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Could the Busch/Keselowski Feud Cost Busch the Championship?

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SM Staff
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Photo Credit: Noel Lanier

With an impressive NASCAR Sprint Cup season thus far, including four wins, with fourteen top-5 and eighteen top-10 finishes, Kyle Busch has won many NASCAR experts over with his signs of increased maturity and level-headedness this season.

Many spectators believed this could be the season that Kyle Busch capitalizes on his strengths in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship.

Many of these sentiments have come into question one week after Busch made contact with the driver of the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford, Brad Keselowski, on lap 188 of the NASCAR Nationwide Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway.

Busch said he has “yet to wreck a person on purpose,” and accounted for the incident by saying, “I was faster than he was for as tight as I was — and when I got underneath him a little bit there off of Turn 4, I got inside of his wake and got too close to him and it pulled me right into him. Once we touched, he was gone.”

Keselowski didn’t buy into Busch’s perspective of the wreck.  After the race he said, “He’s a dirty driver; there’s no other way of putting it.  He’s cool with that. I’ve raced him real cool over the last year to try to be respectful to him and trying to repair our relationship. I’ve watched him wreck my trucks, cost me from winning races, put me in the fence at Chicago in the truck race. Nationwide races, he’s been pulling this crap.  It’s not going to last. I can tell you that. I feel bad for the guys next to me (pointing to the No. 54 hauler). They’re going to have to fix his (crap).”

Busch has no intentions of apologizing to Keselowski.  He told FOXSports.com, “I don’t have Brad Keselowski’s phone number. Don’t need it, don’t want it. He didn’t call me after Watkins Glen.”

Busch continues to hold a grudge against Keselowski after the wreck between the two of them last season at Watkins Glen, which essentially cost Busch a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship.

Busch commented on SiriusXM’s NASCAR channel on Friday about the possibility of Brad seeking revenge in one of the remaining Cup races leading up to the Championship.  He said, “Probably for Brad being who Brad is, I guess I should be worried because he’s stupid enough to do something, but in all reality, to myself, I don’t know, I guess I had more respect for drivers than that.”

Keselowski clearly has the upper hand and he knows it.  Last Sunday, in the drivers’ meeting, Brad asked what the penalty would be for intentionally wrecking another driver.  Could it be that Brad was seeking revenge by disturbing Kyle’s psyche during the final six races of the season? Perhaps he asked the question preparing to make his move on the track.  Either way, Kyle finished the Hollywood Casino 400 in 34th position and dropped from third in the Chase points standings to fifth, thirty-five points behind leader Matt Kenseth.

Despite the speculation this season that we have seen a new, more mature Kyle Busch who has a better chance than ever to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship, could Busch’s feud with Keselowski be the old Kyle creeping back into the Chase?  Could Busch be his own worst enemy?  Could the Busch/Keselowski feud cost Busch the Championship?

Harvick Trying To Hit His Stride Heading Into Charlotte

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SM Staff
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Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Kevin Harvick’s stride will set in this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway (CMS).  Harvick started on the pole and dominated last weekend at Kansas Speedway, setting Harvick as a legitimate contender to steal the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) championship.

Springtime was no “joke” for Harvick when we came to Charlotte Motor Speedway (CMS) and took the checker’s in the Coca-Cola 600. The good news for him this weekend is he will only have to go 500-miles if he’d like to pull of the CMS sweep.

“Good pit strategy, that’s what we hit on last time we were at Charlotte Motor Speedway. We had a decent car in May, but Gil (Martin, crew chief) made the right call at the end to put us in position to have a good restart. Once we were in the right spot, we were able to hold the lead once we got there and were able to pick up the win.”

Harvick will start second in Saturday night’s Bank of America 500, just behind Hendrick Motorsports driver, Jeff Gordon.

“I felt like I didn’t get everything in (turns) 3 and 4,” Harvick said “I knew from the way things were going and the way practice was that I needed to get everything I could in 1 and 2, and not get tight coming off of turn 4. And I probably lost the pole right there.”

The obstacles Harvick has faced coming into the season not even knowing truly where he’d be in 2014. One thing has in my mind propelled him to contend for that championship is Keelan Harvick, his son.

”You really get your mind off of racing and for me, that’s a great release. Anytime I cannot think about racing during the week, that’s been very healthy for me.”

Harvick currently sits just 25-points behind Matt Kenseth who is atop the standings. With five races to go Harvick needs the momentum to go his way, a win this weekend could possibly put this No. 29 team celebrating in Homestead.

In my opinion, Harvick has a good chance to take his third career win in the NSCS at CMS this weekend because he’s piloting the same chassis he won with just last weekend.

Harvick also will get extra track time then most of the chase competitor as he will race in the NASCAR Nationwide Series event Friday night.

Busch wins Coors Light Pole Award at Charlotte Motor Speedway

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SM Staff
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Photo Credit: Brad Keppel/Speedway Media

Driver of the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, Kyle Busch, wins his ninth NASCAR Nationwide Series pole award this season at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  Busch is no stranger to doing well in the Nationwide Series with ten wins this season, including eighteen top-5 and nineteen top-10 finishes leading a total of 4,027 laps.

The Coors Light Pole Award for the 32nd Annual Dollar General 300 is Busch’s first pole award in 21 races at Charlotte. Working toward his first career win at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Kyle commented on the possibility of winning this weekend.  He said, “It would certainly be nice to get a win here whether it’s Nationwide or Cup and especially Cup — we haven’t done that yet here.  It’s been a track where we’ve been really good at over the years and I think the most important thing is that if we can get a win here, then that sets the tone that we  are back in the thick of things.”

Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford, will be starting in second position with a qualifying lap of only 0.004 seconds behind Kyle Busch.  Logano is one of four drivers that have driven the No. 22 Ford in 2013, with all four drivers contributing to the impressive eleven wins posted by the team this season.

The combination of wins from the No. 54 team and the No. 22 team total twenty-one out of the twenty-nine races run so far this season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

The NASCAR Nationwide Series points battle comes into play in qualifying positions three, four, and five with Sam Hornish Jr., Austin Dillon, and Regan Smith.

Sam Hornish Jr. qualified in third position posting his sixth top-10 start at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and his twenty-fourth top-10 start in thirty races this season.

Going into tonight’s race, Hornish is only eight points behind the points leader, Austin Dillon.  Dillon, driver of the No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet, qualified in fourth position with a qualifying lap of 182.704 mph.

JR Motorsports driver, Regan Smith, is currently sitting thirty-five points behind Dillon in the Nationwide Series points standings.  Smith qualified in fifth position in the No. 7 Goody’s Headache Relief Shot Chevrolet.

Driver of the No. 99 St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Toyota, Alex Bowman, qualified in sixth position as the fastest qualifying rookie.

Trevor Bayne, Kyle Larson, Brain Vickers, and Kevin Harvick round out the top-10 positions for tonight’s 32nd Annual Dollar General 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Busch Trying to Bounce Back at Charlotte

By
SM Staff
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Photo Credit: Don Dunn

After a late crash in the Hollywood Casino 400 last week at Kansas Speedway that landed Busch a 34th place finish and caused him to drop two spots in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings, Busch comes to Charlotte Motor Speedway on a mission.

Being a contender year after year, but never having won a NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship, many spectators believe this could be Kyle’s year.  Many also believe that Kyle has displayed the maturity and mentality this season to get the job done.

Up until his 34th place finish at Kansas last weekend, Kyle was part of what many considered a “3-man” race for the Championship.  His crash toward the end of the race dropped him to 5th spot in the Chase standings, 35 points behind leader Matt Kenseth.

When asked if he considers this a bounce back race, Busch said, “It’s certainly a bounce back week.  I feel like we’ve had good runs this year.  We’ve been really fast and we’ve shown consistency.  We have to show that consistency getting back into the thick of things and being able to run well here.  I feel like if we can come out here and win this weekend, that will put us right back in it and give us an opportunity to gain points on people and also show everybody that what happened last week is last week and this is this week.  We look forward to the final five that are left.”

Having posted four Sprint Cup Series wins this season, with fourteen top-5 and eighteen top-10 finishes leading 1,200 laps, Busch has yet to find his way to victory lane at Charlotte.

When asked what it would mean to get a Cup win at Charlotte, Busch said, “It would certainly be nice to get a win here whether it’s Nationwide or Cup and especially Cup — we haven’t done that yet here.  It’s been a track where we’ve been really good at over the years and I think the most important thing is that if we can get a win here, then that sets the tone that we  are back in the thick of things.”

Busch will start the Bank of America 500, under the lights at Charlotte, in ninth position. Commenting on his car after qualifying, Busch stated, “The M&M’s Camry is not too bad — certainly wish for a little bit more.  We would have liked to have been quickest, but it seems like the track is similar in qualifying to what it was in practice, but a lot of guys are running the same.  We kind of slowed down a little bit.”

The green flag will fall at Charlotte Motor Speedway at 7 p.m. local time for NASCAR Sprint Cup Bank of America 500.

Toyota NSCS Charlotte Matt Kenseth Notes & Quotes

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SM Archive
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Richard Childress Racing Forms Technical Alliance with Germain Racing

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Ford Charlotte Friday Advance (Reed, Stenhouse and Biffle)

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SM Archive
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Kyle Larson and Brian Scott make Sprint Cup debuts in Bank of America 500

By
SM Staff
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Photo Credit: Noel Lanier/Speedway Media

As the green flag falls Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway there are only six races left in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship.  Not only will the Bank of America 500 be a vital race to the thirteen drivers in contention for the championship, but it will be a monumental race in the NASCAR careers of Kyle Larson and Brain Scott, who will be making their NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debuts.

These drivers follow a long list of sixty-two other drivers that have made the Sprint Cup Series starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway, including current drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson.

Larson, who currently sits ninth in points standings for his first NASCAR Nationwide Series season with Turner Scott Motorsports, will be driving the No. 51 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet this weekend at Charlotte and again in two weeks at Martinsville.

Having already signed a deal with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing to be the full-time driver of their No. 42 Chevrolet next season, Larson is taking this opportunity to gain some Sprint Cup Series experience before his full-time transition in 2014.

“I am very excited to get behind the wheel of a Cup car in Charlotte…especially getting to race with the Target bulls eye on the car,” Larson said. “I have a lot of work to do to prepare for the 2014 season and I cannot wait to get it started.”

Racing open-wheel cars and World of Outlaws Sprint cars as a teenager, winning the 2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship, and earning his first NASCAR Camping and World Truck Series race this season at Rockingham Speedway, have given Larson the notoriety of being one of NASCAR’s most talented young drivers.

Larson has spent some time in a Cup car, having tested at Rockingham Speedway and last week at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  He will be starting the race in 21st position.

“My main goal is to try to finish the race,” Larson said. “I’d like maybe a top 17th or 18th-place finish.  We were really good at Charlotte in the Nationwide race this spring.  I’d say it’s in my top five favorite tracks.”

Brian Scott starts the Bank of America 500 in a slightly different situation than Kyle Larson.  Although he does not have a full-time ride in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series next season, he is in a two-year deal with Richard Childress Racing with the plan of preparing for a future transition to the Cup series.

“When I first started to talk to Richard, it was with the understanding my aspirations were to be able run in the Cup series,” Scott said. “We went into this season working on being able to do a handful of Cup races and looked at some races that could work and eventually we settled on Charlotte.”

Scott said, “I think Charlotte is a great place to make my first start. Considering Richard Childress Racing won the Coca-Cola 600 in May, I think they have a good hold on the track and I should have a good starting point to try to get caught up on speed.”

Scott’s only recent experience in a Cup car was last week when his RCR team tested at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

After his test run, Scott said, “The test went good. A lot of it trying to figure out the difference in cars between the series, how to get speed and then we actually started working on the car and eventually did some mock qualifying runs. We had some fun with it. We felt our speed was good. The guys seemed pretty excited and I am, too.”

Scott will be starting the Bank of America 500 in 19th position, and will run another full Nationwide season with Richard Childress Racing in 2014.

Roush Fenway Racing Announces Ryan Reed as the driver of the No. 16

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SM Archive
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NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver – 39 going on 500

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SM Staff
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Photo Credit: Kala Perkins/Speedway Media

With six races to go in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship, driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a lot to celebrate this weekend in Charlotte, NC.

NASCAR’s ten time most popular driver celebrated his 39th birthday Thursday, and will be making his 500th Sprint Cup Series start under the lights Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Making his 500th Cup Series start at Charlotte is poetic.  Charlotte Motor Speedway is where he made his Sprint Cup Series debut in 1999 and is also the home of his first career pole award in 2000.

In twenty-seven Cup starts at Charlotte, Earnhardt has earned one pole position, five top-5’s and eleven top-10 finishes.

“It doesn’t seem like I’ve been around that long to be honest with you.”  Earnhardt Jr. said regarding his 500th start. “It just doesn’t. We race a lot of races, though. We run a lot more races during the season than they did in year’s past. It’s been a pleasure being a part of the Series and seeing the changes and the growth. I hope to be around and witness a lot more. It’s just been a dream to be able to succeed and make a living in this sport so I’ve got a lot to be thankful for.”

Should Earnhardt end up in victory lane this weekend, he would join only two other drivers who won their 500th career start. Richard Petty won his 500th career start in 1970 and Matt Kenseth earned the honor three weeks ago at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

In 499 Sprint Cup starts, Earnhardt Jr. is tied for 12th among full-time drivers with 19 victories, posting 111 top-5 finishes, 199 top-10’s, and 13 pole positions. He has led a total of 7,377 laps.

Earnhardt, still looking for his first win this season, currently sits eighth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings, trailing leader Matt Kenseth by 54 points.

Watch the green flag fall Saturday in the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway as Earnhardt, driving the Time Warner Cable Chevrolet SS, attempts to join the elite group of 500th start winners and close the gap on the Chase points leaders as he celebrates his 39th birthday going on 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts.

 

 

 

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