Trouble Brewing: Does 5 Team Need Restructuring?
Last year at Phoenix International Raceway, Kasey Kahne admitted that his self-confidence was a part of his struggles in 2013, pointing out to instances of bad luck or mistakes on his part. In 2013, Kahne finished outside the top 30 nine times.
When Kahne arrived on the scene in 2004, NASCAR was on their tiptoes. Who is Kasey Kahne? Could he be the future of the sport? After two consecutive runner-up finishes to Matt Kenseth at Rockingham and Las Vegas, it seemed inevitable that Kahne would break into victory lane at some point, maybe even break Tony Stewart’s all-time rookie win record. It did not happen for him.
Do not get me wrong, Kahne had an incredible rookie season. A season should not always be judged on wins. Kahne had seven top three finishes in his rookie year, while Tony Stewart had six. But, Tony Stewart was able to reach victory circle three times. What was the issue? The issue was putting an entire race together. Trust me, Kahne came so close, so many times. In the last four races of 2004, Kahne had three top fives, all fifth place finishes. Things were looking bright for Kahne entering 2005, despite not making the inaugural chase field.
2005 was not what we expected from Kasey Kahne. Kahne, however, broke into victory lane at Richmond International Raceway for his first career victory, after a fierce battle with Tony Stewart. But, the season was marred with accidents, engine failure, and inconsistency for the most part. Kahne failed to finish in nine races in 2005, with three engine failures and six accidents. Kahne finished 30th or worse in 10 races, and 20th or worse in half of the races run (18).
2006 was a breakout year for Kasey Kahne, an incredible season in regards to victory lane, winning six races. Removing the chase from the equation, Kahne would have finished ninth overall in the standings, given the total amount of points he amassed in 36 events. A driver with six wins usually finishes a lot higher in the standings. Kahne had 12 top fives in 2006, half of them were wins. Kahne, however, also had 10 finishes outside the top 30. Those bad finishes accumulate. As of today, this kind of thing is still an issue for Kahne.
Kasey Kahne is an incredible race car driver. Do not get me wrong, I am not taking a jab at Kahne at all in this piece. On the other hand, the viewers must imagine being in Kasey Kahne’s shoes as well. Anyone will have a confidence drop after many inconsistent finishes. It is inevitable and a part of human nature. But, it takes a great leader to bring up one that is in discomfort.
Take a look at the Pittsburgh Penguins. Talent wise, they have the potential to win the Stanley Cup every year. Dan Bylsma led that team to the Stanley Cup in 2009. Despite the fact that the Penguins have made the playoffs every year since, they have failed to bring another championship to Pittsburgh. What did they do? They fired Bylsma, hired a new GM, and are looking for a fresh start. Maybe the issue is not just with Kahne. Maybe Kahne needs to find a new crew chief. That is not denigrating Kenny Francis at all, but perhaps Kahne needs a fresh start. Despite their relative success together, they have yet to come close to winning a championship. Kahne has championship talent, but team chemistry is vital, especially in this new points structure.
Right now, the 5 team has all the potential in the world. But, it is like a hockey team that has the best skaters in the world, but little to none of those players want to pass the puck around. In this case, the top goal scorer is Kahne, and he is not happy.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookie Kyle Larson Wins the Pocono ARCA 200
Today was time for the ARCA Racing Series to tackle the tricky Pocono Raceway and it was time for Kyle Larson, one of NASCAR’s newest young guns, to show us what he has and he did not disappoint. Larson brought home the win in only his third start in the series. He became the 34th different driver to win at Pocono and the 17th different driver to win in the last 17 races. He is also the fifth different winner in the ARCA series this season.
“I was nervous for a while there,” Larson said after the race. “He was real aggressive and got the lead, then started to pull away.”
He continued saying, “We had a good car, a dominating car,” Larson said. “We definitely wanted to win. I was glad that we had to work for it there in the end. I learned something in all of this. In the end, it was a lot of fun.”
The race started with Larson leading the field to the green flag after winning the pole in only his third ARCA start. The first caution flew on lap seven when Tim Means gets loose and barely kept it off the wall. After that it was the Kyle show and not Kyle Busch but a driver just as dominant. The top three cars of Larson, Mason Mitchell, and Justin Allison stayed that way.
Another great battle for sixth spot ensued between Will and Frank Kimmel. Green flag stops went underway around the halfway mark. Kyle Larson pit did not stay under the yellow line on his way out of his pit earning himself a drive-through penalty but because he had a large lead on the field was still the leader after serving the penalty. The biggest loser during pit stops was Austin Wayne Self who was penalized for speeding. On his drive through for speeding, he was caught speeding again.
It still was the same show after the caution, with the top three drivers staying in their spots. Not many noticed that John Wes Townley, who started in the rear, was creeping up closer to the front.
With 21 laps to go the caution flew for debris but Justin Allison didn’t pit as he was stuck in 4th gear which would prove to be a complication on the restart. The caution came back out with 16 laps to go as everyone was trying to get around Allison who was trying to get up to speed which resulted in an accident sending Matt Tifft and Justin Boston into the wall.
Things got interesting when, with less than 10 laps to go, Larson had a bad re-start and Mitchell took the lead. For a while he appeared to be leaving everyone behind but with three laps to go Larson caught up. The battle for first was short as Larson reclaimed the lead and would be the victor today at Pocono.
The biggest mover of the day was John Wes Townley who had a solid third place finish after starting at the rear of the field due to missing practice and qualifying on Friday.
The top-five at the finish were:
1) Kyle Larson No. 4
2) Mason Mitchell No. 98
3) John Wes Townley No. 15
4) Will Kimmel No. 69
5) Justin Allison No. 88
Kasey Kahne Trusting Teams Abilities to Get Over Slump
Sometimes, you’ve just had enough.
Kasey Kahne, after being beaten and pounded with questions surrounding the lack of success that he’s had this season, vented some annoyance and anger during a media center appearance at Pocono Raceway this weekend.
Kahne, 34, claims his team has struggled to put together a complete race, leading to the unfortunate finishes and a dismal 18th position in the championship standings.
“I think there has been a touch of bad luck and then we just haven’t put together full races,” Kahne expressed during the media center appearance. “We’ve had great practices over the last month, maybe a little more than that. We’ve been really good in practice; great at times during the race, but we haven’t put together the full race.”
Kahne’s prime example of not being able to finish races was at Charlotte Motor Speedway a few weeks ago.
“At Charlotte we were really good in the All-Star race, the best car there, and so Jimmie and Chad (Knaus) saw that (and) started there the next week and then built that set-up from (our car),” Kahne further expressed. “They won and dominated the race and did a really good job.
“We weren’t on the lead lap the whole night so it was hard to race. We were a lap down from the 50th mile on. So that made for a tough Charlotte. But I think we’re really close. We just need to put races together.”
Teammates, including six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, Jimmie Johnson, are beginning to witness Kahne become even more distraught, however, Kahne suspects he’s handled himself perfectly through the ups-and-downs.
“It’s been a bit frustrating at times, but I think I’ve handled it all pretty well. In my opinion I feel like I have,” Kahne explained. “Last Monday was probably the worst Monday I’ve had of the season after a bad result. We went from 17th to fifth and then just couldn’t hit on it from there. But we had a really fast car.”
Kahne, also, doesn’t believe long-time crew chief Kenny Francis and him are becoming irritated with each other; he claims the team, as a whole, is trying to cure the problem.
“We haven’t had too much between each other,” Kahne commented about his relationship with Francis. (Kenny and I) have our Tuesday’s we spend a couple of hours, we had lunch yesterday for a couple of hours. We are trying. We are working at it. We just need to hit on it; once we do hopefully we can run with it for a while.”
Hendrick Motorsports, which consists of Johnson, Kahne, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr., have seen their competitors muscle into victory lane and to an eventual Chase berth this season – except for Kahne.
Though, despite the Chase field almost completed, Kahne isn’t feeling pressured, he’s just focused and determined on the task at hand – winning on Sunday.
“At Hendrick Motorsports, we all want to be in the Chase,” Kahne added. “(Everyone would) definitely be happy if we pulled it off and won a race.
“Last time we were here (at Pocono) we won. So, I feel good about racing at Pocono. This is a track where I’ve run well in the past and with Hendrick race cars and engines it makes it a lot easier. We just need to put the whole 400 miles together. If we do that, we’ll have a shot to win.”
Kahne, who’s been unable to hoist the Sprint Cup Series trophy at seasons-end, ended his remarks expressing that points are the focus, even in the new format.
“I look at it as we need to score as many points as we can each week. We just have to do the best we can and hopefully as a group we figure it out and can start putting full races together. If we can do that we will be in a good spot in a hurry because of the points system and the way that it is now.”
Denny Hamlin Looking Forward to Race Day with Pocono Pole Run
Denny Hamlin, four-time winner at the ‘Tricky Triangle’, scored the pole for the 33rd annual Pocono 400 with a fast lap of 181. 415 mph and a time of 49.610 seconds. Hamlin broke Jimmie Johnson’s previous track record of 180.654 mph and 49.819 seconds set in August 2013.
This is Hamlin’s 19th pole in 304 Cup races, his second pole of the season and his third pole at Pocono Raceway. Hamlin’s previous two Pocono poles resulted in victories.
“It was really good throughout each session,” the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota said. “We were not a pole winning car after practice or really I didn’t think throughout the first round. We just kept getting our car three to four tenths better every time we ran it. A little bit of that was repetition and me getting better and Darian (Grubb, crew chief) made good adjustments throughout each session.”
“Really it all worked out for us for a pole run. I’m very proud to have that especially at a race track here where track position is going to be premium,” Hamlin continued. “I’m looking forward to Sunday now.”
As at most tracks, Hamlin acknowledged that the first pit stall was one of the most important perks of having that pole run, however, shared a caveat that the first pit stall was better under the yellow flag than the green at Pocono.
“The number one pit stop is really good on yellow flag stops but it hurts you a little bit on the green flag stops simply because you don’t have the momentum exiting pit road,” Hamlin said. “But we’ll take it as most of the stops we will be doing will be on yellow flag positions. As tough as passing is, it’s better to be up front than battle through the traffic.”
Hamlin also credited his qualifying success with the fact that he felt the track was beginning to age a bit, thanks to the temperature changes and the weather. And for Hamlin, that edge could be just the ticket to another ‘w’ under his belt.
“As the track is wearing in, we’re starting to get our edge back,” Hamlin said. “Typically when you have a car that can get the pole, it tells me we have all the parts and pieces in the car to be successful here.”
Kurt Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet, qualified in the runner up spot by just two one thousandths of a second. Busch qualified second with a speed of 181.408 mph and a time of 49.612 seconds and scored his fifth top ten start of the season.
“It was a great run for our Haas Automation Chevy,” Busch said. “We came here with a new approach and to try to get our front ends to settle into the race track a little better. This track can lead to finding some comfort with how smooth it is from the repave.”
“I was really surprised we had the speed for the pole,” Busch continued. “It’s great to be able to cash in on our first attempt to try a little something different.”
“It’s just nice to confirm a change on the car and see it go in the right direction.”
The third position in qualifying was secured by Brad Keselowski, with a speed of 181.316 mph and a time of 49.637 seconds. This was Keselowski’s second top-10 start at Pocono and the thirteenth pole for Team Penske in 2014.
“We were just all really close on speed,” the driver of the No. 2 Redd’s Ford said. “I didn’t think Denny was that quick but I knew by the second round that Kurt was. We put up a decent lap but just a tiny bit short. On a two and a half mile track, that’s pretty dang close.”
“I’m proud of the efforts qualifying each and every week,” Keselowski said. “It’s certainly helpful and I’m sure we will get a great pit stall which is always important to us.”
Kevin Harvick, in the No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet, and Jeff Gordon, driving the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet rounded out the top five in qualifying, with speeds of 180.832 and 180.513 mph respectively.
All of the manufacturers were well represented in Pocono qualifying, with Kyle Busch’s Toyota in the sixth spot and then the Ford of Logano, the Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the Toyota of Brian Vickers and the Ford of Carl Edwards completing the top ten.
With just 0.562 seconds separating the tenth place qualifier, Carl Edwards, in that tenth spot in his No. 99 Kellogg’s/Cheez-It Ford, summed it up best.
“That was some pretty tight competition there,” Edwards said. “The track, the cars run really well here so if you make one small mistake it is really amplified because there is so much time on the throttle.”
“That is a tough qualifying session.”
2014 NSCS Pocono 400 Starting Lineup
| Pos | Car | Driver | Team | Time | Speed |
| 1 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Ground Toyota | 49.61 | 181.415 |
| 2 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Haas Automation Chevrolet | 49.612 | 181.408 |
| 3 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Redd’s Ford | 49.637 | 181.316 |
| 4 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Budweiser Chevrolet | 49.77 | 180.832 |
| 5 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet | 49.858 | 180.513 |
| 6 | 18 | Kyle Busch | M&M’s Peanut Butter Toyota | 49.873 | 180.458 |
| 7 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 50.048 | 179.827 |
| 8 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | National Guard Chevrolet | 50.121 | 179.565 |
| 9 | 55 | Brian Vickers | Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota | 50.126 | 179.548 |
| 10 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Kelloggs/Cheez-It Ford | 50.172 | 179.383 |
| 11 | 3 | Austin Dillon # | Dow Chevrolet | 50.188 | 179.326 |
| 12 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet | 50.244 | 179.126 |
| 13 | 16 | Greg Biffle | 3M Ford | 50.207 | 179.258 |
| 14 | 42 | Kyle Larson # | Target Chevrolet | 50.215 | 179.229 |
| 15 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Wix Filters Chevrolet | 50.259 | 179.072 |
| 16 | 10 | Danica Patrick | GoDaddy Chevrolet | 50.265 | 179.051 |
| 17 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Chevrolet | 50.286 | 178.976 |
| 18 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Cushman/Cessna Chevrolet | 50.302 | 178.919 |
| 19 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | RK Motors Charlotte Toyota | 50.342 | 178.777 |
| 20 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet | 50.37 | 178.678 |
| 21 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Clorox Chevrolet | 50.48 | 178.288 |
| 22 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Nathan’s Famous Ford | 50.521 | 178.144 |
| 23 | 27 | Paul Menard | Moen/Menards Chevrolet | 50.553 | 178.031 |
| 24 | 51 | Justin Allgaier # | BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet | 50.765 | 177.288 |
| 25 | 13 | Casey Mears | GEICO Chevrolet | 50.549 | 178.045 |
| 26 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Dollar General Toyota | 50.571 | 177.968 |
| 27 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Great Clips Chevrolet | 50.588 | 177.908 |
| 28 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Zest Ford | 50.61 | 177.83 |
| 29 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Stanley Ford | 50.801 | 177.162 |
| 30 | 7 | Michael Annett # | Pilot Flying J Chevrolet | 51.047 | 176.308 |
| 31 | 40 | Landon Cassill(i) | Newtown Building Supplies Inc. Chevrolet | 51.129 | 176.025 |
| 32 | 34 | David Ragan | Taco Bell Ford | 51.159 | 175.922 |
| 33 | 32 | Travis Kvapil | Corvetteparts.net Ford | 51.175 | 175.867 |
| 34 | 23 | Alex Bowman # | Dr.Pepper Toyota | 51.231 | 175.675 |
| 35 | 38 | David Gilliland | Long John Silver’s Ford | 51.249 | 175.613 |
| 36 | 36 | Reed Sorenson | Theme Park Connection Chevrolet | 51.441 | 174.958 |
| 37 | 98 | Josh Wise | Phil Parsons Racing Ford | Owner Points | |
| 38 | 44 | JJ Yeley(i) | All City Leasing & Warehousing Chevrolet | Owner Points | |
| 39 | 66 | Timmy Hill | Land Castle Title Toyota | Owner Points | |
| 40 | 26 | Cole Whitt # | Burger King Toyota | Owner Points | |
| 41 | 83 | Ryan Truex # | Burger King Toyota | Owner Points | |
| 42 | 33 | Alex Kennedy | Dream Factory Chevrolet | Owner Points | |
| 43 | 77 | Dave Blaney | AmyFchlrVtrnsLwAttrnyLLC/valor4vets.cm Frd | Owner Points |
(i) Ineligible for Driver Points in this Series, # Denotes Rookie
Source: Timing and Scoring provided by NASCAR Media/NASCAR Statistics
– See more at: http://www.catchfence.com/2014/sprintcup/06/06/2014-nscs-pocono-400-starting-lineup/#sthash.GStwOJND.dpuf
