Logano Continues Nationwide Winning Streak at Dover
DOVER, Del. – Joey Logano not only tamed the Monster Mile again, he again dominated it.
Logano won his fourth consecutive Nationwide Series race at Dover on Saturday afternoon after leading a race high 106 of 200 laps in the 5-hour ENERGY 200 benefiting Living Beyond Breast Cancer. He took the lead for the final time with 59 laps to go, moving past Kyle Busch who had inherited the lead while using a different pit strategy. It was the winning pass for Logano, who cruised to a 14 second victory over rookie Kyle Larson.
“We started the race too loose and they went for it. These Nationwide races are short. You’ve got to make big swings real early and I feel like Jeremy [Bullins, crew chief] and I worked enough together now that when I say loose and how loose he kind of knows how much it is and he made big swings on this thing and got it pretty close. Then we needed one more stop to just kind of fine tune it,” said Logano on his record day.
“It’s just really cool to get four-in-a-row here at Dover. That’s pretty awesome. It’s been my favorite racetrack ever since I started here, yes, even when I barrel-rolled down the back straightaway, it’s still my favorite place, and I think we showed that today. Hopefully my Shell / Pennzoil Ford tomorrow is just as fast as this one. If that’s the case, it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
As it’s been for most of the 2013 NNS season, Logano and Busch were the class of the field. The two led all but five laps but Busch was done in by a different pit cycle. When the first caution of the race flew on lap 26 he stayed on track with the lead while the rest of the leaders, including Logano, came down pit road.
Busch then had to give up the lead on lap 87 for his first stop before retaking it when the rest of the field made their second and final stops. After coming down pit road with 24 laps to go he finished eighth.
Kevin Harvick, Brian Vickers and Elliott Sadler were the top five. Meanwhile, point leader Sam Hornish Jr. who entered the day with a 15 point lead on Austin Dillon, wasn’t able to turn his second starting position into a top five finish. Hornish struggled on Saturday, falling a lap down early before being caught speeding on pit road and losing another lap.
He finished 17th and now has only a four point advantage with five races remaining. Dillon finished sixth while Sadler moved to third in points after his top five finish.
“You can’t make one bad call and then have the driver speed on pit road and not give something up. We’ll talk about it and try to figure out how to not get ourselves in that position again,” Hornish said afterwards about the decision for two tires instead of four. “I knew we were kind of sunk at that point, but I think we still could have got out of it with a 10th or 12th place finish if I didn’t speed on pit road, but we weren’t gonna win with the strategy we had today.”
Logano’s victory was the 11th for the 22 car this season. His victory was also the first time a driver had won four consecutive NNS races at Dover while the Penske team extended their owner’s championship lead to 34 on the Joe Gibbs Racing 54 car.
“I keep telling everybody when you think about Roger Penske and his history, it’s pretty amazing to think there’s something he hasn’t won, so, for me, it’s a privilege and an honor to be part of the team tasked with that goal,” said Bullins on trying to win the owner’s title.
“So far, so good. We’ve got five weeks to go and we just got to keep pushing forward and hopefully we can finish strong and pull that off. It would be very special to fulfill that last spot in his trophy case because it’s pretty impressive to start with.”
The race featured only two cautions and went 106 green flag laps to the finish. The longest stretch in NNS history. In post race inspection, the 22 car failed when it was found to be too low on both sides in the front. NASCAR said they will look at it first thing next week.
Logano wins his 4th straight at Dover, Tames the Monster
Joey Logano started on the pole for today’s Dover 200 at the Monster Mile. Logano had won the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race the past three times at Dover, and he ended up in Victory Lane for the fourth straight time at his favorite track on the NASCAR circuit.
After Logano gave up the lead to fellow Spring Cup Chaser, Kyle Busch, on lap 19, the first caution of the afternoon came out for a Brian Scott spin in-between turns one and two. Scott appeared to get loose in the high groove and spun, but didn’t hit anything. The first eight cars stayed out under this caution and Kevin Harvick, who was 9th when the caution flag flew, was the first car to come onto pit road. On lap 30, Kyle Busch rocketed out to a large lead just laps after the restart. The action stayed single file at the front of the pack until Donnie Neuenberger spun on the backstretch. His spin would result in the final caution of the afternoon. Everyone knew that more pit stops were upcoming, even though it was just only 10 laps after the first caution. Kyle Busch was the only driver who didn’t pit under the first caution who also stayed out this time. Regan Smith and Kevin Harvick, who pitted under the first caution, would restart second and third respectively. Brian Vickers and Sam Hornish Jr. took two tires when they came to pit road. Justin Allgaier took none and everyone else, starting with the eventual race winner Joey Logano, took four tires.
The second and final restart of the afternoon occurred on lap 41 of 200 with the first car with two tire restarting 13th. Nonetheless, Busch rocketed out to a big lead again. Despite Travis Pastrana hitting the wall, forcing himself into Brian Scott, one lap after the restart, the green flag stayed out. On lap 50, Joey Logano was all the way up to sixth from eighteenth, where he restarted just nine laps earlier. On lap 87, race leader Kyle Busch smoked his tires coming onto pit road and Logano assumed the top spot. Busch’s decision to stay out during the two caution periods would cost him in the end. Busch came out in 23rd place on lap down. It took awhile for him to cycle back into the lead once the other cars pitted under the green flag.
Coming into this race, Sam Hornish Jr. led Austin Dillon by 15 points in the drivers championship. Approaching the halfway point of this race, which was the fastest 200 mile race in NASCAR Nationwide Series history, Hornish Jr.’s car was very ill-handling, and he was riding around in 16th place. Green flag pit stops begun with 90 laps to go. Regan Smith, Kevin Harvick, Elliott Sadler, Trevor Bayne, Kyle Larson and Brian Vickers were the first few drivers that ducked down onto the tricky Dover pit road for four tires, adjustments and fuel. Everyone had pitted but the race leader, Joey Logano. He eventually pitted on lap 115 along with Brad Sweet. After everyone cycled out, Kyle Busch re-assumed the lead. He was followed by Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Regan Smith and Kevin Harvick.
This is where things went downhill in a hurry for points leader Sam Hornish Jr. He was caught for speeding on pit road and ended up being two laps down in the mid-20’s after he served his pass-through penalty. With 59 laps remaining, Joey Logano, who was 5.4 seconds behind the No. 54, ran down Kyle Busch and passed him for the lead, which he would not give up again. With 50 laps to go, there was some talk of whether or not the No. 22 could make it to the checkered flag on fuel or not. Crew Chief Jeremy Bullins re-assured Logano that they were good to go, but not for a green-white-checkered. By lap 160, there were only seven, yes, seven, cars on the lead lap!
Kyle Busch pitted on lap 175, ending his chances for redemption at the Monster Mile. He eventually finished in 8th place and declined to speak with reporters following the race. With 10 laps to go, Logano was up on the No. 32 by a comfortable 10 seconds. He ended up winning by almost 10 seconds. Kyle Larson came home 2nd, Kevin Harvick 3rd, Brian Vickers 4th and Elliott Sadler in 5th place.
This was the No. 22 car’s 11th win of the 2013 season with its fourth different driver and Logano’s aforementioned 4th straight win at the Monster MIle. He’s now in a class with names like Jack Ingram and Dale Earnhardt to win four straight races at one single track in NASCAR Nationwide Series history. When asked how it felt to win four straight at Dover, Logano told ESPN’s Dr. Jerry Punch “It’s a huge deal, […] it’s obviously my favorite race rack.” Also, when asked is he was concerned with making it to the end on fuel, Logano replied with a laugh and said, “I don’t know!” Kyle Larson said “We’ll take a second,” after what seemed like a bad stretch of a month or so for the No. 32 team. Regarding the longest green flag run in NNS history, third place finisher Kevin Harvick said, “Sometimes you just get that feeling,”
When it was all said and done, no positions changed hands in the close points battle in the series. Sam Hornish Jr. (989 points) leads Austin Dillon by four points heading into Kansas next weekend. Elliott Sadler and Regan Smith are 42 and 43 points back of the leader, respectively. The win also extended the No. 22 Penske Racing Ford Mustang’s owner championship lead over the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry.
Jamie McMurray Celebrating a Pretty Good Year
Last year at season end in Las Vegas, as he helped during championship week to unveil the new Chevrolet, Jamie McMurray pronounced his year miserable.
But this season, the driver of the No. 1 LiftMaster Chevrolet, is celebrating a pretty good year so far, especially after a top-five run at New Hampshire and an honor for his crew chief to boot.
“Other than getting tangled up on Lap 40, it really was a good race,” McMurray said. “We just really had a good car, had good pit strategy, and had good pit stops.”
“It was truly hard to pass there, but we were able to pass a few cars and then had good track position at the end.”
McMurray’s crew chief Kevin Manion also received the MOOG Problem Solver award, recognizing the team’s comeback after a spin out early in the race. In fact, McMurray and Manion’s No. 1 Chevrolet improved by a race-high 0.331 seconds in earning its second top-five finish in three races.
“Jamie and Kevin were running as strong as they have all year in the second half,” Tim Nelson, Federal-Mogul Motorsports Director, said. “You could tell that Jamie loved the setup of their MOOG-equipped chassis, and Kevin and the Earnhardt-Ganassi crew were nearly flawless on pit road.”
With this success, McMurray has indeed expressed satisfaction in his pretty good year to date. And he even thinks this year has been better than when he won several of the major races on the circuit, including the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard race.
“Yeah, it’s been good,” McMurray said. “I think our cars have been even better than what they were in 2010 when we won some big races.”
“We haven’t been able to execute as well as we need to,” McMurray continued. “But the speed of our cars has been good so yeah, they’ve done a really nice job obviously with this Generation 6 car.”
“We were able to hit on a few things that really worked well for us at a variety of different tracks.”
McMurray is hoping to continue his pretty good year at Dover International Speedway this race weekend. While he has had some success at the Monster Mile, he also knows that the ‘monster’ is always lurking and ready to pounce.
“So Dover, I really enjoy coming here but at the same time, this is a track that if your car is not right, it’s miserable,” McMurray said. “You can’t get out of the way and for a mile track, the lap times are really fast.”
“So, it’s easy to go a lap down if you get off,” McMurray continued. “But at the same time if your car is good, it’s a really fun track to race on.”
As he celebrates a pretty good year in 2013, he is also looking forward to some of the changes to come for Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing, including the young up-and-comer Kyle Larson joining the team in the seat vacated by Juan Pablo Montoya.
“It will be new with Kyle (Larson) but Kyle’s been racing for a long time, even though he’s young,” McMurray said. “I already know Kyle so I’m looking forward to that.”
“It will be interesting to look at how Kyle approaches things, which will be different than what someone who has been around a long time has,” McMurray continued. “Sometimes you get fresh ideas and see another perspective on things.”
“Kyle’s actually getting to come to our organization at a really good time,” McMurray said. “It would have been a challenge for him a couple years ago because our cars were not really good.”
“But I think our cars are really good right now so he is fortunate to be coming on at a really good time for the company.”
As with most drivers not in the Chase, McMurray has just one thing on his mind as he ends up his self-proclaimed pretty good year.
“Just trying to win a race before the year is over,” McMurray said. “We’ve had really good cars and we have a couple of really good tracks like Charlotte coming up.”
“I also feel good about Dover,” McMurray said. “I thought we had the best car here in the spring and then a part fell off someone’s car and went through our radiator.”
“So, we had a really crummy spring race.”
“I think Charlotte will be a good track for us too,” McMurray said. “We ran really well there the last few times.”
“And Martinsville has always been a really good track for me too,” McMurray continued. “So, I feel like we have a few really good tracks coming up for us.”
So, will McMurray feel differently than he did in Vegas last year about this season when the checkered flag flies in Homestead?
“Last year, we were just terrible,” McMurray said. “We ran the last ten races just trying all kinds of off-the-wall stuff.”
“We never really hit on anything,” McMurray continued. “So, Vegas last year was just a bad season and when you end not running well, it makes for a long off-season.”
“But this year, our cars have been a lot better,” McMurray said. “I feel good about the last few races that we have left.”
“Certainly, this year has been a lot better than the last.”
Almirola Hopes To Capitalize On Top Five Qualifying Run At Dover
Yoga and Comedy for Bowyer during 5-hour ENERGY event
DOVER, Del. – As Clint Bowyer went off hunting this past week he had no idea what was being arranged for him when he arrived in Dover.
So when he go his schedule and saw yoga, many different things popped into his mind. And not one was that for a half hour early Saturday morning he would be given the chance to escape the pressures of race weekend.
He was given the opportunity but didn’t necessarily take it during the 5-hour ENERGY and Living Beyond Breast Cancer event, “Yoga on the Track.” Alongside a yoga instructor, Bowyer was joined for the free session by fans who bought a ticket for Saturday’s Nationwide race.
With Bowyer, it was anything but serious and relaxing. Joking that the yoga put more stress on him than he already had before arriving.
“I can’t ever – focus is a problem and sitting still is a major problem,” he said afterwards. “So, yoga is probably not the sport for me. I, clearly, had a different opinion on what yoga was. This is a serious thing. I don’t know how you get one with yourself.”
He compared it to watching paint dry and grass grow. Or reading a book for four hours. Bowyer can’t sit still for that long; he doesn’t relax, ever, as what you see is what you get. Something confirmed by his girlfriend, Lorra Podsiadlo, who stood to the side and watched Bowyer get through the session with humor. It was all for a good cause.
“This has been something we’ve been working on for a long time, we did this program last year around breast cancer,” Bowyer said about 5-hour ENERGY, who’s also the title sponsor of the NNS race.
“It’s really neat, the new Raspberry flavor and everything that they’re promoting around this time with Living Beyond Breast Cancer. All of our sponsors within our whole community do a great job of giving back and coming up with neat, fun things like this to interact with our fans and share a laugh together. That’s what it’s all about.”
And Bowyer provided many laughs. “I have no idea how in the hell I got into this,” he told the crowd before they started. “We’ll get through it. You know, I do have to drive later. Do limbs fall off after this?”
“Do we have an ambulance close by?” After spotting a paramedic, “But you’re also a Jimmie Johnson fan, but will you please take care of me?” While repeatedly saying throughout the morning, “It’s official, my man card is gone.”
When he was finally done with the yoga session, happy to go get his man card back which he was very concerned about and asked at one point to have something manly written about him, Bowyer seemed glad to talk about racing. He’s 10th in points entering Sunday’s third Chase race, yet still doesn’t believe he’s far enough back to be written off.
“Just got to get back to doing what we’re doing, we certainly haven’t had the last couple of weeks that we’re accustomed to having, especially Chase time. I’ve definitely been more concerned about that than anything,” he said.
“We’re racers, when you go to the racetrack and don’t perform, it’s frustrating. Kind of beat ourselves, made some bad decisions and probably cost us at least, I’d say 15 points in the last two races that I can pinpoint. Should have zigged instead of zagged.”
Bowyer acknowledged he’s a long way behind point leader Matt Kenseth, but noted that he made up about 100 points on Jimmie Johnson during the regular season. He feels it can happen again, but the team needs to get back to running how they were, not how they’ve been the last two weeks. Only then should he be taken out of the equation.
“It’s all about making good decisions in this sport. Everybody has fast race cars, everybody’s capable of getting the job done behind the wheel,” he said. “You’ve got to make better decisions than the next guy and that’s what makes up the difference.”
Bowyer starts the AAA 400 from the 23rd position in his pink Raspberry 5-hour ENERGY benefiting Living Beyond Breast Cancer Toyota.
Aric Almirola is Bringing Home the Bacon
Aric Almirola has a smile on his face and a spring in his step as he continues to bring home the bacon for in his No. 43 Smithfield Foods Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports.
And he could not be happier as he prepares to race at the ‘Monster Mile’, which he firmly admits is his favorite track on the circuit.
This will be Almirola’s ninth start at Dover International Speedway, where he won in the Truck Series in 2010 and where he posted his best finish of sixth in 2012.
“This is my favorite track just because I’ve had success here,” Almirola said. “I’ve had really good runs here and won my first Truck race here.”
“I’ve run really well in the Cup car here and have had good runs in Nationwide cars here as well,” Almirola said. “For whatever reason when I show up here, I run good.”
“That makes you really like a place,” Almirola continued. “So, I always get excited about coming here because I know I have a shot to run good.”
“I do circle this on my calendar.”
So, what is it that makes Almirola so crazy about the Monster Mile?
“Each turn is different,” the driver of the famed Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 car said. “It’s crazy but the thing that makes it so special is the sensation of speed is unlike anywhere else we go.”
“There’s a lot of race tracks where we run 200 miles an hour and it doesn’t feel that fast,” Almirola continued. “And here, we only run 170 or so and it feels like we’re going 250 miles per hour.”
“It feels super-fast and it is a challenge to keep your focus,” Almirola said. “The race track will suck you in and that’s why it’s called the Monster.”
“It will bite you,” Almirola continued. “It’s very easy to overdrive this place and be too aggressive.”
Although a challenging track, Dover is also special to Almirola because of what his sponsor does to help those in need. This race weekend, Smithfield and Weis Markets partnered to donate 40,000 pounds of protein to the Maryland Food Bank, which is part of Smithfield’s “Helping Hungry Homes” program
“Smithfield does so much and it’s really important,” Almirola said. “This weekend, they gave 14,000 pounds between pork and bacon and ham.”
“That means a lot to be associated with such a great company and great organization that is willing to take some of the profits they make and give it back to the local communities to help feed people,” Almirola continued. “A lot of us take for granted that we go to bed on a full stomach and not everybody is that fortunate.”
As he looks forward to competing at his favorite track, Almirola admitted that his 2013 season has been going well too, especially in comparison with the previous year.
“We have run really well,” Almirola said. “I’ve been impressed with our improvements, especially over the last year.”
“That is a big testament to what Todd Parrott (crew chief) and all the guys on this team have done, stepping up their game and continuing to produce and give me fast race cars,” Almirola continued. “That’s what it takes at this level to be competitive.”
“I’m getting better as a driver, the team’s working together better and Todd is understanding these cars and the engineers are understanding these cars better,” Almirola said. “Just everything is getting better and that’s what we need to do.”
Almirola also credits his improvement, as well as the team’s, with doing some testing. And although he was not willing to share any of the new things they were trying on the car, he was most enthusiastic about what they were experiencing and looking forward to upcoming tests scheduled prior to season end.
“Doing some of testing, we’ve tried some things out of the box,” Almirola said. “We have a test coming up at Kansas next Thursday and we have a laundry list of things we want to try that we haven’t gotten a chance to try on normal race weekends.”
“We think that may be better or worse but that’s a good opportunity for us to find out,” Almirola continued. “This sport evolves constantly and if you don’t keep up, you get left behind.”
Almirola knows that the spotlight is a bit dimmed on him and his race team since they are not Chase participants. But he is not letting that deter him from achieving the goals that he has set for the remaining few races of 2013.
“Those guys raced for 26 races and put themselves in the position to make the Chase so they deserve to get that attention,” Almirola said. “Then it’s up to us because the only way for us to get the attention back on us is to be really competitive and run good.”
“I don’t race any differently now in the Chase or against the Chase competitors,” Almirola continued. “I race the same because I have just as much at stake as those guys do as far as each and every weekend.”
So, what would be the coup de grace for Almirola this race weekend at Dover?
“We want to get to Victory Lane really bad,” Almirola said. “We’d love to get that 43 car back in Victory Lane.”
“We have great sponsors, with Smithfield Foods, STP and Air Force and we want to get all of those guys to Victory Lane,” Almirola continued. “So, we’re working hard to do that and there have been a lot of late nights at the shop.”
“A win would mean a lot,” Almirola said. “Obviously driving the sport’s most iconic car is really special in itself.”
“But to get to Victory Lane in that car would be an amazing feeling,” Almirola continued. “Richard Petty has won 200 races and he deserves to be in Victory Lane again.”
“He got accustomed and used to being in Victory Lane back then and we want to get him back to Victory Lane and I’d like to bring that win home to him.”
