Will Power comes into new season riding a wave of momentum
Last season, Will Power finished off the year the best way possible – with a pair of wins. He won the second race in Houston, before winning the season finale at Auto Club Speedway.
“That was an unusual finish to a season for me if you go off the last few years,” Power commented. “Definitely had a good off-season and very motivated to have a good year.”
Last year, Power didn’t have the same that he wanted – statistically – with numerous finishes outside of the top 10. However, he was able to bring home three wins in the last four races. Power said in previous years he had been conservative and rode the points, but last yea taught him to hang it all out there.
“At the end of the year, it was fun. You can just race hard, it does not matter. In fact, the results came a lot better when I did that,” he explained. “It taught me a lot about racing, getting in the pack. When you spend a lot of time at the front, the restarts, you’re not in the pack. I feel that my race craft was really good by the end and I enjoyed it.
“That’s how I’ll be racing this year.”
Like many other teams, Team Penske has kicked testing into full gear and done some tests, in which Power admits that they’ve found some things that will help them be strong in 2014.
“I feel as though we’re going to be pretty competitive,” Power commented. “Kind of just working hard, not leaving anything on the table, not leaving anything to chance. You just can’t be lazy. You’ve got to work hard in this game if you want to continually be competitive. So that’s our plan.”
Power also feels confident about this year with the addition of having Juan Pablo Montoya as a teammate to him and Helio Castroneves, saying that’ll allow for more feedback and information.
“With Juan, he’s had some good experience, good ideas. He’s obviously been very successful in Formula One,” Power commented. “His experience in NASCAR, it’s kind of good having him there, for sure. He’s a guy that I looked up to when I was racing Formula Ford and he was in Formula One. Kind of cool to be working with him.”
Power says so far, everybody is working well together and Montoya has already suggested some great ideas.
“At the end of the day we all understand that we got to race each other on the track,” Power said. “During this testing time, part of the season, we need to work together and try things, find things that are going to help us be at the front.”
The work that is put in the off-season will come to surface the first weekend of the year as the new year promises to be competitive across the board, espically with arch-rival Ganassi switching from Honda to Chevy as Power says that will make them more reliable and stronger as an organization.
“But it’s good to have them in the family. Four more drivers giving good feedback to help point us in the right direction,” Power commented. “Plus they’ve had the experience of looking at some of Honda’s strengths, see if we can transfer it over to the Chevy side.”
Attaining the NASCAR Dream
It’s happening. What exactly is happening you ask? Well, I made, what at the time, seemed like a bold prediction in 2012. I proclaimed that Germain Racing was going to be a winning race team within the next few years. As you can imagine, that statement got me some incredulous looks from the people I told it to. I was able to look past all the dismal days on large, power dependent tracks though and the numerous races where this little team was forced to start and park. I looked beyond that and I saw a diamond in the rough.
I saw an intelligent crew chief, a capable driver with the last name to back it up, and a dedicated race team. I never overlooked their runs of 15th, 18th, and 20th that seemed to go unnoticed by most. Why was I paying attention to them in the first place? Well, I always look down the finishing order for underfunded teams who break into the top 20 because it’s a good story. I started to pay more mind to the No. 13 the more I kept seeing them pop up in that top 20 zone though. I began to realize, these finishes aren’t flukes.
This team, like Furniture Row Racing before them, is going places. And no, I don’t mean Denver Colorado. I mean victory lane. In 2013, they continued to prove me right. They signed sponsor GEICO through 2014 and would no longer have to go to a race track, knowing that they couldn’t actually race that day. Last year, Germain Racing enjoyed their most successful year to date and earned a top ten finish on their way to 24th in the standings.
In the off-season, they announced a technical alliance with RCR and ECR motors. When I heard the news, I said to myself, guess who’s going to upset the apple cart and end up in the Chase in 2014? These guys. If they weren’t the next Furniture Row Racing before, then they most certainly are now. The year may only be two races old, but Casey Mears has wheeled his Chevrolet SS to finishes of 10th and 14th in the opening two events. Currently, he is in a three-way tie for 10th in the points.
They have the sponsorship, the driver, the crew chief, and now the car to finally take their organization to the next level. With the new Chase format in play, do not be surprised to see them earn a berth into NASCAR’s playoffs. Even if they don’t win a race, the points they rack up may be enough to get them one of those coveted final spots if there are less than 16 winners.
Even though I saw it coming, I still can’t believe the rapid progression of this race team. In 2010, they spent nearly a third of the year start and parking and never finished inside the top 20. 2012 was the first time they ever ran the full season, parking early five times, but also finishing 20th or higher on six occasions…and leading a total of 41 laps too. In 2013, they didn’t start and park once, ended the season inside the top 25 in points, led during six different races, and scored five finishes of 15th or higher.
They have endured the lowest of lows in racing, and are on their way to experiencing the highest of highs. Of the dozens of small teams that have entered NASCAR in the last decade, most fail and vanish without a trace. However, a select few posses the fortitude to hold their ground, do what it takes to survive (start & park), work their way up the ranks, and keep those dreams of becoming a winning Sprint Cup team alive and attainable.
It won’t be too long from now when this team is a contender on a regular basis. Then we’ll all start talking about who will be the next to prevail when all the odds are against them, follow the trail blazed by organizations such as MWR, Furniture Row, Germain Racing….and attain the NASCAR dream.
Rookie Watch: Struggling in the desert as Larson shows strength
While Daytona presented some solid top 10 rookie performances, Phoenix produced some struggles for our rookie contenders, as well as some got bit by bad luck.
Kyle Larson
Finished: 20th
If you look at the beginning of the weekend, Kyle Larson got off to a strong start and looked destined to have a good weekend after his struggles in Daytona. He was strong in practice, and qualified eighth. However, as saying goes – sometimes one lap doesn’t represent how you’ll perform. Larson would get trapped down a lap early in the race as he struggled with the handling of his No. 42 Clorox Chevrolet, only able to catch the lucky dog late in the race. As a result, he only finished 20th in the race.
“Our Clorox Chevy showed good speed today”, Larson commented. “My guys did a great job on pit road, but we got caught a lap down early in the race on one of the long green flag runs. We battled to get position back on the lead lap, but couldn’t seem to catch the caution when we needed it. Finally, with just a handful of laps to go we got the lucky dog, but just didn’t have enough time to make more of a run to the front. I wish there were more laps left, as we had a really good car.”
Austin Dillon
Finished: 24th
After being really strong at Daytona, Austin Dillon was just average this past weekend as he was mid-pack in practice, qualified 24th and finished 24th. Dillon commented after the race that they got the handling figured out late in the race, but couldn’t gain back the lost ground.
Both Larson and Dillon are learning the hard way that if they’re off early and there’s a long green flag run, they may get put a lap down early and end up having a bad result as a result. The key will be getting the car figured out in practice and making sure that they have the right set-up for hte start of the race.
Cole Whitt
Finished: 27th
After filling the storylines with some drama in Daytona, Cole Whitt had a quiet weekend in Phoenix on his way to finishing 27th. Like his counterparts, he fell down a lap early in the event and couldn’t make it up.
With being in a smaller organization – Swan Racing – and having a rookie teammate, it’ll be tougher for Whitt to get the package right to truly finish inside even just the top 20 then it will be for Larson and Dillon as they bot have experienced teammates to work with.
Justin Allgaier
Finished: 30th
Justin Allgaier was having a solid run at Phoenix – but like Daytona, he found trouble over the course of the event. A wreck with Danica Patrick would cause damage to his car and result in him finishing a couple laps down, while having Patrick furious with him. She confronted him after the race to display her displeasure as well.
The pair have since talked it out and hopefully Allgaier will avoid trouble this weekend in Sin City.
Michael Annett and Ryan Truex
Finished: 34th and 35th
Both Michael Annett and Ryan Truex finished multiple laps down as their struggles were bigger than that of their counterparts. Neither could find the speed or handling to put themselves inside the top 20, falling a lap down early and going even more laps down as the race went on.
Both drivers are with small teams so their goals are set smaller than say Larson and Dillon. Larson and Dillon look for solid days to be top 15s, even top 10s – while Annett and Truex should more so look towards aiming at running from 20th to 25th to start. So far, it’s not working out that well but a rookie season is about growing.
The good thing, here, is that both driver made the race as Truex was disappointed last week in Daytona when he failed to make the race.
Alex Bowman and Parker Kligerman
Finished: 41st and 42nd
Bowman and Kligerman was two of the few drivers to have a DNF at Phoenix as both their motors went bad, shortening their day. Both drivers will be looking to get through the 500 miles at Las Vegas Motor Speedway without any problems.
This Weekend: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Larson and Dillon should both be fast and with an extra day of testing and teammates to lean on, expect them to be top 15 contenders this weekend as they both also have ran well on the mile and a halves in the Nationwide Series.
As for the rest, a top 20 finish would be success for them given the teams that they are with and the current resource situation. However, Las Vegas is known for gamblers hitting the jackpot so perhaps one of them will gamble and find some magic.
