Danica returning to site of her best performance of the season
Martinsville Speedway was not the site of Danica Patrick’s best finish of the season. That, of course, was the season opening Daytona 500. The spring race at Martinsville, however, was the site of her most impressive performance.
When Patrick sat on the pole at Daytona, her critics instantly began saying “Well anybody can qualify at Daytona”. After she stayed near the front for most of the day and finished a very respectable eighth, the critics continued, “Well, it’s Daytona, anyone can run well at restrictor plate tracks”.
The flat half-mile paperclip, has been referred to by many drivers all week as the toughest track on the schedule. In the STP Gas Booster 500 earlier this season, Patrick qualified a dismal 32nd. Qualifying has not been her strong suit. She followed that up with a very impressive run in the race, however.
Patrick fought her way through the field into the top-15. She then got involved in a spin and had to restart at the near the rear of the field. She started the process again, fighting her way back to the front and into the top-10, accomplishing the feat not only once, but twice.
She appeared well on her way to a top-10 finish until some late race beating and banging with Brian Vickers bumped her just outside the top-10 finishing 12th. Funny, we didn’t hear the critics praising her for her good performance.
Patrick’s run at Martinsville was very impressive, especially for a rookie. That is one thing we all seem to forget in regards to her – she is a rookie. Many of the top drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series had less than stellar years in their rookie season. Patrick’s is no different.
She has also torn up several racecars this season, but, so did four-time series champion, Jeff Gordon. Also, let’s not forget the rookie year for Tim Richmond, he hit everything but the pace car! Let’s at least give her the opportunity to learn before we rule her out as someone who will never make it in this series.
While Patrick may not contend for the win in Sunday’s Goody’s 500, she may very well find herself in the top-10. When all the drivers a person races against every week, point out how tough a track is, hopefully, they will respect the results a driver get at that track. If Patrick repeats her success this weekend, it will be interesting to see if the critics step-up and give her credit for a job well done.
Martinsville Tidbits
The Goody’s 500 is the seventh race of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chase. A flat, tight half-mile oval nestled in Southern Virginia that most drivers either love or hate. One thing they almost all agree on, however, is that it is the toughest of all NASCAR tracks. One thing is for sure – the race will be exciting and the action non-stop. Here are a few tidbits and storylines to follow for this weekend’s event:
- Points leader, Jimmie Johnson, has an unprecedented record at Martinsville. In 23 starts, he has compiled an amazing eight wins and 16 top-5 finishes. Johnson is definitely the favorite for this weekend
- Jeff Gordon, Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, has an exceptional record at Martinsville as well. Gordon has seven wins and 26 top-5 finishes in 41 starts at the paperclip. Don’t forget the Gordon-Johnson battle we had a few years ago. We could see another one Sunday!
- Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Chase hopes got off to a rocky start at Chicago with a blown engine. He has been clawing his way back and Martinsville has been a good track for Earnhardt. He has ten top-5’s in 27 starts. Look for him to have a good day on Sunday.
- Kyle Busch made his way back to third in the standings at Talladega. To gain any ground here at Martinsville, he has to on top of his game and maintain his composure at a track known to flare tempers.
- Tied with Busch in the standings, Kevin Harvick said yesterday his team has to win some races to have a chance to beat Johnson. Harvick’s record at Martinsville is mediocre. To make any ground up in the standings at Martinsville, his Richard Childress Racing team will have to find some strategy to get him out front late in the race and let Harvick hold off the challengers. Harvick runs well here in the truck series, so he knows how to get around this track.
- Danica Patrick has struggled a several track this season, ran extremely well here last spring. Patrick worked her way through the field to a solid 12th place finish in what many consider her best performance of the year. Can she repeat that success?
- Richard Petty Motorsports driver Aric Almirola will finish out the season with interim crew chief, Greg Ebert, after the team released veteran crew chief Todd Parrott for violating NASCAR’s substance abuse policy. Almirola has had a respectable season and looks as if his team is ready to take the next step, but will the shake-up atop the pitbox hinder their progress?
- Kyle Larson will make his second Sprint Cup Series start this weekend in the No. 51 Target Chevrolet. Larson was impressive in his debut at Talladega until he lost an engine. Now we will see what he can do on a short track.
- Elliott Sadler will begin his stint in the No. 55 entry for Michael Waltrip Racing this weekend. Sadler will be filling in for Brian Vickers, who is out for the season with blood clots in his leg, a similar condition that sidelined him in 2010.
Martinsville always provides an excellent race and will create its own story lines as the weekend progresses. Guaranteed we will not see a single file freight train in the last ten laps!
Carl Edwards: “There’s no guy I’d be more proud to finish in front of then Jimmie.”
Every series has it’s top dog, top team – someone that everyone wants to beat. When it comes to NASCAR, there’s only one simple answer in the view of many – Jimmie Johnson. Johnson won five straight championships, before losing the last two to Tony Stewart and Brad Keselowski. With that, he is the championship favourite to many and the one that many predict will win the championship this year.
In speaking during the test at Texas Motor Speedway, Carl Edwards says there’s something special about the No. 48 team.
“They’re able to turn it up when they need to,” he commented.”
Edwards says while everybody would say the battle of the Chase pasts would be him versus Stewart when they tied, the real battle in Edwards’ mind is Johnson versus the field.
“Those guys have a way of making things happen when they need to,” he added. “Brad proved last year that they can be beaten. They can make mistakes and be forced into errors, but man, they do a really good job and makes you just want to hate Jimmie and Chad. But they’re nice guys and really good competitors.”
Back in 2005 when Edwards won his first Sprint Cup Series race, he won it by beating Johnson to the line by inches.
“The first guy to victory lane dumping Gatorade on my head was Jimmie Johnson,” Edwards recalled. “I thought that was just how everybody is in the sport. But they’re not. He’s a unique competitor, a guy that likes to race and that’s why it’ll mean a lot more to beat him.”
The secret that the No. 48 team has is unknown but Edwards says it’s due to them working hard and striving on competition.
“Those are always the guys that you got to worry about – the guys that keep their heads down and work and love what they do,” Edwards said. “Those are the guys that do it the best.”
After leading the points after the first 26 races, it looked like Edwards would be one of the serious title contenders come Chase time this year and be up there with Johnson and Matt Kenseth. However, six races into the Chase, Edwards currently sits 10th in points.
“Right now, I feel a little bit like we’re behind and I don’t know what it is,” he commented. “I don’t think it’s a function of the car, but our rather a function of our set-ups. But we’re slowly gaining ground.”
Edwards feels one of the spots that Roush-Fenway Racing is lacking is on the mile and a halves, which is one of the reasons that he was glad to test at Texas Motor Speedway this past weekend.
“This is a great opportunity to learn some things that not only apply to this track but Homestead,” he said. “We tried last week….well, I didn’t come. My guys did and tried to get the test in. now we have perfect weather and we have a whole other day to test so hopefully it’s fruitful and hopefully it’ll translate to a win. I like winning here; its fun to win here.”
With being out of the Championship hunt, Edwards says his team has two simple goals for the rest of the year – win as many race as possible and prepare for next year.
“It starts over again very quickly and every bonus point that you can get through wins next season can help you towards winning the championship,” he said. “For us, we’re trying to win every race that we can because we’re not putting this season behind us yet.”
One of the things that is helping Edwards get things back on track is his experienced crew chief – Jimmy Fennig.
“We’ve not had problems between us,” Edwards said. “It’s been extremely positive. He’s an expert on every facet of our sport. He not only knows every bit of the set-up, but also strategy, how to work with people and get them motivated, get the most out of me. The only thing I wish was he was 15 years younger so we could do this a lot longer. I don’t know how much longer hell do this, but I’ll drag him along as long as he’ll have me.”
Same NSCS Schedule For Wood Brothers in ’14; Future For Trevor Bayne
Start and Park will never be for the famed Wood Brothers team, they plan on running the same amount of races as they have this year. Daytona 500 champ Trevor Bayne has been piloting the No. 21 Ford for the team in 12-events throughout the 2013 year. That plans to be the same for 2014.
“With sponsorship like it is, we have to pick races that give us the best chance of a good payback,” team co-owner Eddie Wood said last weekend at Talladega. “It’s just good business: the more you can win, the more you have to keep going forward. We’ve skipped some races this year that were close to home [the Charlotte area] because the payout wasn’t very good. But we’ve gone to some races way off because the payout made it worthwhile. It’s all about surviving to race again.”
Daytona has always been the eye catcher for the Wood Brothers as they know they have the chance to bring a big paycheck back to the shop. 2011 was the miracle season for Glen Wood and his brother’s as they had a taste again of Daytona 500 victory lane with their young driver Trevor Bayne.
Glen stated it’s too early to plan for 2014, he explained he would enjoy working with Trevor Bayne again and he is expecting the same amount of races as this year for the No. 21 Ford although if sponsorship is willing they could add more events.
But, speaking on other terms, how about Trevor Bayne and his future? Not just his future with the Wood Brothers but with Roush Fenway in the NNS? The 22-year-old has seen victory lane just once in this 2013 season at Iowa Speedway. Trevor’s options are slim as his future approaches, 2014 he’s already signed through full-time with Fenway but as 2015 draws near his options are growing
Roush Fenway Racing is developing new talent with drivers Ryan Reed and Chris Buescher. Reed will run the No. 16 NNS Ford for Fenway full-time next year and Buescher’s plans are to run full-time in 2015, most likely. Also, Fenway has fan-loving Travis Pastrana on the NNS squad who hasn’t announced his plans for the coming years. With this raw talent developing the NNS I doubt Fenway would be able to support a 4th NNS ride for Bayne.
Then you’d think Bayne could move to the NSCS side. Roush currently fields 3-cars with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. who isn’t going anywhere, Carl Edwards who is signed through 2014 could look elsewhere and open a spot for Bayne, and Greg Biffle is signed through 2014 as well.
With Edwards and Biffle’s contracts coming to a close at the end of 2014 don’t be amazed if Trevor Bayne is piloting a No. 99 or No. 16 NSCS Ford in 2015.
