They are doing nothing more than taking advantage of an opportunity that has presented itself for a multitude of reasons. Not the least of which is a lack of available sponsors that want or can afford to sponsor a full-time Cup Series team.
Other teams, however, such as Tommy Baldwin Motorsports, have turned start and park races into a full-time race team. TBR currently field cars for Dave Blaney. Front Row Motorsports also fits into this category. They are a small team trying to take that next step. They currently field three cars. Two full-time cars, David Ragan and David Gilliland and one start and park car with driver Josh Wise.
The team has multiple part-time sponsors that rotate in and out on each car. They were able to taste success earlier this season at Talladega, when Ragan and Gilliland finished one-two respectively.
The No.35 team driven by Josh Wise had been mostly a part time team this season. The team will be told how many laps they can run in a given event. The idea is to save time on the engine and other equipment so that they may run it in several races before needing to replace or rebuild it. Of course if things are going well, they may be permitted to run longer.
The refreshing thing about this team is that they are not remaining static. They are constantly working to make the car and team better. Earlier this season, they brought in a new crew chief, Todd Anderson, in an effort to do more with what they have. Results so far have been good. When the team is only running limited laps, Anderson can try things a little outside the box and see if he can hit on something that could benefit the entire team.
In cases where they will be running the complete race, he can apply the things he has learned and try to get the best finish possible. Two weeks ago at Bristol, Anderson used pit strategy to get track position and driver Josh Wise was able to maintain it for many laps. The No. 35 was running solidly in the top ten until he got together with Kurt Busch and cut a tire. It was a very impressive run for the team and shows that they are making improvements.
The team will again attempt to run the entire race again this weekend at Richmond. Short tracks are good place to compete due to the fact that aerodynamics do not come into play as much, thereby reducing the need for expensive wind tunnel testing.
Combining a young talented driver such as Josh Wise, with an experienced crew chief like Todd Anderson, then adding the desire to compete and perform from a great team owner like Bob Jenkins will eventually lead to a successful venture. Using part-time races is another tool available to teams such as Front Row to help them achieve their goals.
I believe NASCAR sees the need for smaller teams to utilize this when its available. Hopefully, they will not stop it with the rulebook. Things such as this usually police themselves. When more teams start showing up to run full-time, everyone will have to step up their game just to make the field. After all, if it were not permitted, Tommy Baldwin Racing may not exist.
