Nick Kozak and Gary McLean win Saturday OSCAAR Modified Autumn Colour Heats

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October 15, 2013

DSCF6663 — Photo Credit: Ashley McCubbin

Qualifying for the final OSCAAR Modified points event of the season continued on Saturday at Peterborough Speedway with a new face in victory lane, followed by a familiar face.

The first heat didn’t start off that well as Brian McLean and Mike Westwood got together. Nick Kozak picked up his first career OSCAAR Modified heat win ahead of Justin Jones, Matt Barton, Dean Scott, John Harper, Westwood, McLean, Dustin Jackson, Dave Osbourne and the 4.

2013 OSCAAR Modified Series Champion Gary McLean won the second heat followed by Darren Kearnan, Tim Burke, Rod Sauder, Davey Terry, Brent McLean, Shane Stickel, Ryan Dick, Tommy Robb, Bobby Tolton and Brad Stevenson.

With qualifying in the books, the 50 lap feature would take place on Monday night following Sunday’s rain out.

NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Charlotte

By

Jeffrey Boswell

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October 15, 2013

keselowski_cms_keppel — Photo Credit: Brad Keppel

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished third in the Bank Of America 500, one spot ahead of Jimmie Johnson, and extended his lead from three to four in the Sprint Cup point standings.

“There’s one person I want to keep at arm’s length,” Kenseth said, “and that’s Johnson. Everyone else doesn’t matter, except for Carl Edwards, who needs to stay two arm lengths away.”

2. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson faltered on the race’s final restart and fell to seventh before charging for a fourth-place finish. He now trails Matt Kenseth by four in the points standings.

“I feel like I may have given one away there,” Johnson said. “Restarts have troubled me all year. And restarts mean I have to re-finish. And clearly, as a two-year title drought would suggest, I don’t finish like I used to.”

3. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished sixth at Charlotte, posting his third-straight top-10 result. He is 29 behind Matt Kenseth in the points standings.

“I’d like to say I still have a chance to win the Cup,” Harvick said, “but the facts don’t support that. You could say I don’t have a leg to stand on. And you can say the opposite about Tony Stewart.”

4. Kyle Busch: Busch finished fifth at Charlotte as arch-nemesis Brad Keselowski won the Bank Of America 500. Busch is fifth in the Sprint Cup points standings, 37 out of first.

“I guess I’m more like Keselowski than I would care to mention,” Busch said. “Apparently, we’re both stupid, and neither of us has a chance to win the Cup.”

5. Jeff Gordon: Gordon won the pole on Thursday and took seventh in the Bank Of America 500. He has five top-10 finishes in six Chase races, and is fourth in the points, 36 out of first.

“Talladega next on the schedule,” Gordon said, “and anything can happen. Usually, when I ask for a miracle, I try to speak to God. Nowadays, it’s a little easier—I just talk to Clint Bowyer.”

6. Kurt Busch: Busch posted a 14th in the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet at Charlotte, and is seventh in the points standings, 59 out of first.

“I don’t condone my brother Kyle’s characterization of Brad Keselowski as ‘stupid,’” Busch said. “Kyle obviously thinks he’s advocating NASCAR’s ‘Drive For Diversity’ when he, as the pot, calls the kettle ‘black.’”

7. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer finished 11th in the Bank Of America 500 and improved one spot in the points standings to eighth. He trails Matt Kenseth by 63.

“Things could get very interesting at Talladega,” Bowyer said. “Not as interesting as things got in Richmond, but interesting nonetheless.

“Because of NAPA’s pulled sponsorship, Michael Waltrip Racing will run only two full-time teams in Sprint Cup next year. Michael tried his best to do more, but sometimes, you just aren’t able to manipulate the outcome.”

8. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski recovered from trouble in the pits to win for the first time this year, taking the Bank Of America 500 at Charlotte.

“I made a full lap with the jack stuck under my car,” Keselowski said. “That’s the least I can do. I simply returned the favor—that jack’s been giving me lifts all tear.

“And speaking of ‘jacks,’ Kyle Busch is a lot like a jack, in that there’s always a ‘let down.’”

9. Greg Biffle: Biffle finished 16th at Charlotte, and is now sixth in the points standings, 58 out of first.

“There will be an NCAA football game at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2016,” Biffle said. “It will likely be the most passing ever seen at a NASCAR track.”

10. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt finished 15th at Charlotte, one lap down. He is ninth in the Sprint Cup power rankings, 66 out of first.

“I’m ready for Talladega,” Earnhardt said, “and so are the fans of Junior Nation. They go absolutely crazy in the ‘Dega infield. So crazy, in fact, that they’re known as the ‘Infield-els.’”

The Final Word – Thank God we have Talladega coming up on Sunday

By

Ron Thornton

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October 15, 2013

field1_dega1_getty — Credit: Jared Wickerham/Getty Images

Charlotte has come and gone for another season, so what can one say about the race that was. Well, “thank God that is behind us” comes to mind. I can not remember if it was sponsored by Nyquil or was simply the To Hell With A Cure for Insomnia 500, for me it turned out to be NASCAR’s version of English Premier League soccer. That is, best watched with PVR in hand.

Lap after lap of whatever and who cares. It was like watching a NBA game in the end, with the final few minutes about as exciting as it gets. Brad Keselowski wins, Kasey Kahne runs second, and Matt Kenseth extended his lead over Jimmie Johnson to four big points in the Chase standings. Did anything else much matter? I expected more from Charlotte, I expect nothing from ABC/ESPN, and not a single new fan was captured from what was presented in the television version of the contest. Thank God we have Talladega coming up this Sunday.

Talladega is coming up, Martin Truex Jr. is off seeking a new ride after Michael Waltrip Racing officially announced its contraction due to NAPA fleeing the scene. Brian Vickers is gone for the rest of the year as he deals with a re-occurrence of blood clots in his leg, but should be good to go in the seat of the MWR #55 for 2014.

NASCAR continues to seek the answers needed to make the racing more exciting. They returned to Charlotte a couple of days after the Saturday night race to see if the advent of more rear down force or more turbulent air might help shake things up. If the announce team can not make things more exciting, then the product itself has to improve.

Rating Charlotte – 5.5/10 – Something has to change, or those not true fanatics are going to continue wandering off to other stimulants or reducing their NASCAR experience to Daytona, Talladega, and Bristol.

If you do not like NASCAR, I understand. If you do not like Talladega, you really are a soccer fan. 40 plus cars sweeping by in aircraft formation three wide with just inches separating any of them in any direction at 200 miles per hour. One sneeze away from disaster. We will be watching this Sunday to see if such a sneeze might hamper the runaway bid of Kenseth and Johnson. Call your friends, call all those who usually do not watch, tell them this is what NASCAR produces each and every week. If we are lucky, Martinsville might actually keep them watching.

You can’t blame a guy for dreaming. Enjoy the week.

Marshall’s Madness: Front Row Racing Hoping History Repeats Itself

By

SM Staff

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October 15, 2013

no38_rfm — Credit: frontrowmotorsports.com

The chance for underdog teams to get that break out win allowing them to continue to race without dying for sponsorship is this weekend in Talladega. We’ve discussed the possibilities of underdog team’s winning before but in my personal opinion one team sticks out over the rest and that’s Front Row Motorsports.

This weekend Front Row will field three of their Fords, driven by David Ragan, David Gilliland and Josh Wise. Last April in Talladega another fairy tale story happened that allowed David Ragan and David Gilliland to finish 1-2 in the Aarons 499 for Front Row. This weekend they are hoping for the same exact outcome.

“If we can stay in that lead pack all day, if I don’t make any mistakes and if we have a little bit of luck, we can make the right moves again and hopefully shoot for another win” said David Ragan “It’s going to be a big race for the whole Front Row Motorsports organization going back to Talladega for a second time this year”

Although Ragan is the only driver to deliver a win to the Furniture Row Racing squad their other driver David Gilliland played a big factor in helping him do that.

“Our 1-2 finish in May was huge. I don’t think you could have a bigger day at the racetrack as an organization” said Gilliland “I’m just really proud to have been a part of it. It was a special day and hopefully we can go back and do it again.”

I can guarantee that Gilliland might not have exposed it there in that comment but if him and Ragan are running 1-2 again he hopes his teammate will return the favor. Another surprising fact to Gilliland’s name is that he hasn’t scored that elusive first NSCS win. The driver of the No. 38 has seen two top five’s at Talladega including one other top ten finish.

But this means nothing right? After all it is called a “wild card race” for a reason. In my mind though I think if history repeats itself a Front Row Motorsports driver will be standing in victory lane come Sunday.

Don’t think I’m crazy though, I say that because Jimmie Johnson won the Daytona 500 and came back in July to win the Coca-Cola 400 at the same speedway, Daytona is also considered a “wildcard race”. If Jimmie was able to repeat himself at a super-speedway this year then Front Row Racing can do the same.

Now I’m jumping back to reality, and I will do so by using Gilliland’s final comment:

“Like they always say at superspeedways, anything can happen. I’ve been wrecked out of the race in the opening laps and I’ve come close to winning a few times. So you’ve just got to go in with a smart strategy and be prepared to adjust, depending on where you are and where the cautions fall. You’ve just got to be in position. We were back in ninth or 10th for the green-white-checkered last time at Talladega and our Roush Yates horsepower got us up to the front in those final two laps. That’s what it’s all about — just lurking around the doorway for when it finally opens and then barging through.”